It's been three years. Three whole years since she's last seen him. If she wanted to be technical it was more like three years five months and four days. But she swears she's not counting. Ochako Uraraka has been on her own for the most part and hasn't looked back since. Turns out being a top pro hero makes everything else in your life take a backseat. Which is exactly what she wanted to achieve. There was a very good(albeit embarrassing) reason for moving all the way to Hokkaido to become a sidekick of some no name pro hero. It was all because of a boy.

Ok, that's not entirely true. Yes, a boy was a factor, but it was more her reaction to said boy. She had a crush, and she had it bad. So much so she was terrified that it would interfere with her goal of becoming a pro. So she did what every healthy young adult did with feelings they didn't understand: she bottled them up. At first it was fairly easy to ignore and deny them. By third year, when their hectic school life returned to a relatively normal time, she was suffering. She made mistakes in training, she stayed up all night pining, she even zoned out of conversations just to look at him from across the common room. She needed to do something. The choices were to confess or move as far away as possible after graduation. Naturally, she chose the latter.

Eventually with a lot of hard work and a not so tiny amount of luck, Ochako managed to open up her own agency. She found out almost immediately that Hokkaido was a bit starved for "hometown heroes" and she was accepted as one of their own. She doesn't remember the last time she had to pay for drinks. Though she drew the line at free meals.

With the enormous boost in popularity from seemingly all of Hokkaido she skyrocketed up the JP Hero Rankings. It wasn't long before she went from triple digits to double digits. But now she'd done something she could never have imagined, she cracked the top ten. Uravity was now the number eight ranked pro hero in all of Japan.

She was humbled beyond belief, she was so focused on trying to sound coherent during her interview on stage that she didn't even remember what she said until she watched it later. She was in a daze until her best friends from UA met up with her backstage to congratulate her. What brought her out of it was when Mina asked what Ochako was going to wear for the afterparty.

Afterparty?

Oh.

Oh no.

Now she's here at said afterparty. "Borrowing" a dress Momo(who's ranked number nine) created and trying to calm down as much as possible. Which is unfortunately proving to be impossible. Not because she's star struck, she's met most everyone in the room before many times over by now. No, it's because of the one person in the room she doesn't want to meet. She's doing well by sticking to groups and avoiding anything that resembles the color green. That is until she hears a familiar laugh from across the room. A laugh she hasn't heard in years. A laugh that makes her body betray her mind and look towards it to see the source. Of course he's standing there, with that absolutely adorable smile on his face talking to god knows who. For whatever reason there's a pause in the conversation and he looks away. Right into her own eyes. Shit.

His eyes widen in surprise and now Ochako's confused. Why the hell is he surprised? There's no way he wouldn't have known I'd come. Did he think I wouldn't because of him? Oh god what if he thinks I hate him?

As those thoughts run through her mind he's already walked over to her. Her worrying distracts her so much she doesn't even register that he's reached her until he speaks up in a voice that makes her freeze up.

"Hey...Uravity. It's been a while." he says as if it's' the most natural thing in the world. As if this wasn't the first time they'd talked to each other in years. As if the tension between them isn't palpable to anyone within ten feet of them.

"Hey...Deku." Ochako responds meekly. She wants to punch herself in the face. Two years and that was the best she could come up with? She can't feel her legs at this point and it's like she's in high school all over again. Damn him. Damn him even if it's all her fault. She picks up a glass of champagne that is being brought over and downs it in one go. His eyebrows raise slightly. He tries to ignore the implication of the action and carries on.

"I just wanted to say, congrats on getting in the top ten. I've checked to make sure and your ranking and going from 246th to eight in the span of two years is unheard of!" he says with the same enthusiasm she's always known. "Nevermind that your quirk has evolved so much more than I could have imagined. I never thought you'd be able to make objects gain gravity. It's incredible!"

God he's such a nerd. It's like we were never even apart.

Wait a minute...

She interrupts him in the middle of asking how the mechanics of her gravity control work. "You've been following my rankings for two years?"

Now it's his turn to be embarrassed. His cheeks redden and he scratches the back of his head trying to come up with an explanation that doesn't sound creepy. She can only giggle. It's still too easy to tease him. "I'm kidding Deku. I've kept up with our class as well. Of course, they don't really hold a candle to you Mr. Number One." she says with a light jab of her elbow. His face only gets redder. He might be taller and more muscular, but he's still the same old Deku. Complete with the green floof on his head he calls hair and eyes she could get lost in.

Rein it in Ochako. Don't lose your composure now.

She picks up another flute and drinks.

That's better.

She flashes a smile at him that gives away that she's teasing and he gradually returns to normal. They keep talking and asking about each other. It's mostly Ochako doing the talking since Deku's exploits are fairly well known. She talks about life in Hokkaido and yes it is that cold and no she hasn't gotten used to it. He tells her how Inko is doing and Ochako is glad she's doing well. Though he seemed a bit cagey when it came to details on what exactly she's up to.

They get a few more drinks in and she starts to notice something. Something she never thought she'd see from him of all people. He's flirting. With her. Ochako Uraraka. And from Deku of all people. She can barely keep it together through the compliments and looks he's giving her. It started with a casual comment on the dress and while she chalked it up to it being much flashier than what she would have usually worn; when he commented on her hair she knew he was flirting.

Frankly the constant booze isn't helping either. Yet she can't stop herself. It's going bad for her. The defenses she's built up for years are now being absolutely demolished and she swears to all that is holy if he flashes one more smile at her, she's going to jump him in front of everyone. Tabloids be damned.

She spots Mina out of the corner of her eye and looks for the way out. She hurriedly makes an excuse to meet up with the girls. As she leaves she just misses the frown that appears on his tries to regain her bearings but they all just saw what happened and they will not let it go, Mina especially. Jirou and Momo share a knowing look and all Tsuyu does is raise her eyebrows. Traitors. Ochako brushes them all off saying it's not like that for what must be the millionth time in her life. She accepts that the night couldn't get any worse and it's best to forget. So she decides to grab more drinks.

Next thing Ochako knows she's being carried back to the hotel like a princess and she doesn't even know by who. But the smell is familiar and comforting and she falls asleep on her "prince's" chest. Meanwhile Deku, who has been trying to ask her what room she's in for the past minute, sees her go out like a light. So he comes up with the only solution he can think of, he goes to his own.

If only sleep was that easy for her. She awakens in the dark with an awful sensation in her guts and quickly recognizes what it is. With all of her training coming into play she deftly flies out of the bed and locates the bathroom door. She lifts the lid of the toilet just in time to empty every last bit of booze in her stomach and then some. She wipes her mouth with her wrist believing the worst of it is over, but of course her body puts an end to that foolish thinking. Again she's face first into the toilet and she curses whatever god above let this happen to her a hundred times over.

Thankfully, whoever happens to be her roommate pulls her hair back. She deduces it's a man based on the size of the hand and the faint voice she can hear from the bottom of the bowl. She is confident in her safety since her friends would never let her be taken by a stranger on their watch. The only one who would care enough to do this and be allowed to by her friends is one man and one man only.

She proceeds to vomit again.

It's like she's in elementary using her quirk for the first time. But that was much less embarrassing than this. Once she's finally done after what seems like ages she gives a light tap on the hand grasping her and gives a thumbs up. Once she hears the door close behind her she lifts her face up from the bowl and lets out a groan that would get her mistaken for a zombie. After a few more bashes of her head on the toilet lid she gets up to wash away her filth.

She doesn't even recognize the person in the mirror. After a few more splashes of cold water she still doesn't know who it is that's staring back at her. Her blood, her sweat, and her tears. All of it meant nothing when it came to seeing him again. She'd cry if she wasn't so damn pissed. What the hell is wrong with you? Was everything you did for nothing? Was it all just pointless in the end? Are you even happy Uraraka Ochako?

A knock on the door ends her spiraling and she responds a little too forcefully that she's fine. She feels like smacking herself for that. He doesn't deserve it. She needs to apologize already and get back to her room. The sooner the night is over with the better.

Ochako walks out of the bathroom to confront her "mysterious savior". It's much dimmer than the blinding light of the bathroom and there he stands in the hallway. Of course it's Deku. She never doubted it, but seeing him with a worried look in front of her makes it sting even worse. Who else could it have been? If she didn't just go through her entire day's worth of meals and drinks, she would probably be redder than a tomato at this point. Now she just wants to float into orbit and suffocate.

Deku doesn't mind it of course, he never minds anything, and tells her at least it's his room and not hers. She's not surprised it's his room and spots his suit laid out on a chair behind him. His usual gesturing when he's nervous returns as he explains what happened and she notices the scars on his hand. Then she eyes the scars on his body and makes note of two things. One, he's not wearing a shirt; and two, he has a lot more scars than she'd expect of the number one hero.

She quickly glances down and thankfully he's wearing pants. All Might themed pjs of course, some things never change. It makes her giggle. Which in turn makes him giggle as well. They're both hopeless when it comes to each other.

The realization comes to her that as much as she wanted to, she didn't change either. She balls up her fists and starts marching toward Deku. He thinks he's done something wrong and tries to apologize in a storm of muttering. But before he can get a word out her hands have grabbed ahold of his face and pulled him down so she can kiss him senseless.

Is it the most romantic thing she's done? Probably not, but she couldn't care less as she slips her tongue into his mouth. Any trace of nerves goes out the window when she feels his arms tightly wrap around her and his tongue fires back at her own. They stand there in the silent room with only the sounds of their kiss filling the air. Then as quickly as it began it stops as he lifts his head to take a breath. They're both panting and she tries to get a good look at his face before she's lifted off her feet for the second time that night. But instead of a princess being carried, she's hauled over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

Being swept off her feet would have been romantic in most cases but right now it was infuriating not being able to touch him. She pounded his back a few times to let him know her displeasure and he dares to chuckle at her plight. He will pay for this very soon. Before she plots her revenge she feels the hand that held her now grab onto her and it was she was not prepared for where it landed. A small squeak escaped her lips and another chuckle escaped from his.

As she's gently plopped back down onto the bed facing up, he slowly crawls over to her. He's deliberate in his movement. Just slow enough for her to almost beg him to hurry up. She can hardly breathe anymore much less move away. He looms over her with both hands beside her head and now she gets a clear view of his face. Gone is any trace of gentleness in his eyes as they're half lidded in lust. Lust for her. Lust for this. Lust for every ounce of her touch. Gone is the sweet boy she pined incessantly over. Now it's a man who is close to losing control of himself. She feels like she'll burn up if he stares at her any more but she can't look away. He leans down to plant a small chaste kiss on her bottom lip, and mutters the word that undoes every ounce of doubt she had left in her, "Ochako."

The light of the morning comes through the curtains of the window and Ochako's eyes flutter open. She's comfortably wrapped up in the sheets of the bed, hiding her nakedness. Deku's arm is draped over her chest as his face is turned towards her. Sleeping as peacefully as ever. The room is still and the only sounds that can be heard are the breathing of the two in bed and the birds outside. It should be pure bliss.

Ochako panics. Hard.

She covers her mouth to stop herself from screaming. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. In fact, this is the worst thing that could have happened. She needs to leave before he wakes up, otherwise she never will. She can't risk it all for a night of passion. Even if it was a lovely night.

She uses her quirk to pick his arm up and get out from under without making a sound. She tiptoes around the bed constantly checking his face for any movement. She finally discovers her clothes under the work desk and she slowly gets dressed. Once she's done she checks over her shoulder to make sure he's still out one last time before she swiftly leaves the room. She prays every step of the way back to her own room that no one sees her. Or worse, notices what room she just left from.

She makes it back safely and instantly falls to her knees as she processes the events of last night. She can't believe she did that, and doesn't know what to do now. Call Tsuyu? Mina? All of them? Ochako can hardly think about anything other than the brief flashes of the previous night's events and tries to push them as far away from her mind as she can. Yes she was sober, but it's as if she was mentally blocking out all the details. She shakes her head as she struggles to find a way to cool off.

Cool off...Ochako you idiot.

Resolute in her decision she starts to pack what little she brought and stuffs it all inside of her suitcase. She checks the time and early checkout is just in time. She quickly checks to see if there are any noticeable marks and rushes off to the front desk. She knows that there's no place like her new home.

What Ochako doesn't know is after the door closed behind her several minutes prior, the scarred hand that was holding onto her which now lay on the bed, clenched the sheets in frustration.