Chapter One: Business Trip (Going Abroad)

Izuku stretched his arms over his head, sending a shudder down his entire body as he flexed off the aches and stiffness built up after too many hours spent on the plane. Beside him, Ochako was doing her own stretches, grateful to move around now that they were finally off the plane. Admittedly, this wasn't their first long flight, but sitting in one place for so long was hard for him given their lifestyle.

"Right," Ochako yawned, wiping away reflexive tears from the corners of her eyes as she looked up at Izuku with a big smile. "Luggage?"

"Luggage," he agreed, reaching for her hand somewhat bashfully. Ochako's smile somehow brightened even more and she took his hand in hers, then tugged him towards baggage claim.

This trip to I-Island had been long-anticipated for both of them. When they graduated from U.A five years prior, both of the young heroes had decided to focus their efforts on work instead of pursue a relationship, despite their obvious attraction for one another. It was a difficult decision to make, but it was manageable since they both knew it wasn't going to be a permanent resolution.

Their goal was simple: wait until they both had enough rep and resources to start their own hero agency together. When that time came, they had promised each other, they would try to pursue a relationship.

It had been a single month since they decided they were both in a good enough spot to give this a shot. Izuku had been blazing through the hero rankings at Miruko's agency. Endeavor's death during the war with the Paranormal Liberation Army had caused his agency to suffer, but Shoto was steadily picking up the pieces there alongside Endeavor's old sidekicks.

Miruko had taking a liking to Izuku after the war ended due to their similar fighting styles and took him in, helping to polish up his combat efficiency. As he steadily gained more and more control over One for All's total output, her teachings turned him into a villain's worst nightmare.

Okay, second worst nightmare. Katsuki was a source of terror for all would-be evildoers, even if he had mellowed out a bit over the years.

Ochako had remained with Ryukyu's agency after graduation. She worked incredibly well with the now rank-six heroine and Nejire, although Tsuyu had switched work places a year after graduation to specialize more in rescue missions. Once she was able to dedicate all of her focus to being a hero, Ochako had seemingly hit the rankings with her Zero Gravity Quirk and flew through them.

Both of them were already in the top thirty, and having saved up a decent amount of money, had decided that this year was the year.

For now, they were still technically employed with their old co-workers, since it would take some time for the agency to actually get up and running. But they were taking business trips frequently to sort everything out. Both of them were excited to finally be starting their own agency.

This trip to I-Island was for that exact purpose.

As soon as they got their luggage, they made their way to the taxi service and gave the driver the address that was their destination. A relatively short car trip later and they ended up on the front door of an old friend.

Izuku had barely knocked when the entrance opened, revealing a smiling Melissa Shield. "You're here!"

"Hey, Melissa!" Ochako greeting, exchanging a hug with the older girl before Izuku did the same. Their host stepped out of the way to let them into her home.

"Come in! Do you want anything to drink?"

"Tea?" Izuku asked hopefully.

"Sure," she closed the door behind her guests. "You guys settle in, I'll get the tea going. Your room's down the hall and on the left!"

"Thanks!" Ochako said gratefully, tugging Izuku in the direction Melissa indicated while their host went to the kitchen.

Melissa hadn't changed much. Everything was tidy, and there was a bit of an organized mess here and there—mostly inventions and support items she was probably working on, but it was tame compared to the minefield that was Hatsume's office.

Izuku carefully set his luggage down at the foot of the bed, glancing at Ochako as she did the same. "Tired?"

"A little," she admitted. "The trip was long."

"Yeah," he agreed, once more reaching over for her hand. Both of them enjoyed just touching each other, simple little contacts to share with their partner whenever they wanted.

Ochako pulled Izuku closer so she could plant her face into the crook of his shoulder. "Can we take a nap?"

"The tea will get cold," he pointed out, lifting his free hand to run it through her silky, chocolate locks. "Plus Melissa will wonder what's taking so long."

"True," she leaned her head up to look into his eyes, their lips brushing. Her cheeks bloomed with color. "Later, then."

"Later," he agreed with a quiet murmur, his face starting to burn. Sure, they were dating, but it had only been a month and he was still worried he'd mess up somehow.

Melissa's voice calling from the kitchen had them leaping away from each other. "Tea's ready!"

"Coming!" Izuku called back, leading Ochako back to their host.

They relished a few more seconds of hand holding before they rejoined their old friend.

Melissa hadn't changed much. Brilliant as ever, she was already making a name for herself in her homeland as a Support Equipment developer, but she wanted to form her own company, outside the shadow of her father's work. For that reason, she was going to be moving to Japan soon.

She'd reached out to Izuku and Ochako not long after they'd told her about their plan to start their own Hero office and suggested a collaboration between their two budding organizations. It would give her a solid foothold in a new market and provide them with a trusted, quality Support specialist. Essentially, it was what both of their firms needed to get off the ground.

There was a fair amount of paperwork and details they needed to go over, but Melissa told them to take the rest of the day to recover from the lengthy flight. They would be on I-Island for a few days, so there was plenty of time to discuss details of their business arrangement.

"No offense, but you both look dead on your feet," she half-joked, smiling at her friends. They'd spent the last thirty minutes or so since their arrival just catching up, but Melissa was as sharp as ever and could see how exhausted they were. "How about you settle down for a bit and I'll go finish up some work in my office?"

"That sounds great," Ochako agreed, her head bobbing. Izuku barely held back a snort; she was starting to nod-off, she was so tired. He could see her practically ready to pass out.

Melissa had clearly picked up on it as well and stood up from the table, taking her dishes to the sink. "I've got food in the fridge and pantry; it's all fair game. There should be towels in the bathroom as well, so feel free to take a shower and clean up. I'll be back around eight or nine. I'm not planning on doing too much work. If you need me, just call."

Izuku stood up as well and took both his and Ochako's cups to be cleaned. "We really appreciate it. Take your time, though. If you've got a lot of work—"

"I really don't," she cut him off with a smirk. "I like to stay ahead on my projects, and my boss has cut me a little slack lately so I can get my firm going. Don't worry about it. You guys just rest up."

"Thank you," he said, smiling. Ochako blearily offered Melissa her own smile.

Before long, Melissa had grabbed her bag and taken off for the office, leaving the two heroes to unwind and recover from their long flight.

"How about that nap?" Ochako offered with a tired grin.

Izuku certainly wasn't about to refuse. He happily let Ochako take his hand and tug him to their room, where she pulled him into bed and shifted him onto his side so she could spoon him. The few times they'd done this, she was always doing this—hugging him to her like he was a giant teddy bear.

She was always the one to initiate the more intimate contacts between them. Izuku was still getting used to it, but Ochako had decided that if she was going to commit to a relationship with him, then she would do so to the fullest. She'd held herself back long enough in favor of becoming a hero.

Now that goal was fulfilled and they were making their way up in the world. Now she felt like she could love him without her feelings interfering with their futures.

And this trip would mark their first step together to the rest of their lives.

She wasn't going to think about it now, though. She was sleepy.

Izuku felt Ochako mumble something incoherent into his neck as she drifted off, and the warmth of her hold on him quickly helped him on his way to his dream world.

A/N: Woohoo, my first IzuOcha Week! Why has this taken me so long to do? I don't know, honestly. I've wanted to do more series like this for a long time now. As the story description says, all of these one-shots take place in the same universe, following Izuku and Ochako as they become independent and start to build up their own hero agency. Look forward to the next chapter, featuring the prompt "Recovery", tomorrow!

As always, please review and thanks for reading!