Work Text:
It's almost June. They should be taking midterms, the first of their second year, but Tsu is doing a uniform check instead.
They'd been informed that they have the authority of sidekicks when they entered Troy. Provisionally licensed is somehow enough to stand on their own. Tsu doesn't feel ready, doesn't want to need to be ready, but tomorrow they pull All for One into the open.
Tsu wants to go home, wants to hold her little siblings close and tell them silly little stories from training. She wants to praise Satsuki for her progress on her handwriting and listen to Samidare tell her all about the rocks he's been collecting while she's been away.
He probably had to leave his collection during the evacuation. She wonders if she'll be around to help him rebuild it.
"Tsu," Ochako says, her voice soft and kind. "You're crying."
Tsu sets her uniform on the table in front of her, swiping at her face with the pads of her fingertips. Its just the two of them in the armory together, with Tsu checking to ensure she has an appropriate amount of first aid supplies in her utility belt and Ochako confirming that her wrist wires are all in correct working order.
"I hadn't realized," Tsu says, her voice rough. "Sorry, Ochako."
Ochako huffs. It's not quite a laugh, but it brings lightness to the air anyways.
"How much time do we spend with Deku?" She asks, "I keep on saying that he should call himself the Crybaby Hero, but it hasn't caught on yet. Do you make him apologise for crying?"
"No."
"Then you don't ever have to apologize for crying either."
Tsu nods, sniffling. It's pretty gross, and not a sound that she wants to be making in front of Ochako, but she can't seem to stop crying so the sniffle remains.
"Can I hug you?" Ochako asks.
Tsu opens her arms.
Ochako is taller than her. This is expected because Tsu is very, very short. Sometimes her height is frustrating, making her feel small and childish, but Ochako never makes her feel small. Ochako makes Tsu feel brave, ready to take on the world.
All things considered, it's a very good hug.
Tsu doesn't ask Ochako what she thinks their odds will be. This battle is almost three hundred years in the making. The future of Japan, if not the rest of the world, is laying on the shared shoulders of a few dozen high school students and what remains of the actual pro heroes. It's going to be rough. Instead, Tsu breathes deeply, resting her forehead on Ochako's shoulder. Ochako rubs circles up and down Tsu's spine, humming a vaguely familiar song under her breath.
"Ochako," Tsu whispers. They're the only ones in the armory, there's no reason for them to be so quiet, but she feels like it's important to be soft. "I want to tell you something, but I don't want you to think I'm telling you just because of where we're going in the morning."
She lifts her head off of Ochako's shoulder to watch her face. Her cheeks are dusted a rosy pink, her whole attention on Tsu. Her gaze makes Tsu feel warm, like sunshine on a cool day.
"I wouldn't think that," Ochako says sincerely. "Tell me what's on your mind."
Tsu prides herself on being straightforward, on saying and doing things that aren't misconstruable. Because of this, she doesn't use her words. She lifts up on her toes and presses a kiss to Ochako's lips.
Tsu's never kissed anyone before, so she's hesitant., but Ochako makes it easy.
Her lips are wind-chapped from her time in the sky and she tastes like cinnamon toothpaste. This close, Tsu can smell the rose shampoo Ochako's been using for as long as they've known each other. She is warm and safe and whole. Tsu's best friend, the girl she's been trying to ask out for months-- delayed by disaster every time.
Tsu loves her. She thinks she's loved Ochako for almost as long as she's known her. She's been trying to find the right time to tell her but it's difficult, in the face of all this violence to find time for a soft conversation like this.
Tsu doesn't know what will happen come morning. She knows that she and Ockako are stationed fighting against Himiko Toga, who has an obsession with Ochako that can't be quelled. She knows that they're strong, and they're going to have other strong people with them, but Toga is a powerhouse. She's also desperate, with nothing left to lose, which is dangerous.
She's making time now because she doesn't know if she'll have any kind of chance after this.
Ochako cups Tsu's cheeks in the palms of her hands and keeps her close even as they part for breath. She's crying now too, which was not Tsu's intention, but at least Ockao doesn't seem to be crying out of fear as Tsu had been.
"Me too," She says. "I've wanted, but I didn't know--"
"I know," Tsu says. "I promise I know, Ochako."
Ochako kisses Tsu again. Tsu closes her eyes and lives in the moment of feeling this wonderful girl until she realizes that she's floating.
"Ochako," She says fondly.
Ochako opens her eyes and blushes down to the roots of her hair.
"Oh my god," She says, releasing her quirk. Tsu drops to the ground, steadied by Ochako as she gets used to the weight of gravity again. "I am so sorry,"
"Shh," Tsu says. She had known, when she realized her affections for Ochako, that this was an inevitability. She doesn't mind. "It's okay. Kiss me again."
Tomorrow will be terrifying, and the outcome is unclear, but for this moment Tsu can forget about that. She can hold Ochako close and breath her in and feel like a normal teenager. She can bury her fingers in Ochako's hair, disrupting her ponytail as she brings her closer.
"There's a skate park," Tsu whispers, "About twenty minutes walk from campus. After, do you want to come with me? On a date?"
She doesn't even know if the skate park is still standing at this point or if they'll need to wait for it to be rebuilt. That doesn't matter so much as the intention. She wants to take Ochako on a date. She wants to spend time with her. Tsu wants.
"I love roller skating," Ochako confesses. Tsu had thought she might, her balance is impeccable even without her quirk. "I'd love to go with you."