Garden of Green (MHA / IzuOcha)

The Sixth Petal

So before I even get into this chapter I'm gonna talk about the drawing above real quick. I said I'd add it so I did lol. I liked the sketch sooo much more and if I could color it again I'd change almost everything about it, but I said I'd add it in my announcements so here you go! I'm also really proud of the hands.

A/N: Hey, guys! Coming at you with a new chapter. There will only be one more after this, so I hope you all like! Then I'll be moving on to my KamiJirou novel. Oh, and for all you manga readers out there, MHA is really starting to take a darker turn with these recent chapters. I think this arc is gonna hit hard, and everything about the story and society as we (or the characters) know it is gonna change moving forward.

Well, enough of that. I'm proud of this chapter so I hope you guys enjoy! And thank you for all the nice comments / reviews!

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Izuku was biting his nails.

Sporadically, between scrolling through his phone and eating a brief breakfast, he would look up from the cushiony couches, stare at Ochako from across the room. Then, furtively, he would glance back down.

Iida's hand on his shoulder startled him out of his stupor.

"Midoriya. Are you all right over there?"

Izuku jumped, bugs crawling under his skin. "Y-Yeah, Iida, fine!"

He drove these feelings of overwhelming anxiety away. These worries were starting to get to him, his mind hazy.

It'd only been two days since Ochako and him had cut their ties, but her deteriorating condition hit the final nail in the coffin. Somebody needed to know about this, and they needed to know now.

There was one other person who seemed to have their eyes on Ochako, though. Ashido.

Izuku wasn't exactly sure what prompted this. Ochako and Ashido were friends, of course, as Ashido was friends with everyone, and besides Tsu, Ashido was probably the closest to Ochako out of the girls. Izuku wondered if maybe she'd been told, or maybe she'd figured it out on her own.

But as he watched her from a distance, eyeing Ochako with caution, narrowing her gaze and giving her this look, this quizzical look, he realized that no, she most likely didn't know, and was currently trying to find out.

Izuku probably would've liked it much better if she knew.

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Saturdays were reserved for training. Everyone in U.A. knew that. So when that same morning, a day and a half after Ochako's fate was sealed, All Might elicited a mandatory trip to Gym Gamma, the class expected as much. None of them were taken by surprise. Cementoss manipulated the ground to each of their likings, and off improving their Quirks they went.

Ochako was working on some more practical uses for her wires. They were certainly helpful for pulling objects toward her or grappling onto hard surfaces, but it would be nice if she could use them a little more like Sero's tape, which she'd strived to do for quite a while now but hadn't accomplished yet due to her budget on time. Maybe she could upgrade them to stretch further.

Her ability to focus was limited. Maneuvering around rocks and open playing fields, she repeatedly had to swallow down fresh flowers billowing up in her throat, breathing in large gulps. Why was it so hard today? Why, whenever she swallowed them down did they keep coming back? To make matters worse, she couldn't wear her mask while training, so any flowers spilling forth from her lips would be immediately detectable to anyone in the near vicinity.