The Gravity of the Situation
Karmahope

It was too quiet.

Her ears rang with the echoes of the crowd's roar in the silence of the waiting room. The sweat trickling down her brow from the heat of the battle served as a stark contrast to the chill of the metal chair beneath her. Her cellphone clutched in one hand, she lifted the other and watched as it trembled violently in the otherwise still air. Pink pads on dainty fingertips danced before her eyes, taunting her mercilessly.

With a brittle sigh, Ochako clenched her fist and pressed her forehead into the heel of her hand, her elbow propped up on the table in front of her. She fought to keep her breathing under control, but it was just as much a losing battle as the one out in the ring had been. The stillness of the waiting room shattered into breathy sobs.

She had lost.

Her stomach churned angrily. She didn't even have the chance to really use her quirk – why was she feeling this nauseous? She swallowed hard as her thoughts drifted back to the match she just came out of.

Todoroki stood before her. His hands hung down by his sides, palms out. He was prepared, but overall relaxed and utterly unconcerned. She remembered analyzing her surroundings. What had there been for her to use? The answer: not much. The ring was smooth and whole, and unlike her match with Bakugou the year before, it would stay that way. Todoroki's quirk wasn't as inherently destructive as Bakugou's, and he wouldn't give her the same rubble ammunition that Bakugou had. She could try using ice shards instead, but since he could melt them, it wouldn't be effective

That left her with only herself and Gunhead's martial arts training; that was, if she could get close enough to Todoroki to engage him in hand-to-hand combat. She had to get close enough. It was her only shot.

Bracing herself, she ran forward.

A sheet of ice shot toward her. Instead of changing course, Ochako tapped herself lightly and jumped, her quirk negating gravity's effect. Like the world's best long jumper, she sailed over the ice toward her opponent–

–Only to shriek and release herself as a fiery jet rocketed her way. She dropped like a rock, the lingering stench of burning hair a testament to how close she'd been to getting charbroiled.

Her remaining momentum carried her forward until she was close enough to land a flying kick as she came down. Todoroki brushed it aside easily, but she hadn't been deterred. In her fall, she managed to pick up some ice shards with her quirk. She hadn't known what to do with them at that point, but it was something

All she needed to do was get her hand on him to negate his gravity and throw him out of the ring!

But he knew this just as well as she did. Not a second later, a thick pillar of ice pummeled her full in the stomach. She was too close to get out of the way in time. It lifted her off her feet and flung her toward the edge of the rink. She released the collected ice shards in one last desperate strike, but a whoosh of flames rendered them harmless.

The buzzer went off. The match was done. In the end, it hadn't even lasted a full minute and a half.

There in the waiting room, Ochako's stomach lurched again. What a disgrace. She hadn't even been able to use her quirk to demonstrate a landing – as soon as she crossed the boundary, the pillar had turned into a gentle slide to let her down to the ground. Todoroki was serious about the Sports Festival and wasn't one to take it easy on her, but he cared about his friends.

As much as Ochako appreciated the gesture, it burned a little. She knew she had improved since last year's Sports Festival – in which she had nearly defeated Bakugou – and she had wanted so badly to do well this year.

A minute and a half.

At least her friends left her well enough alone as she trudged back to the waiting room. She remembered Deku had stopped in to visit her last year. It was sweet of him, but this time she didn't think she could fake the cheerfulness she would want him to see. Knowing Deku, he already knew that, and it was the very reason he was staying away.

She hadn't even called her parents yet, still clutching her phone like a lifeline.

She should do that.

Her fingers dialed the number from muscle memory. The ring of the phone was uncomfortably loud in her ear, but it didn't last long. One of her parents picked up before it could ring again.

"Sweetheart? Oh, Ochako, honey!"

Was that dismay in her mother's voice? It was. It had to be. But pity wasn't what she wanted right now. She didn't know what she wanted, but pity wasn't it.

"Mom," Ochako said, "I–"

She cut off mid-sentence as her throat closed up on her. Dammit, she thought she had already cried herself out! The telltale trickle down her cheeks said otherwise, and once again she fought to keep her breathing even.

"Hush, sweetie," her mother said. "It's gonna be alright. Your Pa an' I are incredibly proud 'a ya, an' don'tcha forget it."

Ochako swallowed hard and took a deep breath that shook a little. Even her mother, who had no hero training, could tell that the fight hadn't gone well. What on Earth must her friends think? Her teachers? The scouts? A fire fueled by resentment and frustration burned bright in her chest.

There was a long stretch of sob-broken silence as she tried to pull herself together. As much as she wanted to laugh her mother off, wanted to feign a confidence she didn't feel, she found herself asking, "… Why?"

Her mother went quiet on the other end of the line. "Whaddaya mean, 'why'?" she asked. "Why wha'?"

"Why're you proud 'a me?" Ochako asked, her voice barely audible through her tears. "I didn' do well at all! I did even worse 'n last year even though I've worked so hard t' get better an' I was so sure I'd be able t' advance this year …"

In her distress, she slipped into the local Kansai dialect her parents used, losing the neutral Tokyo accent she had fought so hard to cultivate over the years. She let it happen; she didn't need to keep up appearances with her parents.

"Ochako." Her mother's tone was razor sharp. "Don' you dare go puttin' yourself down like tha' – she's askin' me why we're proud 'a her, that's what!"

The last part was muffled, as though she were talking to someone beside her instead. There was soft clunking over the line as the phone changed hands, and suddenly it was her father on the other end instead.

"Ochako, hon. I know 's hard right now, but this isn' the end 'a the world. 'S not even the end 'a the line."

Ochako burst into a fresh wave of sobs at the sound of her father's voice. "My match lasted a minute an' a half, Pa. Nine'y seconds an' I was done. I didn' even get a good hit in, let alone use my quirk! I was jus' an … annoying fly or somethin'! What scouter's gonna wan' a fly?"

"But ya didn' fly las' year," her Pa said, stopping her short. "Ya might not 'a used your quirk much but ya used it differently 'n las' year, didn'tcha?"

Ochako blinked back tears as she considered his words. She loved her Ma to pieces, but her Pa was the one who always managed to say what it was she needed to hear. She tried to pull herself together once again.

"Yeah, you're right," she conceded once she felt like she could speak. "I did do somethin' new, didn' I?"

"Yeah ya did!" her Pa enthused. "It was all like, whoosh there she goes! That's our li'l girl flyin' 'cross tha' field! An' the way ya dodged tha' fire was amazin'. You're doin' fine, Ochako. And like your Ma said, 's not the end 'a the line. Ya still got one more year, right?"

Ochako smiled. "Yeah, I do."

"Then knock 'em dead next year, hon. T' world just doesn' know wha' Uravity's got in store for 'em yet."

Bolstered by her parents' words, Ochako took a walk around the stadium and pulled herself together in time to see the last of the preliminary matches. Climbing the stands to where her friends sat, she looked down to see Kirishima facing off against Kendou Itsuka from class 2-B. Although he couldn't hear her, she sent a silent word of encouragement his way.

"Ochako!"

Ochako turned to see Tsuyu waving at her from a couple rows up. Beside her, Mina grinned and patted the open seat on her other side. The rest of the class was clustered in the same area, save for those who either just fought or were up next. Her heart lifted at the sight of them.

"Hey guys," she said when she got close, waving a little. "Sorry it took me so long to get back up here! I got a little distracted." The giggle that followed wasn't quite natural, but it wasn't quite forced, either.

Tsuyu hit her with a flying tackle hug. Ochako shrieked and a real laugh escaped her as she braced herself to keep them both from falling down the stands. She squeezed her friend tight, then put her down.

"What was that for?" she asked, grinning.

Tsuyu shrugged. "You looked like you needed it, ribbit. I have to go – my match is next – but I wanted to see you before I went."

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Tsuyu won her match against Ojirou, and her next match was against … Bakugou. Yikes. "Good luck!"

"Thanks," Tsuyu said as she turned to leave. "I'll need it, ribbit."

Ochako took Tsuyu's seat next to Mina just in time to see Kendou bitch-slap Kirishima out of the ring. She winced. That had to hurt, but she didn't know who it hurt more. It was a hell of a slap, but Kirishima's quirk made him sharp.

"Aaand Kirishima Eijirou is OUT!" Present Mic's voice reverberated through the stadium. "Kendou Itsuka from Class 2-B moves on!"

She watched as Kendou helped Kirishima up, but a tap on her shoulder ripped her attention from the ring. She whipped around to meet mismatched eyes.

"Oh! Todoroki!" She sighed. "You startled me."

"Sorry," he said, not all that apologetically. "Are your ribs okay? I hit you pretty hard."

Ochako smiled. Despite her frustration with herself, she didn't harbor any hard feelings toward Todoroki. He had took the match seriously – took her seriously. How could she complain about that when the alternative would have been for him to take pity on her and play with her a bit before taking her out? The answer: she couldn't.

"I'm fine! You sure knocked the wind out of me, but I didn't even need to see Recovery Girl!" She was bruised as all hell, but nothing was broken. If her injury started to hinder her performance in class over the next couple days, then she'd go to Recovery Girl. But only then.

The ghost of a smile crossed Todoroki's face. "That's good. I'm glad to hear it." He pushed himself to his feet. "Sorry to leave so abruptly, Uraraka, but I've got to go prepare for my next match as well."

Ochako wished him luck and turned back around to watch Tsuyu and Bakugou face off against each other. As much as she wanted Tsuyu to win, she knew Bakugou would come out on top in this one.

Which he did, although Tsuyu put up a good fight. Their classmates gasped as Bakugou helped Tsuyu to her feet and handed her off to the tournament medics, but Ochako just smiled. The boy had learned some human decency in the last year, after all.

Up next was Todoroki versus Shiozaki Ibara, the girl from class 2-B with the vine quirk. Ochako didn't need Deku's analytical skills to know how that fight would turn out. Fire and vines were not a forgiving combination.

Actually, speaking of Deku, where was he? Ochako said hello to him that morning, but then he ran off somewhere and she hadn't seen him for longer than a brief moment since. He apparently got into the battle tournament, and according to the bracket he won his match against Tokoyami. He was supposed to fight Mina next, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Have you seen Deku?" she asked the girl in question. "You're supposed to be facing him after Todoroki's match, right?"

Mina shivered. "Don't remind me," she groaned. "But no, now that you mention it, I haven't. Kaminari? Iida? Have either of you seen Midoriya?"

"I saw him kick Tokoyami and Dark Shadow's collective ass earlier," Kaminari said, "but no, I haven't seen him outside of the ring since this morning."

"This is most peculiar," Iida stated. "I am concerned for Midoriya's wellbeing. Should we look for him?"

Ochako hummed absently as she turned it over in her head. "Well, if Deku's hiding, it's probably because he doesn't want to see anyone," she said. "If he doesn't show up for Ashido's match, then we'll look for him. Sound good?"

Those around her murmured their assent, and she pushed it from her mind. Turned out, she didn't need to worry. Todoroki's match went much the way she thought it would, and Deku showed up for his match with Mina.

The Deku-Mina fight was more evenly matched than the Todoroki-Shiozaki fight, although that didn't necessarily mean much. Mina used a weak acid to her advantage in dodging and blocking Deku's attacks, and coated herself in a more corrosive acid that burned Deku's pant legs when he did get hits in. Unfortunately, she wasn't a match for his pure strength. Deku walked away the winner.

"It's weird, though," Mina said as she rejoined them. "I feel like I did way better than I should have, knowing Midoriya."

"Do you think he went easy on you?" Kirishima asked. "That's not very manly of him."

Beside him, Bakugou scoffed and muttered something under his breath. Knowing Bakugou, Ochako ignored him.

"I … don't think so?" Ashido said.

Curiouser and curiouser. Deku hadn't joined them after his match with Ashido, either, and now Ochako was starting to worry. She'd go find him after this match. She would've gone sooner, but watching Kendou swat at Iida like one would an increasingly annoying fly was too funny.

As soon as Iida was declared the victor, Ochako excused herself to the bathroom and made her way down the stadium steps.

She found Deku huddled under a blanket in Recovery Girl's office. He stared back at her, clearly surprised to see her there. That stung a little. Had he honestly thought she wouldn't go looking for him?

"U-Uraraka!"

"Is this where you've been all day?" she asked as she closed the door behind her. "We've been worried about you!"

"Haha, yeah, sorry," Deku said, not quite meeting her eyes. "Um, you probably shouldn't come any closer."

Ochako stopped in her tracks. "What? Why? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

She cast a critical eye over her friend, taking note of the water bottle, tissue box, and wastebasket of discarded tissues she hadn't noticed at first glance. Taking a closer look at Deku, she saw he was paler than usual, the circles beneath his eyes more pronounced. The sheen of sweat covering his face glistened under the fluorescent light.

"You're sick." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah." Deku sneezed as if to drive the point home.

"Bless you."

"Uhg, thanks." He sniffed. "I noticed I was coming down with something a couple days ago, and I tried to stop it, but I woke up this morning with a splitting headache and an awful fever. I didn't think I was gonna be able to compete at all!"

Ochako perched on a chair in the corner of the small room. "Couldn't you just see Recovery Girl? You're in her office."

Deku laughed, but it devolved into a coughing fit. "I did," he said as soon as he was able. "I went to her first thing, but it turns out she's better with injuries than illnesses. She can help illnesses, but it's apparently even more tiring. If she'd healed me entirely, I would have slept right through the Festival."

"And of course you couldn't do that," Ochako mused, more to herself than anything. "I get that. Hell" – she laughed – "I probably would've done the same thing! Could she help a little, at least?"

"Yeah," Deku said. "She helped with my headache and brought my fever down to a more manageable level. Other than that, though, it's been cold medicine and rest for me today."

"I guess it makes sense that you'd keep your distance from us today, if you didn't want to get us sick," Ochako said. "Oh! Should I tell the others? They're starting to worry as well."

"No!" Deku yelped, waving his hands at her. "I mean, I–I don't want them to worry about me. They should be enjoying the Festival!"

Once upon a time, Ochako would have taken him at his word; however, she'd been his best friend for over a year at this point. She could tell when he was hiding something from her. As she tried to figure out what it could be, her thoughts went back to the bracket lineup.

Ah. That was probably it. Her fist smacked her open palm.

"You're avoiding Bakugou, since at this point you could be facing him either in the final or the third place match," she declared. "You don't want him to know you're sick, because if he knows, he won't be satisfied with the results of the match no matter what happens. If he wins, he'll have only beaten you because you're not at the top of your game. If he loses, he'll have lost to you while you're not at the top of your game." Deku blinked at her, and she grew self-conscious. "Am I right?"

"Uh, yeah. That's, um, exactly it," he said. "Unless anything drastic happens, we're probably going to meet in the third place match. My reflexes aren't what they need to be in order to beat Iida right now, and Todoroki has a score to settle with Kacchan from last year."

Ochako nodded and changed the subject. Kind of. "So you think the final is going to come down to Iida and Todoroki? Who's going to win?"

"Iida," Deku said without hesitation. "It was a year ago today that his brother was attacked by Stain. He took up the name Ingenium, and he's desperate to show the world that he can live up to his brother's legacy."

Ochako remembered that incident, albeit not well. She knew it resulted in Deku, Iida, and Todoroki getting caught up with the villain somehow, but she had never gotten the details. She probably never would. But speaking of Todoroki …

"You think he can beat Todoroki?"

She hated the way her heart skipped a beat when Deku huffed a laugh and smiled as though he knew something she didn't. She pushed it down and ignored it. She didn't need this today.

"Todoroki knows how important this win would be to Iida, and besides, there's nothing that would piss off his father more than if he came in second. Again."

Ochako didn't know the full story behind Todoroki's strained relationship with Endeavour, and again, she probably never would; however, she was neither dumb nor unobservant. Endeavour was the only hero about whom Deku didn't speak with near-reverent respect and admiration despite his having been number one for a while now. It took a lot for Deku to lose respect for a hero, and there was nothing he was more protective of than his friends.

But it wasn't her place, so she let it go without question.

The door burst open, causing them both to jump. Upon the realization that it was just Recovery Girl returning from an errand, Ochako let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Oh, Uraraka!" Recovery Girl said. "Hello, dear. Did you need anything? That was a nasty hit you took out there."

"No I'm fine, thank you!" Ochako chirped. "It's just some bruising. I actually came looking for Deku; we've been worried about him."

"Ah, yes. Nasty thing, colds. Actually, dear" – she directed toward Deku – "if you're still hiding, you should probably get a move on. Bakugou and Todoroki are set to start their match in a minute, and knowing those two, someone is going to end up in here afterwards."

"R-Right!" Deku said, removing the blanket from his shoulders and folding it. "Thank you, Recovery Girl!"

The old woman fixed him with a stern eye. "You've got to promise me you're going to take care of yourself after this," she said. "I can't believe I'm still letting you compete."

"I'll make sure he gets the rest he needs," Ochako offered. She shot Deku a sly glance. "I'll tell Iida too."

Deku blanched at the thought of how their slightly (read: very) overbearing friend would take the news of his illness and subsequent recklessness. Ochako stifled a laugh.

They ducked out of Recovery Girl's office. They walked together for a bit, chatting about nothing in particular, but eventually split – Deku to one of the waiting rooms, and Ochako back to the stands.

The rest of the Sports Festival went almost exactly how Deku predicted.

Todoroki won his match against Bakugou. Despite his loss, the gleam in Bakugou's eyes and the relative lack of Baku Rage Aura told Ochako he considered it a good fight. This was good, for everyone's sake. No one wanted a repeat of last year.

Iida won his match against Deku. Deku was right – in this state, he was no match for Iida's speed. Still, Ochako had to commend him for his strength. If she didn't already know he was horrendously sick, she wouldn't have guessed it just from watching him in the ring. Had he been up against anyone else, he would have had a fighting chance. Iida was just too fast for his foggy brain to keep up with.

Unfortunately, he didn't get much of a break before facing off against Bakugou for the third place title.

The third place match was … something. It was easily the most explosive, brutal, high-impact match of the day. There was a sense of desperation to it that the others didn't have, and Ochako knew – perhaps all of 2-A knew – it was because both parties had too much to prove to one another.

For a good five minutes, the two appeared to be locked in stalemate. Had Ochako breathed in those five minutes? She must have, but she didn't feel like it. Eventually, though, Deku's guard faltered for a split second. It was all the opening Bakugou needed.

Deku fell.

He tried to push himself to his feet, but his arms gave out and he gave up. Ochako sighed as the medic bots came to collect him. At least it was over.

Down on the field, Bakugou stared as Deku was carted away. It took some incredibly insistent ushering to get him to leave the ring so it could be repaired in time for the final match. Ochako couldn't even begin to guess what he was thinking. He wasn't yelling, which could be good … or it could be very, very bad.

She didn't have time to dwell on it, as Cementoss repaired the ring and Iida and Todoroki filed on shortly thereafter.

The final match wasn't nearly as intense as the one before it. In fact, it felt more like an elaborately choreographed dance than the death match they just witnessed. Recalling Deku's words from earlier, Ochako watched Todoroki with great interest.

"Wow," she said, mostly to herself. "That's crazy! He's not even breaking a sweat!"

Mina overheard her. "There's a reason he's the strongest, most attractive guy in our class," she gushed.

Ochako hummed in acknowledgement, her mind elsewhere as she watched the fight before her. Todoroki wasn't playing with Iida, per se, nor was he necessarily going easy on him. A year ago Ochako would have taken the fight at face value, but at this point she had listened to Deku analyze so many fights beside her that it was easy to see Todoroki wasn't taking the kill shots he could have to win the match.

It was clear: Todoroki wanted to come in second place.

"Come on, Iida!" she screamed, jumping to her feet with a hand cupped beside her mouth. "You can do it!"

Her shout was lost in the roar of the crowd. She sat back down, ignoring questioning looks from both Mina and Kaminari. A tap on her shoulder brought her around to face Tsuyu.

"You think he's going to win, ribbit?" Tsuyu asked.

"Yeah, I–"

"Whooaah, look at that!"

Kirishima's shout startled her out of her train of thought. She looked back at the ring, and her jaw dropped.

Todoroki was a blazing inferno. Iida ran tight circles around him, stirring up a swift circular breeze that Todoroki's flames rode high up into the air. Together, they had created an impressive fire cyclone.

They kept it going for several seconds, no doubt proud of what they had done. Despite training to be heroes, the two were still teenage boys. The crowd oohed and ahhed, and the pair reveled in the attention.

Then, Iida changed trajectories and knocked Todoroki clean out of the ring.

The buzzer sounded. Their second Sports Festival was over.

"AND we have our champion, Iidaaaaa TENYAAAA – HERO INGENIUM!"

The crowd went wild.

That evening, Ochako and Deku dragged Iida out to get ice cream in order to celebrate his win. Deku looked much better after a serious healing and a long nap, but he was still sniffly and doing his best to hide it. Iida protested, horrified that Deku wanted to leave the dorms in his condition, but was eventually swayed.

"Congratulations, Iida!" Ochako cheered as they sat down at a table with their ice cream. "You were amazing out there! You were all like, fwoosh, and then – kaPOW!"

The two boys laughed. "Thanks, Uraraka," Iida said. "It certainly felt that way – although I know I would not have won had Midoriya been well."

Deku smiled weakly. "Y-You don't know that," he said. "I think we're pretty evenly matched! I mean, yeah, my quirk is super powerful, but that power doesn't matter if I can't hit you and you're super-fast. Plus there's the fact I've only been fighting with my legs for about eight months now, and you've been fighting that way the entire time, and–"

"Midoriya." Iida cut him off. "You're going off on a tangent again."

"Eheh, sorry…"

"So maybe I would have won," Iida conceded. His tone became officious. "But what were you doing, fighting like that when you were so ill! You should have been resting! Relaxing! Nothing is more important than your health! You should know that by now, Midoriya! And yet you fought four matches! This was extremely irresponsible of you."

His arms flailed with his words, and it was Ochako's turn to laugh. "You think Deku would let something like a cold stop him? He's Deku – Dekiru – he can do it!"

Deku flushed under her praise. She flashed him a cheeky smile, once again ignoring the traitorous thump in her chest.

"You're right." Iida sighed the long-suffering sigh of a put-upon friend. "You're absolutely right. But," he said, addressing Deku, "you're drinking fluids, taking cold medicine, and going to bed as soon as we get back to the dorms."

"Y-yes, sir!" Deku squeaked.

The three sat in companionable silence as they ate their ice cream. They had considered inviting some of their other friends out with them, but Deku was still trying to hide the fact he was recovering from a cold. Besides, it had been a while since they had last hung out, just the three of them.

Iida sighed again, breaking the silence. His hands cupped his ice cream bowl, his left index finger tapping the flimsy cardboard. "I know that I might not – would not – have won our match, Midoriya, had you been on top of your game today, just as I know that Todoroki let me win my match against him."

"Iida–" Deku said, his voice soft.

Iida interrupted him and pressed on, his fingers now tapping rhythmically against the tabletop. "I know I should not have won the tournament today, and yet, somehow, that has not ruined it for me. I stood up there on that platform, with my brother's name, and announced to the world that his legacy lives on."

"That's right," Ochako said on an exhale. "Your brother … That was a year ago today, wasn't it?"

She knew it was. She and Deku had just talked about it earlier today, in Recovery Girls' office, but she felt like she needed to say something. She felt like Iida needed her to say something.

"Yes, it was." Iida had begun clenching and unclenching his fist as he talked. "He's doing a lot better now; he actually came to watch the matches today. And he saw me, up there, on that podium." He was openly fighting back tears at this point. "You have no idea just how much that meant to me."

He turned to Deku and bowed sharply in his seat. "I will never, ever say this again, but thank you for getting incredibly sick today!"

Deku leaned back, waving his hands frantically. "No, no, it's okay! Y-You're welcome, I guess!"

They fell silent again as Iida took a minute to compose himself.

"I … I saw that Todoroki wasn't taking any kill shots," Ochako offered tentatively. "I think I've accidentally picked up a lot from Deku muttering into my ear during training battles!"

Deku flushed again. "Sorry about that," he said, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I can't help it sometimes."

"No, it's not a bad thing! By all means, keep doing it!" she insisted. "I actually learned something! I only wish I'd been able to apply it more in my own match."

She tried so hard to keep her voice from falling, but she knew she failed when the boys' faces crumpled. Shit. That was pity. She didn't want pity; she was just stating a point!

"Yeah, I saw you got paired up with Todoroki for the preliminaries," Deku said. "How'd that go, anyway? You didn't tell me anything about it."

Ochako winced. "Not … great," she admitted. Suddenly, her ice cream was the most interesting thing in the room. "It was over pretty quick."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

She shook her head emphatically. "Don't be!" she insisted. "He's a better fighter, and the fact is his quirk is just stronger than mine. I never actually thought I'd win that match!"

She just thought she'd last a little longer.

"Uraraka!" Iida scolded. "Don't put yourself down like that! Your quirk is plenty strong, and you've done just as much training as the rest of us! You floated yourself over that ice, which you couldn't have done last year!"

Ochako nodded. "Yeah, I know. My parents pointed that out to me, too."

"It was just some bad luck that you got Todoroki in the first draw," Deku said, leaning forward in his chair. Then he sat back. "Huh. You really do have bad luck. You drew Kacchan in the first round last year, and Todoroki this year."

Ochako nodded again, but stopped as Deku's words registered. They originally made her feel better, but the more she mulled over them, the more they bothered her.

Was that really all it was?

"Luck?" she asked, unable to stop herself. Her throat constricted as she worked through the sudden overwhelming emotion. "So you're saying I should rely on luck to win my battles for me?"

"That's not what I meant–"

"Then what did you mean?" Ochako demanded. The ball of fire that had been sitting in her chest since her match that morning grew tighter and hotter, and it burned her heart. "Because okay, what if I hadn't drawn Todoroki, and I'd gotten Tsuyu instead? If I'd won that match, and maybe the ones after, I would have eventually come up against Todoroki, or you, or Iida, or Bakugou, and I would have been just as screwed!"

Deku gaped at her like a fish, for once in his life lost for words. Iida, on the other hand, stared at her as though she had grown a second head.

She should stop. Deku hadn't meant what he said in the way she was interpreting it. He didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of her ire at herself for not being good enough. But that ball of fire grew tighter and hotter and tighter and hotter until the only thing left for it to do was go supernova.

"It's easy for you to say, 'it's just bad luck,' because you don't have to rely on luck! You're in the top four! Untouchable, unbeatable to anyone except each other. You're always striving for the top, and what can I do? I can only hope to keep up with the average, maybe the slightly above average, if I'm lucky. And there it is again! Luck!"

It was only when she stopped talking that she realized her volume had gone above what was considered acceptable, that she was standing, and that she was making a scene in the ice cream parlor. She sat down abruptly, her face bright red.

"Neither of you lay awake in bed at night wondering if you were born enough for this life. Wondering if your quirk is really cut out for hero work. Wondering if – if after all the hard work and training you've put in – wondering if all your accomplishments can be chalked up to luck."

The supernova fizzled out, and all she was left with was a gaping black hole where her anger used to be. She was going to cry, and she could not – would not – let them see her cry. She was weak enough already, not to mention the fact she had just ruined Iida's celebration ice cream.

"I'm sorry," she said, grabbing her purse and her empty ice cream container. "I'm just– Gonna go."

And so she did, and left two absolutely dumbfounded boys in her wake. Neither of them chased after her, and she fought the prickle of tears all the way back to Heights Alliance.

It was only once she was safely ensconced in her room that she allowed them to fall.

A/N:

In honor of Ochako's birthday, I'm posting this today. I don't know when I'll update next but I will.

You can find me on tumblr ( karmahope. tumblr ), on the Camp Kacchako Discord ( discord. gg/ EwBFYQX)! I also have my own Discord server ( discord. gg/ E5rT8kH), since I've heard that's a thing some authors do. If you want to discuss this fic or any of my other fics more in detail, come join me!