*DISCLAIMER!*

*This chapter contains mention of sexual abuse, and while it doesn't go into detail, it could be triggering for sensitive viewers. It does not glorify rape or anything of the sort, it just mentions a character's experience. You've been warned,*

The girls walked around the small shopping area in the town. Ochaco walked quietly while the other girls giggled and talked about dresses. Her mind travelled to her dreams the night before. Dreams of her red string snapping, the boys dying because of her. She woke up crying too many times to count. She eventually climbed into Tsyuu's bed after explaining the issue. She avoided all three of them during breakfast, lunch she spent outside alone and she focused on class during the bits in between. She didn't know what to think about anything relating to them and yet it was all she could think of.
"What do you think Ochaco?" Mina asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. She looked up at the girls in confusion.
"Sorry what?" She said shyly.
"We were thinking of letting people see Toru for the ball, like makeup and hair chalk or hair dye, some stuff for her eyes and mouth, what do you think?" Mina smiled. Ochaco opened her mouth to speak when Mina grabbed her arm suddenly. "You deserve to be heard," she said in English.
"What are-" Ochaco started but then saw the writing on her arm, it was written in English. More writing appeared.
"Love is listening to each other," Mina said again. Ochaco felt a pen on her other hand, this time she could tell he was writing in Japanese, she moved her hand behind her back to hide it from them. "What's he on about?"
"An incident with Midoriya occurred yesterday," Tsyuu started.
"You can fill them in, I don't wanna talk about it," Ochaco said and everyone looked at Tsyuu. She told the girls what happened and Ochaco took the opportunity to read what he said. A blush flew up her neck at the text in front of her. She felt her heart swell and suddenly everything went black.

When she opened her eyes she was in a dark room and a silhouette stood in front of her, she couldn't make much out but he walked towards her and she knew. The man reached out his hand and touched her face, on it were the same words she had on her own hand. He moved closer and dropped his head, his lips kissing her nose before grabbing her and holding her in a hug.

"Do I know you?" she asked him.

"Yes," he answered softly. "I'm so sorry about what happened. I'll never let anything like that happen again,"

"So you were there?"

"I was," he whispered.

"Where are we?" she looked around. He still held her tight, she held him back and she felt so calm in his arms, a perfect fit. He pulled away and his hand grabbed hers. lacing their fingers together he looked at them.

"A perfect fit," he said, a smile in his voice. "To answer your question I don't actually know, but I do know we're no longer mentally conscious. Our bodies are moving, but our minds are absent. This usually only happens in dreams, but for some reason, our feelings have become so strong towards each other that our minds have connected. I've read about this in a book, it's the first step to telepathically communicating," he explained. He squeezed her hand she saw his smile.

"Why can't I see your face fully?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, denial, fear, but I can see you, and if I look close enough, I can see my name etched on your heart, just as your name is etched on mine," he explained.

"Does that mean you're looking at my boobs?" she gasped.

"No, I'm not," he laughed. "Look at your left hand," he instructed and she did. Her eyes widened when she saw it. Stuck to her pinky was a red string, tied beautifully with a bow. She lifted it to her face and he let go of her hand, moving behind her, his right hand snaking around her stomach, and his left hand came into view. A red string tied exactly like hers on his left hand. He held it next to her and moved it so his palm was facing her. He laced their fingers together and held her hand tightly.

"Wow!" She breathed.

"Close your eyes," he instructed and she did, she felt his mouth at her ear. "Do you want to know who I am?" he asked, she nodded. "Will you be disappointed if I turn out to be someone you don't expect?"

"No, I won't," she whispered.

"Okay, do as I say, and you'll be able to see me and hear my real voice," she nodded. "Breathe deeply, and never let go of my hand, listen to the whispers of your heart, they will tell you my name," he said. She breathed deeply and tried what she thought she should. She stayed focused on the name, not assuming and hoping, just listening, there were truly whispers of his name. They got louder as she listened, they were almost audible when she felt herself being pulled away by something. Her eyes flew open and she heard him call her name. She grasped for his hand and yelled out a name but he was gone, and the memory of his name vanished.

Her vision cleared and she saw five pairs of eyes staring at her. They all looked frantic.
"Oh thank God she's okay!" Mina said.
"What's going on?" Ochaco asked and looked around.
"You passed out essentially, Kendo had to catch you," Mina explained.
"I remember speaking to someone," She touched her head. "MY SOULMATE!" she exclaimed. "I was talking to him in this dark room, and I heard his name!"
"Who is it?" Mina asked excitedly.
"Someone pulled me out the room, so I forgot it," she said, throwing a pointed glare at Toru who had a needle in her hand.
"You weren't waking up, so we tried pricking you, we didn't know!" Toru said defensively.
"It's okay, I'm sorry I worried you," Ochaco smiled. "Let's go dress shopping," she grinned and she stood up from the bench and they started walking past the shops. She passed a window and saw something. "Hey guys, can I catch up, I found a gift for someone, I'm gonna go get it," she said and bolted into the shop and bought it. She grabbed the bag and ran to catch up with the girls.

~

The 23rd of December was dedicated to the cooking committee to work. The school offered up their kitchen for them and Kasumi even came in to help the group. The cooking committee consisted of Ochaco, Bakugou, Kasumi, her boyfriend; Yuki, Sato, Momo, Tsyuu, Toru, Ojiro, Kendo, Reiko and Setsuna, and a few girls from the second and first-year classes.
"Alright! Everyone will be paired with a second year and a first year since there are 6 each. You will be split into groups of two making 6 groups. Two groups per course!" Kasumi called. "Ikeru, as you will address him and I will be on starter foods with Sato and Togake. Yaoyorozu and Asui will be with Katsuki and Uraraka, on dessert. Yangai and Kendo on main course foods with Hagakure and Ojiro! You guys can find where to go," she spoke to the younger classes. "Everyone get to your stations, and have fun," She beamed as her and Yuki walked with Sato and Setsune. Ochaco moved to the far end with Momo and Tsyuu and Bakugou followed.
"Bakugou-Kun!" a high pitched voice called behind the four of them. They turned to see a second year walking up to him, a sweet look on her face.
"Do I know you?" he asked.
"No, but my name is Chiaki Aina," she smiled at him. Ochaco had heard of her, she was one of the top students in her class from the hero course, but only academically, her quirk was subpar, she could summon plants from practically anywhere, she just needed seeds, her quirk, while useful, wasn't the strongest due to her method of using it. Ochaco took a moment to look at the girl. Classes had officially finished so they were permitted to wear normal clothing and this girl took advantage of it. She wore a short blue skirt with black stockings, and a white long sleeve shirt with a low V-line cut, exposing a lot of cleavage, she wasn't that much larger than Ochaco, bust size and in height, her long brown hair was tied up in a bun on the top of her head. She looked over at Bakugou who had looked her over as well, but his expression hadn't changed.
"Your boobs are too exposed, put them away," he said blandly before turning around and putting on an apron, the girl looked shocked but took his lack of interest as a challenge. The first year standing behind her had stars in her eyes.
"Hi, what's your name?" Ochaco called to her.
"Oh, my name is Chibana Akemi," she said shyly. She wore a blue turtleneck long sleeve and a pair of jeans, she was also pretty large in the breast department but what stuck out most was her bright red hair that was braided to the side.
"Nice to meet you two, I'm-"
"Uraraka Ochaco, yes I know who you are!" the second year barked annoyedly.
"I've heard so much about you! And your class! I've always wanted to talk to you!" the first year beamed, she was a lot more polite than Chiaki.
"Well, you can as long as you focus," Ochaco smiled and tossed them aprons.
"Less chit-chat, let's get working Uraraka," Bakugou called.

"Right chef!" she saluted and went to speak to him about the pastries. They asked the two younger students to get the ingredients.
"Yuki Ikeru, how long has your sister known him?" she asked him.
"Since the incident," he said.
"Oh, I see why she's so attached to him, it must've been really tough," she looked at the two across the room.
"He was the one that found her and the asshole who hurt her, he saved her, I owe him a lot," Bakugou's voice was soft as he looked at his sister and her boyfriend.
"You shouldn't blame yourself for not saving her, you couldn't," Ochaco placed a hand on his shoulder sympathetically.
"I know, I just wish I could've, but I got to prevent something like that happening to you," he looked down at her. "I gave that damn nerd a chance to listen to you and after Asui tried to step in and he hurt you, I couldn't, I don't want what happened to Kiri to happen to someone else if I can help it,"
"Thank you for that by the way,"
"You already thanked me, dummy," he turned back to the station.
"But it wasn't enough," She said. Bakugou had accommodated her again on Monday night when Deku showed up at her door again, she waited for him to leave before texting Bakugou that she was coming up, she didn't want to speak to him, but he cornered her the day after and apologised. While she sat in Bakugou's room, alone this time, she learned of his sister's rape. Bakugou and her had been walking in a dark alley, from her workplace and a man attacked them, he managed to get Bakugou knocked out and prevented her from using her quirk by injecting her with a sedative, unfortunately, it didn't make her sleep, so she was awake during the whole thing. A young sidekick found her after hearing a scream. He removed the man from her and detained him and called for help. He removed part of his hero costume, a winter cloak, to cover her with. He stayed with them until Bakugou came to. Luckily a pro-hero had arrived and an ambulance with the police. He visited her in hospital, filled with compassion and worry for her. After she was released from the hospital he would visit her at home to check up on her. They became friends and she returned to school soon after. The two fell in love and they had been together ever since. The rape happened a year ago in July and during the events, Ochaco had remembered Bakugou being very stressed. Bakugou regretted not being there for his sister, not being able to stop him. The rapist was caught and put in jail, but Bakugou wanted the penalty to be so much worse.
"It was enough," he said softly.
"Well thank you again anyway, Bakugou,"
"Katsuki," he said looking straight ahead, she felt her face heat up as a blush spread. "what? you're always around me now days anyway, why not, it's no big deal Uraraka" he huffed. She smiled sweetly and looked up at him.
"Ochaco," she beamed and he looked down at her in shock. She grinned at him and took notice of the blush that flooded his cheeks. Before she could crack a joke the two returned.

"We got all the ingredients!" Chibana called.
"Thank you, we'll get started soon, go wash your hands," Ochaco smiled, and Chibana ran off to do as she was told but Chiaki didn't move. She just stood next to Bakugou.
"She gave you an order, go," he grumped without even looking at her, and she blissfully walked away to go wash her hands. When they came back the four of them started working. Chibana asked many questions in between orders, Bakugou even took a liking to her. And she was excellent in the kitchen, suggesting ways to do certain things offering help when needed, running to do things even when she wasn't asked. Chiaki, on the other hand, wasn't as enthusiastic, only following orders given to her by Bakugou, flirting with him and chatting him up, which irritated Ochaco, there was work to be done and she wasn't helping them work as much as she should've been. Bakugou was even annoyed with her. When they had finished, Chiaki chatted Bakugou the whole way to the front door.
"So do you think I could be your sidekick when we graduate? I'd be the best you've ever had," She winked at him. He sighed and stopped.
"Okay, you wanna be my sidekick when we graduate? Then show me your quirk," he said. "or is your quirk flashing me your breasts, because I've heard of you and your huge crush on me, to the point of stalking. So please go away and leave me alone," he spat and he walked away. Once he was out of earshot she walked up to Ochaco and leaned in close.
"This is all because of you, and this isn't over," she growled before turning and walking away.
"She uses that tactic on everyone, she likes to intimidate everyone," Chibanda said.
"I'm not worried, you should get back to the dorm, I'll see you next term okay?" Ochaco smiled as the girl nodded. Ochaco walked to the dorms alone, the cold air welcoming from the heat of the kitchen. She walked into the dorm and no sooner did Mina attack her.

"Have you put your presents for the class under the dorm tree yet?" she asked.
"I forgot one, I'm just gonna wrap it and I'll place it under,"
"Cause we're opening them tomorrow!" she called behind her as she walked to her room. She grabbed the bag of gifts for everyone and placed the one she bought and wrapped on Monday for Katsuki. She brought them down and placed them all under the tree. The anonymous ones were hidden under the tree with the rest of the anonymous gifts were hidden. She got up and walked into the room again. She grabbed her dress out the bag and hung it up on her cupboard, looking at its stunning design and colour. She wasn't usually seen in the colour but it looked amazing on her, and she couldn't wait to wear it with her new winter shoes. One more day till Christmas, and three more till her birthday. She could hardly wait.