"AHHHHHH I DON'T LIKE THIS!"
Izuku, foot hard down on the gas pedal, screamed as he desperately turned his steering wheel this way and that as he tried to avoid the carnage that was the S bend. He had been able to catch up due to everyone just deciding to try and 'kill' each other. But, due to not realizing he probably should be riding his break just a little, Izuku was just about out of control as he weaved between the crashed karts. One particularly hard turn on his wheel damn near flipped Izuku over, but when he sent himself up onto two wheels, he used his Quirk to keep the kart from flipping over completely. So he ended up rounding the right bend closer to a high speed motorcycle than a kart. So he was able to keep pretty much all of his speed.
Now on the straight, Izuku let his kart fall back onto four wheels and blinked in surprise as he started to pull up alongside Ochako's kart. The straight was the longest of the three, giving karts plenty of time to reach their top speed. Up alongside Ochako, Izuku kept his foot pressing the gas pedal into the floor. He looked over at her, the same time she looked over at him.
Uh oh, I know that look. Yup, that's her in 'I'm gonna win mode.'
He watched Ochako turn her head back around, thinking she was going back to focusing on the race. Then before he looked away, she looked back at him, with a questioning look.
Why… is she looking at me like that?
On a whim, Izuku looked up ahead. The long straight wasn't so long anymore. The two karts were quickly barreling down the track and reaching the last turn of the race, the tight left that would then take them to the finish line. To make that turn, they would need to break. Izuku's eyes widened as recognition hit him. Whoever broke first, would end up behind the other. So in order to win, either he or Ochako had to break last. This race was now a game of chicken.
Izuku looked back over at Ochako, caught her eye, and kept his foot on the gas with a smirk. Ochako, now realizing the game, kept her foot on the gas too. The two ate up the track, quickly reaching the point when someone was going to have to make a move. Closer and closer, the two kept swerving their heads from the road to each other, neither of them willing to blink, even as their karts shot past the signs warning drivers of the impending turn. They just kept going full steam ahead.
Closer and closer. Until the last possible moment—
"To be fair, you kinda crashed into me."
"What?!"
"I mean, it was a left turn, I was on your right. So when you hit me—"
"DEKU!" Ochako whirled, an amazing accomplishment since she was back to holding his hand. "Because you didn't break in time—"
"Neither did you."
"Haven't you ever heard of ladies first?"
"…Wait, are you saying I should have breaked first to let you win?"
"…" Ochako's eyes twitched. "Don't… don't you try and use logic on me right now!"
The two's game of chicken had ended in neither of them winning the race. They breaked at the same time and tried to take the turn at the same time, ending up with neither having space to make the turn without crashing into each other and ending up against the wall. So the drivers behind them ended up finishing.
"I'm just saying, last time I thought about going easy on you, you threw me into the ocean. That leaves an impression on a guy. Lets him know exactly what his girl wants."
Ochako puffed up, and poked Izuku in the chest. "Two things, stop trying to make it seem like you're magnanimous in this. Just because something is allowed, doesn't mean you should do it."
Izuku smirked. "You're just jealous I figured out Quirks were okay to use."
"…That's besides the point."
"Is it though?"
"DEKU!"
Izuku held up his free hand. "Okay, okay. What's thing number two?"
"'His girl?'" Ochako repeated with a raised eyebrow.
Izuku opened his mouth to say something, then closed it as he repeated the last few lines of dialogue that had come out of his mouth. He promptly blue-screened, and Ochako ended up carrying him like a balloon for a little while, as he rebooted and she looked for the next attraction for the two of them to play.
"Step right up, step right up! Hit the target and win a prize!" A chipper and familiar voice rang out, grabbing Izuku and Ochako's attention. "How about the happy couple? Young man, wouldn't you like to win a prize for your lovely date?"
"Melissa?" Izuku yelped in shock. "What are you doing here?"
"The students here run a number of the attractions. For some, it's a chance to show off our inventions and gadgets. And for others, it's good extra credit. I worked on a few of the games here, so I'm helping run them too," Melissa answered with a smile.
Ochako cocked an eyebrow. "So you're not spying on us for All Might?"
Melissa turned to address Izuku, completely ignoring Ochako. "So Midoriya, would you like a chance to win Uraraka a prize?"
"Oi!"
"What kind of prizes?" Izuku asked.
"Deku."
"If she really intended to spy on us for All Might, she wouldn't have called us over," Izuku reasoned. "I'm sure he asked but I get the feeling no matter what, he'll get a 'everything was perfect' response. Right?"
Melissa nodded sagely. "Yup. As long as neither of you get caught with your pants down in the tunnel of love."
Izuku turned crimson and sputtered out a handful of denials and reassurances that something like that would never happen. Ochako meanwhile looked at Melissa slyly. "As long as we're not caught, huh?"
Melissa gave Ochako a sly wink, "Sooo," before motioning towards a huge wall of prizes. "Anything catch your eye?"
Ochako looked over the wall of carnival prizes, lots of fluffy and brightly colored prizes that you wouldn't want to buy if you were in a store—
"…What is that?" Ochako pointed, suddenly very interested in one of the prizes.
Melissa followed Ochako's finger and her smirk grew wide. "Oh, you mean Cuddles?" Melissa walked up to the wall, and poked the apparent prize that had caught Ochako's eye. "You want this bundle of soft fluff?"
Ochako turned and started shaking Izuku back to his senses. "Deku! Deku I want that!"
Izuku, shaken back to reality, looked to see what Ochako wanted him to win for her, and had to do a double take. "That's… a really big teddy bear."
Melissa adjusted her glasses. "This is Cuddles. He's over six feet of soft patent pending fluff, made by the toy makers of I-Island to always be huggable and super durable, warm during those cold nights, or cool during the summer. He can also never get dirty or stained. The perfect teddy bear. He's the grand prize for this event."
Ochako was practically bouncing now, latching onto Izuku with her eyes sparkling like a child. Izuku really didn't have any choice now, he was definitely winning that bear. Only problem was, "What exactly do I have to do?"
With an exaggerated hand wave and bow, Melissa motioned for the two to follow her. "Right this way, and I'll take you to the water gun range."
Izuku and Ochako weren't exactly sure what they expected when they followed Melissa, but after a few minutes in an elevator that took them all the way up to the high wall that surrounded the whole island, both were starting to wonder just what they had walked into. At the very least, being up on the wall gave the pair an incredible view of the island, and Izuku the bright idea to take a selfie with Ochako, making sure the island was in the background, then one with the ocean. Melissa flashed Izuku a thumbs up, approving of the slick move.
"Midoriya, Uraraka. Welcome to the firing range."
The area was indeed set up for something, decorated so that it matched the games and attractions down below. There was a spot in the middle that looked like it was the center of attention, with multiple points drilled into the mighty wall for anchoring… something.
"Boys!" Melissa clapped. "We got a shooter. Get him ready."
Several other students emerged from some of the attraction tents and made an excited beeline for Izuku, taking him away from Ochako and Melissa and towards the spot in the center of everything.
"Whoa whoa whoa! What even am I supposed to be shooting all the way up here?" Izuku asked in a little panic.
Melissa threw her tumb out towards the crystal blue water of the ocean. "The target is out there."
Ochako had a hand over her eyes, shading them as she squinted and peered out over the ocean. "Where's the target?"
Melissa let her fellow classmates finish getting Izuku set up while she walked over to Ochako and pulled out a tablet. With a few button presses she pulled up a live feed of the target while pointing. "It's about ten nautical miles out that way."
"Wait huh?" Ochako's head whipped around to try and see what the hell Melissa was talking about.
"I'm sorry what? How far am I— Ah!" Izuku was just as shocked, but he had trouble expressing this as a student plunked a visored helmet over his head, and suddenly multiple screens from multiple live cameras filled his vision. At the same time someone was putting his feet into slots in the ground.
Melissa showed Ochako the tablet and Ochako's eyes nearly popped out. "… Is that a battleship?!"
"Technically it's an ancient decommissioned aircraft carrier. The USS John F. Kennedy. The United States had it stored away after they scrapped and gutted it. It was always destined for target practice, but the military gifted it to us so we could be the ones to destroy it."
Ochako noted that the hull of the ship was dotted with holes, which was weird. Maybe from the scrapping? "How big is that thing?"
"Oh, about three hundred and thirty meters long."
Ochako looked at the screen blankly then back out towards the ocean, trying to find the ridiculous thing, but Melissa shook her head. "Don't bother. You wouldn't be able to see it even if we gave you binoculars. It's twice the distance away needed to be below the earth's horizon."
"Wait, then how am I supposed to shoot it?" Izuku asked as the students finally got the helmet fitted properly and got his feet strapped down to the ground, which was concerning and confusing for him and Ochako. "What water gun is going to reach that?"
How am I going to win Uraraka that giant teddy bear?!
"You can, with this!" one of the three carrying in the water gun called out.
Okay what sci-fi abomination is that? Ochako thought to herself.
The 'water gun' was the size of a couch, had multiple large fire hoses coming out the back that ran into the wall and once they carried it over to Izuku, they deployed a tripod with the legs going into anchor points.
"…"
"…" Izuku cleared his throat. "Do I even want to—"
"So I'm sure you're wondering how this baby will hit that aircraft carrier?" Melissa said, putting on a salesman shtick that made Ochako groan.
"I mean," Izuku grunted as the back end of the 'water gun' was pressed into his chest and straps were slung over his shoulders, making him now part of the contraption. "I'm guessing it's like one of those water saw things? The water's sped up by either pressure or there's a turbine in this."
One of the students laughed. "Water pressure, turbines? What do you think I-Island is? A third world country?"
Ochako frowned. "…Keep laughing at my date and I'll throw you into the carrier."
"Ahem." Before the students could crap themselves, Melissa continued, "It's kinda like that, though just a tad more complicated. Yes, this water gun does consume great amounts of seawater, fed in from the ocean through these hoses. But it isn't just sped up and squirted out. As it's getting spun up, the water is superheated into the fourth state, before being fired."
"What's the fourth state?" Izuku wasn't sure he liked the sound of that.
"Well there's four states of matter. Solids, liquids and gasses are the three well known ones. But there's also plasma, the fourth state."
"…So you just gave Deku a plasma cannon?"
"Well it's still technically a water gun, we're just firing the water when it's not a liquid," Melissa explained with a smile.
"Yeah… I dunno. Deku are you sure you want to… Oh no." Ochako was about to let Izuku know he didn't have to go through with the game. But apparently Izuku was a boy, and being given a super big plasma cannon was apparently very appealing since he had the biggest grin on his face. "Boys and toys."
Ochako was then told to get into the safety tent with the rest of the students after they had finished getting Izuku set up. Melissa stayed behind to run a last safety check and to explain how the system and game worked, explaining that the cannon was linked up to all the different video feeds which were being fed into his helmet and that all he had to do was line up the shot and pull the trigger. The system would correct for all the different external factors. Like the earth's rotation and curve.
"Just line up the shot…" While Izuku was excited to fire something so cool, the information overload from all the different camera feeds, plus not really understanding the HUD, made knowing if he was lined up correctly tricky. But he supposed that's where the challenge came from. "Is there a spot I should be targeting to win Uraraka that bear?"
"You see the command deck? The bridge?"
"Umm, yeah?" Even with all the cameras giving Izuku a view of the ship, it wasn't like it was super zoomed in. It still looked like it was far off. But then Melissa fiddled with one of the screens with her tablet and gave Izuku a quick close up shot so Izuku could see what she was pointing to. "Wait… is there someone inside?"
"That's one of our crash test dummies, Buster. Hit him and you win the grand prize." Melissa explained before putting everything back to normal.
"…So you don't think that Uraraka will get mad at me if I miss, do you?"
Melissa laughed. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just don't think about you only being allowed one shot."
"…"
While Izuku took a moment to get over that dread, he missed Melissa making sure everything was bolted down and secure, and while her hands were on the cannon, muttered something under her breath, then giving Izuku a pat on the shoulder, wished him good luck, and went to join everyone else.
Ochako, from the safety of the tent, looked at Melissa questioningly. "Sooo, this is safe, right?"
"Oh sure, even if the cannon explodes and sends burning plasma everywhere, this tent is built to keep us nice and safe," one of the students answered before Melissa could say anything.
Melissa groaned as Ochako looked at the student blankly. "I was talking about Deku."
The three all shared looks then shrugged. "We can guarantee he won't feel anything if something goes wrong."
"Cause he'll be instantly vaporized."
"He'll be fine!" Melissa hurried to cut them off and reassure Ochako. "Everything is tested and run through hundreds of inspections before it's allowed to be used by the public. It'll be fine."
Izuku, for his part, wasn't worried about the cannon blowing up in his face. He was more freaking out as he tried to get the radicals lined up for what he hoped would be a bullseye. But on top of the HUD being a confusing mess, seriously you'd think with video games as examples, they'd know how to make something not so confusing, Izuku was finding out that he had another problem. Even the tiniest adjustments he made seemed to throw off the shot by meters. He swore he barely moved anything and suddenly he was targeting the bow of the ship. It might have been basic geometry, but it was still annoying.
Still, Izuku kept his calm and focused. He really wanted to win that teddy bear for Ochako. Maybe he was taking this a little too seriously but, in his mind, this was going to be the first gift of many he planned on spoiling Ochako with. He wanted to get her all sorts of things. Chocolates, and flowers. Take her to the mall and let her buy any clothes she could want. Jewelry too, though he didn't know anything about that kind of stuff, but he was a quick study. He supposed, he just wanted to make sure he made her happy, and this was as close to a first step as it got.
So taking a deep breath, he lined up his shot, and pulled the trigger.
A delivery robot rolled up the water gun attraction back down off the wall. Ochako gave the giant teddy one last hug before she put it into the delivery box the robot was carrying on its trailer.
Melissa typed in the delivery instructions. "Make sure this gets delivered to Uraraka's room. Also have the shipping requirements prepped for it to be sent back to her home when they are ready to leave."
"Yes ma'am."
With the robot rolling away, Ochako turned and gave Izuku a big hug, thanking him for the prize, and making Izuku blush with a goofy smile.
The pair made their way around the park, going on roller coasters and tower drops, thrilling rides that all offered the most embarrassing pictures that the two just had to have. One in particular, the tower drop, was taken just as the cart was released. The look on Ochako's face had sent Izuku into hysterics.
The pair then found an attraction that simulated skydiving. The attraction was a huge padded vertical wind tunnel that let people fly and float around. Given their last go at flying, back at the sports festival, they were excited to give the attraction a go.
Izuku's attempts to soar through the air were, at the best of times, clumsy. And at the worst, disastrous. If he wasn't flipping end over end in the wind tunnel, he was crashing into the padded walls. He did end up using his Quirk eventually to finally keep himself stable for a little while.
Ochako however was the exact opposite. In a display that left Izuku mesmerized, Ochako drifted around the tunnel like a ballerina, gracefully twirling in the wind. Her pink skirt pinched between her fingers, she spun and danced like a flower petal caught in the breeze. Ochako took to the air with a grace and elegance that captivated him.
It wasn't until the end, when Ochako landed back on the ground and Izuku erupted in cheers and applause, that she realized Izuku had been watching her, completely enraptured by her.
When the two left the ride, hand in hand, Ochako cozied up right next to him, humming happily to herself.
The pair returned to the park's Main Street, and filled their lunch table with Yakisoba, Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki and some American corn dogs. Any sly comments Ochako might have had at the less than healthy lunch were quickly forgotten after she munched on her first mouthful of yakisoba. After that, being healthy was the furthest thing from her mind. She was about to reach for a bamboo skewer to pluck one of the other takoyaki balls from the little cardboard basket, but stopped when Izuku beat her to it. Taking her skewer, he stabbed one of the balls and held it up for her.
"…Say ahhh?" Izuku seemed to be immediately regretting his move. Ochako could see he was working out an apology as fast as he could. So before Izuku could change his mind about feeding her a snack, Ochako, with one hand holding on her bangs back, leaned forward and chomped the treat off the skewer. Leaning back up, she had one hand covering her mouth as she chewed. When she was done, she smiled brightly at the blushing boy. Taking some chopsticks, she plucked a cut up piece of okonomiyaki and held it up for Izuku with her other hand cupped underneath to keep the food from dropping.
"Your turn Deku."
Izuku, initially stunned, leaned forward and stuttered out, "T-thank you," before eating it. While he was still leaning forward and chewing, Ochako's free hand, not needing to catch anything, moved up and her fingers danced on the underside of Izuku's chin and jawline, delicately scratching him like he was a cat. The flirtation was short lived as soon both overheated at the forwardness they had just displayed and they needed a moment to collect themselves.
After their lunch, Izuku had volunteered to take their trash while Ochako went to find somewhere to freshen up. Even with her utensils, she had ended up with sticky fingers and mouth.
"Well, look on the bright side, I bet your lips taste like Takoyaki."
There then followed about a minute of awkward silence between the two blushing teens before Ochako had rushed off, leaving Izuku alone to wonder if there was something he could stick his head into to just end it all right then and there. Maybe an animatronic could work.
"'I bet your lips taste like takoyaki', what was I thinking?!" Izuku grumbled to himself.
You were thinking you wanted to kiss her.
The teasing voice of Himiko snickered. Izuku ignored the voice as he tossed the trash away.
You know I'm right.
Izuku, doing his best impression of avoiding eye contact with the imaginary voice in his head, looked for anything that he could use as a distraction. How fortunate he was then, when he noticed a few small stalls selling little I-Island souvenirs and gifts, that something in particular caught his eye. It made him think of Ochako the evening before. So, after making sure she hadn't come back yet, Izuku snuck off.
While Izuku did his thing, Ochako was busy making sure the rest of her lunch was off of her hands and face. Dabbing her face and hands with a paper towel, she checked herself in the mirror, making sure she was still presentable. While she did, she ran a finger over her lips, recalling what Izuku had said.
Izuku must be thinking pretty hard about kissing you if he went and said what he said back there.
Ochako nodded, agreeing with the Himiko inside her subconscious. The idea that Izuku was paying any attention to her lips was… an exciting thought. Hell, everything about today was exciting. And she wasn't just talking about the amusement park. Izuku was exciting her just on his own. It was all the little things he was doing. Putting aside the bold slip-ups, which were doing all sorts of things to her heart, it was the soft touches, the way he'd rub little circles with his thumb when they held hands. How he would take little steps to stay as close as he could when they walked around. The soft way he spoke to her, how he looked at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention.
God, it was those looks that made Ochako's face heat up. This single day, put so much into a different light. Izuku was being so open about everything. Not with words, but at this point, Ochako didn't need words to know.
God, how did I miss it? Deku… isn't great at keeping secrets and he's been sitting on his feelings since Hosu City? Either I'm blind, or he suddenly got the skills to keep stuff from me.
Ochako almost laughed, the idea Izuku was capable of hiding anything from her was just funny. But regardless of how these feelings were all unknown, Ochako loved that it was out in the open. Loved being the key word there.
Ha ha ha, poor boy starting to come apart at the seams. All those feelings for you, slipping out in those little bold moves he doesn't mean to do. Pretty soon, I bet he'll come completely undone. And it won't be some small move when that happens.
Ochako tried not to get giddy at that, but she was failing pretty badly. Her subconscious Himiko was rolling her eye at her.
Oh gosh, when that happens, do you think that's when he'll tell me how he feels?
Ochako might not need words to know at this point, but the idea of Izuku just coming out and saying he was in lo—
Or he'll just kiss you, that special voice said, the smirk visible, even as a voice in her head.
Ochako froze, and thought long and hard about that. Then, in a rush, jammed her hand into her handbag and fished out some mint gum. She spent the next few minutes chewing, checking her breath, and chewing again until she was sure it wasn't going to be her breath that knocked Izuku's socks off.
After Ochako was done, she returned and started looking for Izuku, not immediately finding him where she had left him. "That's odd? Where'd that boy run off too?"
Looking around, she scanned some of the food carts, wondering if maybe he had gone off to get some crêpes. Though she thought they had agreed to wait until the end of the day for that treat.
"Uraraka?" Came from behind.
"Oh!" Ochako turned. "Where were you De…ku?" Her voice trailed off as she saw Izuku walking up to her, looking a little sheepish and his hands behind his back. "What'cha got behind your back, Deku?"
"Um, sooo," Izuku began, a little nervous but still determined. "H-here."
Pulling what he had kept behind his back, he handed it to Ochako who took it with a curious smile. "Oh it… gloves?" Ochako looked over the gloves, quickly determining that they were, well, weird. Extremely thin and stretchy around the wrist, they would also only cover her pinky and ring finger. Not exactly good for cold weather. Looking at the little cardboard label they were strapped to, Ochako read off, "Digital artist gloves… Thank you Deku, but… I don't draw."
I also don't own a tablet…. Or one of those fancy pens either. So why would…
"O-oh, I know. These aren't for that," Izuku quickly explained, "I just… well… When we were getting ready to… um, sleep… together," Izuku paused as a puff of smoke escaped from his nose, "in the same bed," more smoke. Ochako gave him a second to keep going, "J-just sleep… um… anyway. I noticed your, um… oven mitts."
It wasn't exactly that Izuku hadn't known about them. Ochako had mentioned to him a couple of times when they were training that she had to sleep with them to keep herself from floating in her sleep. She hadn't mentioned just how old the gloves were, though seeing them, Izuku could hazard a guess. "I saw you had to take them off a few times when you kept getting texts. Which seemed to be… kinda annoying you."
Ochako nodded, following along with Izuku. Though she didn't mention to Izuku that most of her annoyance was because she had texted Himiko to brag about her current sleeping arrangements, even sending a picture of the two of them in the same bed, when Izuku hadn't been paying attention. So the constant back and forth had been a self-inflicted injury.
"So when I saw the gloves at the stand over there… I thought they would be perfect for you. See," Izuku reached out and took Ochako's hand, and with his other, covered her pinky and ring finger, "your Quirk won't activate unless all five fingers touch something and, you'll be able to use your hands without having to take off the gloves." Izuku, who had been focused on Ochako's hands as he explained things, paused, "Oh… unless…" and started backpedaling. "Did I overstep? Oh, I overstepped, didn't I?" He knew how touchy Ochako got with things that cost money. Suddenly getting her something 'better' than she had, that could be like charity couldn't it?
Before he could fully apologize though, and because he hadn't been looking at Ochako's face to see it go from confused to touched, he wasn't ready when she stepped up, took her hands out form his and wrapped her arms around him, giving him the tightest, warmest hug she could. "Thank you, Deku."
O-Oh… I guess I did good.
With her gift carefully tucked away into her handbag, Ochako and Izuku continued on their way through the park. The teacup's ride almost turned into a disaster when Ochako accidently floated their cup as they both worked the wheel in the center to spin the ride. With its gravity removed, this led to it spinning much, much faster than it was supposed to. The pair ended up having to get dragged to a park bench for a few minutes until the world stopped spinning for them. Though fortunately no lunches were lost. Unfortunately, a lot of kids seeing their cup spin so fast, led to the next batch of riders making a mad dash for it. So that was more work for the attendants to have to deal with.
After that, they both tried their hands at Veggie Samurai, a real life version of the popular phone app game. Though the sword was a LARPing prop and the vegetables were made of foam. Still, it was a lot of fun to swing the swords around to try and hit the flying targets, with Ochako and Izuku next to each other, competing to see who could win. Though when Izuku started catching the vegetables with his Quirk and holding them in place so he could rack up more points, Ochako turned her blade against him. Stabbing him in the back. Then wacking him on the head.
And the chin.
And the shin.
And the butt.
Et tu, Ochako?
"If that's a haunted house, I'm leaving," Ochako warned as she and Izuku made their way though the fast line up towards a suspiciously old fashioned looking mansion.
The sun had now left its high perch in the sky, slowly making its way back towards the western horizon. Both knew that soon, their day of fun and excitement would be ending. Enough time for just a couple more attractions.
There was one last ride Ochako wanted to go on, from the suggestion she had gotten from Melissa, so the two had picked something between where they had been and that last ride that had seemed interesting.
The old house had stood out on the park's map, so they decided to check it out. Now, standing at the mansion's 'front door' one could say they were already past the point of no return.
There was even a sign saying just that.
"You're not scared, are you?" Izuku teased.
"Deku, this is an island filled to the brim with people like Hatsume. You wanna find out what they can do when they want to actually scare someone?"
"…" Izuku cleared his throat. "I mean… I suppose it's not too late turn around and—"
"Oh, but it is!"
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
Both Izuku and Ochako had a second to register the voice before the floor underneath them opened up, and they were dropped into the dark abyss, screaming as they fell. The yells finally silenced as the ground snapped closed.
When Izuku and Ocahko were ejected out from the chute they had fallen into and slid down, they landed on a floor that had way too much give and bounce. They tumbled end over end until they lay in a less than prestigious pile of limbs, though any initial confusion over the strange room they were now in was put on the back burner as they collected their thoughts.
"That was Melissa's voice on the speaker, wasn't it?" Izuku asked.
"It was," Ochako confirmed.
"She's also the one that opened that trap door too."
"Probably."
"Let's just say it was, it will make us planning our revenge easier."
"Sounds good to me."
"…"
"…"
"Uraraka, you okay?" Izuku asked, deciding that he should probably make sure his date was fine after the fall and landing they just went through.
"Yup, just laying here trying not to think about how we just got tricked with saturday cartoon logic."
"…"
"…"
"It's kinda funny though, isn't it?" Izuku said at last.
Ochako groaned, hating that she agreed. When the two rolled upwards and sat up, they both took a second to press their hands into the ground, feeling how it gave and sprung back. Izuku hummed as he worked to get his feet under him. "It feels like… have you ever been in one of those bouncy castles, Uraraka?"
Standing up finally, Izuku extended a hand for Ochako to grab. "You know what… Yeah, this feels exactly like that."
When both were on their feet, an intercom crackled to life. "Welcome boy, girls and hero students of debatable patience." Ochako glared. "You two have dared to trespass into I-Island's House of Near Infinite Annoyances."
"…I'm sorry, what?" Izuku did not like the sound of that one bit.
"Will you make it past the House's many tricks and traps?"
"Is she really trying to intimidate us with a fun house? Please." Ochako was none too impressed. She was of course ignoring that she had just fallen down a trapdoor.
"Or will you fail, like you did in the sports festival because of a little ice?"
"…"
Izuku took a few large side-steps away from Ochako, who was starting to shake. "Okay… so there's playing the role of instigator, and then there's poking the bear when you're safe and I'm in the cage with the bear."
"Goood luck," came Melissa's sing song reply.
"Deku!" Ochako snapped. "We are getting out of here right now!"
"Y-yes!"
"Also," she turned and directed those fiery eyes of hers at him, "who are you calling a bear?"
"…I plead the fifth?"
"Grrrr."
Making their way out of the bouncy room, Izuku and Ochako found themselves against their first real obstacle. The room was broken down into a long, winding path that made its way upwards. Izuku looked around, trying to guess at what the game was. "So we just follow the path, through that tunnel, then up the stairs and over… a really rickety looking bridge." Izuku wasn't sure how something so shoddy looking could pass a safety inspection. "Okay, we should make sure to take it slow and ah—"
After Melissa's goading, Ochako was in full on Miruko mode, so she immediately pressed on, grabbing ahold of Izuku's hand and dragging him along. "Come on Deku. We're not going to get tripped up—"
Ochako gasped as the floor was suddenly pulled out from under her, sending her ankles over elbows up into the air, before she crashed right back down. Fortunately her fall was broken when she landed on a sprawled out Izuku.
Her head still spinning, Ochako righted herself and sat up. Well, not exactly sitting. It took her a moment, but when Ochako finally did get her bearings, she realized she was straddling something. Looking down she saw that the 'something' was actually 'someone.' Izuku was looking up at her with wide eyes and a face just a few shades away from being an apple.
The poor boy was trying really hard not to think about the position he found himself in. Ochako's skirt was pooled around him, so her bare legs were pressing on his hips, and other places, well, those were pressed together too. The weight and sudden friction was agonizingly pleasant.
"U-Uraraka… You a-alright?"
Good work brain. Focus on her well-being. Not the fact that part of us is under her skirrrrr-!
Ochako took some weight off her knees and shifted so she was sitting. "Y-yeah. I'm alright. Okay… so maybe the fun house isn't a joke, huh…"
Izuku screwed his eyes shut, convinced that Ochako must not realize what she was doing to him. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it.
"H-hey Deku." There was a curious coyness mixed into Ochako's voice as she stuttered. "How's the view from down there?"
Izuku's eyes snapped open, and he looked up at Ochako. The way she was sitting, one hand on his chest, the other up towards her mouth as she nibbled at a fingernail nervously. Her head turned just enough to seem like she was looking away bashfully, but the upward twitch of her lips and the twinkle in her eye made it clear, she knew what she was doing.
Oh my gosh, Uraraka's flirting… I'm going to die.
Righting themselves, the two spent the next few minutes getting thrown into each other's arms as the floor dipped, spun, twisted or suddenly jolted under their feet. Though any initial aggravation at Melissa's challenge had long since been forgotten by the two, as they were more focused at the multiple sudden moments of intimacy they were stumbling into. Arms wrapped around each other one moment, chests pressed against each other the next.
At one point, when a floor panel spun, Ochako was sent backwards into Izuku. She had been able to grab onto some railing, but she was still bent over trying to keep herself from falling. The collision, though, had sent her butt into Izuku, and to keep from getting knocked off his feet, he instinctively wrapped his arms around Ochako's waist. The scene, which might have lasted just a tad longer than was necessary since neither seemed too eager to separate, would have been enough to get a nose bleed from Himiko.
The stairs to get up to the exit seemed simple enough. That was until they found out that certain steps would trigger a sudden jet of air to blow up from the step. Izuku, who had taken the lead, heard the sudden cry from Ochako and turned, initially thinking she might have fallen, but then seeing billowing pink fabric where Ochako's face should have been, and her sudden cry of "Don't look," made him spin right back around. At the top of the stairs, Izuku made sure to let Ochako know he hadn't seen anything.
The final challenge to get out of the room was a short hallway that opened to the exit door. The only issue was that the hallway was a slow, spinning drum. They just had to make it six feet without falling over and they were home free. And since the barrel's rotation was slow, it would be easy to walk through and out the other side.
That is until it suddenly changed directions and the two stumbled to the floor one last time, into the doorway. This time though, it was Ochako that was on her back, and Izuku bracing himself over her. And with Izuku's hands on either side of her head, and his face so very close to hers, Ochako's face flushed, her breathing got heavy, and she swore that the room was suddenly getting way too hot.
"Y-you alright?"
Ochako nodded as she suddenly didn't trust herself to speak, because Izuku was just so damn close, his face just a foot or so away from hers.
Were… were his eyes always so green? And those freckles… Oh get a hold of yourself, don't go all mushy like Deku was earlier. You're stronger than that. Deku is the one that… Is …is he leaning in?!
Oh, Izuku's face was definitely getting closer. Suddenly, Ochako was extremely happy she had taken the time to chew on that mint gum. And without really giving the sudden turn of events much thought, Ochako puckered her lips and closed her eyes. Not realizing that Izuku had just bent his elbows a tad so that he could push himself off her. When she didn't feel Izuku's lips on hers, Ochako cracked open one eye to peek around and saw Izuku bending down to help her up. She was fortunate that Izuku didn't see how disappointed and embarrassed she was. Because she really wanted that kiss.
In the control room for the funhouse, where Melissa could monitor and control everything with a touch of a button, the blonde whistled as she looked at the monitor. "Wow, she wants it bad. Midoriya, you better hurry up or she's going to combust."
Still, thanks to her precise deployment of the different traps, she was making sure Izuku and Ochako got to spend some very close and personal time together.
The next room proved just as cumbersome as the first. It was a narrow path that forced the pair to climb over or shimmy under foam obstacles. But the climbing wasn't the real 'dangerous' part. It was that from the walls, foam blocks or budgens would come out and slam into them, knocking them off the narrow path and down into the ball pit below. Ochako, after taking enough falls that she had sworn Izuku to secrecy and thinking she finally had a straight shot to the finish, made the classic mistake of letting her guard down. So she didn't see the battering ram pendulum come swinging her way.
Izuku peaked over the edge of the path to see how Ochako was doing and said, "You know, I could have warned you about that if you had let me go first."
"HA HA HA HA HA HA! Bullseye! HA HA HA HA… What? Huh? Why's that switch red… My elbow's on the… WHOOPS!"
"MELISSA!" Ochako roared as she dragged herself out of the pit. By the time she made it back and met with Izuku who had avoided the trap that had gotten her, she pointed at him and made sure he knew. Not a word of what happened here better ever leave his mouth.
Izuku rubbed his chin. "Well, this is certainly an interesting room."
"Deku…" Wam! "Stop…" BAM! "Complimenting…" POW!"Our…" BOP! "Captures!" Ochako growled as she walked face first into another wall.
The final room was really living up to the funhouse's name. It was a mirror maze, decked out with neon lights that, while colorful, still didn't illuminate the halls as one would expect. The poor lighting and mirror layout alone made making your way through the maze tricky enough, but this maze had a truly diabolical twist. By whatever technological witchcraft I-Island Academy employed, the mirrors in the maze didn't always show a person's reflection. So what looked like a straight path, ended with someone slamming into a very durable wall.
"Maybe you should have tried to have your internship with Gunhead. He could have taught you patience."
Ochako whirled around. "Don't get sassy with me."
"Well unlike you, I'm being careful. As a result, I haven't hit a sing—" WAM!
The maze was filled with laughter as Ochako held her sides while Izuku rubbed his nose. The two then carefully kept working their way forward. But it was near impossible to tell if they were making any progress. Everything looked exactly the same, and the mirrors themselves could switch from reflective and non-reflective, so it was easy to get turned around.
"Okay, we're lost," Ocahko finally admitted.
"No, we're going to make it. We just need to figure out the game's trick." Izuku rubbed his chin. At this point, his own pride as a hero-in-training wasn't going to let him admit defeat.
"Deku, come on."
"Shh."
Ochako blanched and whipped her head around. "Deku, did you just shush me?"
"Shhh."
Ochako's hands went to her hip as she leaned forward, a frown on her lips and a twitch to her eyes. "Deku!"
"Shh! Deku thinking."
The twitch was now a throbbing over her eyebrow. "Does Deku want to find out what it feels like to get kicked?"
Izuku stopped rubbing his chin and staring at the perplexing panels of playhouse glass so he could turn to look at Ochako, and realized that the odds of him leaving the maze alive were quickly diminishing. "Deku would rather not."
"Then don't shush me! Also stop talking in third person." Ochako wrinkled her nose. "It's weird."
"…"
"…"
"Deku will consider this."
"You!"
"Thank you for visiting I-Island's House of Near Infinite Annoyances. We hope you enjoyed your time and we look forward to tormen… I mean, seeing you again."
After an undisclosed amount of time, Izuku and Ochako had finally emerged from the mirror maze and the funhouse, their pride shattered and souls crushed, both agreeing that no one will ever hear about the troubles they went through.
"Bakugou can never hear about this," Ochako declared.
"No kidding," Izuku agreed wholeheartedly.
"Also Toga," Ochako added.
"Yeah, no. Definitely not her," Izuku said with a nod.
"Can you imagine what they would say?"
Izuku pondered and then cleared his throat. "You darn nerd! How the heck do you let yourself get lost in a bunch of kiddie games! I would have just blown it all up! Grrr, roar, something something, die!"
"Pfft!" Ochako almost did a spit take as she started laughing. While she fought to get control of herself, Izuku looked around and smiled.
"Hey, Uraraka?" Izuku asked. "Want to get something to make you feel better?"
Ochako blinked and looked where Izuku was looking. It was a line of desert stalls. One of which was selling crêpes. She immediately grabbed Izuku's hands and nodded. "Yup. A crêpe sounds wonderful."
Together, they approached the stall and placed their orders, both going for the delectable looking strawberry and hazelnut option.
They got to watch as the stall cook ladled the batter onto two hot griddles, and spread it out into a large thin circle. Almost immediately, the cook had the crêpe flipped over and then folded into a half-circle when the batter had turned golden brown. Then right down the middle, he lined it with handfuls of sliced strawberries, then, taking a large jar, he dipped a wooden spoon into it, covering it with the chocolate hazelnut spread. With the spoon dripping, he drizzled the strawberries and crêpe. Quickly after that was done, he folded the crêpes up and got both into their little paper holders. The final touch was a light spray of whipped cream on the tops, and then he handed them to the happy and almost drooling couple.
Crêpes in hand, Izuku and Ochaco found a nearby bench to sit down and enjoy them. As they took their first bites, they both let out happy little moans. The crêpes were warm, soft, and perfectly flavored, even if the whipped cream made them a little messy to eat. Ochako giggled when she saw the little dollop of cream on Izuku's nose.
It was a small thing, a simple little desire, but as Ochako watched Izuku, and saw the way his eyes lit up as he ate with her, she found a special kind of joy sharing this moment with him.
After the two had finished their delightful snack, hand in hand, they hurried towards the last ride they were going to get to go on. The Ferris Wheel was absolutely enormous, easily not just one of the largest attractions in the amusement park, but also the whole of I-Island.
While the ride was called a Ferris Wheel, there were a few changes that the tech savvy people of the island had made to the centuries old wonder. Instead of a wheel, its ride was now an enormous ring of metal, and the carts, now replaced with fully enclosed pods that floated around the ring. Izuku guessed magnets, but really, he didn't want to think about all the science involved to make the ride work. It hurt his head.
Regardless, the ride would give anyone riding it one of the best views of the island, and some precious privacy. At least according to what Melissa had told Ochako.
As their pod slid into place, the attendant opened the door to usher them in. Izuku stepped up to the lip of the platform, but instead of getting in, turned to hold out his hand for Ochako. Remembering the short video that had played for them while in the line, warning that the pod might wobble a bit when passengers got on, Izuku wanted to give Ochako something to hold onto as she got inside.
Ochako blushed but took the offered hand all the same. Her grip tightened as she stepped into the Ferris Wheel's levitating pod, and it did wobble, nothing crazy like the insanity of the funhouse, but she was happy for the assistance.
Izuku, once he was sure Ochako was comfortable in her seat, stepped into the pod, only just noticing the sly wink the attendant gave him before she closed the door. Izuku had a moment of uncertainty as he glanced between the pods' seats. It had two cushioned benches, on each side of the pod. So he could either sit on the one opposite of Ochako, which would give them both space to move and look around once the ride got started and they were up in the air. Or…
Ochako fidgeted nervously when Izuku moved over towards her and took a seat on the bench right beside her. Her heart thumped in her chest when Izuku slid his hand over and found hers. Even if she was nervous, she was still cheering Izuku on. The pod was spacious, but he had chosen to sit, intimately close, next to her. Their shoulders rubbed against each other and when the pod started to move, Ochako leaned into him, the contact sending little bolts up their bodies.
The slow ascent upwards gave them plenty of time to enjoy the view. A full ride was close to a whole twenty minutes, so they had all the time they could want to take in the view. Ochako surprised Izuku, and herself if she was honest, by leaning onto his shoulder. "Hey."
"Hey," Izuku smiled down at her.
"So, did everything go according to plan?" Ochako asked with just a pinch of teasing. "I know you wrote a lot of stuff down in that notebook of yours."
Izuku chuckled softly. "Would you believe a lot of it was spontaneous?"
"Really?"
"Yup."
"…Is spontaneous good?" Ochako was a little worried that maybe she had caused Izuku some trouble. If he had planned anything in particular and she hadn't let him do it…
A firm hand squeeze from Izuku dispelled any of her worries. "With you, it totally is."
Ochako hummed. "Smooth."
"Really? I'm just telling you the truth. Today has been… absolutely perfect."
Ochako hummed again, "I feel the same way."
Perfect… Izuku wanted to give Ochako a truly perfect time. He had made a lot of plans. For the date, and then for later. The reception too. But if he had come to learn anything, maybe the best things come from following your heart.
The ride had been going for a little while now. And as the two continued to rise up high into the sky, Izuku took a breath, then reached over with his free hand so that now he was holding Ochako's hand with both of his, and turning so he could face her. "So I'm… going a little off script but… I don't think I can wait much longer to tell you this."
Ochako giggled as her eyes kept looking out over the park, now glowing under the setting sun's orange light. Then she blinked. Off script… tell me… Suddenly alarm bells and sirens started going off in her head as she turned back to give Izuku her full attention. Her simple question of if Izuku had enjoyed their date together seems to have set off something. The way he was looking at her, the way he was holding her. The fact they were inside this Ferris Wheel pod, high above the island at sunset, giving them a romantic backdrop. It all led to one conclusion and Ochako had to physically stop herself from hyperventilating. "Tell me?"
Oh my god.
Oh my god.
"So you know how I was planning things out? Well I kinda thought I'd… that we'd be having this talk after the reception and ball. Kinda a Hollywood ending to the night… but now…" Izuku trailed off, licking his lips nervously. "I'd like to tell you now… If that's alright?"
Oh, how Ochako nodded so very, very fast.
"Uraraka… when you came into my life… you changed it, you changed me. I mean…" Izuku struggled to find the words. Because while he had tried to plan so much of this date, the one part he hadn't, the part he had been so afraid of, his confession, he'd never planned any of it. So right now, he really was winging it. So without a plan or any idea of what to say, he just followed his heart. "If it wasn't for you, I don't think I'd be where I am now… who I am now."
Ochako wanted to deny that. She knew Izuku's heart, so she knew damned well that even if she hadn't been there, he'd be exactly where he was now. But Izuku kept going, "I also know I haven't exactly been the best or easiest person to be friends with. I've caused you a lot of trouble. But you've stayed by my side. Though all of it. So I'm sorry if I'm not able to be the perfect friend and person you deserve."
"Deku," Ochako said with a soft smile, "no one's perfect. All we can ever do is our best for ourselves and for each other. Maybe we'll trip and fall, but we're there to pick each other up. And Deku, the day I met you, was the start of the greatest days of my life. You've made every day special."
Izuku's heart was thundering in his chest. It was beating so hard he thought for sure it was going to start making his whole body shake. He was also pretty sure he was crying, or at least on the verge of tears. So many emotions were bubbling up from within, it felt like any moment they could all sweep him away.
"I think… I've known how I've felt for you for a while now. Knew that…you were more than just my best friend. I just never knew exactly the right word, the right way to describe it without feeling terrified. Then in Hosu City… when I saw you in the alley… and afterwards at the hospital… I finally knew what it was. I had the words to describe exactly how I felt for you. Though that just made me even more afraid."
"Are you still afraid?" Ochako asked softly.
"I am… I'm all twisted and shaking right now. But… It doesn't feel bad. It's like the morning we took our entrance exam, or the first day going to U.A. Scary, but also… exciting." Ochako hadn't said anything, but she could feel Izuku's shaking as he held her hand with his.
"Those were both great days for us, Deku. Days I'm sure we'll remember for the rest of our lives."
"Like this one, I hope?" Izuku asked nervously.
"Without a doubt," Ochako agreed. "We've had so much fun today. It's been like a dream I don't ever want to wake up from. And it's only going to get better from here with the reception and—"
"I love you."
The words burst from Izuku's lips without him meaning to say them. At least not in a way that would interrupt Ochako, but, all those emotions, all those feelings he'd had inside his heart just couldn't be held back anymore. They had to escape, they had to get out. They had to be known. And now they were.
"I love you so much it hurts. Because… because I know just how incredible you really are. How kind and gentle and amazing and—"
Ochako had frozen when Izuku had said it. She froze just from the shock. But she didn't stay frozen. Not with the burning emotions her heart was pumping through her whole being. Izuku had just confessed. Or, he had spent the whole day confessing to her, with his actions, his looks, every part of him had let her know how he felt. It was just, now, he had said the words.
It was out in the open, for all the world to know. The dam had burst, the genie was out of his bottle. It was all out and now nothing was going to make things go back to the way they were. And Ochako couldn't be happier. Or more ecstatic. Or any more out of control. She was going to say it back to Izuku. To tell him she loved him too.
But that's not what she ended up doing.
Instead, all that waiting, all that putting it off, all her emotions that she had held back, exploded out. Driving her forward. Ochako pulled her hands out of Izuku's and quickly threw her arms around his neck. Pulling herself forward, she pressed her lips against his in a fiery kiss.
Pressing him back against the seat of the pod, Ochako poured out her soul into that kiss. That fire in her heart burned bright, and only got hotter when Izuku wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. In that moment, with the setting sun turning the ocean a cascading mirror of orange and purple, nothing else existed but this. No responsibilities, no duty. Just this single happy moment between two people that had waited far too long to finally let themselves be happy.