Archive of Our Own ^beta

“So, Uravity, how does it feel to be out there with the big heroes from your class? Like Dynamight and Shouto, as well as Deku here, just to name a few. It must be an honor to work alongside them, yeah?”

Ochako presses her lips into a tight, polite smile because that’s what people expect of her. Of course this is the first question directed towards her. It’s an interview with her and Izuku and so far, in 45 minutes, every question has been directed toward Izuku. Even if it is relating to Ochako, it’s asked to Izuku. She's over it.

”How do you think Uravity managed to rescue all 20 people from that building yesterday?”

”You seem to be flying up the ranks with ease, how was that when you first debuted?” Meanwhile, Ochako has been stuck at 13 for the last 3 years.

”Uravity’s been rumored to have gone on quite a few dates in the last year, what are your thoughts on that?” As she’s sitting literally right there.

”You’ve put in such hard work to get where you are now, can you tell us a bit about that?” And, yeah, Izuku has put in a ton of work to get where he’s gotten and Ochako is super proud of him but, listen, she’s put in a ton of work too. Yet, nobody seems to ever acknowledge that.

Those are just a few questions that have been asked, Ochako could keep the list going if she truly wanted to. Alas, she really doesn’t.

Ochako knows that Izuku has really wanted to jump to defend her, to tell the interviewer to start asking her questions when they’re about herself. To stop treating her as if she’s not even there. But Ochako kept subtly shaking her head at him, letting him know that it’s okay and she’ll handle it herself.

But seriously. The first question asked to her being about how it feels to work alongside all these men just pushes her over the edge.

She can’t just sit here and smile politely anymore, “Well, Tanaka, I must say. While it is an honor to work alongside my friends, working in a male-dominated field feels like complete and utter shit. I’m sick of it.”

The interviewer’s eyes widen, “Well, Uravity. No need for such foul language.”

Ochako scoffs, “Yeah but if Deku said that, you wouldn’t have said anything, is that right, Sir?”

“Well-”

Ochako licks her lips, she’s angry but if she lashes out then that’ll be trending on Twitter for days and she really doesn’t feel like dealing with the backlash of all of that. Not to mention that the backlash would be worse just because of the fact that she’s a woman. If a man got angry, they’d just say he was stressed and whatnot.

“I actually have a few questions for you,” Ochako crosses her legs in the most ‘lady-like’ manner she possibly can, resting her crossed hands on her knee, glaring at the interviewer.

The man nods his head, as if allowing her to speak.

“I just wanna know, what’s it like when everybody believes you?” Ochako leans back in her seat, she’s sitting on a couch with Izuku both of them across from the interviewer, and she crosses her arms, resting them by her stomach, “Or- or,” She chuckles, “Actually, a better question, what is it like when you go anywhere and people comment on literally anything but your outfit first? Hm?”

The man’s eyebrows furrow as he stares into Ochako’s, clearly angry, eyes.

Ochako clicks her tongue on her cheek, “I give ideas in the field and, even if I rank higher than the heroes there, they don’t think it’s a good idea, they don’t believe it’ll work. I go out, off duty, in a dress that reveals a bit more than the average dress because I’m going out with friends and, suddenly, my outfit of the day is trending. Just because I’m a woman, Tanaka. Hell, I can’t even be proud of how far I’ve come because then I’d just be a stuck-up bitch and they’d somehow be able to spin my pride into some sort of story about how I’m a terrible person. Working with Dynamight and Shouto and Deku just makes me realize how much more liked I would be by the people around me if I were a man too, working with them makes me realize how much quicker I would rise in the rankings if I were a man too,” She uncrosses her legs, “If I were a man, I’d definitely be in the top 10 by now, maybe I’d even be in the top 5 by the time Lemillion retires.”

The interviewer doesn’t say anything, making the wise decision to let Ochako finish what she’s saying.

“Y’know, people online are always talking about how I don’t deserve my spot at number 13 when I save just about the same amount of lives as Dynamight and Shouto without all of the destruction they cause. I help clean up just as much rubble and debris from villain fights as Deku does. I have better reflexes than Ingenium, he may be faster but I’m better at reacting quickly. Hell, I can even hold my own against Lemillion, if I need to. But ‘they put in the work’ and somehow I don’t?” Ochako scoffs, “Yeah, because that makes sense. Oh, but I’m not allowed to be mad,” She raises her hands quickly, shaking them a bit, “I can’t be mad because that wouldn’t be very hero-like of me,” sits back up so that she can get a better look at the interviewer’s face, “if Deku were mad, they’d say that he had a reason. Dynamight is always mad and they don’t say shit about him. If Shouto got mad, they’d probably be happy for him.”

Izuku just nods along, Ochako has absolutely nothing against him. It’s not his fault that society is the way it is, she knows that he wants to help in any way he can and, right now, he’s doing great by just staying quiet and letting Ochako talk.

“If I was a man, they’d realize how much I’ve worked, they’d realize how much effort I’ve put into this damn career,” Ochako is seething now, she’s outright angry and nothing anybody can say would fix it, “if I was a man, all of my exes wouldn’t be such a big deal in the media. But nope,” She takes a deep breath, licking her lips softly and putting on another polite smile, “I’m a woman so I have to sit here smile at you and put on a show so that I’m not the talk of the internet for the next 3 days. I’m a woman so I have to settle for 13 in the rankings when everybody knows I deserve to be in the top ten. I’m a woman so I have to stay stuck wondering about where I would be if I happened to be a man. Working with my past classmates has helped me realize that, Tanaka. It’s made me feel like that.”

“Not that she needs me to protect her or defend her,” Izuku cuts in now that he knows Ochako is done speaking, “but I’d like to say that you’ve barely even looked her way a single time in this interview and the first time you do is to ask her a question about other people, rather than herself, which is really the entire point of an interview.”

The interviewer goes silent, likely taking in the entirety of Ochako’s rant. She feels good now that she’s gotten all of that off of her chest. It’s been on her mind since she started school at UA and it’s been bubbling ever since and, finally, it boiled over, splashing onto everything around her.

She’s really glad she’s gotten it out into the world. She knows she’s going to be all over the media for a while so it’s best she stays off of it for a few days but at least she knows that her thoughts are out there and she feels so much better not holding them in anymore.

Besides, she’s got her friends, who all understand her point of view completely, and she loves them all for that.