Bitter

“Hey! Hey!” Ochako turned her head to see where the voice was coming from. As she was placing her water bottle on the ground next to her bike, she saw the voice belong to a tall pretty blonde woman with stunning blue eyes and a bright smile. She was walking directly towards Ochako, one of her hands waving at her while the other was holding a water bottle close to her chest. 

“You’re Uravity, right?!” The blonde asked, smiling at the brunette. She was taller than Ochako and the gravity hero craned her neck up to meet her eyeline. 

“Yes, I am. Hi there, nice to meet you!” The hero gleamed, giving her an Uravity signature smile. She knew that getting recognized in her civilian clothes was common, but she didn’t think she would ever get used to it. 

“Wow, I can’t believe you go to the same gym as me. Ha! What are the chances!” The blonde commented, “I mean you are sooooo cute! AHhh I don’t know how you survive out there on the streets like that '' She continued, placing her water bottle next to the bicycle directly adjacent to Ochako’s.

Ochako gritted her teeth at the comment. Hmm bet she wouldn’t say that to a male hero, she thought. Sayings like that always made Ochako mad. Did she not work just as hard to get where she was? At the end of her 3 year at UA, she had ended in the top half of her class, beating out many of her male classmates. 

She knew how to respond, being told to be her agency. “Thank you so much! You couldn’t believe what I have gone through.” Ochako turned to sit on her bike, waiting for the class to start, hoping the taller woman would get the message.

“Oh I bet! Heroes have hard jobs! My boyfriend tells me all about it,” just as the words slipped out, the blonde covered her mouth. “Wait, umm, that's not what I meant. Ha he just likes heroes..is that I meant...not that he’s a hero ha..urm...Uravity, please forget I said anything.” She waved her hands in front of her face, and started to fan her cherry cheeks. 

Ochako understood the somewhat odd reaction. Most heroes decided to keep their relationship statuses and significant others a secret. It was mostly for the safety of their loved ones, as well as to avoid harassment from the press.

She remembers when the internet blew up when paparazzi got pictures of Melissa leaving Deku's apartment one morning. After that, all of Japan knew the two were dating and fake stories and tabloids surfaced every other newsstand. False reports of break-ups or pregnancies filled the articles and Deku was asked about Melissa in every interview he had.

It wasn’t just the press that kept heroes from revealing their significant others, it was also for safety. When a photo showed that a girl was leaving the hero Chargebolt’s apartment, the girl was stalked and held hostage by villains in an attempt to torture Denki. Following that incident, most, if not all, heroes kept their private lives secret from the media and likely each other. 

Ochako didn’t know if many of her hero friends were dating people, except Deku of course, but she knew better than to ask any of her friends. Although, nobody could keep it a secret from everyone. It was pretty common for heroes to tell their closest friends and family they knew could keep a secret. 

The gravity hero had selected her best friends Tsu and Deku to tell about her significant others, and sometimes Iida if the relationship became serious. Her best friend Tsu would occasionally tell her about dates she went on, but rarely let the names slip or entertain the idea of any future dates. Ochako knew when she did mention a name, Tsu really liked them.

Even though the Uraraka missed knowing everything about all her friends, she knew this was the only way to ensure their safety if any of them were compromised.She could manage telling one or two people.

So Ochako wasn’t surprised when the pretty woman in front of her started biting her nails nervously after revealing the personal fact about herself. 

“It’s okay. Really, I won’t tell anyone. I understand” The brunette said sympathetically. The blonde’s face relaxed, seeing that her secret would be secure. She returned to mounting her bike, facing forward.

Ochako recalled how hard it was for her previous boyfriend to not tell his friends who exactly he was dating. It really killed him and may have played a part in their breakup. 

Ochako shuddered at the thought. Luckily, at the same time the cycle instructor entered the room wearing a grey tank top and a headset. He was tall, tan and had broad muscular shoulders. Ochako bit her lip at the sight, quickly chastising herself. 

She gripped her handlebars as he turned his head. Damn, I could cut cheese on that jawline. She noticed the blonde’s eyes staring at her amusingly. The blonde let out a little giggle muttering, “Heroes, they really are just like us haha.”

The instructor looked around the room, before his eyes landed on the blonde and walked up to her bicycle. 

“Sora, what are you doing in my class?” He said with a fond smile, crossing his arms in front of his broad chest. 

“Just wanted to support my fellow instructor. Maybe get a few tips for my next class haha,” the blonde, Sora, joked. “Although, I think cycling is much more intense than yoga.”

Ochako didn’t realize she was staring at the two, until the man’s eyes were looking directly into her brown ones. She blushed, quickly zoning back in.

“Hi, I don’t think we’ve met,” he extended his previously crossed arm, “but you look very familiar.”

Ochako took his hand with a quick shake, “Uraraka, nice to meet you. But no I don’t think we’ve met before.” She averted her gaze, realizing that almost all the seats were now filled, mostly by women sneaking glances at the instructor.

Sora’s voice perked up, “OH you should recognize her she’s,” the blonde stopped upon seeing Ochako’s death stare, “my client...YES she’s one of my yoga students. She’s been around the gym is all.” She chuckled awkwardly.

“Um..right that must be it,” He walked back to the front of the room, alerting everyone that the class was about to begin. 

Sora leaned over towards Ochako. “You’ll have to tell me about this later,” the taller woman said in all seriousness.

“After then.”

The class began, the instructor encouraging the sea of women to pedal faster, taking them up a metaphorical hill. Ochako was working up quite a sweat over the hour the class lasted. It finally ended with a cooldown and she wiped the sweat of her face with a small rag. 

“Whoo! What a class,” Sora jumped off her bike, picked up her water bottle and faced Ochako. “So wanna tell me at the juice bar?” 

Shoot I hoped she’d forget.

“ Sure. Let’s go.” She started towards the door.

“Wait! I have to say goodbye to Kai first. Come with me real quick.”

The instructor, Kai, eyes brightened at the sight of the two women walking towards him

“Great class Kai, I’ve learned so much and my heart is beating so fast” the blonde grinned bringing her fingers up to her neck to feel her pulse. Ochako nodded in agreement.

“Thank you, Sora and...urm I’m sorry I forgot your name. What was it again?” 

“Uraraka,” she blushed.

“Right, Uraraka. Sounds familiar too.” He brought his hand towards his chin as if he was deep in thought.

“Ahhh well, you probably saw her on the sign in sheet. Anyways we gotta go, bye!” Sora grabbed the hero’s hand and jogged out of the room. The two headed towards the juice bar, ordered and found a table.

“Alright, so spill why didn’t you want our total hot instructor to know you are an amazing hero?” Sora questioned sipping lazily from her straw.

“It’s not like I don’t want him to know. It's everyone really.” Ochako tried to explain. “I just joined this gym a few days ago actually. I had to leave my most recent one cuz everyone kept bothering me when I was trying to work out. It was the worst.” She looked at Sora’s hurt face.

“Wait no, not what I meant” Ochako tried to retract. “It wasn’t a big deal you recognized me. I’m very flattered, I always am. It's just...if everyone knows you, it's hard to get things done is all.” She sipped her strawberry banana smoothie. “And I know it’s dumb I’m on TV and stuff but just trying to stay here as long as possible without being recognized.”

“I understand Uravi...hmm Uraraka. Better than you think haha. My boo complains about the same things all the time,” she once again flinched. “Sorry I keep talking about him. I’m not allowed to tell anybody and it killllssss me.”

Ochako nodded knowing the feeling very well. 

“And you already know so I might as well tell you all about him so I can at least get it out of my system. AND YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T TELL” Sora threw her head back laughing.

The gravity hero winced. “Sora, please don’t. I work with heroes everyday and I don’t even know about their personal lives really. We mostly spend time in the lounge with each other, but when we leave for the day, that's it we don’t see, talk, or hear from each other until the next day.”

“But Uravity PLEASE. I need to tell someone. It’s so hard to keep it all to myself. Like when I get mad at him, guess who I can tell...NOBODY. PLEASE,” she begged, her blue eyes starting to water.

Ochako sighed, “Okay, okay please calm down. You can talk to me about him.” Sora started to smile. “AS LONG, as you don’t tell me his name or any specifics that would allow me to distinguish who he is.” 

Honestly, Ochako just missed gossip. Heroes had been careful the past few years and she didn’t have a boyfriend of her own so why not. Hopefully, she didn’t even know Sora’s boyfriend.

“Fine. I can work with that, but it might be hard. He's a pretty well known hero.”

Well, so much for that thought.

“Yeah. In fact he’s really great. Super passionate and insanely hot.” Sora gazed off into the distant, obviously daydreaming about her hunky boyfriend. “Everytime I see him on TV I literally start drooling and can’t wait until he gets home to run my hands all over his body...ughhh i miss him. He’s on a mission right now and my body’s getting a lil lonely if you know what I mean.” She winked at Ochako, a mischievous grin on her face. 

Ochako spent the next hour listening to stories about the hero from his head-over-heels girlfriend, casually finishing her smoothie. 

“--and Oh my gosh! He almost set our dinner on fire because I was sitting on the counter in nothing but a bra. AHAHA. He was so mad. He said I ruined dinner.” Ochako started to giggle. Sora was so energetic, really goofy. “I put him in a better mood though don’t worry.”

Suddenly, her watch alarm went off alerting her she needed to get home for her weekly facetime call with her parents. Uraraka mentioned her need to leave to Sora, saying she needed to call her parents.

“Hey girl, I get it. Family is very important to heroes! They are like the only people you can actually talk to,” the blonde responded when Ochako said she had to leave. “Here. Give me your phone. I’ll put my number in and we can talk more if you want. SORRY I was talking so much today. I really needed to get it off my chest.”

Sora entered her number in the hero’s phone, and Ochako did the same. She liked Sora. Sure, she talked a lot, like a lot , but she seemed nice and laughed at everything. She definitely reminded her of Mina in a sense. I bet they would get along.

“Wow. I am so happy I ran into you. I can’t wait to tell my boyfriend, we watch all your rescue missions together. Have some record even” She ran to hug Ochako, who was stunned at first, but then gladly returned the hug. 

“Actually Sora,” she got out, “would you mind not telling him we met. Whoever he is, I might work with him and I don’t want him to treat me differently because I know personal information about him.”

At first the blonde looked a little hurt, but quickly regained her composure. “Of course Uraraka. I respect your decision.” She smiled. “Hopefully I’ll see you around the gym. Maybe in one of my yoga classes.” She started walking towards the staff lounge waving her hand at Ochako.

Ochako waved back, threw away her cup, grabbed her water bottle and headed out the door. What an interesting girl. I wonder who she’s dating.