Cussed (Kacchako)

TWELVE

Ochako woke up rested and more relaxed than she had in weeks. Only part of it had to do with her indiscretion at work the other day; she had made a decision. After Katsuki had disappeared the other night, she had gone into stalked mode. Google was a wonderfully dangerous tool, and no professional hero could completely avoid the media. Someone who was as flashy as the explosive Ground Zero definitely couldn't avoid the media, and his...abrasive...personality made the media love to hate him.

Ochako had read all that she could about him, she watched the various exposés that had been available to stream. They had all been hilariously bad, Katsuki did not play well with others and the patience that rarely lasted very long to begin with was almost nonexistent when a camera or microphone were shoved in his face. Most of what she was an annoyed man stomping off after yelling at people. Journalists and the paparazzi seemed to have some confidence that he wouldn't turn his explosive power on them, so they definitely tried to push his buttons for ratings. And, Ochako had to admit, it had been immensely entertaining.

She knew he had gone overseas after graduation and worked in Europe for a while. She had never been sure why, and there wasn't anything in the news about it, but it seemed like there had been a lot of work over there, which meant opportunities for him to improve. Something that always seemed to drive him. He was there for about nine years, and then sort of dropped off the scene for six months or so before turning back up in Japan. He had enough clout to open his own agency and he had done well. Well, he had done well enough to land him in this job after destroying one too many buildings.

She had been able to draw one conclusion: Bakugo Katsuki had no desire to be a teacher. His place was out there, and that was what he was focused on 100% of the time. In that way, he was like Deku. It wasn't surprising, they had both had the same goal—then again, hadn't they all?—to be the best there was. At first, this had depressed her. She did NOT want to go through the same thing with another man that she went through with Deku. The breakup had been drama free, but the realization that her presence in his life wasn't as important to him as his presence was important to her had hurt in a way she hadn't hurt before. She definitely didn't want to experience that again.

But she realized, it didn't have to be that. The only reason things had hurt with Deku was because they had wanted different things; and she hadn't known, or hadn't accepted, where his priorities had been. She had let herself fall in love, and that had been the mistake. Well, maybe not a mistake exactly, she thought. Ochako couldn't regret her time with Deku, the feelings that she had felt had been real and fulfilling. But with love came loss. Sometimes it just came sooner than later. But there was no requirement that enjoying time with someone meant you had to be in something that you were trying to build to last.

Who knows, maybe after some time at the school, she could decide to go overseas for a while. Maybe to America, they never seemed to have things exactly together, so there would be plenty of work. She didn't think she could do anything with Katsuki without caring for him, but there were all different kinds of affection, weren't there? It was possible to value something that you knew would be fleeting. In fact, you could enjoy something more knowing that it wouldn't last!

After coming to this decision, she had gone in search of Katsuki and realized that he was still out. Which meant she was the one in charge of rounding up twenty hyper students who were excited about starting a new school and convince them it was time to sleep. It had not been a particularly pleasant experience, and she had let him know exactly how displeased she was in a note. She went to bed and had one of the best sleeps she had had in a while.

She took a quick shower and then changed into the clothes that would work best for the exercises she had planned with Katsuki later in the morning. She then pulled on some sweatpants and a tank. The other outfit, while useful, wasn't exactly something she wanted to be wearing in front of a bunch of overly excited children.