As soon as Izuku got out of the auditorium he immediately went to the terrace of the school building.
When he got there he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and sat down while leaning on a nearby wall.
After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and stared at his hands. His mind was still stuck on the events that transpired during the last episode. The image of his mother hanging by the rope still lingered in front of his eyes.
Then a self-deprecating chuckle escaped from his mouth as he remembered how he left his mom to die despite having the power to save her, 'Some son I am,' he thought.
Tears started to form in his eyes as he shoved his head into his hands and the self-deprecating chuckle from earlier turned into sobs.
As he was sobbing he heard a gentle voice calling him, "Izuku..." he looked up and saw Ochako looking at him with worried eyes, "are you all right ?"
Izuku fanatically rubbed his eyes and stood up, "yeah, don't worry about me," he rubbed his face, "sorry, I must be wasting everyone's time.'
As Izuku was about to leave Ochako grabbed his hand, "Izuku please don't," she said with a heavy emotion in her voice, "I am not Eri. You don't have to act like you are an unbeatable superhero in front of me."
"What are you-" the words died in his mouth when Ochako suddenly hugged him.
"It's ok you can let it out," she said while rubbing his back, "you don't have to pretend anything in front of me you know. You can just be Izuku in front of me."
After that, a comfortable silence lingered between both of them for a few minutes. Then slowly Ochako felt Izuku's hands wrapping around her tightly as he buried his face in her neck while sobbing.
"I...I...I left her... to die," Izuku said in between sobbing, "I am not a hero Ochako, I am not a hero."
"Izuku, you and Verdant are different people," she said trying to sound as gentle as she could, "he and you are living different lives. His decisions do not reflect on you. Besides, it is easy to judge someone from the outside but only Verdant knows what he is going through at that time. Do you understand ?"
"Hmm," Izuku hummed.
"And remember this," Ochako broke their hug and cupped his face in her hands, "you are a hero. To me, to Eri, and to anyone you have saved in your entire life."
Again there was silence for a while as they just stays like that until Izuku broke the silence, "Ochako."
"Hmm?" Ochako asked
"I noticed you are not calling me Deku anymore, why is that?" Izuku asked while Ochako noticed a hint of fear and uncertainty in his voice.
"I called you Deku because I didn't know what that meant back then, but now I know the history behind that name so I don't want to call you that anymore," Ochako explained.
"But you changed the meaning behind that name," Izuku protested.
Ochako shook her head and said, "that doesn't erase your history with that name. And do you think I never noticed how every now and then you flinch when someone calls you by that name?"
Izuku looked down, "I didn't even notice."
"Don't worry Zuku, from now on we will make sure that you will never feel like that ever again," Ochako said.
"Zuku?" Izuku raised his brow.
"I thought we will need a new nickname now that we are not calling you Deku anymore," Ochako said.
"But seriously, Zuku?" Izuku rolled his eyes, "you are so creative."
They stared at each other for a moment until they started laughing.
Once they both calmed down Ochako noticed that Izuku was looking at her with a different look in his eyes.
"What are you looking at?" Ochako asked hoping to make him flustered but this time it backfired big time.
"Nothing actually. I was just thinking how beautiful you are," Izuku said.
"Huh?" Ochako's face turned red as she stared at Izuku to check if he really just said that.
"I know I am saying this out of nowhere but I am tired of getting flustered around you. I am tired of beating around the bush and I am tired of fighting against these feelings I have for you," then Izuku took her hands in his and said, "Ochako, I like you. I like you from the very first time you saved me from falling before the entrance exam."
Ochako was stunned and flustered. All she wanted to do right now was to run to the dorms and hide under her blank. But she knew that if she did that right now she will never be able to gather enough courage to talk to him ever again. That's why she decided to let go of her embarrassment and convey her feeling toward Izuku as well.
Meanwhile, Izuku was still talking, "- and I understand if you want to reject me. Of course, why would you want to be with someone like-" Izuku's confession suddenly came to a halt when he felt a soft sensation on his lips. That's when he realized that Ochako was kissing him. His first kiss! His mind was working in overdrive until he realized he was wasting this moment.
So he calmed himself down, placed his arm around Ochako's waist, and returned the kiss.
After a few minutes, they separated and stared into each other's eyes.
"So are we like... you...and me?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah," Ochako said with a dopey smile, "I think we should go back now."
As they started going back Izuku thought of holding her hand when he heard a woman's voice, 'do it ninth.'
"Huh?" Izuku looked around.
"What happened Zuzu?" Ochako asked.
"Nothing," Izuku said and held her hand. She looked surprised for a moment but still smiled at him.
A few moments later they returned back to the auditorium and also received some teasing smiles from their friends when they saw them holding hands.
"Hey Ochako I need to talk to Aizawa sensei for a moment, I will be back," Izuku said.
"Don't worry, I will go and explain to Eri about your new nickname," Ochako said as she returned to her seat where Eri was playing with Tsu.
Izuku approached Aizawa and said, "Sensei I want to change my hero name."
"Why?" Aizawa asked directly going to the topic's heart.
"When I took this nickname as my hero name I thought that I will turn this derogatory term into something inspirational but Ochako made me realize that even if that name has changed its meaning for me it is still a bad name for me to associate with and it can be bad for my mental health if everyone called me that on daily basis," Izuku explained.
Aizawa thought for a moment and nodded his head, "very well. Since you are still in your first year, changing your hero name won't be a problem. Meet me tomorrow so that we can finish the necessary paperwork."
"Thank you," Izuku said with a bow.
"So young Izuku, have you decided what your new name would be?" All Might asked.
Izuku smiled at him, "Yep! The name I am going to choose is something that I want to become for people who are trapped in this society's darkness. That's why I will be a hero of hope, Licht!"
To be continued...
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(Had some free time so wrote this short interlude. By the way, I am still writing reactions whenever I have time.
Thank you ^_^ )