A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well, I know I am. We just recently hit 200 followers, and I'm in the process of making the Discord Server for my profile, but considering how busy I can be, it'll take a little while, since I only work on it when I have a few spare minutes. Nevertheless, I'll try and be as quick as I can be!
Other than that, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
"Ochako! Wake up!" Izuku called out, knocking on her bedroom door, not caring much about how loud he was being, considering Eri wasn't there to complain. He could only dread the mischief that she and Kaachan had gotten up to, but that wasn't his main priority. Getting to UA on time was.
"I'm getting up! You know we've still got time right?!" Ochako yelled back, grumpy after having just woken up, as she frantically made her bed, feeling how messy her hair was.
"Well sue me for trying to be early! I'll be downstairs!" He replied, going to the kitchen and making some toast, not in the mood for anything else. As he put the bread in the toaster, he cracked two eggs into a bowl and began whisking, quickly making some scrambled eggs for Ochako.
Meanwhile, Ochako hopped into her shower, silently thanking the architects who made the building for her en-suite bathroom. Its convenience was worth more than her student loans, although the thought of her crippling debt was pure nightmare fuel, so she cast it out of her mind, choosing not to think about the end of her university experience, but rather the beginning of it.
UA University. It felt incredible just saying it. An institution globally regarded as one of the most advanced and prestigious, and she had finally gotten there. All the sleepless nights, all the challenges and adversity, and especially the boring nights of revision, accumulated and culminated in her reaching her final goal. She couldn't wait to have the experience of a lifetime.
Her intense desire and motivation implored her to rush as well, feeling the excitement buzz throughout her body, as it made her jumpy and extremely hyperactive. Quickly, she exited the shower, drying herself off, and hastily rubbing her dampened hair, despite it being fruitless, with water still dripping down.
Forgetting she was still wearing her pajamas, she quickly ran downstairs, bursting into the sitting room.
"Izuku, do we have any hair dryers?" She asked, skin radiating from the morning sunlight, her damp, beautiful brunette hair almost glowing as a result of the same sun.
"Uhhhhh..." Izuku sounded out, trying to think of a response, as he couldn't help but stare at Ochako's face. It wasn't like he was going to look at her slightly damp and tight white t-shirt after all. After getting his emotions under control, he blinked a couple of times and actually answered her question.
"Yeah, in Eri's room. I've made breakfast, so don't worry about that. You got your bag ready?" He asked, going back to eating his toast.
"Yeah it's in my room, and thanks. I'll be down in ten!" Ochako replied, still talking as she ran up the stairs into Eri's room, using her hairdryer quickly.
Izuku gave no thought to his accidental stare, having no time to go down that rabbit hole. After putting his now empty plate in the sink, he waited for Ochako to come back downstairs so that he could start on her breakfast, but considering that 5 minutes had already passed, it wasn't a bad idea to start making it now.
Preemptively, he began to cook the whisked and seasoned eggs, stirring constantly over low heat, preferring a soft, creamy finish, hoping Ochako shared his taste. After just a few minutes, she came downstairs, wearing a simple pair of blue washed denim jeans, a light purple t-shirt, and a black hoodie.
"Hey, it's ready" Izuku spoke, hearing Ochako come down, but not taking his concentration off his cooking, as he put the scrambled eggs onto a plate. As he turned to face her, Ochako eyed him up, observing his outfit, his dark blue chinos, and light green t-shirt. She looked over to the sofa, seeing his thin grey jacket draped over the top of it. Sitting down, she began to eat her breakfast.
"This is really good Izuku! Thanks!" Ochako exclaimed, her eyes lighting up, as she wolfed down her food, with Izuku running upstairs to collect his bag.
As he retrieved it, Ochako finished her breakfast, and got ready by the door, with Izuku joining her a few seconds later. Leading the way, she stepped outside, the sunlight still strong as ever, although the gentle breeze juxtaposed it, the two feelings melding into a very manageable temperature.
Locking the door behind him, Izuku looked up at the clear sky, smiling to himself, hoping Eri would be able to enjoy her first day at high school, whilst he enjoyed his first year at university. His gaze shifted to the streets around him, with the skyscrapers and apartment buildings serving as a muddled backdrop for the cars zooming past his eyes, the glare of the windows flashing into his retinas for a split second.
As he kept looking around the city, always noticing something new with every passing moment, he had no idea that the train station was imminently approaching, which meant he had to cross a group of roads, something he couldn't do on autopilot. Luckily, Ochako grabbed the back of his clothing before he walked too far, snapping him back into reality.
"Shit! Sorry Ochako!" Izuku recoiled, jolting as he regained his composure, the sound of the cars flying past still ringing in his ears.
"It's fine Izuku, just look both ways before you cross the road okay?" She asked him patronisingly, walking into the train station, with Izuku needing to jog to catch up to her.
Stepping into the bumbling, crowded train station was almost like entering a labyrinth of people, as both teenagers found their way to the ticket kiosks, purchasing one each, and then making their way to the appropriate platform.
Izuku felt out of place in the early morning environment, with men and women dressed for office jobs, formal attire all around, a blanket of seriousness almost blocking out the bright, uplifting sunlight that saturated their vision before.
Ochako looked around the train station, harkening back to her first day out in the city, as she noticed things she missed before, intricate details of the station were made clear to her, with her simple shift in perspective allowing her to see much more this time.
That thought stuck in her head, planting its seed in her mind, but for now, she could disregard it. After all, she had a train to catch.
Izuku got up first, waiting for the train doors to slide out of the way, stepping to the side, expecting a gaggle of people to flow out from the train onto the platform, but surprisingly, only a few individuals trickled out, leaving him with enough room to step inside straight away and find a seat.
Ochako sat down opposite him, both of them taking a window seat, with a stranger sitting next to Izuku. Ochako and Izuku made eye contact, silently realising that they wouldn't be able to talk as freely anymore.
Slightly annoyed by the turn of events, Ochako took out her earphones and began to listen to some music, looking out of the window of the train, as the doors closed and it began to move ever so slowly, the acceleration picking up at an almost exponential rate.
It was a tranquil twenty minutes, with neither of the roommates thinking or doing much, as getting lost in what little ideas they had was enough to entertain them for now.
Stepping off the train, Ochako took her earphones out and lazily shoved them into her pocket, with Izuku carefully wrapping his up and slipping it into his pocket, as he walked in front of Ochako, knowing the route to UA off by heart now, as he checked to make sure his bag wasn't heavier on one side than the other, before looking back at Ochako.
"Hey, can you do me a favour? My bottle's in my bag, on the left, can you get it out for me?" Izuku asked, feeling a little parched due to the stuffiness of the train carriage.
"Sure thing, one second" Ochako replied, finding it a bit fiddly to open the zipper of Izuku's backpack whilst they walked, but with a little bit of struggle she eventually got it, handing Izuku's bottle to him, subsequently resulting in him taking a couple of swigs from the bottle, before handing it back to her, as she put it back in it's place, and closed his bag for him, finally matching his pace and walking alongside him.
The route to UA was quite scenic, as Ochako turned around whilst walking, walking sideways whilst looking to the left, then backwards, sidestepping her way as she turned, finishing her anti-clockwise rotation, with the panoramic-esque view of the city making her feel like she was in the opening shot of a movie, with Izuku not sharing her curious and bewildered reaction, but smiling nonetheless, as he carried on walking steadfastly.
"If you think this looks good, wait until you see the UA campus, it's huge. And I'm sure it looks super cool from the inside" He pointed out, internalising his excitement over seeing the inside of the university.
"What do you mean? Didn't you go to the university open day?" Ochako asked, having vivid memories of the open day, although not of this part of the city, which wasn't surprising, since UA's car park was off to the side and towards the back of the building, at least when compared to the placement of the entrance.
"I wasn't able to, I was sick, so I stayed at Aunt Mitsuki's place whilst I got better. It didn't help that Kaachan kept giving me cold drinks, but at least I had fun" Izuku replied, chuckling as he recounted his memories.
"Sure. Because he forced you to drink them." Ochako sarcastically replied, her tone monotone as ever, as they both finally arrived.
UA University.
This moment was so grand, so large, so life-changing, that they couldn't think to put it into words. A deep breath escaped their lungs, with no inhalation afterwards. They couldn't breathe or think. They could only stand in awe of the institution they were so lucky to be a part of.
The experiences that came their way, the lessons they'd learn, the time they'd have with their friends. Somehow, it all seemed perfect at this moment. That everything they did was leading up to this, and that the fruits of their labour were realised, and put before them in the most extravagant way possible.
A building with an almost entire glass exterior, so polished and crystal clear that the sun shining off it looked brighter than normal, the frontal view giving it the shape of an "H", as a true, pure glass corridor connected both sides of the school, with them both being able to pick out the various student's shoes from the glass walkway. The thought of how surreal that must have felt, walking atop a clear surface almost 80 feet above the ground, made Izuku and Ochako feel light-headed.
As if their eyes zoomed out, they saw the stone arch that had been there since the university's exceptions, with the eroded inscription still clear as day, especially with the sun illuminating it for them, as if it was a message from the heavens:
"UA: Heroes are made here"
Thus reflecting the design of the university building.
Looking at one another, neither of the new students had to look at the other to convey their thoughts, let alone say them out loud. If they tried, all that would occur as a result would be a jumbled mess of words, as well as pure, unadulterated excitement.
They couldn't even begin to think about what kind of experience this would be, walking into the university for the first time. This experience. The turning point. The marker of a new age.
It had to be perfect. It should be perfect. It was going to be... perfect.
Nothing else would suffice, nothing else would satisfy them. For once, they both felt perfectly in sync.
Izuku Midoriya and Ochako Uraraka were truly on the same wavelength, as both of them were standing in front of the opportunity of their dreams. All they had to do was take a step to grasp it, nothing else.
After another deep breath, they mustered the courage to do it.
To see what the unimaginable UA University experience was like...
A/N: I'm so so so sorry this came out late. It was mother's day over the weekend, and I had a lot of personal stuff, which meant this chapter took a really long time, plus I almost had a huge case of writer's block, but I managed to push through it, and hopefully the chapter's still good despite that. I hope you liked this chapter, and I can't wait to see you all next time!