"What," Izuku struggled to say the simplest words without stuttering, "What do you mean?"

He tried to chuckle, but it sounded awkward. "You said something similar the other day too," he said, finding no better timing then now to ask her.

He was curious. Why would she call him cool and amazing? All he did was annoy Katsuki and ramble on about her quirk's potential in his perspective.

"Huh?"

Ochako had to think first, but she figured out what he was referring to quickly. She smiled, averting her eyes somewhere else.

"Oh, you meant that day I asked you about your quirk," she paused to glance at him, but found herself looking away bashfully, "This may sound twisted, because you earned your reputation through being a villain. But, I just thought that, it was pretty cool how strong you are even though you don't have a quirk."

Izuku blinked, at a loss for words.

Is that what she thought?

He was the one who looked away this time, but for some reason, something nagged him to look at her again. He tried not to listen to that small voice in his head. "Well, honestly, it's just that I learned how to survive and utilize what I have," he mumbled.

He wasn't certain if she could hear him.

"It wasn't strength, more like smarts," he said. "Though it can only get you so far. I got captured, after all."

"What do you mean? I saw you just now! You were able to dodge everything so easily. Plus, what you told me was so helpful - I couldn't make out everything but still!"

A smile slowly crept onto Izuku's lips. He scoffed from amusement, but his face was slightly tilted down as he peered his side.

"This might sound insensitive, but - when you were captured and send to U.A - you were given another chance. One where you can use your skills as a hero," she said.

Unexpectedly, and to Izuku's surprise, she took both of his hands. They could both feel the warm sensation from the gesture. Ochako had no idea what overcame her to do something this bold, but she lost all logical thinking when her fingers were interwined.

Perhaps, she thought, it was one of those 'spur of the moment' things. Mentally nodding to this excuse, she decided that was what it was and found herself smiling brightly.

In Izuku's eyes, he swore he saw a halo above her head and pure light radiating off of the girl before him, holding his hands.

His eyes played tricks on him, because he thought he had seen angel wings fluttering behind her. And the feathers were falling too and sparkling, like her eyes--

Oh gosh.

He felt that prickling heat, mainly on his face. That weird feeling in his stomach was back too.

Izuku leaned away from her, unable to decide if he should let go or stay like this.

"Deku, you can do it!" Ochako exclaimed.

But when she took a good look at him, she saw his face twisted in a weird grimace as if he ate a lemon and blinded himself.

"What's with that ugly face!?"

The world turned back to normal when they heard the doors open and yelling from someone that earned Izuku's interest.

His name was Neito Monoma.

The Class 1B student was shouting about something. Izuku heard the jist of what he was boasting about.

He had to admit that Monoma was very different from what he saw in the sports festival. He was smart, cool and had a good amount of confidence. It was quite the opposite of what Izuku was seeing now.

This is amusing to watch. It makes me curious.

The wierd feeling in his stomach was lingering around, so he thought the best decision was distracting himself. Indulging into his own twisted thoughts of potential fun had been the cure.

Izuku smiled sweetly, and Uraraka immediately felt hesitant. She had another bad feeling he was up to something.

"You're pretty busy practicing! I'll go back to All Might and Shinso!" He exclaimed in a voice full of honey and sugar.

The amount of sweetness he put into his voice made Uraraka shiver.

"Bye, bye!" He waved.

Ochako was oddly quiet and still as she watched Izuku skip away like a little kid. He truly looked like a happy-go-lucky middle schooler - one that was effortlessly dodging life-threatening sharp rocks while humming a song.

That's right.

He looked younger than her, but he was the same age as her. He was the same height as her, but he was older than her. He looked like a kid, but he was a teenage boy.

She realized that after replaying his reaction to her holding his hands - she held his hands! She, a girl, held his hands and had the audacity to intertwine their fingers too! What would her parents have to say about this?! Is she becoming like him?

Her hands covered her face, red in embarrassment, before she could stop herself. Her feet lifted off the ground and she subconsciously curled herself into a ball.

"She's floating pretty high!" Mina exclaimed with a grin.

"Go Uraraka!" Cheered Tooru, waving her invincible arms around.

Why did I tell myself it was in the 'spur of the moment'!?

Why!?

Suddenly, Uraraka thought about why Izuku reacted the way he did. There was a chance he was generally flustered by girls, but he certainly did not give off that impression. He had no sense of personal boundaries.

What if he likes me? Uraraka played with the idea for a minute, but soon shook the idea off. No, that's impossible, we've only known each other for a week at best.

The ridiculously of the idea somehow put her kind at ease, so she went back to her endurance training.

She chuckled to herself.

What a silly thing to think. Him liking me? That isn't it at all.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the training ground, laid a defeated Neito Monoma. He was mumbling incoherent things none of his classmates could understand.

They were too wide eyed in shock to pay attention to the blond boy either, because what amazed them the most, was the boy who managed to zip him up by merely exchanging some words.

Izuku, on the other hand, was content with soaking in his glorious victory, but he couldn't focus on doing so. Instead, he was deep in thought, while Shinso stood next to him with a blank expression.

"Hey, Shinso," he called.

Shinso sighed, sensing he would say something stupid again. He was glad then that All Might offered him a bottle of water after training.

He opened the bottle and just began drinking as he waited for Izuku to speak.

"I've been thinking - because I just can't get to the answer - but do you think..."

Shinso glanced away, wanting to go home.

"... I have a crush on Uraraka."

Water sprayed everywhere, followed by coughing.

➵

I am shamelessly promoting an anime awards I am hosting! Please do check it out and maybe even enter as a participant. Okay, I'll see myself out now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.