Chapter Text
Ochako didn’t know what to think about the teenager at first. He had just showed up one day at a construction site, and claimed he wanted to help out. Her parents had nervously accepted the aid, because as much as they didn’t want to admit it, they were struggling financially (and Ochako knew she had to make it in the U.A. hero course to help them, but that meant she wouldn’t be around anymore).
She hadn’t actually interacted with him for a few weeks, having been told by her parents to focus on school rather than help out on the sites like she used to. Sometimes though, she would catch sight of him as she passed, his round face growing slimmer by the day as he bulked up. He seemed cheerful, getting along well with the actual, hired construction workers. He had a nice smile too.
The boy was a hard worker, enthusiastically transferring large bags of concrete and pushing wheelbarrows of dirt, even when the summer sun rose high above and beat down, cracking the earth and parching the throats of the adult workers Ochako had known since she was little.
It was on one of those hot days that Ochako had lingered, watching everyone struggle, coated in dirt and sweat, knowing she could make it easier. She had just taken a step into the work zone when she was tackled, pushed aside and rolling through the dust.
She blinked for a second, fighting back tears in response to the grit that stung her eyes, as she stared at the sky. ...What just happened? She’d pushed herself in a seated position, to see the green-haired boy crouched in front of her, panting slightly as rested his hands on the ground. She opened her mouth to yell at him, only to notice the large beam that had apparently fallen off the scaffolding. Glancing up, she saw the workers scrambling around, clearly panicked. Benrina Mani, one of the workers that she had known the longest called down to her worriedly.
“Are you alright, Shoujo?” She looked up and waved widely, hoping he got the message. She was too shaky to call out.
The boy in front of her whooshed out a loud breath. Turning a shaky smile up to her. “That was really dangerous, Uraraka-san! You should know not to step onto work zones without a helmet!”
She stared at him. “...You know me?”
He blinked at her, before jumping to his feet, and bowing hurriedly. “Of course! I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Midoriya Izuku! Your parents asked me if we’d talked, so that’s how I knew your name! I promise I’m not a stalker or anything!” He paused slightly, before his words picked up, becoming most uninterpretable. ; “I mean technically speaking I guess I kind of am a stalker since there is that other boy and also my notebooks and I follow heros around and sometimes other people but thats really only special circumstances and I don’t do it to be creepy but I guess most stalkers don’t do it to purposely be creepy but I mean I hope I’m not being a creep and--”
She watched him, dumbfounded as he rambled, not taking a second’s pause. “Um… breathe?” Ochako reminded timidly. His mouth shut with a click before he was bowing rapidly again.
“I’m sorry! I get it now--I am a creep.”
Ochako realized she was still sitting on the ground and pushed herself up to join him, bouncing happily. “No! It’s perfectly fine! You saved me, after all!” She smiled brightly. “Thank you Izuku-kun!”
“I-IZUKU-KUN??” He shrieked. She nodded, beaming, finger ip to her chin.
“Of course! You protected me, so we’re friends now!” She frowned slightly at the beam that lay innocently behind them. “If that had hit me, I might have been too injured to take the entrance exams…”
“Oh?” The boy perked up, eyes glinting brightly. “You’re applying to a hero school, right? UA?”
“Huh?” She gaped at him. “How did you know??” She hadn’t even told her parents yet, about UA. They thought she was applying to a hero school closer to their home, though she knew they would support her either way.
“You’re really fit!” He smiled, as if that wasn’t a little creepy. “And I’ve walked past you practicing with you’re quirk before…” he winced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to spy. It’s just a really cool quirk!”
“Oh…” Ochako deflated. “I don’t know. I get nauseous when I overuse it. Pretty lame, right?”
“Not at all!” Izuku enthused. “It’s just quirk strain, which happens to everyone! I’m sure that you could counteract it through pressure-point bands or pills for nausea, or you could just practice your resistance to it, which could be a bit… eh. I noticed that you stop when you get nauseous, which is good, but you should push yourself back to lifting stuff as soon as its gone, even if that only means lifting one thing! It will help train your resistance. Oh! And you should set up little air fields of small stuff and release it all to practice dodging it--that would be a great way of improving your situational awareness and ability to dodge so that--” he points at the beam, now being carried away by other workers-- “doesn’t happen again!”
Watching him enthuse over her quirk, Ochako beamed. It was so nice of him to make all these helpful suggestions!
“--and martial arts would be good since you have to get in close to use your quirk on someone!” He finished definitely.
“Aww…” She pouted. “I’ve wanted to take martial arts for years, but my parents couldn’t afford it.”
“I can teach you!” He smiled excitedly.
“...huh?”
• • •
She ended up taking him up on the offer, and he helped her train for a few weeks, following her to an empty field when his work at the construction site was done.
It turned out he was a really sweet, if awkward guy. At the same, there was something about his eyes, the way they darted around, taking everything in, and were filled with an analytical confidence that made her think he was a bit more than the dorkiness he usually showed.
She had noticed that he showed up at the construction sight early, and only went home really late. Sure, he didn’t come every day, but he was still a middle school student who had highschool coming up, so she didn’t see how he could be doing well in school. She had asked him once, but he brushed her off, mentioning he had chosen to test out of a few of his easier classes so he didn’t have to go to school as much. That certainly raised some questions--but also, was Izuku a genius or something? She wouldn’t have been surprised, not with that glint in his emerald eyes.
He was also great at fighting! Sure, he didn’t know the names of any of the moves he taught her, but Izuku moved with an ease that went beyond instinct, that she could just barely even imitate sloppily. She’d always been fairly comfortable in her agility, but she felt like an actual duck next to Izuku.
One day, she grew curious and asked him where he’d been taught. He had tensed and smiled awkwardly, not giving a real answer. Suspicious, but she trusted him. Instead, she asked why he was working in construction--it’s not like he was getting payed.
Izuku had shaken his head emphatically-- “No no, I am getting paid--in experience and a free work out!”
She’d blinked at him before bursting out into laughter. “You, hahaha, you mean you’re working for my parents because you needed a workout!?” She poked at his arm, noticing it was surprisingly firm for how small the boy looked. “Why a construction sight of all things?” she giggled.
“Oh!” He smiled proudly. “I can’t afford a gym membership, so I started cleaning up a local beach a few years ago, and I finally finished it, so I wanted to find something similar. The beach is really beautiful now!”
She stared at him. “...What sort of beach has stuff similar to lifting construction equipment?” Come to think of it, she’d seen him haul up one end of a full size beam--struggling, but like, that was still close to two hundred poinds--before the other workers had scrambled over and scolded him, pointing toward the crane they’d brought in, since it was difficult moving a beam with the ten or so people needed to lift it. Izuku had pouted, almost disappointed in himself. She wished she could tell him that unless he had a strength quirk, there was no chance he’d ever be able to lift a beam on his own.
Which actually--why did he want to be so strong anyway? “Are you applying to a hero school, too?” For the first time, Izuku’s smile fell, leaving a shadowed darkness behind in his expression that didn’t suit him.
“Um, no. I’m actually applying to Teitan Academy.”
She hummed. “I don’t think I’ve heard of that school.”
Nodding, he replied. “You wouldn’t have. It’s a bit elusive, but it’s the best of it’s kind.
“That’s great!” She cheered. “I hope you get in, Izu-kun!”
“You too, Uraraka-san!” Ochako smacked him on his shoulder, and he yelped, holding a hand to it.
“It’s Ochako to you, Mister!”
“Hai hai…”
• • •
Uraraka got into UA in the top ten, having used her new martial skills to take out dozens robots, and when the zero pointer came, she had no problem floating the rubble to keep other contestants out of harms way.
Izuku had disappeared from the construction sites a few weeks earlier, but in the mail with her acceptance letter, was a slip of parchment with a number on it in a familiar handwriting, "Congratulations" drawn with a big smily face.
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