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“Is there a flower in your hair, Ochako?” Tsuyu asked, nearly the second Ochako came back up to the stands from speaking with her father.
She jumped a bit, having expected much different comments. About how she looked like she’d been crying. About how she’d just barely lost to Bakugou because her plans hadn’t been quite enough to finish the fight.
But… a flower in her hair.
Ochako blinked, holding up her phone to try to see her reflection.
“In the back!” Mina squealed, sliding toward the two of them, squishing her cheeks as she leaned. “Oh my gosh, your soulmate is thinking of you!”
“Really?” Ochako gasped, reaching behind her head, trying to carefully get to the flower without crushing it.
As she reached, another appeared on her arm, a soft tingling feeling signaling to her that it was there. She stared down at the flower, pure white with a crimson red center bleeding into the petals. She picked the flower from her arm, a slight pinch as she removed it, holding it gingerly in her hands.
“Your hair is full ,” Tooru gasped, rushing up to her as well. Ochako blushed, holding the flower she’d already picked close to her, inhaling the sweet scent as she held it close to her mouth and nose.
“They must have seen how well you did,” Tsuyu said decisively. Ochako’s cheeks heated up at all of the attention from her classmates. Everyone in 1-A’s section of the stands was looking at her, staring at the flower in her hands and hair.
“Oh my gosh , so many of us could find out about our soulmates today!” Tooru exclaimed. “They’re probably watching the Sports Festival if they’re in Japan! That’s so cool! ”
“I hope you guys get flowers too,” Ochako said, grinning into the petals of her first flower.
It was an encouragement, from her soulmate. They’d paid attention to her and were still thinking of her, even as more fights proceeded. Sure, there were probably repeats of the match already playing, but… Ochako couldn’t believe that her soulmate had noticed her.
She’d do better, she decided. Not just for her family, not just for herself, for her soulmate. Next year, she wanted to explode with flowers covering her skin. She wanted them to see her and be proud .
Ochako rushed home after the Sports Festival, tucking her first flower into the pages of a book to crush it and preserve it.
A memory.
Flowers continued to bloom from time to time, though it got rarer as time passed.
On the way to the summer training camp, there was a burst of flowers. Ochako laughed softly, everyone on the bus excited over them just as much as they had been at the Sports Festival. More people had gotten their flowers as time went on, and Ochako was excited to show hers off again.
They bloomed off and on throughout the camp, and Ochako laughed in embarrassment each time they did. She flowered far more than many of the people in the class, other than those whose soulmates were at UA.
She didn’t even notice the flowers when they were attacked. She was too busy fighting for her life, for her friends.
The villain who cornered her and Tsuyu bloomed while they were fighting. Bright white flowers covered her skin, even as she rushed forward with a knife, aiming for the two of them.
Ochako thought nothing of it. She couldn’t stop to focus on the flowers on someone who was trying to kill her. She couldn’t think about anything other than herself in that moment, grabbing Tsuyu’s hand and running.
They left camp that night, everyone shaken up and terrified. Katsuki had been kidnapped, so many of her classmates were injured. She laid in bed quietly once she’d gotten home, her arms wrapped around her pillow.
Her skin prickled with a familiar feeling as she laid there, and she breathed out, looking at the flowers exploding over her skin. She sniffled, plucking one from her arm and holding onto it.
Vaguely, she remembered the feeling of the flowers blooming on her throughout the night. She hadn’t had time to focus on them, too busy making sure that she kept as many of her friends safe as she could. She held the flower tight in her hands, tears dripping onto it.
It was like they knew. They knew when she most needed the support, and they thought of her then. It was ridiculous, really.
Maybe it was another student at the school? Not in class A or B, but someone from another of the classes. They’d know of her best after the sports festival, see her in passing. Maybe they’d already sent out press releases about what had happened at camp, and so they were thinking of her, making sure that she was okay when everything had been so dangerous.
After training camp, the flowers were even more frequent than they had been before. They appeared at all times of day, sometimes just one or two, sometimes a blossom so aggressive that her entire body was covered.
During the provisional license exam, she had been covered in blossoms, nearly the whole time. She took them as an encouragement, as always. It just added to her theory that her soulmate must be someone connected to UA, if they knew to think of her so strongly today.
Izuku had commented that the only reason he knew she was really her, not some student with a shapeshifting quirk, was because of the carnations speckling her skin. The shapeshifter had been unable to copy her flowers quite right, apparently, the ones covering her smoother and more white. Gardenias, Izuku had guessed. She’d laughed along with him, plucking yet another flower off of her hand.
And, yet, Ochako had no clue who her soulmate was.
Until they were under attack.
“Ochako!” Izuku shouted, rushing toward her. She tapped against his shoulder, managing to bring him above the attack in time, dropping him to the ground before rushing forward.
“I’ll take Toga, you focus on the others!” she shouted, turning her head to Toga. Almost as soon as Ochako had said her name, flowers exploded over both of them. The normal carnations bloomed over Ochako’s skin; Toga was absolutely covered in smooth, white flowers.
Gardenias , Ochako realized. Like the flowers that had blossomed all over the girl from the license exam, later revealed to not have a shapeshifting quirk.
Like Toga had, the first night that they met.
As the pieces fell together in Ochako’s mind, the flowers bloomed even more over Toga.
Her soulmate…
Her soulmate was Toga Himiko. A League of Villains member who had attacked her again and again. The person who Ochako was fated to love was the girl in front of her right now.
Her hesitation was long enough for Toga to rush closer, and Ochako barely had time to jump above her attack. She dropped down to push Toga into the ground, her heart pounding as she moved.
Once she was sure that Toga was down, Ochako rushed forward to help Izuku out with the rest of the fight, trying to keep her mind off of her soulmate .
Soulmates were soulmates for a reason, and fate had its way of bringing them together, no matter how much Ochako wished she could just forget who her soulmate was.
They met at night.
The first time, it was by accident.
Ochako was rushing to the store to grab some supplies the class needed. It was already dark out, and she was in such a rush that she didn’t see the person she ran into.
She recognized the flowers before the girl, and her eyes widened as she reached out to help Toga to her feet, apologizing for running into her.
That wasn’t the last time.
Again and again, they continued to meet by chance. Slowly, Ochako became more comfortable with Toga, viewing her less as a villain and more as… another person. As someone who could be her friend , in another life.
Or even in this life, as Toga became Himiko and their meetings became a little less accidental. Until they were never accidental, always planned. Until one meeting, Himiko met their lips, and Ochako couldn’t say no, kissing her back even, a breathy sigh escaping as she did.
As time progressed, she fell for Himiko. By the time she’d graduated, they were meeting at least once a week, finding different discrete locations where they would be able to spend time together.
It was too much of a risk to go out with Himiko in the daytime – although her appearance was easy to disguise, her enthusiasm was not , and she was so well-known across the country that it wasn’t worth the risk.
Luckily, there was a café near Ochako’s apartment that stayed open late, although it was rarely very crowded during the night. It was the perfect meeting spot for them, on opposite sides of the table. An almost normal date, despite every abnormality surrounding their relationship.
“I love you,” Ochako said before she even thought through the words.
Himiko looked up in surprise, the light reflecting off of her hair and the flowers in a way that made Ochako think of the depictions of angels despite knowing exactly who her soulmate was.
“What did you say?” she trilled, pressing her hands against the table and leaning forward, her eyes lighting up.
Ochako blushed, covering her face with her hands. She could feel flowers covering her, and she knew that Himiko wouldn’t be much different.
“I love you,” she repeated.
“Ochako!” Himiko exclaimed, throwing herself across the table. Ochako laughed, meeting her enthusiastic motion halfway to press their lips together. Himiko pulled away, her smile wide enough to show her tongue through her fangs. “I love you too!” she said. Although she’d said it again and again, this felt new. This felt special, staring at Himiko illuminated by the glow of streetlights and artificial café lights. It felt like Himiko was lit by the sun itself, despite the impossibility of them meeting under the sunlight.
It felt good . It felt so amazing, and Ochako felt her whole body warm in a blush as she kissed Himiko again and again, the two of them giggling confessions at each other until they had to leave the café.
Maybe Himiko being her soulmate wasn’t so bad. Ochako was a pro, after all! If Himiko were to act up, this was the best case to make sure that she was able to handle her.
If handling her meant falling in love with her a little more every day and turning a blind eye to some of the minor things she did… well, no one else knew .
It wasn’t the easiest to sneak a villain into a pro hero’s apartment, but Ochako made do.
She kept her door unlocked, sitting on her couch and staring at the picture of her and Himiko on her mantle, smiling softly at it.
The door creaked open, and Ochako looked up, grinning as Himiko came in.
Her hair was already covered in flowers, the buns completely overwhelmed by soft white gardenias. Himiko’s eyes gazed across her apartment and focused on the frame on her mantle, sitting right next to a vase with a carnation tucked into it.
“You have a picture of us!” she squealed, rushing up to the mantle and staring at it.
The frame contained a picture of one of their first dates, the two of them pressed up against each other to take a selfie. Ochako had had to print it herself to make sure that no one found out about her relationship with Himiko, but she’d tucked it into the frame with the first flower she’d ever plucked from her hair, the one she pressed in a book right after the Sports Festival.
“I have to take it down when people are over,” Ochako said, walking up to Himiko. Himiko threw her arms around Ochako’s neck, tilting in to steal a quick kiss. Ochako laughed, kissing her back. “But I have plenty of reminders of you, even when you’re not here,” she laughed, plucking one of the flowers from her hair.
“You should have more,” Himiko whined, brushing their noses together before kissing Ochako again.
Ochako giggled. “You’ve got me covered in flowers constantly! What more could you want?” she teased. She plucked one of the gardenias from Himiko’s hair, twirling it between her fingers before setting it into her own, tucking the stem behind her ear. “Someone’s thinking about you,” she said softly, resting their foreheads together.
“Good.” Himiko grinned, kissing Ochako again, pulling a carnation off of her arm to press into Ochako’s hands. “I never stop thinking about you.”