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Ochako took a slurp of her tea, a storm cloud whirling in the pit of her stomach.
Tsu frowned, the back of her warm hand bumping against Ochako’s. “Are you okay, Ochako-chan? You’ve been acting strange all day, ribbit.”
“I’m fine,” Ochako lied, tossing a grin in Tsu’s direction. And well, that wasn’t entirely a lie. She loved every second of being around Tsu, even before her feelings got in the way. She’d always been one to fall in love fast and hard, so when she developed a crush on Tsu at school at the end of her second year, she hadn’t made much of it. After all, she’d put so much into her crush on Izuku and had to bear months of pain as he pined and pined over Todoroki Shouto. Not that she resented him for it, of course. They were great together and Ochako was thrilled they were so happy. But still, Ochako remembered confessing to Tenya late one night, it made her wonder if anyone would ever make her as happy as Todoroki and Izuku made each other. Of course, in true Tenya fashion, he had reassured her that she was one of the kindest, most ambitious people he knew and that she was sure to find the perfect person for her out there someday.
Tsu frowned, yanking Ochako back to the present. “You look upset, ribbit. What’s wrong?”
Ochako’s first instinct was to refuse— but that would only raise more questions, and she didn’t want to make Tsu worry. They were training to be pro heroes, after all. Tsu had way more important things to think about than Ochako’s girl troubles. Not to mention the Tsu was the cause of said girl troubles, and Ochako would rather die than admit that to her.
“I.. it’s nothing. Just crush troubles.”
“Oh,” Tsu’s eyes widened, her eyebrows lowered. “Do you want to talk about it, ribbit?”
“I…” Ochako hesitated, her heart beating out a frantic rhythm of thisisabadideathisisabadidea. “It’s just that I’ve had feelings for this person for a long time and I don’t think they’ll ever notice or, you know, feel the same way.”
Tsu nodded, staring down at her bubble tea as the cherry blossoms above whirled in a cloud of pink and white. “Anyone would be happy to have you as a girlfriend, Ochako-chan. Izuku-kun is a fool if he can’t see that, ribbit.”
Ochako blinked. “What?”
Tsu tensed, peering up at Ochako with wide eyes. “You were talking about Izuku-kun, right, ribbit?
Ochako stared down at her tea, her heart beating into her throat. “I, uh… I’ve actually been over Izuku for a long time.”
Tsu’s eyes widened. “Oh.”
“Yeah, I…” Ochako scratched the back of her neck self-consciously. “I wasn’t actually talking about a boy at all.”
Tsu’s tongue lolled of her mouth in shock.
Ochako cleared her throat, her breathing ragged. Her pulse raced. It wasn’t like Tsu was the first person she came out to— far from it. She’d come out to Izuku and Tenya few days before convincing Izuku to finally ask Shouto out on a date. And Katsuki was pretty openly gay, so she was sure he’d accept her. Still, it took Momo and Jirou publically dating for Ochako to muster the courage to come out to Katsuki. But still… a class-wide announcement was still something she didn’t have enough courage for yet. And if she was being honest, most of it was because of Tsu. She knew the class would accept her. Most of them had been publically out since second year. But there was something different about telling Tsu. She wanted a chance. And if Tsu took the moment to come out to her, did she want to risk that chance getting crushed? And honestly, did she even want to know that there was one? Her friendship with Tsu was amazing, crush or no. Did she want to risk ruining it for herself?
“So… you’re bi? Or pan, ribbit?”
The butterflies in Ochako’s stomach had rapidly become extremely large, extremely angry moths. Ochako swallowed hard. “I’m bi.”
Tsu nodded, the back of her hand brushing against Ochako’s. Ochako thought maybe she would just spontaneously combust, contact aside.
Tsu adjusted her grip on her bubble tea. “I’m a lesbian, ribbit.”
The world shuddered to a stop. Ochako’s face was undoubtedly as pink as Mina’s hair.
Tsu tensed at Ochako’s side. “If that’s a problem—“
“Oh, no! Not at all!”
Tsu relaxed. “Okay, good.”
They walked in silence for another block or so, the giggles of a gaggle of schoolchildren who raced past them echoing in Ochako’s brain.
“So... is it Momo, ribbit?”
Ochako almost choked on her tea. “What?”
“Sorry. That’s none of my business, ribbit.” Tsu said, a faint blush burning onto her pale cheeks.
Ochako was about two seconds from a heart attack. She had panicked as soon as Tsu offered to take her out for bubble tea, even without Tsu destroying everything she’d said. Did she lie? What would Tsu do? Probably nothing, knowing her, but the idea of lying to her just… didn’t sit right. Tsu was so compassionate and sweet, and kind of like the glue that held them all together. And besides, wasn’t it time that she took her own advice?
“I just don’t know, Ochako,” Izuku had said, clutching his limited-edition All Might pillow for dear life. “What if he—“
“If he’s really your friend, he’ll acknowledge how you feel. He won’t push you away.” Tenya said, his frown as serious as ever.
“But I just don’t know if I’m brave enough!” Izuku wailed, slumping into the pile of blankets he’d created.
Ochako grabbed Izuku’s hand, her voice firm. “Deku, you’re the bravest person I know. So if anyone can do this, you can.”
Izuku looked unconvinced, but he nodded slowly. “Okay.”
Ochako cheered, punching Izuku’s shoulder. “Go get ‘im, Deku!”
Ochako took a deep breath, her hands shaking. “It’s not Momo.”
Tsu blinked, her face red.
“I was…” Ochako cleared her throat, tightening her grip on her half-empty tea. “I was talking about you, actually.”
Tsu’s eyes widened. “Oh,”
Ochako giggled nervously. “Yeah. Sorry, I know—“
“I actually... have a crush on you too, ribbit,” Tsu said nervously.
Ochako was pretty sure her entire world was falling apart at the seams. “You…”
Tsu took a deep breath, her eyes darting from the ground to Ochako’s face. “Could I kiss you, ribbit?”
Ochako’s eyes were wide, but before she could think, she darted forward to press her mouth to Tsu’s.
It was everything she’d dreamed of since second year. Tsu’s lips were softer than she thought. Tsu tasted like rain and sugar and green tea, and Ochako knew she was soaring. Nothing could bring her down now.
Ochako took a deep breath. “You have a crush on me?”
“Since first year, actually, ribbit,” Tsu said, twirling a long strand of her dark green hair around her finger nervously.
The rush of euphoria set in slow, but Ochako felt like she was flying. And for once, she didn’t ever, ever want to come down. “You—we—“ she grinned. “We could have done this a lot earlier.”
Tsu grinned, and Ochako thought it was the prettiest thing she’d ever seen. “Yeah.”