Sunday afternoon had just rolled around, and the usual Sunday blues came with it. Catching up on chores and studying, cramming in the last bits of social time, or even just watching the light rainfall from the window.
Whatever activity it was, one thing was certain. No one felt like going back to school, university, or work. Not yet.
One girl, in particular, was wrapped up in her old orange hoodie, watching singular droplets of rain trickle down the window pane, trying to guess which of her chosen drops would make it there first, but eventually, her focus shifted away from the little competition she made for herself, and instead to her competition for Izuku.
The competition she'd lost.
She couldn't help but feel a wide swath of emotions, as countless thoughts bounced and ricocheted around in her hyperactive mind, as she couldn't help but fixate on that look in his eyes. That look of affection, admiration... the fact that it wasn't directed at her annoyed her, but what truly broke her was that she wasn't the reason he felt those things in the first place.
Stepping inside, Nejire rolled her eyes at Ochako's lovelorn expression, able to tell how zoned out she was, closing the door behind her, and causing Ochako to jump up from her seat.
"N-Nejire?! How did you get in?" She asked, shocked and a little concerned.
"I've been here for an hour Ochako, I just went to the bathroom for two minutes, did you forget?" She asked teasingly, sitting down on her bed, as Ochako spun around in her office chair to face her.
"Sorry, I got a little lost in my head, it's been a really slow day" Ochako replied, playing it off.
"Is that what you call getting obsessed over Izuku's date?" Nejire asked, watching Ochako's flustered expression, chuckling before responding, "You know, other than to Izuku, you're not exactly good at hiding how jealous you are."
"If it's that obvious then why hasn't he noticed?" Ochako asked, sounding almost defeated.
"Well, the shortest answer is that he's a guy. Mirio, Tamaki, and even Katsuki wouldn't realise either. Izuku's no different. If you want to know why him in particular, even though we can all tell, it's because he's not looking in from an outside perspective. He could tell if you had a crush on me, or Mirio, because he could see both sides of it. Had you been more obvious, like a certain someone, he'd have noticed." She explained, watching Ochako's face turn from an annoyed look to a more accepting expression.
"Well... I guess I lost this one then." She said dryly.
"Who said you lost anything? No one can tell if things will last, and anything can happen down the line. And whilst I don't condone stealing someone else's boyfriend, you can make him notice you if you want." She replied, trying to cheer her up, standing up and getting a bit closer to Ochako, kneeling opposite her, as she was still in her chair.
"Even if you can't have him, it doesn't mean he's the only one out there for you. Sometimes you might find that what you really want from love is something you never expected." She added, sounding almost... melancholic, as she spoke, "You'll have time and your chance. Just depends on whether you want to take it or not."
Ochako knew she was right, it wasn't like she hadn't already realised that. But she couldn't help wanting to complain and let her feelings out.
"What do you mean, what you want from love is something you'd never expect? He wants her, I think that's clear..." Ochako asked solemnly.
"What I mean is that just because you fall for someone, or you think you want a certain type of person, you're wrong. I'm not gonna root against Izuku, I just want him to be happy, but I also know that sometimes, people like the idea of something more than they actually like that thing." She said, sounding like she was talking from experience.
"Thanks Nejire." She said sincerely, feeling a bit better now that it was all out there. Oddly enough, it made her come to terms with it all, even if she had already accepted the outcome.
"I know it's a bit wrong but... I don't want to give up on us, on me and Izuku... There's no way I can give up." She said, sounding incredibly resolute.
Deciding not to comment and drag out the situation, Nejire opted to change the subject, as despite the drab weather, it was still the middle of the afternoon, and they could still go somewhere, but right as she opened her mouth, a knock was heard on Ochako's door.
"It's Eri, can I come in?"
"Go ahead!" Ochako called out, as Eri walked in, happy to see Nejire there, showing her affection by running and jumping onto the bed next to her.
"You really are clingy when Nejire's around huh?" Ochako teased.
"Now now, don't make fun of my daughter Ochako~" Nejire teased, ruffling Eri's hair, which had been getting quite long, as it was almost halfway down her back.
"Eri, you should be lucky that Nejire's your mother, I bet plenty of guys would love to call her mommy~" Ochako teased.
"Why do you think I don't let her pick me up from school?" Eri teased, as Nejire just laughed nervously at their comments.
"Is Izuku still working on his assignments?" Nejire asked.
"Yeah, he should be done soon though. Which works out well, Katsuki's heading to the UA gym with Tamaki, I was thinking we should go with them." Eri replied.
"Why would we go with them? They're gonna be sparring, and I'm far too cute to be a referee." Nejire replied.
"You could be a ring girl?" Eri asked jokingly
"Yeah, and the winner of the fights usually sleeps with the ring girls."
"And? You say that like it's a bad thing?"
"You're telling me you want to sleep with one of them?"
"No, I'm saying that you should."
"Oh please, those boys are far too out of my league~" Nejire teased.
"You're telling me Mr. National Champion can't even get it from you? Damn, you have high standards Nejire~" Izuku interjected, causing Eri to snicker.
"National Champion?" Ochako asked, laughing as well, but more so confused.
"Tamaki's a black belt in Taekwondo, and he took part in competitions throughout high school, and he won a national competition in his final year. He doesn't train as much or compete now though." Nejire explained.
Ochako was just stunned, as the social recluse Tamaki being in a national competition, a martial arts one at that, was just a complete mindfuck.
"Yeah he's surprisingly strong, and ripped too, but since he always wears baggy clothes you can never tell. Plus, he's normally stood next to Mirio, who can put on muscle easily, so he looks like a normal person in comparison." Izuku added.
"I mean, I get that, but... still" Ochako said, still trying to process it all, before she spoke up again, "So what about Katsuki? Does he do Taekwondo too?"
"Nah, he's into boxing, but they both teach each other stuff, plus, they're the only ones who can fight, so they spend most of their time as a duo in the ring or with a punching bag." Eri answered, looking at Izuku as she did.
"Hey I'm not half bad at fighting!" He rebuked, realising he'd played into Eri's hands, before calming down, "In any case, Eri, I think you'd enjoy sparring with Kaachan, especially after that knockout punch you landed in school" He teased.
Still a little embarrassed at her outburst, Eri awkwardly shuffled around, causing the others to just chuckle lightly.
"You know, it's not a bad idea for us to join them. It's not like we have much better to do, and we can show Eri the gym for the first time." Nejire suggested.
"Actually... that is a good idea." Izuku replied, before looking over at Ochako, "Do you want to come too?"
"Yeah of course, I don't have anything I need to work on right now, plus, now I really want to see Tamaki and Bakugo spar." She replied excitedly.
"Okay then, I'll message Kaachan and let him know that we're going too. Nejire, can I sit at the front this time?" Izuku asked childishly, with a big grin on his face.
"No fair! Nejire said it was my turn this time!" Eri replied, hugging Nejire's arm, going along with Izuku, but it also wasn't a bad way to call shotgun.
"Now now, since you both want to argue, I'll let Ochako sit in the front." Nejire replied, saddening both Midoriya siblings, as Ochako stood up with a mocking grin.
"Looks like I'm her favourite~" She teased, walking over to her wardrobe and grabbing some leggings to replace her joggers, as the other three walked out of her room to let her change.
Looking through the rest of her clothes, since she didn't feel like going to the gym in a thick hoodie and a t-shirt, she noticed the matching sports bra she usually only wore in the summer for high school sports day.
Without much more thought, she put it on, along with the leggings, both of which were a light shade of pink, and a black zip-up hoodie, she was ready to go.
After a few more minutes, Eri too was in a pair of light grey leggings, and a baggy t-shirt, and Izuku was in a white compression shirt, with black joggers, highlighting his mostly lean physique, though his reason for wearing it was that it was waterproof.
As the four of them got into Nejire's car, with Eri reluctantly sitting in the back with Izuku, they made their way to the gym's car park and quickly walked inside due to the rain.
"Where are the other two?" Eri asked, looking around in shock and awe, as the UA gym was massive, spanning across three floors, with hundreds of machines and weights, along with designated areas for certain sports.
"They're on the second floor, it's where they have all of the combat sports equipment." Nejire replied, surprised to see so many people working out there despite the weather, they all took the stairs and walked into the combat sports room, seeing two familiar faces and one not-so-familiar one.
Shoto Todoroki was in the other ring, with what seemed like a professional coach, having already worked up quite a sweat, with it dripping off him as he showed an impressive level of power and technique.
Noticing their friends, Tamaki and Katuski stepped out of their ring, where they had just begun to warm up, as Camie, dressed in a referee's outfit, walked up to the four of them.
"Hey guys! You made it just in time, how was the drive?" She asked casually, hugging Nejire, as she just looked at her blonde friend donned in black and white stripes.
"It was okay, why are you in a referee's outfit?" Nejire asked tentatively.
"Katsuki lost a bet." She said nonchalantly, looking back at her boyfriend who just rolled his eyes.
"What did he get if he won?" Nejire asked, not too surprised at that outcome.
"I'd be in a cheerleader's outfit~" She said with a grin, causing Nejire to laugh and giggle, as she watched Katsuki walk away from them, though she did glimpse the deep red hue on his face.
"Hey, Deku! Are you finally going to get in the ring?" He asked as Izuku put his phone away.
"With you? Hell no, I just got a girlfriend, I'm not trying to lose a fight and then lose her." Izuku replied, giving his best friend a short hug.
"Oh come on, I'll let you win and impress her."
"You've never let me win anything in your entire life."
"Well that's because you keep losing, it's not my problem if you're just bad at everything."
"Well, at least I'm not a sore loser."
"Are you trying to say I am?"
Izuku, grinning, cleared his throat and spoke up so Camie could hear him, "Hey Kaachan, remember that time you lost in chess and then-" He began, before Katsuki put his gloved hand over Izuku's mouth to get him to stop, as Eri just cackled, as she was the only other person who was there to see what happened after his loss.
After removing Katsuki's hand from his mouth, Izuku took a quick step back, before speaking up once again, "In any case, I was thinking that you could teach Eri a thing or two. Or just let her go crazy on the pads."
"Yeah that's fine, is this because of the knockout punch?" Katsuki asked, somehow grinning and proud at the same time.
"Did you have to tell everyone about that?" Eri asked meekly.
"Of course I did. If I'm not embarrassing you, then what's the point of me existing?" Izuku asked, feigning innocence as he gave Eri a pat on the shoulder.
"Well, no time like the present. Come on Eri, I'll teach you how to kick Deku's ass." Katsuki said, as Eri walked off with him, stepping into the ring, as Nejire and Camie decided to watch them.
Meanwhile, Ochako had already been talking to Tamaki, who was a bit further ahead by where the punching bags and dummies were, as Izuku joined them.
"Let me guess, Ochako's fangirling over your competition wins?" Izuku asked, causing Tamaki to just nod, and Ochako to roll her eyes.
"I'm not fangirling, I'm just surprised, there's a difference." She said defensively.
"Sure, totally." Izuku replied sarcastically, as he looked back at Katsuki and Eri, who were just warming up and working on her form. Though it was a stark contrast to Todoroki, who was in the other ring and really going at it, as the sounds of his punches hitting the pads, and the exhaling he did on every punch filled the room.
"He's quite good." Tamaki pointed out, as Izuku just scoffed, "I mean he's rich, and has all the time in the world, who wouldn't be good at something if that was the case?"
"Is someone jealous~" Ochako teased.
"It's not that, he just seems kind of entitled. He barely shows up to lectures, and just has flings with a bunch of different women."
"And you know this because?" Ochako asked.
Izuku looked at her nervously, remembering who'd told him all of that, as he answered sheepishly, "Momo told me about it, they've met a few times when they were both younger since they got invited to the same events."
"Even if he is a dick, you can't knock the fact that he's talented." Tamaki interjected, "If he got into UA in the first place he'd have to work hard, or at least be incredibly smart, so you can't disrespect him for that. I've heard he's a complete asshole, but other than that, he's doing well for himself."
"You're not wrong" Izuku admitted, as Todoroki took a break, and the room got a little quieter, "I can at least see why he'd get so many girls, he is good-looking." He muttered, only loud enough for Ochako to hear him, as it was obvious Izuku felt envy.
At that moment, Ochako felt an incredibly intrusive thought enter her mind. To turn Izuku's envy of him into something a little more personal. Just then, she felt that same defeated feeling from before filling her entire being, as she looked on at Izuku, turning around to talk to Tamaki as he put on some gloves.
Just as she felt defeated before, she lost to her rational mind, taking off her hoodie, and walking over to Todoroki, who waved goodbye to his trainer and just sat down in his corner, noticing Ochako walking towards him.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group noticed Ochako's bold choice of clothing, which wasn't usually like her, but it certainly grabbed everyone's attention, just not the one person whom she wanted to, as Izuku was focused on pad work with Tamaki.
Giving her a cocky grin, he stood up, looking Ochako up and down in her skintight outfit, "Hello Uraraka, don't tell me you want to go for a few rounds?"
Smiling back, she just looked back at Izuku, who didn't look back at her, and with a slightly frustrated expression, she replied, "Not exactly... I just wanted to talk for a second..."