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Ochako sighs for the upteenth time as she reaches for her notebook, pulling it towards herself from where it’s floating above her laptop. Present Mic’s English vocabulary just isn’t sticking in her head today, and this homework is making her frustrated. Maybe she needs a little break. Some tea might do the trick.
As she uncrosses her legs and stands to stretch her arms and legs--joints popping in protest--she nearly falls over in surprise as a knock sounds at her door.
“Coming,” she singsongs as she regains her balance and hops over her textbooks to greet her visitor. When she pulls the door open, a smile blooms across her face. “Tsu!”
But her expression quickly falls as she takes in the sight before her: the expression on Tsuyu’s face is something Ochako rarely sees--anxiety, maybe, or fear. Her stomach drops as Tsuyu refuses to meet her eyes.
“Ochako,” she says, voice quiet and nearly trembling, “there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
Ochako has never seen Tsuyu so nervous, not even when she came to Ochako after the Kamino incident, when her classmates had betrayed her trust by going after Bakugou on their own. Tsuyu had been upset then, but not...afraid. Ochako’s own anxiety skyrockets at the sight of her wringing hands. “Oh, of course,” she replies, trying her best to keep the usual enthusiasm in her voice, the wavering smile on her face. “Come on in!”
She throws the door open the rest of the way to allow Tsuyu’s entrance and carefully makes her way over to the bed, patting the comforter to signal for Tsuyu to sit down next to her. “Is... something wrong?”
Tsuyu shakes her head, her long green hair swishing with the movement. “Nothing’s wrong,” she assures Ochako as she crawls onto the bed. “I just... have had something on my mind for a while, kero.” She looks Ochako in the eyes now, and Ochako can’t help the blush that begins to climb into her cheeks.
“Go ahead, Tsu. You know I’ll always listen.” She smiles, albeit nervously.
Tsuyu folds her large hands in her lap, looking down as she begins to twiddle her thumbs. “I don’t know the right way to say this, because I’m not very good at emotional subtlety. You know I always say things bluntly, but for once, I find myself at a loss.”
Ochako’s heart pounds. Tsuyu said nothing was wrong, so why does she suddenly feel so afraid? Still, she needs Tsuyu to know that she’s here for her, so she places her hand--minus one finger--on her shoulder. “Whatever it is,” Ochako says, “you can say what you’re feeling. Talking about emotions is difficult, no matter who you are.”
Tsuyu smiles slightly and takes a deep breath. “Well, I realized something last weekend, when we went ice skating.”
Ochako’s heart skips a beat, remembering the way they had held hands as they skated together around the rink, and how they had laughed together at Deku’s antics. Her cheeks feel awfully hot now. She nods for Tsuyu to continue.
“I realized... that I like you, Ochako. As more than a friend.”
Suddenly, Ochako’s heart stops beating entirely. For a moment, she can’t think, the shock of Tsuyu’s confession seeming to take her brain clean out of her head, launching it into the stratosphere where she can’t reach it. Then, as everything crashes back down on her, her whole face takes on a brilliant shade of pink, and she stutters, like she’s been momentarily possessed by Deku’s anxious spirit.
“You-- I-- What-- We-- That--” She waves her hands up and down and side to side, not even sure what she’s trying to convey, until her brain finally catches up with her mouth, and she manages a full sentence: “I like you, too, Tsu!” She blurts it out loudly, and then immediately covers her mouth with her hands, embarrassed, but starting to smile.
Tsuyu, whose own blush was becoming more and more noticeable as Ochako floundered, grins widely, letting out a delighted ribbit of surprise. “You do?”
“Yes!” She giggles, even as she begins to lift an inch or two off the bed, unable to stop herself from floating until Tsuyu takes her hand, anchoring her to the ground. Steadying her, like she always does. “I’ve liked you for a while, Tsu.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tsuyu tilts her head in confusion. Cute.
“I... Because I was afraid,” Ochako looks down, studying the pattern of her comforter for a moment. “I thought that, if I told you, you might be weirded out or something. I thought you only saw me as a friend, and every time I got my hopes up that maybe you felt the same way, I got scared and talked myself out of it. But...” she meets Tsuyu’s eyes once more, “you really like me?”
Tsuyu nods. “It took me a while to figure out, kero. It’s hard to know the difference between platonic and romantic feelings when you haven’t had many friends.”
Ochako squeezes Tsuyu’s hand.
“But I’m sure now. I like you, Ochako, and, if you want, I’d like to date you.”
The thrill that runs through Ochako’s body is nothing short of electrifying--she wonders, briefly, if she has somehow momentarily borrowed Kaminari’s quirk. “I would really, really like that, Tsu,” she smiles. “I would be absolutely honored to call you my girlfriend.”
Tsuyu’s cheeks redden even further at the word, and Ochako takes her other hand, interlacing their fingers. Both of them are giddy and pink-faced as the afternoon sun shines through the window, illuminating their faces in its orange glow, and Ochako can see the light reflected in Tsuyu’s dark eyes. She’s struck, not for the first time, by how beautiful she is, with her big, green eyes and her contented smile; the bow in her hair and the froggy tilt to her head when she grins; her hands strong and warm against Ochako’s own. And a thought makes its way past her lips before she can even think about it.
“Tsu, can I... kiss you?”
Her eyes widen in surprise, but she nods, and as Ochako slowly, so slowly, brings her face in, close enough that she can feel the heat from Tsuyu’s cheeks, they both let their eyes fall shut. Ochako presses her lips gently, chastely, against Tsuyu’s, and the butterflies in her stomach soar. It’s only the two of them, and nothing else matters.
They open their eyes as they pull away, hands still laced together, and they begin to giggle: the two of them are floating several feet above the bed, the effects of gravity nullified as Ochako’s quirk effortlessly keeps them aloft.
When their giggles die down, Ochako sighs happily, leaning her forehead against Tsuyu’s.
“So,” she says after a moment of contented silence, “where should we go on our first date?”