Interlude: The Meaning of One For All

Uraraka Ochako, 5 years old. She stood near the entrance to her apartment, watching as her parents were about to leave for their construction site workplace.

"How much is left for groceries?" Her mom asked, with deep bags under her eyes. "...not much." If her mom looked exhausted, her dad seemed on the verge of collapse. "We had to cover for the accident at the start of the month. That alone was a deep cut, and between Ochako's books and birthday... we may have to eat little but instant noodles for the rest of the month."

She skipped lunch that day, and dinner the next day. Her trend of skipping meals began, and continued for most of her life before reaching UA, because she didn't want to see her parents worry so much. She just wanted to see them smile.

7 years old. She was just coming back from a little trip to the local park with her parents, when a villain struck a car door and ripped it out right in front of her, pulling out the driver in order to steal the vehicle and flee. A hero with a flying Quirk soon dropkicked him out of the car through the other door's window, using amazing technique and martial arts to defeat the criminal before he could use his lizard-like Quirk appropriately against him. Ochako remembered every passerby cheering for the hero, including her parents; how righteous and reassuring the hero seemed, how the villain got his right desserts. She started cheering as well.

She wanted to be like that. She wanted to save people, to be cheered for, to help those in need. Later that day, she learned how much a typical hero could make, while watching a show starring the Space Hero: Thirteen. Her drive only intensified. If she earned that much, she could make her parent's lives so much easier!

9 years old. Ochako had come home from school, only to find her parents distraught. They had to cancel the trip they had spent so much time saving for - one of the construction workers of their company was suing them, a concept she didn't quite understand at the time, and they needed to use their savings for the attorney fees. She was angry. Not at her parents, or at the worker, or at the company. She was mad that they could never have any nice things no matter how hard they tried, just because their bad luck would keep kicking them down.

"I'll help out with work when I grow up! That way you guys won't need to worry so much!" Her dad smiled, crouched down, and softly caressed her head, ruffling her hair a little. "Ochako. I'm glad you think that way, but I'd rather see you achieve your dream. Think about it! When you're a hero, imagine just how much better our house will start looking! You could even take us to Hawaii one day!"

14 years old. Ochako used her Quirk for the first time outside her home, to help an old lady who had fallen on the sidewalk. Her gratitude and compliments were words she could never forget. She wanted this to be her full time job, to be a daily happening. She wanted to make the world better through her own actions, including her mom and dad's world. Especially theirs.

17 years old. Ochako scribbled on a piece of paper in front of her. It wasn't just any piece of paper, and her scribbles weren't just spelling out any random words. It was her choice of university for when she graduated. In the first place, she had written U.A., followed by Shinketsu below. All of her choices spelt out "Hero Course". She knew who she wanted to be. Her teacher, on the other hand, wasn't so sure.

"U.A.? You, Ochako? I never saw that coming. With your attitude and everything, I always pictured you as a psychologist or a social worker, not a hero."

"W-Well, I've always had this dream ever since I was a little girl... I want to help people. Directly, not just by listening to their worries or putting their minds at ease. My Quirk could save many lives if I was allowed to use it."

"You're determined, huh? Well I don't blame you. I wanted to be a hero too, I just never made the cut for any of the big schools. Make sure you work on that nausea problem, alright?"

"Y-Yeah!"

18 years old. Ochako had graduated high school, and was about to enter UA for the entrance tests. That's when she saw him: A cute, freckled boy with green hair standing on his own while everyone around him walked without care. He must be psyching himself up. These tests are scary, after all. Should I try and reassure him?

He started walking right as she was about to approach, so she figured he had found it within himself to move on... only to watch him trip on his own foot and start falling down. She reached out just in time to save him with her Quirk, though, putting him back in an upright position. He seemed... confused? Nervous? No matter what small talk she tried, he wouldn't say anything, so she had to cut it short and head inside. Maybe she'd see him later on.

That same boy later leapt an entire building's height into the air and turned his legs and arm into broken mush in order to save her. Even when it wouldn't give him any points. Even when he had zero points, going by his words of just needing at least one point. Even when it was just one girl trapped under the scrap of another robot. Even when she carelessly dropped that scrap on herself by accident, and thus deserved to lose.

That boy had become her reason to smile as of late. She always wanted to be by his side; not being close to his warm, soft skin felt empty deep down, like something crucial was missing. Who cares if his Quirk made her feelings for him intensify? Who cares if he can somehow read her thoughts? She had fallen in love with him back then, before his Quirk had even awakened. She couldn't think of a better person to trust with her heart the way she did with him.

Her dreams. Mom. Dad. And Deku-kun. Those four pillars supported Uraraka's life in a way only three of them had struggled to in the past. And now, they watched from the stands, as she came out to the arena about to face the demon lord of her class in the flesh. Bakugo Katsuki.

She couldn't let them down.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR OUR FLUFFY CONTENDER! THAT CUTENESS IS SENDING THE CROWD INTO A FRENZY OF CHEER! GOOD LUCK OUT THERE, URARAKA OCHAKO!"

She was a little jittery all of a sudden. So many people watching after all... Yet, her eyes caught her parents bringing Izuku over to sit with them, then they noticed she was looking and started waving and cheering at her. Her dad even had a baseball cap with "OCHAKO <3" on it, while her mom waved a little flag with "GO OCHAKO!" written on it. Her eyes were getting a little teary, but her jitters had stopped. That's right. She just had to focus on protecting their smiles.

To her, right now, Bakugo was a villain threatening them.

"ON THE OTHER CORNER, YOU GUYS ALREADY KNOW HIM! WHAT A POWERFUL QUIRK, WHAT AN INTENSE STARE! CHEER ONCE MORE FOR BAKUGO KATSUKI!"

He looked... pissed. No, that would be too shallow. His stare was focused on her as if he was already planning five different ways to take her down in one big burst of his Quirk. As if she had to pay for his earlier recklessness and the subsequent consequences that came to bite him in the rear. If she was being honest with herself, he was superior to her when it came to fighting, in almost every sense. He had better strength, speed, durability, reflexes, instincts, even sheer grit.

But she had a plan she had just come up with, and a useful Quirk.

"START!"

She charged at him. Surprisingly, Bakugo remained in place, flexing his hand as if getting ready to use his Quirk, rather than charging towards her. Maybe he was wary of her touching him and sending him flying?

BOOM

"Gah!" Uraraka was sent reeling back from a small explosion aimed at her chest. Being honest, it didn't hurt too bad, but the shock was rattling her body all the same. She swooped down to grab his leg, but was sent back by his hand raking the ground as explosions piled up on it. She vanished in the smoke of that explosion and appeared behind him ready to strike, but he had heard her coming and sent her flying back once more.

Explosion by explosion, the ground shook, sending stone chunks flying everywhere. Her body was shaking alongside it. He clearly was being cautious around her, not letting down his guard just to avoid a repeat of the past fight. She finally understood that stare he gave her earlier. He wasn't thinking she should pay for his mistakes. He was atoning for them himself by getting it right this time. He was learning.

BOOM

"DIE"

BOOM

"YOU'RE TOO DAMN OBVIOUS, ROUND FACE!"

BOOMBOOMBOOM

"Kyah!" Round and round her sight went as she rolled on the floor, getting rebuked time and again despite all the low blows and sweeps and stealth maneuvers she attempted. Nothing escaped this guy. She was reaching his limit, too - in a battle of attrition, he would win ten times over if this was all she did to try and win.

Luckily, that wasn't the case.

She touched her fingertips together, eliciting a curious reaction from Bakugo. He looked up, and that curiosity quickly turned into a grimace of disbelief and danger. A massive cascade of rocky debris rained upon him, seconds away from impact - it was all the debris his explosions had kicked up, which she had touched every time he rebuked her just to build this insane attack in secret.

Even if he dodges or blocks everything, he must let his guard down at some point! This is my victory! I'll be like Deku-kun and protect their smiles!

Bakugo raised a single hand as she ran towards him extending her arms to touch him. His other hand grabbed his wrist, bracing for imminent impact. A second later, some invisible **** made her leaping body stop dead in its tracks momentarily. It was but a prelude to the incoming shockwave.

BOOM-KRKRKRKRKR-BOOM

She was sent flying by a tremendous blast, of proportions she could only compare to the grenade-like equipment that Bakugo usually employed in his hero costume, not currently present in the fight due to equipment regulations in sports.

All of her hard work building up that massive attack had been undone in a moment, falling down as a thick curtain of dust. And all she had to show for it was giving him an aching wrist, judging by the way it was twitching as he held it in his other hand.

"Khh... it hurts, goddamn it... hey, Round Face, did ya think I can only use those big explosions with my gauntlets? Let me let you in on a secret. I only use those things so I don't have to suffer the blowback to my hands. I build up all that sweat slowly and store it in those gauntlets, instead of drawing it all out from my body by ****."

Her eyes teared up a little more. Looking at Deku-kun and her parents, they seemed worried, though her blurry sight couldn't fully make out their exact expression.

"Was that it? That's your grand plan? I still got one good hand for this fight, and you look like you're on your last leg. You're a one-trick pony who got a bad matchup. That bastard Deku sure planned all this crap only for you to fail."

A vein popped on her forehead as she wiped her cheek, caked in dust and sweat as it was. "Take that back."

"Huh? Why the hell would I? We both know he's the only nerd that would come up with some grand strategy like this. Maybe Four Eyes but you're not as chummy with him." He shook his hand and started opening and closing it, trying to recover from the painful experience earlier.

"You know nothing about Deku-kun despite tormenting him all those years...!" She charged towards him once more. The fight had stopped mattering to her just now. Now, she was simply mad at his disdain towards her boyfriend. "He has nothing but kind words for you every time I ask! Telling me how you're so strong, or cool, or dedicated!" An explosion sent her back, but she got back up and kept running.

"Even though he admitted you bullied him throughout elementary, middle and high school!" An explosion sent her back, but she got back up and kept running.

"Even though he dove in to save your life on the same day you told him to end his own!" An explosion sent her back, but she got back up and kept running.

"Even though all you do is talk shit about him and push him away for no reason!" An explosion sent her back, but she got back up and kept running.

"Y-You... are jealous of Deku-kun, aren't you?" That got his own forehead popping with veins. "HUH?! WHY WOULD I BE JEALOUS OF THAT USELESS PUPPET-?!"

"BECAUSE DEEP DOWN YOU KNOW HE'S BETTER THAN YOUR SORRY ASS!" He froze for a moment - Uraraka landed a punch square on his face, sending him back a little, even though she missed her chance to touch him with her fingertips. Another explosion put distance between the two, but she kept advancing.

Something was wrong with her body. She was no longer feeling rattled and weak, even though she should be incapable of moving after receiving so many direct impacts. She was moving faster than before. She was hitting harder than before - that punch would normally not make an experienced fighter like Bakugo even flinch, but it sent him reeling like a hit from someone on his own level. She was even dodging the explosions that she could barely see coming before. In the middle of a rolling dodge, she managed to take a look at her own body.

Green lightning was coating her skin.

"I knew the bastard was helping you out somehow. Die, Soft Cheeks." He held his intact wrist with his other hand, aimed straight at her. If an explosion of that caliber hit her straight in the face, she was done for. She had no time to dodge when she was running straight towards him the second before. So, without any other resource, she held her open palms in front of her face and hoped for the best.

BOOM-KRKRKRKRKR-.........BOOOM

...

...

...

Uh... was it over? Did she die so quickly that she felt no pain besides a little tingle in her hands? He'd surely get kicked from school then, if he had actually killed her? Well, at least there's that- no, wait, Deku-kun and mom and dad were all down there on Earth! She couldn't just leave them behind! So, a little afraid of what she would see - please not Hell - she opened her eyes.

Bakugo was frozen in front of her, mouth agape and hand clutched in pain. The ground ahead seemed blasted to pieces in a very wide area towards her, but then the ground a centimeter or two ahead of her was just... intact.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! URARAKA TOUCHED THE EXPLOSION WITH HER HANDS AND IT JUST ARCHED UP WITHOUT EVEN GRAZING HER! THE ROOF OF THE DOME IS GONNA NEED REPAIRS AFTER THIS!"

Looking up, there was a small hole on a side of the dome's ceiling. That... was not what her Quirk usually did. She crouched to touch a small rock, watching it fly up into the air at a much higher speed than usual. This was less "Zero Gravity" and more straight up "Anti-Gravity". What if...

Both of her hands landed on the ground, watching it start tearing and rippling as her anti-gravity Quirk spread farther and farther. Bakugo couldn't use his hurt hands to keep himself in mid-air with explosions; after a couple of futile explosive dodges, he could only clutch his hands in pain as the stone tiles took him for a flight. He couldn't drop from them without risking severe damage from the fall, and any more explosions would do a really bad number on his hands and prevent him from continuing to participate in the Festival anyway. He would be helpless if this was a real life situation.

"THE WINNER IS... URARAKA OCHAKO!"

"goDFUCKINGDAMNITTTTT!!!"