Snow Birds

What a Klutz

Beep..Beep..Beep

"It'll be 38.70 ma'am!"

"Thanks Uraraka, you're such a sweetheart, as always.", a young woman smiled.

Ochaco pushed a couple strands of her chocolate locs behind her ear and gave a smug smile.

"Only for you ma'am. I'm just doing my job", she grinned.

The lovely woman always came in twice a month like clockwork with her pretty shades on. She was a regular, and Uraraka always loved her feisty persona. She gave her laughs on the job.

"Well, here's a tip anyway. I'm sure those bastards you call your managers aren't going to give anyone a holiday bonus.", she snickered.

Ochaco gave an uncomfortable laugh knowing her bosses weren't too far behind her. She gave a reassuring smile as she looked down at the tip the woman gave her. Her brown doe eyes bugged and she immediately pushed her hand away.

"Ma'am, I believe you took out the wrong amount. This is 500 dollars!", she whispered.

"It's all right dear, I'm aware. You've been working so hard here for the past couple months and I know your parents are going away this week from what you've told me, am I right? You have a nice Christmas and try take off a while! At least get a nice gift."

Ochaco blinked back tears and sputtered.

"Miss I-"

"My husband and I are going away for Christmas as well, so I won't be able to tip you then. Just think of it as all your tips in one, okay?"

The woman walked away as the flustered girl kept looking back and forth to the money and her.

"H-Have a wonderful Christmas, ma'am! Thank you so much!", she called out.

She took a look at the decorative clock to realize her shift was up. She quickly threw off her apron and grabbed her coat and bag on the way to clock out. She thought about what the woman had said. She was still so shocked that she had received such a tip from her kindness alone.

She glanced at her manager on his computer typing away. She tapped on the open door and popped her small head inside.

"Uh, sir?"

"Ma'am?", he said looking up from his computer slightly.

Ochaco took a deep breath and a quick prayer.

"I know this is short notice, but I wanted to inquire if I could take off this following week...if that's a-alright with you? If not it's okay but I was just asking an-"

The manager looked away from her and at the calendar on his wall and then looked back at her with a small smile.

"You haven't asked for much all year, have you hun?" he questioned.

Ochaco shook her head slowly wondering if it was a trick question. The manager had always been pretty chill...but still. He put his index finger up and looked at the calendar, then his computer.

"Tell you what. You caught me in a pretty good mood and honestly I have a good amount of holiday staff. I can give you your pay you for a week off, but the next week I need you here. Does that work?"

Ochaco shook her head up and down so fast with a big smile her brown bangs flopped like a jump rope. A paid vacation! Right on the spot!? She thought. He's never done that before! This is the best day everr!

"Thank you so much sir! Have a Merry Christmas!", she exclaimed while punching out quickly before he changed his mind.

As soon as the automatic door opened a cool burst of wind ran across her already pink cheeks. It caressed her hair and flicked her lips. She quickly bundled up her scarf around her neck and face. Her work uniform consisted of black high waisted pants and a large collared white long sleeve. She wore her worn black high top converse since they were the only black shoes she had for the dress code. Thank God she had brought her nice black boots Momo gave her for secret Santa the other day at school. She changed into them on the side of the building and tied her converse to her bag. They matched her coat and scarf, along with a black beanie she bought herself from her last paycheck.

*None of that is important, but y'all don't know what she looks like atm*

Winter Break had started for the UA students, their last one at that (they are now third years), and seventeen year old Ochaco Uraraka was prepared to work the entire time. Her father had gotten a heavy increase in work early December which allowed him to take his wife on a small trip. Ochaco insisted it be just them, knowing they haven't had any alone time in so long. He already paid rent and electricity for the month, so Uraraka's only responsibility was her stomach. Now that she was getting paid for a week without working and received the 500$ from the kind woman, she basically had it made.

Is this what it feels like to be rich? Ochaco thought.

She skipped happily as her mid-length brown hair carried the breeze and her pink cheeks brightened. She tapped her fresh new Timberland boots with her fingers to give her some pep in her step on the way home. She loved the winter and all that it came with. The cheery atmosphere from people selling their holiday merchandise, the warm drinks that you could smell from every cafe, and the sparkling lights from the Christmas trees that were even brighter during the night sky. The soft snow that kissed her long eyelashes and hugged her boots were her favorite.

She smiled even brighter knowing she could tell her friends she could hang out over the break. She turned around and took a deep breath.

"Nothing could ruin this beautiful day!"

She then turned back around and smacked face first into a pole. At least it had Christmas lights on it.

A boy with spikey but soft blonde hair not too far from her flinched at the sound of the bang. He looked around carefully.

"... what the heck was that?", he mumbled.

He did a full 360 degree turn to make sure he wasn't going crazy and saw a light pink jacket in the snow along with.. chocolate fur on top?

He squinted and jogged a little and then rolled his eyes.

"Not this idiot".