Chapter 324

'A Young Woman's Declaration is the three hundred and twenty-fourth chapter of Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia.

Summary
Ochaco thinks back to how she had always loved to see people happy, which is why seeing her own parents be so exhausted hurt her so, and why she looked at the cheering people when they saw a hero in action. She also thinks about how she wants to help the Heroes who are hurting themselves ever since she met him.

In the present, the people start seeing how exhausted Izuku is, with the woman he saved before speaking up saying that after he saved her, he immediately went back to fighting. One of the unconvinced civilians asks if the people themselves should be covered in filth too, but Ochaco replies saying that only the Heroes will be, which is why she wants them to give him time to rest to wash it away. All of the class watch her as Izuku starts tearing up as Tenya tells him that she is fighting for everyone’s right to smile again, while Ochaco says that she can’t stand on top of the school and reassure everyone because they are as scared as everyone else, which makes them all the same in a sense. She screams for them to lend him their strength so they can have a shot at smiling in the future, while briefly thinking back to her fight with Himiko Toga during the war and the tears in her eyes.

Nevertheless, Ochaco continues her speech begging everyone to let him stay and rest, citing him as just a kid like herself and the others learning as they go. When the same protesting civilian tries to speak back, Ochaco screams at the top of her lungs that U.A. High is his Hero Academy. Her words cause Izuku to collapse to his knees as he starts crying while thinking back to the very first day he met her. In his mind, he says that this isn’t just the story of how he became the greatest hero, but how everyone became great heroes.

As he cries, the woman and Kota Izumi run over to him to comfort him.