Chapter 20 Deku: The Telekinetic Hero by sremiehzla

The (Not A) Date

Ochako had gone home to shower and change just like Deku had. They were supposed to meet soon for lunch. Or, Deku was supposed to show up at her apartment soon because it was in between his place and the restaurant. Part of Ochako kept thinking back to what her classmates had said. That Deku had asked her on a date. But that was ridiculous so she ejected the idea every time it popped up.

'Nah, life doesn't work like that,' she told herself. 'He doesn't feel the same as I do, no way. AND EVEN IF HE DOES, WE NEED TO FOCUS ON BEING HEROES!'

Ochako slapped her cheeks as she laid down on her bed. She couldn't think about it. This was supposed to be a fun celebration, not an awkward game of Date or No Date. She just needed to calm down by the time Deku showed up so she'd be able to enjoy his company. Which might have been possible if the doorbell didn't ring right then.

"Coming!" she called as she got up. 'Isn't he early?' There was no avoiding it though, so she grabbed her things and opened the door. "Hey De–"

It wasn't Deku.

"OCHAKO!" her parents exclaimed as they embraced her.

"W-What?" Ochako asked. "M-Mom?! Dad?! Why are– W-What are you doing here? How did–"

"We came to see ya!" her mom explained.

"After that phone call, your old man just had to come see his little champ!" her dad said with a thumbs-up.

"B-But what about work?! And how'd you get here so fast? Did ya take the bullet train?!"

"Yeah, we wanted to celebrate with you," her mother smiled. "It's more important than work."

"You guys...!" Ochako smiled widely as she wiped a tear from her eye. But then she remembered that she already had plans to spend both lunch and dinner with Deku. "You guys should've asked me first!"

"Huh? But we wanted to surprise you," her dad laughed.

"I already have plans though!" she exclaimed as she grabbed at her hair.

"Hm, with friends?" her mother asked. Then she smiled, "With that green haired one? Oh, what was his name–?"

"N-NO!" she shouted. "I-I mean, yeah, I'm goin' to lunch and dinner with Deku."

"Lunch and dinner?" her father laughed.

"W-We were only gonna go out to dinner, b-but his mom s-said that she wanted t-to make us both a homemade m-meal to celebrate. So we decided to go fer lunch, j-just the two of us."

"Hmm?" her Mom hummed. "Well I wouldn't wanna intrude on your lunch, but I would actually like to meet this Deku's mom."

"H-His name's I-Izuku Midoriya," Ochako clarified.

"But ya call 'im Deku?"

"D-Dad already teased me over the phone for that," Ochako pouted.

"Ahaha! Well, ya seem close!" she laughed. "He's the one you said saved ya in the exam, right?"

"Yeah," Ochako nodded.

"Well he seems like a right gentleman," Mrs. Uraraka said. "But when's this lunch supposed to happen?"

"He's supposed to be here in like... 10-ish minutes."

"Well, let's just sit down an' talk for a little bit," Mr. Uraraka said. "Then we'll let you get to your date."

"I-It's not a date!" she insisted, although her parents only gave her laughter in reply.

When Izuku had received the phone call from his mother, he had almost punched himself in the face for making plans with Ochako. Of course his mom would want to celebrate. And he was glad that his mom wanted Ochako over, but he was still a bit disappointed that he wouldn't be able to spend it alone with her. He wasn't going to ask Ochako that she go to lunch with him, since he thought she wouldn't want to spend (essentially) the whole day with him, so he was more than happy when she was the one who suggested it.

But he was a little nervous. He was really happy to spend time with Ochako again, yet it didn't mask that strange pit in his stomach. He had just won the first years' portion of the U.A. Sports Festival, the biggest sporting event in Japan! And on top of that, he was going to spend time with his closest friend Ochako. So what was weighing on him? It might have to do with the misunderstanding that had occurred about a month earlier, before the USJ attack.

"But I'd bet Midoriya and Uraraka would be real popular as a hero duo!" Denki had said. "They look pretty cute together, don't you guys think so?"

Izuku hadn't thought of it until that point, but he supposed he and Ochako were pretty close. And she was really nice, probably the cutest girl he knew, and made something jump up in his heart every time he saw her, but... Well, he wasn't stupid. He knew he liked her. In fact, she was probably the third most important person to him besides his mother and All Might. But he had consciously tried to ignore it up until this point, as anything related to romance would only distract them both from their hero studies. But at times like this, right after the Sports Festival, there wasn't much to be distracted from. So having fun for a day wouldn't be too bad, right? Not that he was planning for anything to venture outside of the realm of "friendly", but spending time with her would be enjoyable either way.

After showering and talking to his mom about the festival for a while, Izuku departed for Ochako's apartment. The plan was to go to the same restaurant that they'd gone to for their first outing, then maybe visit the mochi shop that was nearby. Pretty simple, nothing too adventurous, but just enough for two friends to have a good time hanging out. Izuku nodded to himself, then ascended the stairs to her apartment. He knocked on the door, and was almost surprised when she didn't immediately open the door (he had kinda gotten used to it since she had done it both of the times he had come over). But then the door opened to reveal a brown-haired man and woman, the man fairly muscular and the woman having a familiar blush on her cheeks.

"U-Um..." Izuku stuttered, since he was expecting Ochako to answer.

"You're Izuku Midoriya, right?" the man asked, narrowing his eyes menacingly.

"Ochako was expectin' you," the woman said with a warm smile.

'Their energies are totally different!' Izuku thought. But he kept his cool and said, "Yes, I'm Izuku Midoriya. Are you... Uraraka's parents?"

"Yeah, we are," Mr. Uraraka nodded. "So do you normally call her 'Uraraka' or are you just trying to sound polite in front of her parents?"

"What else would I call her?" Izuku asked.

"Well she calls you by a cute nickname, so it's kinda weird for ya to be so formal when she's not, y'know?" Mrs. Uraraka said.

"Honey, it's hard to keep a tough-lookin face when you're so nonchalant!" Mr. Uraraka sighed to his wife.

"Ah, don't tease 'im," she laughed.

"So... Is lunch still on?" Izuku asked. "Uraraka didn't mention that you're in town."

"Oh yeah, we'll let you two go in a bit," Mrs. Uraraka chuckled and scratched her neck. "That's our bad, we kinda popped in unannounced."

"Anyways, now that my cover's blown," Mr. Uraraka sighed. He smiled widely and placed his hands on Izuku's shoulders, "It's nice ta finally meet tha guy that saved ma daughter's life in the exam!"

"O-Oh yeah?" Izuku chuckled uncomfortably. "Nice to meet you too."

"Oh, come on in!" Mrs. Uraraka insisted as she turned around and walked inside.

'I've never been in Uraraka's apartment before,' he realized as he followed the adults inside.

The apartment was small. There was a small hallway that seemed to double as a kitchen with the cooking utilities on the right side, and had two doors on the left and one at the end. The Urarakas led him to the door at the end of the hallway, which led to a small living room/dining room.

"H-Hey Deku," Ochako said, sitting at the table as she blushed furiously.

"Hey Uraraka," Izuku smiled.

"So, there's only a couple things we wanna talk about before lettin' you two go," Mr. Uraraka said, prompting the two teens to look at him. "First, Midoriya, we heard that your mother is plannin' a dinner for the both of ya."

"Yes sir," Izuku nodded.

"Well, we came into town with the idea that we'd be able to celebrate with Ochako an' all. Even if we'll let you go out together for lunch, we wanna spend at least one meal celebratin' with her, y'know? Besides, Ochako's mother and I kinda wanted to meet your mom anyways, so would it be too much to ask that we could come along for dinner?"

"O-Oh, not at all!" Izuku said, though he was caught a bit off-guard. "I just need to call her and let her know that we'll need more food."

"Ooh, that's great!" Mrs. Uraraka smiled. "Any idea what's for dinner?"

"Katsudon and red rice," Izuku said.

"Oh, sounds great!" she nodded.

"Anyways, the other thing we wanted to talk about," Mr. Uraraka said. "What's the deal with how you two held each other in the first round of the festival?"

"Eh?" Izuku asked, a blush hitting his cheeks. He looked at Ochako, but she was blushing even harder and had her head buried in her hands. She'd be no help. "A-Ah, well, my Q-Quirk is dependant on weight, so Uraraka's Quirk naturally powers mine up. It's a really good combo."

"Okay... But why did ya have to hold each other like that?"

"U-Um–"

"I-I was really scared of m-moving that fast," Ochako spoke up. "S-So I asked him to hold me."

"AHAHAHA!" her dad laughed with his hands on his hips. "You're scared of somethin' like that after what happened at that USJ facility?"

"W-Well I was scared then too..." she pouted.

Izuku ended up calling Inko to ask her if a couple of more guests was too much trouble, which she said it absolutely was not. Then he and Ochako were finally let go from the apartment.

"S-Sorry about that," Ochako giggled and scratched her neck as they walked. "I didn't expect them to show up out of nowhere."

"It's fine, don't apologize," Izuku chuckled. "My mom crashed our dinner plans in the first place, so it went both ways I guess. Besides, I'm glad I met your parents. They seem nice."

"Yeah," she nodded. "But it's not the same as your mom. You're the one who won first place, so at least that makes more sense, ehe."

"You got pretty far too," Izuku noted. "The quarterfinals in the U.A. sports festival isn't exactly easy to get to."

"Y-Yeah," she nodded with a smile. "Y'know, sometimes I forget that we're students at U.A. It doesn't really feel too different from a normal school a lot of the time."

"I know what you mean," he agreed. "The only things we've done apart from regular classes are the hero studies course and the sports festival. And all of the teachers are heroes, but they only act like regular teachers for the most part."

"But I guess it is still school," she sighed.

"Yeah. But it's really cool to think that we're training to be heroes either way."

"Y-Yeah," Ochako nodded. "It's gonna be a lot of work to get there."

"But we'll get there. Together," Izuku smiled. When Ochako's face exploded in red, Izuku realized what he said and corrected, "I-I meant that because we're gonna be a hero duo! B-Because our Quirks work well together!"

"A-Ah, yeah," Ochako stuttered as she looked down and away. "Our hero duo, right."

"Oh, speaking of, Aizawa Sensei said that we'll be getting pro hero internships when we get back."

"Oh yeah," Ochako recalled. "I wonder how many you'll get!"

"Why me?" he chuckled. "Shouldn't you be interested in your own offers?"

"Yeah, but they're being given based on performance," she said. "So I wonder how many you'll get compared to people with lower rankings."

At that point, Izuku and Ochako reached the restaurant. Of course they were recognized by most of the people in there almost instantly. The manager even came out and seated them personally, then offered that anything they ordered would be on the house in celebration. Izuku would've refused but Ochako, being Ochako, accepted the offer for him before he could even speak. They both ordered waters to drink while they thought about the main course.

"That's nice of 'em to give us free food," Ochako said. "Maybe the attention ain't so bad?"

"But it feels weird not paying," Izuku sighed. "I was gonna refuse."

"Eh, but it's your day to celebrate!" Ochako smiled. "Besides, they wouldn't have offered if they didn't want to."

"I guess," Izuku sighed as he looked down at his menu.

"Gonna get katsudon again?" she asked after a moment of looking over her own menu.

"Eh, no," he answered. "We're having my mom's katsudon for dinner, so I'll go for something else... Maybe oyakodon... Donburi actually sounds good right now..."

"A-Anyways, Deku... What kind of hero would you want to intern with?"

"Huh?" he looked up at Ochako. "O-Oh, I uh... dunno, I guess. I'd want to go where I think I'd be able to improve the most. And what I think I'm lacking is in... Well, I guess creativity? I can throw rocks all day, but I, theoretically, could trap people or immobilize them by putting objects in a certain position around them. Also, I could hit things like pressure points from far away if I know where they are and am precise enough. So I guess... I'd want to go with someone who could train my mind to be more perceptive and disciplined."

"W-Wow, you thought that out," Ochako giggled.

"Ah, yeah, I guess so," he chuckled. "Who would you want to go with?"

"Well..." she tilted her head back and forth. "My Quirk relies on getting my hands on people, so I was actually thinking of training in hand-to-hand combat. Y-Y'know, to learn grapples and stuff."

"Oh, that's smart," he mused. "But it all depends on who requests us, I guess."

"Yeah."

The manager returned to personally take their orders. Izuku ordered donburi and Ochako ended up settling on ramen herself. Their attention was soon drawn to a small television in the upper corner of the restaurant, where clips from the second years' portion of the sports festival was being broadcast.

"But that didn't catch the public's attention as much as the third or first years' rounds," a newscaster said. "There was an... incident during the third years' obstacle race where a student stripped naked all of a sudden. Other than that, it was certainly an impressive competition of Quirks. But that too was nothing compared to the first years' competition in terms of getting attention, where the whole thing was dominated by a certain Izuku Midoriya. He won all three events, which is something that hasn't been done in any of the competitions for almost 20 years. Certainly impressive, he'll be a hero to watch for sure."

"They keep hyping me up," Izuku chuckled. "It's embarrassing."

"But they aren't wrong," Ochako said.

"And it all started in the first round, when he cleared the obstacle race in record time along with another student, Ochako Uraraka," the newscaster said as the slow-motion video of them crossing the finish line played in the background.

"SO EMBARRASSING!" Ochako squeaked.

"It's not that bad Uraraka," Izuku chuckled.

"It is! I was holding on for my life! That picture makes me look like a scaredy cat!"

"But you looked good the rest of the festival," he said. "And you got second place in the race, plus you got first in the cavalry battle too."

"Yeah, I guess," she nodded. "It's still embarrassin..."

"Think of it as training for when you're a famous hero," he said.

"Did you just mock me?" she asked.

"Just a little bit," Izuku smirked.

"Rude," she pouted. But then she giggled, "But you aren't wrong, especially if we really end up as a duo."

"Yeah," he sighed as he took a sip of his water. "But even right now... I can feel everyone watching us."

"Yeah..." Ochako glanced out the window and saw multiple people looking through the glass. "I guess it is good practice though."

"But it's kinda annoying when we're just trying to hang out."

"Uh-huh," she nodded. "Oh, did you hear about that new American hero movie that's getting released here now?"

Izuku and Ochako continued to make irrelevant small talk until their food arrived. They both enjoyed their meals, even though they never seemed to get much privacy from other people. A few even approached and asked to get pictures with them. They minded the attention a bit, but it was still enjoyable overall.

"Ah, so do you want to get mochi next?" Izuku asked once a waiter returned to take their dishes.

"Yeah, especially since we didn't spend any money here," Ochako nodded.

The manager returned and bowed, saying, "Thank you for coming! Congratulations again on the festival win!"

"Thanks, the food was great," Izuku smiled.

"PLEASE RECOMMEND US!" he bowed again, more deeply this time.

"I-If it comes up," Ochako laughed uncomfortably.

"A breaking news report!" the newscaster on the television said suddenly, gaining the attention of the three at the table. "This morning, the Hero Killer known as 'Stain' attacked two heroes in Hosu! The pro hero Ingenium was injured and is in the hospital, though there's no news on his condition, and one of his sidekicks, Rebar, was killed. They are the only..."

"Did he say Ingenium?" Izuku asked.

"Hm, yes he did," the manager said. "Why?"

"I-It's nothing," he said quickly. "C'mon Uraraka, let's go."

"Y-Yeah," she nodded.

Izuku found Tenya's contact as they left the restaurant and dialed. It eventually went to voicemail, and he elected not to leave a message. Instead he sent a text saying that he had heard what happened and wanted to know how he was doing.

"I can't believe it," Ochako sighed. "Iida's brother was hurt..."

When Tenya first described his brother, Izuku related to it because it was similar to his admiration of All Might. But Ingenium was hospitalized by the hero killer, and Izuku couldn't imagine how that would make his friend feel. Partially because All Might's only major injury was one that he didn't even know about until 5 years after it happened.

"Iida looked up to him a lot..." Izuku furrowed his eyebrows. "I hope they're both alright."

"Yeah," Ochako agreed.

"So... You still up for mochi?" he asked.

"No, not really. My appetite's gone. What a bad way to end such a good date." Ochako didn't realize that she was saying 'date' until it was already out, and it left her sputtering to collect her words. "I m-m-mean n-not date! Not date! N-Not that I w-wouldn't go on a d-date with ya b-but this t-t-totally wasn't, r-right?! I-I mean, D-D-Deku,–"

"Uraraka?"

"– you probably wouldn't wanna go on a date with me anyways and even if you did–"

"Uraraka."

"–we're way too swamped with school and becoming heroes to even consider anything along the lines of rel–"

"Uraraka!" Izuku said louder as he shook her shoulder lightly.

When she stopped panicking for a second and looked at Izuku, she saw that he was blushing almost as much as she was.

"Were you... thinking that this would be a... d-date?" he asked.

"N-No, but... M-Mina and Toru said that it p-probably would be, so... I... I'm sorry, I overthought it."

"N-No, it's fine," Izuku smiled nervously. "Do you, uh, want it to be?"

"... Huh?" Ochako's eyes went very wide.

"Did you want this... to be a date?" Izuku was blushing much more than Ochako now.

"I-I uh... I wouldn't, um... I-I wouldn't mind i-if it is," she admitted.

"I-I wouldn't either," he smiled a little bit and his blush slightly receded, though he was still pretty red. "T-Then... How about we have mochi after all?"

"Y-Yeah," she nodded with a bright smile before they started walking to the mochi shop. 'OH MY GOD IT IS A DATE! WHAT SHOULD I DO?! Alright, calm down. If he's okay with this being a date in the first place, then that means I'm obviously doin' somethin' right. Just don't stop whatever that is.'

'I can't believe she wants this to be a date!' Izuku thought as they walked. 'What did she say? Ashido and Hagakure told her it's a date? Why would they think that? Either way, I guess I'm glad that it is, but could a relationship even work while we're attending U.A.? We have so much pressure on us to become heroes, so...'

'Oh, it's no use!' Ochako sighed inwardly. 'Even if I could figure out what he likes about me, I'm too nervous to do anything anyways!'

'Relationship? What am I even thinking about? Dates don't mean you're in a relationship, they're just something that people do if they like each other. Wait, does that mean that Uraraka likes me that way?! T-There's no way, right? I mean she does say that I'm really cool a lot of the time, but... That'd be a whole different level..!'

'I'm so nervous that I'll lock up!'

'What's even happening anymore?!'

"Are you two going to get something or are you just gonna stand there and keep mumbling?" the clerk at the mochi shop asked. The two hero hopefuls had arrived a minute earlier but hadn't noticed.

"Ah, strawberry daifuku for me," Ochako said without locking up.

"Green tea mochi for me," Izuku said completely coherently.

"Alright, that'll be ¥340," the cashier sighed.

Izuku paid for both of them, then Ochako grumbled, "Hey, you shouldn't be paying. We're celebrating your win after all."

"Eh, sorry," he scratched the back of his neck. "But since this ended up being a date, I wanted to treat you."

"W-W-WELL IN T-THAT CASE–!" Ochako sputtered before turning around to hide her blush. "... T-Thanks Deku..."

"Y-Yeah," he said, blushing as well.

Apparently feeling the need to alleviate the awkward tension in the air, the employee asked, "Well, what 'win' are you celebrating?"

"The, uh... Wait, you haven't heard?" Izuku asked. Part of him felt that it was kind of a cocky thing to say, but he was honestly surprised since the guy seemed bored to all hell and he'd probably see the news on any social media he opened.

"Mm, no," he shrugged. "What, was it big?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Izuku chuckled.

"So... what did you win?" he asked.

"A-Ah, well..."

"I'll have you know that this guy right here," Ochako said as she turned back around to face the cashier and pointed her thumb at Izuku, "is a U.A. Sports Festival Champion!"

"The U... WAIT, THAT WAS TODAY?!" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," Izuku nodded. "Why?"

"My cousin is a second year student there!" he exclaimed as he slapped his forehead. "I totally forgot to check the news on my laptop!"

"What about your phone?" Izuku asked.

"Oh, I dropped it a few days ago," he sighed. "I've been on minimal technology since. Anyways, what year are you in? You look like first years to me..."

"Yeah, first years," Ochako nodded.

"Well then congrats," he smiled. "Hear anything on the second year tournament?"

"No, sorry," Izuku scratched his neck. "I've been too busy with all of the attention."

"Ah, no worries," he said. "Well that's definitely something to celebrate. Just take a seat and I'll have those ready for you in a second."

"Thanks!" the teens both said before walking to a table and sitting down across from each other.

"I wish we didn't tell him that I won the festival," Izuku groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. "He was one of the only people we saw today that didn't know."

"Aw c'mon, be proud of it!" Ochako giggled. "You earned that win."

"Yeah, but it's embarrassing," he pouted. "It's easier to talk to people normally."

"Well you'll never talk to someone normally again once you're a hero, so this is just like training," Ochako said. "Y'know, that's the third time we said that today."

"Because it never stops feeling awkward," Izuku sighed. "Maybe U.A. knew this would happen and they publicize the festival on purpose. Like, training on top of training."

"Then I guess it really would be the country's best hero course," she mused. 'Okay, this is a date... What are ya supposed to say on a date? I mean, a first date would normally be a get-to-know-ya kinda thing, but we already went through all that. So... Should I say somethin' funny? Nah, I don't do good humor. Should it be... romantic? No, I have no idea what to do in that category... Wait, what am I thinkin'? This is just a celebration, so just be friendly! Even though it's a date... UGH!'

"U-Uraraka, are you alright?" Izuku asked. "Are you breathing?"

"H-Huh?" Ochako smiled nervously at him. "I-I'm fine, why?"

"Your face is... really really red."

"A-Ah, it is?!" she asked as she clapped her cheeks. "I-I'm sorry, I guess I'm j-just nervous."

"You're nervous?" Izuku asked. "Why?"

"W-Well, I've never been on... a d-date before," she said as she looked away. "I d-dunno what I-I should say or do, y'know? A-And it's your celebration, so I wanna make sure you have a good time."

"You're worried about that too?" he asked with a nervous laugh. "I haven't been on a date either, so I'm also not sure what to do. And as for having a good time... Y'know, the whole reason I invited you to dinner in the first place is because I always have a good time when I'm with you. More than Shinso or... Iida... or anyone else. Right now... Well, for a while now, you've been my best friend by a long shot. And... It's been a while since we just hung out, so I thought we could relax and spend some time together. I didn't think that it would be a date or anything at first, so don't feel pressured into doing anything date-y. And really, just being with you is enough for my celebration."

"I-I... Deku..." Ochako had no idea what to say after that. Her soul somehow felt light and airy, and she was almost moved to tears by the sentiment. Almost but not quite. "Deku, I–"

"Okay, the green tea mochi and the strawberry daifuku," the waiter, who was a different guy than the cashier, said as he set down the plates. "Wait... You're the guy who won all three events in the U.A. festival!"

"Erm, yeah," Izuku chuckled and scratched his cheek.

"Ugh..! That guy totally ruined the atmosphere!" Mina whined as she and the other three girls watched through the monitor.

Momo sighed for the fifth time, "I can't believe you made me make a reconnaissance robot for something like this... We've eavesdropped on Uraraka since the festival ended!"

"C'mon Yaomomo," Toru giggled. "You can't say this isn't interesting!"

"Even I have to admit it, I want to see where this goes," Kyoka grinned. "And I didn't expect Midoriya to get all sappy like that! Pretty funny if you ask me!"

"But what about the stuff her parents said?" Mina asked. "They totally drilled her for the details on her crush! That was totally great to listen to!"

"Dishonorable," Momo sighed and shook her head.

"What're they doing now?" Toru asked.

"Just eating and talking about how good the mochi is," Mina said.

"I could actually go for some mochi now that I think about it," the invisible girl sighed.

"I'd say we could try disguises and go in, but we'd make a conspicuous group no matter what," Kyoka mused. "I mean... A girl with invisible skin, a girl with pink skin, a girl with earphone jacks coming from her earlobes and a girl with a rack like Yaomomo's couldn't be easily mistaken."

Momo gasped and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Ugh, I can't believe Tsuyu didn't come though," Mina pouted. "I get that she has siblings to take care of, but still..."

"Hm? What's happening now?" Toru asked, getting closer to the screen.

"And that's how I learned not to mess with my dad's construction sites," Ochako laughed along with Izuku. "I felt really bad since that set them back a week or two on the project."

"That one plank was holding up the whole wall?" Izuku chuckled. "Sounds like a bad design to me."

"Yeah, the guy who set it up was fired," she said.

"Well he should–"

A vibration came from Izuku's pocket, alerting him to a text. He checked it, and he lit up in a smile when he saw the caller ID.

Tenya Iida: Thank you for being concerned Midoriya. I am doing well. My brother does not have any life-threatening injuries, which is good, although he is currently unconscious. Also, congratulations on winning the festival! I regret being unable to attend the final match, but I viewed it on my phone. I'll see you in a few days!

Izuku read the text to Ochako, who giggled at the formalness of it. Izuku replied that he was glad that Ingenium was going to be alright and was thankful for the congratulations. Then he and Ochako, both happy for some good news from their friend, finished off their mochi and left.

"Thanks again for paying for the mochi," Ochako said as they reached her apartment complex.

"Yeah, of course," Izuku smiled. "So, I guess I'll see you later."

"Um, yeah," she nodded with a smile of her own. "So I guess I should, um, go now?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

Ochako hesitated. She didn't feel like she was ready to go back to her apartment yet. Something was missing, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Izuku was feeling similarly, as if something was left unfinished. As if leaving right now would leave them feeling unsatisfied.

"KISS, KISS, KISS," Mina chanted nearby.

"I-I think we should... hang out again soon," Izuku said. "Aside from dinner tonight and our training, I mean. Like... another d-date?"

"A-Ah, I, uh..." Ochako looked away at the ground as her face flared up again. "I-I'd like that... I-I mean definitely! I am d-definitely interested in doin' that!"

"Good," he smiled. "So, I'll see you later then."

Ochako raised her fist up at Izuku and said, "And congratulations, again. I'll try harder to meet ya in the finals next time."

"Yeah," he nodded with a smile and bumped fists with her. "Then try keeping up on the run tomorrow."

"That's just unfair! You're not normal, you know that?" she sighed with a light chuckle.

"Heroes can't afford to be normal," he retorted.

"Yeah, you're right," Ochako smiled. "See you at dinner."

"Yeah, later," he said as he waved and walked away.

Ochako also waved then began walking back to her apartment.

"DAMNIT!" Mina yelled and threw the monitor in the air.

Ochako noticed the scream, but decided to ignore it. She was focused on other, more important things. Namely, the million questions her parents would probably have about her date.