Nightmares

Nightmare

(they're in the dorms now for sake of the ship-)

(3rd person pov)

Usually during the night, the dorms are silent.

Deadly silent.

Uraraka knows this due to the fact that she doesn't sleep much. Maybe about three days a week. And even then, barely. It's okay though. She doesn't mind. It gives her time to think.

She stays awake, listening to her roommates breathing and thinking.

Lately, there's been some.. disturbing things happening.

Including her crush almost getting her face disintegrated.

So now she hasn't slept at all.

Sometimes she'll get up and wander the dorms like a ghost. Not much, though. It makes her even more restless. So she's mostly stayed on her normal schedule, going to each of her friends' doors and pressing her ear to the door to hear their breathing.

Yes, she knows it sounds creepy. It just reassures her, to know they're okay. Alive. Breathing.

Although, sometimes when she goes to Momo's room, she hears these weird soft breathy noises. She has idea what they are, though. And on those nights, for some reason, Kyoka's room is silent. But she's sure it's not connected. And she'd never ask, then she'd have to explain what she was doing. That'd be awkward.

Tonight is like every other, she's going around, listening. Except this time, when she gets to Tsuyu's room, she hears soft crying. And she can hear her tossing and turning. This is one of the few times she likes her sensitive hearing.

She doesn't want to bother her.. but she sounds upset. Mm.. decisions, decisions.

When she hears the soft, broken kero, she can't help it.

She knocks gently, saying just loud enough for her to hear, "Hey.. Tsuyu? Are.. are you okay?"

She hears a sniffle, then rustling as she gets up.

The door opens, and reveals a red faced, puffy, teary-eyed Tsuyu. Uraraka feels her heart break a little at the sight of her usually put-together crush so broken.

Her voice is so soft it may have well been as if she hadn't spoken at all when she croaks out, "I just had a nightmare, kero. I'm.. I'm okay."

Uraraka can tell she is definitely not okay. She whispers, just as soft, "Are you sure? What.. was the nightmare about?"

At those words the tears begin flowing again, a neverending stream of them dripping down Tsuyu's face.

Uraraka's eyes widen in shock, then she impulsively pulls her friend into a hug. "It's okay. I'm here. You're going to be okay."

Tsuyu sniffles, then hesitantly wraps her arms around her, the tears still not stopping. She buries her face into her friends' shoulder, hoping it's alright.

When Uraraka hears the soft, hiccuping sobs coming from her crush, she can feel her heart shatter. She makes soft little shushing sounds, petting her hair and trying to calm her down a bit.

Once she's calmed down a little, Uraraka gently leads her to her bed, mostly so they can sit down and talk about the nightmare. (Get your minds out of the gutter-)

Tsuyu quietly follows, still sniffling softly.

Once they've sat down, and Uraraka has drawn a blanket over Tsuyu's shoulders, Uraraka can't hold it in anymore. "What.. what made you so upset, Tsuyu? What's wrong?"

Tsuyu's shoulders shake, but the tears don't reappear. "It's dumb, kero. I just.. the attack at the USJ? It really shook me up, I suppose. I've been having nightmares for a while now. They're all about the same thing, kero. The man reaching for my face, seeing my life flash before my eyes. He almost killed me.. I could've died. It's.. stupid. If.. if I'm going to be a hero, I need to know how to handle these things, kero. And I thought I could, but I guess I'm too weak for that." She's staring at the sheets, not making eye contact.

That just makes Uraraka hurt more. How can her beautiful, amazing crush think so lowly of herself? She grabs Tsuyu's hands, holding them tightly and says fiercely, "You are not weak! You are amazing, and one of the strongest people I know! Don't-don't think so badly of yourself just because you reacted like a normal person would to a traumatic event. The nightmares were inevitable, but that's why you have friends! To help you get through this! That.. that's why you have me. To help you. Because you don't have to deal with this by yourself."

She knows she's being a bit hypocritical, considering she hasn't told anyone about her not sleeping problem, but she can't help herself. She hates that Tsu thinks so badly of herself, it breaks her heart. All she wants is for her to be okay.

Tsuyu sniffles again, and laughs softly. "Thank.. thank you, kero. I'm sorry, I really should know better than to be selfish and keep everything to myself. It's a.. coping mechanism, I guess." A thought pops into her head, making her furrow her brows and look at Uraraka strangely. "But.. why are you here, kero? It's, like, midnight. Why are you awake still? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

Uraraka laughs nervously, and shifts around a bit. "I.. never fell asleep. I was going around the dorms because I wanted to check on you all, and heard you crying. I'm sorry if I disturbed you." A soft gloss over the real problem, but it's alright. She'll explain eventually, when the time is right.

Tsuyu, being sleepy still and confused, nods slowly. "You didn't disturb me, kero. You actually really helped.. thank you." If she didn't know any better, she'd say Tsu was blushing.

Uraraka blushes herself, and realizes she's still holding her hands. She carefully untangles their fingers. "Of course. What are.. friends.. for?" She makes as if to stand and leave, smiling a little sadly. "I-I should probably go, huh? I'll let you sleep." She lets out a nervous little laugh.

Tsuyu doesn't like that idea. She grabs at her hand again as she stands, making a soft, distressed kero. She whispers, "Please stay. I-I don't want to be alone anymore, kero."

Oh what that does to Uraraka's heart. She smiles again, more genuine this time. "Of course. I'll stay as long as you want." She settles back into the bed, ready to stay as long as she's allowed, when she's tackled to the sheets and feels Tsuyu nuzzle into her stomach, whispering almost too soft to hear, "Thank you."

Uraraka might die. She manages to answer, just as soft, "You're welcome. Let's go to sleep."

Tsuyu hums and closes her eyes, falling asleep within at least less than five minutes.

Uraraka closes her eyes as well, and falls asleep holding Tsuyu. Let her just say, it's the best night of sleep she's had in years.

In the morning, there may be slightly awkward explanations and maybe even some confessing, but for now, they'll sleep peacefully, safe in each other's arms.

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I thought there weren't enough Tsuraraka stories, so my brain supplied this. 

Enjoy, and please leave a vote and comment!!