Requiem of the Broken

Chapter 46: The Calm

It was a nice day outside, in contrast to how Ochako felt. It had been a few days since the raid, and she'd managed to relax some. It didn't really matter at the moment though because she was agonizing about what would be happening later tonight.

Tsu had told her to give Izuku a few days to rest and recover, then head to the bar. She'd recommended tonight, and not seeing a reason to do otherwise Ochako had agreed. Now she was a nervous wreck.

It was still the middle of the day and she couldn't stand being cooped up inside any longer. In a burst of restless energy, she decided to go for a walk. Dressed in her casual attire, she left her apartment and started walking to the park.

Walking through the streets she could immediately tell that the life of the city seemed to have sucked out. Relatively few people walked the streets, and the ones that did rarely looked happy. Traffic had also lightened up, everything moving easily and faster than normal. Watching the people move around as she waited at a crosswalk, she flashed back to the handful of times she'd been in cities during the war.

It had been much the same, but far worse. Back then people never went out unless there was a need. You could practically smell the fear in the air, you could never be sure when Shigaraki would fall out of the sky and wipe your city off the map in a matter of minutes.

Now there was the threat that terrorists could materialize out of thin air. It was a step up, and their victories so far had assuaged most people's fears of the worst happening. Nezu and the government also had more experience in handling the public, so while the overall city was dreary and depressed, it was fearful as it had been years past.

Ochako watched as a mother tried to handle her two rowdy children. The two children, twins by the looks of them, stamped their feet and wailed a bit, but the mother gave them a stern look and said something that seemed to mollify them, at least for the moment. As they continued about their day, Ochako saw the mother give herself a tired smile as she looked down at her two children.

Ochako wondered what it had been like for her parents to have a child. Wondered what having a child would be like in general. She couldn't imagine she'd ever make for a good mother, there were so many things wrong with her that it would be a miracle if she ever got married, let alone had a child.

Then her thoughts drifted to her classmates. Assuming they all survived and Zeus was the last great threat they would have to worry about, what would they do when things calmed down? Mina and Kirishima were already married, and it was only a matter of time until Momo and Todoroki got married as well. Same with Jirou and Kaminari, but considering they had been living together for a while already they might as well be married anyways. Tsu had Tokoyami, and while it was a bit difficult to see Tokoyami settling down, Tsu was already so close to being a mother in temperament and maturity that it was harder to believe that she wasn't married, or had kids already. 

Then there was Bakugo and Shinso. Shinso kept his life outside of work pretty private, so he could have a significant other already. As for Bakugo, well there were always rumors. Personally, Ochako didn't believe any of them. Bakugo was too much of a workaholic to have managed to find someone and not have Mina sniff it out immediately. The idea of Bakugo being tied down almost made her laugh.

Then her thoughts went to Izuku, and all her anxiety came rushing back. She wasn't even sure he would want to go to dinner anymore since he must know that she knew he was Ex-QSU. Maybe it would be better if she just abandoned the idea of the dinner entirely, save them both some time.

She'd been walking for a while already, and she didn't even notice that she'd gotten to the park. She shook herself and took a deep breath, letting the nice air fill her lungs before letting it all back out in a rush. The park was relatively deserted, she only passed a few people during her walk. She was on her way back when she spotted a familiar head of hair standing at the edge of the large pond.