Work Text:
On one of their first nights at the dorms, Tsuyu went down to the kitchen to refill her water bottle, only to find Ochako in the middle of downing several glasses of water too, straight to the tap as she intended to do as well.
“Woke up feeling super thirsty, Ochacko-chan?” She simply asked in lieu of a greeting-- why say hello as if they were meeting for the first time when the whole class was now living together? “I’ve got those times too.” As far as Tsuyu knew, everyone had, but maybe due to her froggy nature, proper hydration was extra important to her; from drinking her share and even a bit more to putting on moisturizing cream with utmost punctuality at least once daily, all contributed to her feeling her best.
In fact, even the slightest miss could easily mean she felt dry to no end until being able to fix it.
“Oh, Tsu-chan!” Ochako seemed… startled? As if she had just been caught red-handed getting more snacks than assigned from the class’ communal stash (she never did) or skipping class to fool around with someone (she never did either).
Of course, that was suspicious, but Tsuyu was going to need more intel first.
“Need to restock supplies unless I wanna go up and down all night.” Was her next comment, casual as one could be. “I’d say you do the same, drinking that much in one sitting will get you making tons of visits to the bathroom instead.”
“Right, but I couldn’t help it, you know, since--” Whatever explanation Ochako was going to give her got interrupted by a loud growl coming from her stomach.
And then, Tsuyu understood.
“You’re not thirsty.” She low-key (high-key) accused as she opened up her bottle, bringing it to the tap and motioning to start filling it. “You’re hungry, and drinking so it passes a bit.”
It made sense, not only with the information Tsuyu currently had but adding up more facts about her friend, such as Ochako’s mentions about her family’s financial struggles and that being her main motivation to become a pro hero-- which neatly tied with every single instance she had settled for the cheapest options when going out to eat and/or shop. Or how she never refused free food even if never taking more than anyone else either.
“That’s--” Ochako only made a brief attempt at trying to deflect before sighing in defeat. “That’s true, Tsu-chan.”
Tsuyu didn’t say anything about it at first. Instead, she focused on not letting the water overflow, closing the faucet and taking a sip from her bottle before closing it for the time being. Then, she hit her friend with the following question:
“Tuna mayo, grilled salmon and cream cheese, chicken or egg with soy sauce?”
“What?” Ochako had barely finished asking the single word inquiry when Tsuyu illustrated her words by reaching towards the fridge, fetching a box decorated with lotus flowers and pads she placed on the kitchen table. Upon opening it in front of Ochako, she revealed its contents: onigiri by the ton, neatly organized in flavor rows so picking based on said flavor was easier.
“Pick anything and everything you want ‘cause I’m not letting you go to bed hungry, Ochako-chan.”
A minute passed, then around five. And not only didn’t Ochako follow her offer, but she spent quite the time glancing at both the box and Tsuyu herself as well. At least, her lingering hadn’t stretched out much when she spoke.
“I-- I can’t.” She was expecting that; there would be no budging.
“You sure can, Ochako-chan, the onigiri won’t bite you.” She replied, hoping a brief joke would sway her.
“Tsu-chan.” No, pleading wouldn’t make Tsuyu back out on her offer either.
“You’re supposed to be the one biting.” She carried on, even more adamant.
“C’mon, Tsu-chan, you know what I mean! It’s your food.”
“Exactly. It’s my food, I’m your friend, and I wanna share it with you.” And morning might find them in the kitchen before she considered backing down. In fact, if morning found them in the kitchen, Tsuyu wouldn’t be above using having an audience of already awake classmates to tip the scales in her favor. Not when it was about not letting Ochako go hungry. “So: tuna mayo, grilled salmon and cream cheese, chicken or egg with soy sauce? You can even pick more than one flavor, I’ll be happier if you do.”
For extra leverage, Tsuyu also proceeded to put on her cutest pleading face; very few people she got along with could resist it, and Ochako had never been one of them.
She didn’t expect, anyway, to have Ochako’s face flush with pink before she replied again.
“O-okay, you win, Tsu-chan.” Was all she said, and just a millisecond after Ochako then directed her full attention at the box, picking a chicken onigiri-- for starters, hopefully, but Tsuyu had decided to let the matter go as long as she took at least one piece.
“Good.” Embarrassment was creeping up in her own face too (it was contagious, apparently), but that didn’t stop her from grinning smugly once she had gotten what she wanted.
As a celebration, and to encourage her friend further, Tsuyu took a grilled salmon one and sat at the table while starting to bite into it.
For a while, they simply ate in a comfortable silence, and she was more than delighted to see Ochako pick a second onigiri piece after being done with her first-- and even save up one for after.
“Three’s more than enough, I wouldn’t like to be awake all night now ‘cause digestion is happening.” Tsuyu’s onigiri weren’t that big, since she had rather small hands, but she didn’t comment anything on it since it was still fair; once she had gotten one too many a tad late, and sleep was delayed because of that.
“You still can pick one whenever you want, y’know.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t wanna--” Right then, instead of any other sound, it was Tsuyu herself who interrupted Ochako. She didn’t have to say more, either.
“Ochako-chan.” She let out a brief sigh, filled to the brim with fondness nonetheless and no matter what. “Just do it, it’s not an inconvenience and you don’t gotta repay me for it.” Tsuyu then shrugged.
“And if I’d feel better if I did?” Well, there were very few things to argue against that.
“Then you can just, dunno, help me with laundry and so on.” Besides, tons of dull chores were easier and more fun to tackle if done in company, so…
“Okay.” Ochako chuckled.
Even after eating, they didn’t leave right away, but spent a few minutes more idly chattering until yawning got too prominent and both agreed going back to bed was the best option. After all, they still had class the following day.
But, at the point where they had to separate to reach their respective rooms, Ochako’s hand wrapped around Tsuyu’s wrist.
“Can I ask you a tiny favor, Tsu-chan?”
“Of course.” Tsuyu didn’t hesitate.
Also, the fact they were very close to hold hands if they so wished wasn’t lost on her, and such a realization made her heart skip a beat. Nothing new, though. Maybe one day she would do something about it, but for the time being, there were classes to pass and villains to be wary of, so…
“Can this be a secret, at least for now?” Such a request made sense, given how Ochako had tried to hide the specifics of her struggles at first.
Everyone would be willing to help, and Tsuyu knew that. Damn, probably Ochako knew that too, but still had her reasons-- a mix of pride and not wanting to be seen or feel like a burden, maybe. It didn’t matter, still, because of course Tsuyu was going to respect her friends’ wishes. Besides… there was something enticing about being the only one Ochako had trusted with that. Even if it had been after catching her red-handed and calling her out of it, but well.
“Yeah, you pick when and who to tell.” It had never been Tsuyu’s place to do so, after all.
“Thanks, Tsu-chan.” Letting go of her wrist, Ochako’s hand moved down, getting entwined with Tsuyu’s and offering a squeeze which accompanied the girl’s words too. “For that and the food, obvi.”
“My pleasure.” Tsuyu answered in an instant. No matter how stereotypical or cliché it may sound; it was true.
And no, the way neither of them motioned to move away or release their hands for a while wasn’t lost on her either. Maybe one day she would do something about it indeed, classes and villains be damned.