Garden of Green (MHA / IzuOcha)

The Third Petal

A/N: First off, I want to thank someone special. My editor, FanisAlefragis (Wattpad), who brought up becoming an editor / beta reader for me recently, really helped me out with this chapter. He reached out to me and has agreed to help me with my work from here on out. His pointers really shaped this chapter up to be something good. (Well, I mean, I hope its good—I'd love to hear what you guys think in the comments. I love reading readers' reactions and predictions as they follow along with the story, but of course nothing is mandatory. Just read and enjoy!)

I left you all on a cliffhanger last chapter, so here we go. What will Izuku's reaction be? To be honest, I'm not too proud of these first few sentences. Sorry if they make you cringe or sound a little awkward. The middle and onward of this chapter is much better in my opinion.

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Izuku stood in silence. He took a second to simply just breathe as Ochako's words refused to settle in at first, fleetingly floating in one ear and out the other.

He tilted his head, cheeks red. "But, Uraraka, that would mean... You'd have to have feelings for me."

"I know," she said.

It was only then that the rash reality of her remark hit him. His face lit up like a wildfire, and consequently, so did hers, hotter than she was willing to admit.

Izuku had to do multiple double takes to let those syllables marinate in his mind before they finally fully sank in. He shouldn't have been blushing right now, not when his best friend was dying, but in all honesty, half of him just couldn't quite believe it. He couldn't believe any of it.

"H-Huh?" he stuttered, stammered, psyche in shambles. He hid his head in his hands.

Ochako had a crush on him? Him, of all people? A once worthless Hero wannabe? He was so plain-looking, and in his eyes, nothing about him necessarily screamed attractive. So what was it that she saw in him—what was it that had her so drawn to him that she'd contracted such a deadly disease as Hanahaki? A part of him still wanted to believe she was lying, having a hard time telling the truth.

"Sorry for not telling you," she said, her voice rising from the dead. Her cheeks were no longer pale as they were in the morning but instead alive with a fiery flame. "I-I didn't want some stupid feelings to get in the way of our training, and, to be honest, I denied them for a while until"—she grabbed hold of her heart—"they were getting in the way of everything, everything, and I just couldn't continue with them anymore. And then I got Hanahaki last week, a-and I freaked out, and I knew I had to say something, and... And, well, here I am."

She had seen Izuku flustered before. She had seen him beyond flushed, toe to toe with the burning crimson red of the evil devil in hell. But this took whatever frustrations he was feeling to a whole new level—she was pretty sure he was about to combust.

He stuttered, stumbled, nearly fell face first onto the floor. "U-Uraraka, I-I didn't even realize. I'm sorry. Wait, a-are you sure? I mean, this is me, we're talking about—"

"Deku," she said, an irritated breath leaving her lips, "I promise you I'm sure."

"Ah, sorry!" he started. "Your life's on the line, and I'm worried about me! Oh, God, that's so selfish of me, isn't it? Um, I guess I'm just stunned, is all, a-and I don't really know what to think. I'm sorry. I'm a mess, I—"

"Deku, just... Listen, okay? You're getting ahead of yourself." Ochako sighed. She was already at her wits' end with this whole Hanahaki thing, and now Izuku, of all people, was getting on her last nerve, prompting her to take action. "Yes, I like you." She fumbled with her fingers, playing around with the padding. "I've... I've been in love with you for a while now. And I don't exactly know why, either. One thing I do know for certain, though, is that y-you're amazing. And I think that's why I fell for you in the first place. A-And you're not being selfish! You're just a little surprised, is all." She rubbed the back of her neck. "And I don't blame you. I hid these feelings for... for what has to be over a year. Sorry for just piling them up on you now."