[Video; un: Uravity]

[floatsaway]

[It took...a while for Ochako to find the courage to really start acting like herself again after all of what happened in July. Thankfully, she has some amazing friends, an absolutely wonderful boyfriend that she would do anything for, and is as resilient as she is stubborn. Moping about and feeling remorseful will get her nothing, she has to act if she wants things to get better, so this is exactly what she's doing today, despite how she's still very nervous and really, really ashamed still. The things she did and said, the people she hurt, the one she killed... That's going to weigh heavy on her for much longer than just a month. But the first step to growing and moving on is to address and confront it. To apologize.

So the video opens up with Ochako sitting in presumably her living room, which...anyone who knows her, or has been to her and Bakugou's home before, will notice is different. Different wall colors, different arrangement of furniture, just...overall different. But she makes no note of that. Instead, she just puts on a sheepish smile to the camera and bows lightly.]

Ehehe...hello, everyone. It's been a while since I posted to the network, ne? S-Some here in Trench might know me, but I bet a lot of others don't. My name is Uraraka--...um! O-Or Ochako, if you're from the Western hemisphere of Earth. [She rubs the back of her head, mussing up her hair a little. Anyone who knows her would know, again, this is a nervous tic Ochako has. She clears her throat and laughs awkwardly.] Last month was, eeh...p-pretty crazy, huh? I know I went, um...pretty crazy. Myself.

[Her smile falls, and so does her hand in her hair, settling into her lap as Ochako sighs. She then sets her omni down on the floor she's kneeling on, looking rather somber all of a sudden as she takes a deep breath in and out, as if preparing herself.]

It's true it wasn't really me, that it was all part of The Reckoning's...stuff, but. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, and I couldn't have tried harder to fight it. Neither does it make anything better, because it was still my body, my voice, that did and said all those things. So, I just...I--

I want to apologize. To everyone I hurt in some way. I am...deeply sorry, for everything.

[She gazes downward, and then bows as low as she can, a full dogeza. Ochako said nasty things, physically and emotionally hurt people she considers very friends. She even went and killed someone in cold blood at some point, among other things. She can still see the blood, hear the breaking of a neck, the splatter of a body on hard ground... Those thing's can't be erased, but she can at least admit they happened, and apologize for them. It's the first thing to do before she starts trying to make amends for it.

She rises, just for a moment, before bowing back down again.]

And to those that helped me overcome...thank you. Even if it was just for a moment, you really saved me. I'm grateful.

Comments

[dohaeris]

[sansa frowns, not least because shouto's omen has spent most of the past month bouncing around the sanctuary and trying to get into her sewing basket.]

It's good to be cautious with blood magic. It was spoken of very poorly in my world, too; that's why I study with Sasuke and Adaine so I can do spells with my own chakra instead. I even make bloodstone with no magic in it to trade instead of my own blood, so I know it can't be used in any way I wouldn't like.

But––Ochako, your omen is part of you. I'd be lost without Winter, even if he can be very rude and annoying. He was the one who knew how to break Bausphomette's curse. He watches my blood hound when I can't. He brings me things when I ask and he helps me keep track of everything we trade, for my work and for the Sanctuary. Once he even picked me up and flew me through the air. He was there for me when I had no one. Truly, he's like a brother to me.

Some horrible blood mage shouldn't be able to keep that from you. You don't have to go out and become a Blood Minister, but you deserve an omen more than anyone. And––they can help you when you start to become corrupted or cursed. I think that might even be why we have them. It's not safe to be alone here, and your omen makes it so you're never alone.

[she tries a faint smile.]

I wouldn't leave you alone in this, either. It would be an honor to help you summon your omen. And it would only be a very little bloodstone.

[floatsaway]

[Ochako sighs, unable to help herself as a wry smile passes her lips. It's not that she doesn't want to meet her omen - she's the last of her friends now who's not glimpsed theirs yet - but she's just never really...thought about it? Because the thing is, it's only a part of her here, in Trench. For all her life, and the moment she leaves this world, she won't see it again - like a pet she's leaving behind. It's a bit bittersweet... Of course the additional hands (or paws, technically, since it's apparently a bear) and help would be nice, especially around the house, but it's really nothing she can't do on her own. Ochako's always been a bit independent that way.]

Sansa-san, I'm not alone. Ever. I have my friends, the people I care about most, and their memories deep inside my heart. [Ochako touches her hand over her chest, pinky up as per usual.] But if it really means that much to you, I'll really put in some effort to try again, okay? I'm not really in the mood to, um...go out today, but I'll read up on it some more and try again. Maybe meditate a little, and we can try to commune with it when I'm more up to it, ne?

[dohaeris]

[sansa smiles faintly; it's a beautiful sentiment, but she's not sure it's true. she had been alone in the eyrie. the part of her that held on to her lost loved ones, who questioned littlefinger and wanted to chastise lysa arryn or her son was now winter, she realizes.]

Your omen is only a piece of your heart given form. It can be very helpful, especially when the rest of it is dealing with corruption or a curse. It means very much to me that you stay you, Ochako. There's a reason Lady Ammako chose you as her champion. You're a very special person. You're kind, and strong, and clever, and that's not as common as it ought to be.

[she doesn't say that if someone as strong and clever as ochako became unkind for whatever reason, it could be very dangerous for all of them. she hopes she doesn't have to.]

Besides, you're my friend. I would help you if I can. If there's anything I could bring you that might help you to feel better, I should be very glad to do it, and I'll be there when you're ready to seek your omen.

[floatsaway]

[And that's where these two differ - Ochako's a person who values the bonds she makes above all else, and is strengthened and bolstered by them. Every member of her class, her friends and her teachers, her family...even the others in Class B, too. They all feel connected to her in some way, and even separated by literal worlds, Ochako finds comfort in remembering them, and reliving those good times in her heart. That will always stay with her, no matter what - it doesn't need a shape, a physical form. It's always there, and always will be with her.]

I know...thank you, Sansa-san. B-But I'm really not as great as everyone makes me out to be, really. I'm still learning, a-and I'm still just a kid... [She's only sixteen. Even if she has her toughness, her resolve, she's still just a greenhorn.] I'm strong, and clever, because of the people who guided and taught me - Aizawa-sensei and the others, Gunhead, Ryukyu-san...and Amaterasu-sama. And even then, I'm still just a novice...so I have to learn on my own, for their sake. I'll--...

[She closes her eyes, taking a moment to sort of center herself, because the next words she can't really promise. Not while in Trench.]

I'll always be me, at the end of it all. But who me is...is always changing. Because I'm changing, and growing. I think I lost sight of that a second. Ne, when I feel more up to it, we can try to commune with my Omen again. It's supposed to be a bear, right? Maybe I should be outside in a wooded area, or somewhere that'd be more comfortable and familiar to it? I-it couldn't hurt!!