Work Text:
There is a strict rule about quirk usage in public, one Tsuyu has always- well, mostly-obeyed. But this is different, really, she reasons, as she experimentally presses her hand to the side of her house, knowing that it’ll stick but testing it anyway. Just in case.
It’s not that Tsuyu wants to break the law; she’s meant to be a hero, but… But it’s becoming more and more obvious that she’s building up a dependence on her tongue, and there’s nowhere good and urban for her to practise at U.A. So she’s taken matters into her own hands.
And feet.
It’s still dark out, because of the deadly winter they’re facing, and snowing light enough to give Tsuyu a challenge without risking life or limb. After all, everyone’s improving so fast, it’s all she can do to keep up. And, as Aizawa-sensei said, no good hero is a one trick pony. Her tongue is her main weapon. Now it’s time to branch out.
Slowly, cautious of waking the neighbours, Tsuyu bends her legs and jumps, reaching up, up up, until she grabs onto the roof, using the sticky pads on her hands to hold in tight, pulling herself up and onto the roof. It’s slippery with snow and ice, making grip difficult. She grits her teeth and keeps going.
As quickly as she can with this unsure footing, Tsuyu runs across the roof, trying her hardest not to send any loose tiles clattering to the ground. After all, it’d be bad for a hero-in-training to be reported for vandalism.
As she reaches the other side, she slows until she reaches the edge before stopping entirely, gazing across the chasm that stretches between the two roofs. It seems to grow the longer she looks, a wide, yawning chasm filled with nothing but darkness. She swallows. This distance, she knows deep down, is nothing to her. That doesn’t stop her heart thundering in her chest, loud enough to wake the entire neighbourhood. Tsuyu takes a few steps back, takes a deep breath, and runs until she hits the edge. She jumps.
As she knew it would be, jumping the gap is easy as pie, and she stops to allows herself a self-congratulatory ribbit before carrying on, building up her running speed as she comes up to the next gap.
This time, she doesn’t stop before taking the jump. She lands, staggers slightly and keeping going.
By nine in the morning, the sun is well and truly rising, and Tsuyu is at the end of the road, so to speak. Panting, she stares down at the street far below. She’s navigated herself as close to town as she can get without risking getting caught, but now she faces the problem she didn’t think about before.
How does she get down?
Tsuyu presses a few fingers to her lips, dropping to a squat as she thinks about what to do next. But, she thinks optimistically, problem solving is part of hero training too. So she stares down the problem.
Eventually, finally, she concludes on the best course of action. Even though she doesn’t really like it. Slowly, Tsuyu lowers her upper body off the roof, her backpack falling forwards and hitting the back of her hair. Her hair hangs around her face- she really should have tied it up- as she leans, leans, until her hands hit the wall. Victorious, she sticks, slowly crawling forward until she can put first one foot than the other onto the rough wall.
Tsuyu ribbits again, this time more from worry than congratulations, before continuing down the wall. The angle makes her feel faintly sick as she leans her neck upwards so she can see how long she has to go.
Next time, she’ll plan better.
Finally, she reaches the safety of the pavement and, after a quick brushdown, trots into town, the police she passes on the way in none the wiser of her rule-breaking. She quickly finds her favourite café and makes a beeline for the bathroom, hidden by crowds of workers desperate for their morning coffee. In the safety of a cubicle, she gets changed out of her sweaty workout gear and into the clothes she brought with her, after a quick spray of deodorant.
When she leaves, Ochako is just crossing the road.
Tsuyu smiles, wrapping her arms around herself, and heads towards Ochako, smiling at the overenthusiastic wave she receives. Today is a good day.