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Remember when you thought you could be heartless, Ochako? Oh, you were such a fool.
Ochako knew she wasn't the smartest urchin on the street, but she was clever. She knew how to survive and that those means weren’t always the kindest. It was difficult at first. She could be clever all she wanted, but she wasn’t prone to being cold and certainly not in a way that involved stepping on others. She had been such a kind girl. People at the palace always used the word to describe her: kind, little Ochako, always ready with a smile and eager to please. It was part of what made her such a good servant.Her parents had worked for the members of the royal family before she had been born - it was how they had met each other - and so, after a particularly harsh winter depleted many people of their money, she found herself in their employment as a child. It gave her a home in the servant’s quarters. Not a particularly pretty place, but it was warm and all the other servants adored her. Even most members of the court and royal family were pleasant to her if not distant. It was hard not to like such a sweet child.And then she had grown up in the harshest of ways.The palace destroyed, her parents lost to the fire and chaos, half of the royal court killed. Poor, little Ochako had been so terrified, but when she saw the young prince and his older sister in trouble, she bravely stepped in to help them. Small as she was, she had found all the little crooks and crannies of the palace, even more so than the royal members who lived in it themselves. She tugged on the princess’ sleeve, something unheard of, and pointed her in the direction of a secret passage she had often used to play tricks on other servants.She stayed behind to cover for them, knocked unconscious by the butt of a rifle from a man who had no pity even for a child working for the people who hoarded wealth from the masses. Ochako came to minutes later and was able to scramble out of the same passageway before the palace collapsed under its own weight. She sat in the snow, panting heavily and gasping for air, and watched her whole world go down in flames.At least she’d saved the princess and the youngest prince - or so she had thought.Days after wandering the street in a hopeless, hungry fog, she found out the prince was missing. Most presumed he was dead, but his small body was never found. All that was left of him was a ghost, a whisper, and he faded into the back of everyone’s minds. He only came back in the form of rumors when people proclaimed to have found him. His sister, having survived the downfall of her father’s reign, continued to offer a wealthy reward for his safe return, but after years and years of no success, even she had begun to give up hope.Not Ochako. After years of starving, struggling, and wanting for more, she refused to give up. She had one more idea to set her apart. She’d claw her way out of the poverty of this country if it was the last thing she did. Few knew hunger as she did, and she would use that to her advantage. Ochako had never been an ambitious girl. She had expected to work her days in the palace as her parents did. On the streets, it wasn’t about ambition. It was about surviving, and she would do whatever it took to do more than just survive to live. She had a plan, and it was going to work, especially now that she had a brilliant partner and the perfect boy to play the part.The last thing she expected to throw a wrench in her plans was herself. That old kindness of her childhood had come back to haunt her at the worst possible time.Even worse, it wasn’t just kindness. It was something even more painful than she could have ever anticipated. How was she supposed to know that she would actually fall in love with their fake prince who turned to be real? The boy from her past was right in front of her, a handsome young man. He had been the perfect patsy to use, and now she was the one left feeling deceived by herself.
You’re a con, Ochako, and it looks like you’re your own last mark. What else did you expect? To run off and live happily ever after with more money than you could imagine?
Kind of, yeah. That had been the plan, after all, once all of this was over.“Why the glum face, Ochako?” Deku asked as he danced into her view. “We did it! Just like you planned. I mean, okay, I was a little nervous about it. Cheating a princess seems wrong, but… We’re never going to go hungry again. We can do whatever we want! Maybe I can even fix up our old orphanage like I promised. The kids deserve that...”He wore a bright smile on his face as he daydreamed about his future. Actually, he’d been wearing once since their fake prince had passed the once impossible test at Yaomomo’s country estate. She should have been ecstatic, but a shadow of a frown had followed her around since yesterday. He shouldn’t have been able to answer that question. No one could answer that question, save for three people: Ochako, Princess Fuyumi, and the real Prince Shouto.It was him. That young man dancing gracefully with a beautiful woman in his arms was actually the lost prince. She had meant to find the perfect fake but found the real deal instead.And she fell in love with him in the process like a big dummy. Love was the greatest con of all, wasn’t it? After all, it warmed and filled a person up when it was actually made of nothing. It gave the appearance of giving when it was actually taking everything in truth. How could she be so foolish?“I’m not glum,” Ochako mumbled as she ran a finger along the lip of her untouched glass of expensive champagne. The extraordinarily beautiful and smart heir to the Yaoyorozu fortune would only splurge for the best, especially after finding the real Prince Shouto amidst a sea of fakes throughout the years. “I’m ecstatic.”Deku plopped into the seat next to her at the table. “I’ve seen you act better to steal a piece of fruit.”“People will do anything when they’re hungry.”“And you aren’t now?” Deku asked curiously. She looked at him sideways.He had been with her since nearly the very beginning. After she found herself homeless, parentless, and jobless, she hadn’t known what to do. Yes, she was used to being poor, but she’d had a place to stay. She’d never been on the streets. Somehow or another, she was picked up and scuttled off to an orphanage, which was where she met Deku, an equally poor orphan who lost his mother to sickness. The two of them paired up, fending off older kids and bullies, two peas in a pod. Everyone used to tease them about how they would get married and have a bundle of kids.It would have been much easier had she fallen in love with Deku.Before Ochako could stop herself, her eyes slid from him and back to the prince, who was bowing graciously to his dance partner as the song ended. Another young woman stood to his left, eagerly waiting her turn, while a few more hovered in the background. Whispers of his name traveled throughout the room, but no one dared to speak them louder than that. Even if people hadn’t suspected who he was, they would’ve flocked to him.How could they not? It was as if every light was shining down on him. It was impossible not to be drawn to him now. Even the scar on his face which he had received while fleeing the palace didn’t diminish his good looks. It shouldn’t have been possible. This was absurd. This whole thing was a mess and ridiculous and she hated it.“Oh, I see how it is,” Deku said, a cheeky note to his voice. “An attractive man comes along and you forget about me, huh?” Ochako averted her traitorous eyes from Shouto and shot Deku an exasperated glare, refusing to deign him with a response. He only laughed. “You know, most people are happy when they fall in love.”“I’m not in love,” Ochako protested. Deku tilted his head down to give her a knowing look of disbelief. “I’m not! We don’t have time for that. We are here to make money and that is that. I don’t care about anything else.”Deku sighed and leaned back in his chair, his eyes sweeping over to the dance floor. “I still remember a girl who used to dream of happily ever after.”“There’s no such thing,” Ochako insisted, “unless it’s in the form of a handsome reward.”“And what about a handsome young man?” Deku countered. “Or should I say a handsome prince?”Ochako clamped her mouth shut and then waved a hand. “It doesn’t matter.”Turning to give her something of a sad look, Deku gently asked, “Does it not?”“No, because we did it, Deku!” Ochako exclaimed. “We found him! We found the missing prince!”“Um, yeah.” Deku furrowed his brow, a mind-boggled expression falling over his face. She knew he thought he was rather plain-looking (it made him good at cons if she was being honest), but he had cleaned up nicely tonight. A few women had been chatting him up as well, although he seemed mostly oblivious in the face of success. “That’s what we were supposed to do, right? Find the ‘missing prince’ and get our reward.”Ochako shook her head. “No, you don’t get it. We actually found him. He’s the real thing. He’s the prince and he’s going-”He was going away. Before long, he would be completely out of her life. They would introduce him to Princess Fuyumi, and he would be in a completely different world. It didn’t matter if she was finally rich like she always dreamed of being. He was a prince and she would always be the servant girl who waited on his family and stole lemon cakes and made faces at him when their parents weren’t looking.The confused look on Deku’s face fell. “You mean, he’s really…”“Yeah,” Ochako mumbled, picking up her champagne, “he’s the lost prince. No one recognized him because of the scar, but that story he told Yaomomo…” She downed the drink in one gulp. “I’ve never told anyone that story and neither has the princess.”The harsh reality of the situation crashed down on Deku. He leaned forward to grab her hands. She let him, but only because it was him. “Oh, Ochako, I didn’t know. I thought maybe you were getting cold feet about the score, but this…” He took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. “Shouto is a good person. He won’t just ditch you once this is all over. He cares about you. I know he does. I’ve seen it in the way he looks at you.”“Who are you kidding, Deku?” Ochako ripped her hands out of his grip. “He’s a prince and I’m… I’m the fake. I’ll just be a footnote in the history books when they tell his story.”The urge to mutter an apology crawled up her throat, but she shoved it back down. Deku would understand. She needed fresh air. She needed to get out of here. If she had to watch Shouto dance with one more pretty woman, she might actually throw up and she didn’t want to ruin this gorgeous dress that Yaomomo had let her borrow. It wouldn’t make a good impression.However, the moment she stood up and spun around, Ochako found herself face-to-face with Shouto himself. She let out of a squeak of surprise and staggered back, tripping on the chair, but he grabbed her by the wrist with one hand to keep her from falling over. His other hand landed on her hip and part of her back, holding her in place. It felt so right. It couldn’t be any wronger or more idiotic of her.“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Shouto said carefully.
Prince Shouto. He’s a prince and you need to remember that.
“It’s fine,” Ochako replied, forcing a smile onto her face. “I was just…”What was she doing again? Getting fresh air? A drink? She needed another drink. Put it on Yaomomo’s tab. Maybe that would help her speak again.“Actually, I…” Shouto’s cheeks warmed. He hadn’t let go of her. Why hadn’t he done that? “I was wondering if you would dance with me.”“Oh.” Ochako gulped down the lump in her throat. “Aren’t there…?” She searched the room and found a handful of women glaring in their direction. In another life, she would’ve smirked at them, but right now, she wanted to be swallowed whole by the floor and fade from existence. “Aren’t there plenty of others in line to dance with you?”“They aren’t you,” Shouto said simply - no, intensely, as he did everything.“Go on, Ochako,” Deku cheered from behind, like the terrible friend that he was. “Give him a dance! He asked so nicely, after all.”Ochako chewed on her lip, wearing down the cheap lipstick she’d bought long ago and still used. “I’m not that good of a dancer.”A small smile appeared on Shouto’s face. “Neither am I.”“Could’ve fooled me,” Ochako said, even as she let him guide her onto the dance floor. This was a mistake, a bad and foolish idea that would only get her in trouble, but she didn’t stop him as his hand slid to the small of her back and pushed her closer against him. She didn’t stop as his hand went from her wrist and slid into her hand, their fingers entangling.She didn’t stop him as he leaned down and said in a low, shaky murmur that betrayed his cool, “Maybe I just didn’t have the right partner.” He was as nervous about this as she was, but at least he was doing a better job at hiding him. Wasn't she supposed to be the con?And still, as the music played and they began to dance, Ochako could only close her eyes and let herself be carried away by him across the dance floor. She was a fool. Tricked by her own deceit. She really had thought she could be clever without being kind. She really thought she’d lost all the compassion in her that had made her such a sweet girl as a child.Oh, who was she fooling? Clearly not herself anymore.
You’re a real piece of work. Deku was right. He does care about you - and he doesn’t even know what you are.
It was unfortunate, but this could only end in heartbreak. Even so, Ochako clung to this small moment with him, as it would be the closest thing she could ever have. She had wanted so many selfish things growing up with nothing, but this… She could be selfish if only for a moment before she had to let him ago.