Heartsick || An Izuku and Ochako story

Failure

Deku was doing good so far- the walls weren't too slippery so his boots had plenty of grip to jump back and forth. The water behind him zipped up and splashed against the maze. His breaths were shaky and deep; he sucked in large amounts of air between each jump.

For a long while, Izuku didn't hear Uraraka's voice through whatever speakers she was using- either he was going so fast that much time hadn't passed, or his coach was busy doing something else.

 Cold water sprinkled through the air like rain and speckled Izuku's face, almost clouding up his eyes so much that he missed the first practice dummy. It was a bare and lifeless mannequin, with two dots and one single frown on its face. He couldn't help but laugh at Ochako's antics.

"Seven minutes remaining!" Said Ochako, who was watching intently at what her friend was doing. 

"He's found the first victim!' She exclaimed. Although she felt herself swell with unfamiliar pride that her planned exercise was working, she couldn't help but have it smothered by curiosity. He already looked exhausted from jumping off the walls- what would he do now?

Unbeknownst to Ochako, Izuku had much more energy that morning, due to his sleeping early after the ridiculous study session he'd had with the guys. If he could limit the amount of energy he used with each leap, he could get to the second practice mannequin without activating float.

He de-activated One For All and sank to the ground, splashing into the chilly water and making his way to the dummy. He tugged on its arm. It didn't move.

He tugged again, this time with more force. The doll was nudged a bit, and with a final burst of unexpected effort, Izuku slung the body over his shoulder. Immediately, his back began to ache and he was starting to sink from the added weight.

'What?' He wondered. 'It shouldn't be this heavy!'

His back groaned and sank even further. Thinking on his feet, Izuku quickly began running off the walls again at an alarming speed, well aware that going this fast would mean losing energy even faster. Luckily for him, he was only going so fast as to find the next dummy- which was perched against a wall and had a bright grin on it that reminded him of Ochako's smile.

The next time he de-activated One For All, he completely lost his footing and collapsed into the water. A rush of the freezing liquid went up his nose and completely blurred his eyes. Izuku weakly swam up to the surface, coughing and breathing heavily, trying to rid his nose of the water. 

His body braced itself for the impact of the second dummy, which almost seemed to be heavier than the first. His back sagged and bent down. There was no way he could use his earlier methods- it was time to activate float.

Deku jumped up, using One For All, and scanned the surrounding area. The jump drained more of his energy, but it was worth it. Just over the wall was the next dummy- and a bit farther away was the exit!

"Oops, sorry!" Ochako blurted through the speakers. " I left for a moment to get some water. You have four minutes left!"

Izuku couldn't help but panic. Four minutes? That wouldn't be enough time, for sure. He would just have to improvise.

Powering up One For All, he made one large leap over the wall. Unfortunately, he didn't land in the water as he had expected, but rather right on top of the mannequin.

"Ahh-!" He yelled, but then shut his mouth as he crashed into the practice dummy and the freezing water engulfed him. For a moment, he couldn't see anything. Just dark blue water, swirling around him like a whirlpool. Izuku could feel himself being sucked to the bottom, and he was sinking fast.

Groping the water, he hurried and attempted to grab all the dummies in his hands. With one big, internal moan, Izuku began his journey to the surface. The surface that seemed like it was getting farther and farther away, the light dimming instead of getting brighter.

The dummies in his hands were close to slipping off, and the pain was affecting his entire body. 'Let go!' his biceps screamed. Ignoring the aching bones and muscles, Izuku thought furiously on how he was to activate float. 

The tugging sensation filled, even more, the further up he swam. Light from the faint dawn sun shined through the USJ sparkled and glistened on the water. 

With a final leap, he crashed through the water, all three dummies in hand. Soaring through the air, he spotted the exit and aimed for it. 

"I did it!" he exclaimed. It was then that Izuku felt the nostalgic fondness of accomplishment, one he'd felt several times during his ten-month training regime. The wind was playing with his hair and the cool breeze pressed against his face. He felt like a human bullet, but not going as fast. 

The joy ended when he dove face-first through the exit door, sliding onto the concrete.

"Ouch..." he murmured, rubbing his chin. That would definitely leave a mark, but nothing could dampen his happiness. He had achieved activating float. A pair of sneakers walked in front of him, a paper in hand.

He glanced up, his chin in agony. Ochako winced at the painful-looking bruise but commenced with announcing his scores.

"Good job, Deku! You rescued all three victims and activated float." She read, taking a sip of the water in her hand and licking her lips. She had a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Unfortunately, you failed to do it within the time limit," she declared. "That means you failed."

Izuku's heart plummeted.