Work Text:
Ochako gently rocks forward as the train makes its turn, tightening her grip on the mug of tea in her hand. It’s a cheerful pink, like the mask across her face, as she leans back in her seat and breathes in through her nose. Normally, the train car would smell like the sweat and stress of the people who ride it, but with people working and taking classes from home, the train is nearly empty and smells only of disinfectant.
She accidentally catches the eye of another person and gives them a shrug, as if to say, “crazy, huh?”. The person responds with a chuckle, the sight lost behind the black mask they wear, before looking back down at their phone. She follows suit and glances at her own, pulling up her messages. The most recent one is from Deku, who had sent her a selfie a few minutes ago from his virtual chat with Todoroki, followed by a million and one heart and crying emojis over how unfairly handsome Todoroki is with his longer hair and sleepy expression.
She affectionately calls him a gay disaster, smiling under the fabric of her mask, before exiting out of the message and pulling up Tsu’s. The last one is from an hour ago, a frog emoji and an address to an outdoor shopping area that is about halfway between their apartments. She closes her phone and slides it back into her pocket, looking up at the illuminated sign hanging over the train car’s entryway. Her stop is next, so she gets ready by wobbling towards the exit, grabbing onto the overhead ring with a stumble.
The train pulls to a stop and she quickly shuffles out, careful to avoid bumping into the other people exiting the station. The mug in her hand has cooled as she begins to make her journey to today’s meeting spot, eyes darting around and taking in the mostly empty streets before her. It’s a weird sight, to see the normally busy street so void of life.
She takes a right at the next corner and sees the mall up ahead, its windows reflecting in the sun’s early morning light, despite the clouds that are hanging overhead. She moves through the space, passing empty shops with colorful, forgotten displays and restaurants that advertise to go orders outside their windows, towards the more secluded section of the mall, where the specialty shops lie.
She quickly spots Tsu, sitting on a blanket in front of closed down tea shop. “Hey,” she calls out, pulling her own blanket out of her bag and spreading it out onto the ground, a few feet from Tsu. She crawls to the center of it, her legs tucked underneath her, and grabs her mug. “Morning,” she smiles, holding out her mug in a faux cheers.
“Morning,” Tsu croaks, her voice a little rough, probably from unsuse. Her green hair is pulled into a sloppy bun, with her bangs falling into her eyes. She takes a sip of her tea, then chuckles, shaking her head. “Ah, it’s gone cold…”
“I think mine has as well,” Ochako giggles, untucking her mask from one ear and letting it dangle off the other. She takes a sip, and yes, her tea has definitely gone cold. She shrugs it off and continues to drink it, looking over at Tsu and seeing her do the same. “How are your classes going?”
Tsu sighs. “They’re okay, but to be honest, I’m not a big fan of these online classes. It’s kinda…” Ochako listens as Tsu begins to gently rant, talking about the difficulty over how some professors seem to have no idea on how to manage an online curriculum, while other professors have gone crazy with assigning a ton of boring readings and mindless assignments. “What about you?” Tsu asks when she’s done, relaxing more into her spot, her shoulders slowly hunching forward.
“Same as you, I suppose. Deku and I were bitching about it this morning.”
Tsu chuckles. “Ah, I miss Midoriya...and Todoroki, Iida too.”
“We’ll have to do another group chat soon.”
Tsu hums, looking down at her lap. “Yeah, we will...it’s just not the same, ya’know?”
Ochako looks at her, at the distance between them, and nods. She misses the ease of her old routine, running around with Deku in between classes, having pizza parties at Todoroki’s apartment because his dad is rich and he’s got the biggest place of them all, having early morning tea dates with Tsu at their favorite bench on campus, the one with all the beautiful trees surrounding it...
“It’s not, but it’s nice we can all still be together in some way, hmm?”
“Ah, you’re so optimistic Ochako,” Tsu teases and Ochako responds with a blush, looking away. “I suppose you’re right, though. It’s not the same, but,” she turns and meets Tsu’s gaze, those dark, green eyes looking deeply into her own, “You’re right. At least we still have each other.”
They spend the rest of their morning talking about anything that pops up, which mostly consists of teasing Deku and his crush on Todoroki, which Iida had apparently commented on to Tsu, a couple of nights ago, how ridiculous it is that Deku hasn’t confessed, considering Todoroki is equally as gone for him.
They talk about themselves as well, and about all the things they’re gonna do when this is over, like go to the restaurant Tsu had wanted to take her to, or to the beach, so Tsu can swim and Ochako can work on getting some sun.
As it begins to approach noon and their stomachs begin to rumble, the two girls stand up and begin to pack up their things. Once the space is cleared, Ochako turns to Tsu and gives her a smile, pressing the tips of her fingers to her lips and then holding them out in front of her mouth, gently blowing on them.
Tsu catches it with a grin, her eyes crinkling in delight.
“See you Friday?”
“Yeah, Friday.”
They part ways with a quiet goodbye and Ochako makes her way back towards the station. As she walks, the clouds that were hanging overhead finally open up and begin to rain down on the earth, causing her to let out an involuntary squeak at the first slide of wetness dripping down her neck. She breaks out into a run, making it to the station in record time, her hair plastered all over her face and her pink masked soaked into an almost reddish color.
From the safety of the overhead structure, she sends a selfie to Tsu, her brows pulled together in a grumpy expression. Minutes later and she receives a selfie back, with Tsu sticking her tongue out at her, her thumb and index finger pressed together to make a tiny heart.
She saves the picture with a smile, closing her phone and holding it to close to her heart as she waits for the train.