Tea Talk- MHA One-shot

Tea Talk

Love is a mystery.

At first, the idea of love seems warm and welcoming- something you yourself would want to try. But it isn't that easy. You can't try love, you can only experience it. There are no choices, no forks in the road. Just a twisting path of fate.

It's a beautiful blossom- gorgeous and resilient. And then, slowly, the flower unfurls its petals and unleashes its colorful glory for every pollinator to see. It makes itself an example of love so that other flowers will blossom, too.

But not all love turns out so successful. Sometimes doubts steps on it like a huge, unknown foot, the unsuspecting shadow being the only warning. Other times, anxieties pelter every delicate petal like a rainstorm. At first, it's tolerable, but the weight of the water collapses and bends the stem.

Ochako's case, however, was unique. It wasn't a foot, or a rainstorm that had crushed her ideality of love. No, her flower had yet to blossom- it was just a bud. A very stubborn bud, one that wasn't going to blossom any time soon.

The thought of love wasn't welcoming anymore- it was destructive. 

The shrieking of smoke from the tea kettle snapped the brunette out of her thoughts.  She winced at the loud noises and quickly lifted the kettle from the deep red stovetop. A teacup awaited nearby, and she carefully poured the hot water into it. The steam curled up from the surface, and Ochako gently blew on it.

She turned over to a cabinet and yanked it open, revealing boxes of different types of tea Momo had stocked the kitchens with. It wasn't uncommon for there to be someone drinking some tea in the kitchen, or chatting over tea during breakfast. But Ochako was almost sure that nobody woke up so early to drink tea alone.

She glanced back and forth between all the different types of tea. She usually had green tea, but trying something new wouldn't hurt. A tin box in the far corner stuck out to her. She bent in closer to read the label- Darjeeling.

She pulled out the container, only to find that it wasn't filled with tea bags. Peering in, a strong, aromatic scent penetrated her nose and she reeled back. These weren't tea bags, but rather raw  tea powder.

She put in two spoons of the powder and mixed, and then tossed three cubes of sugar in, too. The white crystals joined the dark amber color and completely disappeared.

Leaning back, Ochako took her cup with both hands and sipped. Warm. Citrus. 

Delicious.

She smiled. Making tea was something she loved to do, and it always calmed her down, too. The container of Darjeeling would be empty in a few days...

"Uraraka?"

Ochako almost dropped her tea, and just the idea of making even more noise in the middle of the night was enough to make her grimace. She hoped this wasn't Tsu, who'd tell her to get her sleep, or Iida, who'd chastise her about waking up so early, or Deku, who was virtually the core of her problems at the moment.

It was none of the three. A disgruntled purple-haired girl stood at the doorway, wearing an over-sized shirt and shorts. The bags under her eyes suggested she was having as much trouble sleeping as Ochako was.

"Jiro-san?" Ochako said meekly, mishandling her cup. Another possibility rocked her head- what if Jiro had heard her earlier, and she'd come to see what was going on?

Jiro's next words proved her wrong. "I didn't think you'd be up so early," she said quietly. "I was going to get a drink."

"O-oh! Go ahead!" Ochako felt weird as she said those words- it wasn't like she owned the kitchen...but assuming that Jiro was feeling awkward enough to ask, she probably would've done the same thing, too.