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Izuku was special but not in an academic or athletic way.
He was a ghost, and he had been for a while now.
He’d been walking home after getting an earful from Katsuki about applying to Yuuei High, the prestigious high school that only accepted the best of the best when it happened.
He saw Katsuki in trouble and he ran to help.
Figures that he’d end up like this.
Now he was stuck wandering the Earth as a ghost, unable to communicate with anyone beyond moving objects, not that it helped with communicating with anyone.
Still, he tried to visit his mother, since he loved her and wanted to be with her even if he wasn’t alive anymore.
She’d just got done with one of her shopping trips when Izuku accidently bumped into someone.
Another ghost.
Another being like him who was stuck wandering around aimlessly. Thankfully the ghost who seemed to be a girl caught him before he face planted (could he even faceplant?) into the ground.
“Y’know it’s bad luck to fall.”
Izuku took a second to mentally register what was going on.
She looked beautiful with the sun shining behind her,lighting up her features, even in death she looked stunning.
“Wait, you're like me!” Izuku excitedly shouted.
“You’re telling me you haven’t seen any ghosts?” the girl inquired.
“No-uh, just you.”
Izuku began to notice that his mother was getting ready to leave, so he turned to the girl only to see that she was gone. Izuku let out a sigh of disappointment before beginning to make his way back home.
Ever since meeting her, something felt different.
Having someone else who was also stuck as a ghost was reassuring to say the least because now he had someone that understood his situation and could talk to him.
He really wished he could talk to her.
He had no idea how he would find her, but he wanted to just have small talk to her. Being a ghost was lonely and while he liked being with his mother, talking to Uraraka...it was something that made him happy, as brief as it was.
He felt this pulse like a radar, ever since they met and he wondered if just maybe, the pulse he felt had something to do with Uraraka.
He wondered if meeting her meant anything. She was the only ghost he’d seen so far, so he felt like she was important to him. Yet he still had trouble figuring out why it was her. He wanted to see her, but he didn’t know where to find her, though he had a sneaking suspicion that the pulse he felt could help.
Then it happened.
Izuku was out by himself. He decided he wanted to just roam around and see what everyone else in his city was up to, and also to see if he could find the girl again using the pulse.
Eventually he found himself at an old construction site.
As he approached it the pulse grew in intensity before he finally saw her.
She was floating a few inches off the ground, watching the construction workers while they worked.
As he began to approach her, he gave a small “Hi” to let her know he was approaching.
“Oh hi! You’re the ghost boy!”
“Y-yeah my name’s Izuku Midoriya.” The girl gave a brief smile
“I’m Ochako Uraraka,” she responded in a flat manner.
“Um, Uraraka do you mind if I ask what you’re doing-not that you have to or anything!” He frantically waved his arms around, hoping that she wouldn’t get upset at him.
“It’s okay.” Uraraka gave a sad smile .
“The thing is, my parents were construction workers but they had a hard time getting work, so I wanted to help them when I was older but-” She looked down at the ground.
“When I was about to go to high school, I got into an accident...and now here I am.”
“I’ve been checking up on them ever since.”
If they weren’t ghosts, Izuku was sure she’d be in tears, not that he’d blame her.
“I wanted to help them but now I’m stuck watching them and I just-” She looked so heart-broken. He wished to hug her and tell everything would be alright, but how could he reassure her when he wasn’t sure himself?
“Uraraka, I know I don’t know you that well, but I know you shouldn’t blame yourself. What happened was out of your control. So smile! I know your parents would want you to! They’d want you to try to be happy, even if you couldn’t be with them anymore.”
“Thank you, Midoriya. You don’t know what that means to me. Would you mind meeting me somewhere else? Maybe somewhere important to you instead?”
The next time they met, it was at Aldera Junior High, the school where both he and Kacchan had attended.
He’d taken Uraraka here because he wanted to show her around, but he also wanted to just be able to have someone with him as support for revisiting his old middle school.
After all, Aldera was home to bad memories.
While he wasn’t always bullied, on the worst of days, he would likely get verbally abused.
Aldera never tried to stop them either.
It was a constant stream of insults, “pranks”, and whatever else the other kids thought they could get away with.
Having Uraraka with him helped slightly, but he still felt noticeably tense. Uraraka even seemed to notice.
“Uh hey, are you okay?”
“Y-yeah I’m totally fine,” he replied,reflexively putting his hands up in the air.
“Oh, okay.” Uraraka didn’t seem to believe him but she dropped the topic from there.
As they wandered around the halls, Izuku could hear some of his former classmates talking.
“Hey, are you sure you’re okay about what happened with Midoriya?” He thought the voice sounded a little familiar but he brushed it off.
“Shut up! How many times do I have to tell you to stop talking about Deku?” It was then that Izuku realized that Katsuki was one of the boys among the conversation.
“That seems kinda cold Bakugo, wasn’t he your friend?” Izuku could see Katsuki’s temper rising as he grabbed a fistful of the boy’s uniform, bringing him up to the blond’s blazing red eyes.
“How many times do I have to tell you to shut up about Deku? He doesn’t matter to me, not anymore.”
Before he could burst into tears, a light tap on the shoulder surprised him. He turned around.
“Are they talking about you? Seems like you knew him.” Ochako’s voice caused him to stumble-uh, float forward.
“Yeah, Kacchan and I go way back. We have been friends since we were in diapers.”
“Then why’d he call you Deku?” Izuku didn’t know if he should tell the truth to Ochako or not. He didn’t want to burden her with issues of his past, especially about being bullied by someone who used to be his best friend.
“When he started bullying me, he began calling me ‘Deku.’. Maybe he was right, he’s the one making his way in the world while I’m here...dead.”
Ochako looked angry but before he could say anything, she said,“Well ya know what? Screw him! Who cares what he thinks, Deku? He’s going after you to make himself feel better. Don’t bother with him!.”
Izuku was left speechless by her. Why would she try so hard to stand up for him?
“A-and ya know what else? I think Deku’s a great name! I think it means you can do it!”
It was those words that caused Izuku to devolve into a mess of sobbing, knowing that someone believed in him, even if they were both dead and gone from the world.
Izuku was growing to enjoy his meetings with Uraraka.
Even when they were talking casually about the weather or talking about their families, he was glad to have her around.
As they floated in the sky, gazing upon the stars, Uraraka broke the silence between the two.
“Hey, do you ever wonder if there’s a reason we met each other?”
Izuku couldn’t really think of an answer. He hadn’t really taken the time to think about why it was Uraraka that he ended up meeting after he died. “Honestly, Uraraka I don’t know, but I’m glad that I met you.”
Uraraka gave him a blindingly bright smile. “Thanks Deku. I’m glad I met you too.”
It was a snowy day when he couldn’t find Uraraka.
She hadn’t been in any of their usual spots—the ones they felt were important to them like in front of Yuuei High or at the construction site he found her at back then. Now that Izuku had thought about it, she’d been quiet the past few days.
He finally found her, in an empty apartment huddled in a corner crying.
As he got closer, he could hear Uraraka call out to him, “Deku!”
Izuku knew what was going on. Today was a special day for her.
It was her birthday.
They talked about special days they had in life, and Uraraka often liked to talk about the birthdays she spent with her parents. Her parents weren’t well off but Uraraka had told him that despite all that, they managed to have a wonderful time together.
Frankly, he didn’t think he could blame her for being upset today.
Uraraka sniffled as he tried to put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. “I-It’s not fair Deku. It’s not fair that we’re like this! I want to be celebrating with my parents but instead I’m stuck here.”
“Uraraka, it’s gonna be okay, why? Because I am here,” he assured her, pulling her into a hug.
Uraraka sniffled, letting her head rest against his shoulder. A small smile crept onto her face. “Ya know, you sound really cheesy when you say that.”
Izuku chuckled before giving a simple, “I know.”
They stayed like that for a bit longer before Izuku realized how close they were and what he just did and quickly retreated away from her, profusely stammering and apologizing to her. “O-oh I’m so sorry Uraraka! I don’t know what I was thinking, I just-! I’m so sorry!”
Uraraka giggled, feeling much better than she had before. “It’s okay Deku-” She briefly paused. “-and thank you for that. I’m happy you were here to help me.”
“I’m happy you’re here, Uraraka!”
“Oh, I almost forgot! Happy birthday Uraraka! I would’ve gotten you a gift but well-” He gestured to his ghostly form.
“It’s okay Deku. I already have the best birthday I could’ve gotten today, so don’t worry about it.”
Izuku looked at her, confused as to what she could be referring to. Had she found something on her own? What had he missed? “What do you mean Uraraka? It’s not like-”
“I’m talking about you, you dork! Just cause ya didn’t give me a physical gift doesn’t mean ya didn’t give me one!”
“Well, I’m glad you’re doing better now so-” He tried to make a break for it.
Unfortunately for him, Uraraka grabbed his shoulder, stopping him from escaping. “I don’t think so mister! You’re staying here with me!”, Izuku tried to think of an excuse “Don’t you want to be alone now?” He really did try.
“Nope! I want you to be here with me for the rest of the day!” Uraraka declared with a small pout which Izuku thought was kinda cu- no no no don’t think about that Izuku! She’s just a friend, remember?
Izuku resigned himself to his fate and sat down. “Okay okay. Fine, I’ll stay with you for now,” he replied as he grinned.
Uraraka gave him one of her trademark bright smiles. “Good!”
So they sat talking about nothing in particular until they ran out of things to talk and sat in simple silence, just enjoying each other’s company. Neither of them wanted this to end.
Izuku couldn’t help but think of Uraraka.
He was in front of Yueei High, standing in the front courtyard of the school as he thought about all the things Uraraka did for him.
She’s the one who helped him, turning an insult that his former friend used to degrade him into a positive nickname. Not only had she done that but had just been there to comfort and support him just as he did for her. How lucky was he to find such an amazing person!
They had spent so much time together.
Yet Izuku was feeling something other than friendship. The way she smiled at him, the way she nodded and giggled at his rants, it made his heart jump.
Was this- love?
Oh no.
He was in love with his friend.
What should he tell her? Should he tell her the truth? Wait to see if she feels the same way? He had no idea.
Not to mention they were still stuck as ghosts, so even if he did confess would it matter? Would she leave him for all eternity? Would he return back to a life of endless solitude? He couldn’t bear the thought of a confession driving them apart.
Before he could pontificate more on the matter, he was interrupted by Uraraka greeting him, “Hey Deku! Anything new going on?”
Izuku panicked, replying with a quick, “Oh uh, nothing much! Just uh being a ghost and all!”
Uraraka gave him a suspicious look, not falling for his evident nervousness. “You’re acting strange, Deku. Is something going on?”
Izuku reflexively waved his hands in front of his face., “It’s n-nothing Uraraka I’m just thinking about things!”
She belly laughed, falling on the floor while gripping her sides. “You’re such a dork! I was just kidding. I’m glad everything’s fine.”
Izuku sighed in relief, glad that she didn’t try to press him any further on his behavior.
Seeing her in front of him caused his mind to keep racing about her, about how she was such a good friend and how he treasured her so much. Yet, he was so afraid to say something because he thought it would mess everything up. He kept going back and forth in his head about what to do.
He swallowed the lump in his throat before making his decision, hoping that he wouldn’t regret what he was about to do.
“Ochako.” Uraraka perked up at his use of her first name, something he didn’t normally do.
“What’s with the first name Deku? Geez, maybe something is going on.”
“Ochako, I l-like you.”
Ochako stared at him, and he began to wonder if he made a mistake. Then he noticed her crying. “I’m so sorry if you don’t feel the same way! We can still be fri-”
“That’s not it, you dummy! Of course I like you too!” she interrupted with a shout.
Izuku was slightly relieved but he still had one more thing to ask. “But what about us being ghosts? What do we do if we’re stuck like this forever?”
Ochako gave him a sweet smile. “It doesn’t matter if we’re like this till the end, cause we’ll still have each other, right?”
Izuku scratched the back of his head, “Uh yeah I guess you’re righ-” He was interrupted again when Ochako pulled him into a hug. “Ochako what are you doing-”
“Shh,” she cut him off. J”ust let us have this Izuku.” She tucked her head into his shoulder.
While they were embracing each other, Izuku noticed a bright light off in the distance, watching it grow in size.
They broke away from the embrace and watched as the light formed a door.
Izuku was amazed by the sight as he thought that maybe just maybe, this is what would help them move on to whatever was next for them, but there was still one thing that confused him.
“Ochako, is that what I’m thinking it is?”
“Yes, Izuku. I think it is.”
“But I don’t understand, why now?”
“Ya still don’t get it you dork? We need each other! I think this is the universe’s way of telling us that!”
“So come on, let’s go.” She held out his hand for him to take.
“Okay!” He held her hand as they disappeared into the light.