Bitter

Ochako woke up with a groan. Her leg muscles were definitely sore from the cycling class the day before. Shit, she thought, I really gotta work out more if I want to make it in the top ten. 

The bright gravity hero had currently resided as the number 12 hero. Her next big goal was to make it in the top ten to join some of her current classmates, Deku, Todoroki, and of course, Katsuki. Those three astute heroes had raised through the ranks quickly after graduation, buzz already surrounding them from their internships and debuts as sidekicks. 

Deku was currently the number 5 hero, Katsuki was 6, and Todoroki was 9. Momo was also above Ochako, the creation hero taking the number 11 spot. 

Ochako stumbled out of bed, bending down to touch her toes to get a nice stretch in. Remembering how good it felt when they announced her name in the top 20. She had been overjoyed by the news. She smiled to herself, but it quickly faded as she remembered some of the other aspects that took place that night including a very emotional break-up with her long term boyfriend. 

Shaking the thought from her head, she went to shower, brush her teeth and change before she headed out of her apartment to get coffee from the shop a block away. She threw on big sunglasses and a beanie to disguise herself from the press. She grabbed a big coat from the hanger by the door to hide her hero costume.

Standing in line at the shop, she went over her events for the day. She had a short morning shift today, patrolling for only 6 hours, finishing at 2pm. She could meet Sora at the 4pm cycling class tonight. The image of the hunky, black-haired cycling instructor floated into her head aimlessly. She bit her lip. Maybe she would get to see him again today. 

Thinking about the sexy instructor, she accidently ran into the person right in front of her, successfully knocking her sunglasses off her wide face. The stranger, a middle aged man, bent down to hand them to her. When he looked at her face to hand them to her, he practically choked.

“Oh my gosh! I know you. You’re Uravity, the rescue hero,” He exclaimed. “My daughter loves you! Please! Please sign something for me, anything…” He searched his pockets looking for something to have her sign. His loud voice carried throughout the store, forcing a few gasps and fingers pointed in her direction. 

The man had decided that he wanted Ochako to sign his hat for his daughter, and by the time she finished, a good sized crowd had formed around her asking for pictures and autographs from the gravity hero. 

Despite how tired she was of fake smiling, she never stopped wanting her fans to get the best experience when meeting her. She looked at her watch. Damn I’m gonna be late. She quickly scribbled her signature on a few more products before she excused herself as politely as possible. She heard a few groans from the remaining fans, but she really had to go.

She jogged about a mile to her agency, panting as she finally entered the doors. Her legs were killing her today. 

“Hi Uravity!” The receptionist smirked at Ochako, “looking a little out of shape there.” Uraraka huffed. 

“Can you just get me a coffee please, Akari?” Uraraka said between breaths. She swore she heard a small ‘get it yourself bitch’ come from the snotty receptionist’s mouth before she left her desk to walk towards the break room. 

Recovering quickly, the rescue hero walked towards her desk computer to see who she was patrolling with. AWASE it read. Yesss, Ochako thought. She liked Awase, they had become good friends while working at the Eraserhead Agency together and if she was being honest some of the other heroes Aizawa chose were iffy at best. 

I mean look at the receptionist he hired. The gravity hero thought as she thanked Akari for the coffee she set on her desk. The clock read 7:54am, she had six minutes to drink her coffee before going on patrol. Just then, Awase called out to her asking her come to his desk

 As she went to stand, her legs gave out a little. Oh great, today’s gonna be a long day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katsuki paid the driver, on his way out of the taxi, quickly grabbing his stuff from the trunk and heading inside. He noticed Sora’s small white car already parked in front of his condo and he smiled to himself.

He opened the door and was met with the tightest hug. 

“Oh my Gosh Hi! I missed you so much!” Tears pricked around Sora’s eyes. She was hugging Katsuki so tight, like they hadn’t seen each other for a year.

“Oi, are you fucking crying, Blondie?” He asked, pulling their heads back slightly. “It’s only been a week, not a whole fucking lifetime.”

“Ugh I know babe, I just missed you so much” Katsuki growled, he had told her how much he hated her pet names for him. He let it go since he had just got home and she was crying for some reason. “Didn’t you miss me?”

“I guess” He stated, “but I’m not gonna fill a whole Goddamn river with my tears.” He kissed her gently, before pulling back from her hug. “All right, I’m gonna take a shower then nap. I’m tired as shit.”

“Want some company?” she grinned, already walking ahead of him towards the shower.

He smirked, lust in his eyes. “Is that even a question?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a long, grueling shift, Awase and Ochako returned through the agency doors. Ochako limped through the door, wiping the remaining dirt and sweat off on the back of her hand. Hearing a little chuckle come from Akari’s lips as she assessed the situation the two heroes were in, Ochako shot a glare in her direction.

Akari decided to ignore it and turn her attention to the welding hero.

“Hi Awase. Hard shift?” She batted her eyelashes at the man causing him to blush. It was obvious the receptionist was beautiful, with her slim figure and long periwinkle colored hair. She had recently been fired from the modeling department and placed on reception as punishment. 

“Heh yeah, villains really don’t know when to give up,” he flexed his muscles and watched as Akari giggled flirtatiously. Ochako rolled her eyes.

“Awase, I’m gonna hit the showers,” she waved a hand towards her patrol partner. “Ya know before I throw up,” she muttered under her breath, heading towards the woman's showers.

After scrubbing off all the dirt and sweat, Ochako made her way to the Hero Lounge on the second floor. It was probably her favorite place to spend her free time. It was marked off only for heroes, and it allowed her and her friends to talk and get caught up on each other’s lives. Something Ochako was longing for. 

She ran her hero clearance pass through the slot and entered once it showed green. Tsu and Deku were already sitting next to each other deep in conversation. Ochako limped over to greet them.

“Hey guys. What are you talking about?” Upon seeing her, the two heroes stopped talking. Deku’s eyes widened.

“Ochako, why are you limping?” Deku asked. Ochako laughed. He showed so much concern every time something was wrong with her. It was something she loved about being his friend.

“Deku, you know she loves to overwork herself. No need to act like it's the end of the world whenever she overdoes it, kero.”

Deku stared blankly at Tsu, but then returned her words with a nod.

“Don’t worry guys, I just started at a new gym and took a tough cycling class yesterday. I’m just sore.” Relief hit her friends faces. Do they not think I’m taking care of myself? “Anyways what were you guys talking about before I got here. Looked serious”

Deku blushed, waving his arms out in front of him.  “Oh it’s not a big deal.”

“Don’t lie to her Deku, ribbit”

“Okay, okay. Ochako, I’m going to ask Melissa to marry me.”

The rescue hero squealed. “Oh my gosh Deku that’s so great! She’s definitely gonna say yes that's so exciting I can’t wait for the wedding,” she rambled on, “Omg this is so sudden, well I guess not, but when are you? And where? Oh my gosh you have to tell me all about--”

Tsu started coughing loudly, eyes narrowing in on Ochako signalling for her to be quiet. That’s when she realized she was talking so loud, the entire lounge was now looking at them. 

Ochako leaned in. “I’m so sorry Deku. I couldn't contain myself. It’s my fault.”

Deku replied with a quick “its fine,” before he was met with a dozen congratulations from other heroes at their agency. Deku smiled sheepishly, thanking all the people. Ochako shrunk back into her seat on the couch, trying to avoid the stares from her fellow colleagues. Oops my bad.

Staring at the clock, she realized she had to meet Sora at the gym soon. She mentioned it to Deku and Tsu, who waved their goodbyes, Ochako not missing the embarrassed look she got from Deku. She mouthed another ‘Sorry’ to Deku and left, taking a taxi down to her new gym.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katsuki woke up naked, arms wrapped around Sora’s lengthy frame. He shifted slightly glancing at the clock, 1:30pm. Great, slept for a good 2 hours. He felt Sora move in his arms, and she turned to face him, peppering his face with kisses. 

He hummed from the contact. “What are you doing today?” He asked her, roughing up her blonde hair.

“I’m meeting that friend I told you about at the gym.” She said between giggles. “And then I’m teaching a class at 5. What are you gonna do?”

“I dunno. Maybe go to the gym.” He kissed her lips,  “Maybe sleep some more,” he kissed her neck. “Maybe not,” he whispered into her ear, biting it lightly. 

She laughed loudly, slapping his bare chest in the process.

“Haha, you’re so funny. God, I love you,” she said, still giggling. Katsuki shifted back. It had been the first time either of them said it to each other, and she said it as a joke. But was it? 

Sora stopped laughing when she realized he pulled back. Her eyes became sincere, and her mouth fit into a closed-mouthed smile. She had meant what she said. She nodded her head slightly, showing she knew exactly what she was saying to the explosive hero.

Shit I gotta get outta here. Katsuki jumped out of bed. “Just remembered I gotta get something from the office.” He went to put his boxers and pants on.

Sora shifted up in bed. “What? You’re going? I thought you were just gonna stay in today.” She said, obviously hurt by his actions. Katsuki didn’t seem to notice.

“uhh , yeah I just gotta take care of something first,” He said, throwing on a shirt. “I’ll, uh, see you later.” He went over to give her a quick peck on the cheek, something he had never done, then he went out the door.

Sora sat, stunned. She didn’t know what to do. She thought it was known she was in love with him. She knew he was bad at emotions, something about a past broken heart, but she never thought he would just get up and leave. 

She quickly pulled out her phone to send off a quick text.

SORA Hi, something happened...would love to talk before my class today.

It took a while before she got a reply back.

URARAKA okay, I’ll meet you at the gym today. I’m gonna skip cycling, I think. too sore. 4?

Sora typed back a quick ok, before she silently cried into her hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katsuki waved down a taxi, and quickly gave the driver Eijiro’s address. When the car started moving, he finally took the time to think to himself. Did he love her?

They had only started dating 2 months ago. He met her at his usual gym, apparently she had just gotten hired as some yoga instructor. She was beautiful and obnoxiously cheerful, it didn’t take much effort to bring her back to his place the night they met. 

Katsuki was ready to just ditch her after that, but he kept seeing her at the gym. She was relentless, always showering him with compliments and telling her random things about herself while he was trying to workout. And to his surprise he didn’t mind. Guess he did always love the praise. Kirishima said it was some sort of praise kink? Whatever. He ended up inviting her back to his place again that night.

After that, he got into a routine. Go to the gym, meet up with Sora, and the two of them would take separate cars to his apartment to try to avoid media suspicion. 

Once they started dating, he ignored her at the gym, telling her if they were gonna date, they wouldn’t be able to tell anyone. They had become pretty good at sneaking around, only passing some meaningful glances towards each other occasionally. 

The car pulled to a halt, Katsuki slammed the money on the console and fled out of the car. He knocked hard on Eijiro’s door. When he didn’t answer in 10 seconds, he started banging again, not stopping until the door opened and Katsuki was met with a red faced, shirtless Ei. 

“Hey man! Whatcha doing here?”

Katsuki didn’t bother answering, he just walked past his half-naked friend towards the couch. “Tell Pinky to put some clothes on,” he growled, “I need your guys…help...with something.” He spat out the last part.

Ei face split into a shit-eating grin. “HEY BABE!” he yelled, “KATSUKI’S HERE. HE WANTED TO TELL YOU HOW MUCH HE MISSED UP!’

“WHAT THE FUCK! NO I DON’T” 

Pinky walked down the stairs in a white robe, her hair ruffled and mascara smeared a little. Katsuki made a face. Horny Idiots. 

“Aww Kat. You missed me? That's so sweet.” She sat down on Eijiro’s lap, who was sitting on a nice leather chair. 

“Tch, didn’t fuckin miss you, Pinky. Just gotta talk to ya guys.” He grit his teeth. Eijiro smirked, knowing what was coming next. It really irked the explosion hero.

“FUCKIN FINE. I have a girlfriend.” he spat. Mina jumped up from Ei’s lap and made a high-pitched scream. “SHUT THE FUCK UP PINKY!”

“Sorry, sorry Kat, but it’s been soooo long. Literally thought you’d never give anyone a chance after you-know-who.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you guys. She’s not fucking Voldemort. You can say her name.” Katsuki spat. It had been 2 years since he broke up with his UA girlfriend. Sure she broke his heart and left him not believing in love, but it's not like he was gonna cry everytime they said her name. 

“Nah bro, after your hands started smoking in the cab when I talked about her, I don’t even want to take the chance. Don’t need you exploding more of my furniture.” Eijiro said, eyes  pointing towards the couch. 

Mina laughed. “Okay, enough about the past. Who is this new woman? And why have you finally decided to talk to us about her? ARE YOU IN LOVE?”

Katsuki flinched at the words. “Her name is Sora. I met her at my gym, she's a yoga instructor.”

His two friends hung on every word. They stared at him expecting to share more. Seeing that he wasn’t the manly hero decided to speak up.

“So how long have you been dating her?”

“Hmmm, about 2 months.” 

“How’d you start dating?”

“Asked her to come back to my place.”

“Oooo did you cook her dinner? That's so romantic.” Mina gleamed.

“No. We fucked.” Mina rolled her eyes, while Eijiro huffed a small ‘of course.’ “WHAT. I just said that's how it started. Now she practically lives at my place and never fucking shuts up about how much she likes me.”

The two suddenly perked up, smiling like idiots. 

“Awww, Bakuhoe, you actually like her. That soooo cute,” Mina teased. 

“Yeah , super manly to finally tell us bro.” Ei agreed.

Katsuki crossed his arms. “That’s not why I told you.” Mina and Eij looked at him, confused. “She just told me she’s in love with me...and I don’t know what to do."