Simpler Things Chapter 23 - "Depollute Me, Pretty Baby"
The time has come for Izuku and Ochako to have their first official date night. Thankfully, the stars are shining over them, so hiding isn’t an option.
The sky above UA is as beautiful as ever. Dense with stars, a cosmic painting right outside, just a few million lightyears away. It’s addictive, the way their problems seem smaller in the face of it, the way they get lost in it. He could spend hours like this, just… looking. Letting his mind drift away into the endless expanse.
But really… it’s not the sky alone that does it. Yeah, it’s beautiful, and mesmerizing, and a million different adjectives, but it’s who he’s with that makes these moments truly addictive. Ochako’s next to him, getting lost with him, and they’re here, in their shared space, at their hero academy, living this life he couldn’t have dreamt of.
It reminds him that this won’t last forever. That sometime, not too far in the future, they’ll graduate, and they won’t have these moments anymore. No sneaking up to the room past curfew. No sitting with her for hours, just doing nothing.
“I’m gonna miss this,” he whispers, not meaning to say it out loud until it’s already past his lips.
“The stars?” Ochako asks, turning his way with a smile. “We can always come back after we graduate and see them, silly.”
Izuku turns to her, meets her eye.
Something in her face changes.
He smiles, and then slowly looks back up to the sky. “Yeah. I know.”
A moment passes. Two. Three. A minute. He can tell she’s still watching him. He keeps his eyes on the sky and fixates on her attention. It’s stuck on him. This moment is lasting forever. Another moment. Another. Two minutes now. She’s still looking, staring right at him. He keeps his gaze on the sky. Not knowing what to say. What to do. How to do it.
Finally, thankfully, her voice finds him again.
The sky disappears before him, and suddenly, all that exists in the universe is Ochako Uraraka. His eyes find her, easy to spot in the void, easy to stay focused on, get lost in. And he does. In her eyes, her beautiful brown eyes that are wide and reflecting the invisible cosmos back at him. She’s breathtaking. Impossible to look away from. Izuku wouldn’t even want to.
He asks, because he isn’t sure what else to do. “I won’t have to… what?”
Ochako’s hand moves. It loops around his arm, the same one she touched earlier, and her hand grabs hold of his hand, firm and tight with her grip. She holds his gaze as the void gives way to a trillion tiny stars, shining just for them.
“You won’t have to miss this.”
CONTINUE READING HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/74966046/chapters/223108866
