Heartsick || An Izuku and Ochako story

Face the Music

Ochako wasn't lying when she said she was studying with Momo-san.

Unfortunately for her, she arrived at her friend's dorm a complete mess- twitching, darting her eyes back and forth, and tugging on her shorts nervously as she awaited Momo's appearance.

The black-haired beauty answered the door, wearing a yellow turtleneck and black tights with her locks up in their usual ponytail. She came with a bright and professional smile, then looked Ochako up and down and frowned.

"Uraraka-san, is there something wrong? You look skittish!" Momo observed.

Ochako gathered herself up in a feat of recollection before presenting her friend with a smile of her own. "I'm fine, Momo-san!" She replied with a reassuring tone. The poem lingered in her mind, but she attempted to shake it off. It didn't work, but the splendor of Momo's room certainly ceased the thoughts for a little while longer.

Momo nodded and opened the door wider, Ochako walking in. Light from the large window swallowed up the room, almost blinding her. Momo's large being-colored bed, with its sculpted designs and perfectly carved edges, looked as beautiful as the owner.

Ochako glanced over to the right of the bed and resisted the urge to gasp. A table with a simple white cloth draped over it displayed a tray of treats- scones, crumpets, and shortbread cookies in different shapes and sizes were presented artfully on the plate, along with a few jars of sweet-smelling jam and various clotted creams. Above the cookies rested two cups and a teapot, steam wafting up from the stout and a citrus aroma filling the air.

Ochako pressed her hands to her cheeks, absolutely appalled. "Yaomomo, what's all this?" 

Her friend walked with grace over to the table. "I thought we could eat while we worked," she replied sheepishly. "If you find it rather distracting, then I can-"

"O-oh no!" Ochako responded quickly. The idea of trying the different types of desserts was quite appealing to her, especially since she'd never enjoyed many as a child. "It's fine!"

Momo sat down on the bed, sinking into the soft mattress. Ochako relished the small moment in which she sat down as well, before pulling out her things and getting to work. Like her session with Deku, Momo was helpful with everything. After an hour or two, both girls had finished their work and were chatting over tea and scones.

Ochako spread a deep, violet-colored jam onto a scone before taking a bite of it and bobbing her head in obvious approval. "I've never had a jam like this before!"

Momo bit into a dry piece of shortbread, the crumbs collecting at her chin. "It's made of Moon Drop grapes," she explained. "They're quite sweet, perfect for jam!"

Ochako finished off the rest of her scone. "They wouldn't have to add much sugar for this, right?"

Momo nodded. "Since it has plenty of its own natural sugar, they don't need to put a lot in. It's a fast breakfast, too."

Ochako sighed before sipping her tea. For a moment, their conversation stopped, and her troubling thoughts took refuge in the silence. 

The poem they'd read and translated together wasn't one she'd enjoyed- it was beautiful and simple, but like a sharp blade, it had pierced her heart. Pierced her with how truthful, how honest it had been. 

Guilt hung over her, too. She couldn't eat in peace without thinking of Deku, who she'd left in a state of confusion in the common room. He didn't deserve her sudden disappearance. He'd tried to help her, and what did she do? Run off because of how hard reality slapped her. 

Ochako's tea burnt her tongue with a stroke of sour, and she swallowed fast. Momo gazed at her in concern. 

"Uraraka-san, are you okay? You didn't look in the right mind earlier."

She frowned and set her tea down on its saucer. "It's nothing, Yaomomo. It's just, I've been having difficulty managing feelings lately." 

Momo undid her ponytail, the long, lush black strands of hair falling down to her back. "Feelings? What kind?"

Ochako felt a flush of heat in her cheeks. "Stressful ones."

Momo ran her slender fingers through her dark hair, giving Ochako a knowing look. "We're all dealing with stressful feelings, as students often do. How you deal with them is key to making them leave you."

There was the problem. Ochako couldn't deal with these feelings. She had nothing for her heart to hold onto, nothing to cope with. Just the thought of being so powerless to her own feelings made her face twist with fury.

She quickly blew off the unexpected hostility and pouted at her feet. "Yaomomo, how do you deal with feelings that won't leave you? 

"I try to face them," she says, placing her hair back into a ponytail. "Then I see what to do from there."

"Face them?" Ochako asks. "How?"

Momo slid off the bed, brushing off any remaining biscuit crumbs. "That's for you to figure out, Uraraka."

Reality hit Ochako with yet another bruise as she left Momo's room in confusion. She had to face her feelings? How would she do that? Stand in front of a mirror and state, 'I am in love with Deku?'  What good would that do her? She wasn't denying these feelings. She acknowledged their existence, but they still swarmed around inside her, impatiently. 

They wanted to be released.

Ochako stood firm in the cold hallway, dorm doors on either side of her, each one signaling a decision. Was that the answer? Would she truly feel happy confessing to Deku and letting her feelings out, or would the possible rejection just make her feel worse?

She edged towards her dorm door, her stomach gurgling from something other than hunger. Her nervous and unprepared mind shrieked oppositions in her ears, but the words only traveled in and out the other. 

So many things could go wrong with this plan. This plan was wrong. But she would never feel better if she didn't do this, and there was no way she'd continue her years at UA always feeling so heartsick. 

She wrapped her hand around the cold doorknob of her room and yanked the door open. 

Her choice was made.