Ochako

Two

Ochako is not quite sure when she realizes that being in Class 1-A is a bad thing. It's like her whole life she spends pushing herself to get in, but the moment the news comes that she's been accepted, her world shatters. She sobs and trembles with fear, because she knows now that she is doomed. Her fate has been sealed in this class of despair and she is bound to a fate of villains reaching out for her friends until everyone she loves are turned to nothing more than specks in the wind.

At first, she wants to reject going to UA. If she never goes, she'll never become intertwined in the mess that is Class 1-A. She won't have to suffer (to watch her friends suffer). But she watches her mother's face light up in a way it hasn't in years as the hologram tells her she's been accepted, and something inside Ochako aches, because her mother never quite recovered from the first time Ochako woke up screaming bloody murder, at the tender age of 4. This is the first time in so long that her mother has really looked alive.

Her second thought is that she should just conveniently miss all the occurrences of the villains. Skip the USJ, skip the training camp, do an internship far away from Hosu, look after the people in the hospital while everyone else is at Kamino. It will be hard but she could do it. Except that it won't save her from the pain of losing her friends to the villains. It won't help her when All Might falls or every time Midoriya breaks his bones. It won't help if Bakugo is kidnapped or if any of the other incidents pertaining to her classmates still happen. All it will do is bring her more grief.

So, Ochako resigns herself to misery and smiles at her mother's excited babbling.

"You're going to become a hero! Oh, I'm so proud of you, baby." And to her mother's credit, she really does look proud. For some reason, it makes Ochako feel like crying all over again.

Her dad is just as excited when he finds out. He picks her up in a way that makes her feel like a kid again, beaming as he spins her around in the air.

"I knew you could do it, my little mochi cake! You're going to be a wonderful hero!" He booms, grin brighter than the sun. Ochako smiles softly.

"Thanks, tou-san," she murmurs. He cradles her closer.

"My amazing little mochi cake. You're going to save so many people. I'm proud of you."

Ochako's first day of school is disconcerting, to say the least. She steps into the classroom to see the boy who saved her in the entrance exams being harassed by a boy with blue hair. She opens her mouth, vision splitting away until she's watching from the third person—

"Ah that curly hair, it must be... Plain-looking boy! You got in, just like Present Mic said! Makes sense though, that punch was awesome!"

—and closes it. With shaky steps, she pushes past the two without a word, sluggishly making her way to her desk and collapsing in her seat. She blinks a few times to refocus her vision and feels nauseas.

"If you're here to socialize, then get out," A voice interrupts. Everyone looks to the front of the room where a man is inching across the floor in his yellow sleeping bag and sucking on a juice pouch. It's silent as he wriggles his way into a standing up position and sheds his sleeping bag like a snake moulting.

"It took eight seconds for you to quiet down. Time is a precious resource. You lot aren't very rational, are you? I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Pleased to meet you. Quickly now, change into your gym clothes and head out to the grounds."

"A Quirk assessment!?" The class exclaims as soon as they've all changed and gathered outside. Ochako stares numbly.

"Aren't we supposed to attend an entrance ceremony?" She mumbles to herself absently. Aizawa-sensei shoots her a dry look.