To Love, To Lose, To Leave

Chapter Two

Ochako loves the outdoors, especially when the weather is in that nice time frame between two extreme seasons—not too hot, and not too cold. Just right.

Whenever the weather's nice, like today, she'll get her lunch from the cafeteria and head up to the roof, along with the rest of her friends. Iida and Tsu had finished eating early and headed back down to get some extra studying in, leaving Todoroki and Deku with her.

The three of them chatted about everything, with even Todoroki—who even though has warmed up a lot ever since first year, tends to be less of a talker and more of a listener—jumping into the conversation, one of his fingers absent-mindedly playing with his hair, twirling it about.

"I saw an ad saying that the action movie that got really popular overseas is going to play in the theater all of this week and next week," Todoroki says, pulling out his phone and turning it to Ochako and Deku to show the ad.

"Oh!" Ochako exclaims, eyes scanning the ad excitedly. "I've been seeing a bunch of videos on my recommended pages that are just raving on and on about how good of a movie it is. Would you guys wanna watch it together? We'd tell Iida-kun and Tsu, too, of course, and maybe openly invite the rest of the class for anyone who wants to come along."

Todoroki nods. "That's a good idea. Sensei would probably be more inclined to approve our off-of-campus requests if we're a big group."

"Yeah, that's true. It would be best to pick a day when everyone is already free." Ochako scans the dates listed on the ad one more time, then hums out, "I think next Friday would probably be the best choice. Doing it this Friday would be too soon, and we've got a bunch of quizzes next Monday." She looks up at Todoroki, then at Deku, who takes the last bite of his katsudon. "Sound good?"

Deku smiles, nodding his head. "Mhm!"

Todoroki gives a thumbs up. "That sounds good to me. Do you want me to text the class group chat or do you want to do it?"

"You can do it, my phone's keyboard's been kinda buggy, so I haven't been texting much," Ochako huffs out. "But anyways, I'm thinking that once we get a head count, we get the tickets online so that we get seats next to each oth—"

Hang on. Fridays are—

"Deku!"

Deku startles, eyes widening as his hand freezes in place, his water bottle a couple of inches away from his lips. "Yeah? What's up, Uraraka-san?"

"I totally forgot," she says, "you and Bakugo-kun do date nights on Friday. You guys probably have got something planned already, huh?"

Deku's expression momentarily flickers, before he brings his free hand up, waving it dismissively. "Oh, no, don't worry, Uraraka-san, it's—"

"No no no." Ochako quickly shakes her head. "It's okay, Deku-kun. No big deal in moving it to Saturday, the movie's going to play in the theater until Sunday—"

"Uraraka-san. It's ok, really," Deku interjects, voice lowering. "Besides, Kacchan and I aren't...together, anymore."

Ochako physically startles at that, eyes widening.

"Wait, what?!" She turns to look at Todoroki. "Did you know—"

Todoroki shakes his head, face looking as bewildered as Ochako feels. "Midoriya didn't tell me about any sort of breakup."

Ochako whips her head back over at Deku, who was still smiling, seemingly unaffected by their shock.

"When did you two break up? Why? You two are literally made for each other, what could've possibly happened?"

"Ah, well." Deku seems to ponder for a second, trying to find the right words. "It's...a bit of a personal matter. Even if Kacchan and I aren't together anymore, he's my classmate, and...I've known him my whole life. It's the least I could do, as a way of respecting his privacy, y'know?"

Ochako can't seem to form a response, her mind racing as she remembers the strange, tense stiffness from this morning.

No wonder the two of them were acting so weird during classes today.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Midoriya," Todoroki says. "It must be difficult for you."

Deku smiles again, and Ochako can't help the unease that fills her at the sight. "It's alright, Todoroki-kun. I'm fine, really. It...just didn't work out." Deku looks down at the floor for a moment, mumbling out, "Wasn't mean to be, I guess, y'know?"

Something really serious must've happened between them for a break up to happen. Ochako glances down at the pink of her phone case. Maybe Mina will know something? She's pretty close with Bakugo-kun—

Deku claps his hands twice, snapping Ochako out of her thoughts. "Anyways, yes, next Friday works for me." He gives another smile. "I'll be looking forward to it!"

Ochako could feel it in her guts—something wasn't right. She knows that Deku won't budge if she tries forcing it out of him, though—he's stubborn to a fault, that's one of the traits she both respects and dreads in him.

For now, though, all Ochako can do is be his friend. When he wants to talk about it, he'll come to her, or Todoroki, or any of his other friends, and they'll figure it out.

"Friday it is, then!"