Work Text:
A week after the USJ attack, Tsuyu was doing fine.
She went to school, did her homework, and replied to her friends' questions during lunch. Then she headed home, made dinner for her siblings, and fell into bed.
Normally with her clothes still on, her hair tied into its familiar knot.
More than once she had woken in a cold sweat, feeling like she was being strangled only to realize her hair had wrapped itself around her torso. Mouth dry and unable to go back to sleep, she'd stagger out of bed and start working the snarled knots from her hair.
If she had started losing herself in mirrors, unable to break away as she pictured her face slowly disintegrating—
Well.
No one had to know about that.
Classes had turned into a comforting routine, and at the start of the week Tsuyu slid into her seat with a relieved sigh. Her classmates yelled and bantered around her, and she found herself drifting into the white noise.
"Deku!" Bakugou suddenly shouted, and Tsuyu turned a moment too late to stop Izuku from crashing into her desk. Tsuyu huffed as he landed on her and tried to scramble free, apologizes falling from his lips while Bakugou stormed over.
Tsuyu knew Bakugou was a child, but there was a thin line between pushing someone around and making that someone so terrified they were shaking in your arms.
Gently, Tsuyu maneuvered herself in front of Izuku, blankly staring Bakugou down.
The rest of the class watched as he swore and kept charging, blind in his rage, reaching out a hand toward her face and—
She froze.
The villain's hand came toward her and she couldn't movecouldn'tmovecouldn'tmove—
And then, the bell rang.
"Bakugou, if you aren't in your seat when I sit down, you'll be cleaning the halls after class," a gravelly voice said, and Tsuyu breathed as Aizawa walked into the room. Bakugou snarled but stopped, popping small explosions as he stomped back to his seat. A shy hand tapped her shoulder, and had she been anyone else, she'd have jumped at the touch.
As it was, she simply turned her head and stared at Izuku.
"Thank you," he softly said, looking down at his hands as if that'd make them stop shaking.
"It's fine, ribbit," she replied, and reached out to squeeze his hand.
"When I asked Bakugou to sit down, it was implied that you two would as well," Aizawa said, and they both scrambled to their feet. Izuku blushed and stammered on his way back to his seat while Tsuyu righted her desk and sat down, pulling out her notebook as Aizawa started the lesson.
**
When class let out at the end of the day, Tsuyu drifted while everyone filtered out. She didn't move until someone stopped in front of her desk, and she looked up to see Izuku shifting on his feet.
"Tsuyu I—" He started and then stopped, clenching his hands as if he couldn't find the right words. Behind him, Ochako paused and looked between them before stepping to Izuku's side. He briefly smiled at her and then opened his mouth to try again.
"You two should run along, I'm sure you have somewhere to be," Aizawa said, and Izuku jumped as they all looked over to see Aizawa leaning against his desk, a frown etched onto his face.
"I-I'll tell you later then," Izuku stammered and Tsuyu nodded, putting her books away as Ochako and him left the room. When she moved to stand, Aizawa cleared his throat and she paused, looking back at him.
"You know if something's wrong, you can talk to one of us, right?" He asked, holding her gaze until she had to turn away. Swallowing the images haunting her dreams, she nodded. Aizawa sighed and rubbed his scar.
"Asui, what day is it?" Tsuyu blinked.
"It's Tuesday, ribbit," she replied, perplexed.
"It's Thursday," he said with a frown, and she rejected the idea until she recalculated the date in her head and oh, it was Thursday.
"I won't assume you feel comfortable talking to me, but are you okay?" Tsuyu watched him watch her and she only lasted seconds before her shoulders minutely dropped.
"No," she managed, dropping her gaze, hands hanging limp by her side. She heard a shuffle, and then glanced up when she heard a desk screeching across the floor. Aizawa had pulled a desk over and sat on top of it, leaving him eye level with her.
"Is it about the villain attack?" He asked, and she swallowed. It was it was it was.
"I—"
"Shouta, are you in here? I thought we were heading back together—" Present Mic jerked to a stop just inside the door when he caught sight of Tsuyu. His eyes widened, and Aizawa sent him a deadly glare. Tsuyu paused and then shouldered her bag, stepping around Present Mic with ease.
"I'll be alright," she said to Aizawa, and then left the room. She didn't run as she exited the school, but her pulse did it for her, beating too quickly and leaving her hands clammy until she made it home.
**
Two weeks after the USJ attack, and they were launched into the Sports Festival.
Tsuyu should have been excited, but when the day of the festival rolled around and Bakugou declared his eventual victory, she didn't feel much of anything.
The day passed in a blur. Battles were fought and won and lost and by the end Tsuyu sat in the stands, watching Shouto struggle with himself until Bakugou blasted him out of the ring. After the awards ceremony her classmates stood, and by the time she remembered to leave almost everyone had already gone.
"Hey, Tsuyu," Izuku said, and she looked around to see him standing near the exit, arm still in a sling. He fidgeted and clenched his one free hand, glancing from it to her and back.
"I uh, never got to thank you," he softly said, meeting her eyes. "If it hadn't been for you back at the USJ, I wouldn't have gotten out of that water zone," he added, nodding to himself.
"You would have been fine, Izuku," she said, remembering how quickly he had created a plan once they had gotten on the ship. She had been useful then, yes, but that didn't mean she hadn't frozen in the face of an actual villain later on.
Izuku frowned, and Tsuyu noted how ill-suited the expression was to him.
"No, I—" he started, pinching his lip. "I couldn't have gotten me or Mineta out of the water without breaking something important."
"You knew what to do against the real villain though." Izuku's frown deepened, and he stared for a few moments before something seemed to click and his eyes widened.
"He touched you," Izuku said, his voice dark in a way that sent shivers down her spine. Tsuyu nodded, and he closed the distance between them, reaching toward her and only stopping at the last minute, seeming to second guess himself.
They balanced there, on the edge of some boundary they hadn't discussed and Tsuyu didn't know how to cross. Izuku bit his lip and then jerked forward, moving slowly enough that she could have easily backed away.
She didn't back away.
Izuku gently wrapped his good arm around her and she found herself enveloped in a warm embrace, his head resting almost on top of hers.
"He's not here anymore," Izuku whispered, his voice shaking as if he was crying. Considering the growing patch of wetness she felt on her head, he probably was. "We're safe," he added, tightening his hold. She hugged him back, letting herself shudder as her breathing hitched.
"I couldn't move."
"I know, I couldn't either."
"He almost killed me."
"But Aizawa saved you." Izuku released her and wiped his eyes, giving her a watery smile. Tsuyu almost reached for him again—feeling untethered—but she didn't, and instead shakily composed herself.
"I haven't thanked him yet, ribbit," she said and Izuku looked toward the exit, contemplating.
"However you thank him, I'm sure it'll be great," he said, nodding with so much conviction Tsuyu couldn't help but feel his determination. She smiled and then walked past him, bringing her hands to rest near her chest, feeling better than she had in days.
"We should probably go before they start locking things up," she said, pointing toward the exit. Izuku nodded, rushing to catch up with her and then spouting endless theories on their way out.
That night, for the first time in weeks, she was able to fall back asleep after the nightmares woke her.
**
"Are you feeling better, Tsuyu?" Ochako asked, and Tsuyu glanced up to see Ochako posed in front of her desk, expression serious and cheeks puffed-out. Tsuyu blinked and nodded, setting her pencil down.
"I am," she said, and then faintly blushed when Ochako beamed and clapped her hands together, face melting into an excited smile. Cute.
"That's great!" Ochako said, looking around and then waving to Izuku across the room, giving him a thumbs up. Izuku stared, confused, and then he must have understood because suddenly he was beaming too, smile radiant and blinding.
Stunned, Tsuyu breathed in the warmth, keeping it close to her chest while Ochako bounced back to her seat and the rest of their classmates filtered in.
When Aizawa walked in with his iconic sleeping bag draped over his shoulder and a stack of exams in his hand, Tsuyu smiled and fiddled with a small object in her lap. Hopefully he'd like the gift, but she'd have to wait until the end of the day to give it to him. Spinning it in her hand, she picked up her pencil and turned her mind to their exam, able to focus from the clarity sleep had brought her.
At the end of the day, Tsuyu kept her gaze on Aizawa as her classmates trailed out. Aizawa watched them leave and then slowly turned toward her, crossing his arms and leaning against his desk. Tsuyu gripped her gift and slung her bag over her shoulder, walking toward him.
"It's Tuesday, ribbit," she said, extending a closed hand. Aizawa raised an eyebrow and looked at her hand with a perplexed expression.
"Thank you for saving me at the USJ," she added when he didn't respond.
"I protect all my students, it's my job," he replied, still watching her hand. Tsuyu tapped her mouth and shook her head.
"No, it was because we didn't follow your orders that I ended up in danger. You were injured, and I should've stopped us from trying to intervene," she explained, blinking slowly and gesturing with her outstretched hand.
"Thank you," she repeated, and Aizawa's brow furrowed. He held her gaze a moment longer and then reached out his hand. She smiled and dropped the gift into his palm, watching his eyebrows lift in surprise.
"It is, in fact, Tuesday," he simply said, staring at the small bottle of eye drops in his hand.
He didn't smile, but he also didn't frown, and Tsuyu re-shouldered her bag and nodded his way before walking out.
The room was silent in her absence, and Aizawa turned the small bottle in his hands. Present Mic found him that way minutes later, staring at the bottle with a soft smile on his face.