Work Text:
Asui Tsuyu had been keeping something from her friends. It wasn't bad, and it definitely wasn't like she murdered someone. She just never thought it was important to tell them. It wasn't her fault when they assumed it was part of her quirk. People had assumed that since she got them, the only few people who knew different were her family and her doctor. So she never thought it was a big deal.
Tsuyu Asui has tics.
She doesn't know why she has tics. They just started when she was eight or nine years old and never quite went away. The only tic she noticed was when she said ribbit, which she probably picked up from kids ribbiting at her when she was young. Her other was a hiccup-like noise that just happened at random times. Over the years, she got better at suppressing it, so no one thought anything of it. People just thought she had the hiccups. No one ever suspected anything, not even when she got nervous, and her ribbiting tic acted up.
Since she only had two tics, she had never been diagnosed with Tourette's. She just didn't meet the qualifications. She was okay with that, honestly preferred it, knowing that she was a little luckier than people with Tourettes, even if she did have tics. The only downside was when she had to tell people she had tics they thought she had bugs, which she very much did not! Thank you very much.
Everything was fine until it wasn't. Everything was fine until she had a very important test coming up that she didn't feel prepared for. Everything was fine until Iida's extra study sessions didn't seem to help, or when Aizawa reviewing the materials made her more confused. Everything was fine until she got so stressed that she developed a new tic for the first time in at least six years.
This new tic wasn't bad per se, but it was noticeable. Without her consent, she would inhale air so quickly that it made a high-pitched noise. Sometimes, the inhale wasn't even needed, and she would just let out a high-pitched squeak. She hated it.
It became noticeable the weekend she went home to visit her family. Her little sister had to point it out before she finally realized it was a new tic. Tsu couldn't think of a reason why the tic had developed other than stress. She took her medicine like she was supposed to, but it didn't help. Even her regular tics were becoming more and more noticeable. At one point, Midnight stopped the lesson and asked if she needed to get a drink of water because it sounded like she had a horrible case of hiccups. She politely declined Midnight's offer, knowing that water would do nothing to stop tics, and tried to hold in tics for the rest of the day. That only landed her in a load of pain once she sealed herself away in her room. Her hiccup tic was so violent that her throat felt raw and achy for hours once they had finally subsided.
She had also started paying attention to how much she ribbited during conversations. Almost every sentence had a ribbit in it. Sometimes she would interrupt whoever was talking with her ribbits. The worst was when she watched a movie with the class, and she couldn't calm down her ribbits to the point where she had to excuse herself. All because of some dumb suspense movie.
They had finally started to calm down before Aizawa asked her to stay after class.
"Asui, have you been feeling alright?" He had asked.
She hadn't even known what to say, just giving him an awkward nod in response.
"I've noticed your tics acting up. Is this a new thing? Have you had the chance to talk to your doctor about it? I'm sure Recovery Girl would be willing to talk to you about it, but you might benefit more by talking to your primary doctor."
That's what finally caught her attention. How did Aizawa know? How had he noticed when her classmates and friends, the people she lived with, hadn't said a word. "How do you- When- How did you know?"
"Do you think I don't read your medical histories? You all end up almost dying like once a month, whether it's from villain attacks or your own stupidity and recklessness that I had to keep myself familiar with your health." Aizawa told her.
"Oh, kero. "
"That's a tic, and not your quirk, isn't it." He asked. She nodded in response. "Talk to your doctor or Recovery Girl. You might need to up your medication, but from what I know about tic disorders, it could just be normal."
He dismissed her, and she quickly ran back to the dorms.
"Tsu!" Uraraka called from the couch. "Why'd Aizawa want to talk to you? You're not in trouble, are you?"
"Oh, he just had a question about that essay we turned in. He asked if I could email him a digital copy. He said he spilled some coffee on it."
The other girl let out a small giggle and accepted the answer, dragging her over to join her on the couch.
She ignored her tic for the next few days. It never made a big appearance, and her mom said she would set up an appointment with her doctor. A couple of days had passed, and she had almost forgotten about her talk with Aizawa. She and Uraraka had decided to have a sleepover in her room. Neither of them was entirely sure what time it was, so neither of them wanted to leave and risk getting caught after curfew, so they stayed where they were.
Out of all of the self-proclaimed Dekusquad, she was closest to Uraraka. The two frequently hung out together and had no shame in cuddling, which is what they were doing right then. Uraraka was normally sitting on the bed with Tsuyu's head in her lap. Unfortunately, neither of them could fall asleep, which prompted the late-night hangout. Some old Disney Channel movie was playing on Tsu's laptop, and they were both way more invested than they should have been.
Tsuyu's hiccup like tic started to pick up. She was good at covering it, mastering the ability to hold it in after years of having it. What she couldn't cover was the awkward jerk her body would sometimes make. It wasn't a motor tic, it was just her vocal tic being kind of violent.
"You okay?" Uraraka asked.
"Yeah, sorry."
"Oh, okay." Uraraka turned her focus back to the movie until there was one Tsu couldn't hold in. Her throat was starting to hurt a bunch and one just finally came out. Uraraka gave her a weird look but waited to say anything.
Only after they kept coming out did Uraraka finally say anything. "Do you have the hiccups? I can get you water or something. Have you tried holding your breath? That always works for me!"
"I'll try. Water would be nice, though."
Uraraka nodded and paused the movie, filling up a glass of water from her bathroom sink. Tsu thanked her and willed her tic away with nothing more than spite while she drank. It was never fun to spill everywhere. The cold water helped her throat a little, but her tic attack was still going, so it couldn't help too much.
The movie was turned back on, and they both put their focus back on it, Uraraka throwing her occasional worried looks as the tics got worse.
Eventually, Uraraka cracked. "I'm googling how to get rid of hiccups its been like ten minutes."
"No, it's okay-"
"Google says to pull on your tongue," Uraraka told her determinedly. "Wait, that might not work since your tongue's so long. Okay, okay, press your diaphragm."
"It's not gonna do anything."
"It's worth a shot!" Finally, Tsu relented and did as her friend told her to, just for it not to work as she expected. "Okay, that's not working. Try squeezing your nose while you take a drink."
"It's not going to work. I don't have hiccups. I have a tic," Tsu finally told her.
"Oh, you could have just told me that!" Tsu just blinked up at her. Was it really that easy? "Google says for tic's not thinking about it can help!"
"I just have to wait for it to pass kero , sorry if it's annoying."
"Don't worry about it! Are you in pain? That sounds painful."
"The waters helping."
Uraraka nodded, and they both focused back on the movie. Uraraka occasionally sent her worried looks, but they eventually subsided when they reached the movie's end. Unfortunately, all the band members were either sick or injured right before their big performance. Even though both teens had seen the movie before, they were sitting anxiously on the edge of their seats.
The rest of the night was calm and peaceful. Tsu's tics didn't act up again, and she was able to watch the ending of the movie, where they had a massive concert at Madison Square Garden in peace. It was nice spending time with Uraraka, whether her tics acted up or not. Plus, Uraraka didn't ask her endless questions when she found out, which made it ten times better.
A couple of months passed, and she and Ochaco just got closer and closer. Ochaco respected her boundaries and didn't push her to share anything at all. Well, she did seem a little scandalized when she learned that Tsu's ribbit was a tic and not her quirk, but she assured her that it wasn't in a bad way. Ochaco was her best friend, and she respected her and didn't make fun of her tic. It was great.
She was eating dinner with Ochaco and the rest of her class in the dining room when her tic decided to make an appearance. It was a lot louder than expected, and she hadn't felt any of the usual signs that she was going to tic beforehand, so she wasn't able to stop it. The loud hiccup-like noise came out in full force.
"Holy shit!" Someone yelled, not expecting the loud noise in the near-silent room. Whoever it was quickly followed with "I'm so sorry!"
"What was that?" Someone else asked.
"Sorry, it was a tic," Tsu told them, a little uncertain of what the response would be. However, her class was nice, and she knew she wouldn't be made fun of.
"Like the bug!" Kaminari yelled, moving back a little.
"You idiot!" Ochaco said as Jirou smack him on the back of that head.
"What?"
"It's an involuntary noise, not the bug," Tsu told him, starting to feel her cheeks turn pink. She knew he wasn't trying to be mean, but it was still a little embarrassing.
Kaminari mumbled out an apology, and nothing more was said about it. None of her friends cared or gave her weird looks.
Asui Tsuyu was accepted, tics and all.