I'll always be there ~Tsuchako~

First signs of a crush

(Tsu's POV)

It was winter, and everyone was gathered in the main area of the dorms for coffee and hot chocolate.

Due to some trouble with News reporters at UA, we were given more free time in the dorms. Most of us usually spent that time playing games or just talking to eachother instead of doing anything productive.

"Who's up for a Mariokart tournament?!" Kaminari held up two wireless Nintendo Switch controllers while standing on one of the sofas.

"Kaminari! Get down from there!" Iida lifted his hands up and down in a karate chop motion, like he usually does to maintain order.

"Ooh! Me! Me! I'll race!" Mina raised her hands, and Kaminari threw her a controller.

"I'LL BEAT YOUR ASS TO THE GROUND DUNCE-FACE!!" Bakugo yelled, and Kaminari also threw him a controller.

"Stop throwing the controllers! You're going to break something!" Iida continued to scold Kaminari.

"Over here Kaminari!" Kirishima and Sero called for controllers too, so Kaminari threw two more.

"Stop!" Iida said.

I usually enjoy watching everyone interact with eachother, our class had always been very... energetic.

"Hey Tsu! We're going to Deku's dorm to get away from the noise," Ochako came up to me with a cute grin on her face, "wanna come?"

"Sure!" I replied, smiling.

Ochako has been the light of my life ever since we became friends. She's so cheerful, and always carries her adorable smile wherever she goes. She's the kindest person I've ever met. Of course, I've always hoped we'd be more than friends one day, but I'd rather be friends than nothing.

I followed Ochako to Midoriya's dorm. Midoriya and Todoroki were already there.

"Oh, hey Asui!" Midoriya smiled, holding his notebook.

"Hi Midoriya," I replied, "you know I told you to call me Tsu."

"Oh, right, sorry." He said, scratching the back of his head.

"Ah! I should get Iida too!" Ochako left the room, leaving me with the two boys.

I looked over at Todoroki who was sitting on Midoriya's bed, eating soba. "Where'd you get that?" I asked him.

"In the fridge."

"Well I figured that, I just didn't know we had any."

"I always get soba." He said, turning back to his noodles.

Soon enough Ochako returned to the room, Iida was close behind her. "Ah yes, you've always had a very interesting dorm room Midoriya." Iida said putting his glasses back in place.

"Haha, thanks." Midoriya showed a nervous smile.

Inviting himself in, Iida walked into the room and started examining Midoriya's All Might posters. "So, what are we going to do?" He asked.

I sat down on the floor near the window and Ochako sat next to me and smiled. So I smiled back.

"Here," Ochako pulled out her phone, "I'll look up fun activities to do with friends."

Everyone was silent as Ochako scrolled through her phone. And we could hear Bakugo cursing at the TV from outside.

"Hmm, a lot of these are activities to do outside when it's warmer.... Oh! Here! We can go ice skating!"

"That would be fun!" Midoriya said, "I'm sure you'd be great at that Todoroki."

"Hm?" Todoroki looked up from his soba and didn't hear what was going on.

I didn't want to break the good mood. Everyone looked so excited about going ice skating, but my body doesn't handle cold temperatures very well because of my quirk. I usually just go into hibernation.

"Are you alright Tsu?" Ochako looked at me with concern in her beautiful brown eyes. I probably looked upset somehow even though I didn't say anything.

"Oh! Yeah, I'm ok. Ribbit." I replied. "I just was concerned a little, I might not be able to join you guys because my quirk puts me in hibernation when I'm exposed to the cold."

"Oh.." I felt Ochako's hand on my back. "If you got a lot of warm coats, do you think you could come?"

Even though I was questioning the idea, everyone looked excited about going, so I decided it was a risk I was willing to take. And even if I did fall into hibernation, I'm sure they would take care of me, right?

"Yeah, maybe," I said quietly with a small smile, "we'll never know 'til we try right?"

"Okay great!" A warm smile formed on Ochako's face. It made me happy to see her happy, so as long as I last at least a little while out on the ice, I'll be able to see her having a good time. That's all I want.

[Timeskip]

It was starting to get dark out, but there was an ice rink that was lit up by lanterns and candles. It was so pretty.

After we all got on our snow gear and our ice skates it was time to get on the ice. I was wearing 3 layers of coats, 2 layers of snowpants, a super thick scarf that covered my mouth and a beanie. It was so hard to move around. I felt like that kid's brother from A Christmas Story who 'couldn't put his arms down'.

Ochako helped me put on ice skates and helped me get onto the ice. I felt so embarrassed. I probably looked like a walking marshmallow.

After a little practice, I eventually figured out how to skate with all the layers. And Midoriya was right about Todoroki knowing how to skate. He looked like a ballerina on ice. Iida wasn't too bad himself. Midoriya lost his balance a few times, but every time he got back up, he started muttering calculations or something.

A few times Ochako came up to me and held onto my hand for balance. It was the sweetest thing ever. It didn't look like she had a lot of experience with ice skating, so I had some opportunities to teach her some of the things that I just had learned.

The night was going great. I was happy. Ochako was happy. All of us were happy.

Then, we all went around the rink one last time. I was following Iida and commenting on how graceful he was acting. As we rounded one of the corners, I saw Ochako talking to Midoriya outside of the rink. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but she looked nervous and shy. Then I saw Midoriya smile and nod to something she said. He grabbed ahold of her hands and they went back onto the ice, together. She was blushing. He was smiling. They looked happy together.

At first I didn't really think anything of it, but once we got back to the dorms, Ochako wanted to talk to me. Alone.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" I asked her.

"Well, no, not really." She said, swaying back and forth, "I just think.. that I might be in love."

My heart started beating faster, could this be the moment I was waiting for?

"I know, it's a little embarrassing.." she said with a nervous smile, "but I've been thinking about it for a long time and I thought that I could trust you with this. I wanted to tell you that I-"

The moment I had been waiting for..
The moment I thought would never happen..
My face was bright red..
I squeezed my eyes shut awaiting her words..

"I'm in love with Deku.."