61

Chapter 61: Between Your ArmsNotes:

Chapter Text

Mina was finding it really, really hard to contain her joy.

She wanted to squeal, sing, and yell to the sky. She wanted to jump, spin, and break into a crazy dance. She wanted to squeeze something- someone- multiple someones until her arms got sore.

Yeah, that last option seemed like the best one at the moment.

Setsuna and Tsuyu found themselves swiftly grabbed from behind as she launched herself forward.

"Woah!"

"Ribbit~"

Any further reaction was drowned out by her next shout.

"Group hug!"

"Yeah!" Toru chimed, joining in immediately and latching her arm with Mina's over Setsuna's back and taking Ochaco too, the brunette releasing an adorable squeak of surprise.

With so little space between them all, Mina and Toru had no difficulty in pushing almost everybody into the boy's slightly unprepared arms, making him release a puff as they all but barrelled into him.

The pinkette grabbed onto his arm with no intention of letting go anytime soon, then interlaced her fingers with his. "Got you now," she smirked.

Izuku chuckled as soon as he regained his breath. "Want to make sure this is real?"

"Yup!"

"You could have just asked," Ochaco noted, raising her face a bit to talk but notably keeping herself nuzzled into the boy's chest.

"Where's the fun in that?" she smirked.

"Here, ribbit," Tsuyu said, not even trying to move an inch as she was comfortably sandwiched. "Very real."

"Dunno~ I might need some more convincing… Ow!" Mina almost jumped as someone pinched her skin. Turning her head she was met by the lizard girl's teasing wink.

"Seems real enough to me," Setsuna noted before raising her gaze towards the other side of the bed. "Come on, you three! Don't make us beg!"

The initial surprise quickly made way to approval, and the hug slowly grew into a full circle. Mina saw Kyoka roll her eyes for a moment before conceding all on her own, not even needing a subtle push from Momo before joining them.

She couldn't just let the occasion to prickle the resident musician drop though.

"I knew there was a big softie under all that frowning~" she smirked.

Kyoka's eyes widened for a second before she could reply with a huff. "Oh, yeah, you've got me. True softie here. I've got a heart filled with rainbows and a secret stash of kittens under my bed."

"You do?" Toru perked up.

The punkette turned around slowly before replying in the most deadpan tone. "No."

"Meanie," the invisible girl pouted, making the others chuckle.

"Eh, I didn't hear no denial to what I said there," Mina reiterated with a light poke.

Kyoka grew a bit redder as her jacks slithered around the pinkette's finger. "S-Shut up. I've got an image to uphold."

"Play nice you two," Momo said with a light shake of her head and a soft sigh.

"Yeah, and make some space for us too," Itsuka added.

"Over here," Ochaco called, having the ravenette get closer.

The hug had been nice from the start, and yet the unexpected cherry on top was Itsuka's doing. The martial artist's hands grew in size and enveloped them all in the true biggest hug ever.

Mina could feel her neighbors relax more and more—maybe something to do with frogs and lizards, who knew?

"Mm, this is nice," Setsuna commented.

Tsuyu croaked contently. "Warm, ribbit."

"Like getting hugged by a blanket," Toru thought aloud.

"Best use of [Big Fist] ever," Mina judged.

"It's up there," Ochaco chuckled.

"Is that all I am now?" the redhead jokingly said as she shook her head.

"Yeah. Gotta rename you to 'BestHug' now," Mina confirmed with a sly wink.

Itsuka hummed after a moment. "That's not too bad."

"I've heard worse," Kyoka shrugged.

"It does sound nice, if almost removed from your Quirk altogether," Momo observed.

Tsuyu let out a sound of agreement. "Better than the 'Gear Third' someone else proposed, ribbit."

The lizard girl snorted. "Nah, it's perfect. You just have no taste."

"You big nerd," Toru giggled.

"For all the time you spend with Kamakiri, you haven't taken after his nicknaming skills," Mina smirked.

"Don't test me, Pinky."

"Case in point, ribbit," Tsuyu interjected.

The pointless discussion had them giggle, and finally a ninth chuckle had joined theirs. 

Yeah, Mina really liked to hear them laugh.

The sound slowly trickled down into a comfortable silence, then broken by Kyoka's pensive humming.

"So… what now?"

"Already deciding to leave the hug?" Mina teased.

"Maybe you're comfortable, but my legs are killing me," the other huffed.

"The bed's a bit cramped as is, yeah," Ochaco agreed with a chuckle. "I can't move an inch."

"Right, sorry, that's on me," Itsuka said as she retracted her Quirk, causing a few groans of protest, particularly from one frog girl.

"Tsu, you're literally crushed between Midori, the wall, and us," Toru pointed out.

Her response came out muffled and barely audible. "I can take it, ribbit."

"Sure you can, but it's not like it's going to make the bed any larger for the rest of us," Mina pointed out, poking the greenette on her cheeks.

"As nice as this is, I have to agree," Momo sighed, retracting a bit.

"Sorry, this was so unexpected…" Izuku apologized with an awkward chuckle, his current state making him unable to rub the back of his head as usual.

"We could just move the party upstairs…" Setsuna proposed.

"So now it's a party?" Kyoka said, an eyebrow raised.

The lizard girl shrugged. "Might as well be."

"Apart from the fact that we've got exams tomorrow," Itsuka reminded them.

"Whyyy…" Mina whined.

The redhead huffed. "Someone has to be the voice of reason every once in a while."

"We could review together," Momo offered, following her fellow class representative's train of thought. "We still have a couple hours before dinner."

"I guess we could…"

"Ugh, fi~ine," Mina huffed before getting up. Just then, an idea came to her. "Midori, if you've already seen everything… do you even need to study?"

"Not really. I know our year's curriculum by heart," he responded with a sigh. "And no, I won't tell you what will be on the tests. Even if Nezu made me promise not to, that would be cheating."

"Eh, worth a shot," Mina shrugged.

"Come on, I think we'll be alright," Toru piped up before pointing at Izuku, Momo, and Setsuna. "With all the time we spent getting tutored by these guys there's no way we'll fail."

"I certainly hope so," the studious ravenette nodded pridefully.

"Yeah, you'll be fine," the lizard girl stated with a wave of her hand. "Though a few tips wouldn't hurt," she added with a sly smirk.

Izuku shook his head lightly before smiling at her. "I know you'll do great, don't worry."

"Well, that's a weight off my shoulders," Ochaco let out a sigh of relief.

"Ribbit. So you're just going to finish in record speed and take top marks?" Tsuyu inquired as she finally detached herself from the boy.

"Unlikely," he sighed, making them somewhat confused. "I mean, I'll do my best, but Nezu will try to surprise me in any way he can."

Mina tilted her head at that. "Wait, the principal knows everything, so he's gonna give you a whole new exam?"

"Something like that. My questions will probably be tailor made to be harder…"

"How lucky," Kyoka commented sarcastically.

"... and he'll probably add a few of those into your tests too if he thinks that I've helped you cheat," he explained to Mina's horror.

"I… I think I'd rather keep my normal exams, thank you very much."

"Ditto," Toru groaned.

"Which brings us back to Momo's idea," the punkette noted. "One last review couldn't hurt."

"Fine~ But only if I get to cuddle afterwards as a reward," Mina smiled smugly, playing hard to get.

"I think that can be arranged," Momo nodded and reciprocated the smile.

"Um, about that…" Izuku started, apparently not knowing exactly how to pose his question. "How do you… Did you…"

Tsuyu interrupted him by raising her hand and taking out her room's key with the other, offering it to Mina. "Could you please bring us our stuff? While you do that, we'll start bringing Izuku up to speed on everything, ribbit."

"O-Oh. Thanks," he said, visibly relieved.

The horned girl didn't miss the direction the frog girl's eyes had briefly glanced at—a certain redhead always beside a certain brunette. She had almost forgotten about that part.

She snagged Tsu's key, jumped down the bed and intertwined her arms with Itsuka and Momo.

"Alright! Tsu, Set, Toru, we'll leave it to you three, so gimme your keys. Ochaco, Kyoka, let's go!"

"Sure," the punkette sighed after a moment, followed by a "Let's!" from a smiling Ochaco and two more agreements and passed keys from the girls staying.

"See you soon!" she chimed while closing the door behind them with her heel, and then they were on their way to the last floor. Her brain was already starting to work overtime.

- I could ask Ochaco to help Itsuka collect and carry Setsuna's share of the stuff… It's not gonna be a lot though… Eh whatever, it doesn't matter much. She's so nice she'll agree to it for sure. Itsuka only needs a few moments alone… and maaaybe a bit of a push, - she thought to herself with a sweet yet mischievous smirk. The rooms were on separate sides too, so it would be easy to give them some privacy as long as she carried Momo and Kyoka elsewhere.

Mina and the others were so focused on their thoughts—or still so excited by the day's development—that they all failed to notice how another door on the boy's floor was slightly ajar.

Their voices slowly disappeared as they climbed the stairs, and the door clicked closed after a moment.

They were none the wiser of the act, nor of the future troubles that it would bring.

Ochaco felt like she could start floating even without her Quirk. Was she walking on a carpet or on clouds? Did she put on her shock-absorbing boots without noticing?

The day had just gone so well! 

Crying and shouting and doubts notwithstanding…

But still, they had done it! And things would only get better from then on, she was sure of it. She had a caring boyfriend and a hell of a girl squad to back her up whenever things went wrong. There would be a ton of stuff she'd have to worry about later, but she- but they'd get through it, of that she had no doubts. It felt so damn good to know that she could count on someone other than her parents—they'd already done plenty, and she had never wanted to bother them with her problems—to this extent.

Her current boundless energy expressed itself in the form of a skip to her step and a full smile that wouldn't leave her face. She had even ended up walking ahead without noticing.

Ochaco had barely taken a step away from the stairwell when she saw Mina jump in front of her, wearing a pleading expression and pressing her hands together as if in prayer.

"Ochaco, can you help Itsuka with the things in Set's room? Please?" the pinkette asked, tilting her head to her left.

She blinked, surprised. "Uh, sure… But-"

"'Cause it just came to me that I left a bunch of my books there last night," Mina hurriedly explained. "So I don't wanna have her carry my stuff too by herself, ya know?"

"I can-" Itsuka started before stopping abruptly when Mina tilted her head again to look behind Ochaco. The brunette turned to see her friend cough once and nod. "I could use the help, yeah."

"Great! Don't worry, we'll take care of the rest. Key?" Mina said, offering an open palm and Setsuna's key with the other hand.

"Oh, there's no need-"

"Pfft, come on, I'm not gonna make you go back and forward. Taking your stuff too while I get Tsu's is no biggie!"

- Then wouldn't it be easier for you to just get your stuff yourself? - she wondered for a moment. - Eh, it's Mina, she probably didn't think too hard about it. -

"Okay, okay," she giggled, completing the exchange. "Here."

"Nice! See you in a bit~"

The horned girl pirouetted and bounced away, catching up with Kyoka and Momo. They turned the corner, making her lose the latter half of a conversation that sounded a lot like, "How the hell did you manage to forget your books?" and "It just happened!"

She laughed at the fading little questioning before turning to find Itsuka looking in the same direction with a hard-to-read expression. It wasn't much of a glare, but the girl was definitely ruminating about something.

"Everything okay?" Ochaco asked.

The redhead blinked, going back to her usual calm demeanor. "Yeah, it's fine," he waved off her worry and started to walk towards 1-B's side of the floor.

Ochaco followed, wondering for the briefest moment why everyone seemed to be acting so strange all of a sudden.

"Let's go to my room first. We'll get their stuff on the way back," Itsuka said, already passing by the greenette's room.

Slightly behind her, Ochaco hummed her assent.

Unseen by the brunette, Itsuka bit her lower lip.

- That girl and her plans are going to be the end of me… - she groaned inside her head.

Mina had approached her without warning, had whispered a quick "Imma give you a chance to chat alone," and had gone to enact her idea without giving her any time to mentally prepare.

Alright, she had been mentally preparing for this for a while, but hadn't she already taken enough stress for a single day?

- Nah, - she huffed at herself. It felt like she had given up her right to not get stressed out by her classmate when she applied to become Class Representative. At least this would hopefully be spent towards a good ending.

Some might have questioned Mina's weird request, but she was dealing with Ochaco here. Of course, being as nice as she was, she had gone along with the pinkette's plea—which Itsuka was almost sure had been thought of at the moment.

And Itsuka had almost messed it up too… She was good at dealing with things out of the blue, especially in combat. What she wasn't used to was being this pressed for time by dumb acting and poor planning.

"Do it now!" Mina had mimed when Ochaco wasn't watching, as if Itsuka hadn't already understood the situation.

It wasn't like she didn't have a plan! Things would have been just fine if she had waited to talk before going to bed! She didn't have to rush things!

Still, she couldn't exactly blame Mina too much. Itsuka had decided and said that she would be coming clean of everything feeling-related today, and the other had just prepared a nice situation where she could be alone with Ochaco. Doing it now wasn't necessarily better or worse than trying later, and while it didn't ensure that she couldn't delay the confession further, Mina's move made it harder to do so. Itsuka knew that her fun-loving friend would be asking about it as soon as they reappeared, with as many details as possible. She didn't want to risk messing it all up because the other had given a few too many hints after she had postponed everything once again.

She just had to keep calm, be her usual self, and wear her heart on her sleeve.

- Yeah, I can do that, - Itsuka thought as the corridor ended and she opened the door to her room.

"Wanna come in while I look for my books?" she asked, finally managing to keep her emotions in check.

"Sure," Ochaco smiled, and the redhead's stomach was back at being a turbulent butterfly-filled mess.

Itsuka hummed, kept the door for her, and closed it gently once they were both inside. "Make yourself at home."

"Thanks. I forgot how cool your room was," the brunette stated with a chuckle, her eyes wandering around in awe.

"It's nothing special," Itsuka shrugged while getting closer to her desk. "Just the same old stuff."

The short task of getting her stuff could have given her a few moments to put herself together, if only she wouldn't stop distracting herself.

"Don't say that, I think it's neat! I love how you even have one of these!"

- These? -

Itsuka turned, only to see the exact second in which Ochaco's fist went for her punching bag.

Her form wasn't perfect, but it still highlighted the lean muscles of her arm in a strikingly graceful movement. The way she posed made her shirt hung tighter to her form, revealing both soft curves and a strong core. The two longer, auburn strands swished back to reveal her bright eyes and fierce smile, like moving curtains to reveal a sunrise.

The fist hit its target in a perfect jab, being immediately followed by a cross in a clean one-two that made the bag respond with delightful pops. Ochaco sidestepped, landing on the balls of her feet, got in another quick sequence, and then a third before ending with a hook that made the bag oscillate back and forth.

Since the days they'd spent together in Ryukyu's gym, Itsuka had seen Ochaco move like that a hundred times and yet, somehow, it was never enough.

"Nice." The brunette grinned, proudly observing the results of her training and the slow swinging of her target.

"Yeah," she responded before she could think any better.

Ochaco came out of her little moment and turned to see Itsuka there, stunned and staring, half-bent on her desk and with her mouth open. What a sight that must have been.

"Oh! Sorry! I shouldn't have done that without asking-!" Ochaco excused herself, quickly scrambling to stop the swinging object as her blush deepened out of shame.

"No!" Itsuka exclaimed, getting up and raising her hands defensively by reflex. "I mean- Don't worry, it's no problem… It's there to be used, and I said to get comfortable… I really don't mind."

"O-Okay, thanks then…" The brunette had finally stopped the bag, and clung onto it like it was the softest thing—and it really wasn't supposed to be. "Really, 'twas nice to get some tension out," she chuckled with a tone that hid a hint of self reproaching under the gratefulness.

Itsuka nodded in agreement as she approached her desk again, taking the notes she wanted from the top drawer. "Today's been a lot. Maybe I should throw a few punches too," she jokingly proposed, shaking her head.

"You should! Remember, Ms. Tatsuma said that we're better off letting off steam when we're stressed out," Ochaco pointed out before raising a finger to her chin in thought. "Or take a shower to calm down, but I think that comes after."

"It does," she hummed, smirking a bit. "Cold as ice."

"Oh hell no, not again. I'll leave those to you, thank you very much," the brunette rebutted by sticking her tongue out.

They laughed, remembering how Ochaco had committed the mistake of turning on the shower without checking the set temperature, as it turned out that some of Ryukyu's sidekicks were of the same mind as Itsuka on that subject. She'd yelped and jumped away, ending up almost under Itsuka's own cold shower—the surprise had almost given the redhead a heart attack. In the end, she had cursed in her dialect loudly enough to have a few sidekicks run in, fearing she'd hurt herself slipping. The explanation had been mortifying for them, and hilarious for the rest of the team—especially since they must have been as red as bell peppers. They'd been reassured that it was fine to let out a curse sometimes, though it was better to only do so while far away from cameras.

She was glad that they could look back at that moment and laugh about it without shame.

"Come on, it'll make you feel better," the girl reiterated, patting the bag. "Imagine you're hitting that guy who's coming after Izuku. It's kinda cathartic."

"We don't even know what he looks like," she sighed and rolled her eyes. "But fine, I'll bite."

Some boxing wouldn't hurt.

Ochaco beamed and got out of the way, giving her all the space she needed and more. Itsuka positioned herself, breathed in and out, raised her fists, and focused her eyes on her target. She attacked, and just like that the rest of the world faded away.

The punching bag wasn't a punching bag.

It was a Villain made of sludge.

One. Two.

It was All Might, looking down on her.

One. Two.

It was that madman Stain.

One. One. Two.

It was a winged nomu.

Two. Hook. Two.

It was a faceless man that she couldn't even get close to.

One. Two. One. Two. Hook.

It was her damn insecurity holding her back.

One. One. Two. Hook. Two. Hook. Two. Hook.

Each hit made the bag rock hard against its rattling chains, chiming with that pleasing clap that echoed on the room's walls. It then came to a sudden stop as she firmly held the target in place, her grip immovable.

Itsuka looked at the back of her hand as it stood over the synthetic material, seeing the reddish skin. Maybe going that heavily without gloves hadn't been her smartest idea of the day, but the stinging sensation on her knuckles was an old friend, and her hands weren't those of a little girl anymore. Her skin was tougher. She was tougher.

"Yeah, I think you needed that more than I did," Ochaco mused with more than a hint of satisfaction in her voice. "Refreshing, right?"

It was. Her mind felt a bit clearer now, and she just had another weight to let go of.

Itsuka noticed her friend-turned-crush in the window's reflection, finding that she was leaning on her wardrobe. Ochaco had her arms crossed in that particular four-fingered hold of hers and the widest "I told you so" grin. She seemed both slightly teasing and incredibly happy to have been of help. Fierce, competitive, joyful, caring, cute.

Mina's voice chimed in Itsuka's head once again, telling her to stop stalling.

- Now or never. -

"Ochaco, do you remember that time I told you to stop worrying about how things could change for the worse and to take your shot with Izuku?" She'd start by making up for omitting stuff.

"Uh, yeah?" The brunette raised an eyebrow that seemed to say "what's with the sudden question?". "You used a lot more words than that, but that was the gist of it."

"Well, I was a hypocrite." Her hands slowly dropped from its spot on the bag, dangling by her side. "I meant what I said, but I wasn't following my own advice."

"Oh. That- Oooh," Ochaco voiced as if she'd connected two dots.

For a moment Itsuka thought that she'd pieced everything together on her own, but she couldn't have been more wrong.

Out of nowhere, the brunette hurriedly left her leaning pose, groaned deeply, and struck her cheeks with her palms, the abrupt clap filling the room. "Why didn't I think of that?! I'm the worst friend ever! Of course you also liked Izuku back then! I said all those things without considering-"

Eyes wide open, Itsuka turned and raised her hands before her. "No, wait, stop! That's not what I meant!"

Ochaco met her eyes and blinked, clearly confused. "It's not?"

Itsuka retreated a bit, straightening up and sighing. She hadn't meant to turn yet, but she wasn't left with much of a choice on the matter. Her hands ended up on her hips while she lowered her gaze a bit, meeting the floor at the other's feet.

"No," she reiterated with a shake of her head.

"But you teamed up in the Sport Festival, and you seemed really close when we settled here too…"

 "You're not wrong," she admitted. "I mean, I think I was still seeing him as a friend back then, and I don't really know when that changed…"

Ochaco hummed in understanding. "Ah, like Momo?"

"Kind of, yeah," she nodded.

"But you did like him when we talked," the brunette asked to clarify.

"I did," she confirmed before quickly adding a, "but you couldn't have known. Remember that I didn't say anything at the sleepover? If anything it's on me for playing coy. And anyway that's not what I was going for… at all, actually." She chuckled, hoping to get back on track.

"Okay…" Ochaco replied with a tone that betrayed more uncertainty. "So…?"

Itsuka lightly rubbed her palms to get rid of a stressful itch, took a deep breath, and finally raised her eyes to meet Ochaco's. The brunette now looked quizzical, but made a quick nod to tell her to go on.

"What I meant is… I was being a hypocrite because I wasn't taking my own advice. I felt stuck in a different way, I was doing nothing to sort out my feelings, and I wasn't asking for help either."

- And it wasn't like I would have done much better without that, - she thought in passing. 

"I was stuck because… Because Izuku isn't the only person I like," Itsuka confessed with a small smile as Ochaco's expression grew, if possible, even more confused.

She swallowed. The second that elapsed between her words would have been one of perfect silence if not for the loud beating of her heart.

"Ochaco, I like you, and not just as a friend."

The brunette's eyes widened in realization, remaining standing still like a deer caught in the headlights. Her natural blushes grew to a rosier tint. "Y-You-" she started to mutter, but Itsuka wasn't finished. She had finally gotten the ball rolling, and she'd follow it until she had gotten it all out.

"You- You mean a lot to me, Ochaco. I know we haven't known each other for that long, but I think of you as one of my best friends. I like how lively you are, and seeing you smile makes my days brighter. You're kind, supporting, and caring in ways I could never hope to be… It makes me feel like I can trust you with anything- No, I know I can. I didn't know it when we ended up interning under Ryukyu, but I couldn't have asked for a better partner. And it's not just your strength in battle, it's how strong you are that makes my legs weak. Your drive, your determination, even your stubbornness, they're so incredible I can't put it into words. I know you're going to achieve everything you set your heart to, and I- I want to be by your side to help you do it. I want to inspire you like you inspire me. I want to have you back like I know you have mine. I want to be there for you… if you'll have me."

Ochaco had listened all the way without emitting a sound. Her lips were now slightly parted, the crimson on her cheeks still overwhelmed her natural color, and her hands were now resting slightly above her chest. She looked lovely even then, but her lack of response was weighing heavily on the redhead.

Itsuka hoped that her anxiety wasn't showing on her face, but she knew that it was impossible to ask for that now.

She opened her mouth again—ready to say that she valued their connection more than her crush and that she would have been fine whatever her response would be—, but didn't get to speak.

Ochaco crossed the space between them in two quick steps and threw her arms around her, drawing her closer than they'd ever been—even their fights hadn't been like this. 

Itsuka was stunned. She didn't know what this meant. This wasn't the reply she had expected.

— What- —

"You looked like you were about to take it all back," Ochaco murmured, letting her head lightly brush on Itsuka's. "Please, don't."

Feeling the other's comforting tone, she nodded and slowly raised her arms to return the hug. It was warm and relaxing.

"I- Sorry, I don't really know what to say," Ochaco continued in a whisper. There was a smile in her voice. "I barely held up knowing that I'd have to confess today, nevermind getting confessed to… I feel like I'm ready to collapse at any moment."

Itsuka hummed in agreement. Maybe they were also holding each other up without knowing it.

"I… can't really wrap my head around all this. You know my family's not well off, anything but. I didn't have much growing up, in terms of stuff and people. I guess it wasn't much fun to play with the girl that didn't have any toys, or go out with someone who couldn't afford a vending machine coffee. I think I kinda got used to loneliness," she let out a doleful chuckle.

Itsuka felt her eyelashes move as the first hints of a teardrop formed in the corner of her eyes. She tried to no avail to slow down her heartbeat with careful breaths.

"Now though… I've got all the friends I could've asked for and more. Nobody treats me like I don't belong, and I… feel like I fit in, for once." Ochaco sniffed, and she followed soon after. "And I've been thinking about this whole group thing… How maybe it's fine for me to be a bit greedy. Maybe I shouldn't settle and just be happy with what I have and never reach out for more. Maybe… Maybe I wanna be even happier."

Inside her, the spark of hope dulled by the silence reignited.

Ochaco lessened her hold around Itsuka as she slowly retracted, bringing her hands to rest on the redhead's shoulder. Itsuka didn't let go either, bringing her own over the other's waist.

Teal met auburn, the two being within touching distance. Itsuka's figure blocked some of the light coming from the window, framing the other girl in a ring of warm colors. Ochaco's adorable smile reached her eyes, and she couldn't take her own away.

Itsuka felt like even something as simple as a breath would have been enough to break the spell, but Ochaco's voice only added to its flow.

"Itsuka, you mean a lot to me too. You're strong, capable, smart… amazing. And don't believe for a second that everything you said doesn't apply to you even more," Ochaco stated with a serious look and a touch of that stubbornness that wouldn't accept being contradicted. "You know I'm not good at sorting out my feelings," she murmured, shily lowering her gaze for a moment before coming back with a renewed brightness, "but know that I mean it when I say that I trust you, and that if you wanna give this a try… I'd love to have you."

Had this been a match, Itsuka's heart would have just suffered a one punch knockout.

She let out what little breath she had left, making her whole body visibly relax and her head tilt down a bit more. Her relief was so apparent that Ochaco started to giggle.

"What a day, right?" the gravity girl got between laughs.

"Y-Yeah," she answered, voice trembling with happiness. "I know I started it, but I almost can't even believe it's really happening."

"Oh, hell yeah, I get you," Ochaco confessed, sighing dreamily. "Must've fallen asleep somewhere and ended up in this dreamland."

It didn't feel real, but it was, and she almost couldn't contain her joy.

Then, Itsuka was hit with a stray thought that made her blush. It was another suggestion, absolutely the kind of thing she wouldn't normally say, but it fit the moment to a t.

- Should I…? -

It was dumb, so, so dumb. Which made sense, since most of the suggestions made by her pink haired friend were often based on spur of the moment or over the top ideas. But hadn't Mina helped her to reach this moment?

Swallowing her current shyness and bringing out as much as she could of her brave, resolute Hero Persona, she raised her head to look back at the other girl.

"Then… would you like a wake up kiss?"

The explosion of cringe she felt as the words left her mouth were balanced out by the immense satisfaction she felt at seeing Ochaco turn the color of the setting sun.

It was her turn to giggle as the girl let out a series of incomprehensible babbles. Maybe that was why Set and Mina were always so hell bent on teasing them. 

Itsuka closed her eyes and shook her head lightly. "Sorry, I was just-"

She felt the fingers holding onto her shoulders tightening their grip, causing her to look at a fiercely blushing but terribly determined girl as she muttered a single word.

"Y-Yes."

She blinked as her brain registered the answer, barely noticing that Ochaco was already standing on tiptoe and leaning forward. Itsuka's breath caught once more as she closed her eyes and leaned in.

It wasn't like she'd imagined it would be for the past few weeks, nor the same as what she had experienced before.

It started as chaste, maybe, but slowly evolved to be more. A hand left for a second before reappearing behind her back. Fingers danced through her fiery hair, a pinky caressing her nape. She drew the other in by her waist, bringing their chests together.

Perhaps it was due to their connection, both a serious partnership and a new, exciting relationship. Like in most of their matches, fighting as a pair or pitted against each other, there was some unsaid challenge between them, one they both went for fully.

This kiss, her first kiss with her new girlfriend… It was better.

They pulled back, both sporting bright smiles and doting gazes. Neither hinted at wanting to let go, instead returning to the same warm hug they'd previously shared.

"... We still have to get Set's books," Itsuka whispered, albeit with some reluctance. It was hard not to enjoy the situation.

Ochaco let out a soft, unenthusiastic hum. "... In a moment. Lemme enjoy my girlfriend a bit first."

That was a greediness she'd be happy to support.

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