Notes: First fic in the BNHA fandom. Please be gentle because I am soft. And I have no idea where I'm going with this besides what the rating implies. Enjoy, I hope.

Tuesday.

Normally not a busy day, but for some reason it was currently the busiest shift of Ochako Uraraka's short life as a barista for the local independent café Runner. The clamor and noise was enough to make anyone scream. Ochako wasn't sure how to handle it all, and considered her colleagues superheroes of their own right.

Just another hour…

"Uraraka! Take care of the next set of customers, please!" her colleague - whose name escaped her at the moment – shouted out.

"Y-yes!" Ochako nodded and slid over to the register. "May I hel—" her greeting was cut off as she acknowledged this customer.

A girl with long teal-black hair, tied down at the bottom in the form of a bow; large black eyes and lush lashes; and the most piercing gaze, although Ochako wasn't sure if the girl's expression was vacant or if she was just studying Ochako intensely. "Kero," she uttered. "I'd like to place my order, please." Her voice was flat and a little scratchy as well. Interesting.

"A-ah, yes! What can I get for you?"

The girl's gaze travelled to behind Ochako: the menu. "I need a green tea iced latte," she said simply. "Large. That is all."

Ochako became flustered as her fingers flurried across the register's screen. "Ah, okay, that'll be 550yen, please!"

"That much?" the girl commented as she handed Ochako a small set of bills. "Well. Can't be helped."

"I'm sorry…" Ochako couldn't help saying.

"It's not your fault." The girl curtly said and made her way to a table to await her order.

A few minutes later, Ochako was relieved of the register, and her colleague asked her to serve the orders that were ready. She grabbed a serving tray and one by one gathered the cups of hot and cold beverages. The first order up was that interesting girl's latte.

Or so Ochako thought.

"This is a cappuccino," the girl deadpanned after one sip.

"Wahh! I'm sorry! I'll go fix it!" Ochako began to flail but instantly recalled she was carrying others' drinks.

"It's fine," the girl continued to drink the apparent cappuccino. "It's not that bad at all." She directed her gaze to Ochako, who bristled at the sudden eye contact. "What's your name?"

"Ah. Ochako. Ochako Uraraka." Ochako stammered.

"Call me Tsuyu."

"O-okay?" Ochako was confused at the informality but then truly remembered she had to serve more drinks and she yelped as she continued her task.

Her shift was over before she knew it. Ochako let out a loud sigh of relief as she punched out and began to gather her belongings.

She looked around the interior of the café, assessing the situation. Huh?

Tsuyu was still there. Staring blankly at the wall, it seemed.

Maybe she needs something?

"Uh, um," Ochako stammered as she approached Tsuyu. "Did you need something else?"

Tsuyu turned to look at her.

Those large eyes…

Tsuyu said simply, "No. Not really."

"Not really?" Ochako tilted her head slightly. She stood up straight. "I'm sorry again about the drink!"

Tsuyu blinked. "I told you it's fine."

"R-right…" Ochako rubbed the back of her head. "Anyway…"

Tsuyu stood up. "Have a good day," and started making her way to the doors.

Ochako was the one to blink this time as she watched her exit.

The next day was even busier.

Ochako didn't expect to see Tsuyu again. But she did, and she let out a small yelp when Tsuyu was the next in line. "Oh, it's you again!"

"Can I get what I got yesterday?" Tsuyu asked.

"Y-yeah! Iced green tea cappuccino, right?" Ochako clarified even though she remembered the beverage.

Tsuyu nodded, and Ochako hurriedly rang her up.

Tsuyu smiled as she gave Ochako the correct amount of money needed, and made her way to the same table she sat at before.

Ochako felt something in her chest flip. Tsuyu had a cute smile.

Maybe she and I can talk when I clock out?

There was an hour left on Ochako's shift. She wanted to get to know Tsuyu better. There just was something about her that was quite compelling.

Quite suddenly, she was slammed with customers and had to put Tsuyu out of her mind, and soon enough, it was time to clock out.

Ochako made herself a latte to take home with her, grabbed her purse, and walked toward Tsuyu's table, quietly cheering when she saw Tsuyu still sitting there, scrolling on her phone.

"Ah, Tsuyu-san?"

Tsuyu looked up from her phone. "Yes?"

"Can I… can I sit here with you?"

Tsuyu made a pondering pose as she replied, "You want to sit here with me?" and as Ochako nodded, she said, "Sure," with another cute smile. Ochako felt her heart do another small flip.

There was a long silence as the two regarded each other once Ochako sat down opposite Tsuyu.

"So, I've never seen you here before yesterday," Ochako began.

"I actually come here a lot," Tsuyu flatly said. "You're the one I hadn't seen before." The corners of her mouth turned up in a sort of smirk. "Are you new?"

"Actually… well. Yes," Ochako blushed. "I only started last week or so."

"Yappari."

"Is that a bad thing?" Ochako began to feel nervous.

"Nah." Tsuyu said before focusing her gaze directly at Ochako. "It's cute."

"Eh?!" Ochako's blushing intensified. "C-cute?"

"You're cute."

"Ts-Tsuyu-san, you can't just say that!"

"Why not? I speak my mind all the time."

Ochako found she had no answer for that. "Anyway…"

Time passed quickly as the two girls chatted. It turned out they both went to the same school; the same class, even. Ochako was embarrassed that she had never noticed Tsuyu before. A shame, really, because she seemed like a really nice girl.

Ochako suddenly stood up when she noticed the time. "Oh! I should get going!" she yelped. "But!" she grabbed a napkin and pulled a pen from her purse. "Here's my number!"

Tsuyu stared at the napkin. "So I just… text you and you'll add me in there?" she queried.

"Yeah!"

Tsuyu stared at Ochako. "Have a good evening, Ochako-san."

Ochako nodded with a nervous smile. "You too, Tsuyu-san."

Tsuyu went home with a fluttering in her chest she couldn't quite place. She wasn't lying about Ochako being cute. But, maybe… maybe she shouldn't have said it out loud, after all.

Well, there wasn't much to do about it now. It happened, it was said. Done.

When she got home, she dropped her bag abruptly by the door and made her way to her bedroom.

She didn't close the bedroom door. Before forcefully landing on her bed, she pulled out the napkin with Ochako's number on it, and put it down on her pillow. She then grabbed her phone. Slowly but surely, double-checking each keypad entry, she entered Ochako's number into her contacts.

Should I text her?

She stared at her phone for what seemed an eternity. She bristled when she heard knocking at her doorway.

"Tsuyu, dear, come eat dinner," her mother said.

"Kero. Oh yeah." Tsuyu had completely forgotten about eating dinner. It just didn't occur to her. She didn't even feel hungry but she knew she had to eat, so she followed her mother to the dining room.

She mindlessly ate her dinner, still mulling over in her head the question of whether to send Ochako a message or not. She should.

She got up from the table and put her dishes in the sink, running them under the faucet for exactly a minute before turning the water off.

"Tsuyu, you really don't need to do that every night," her mother chuckled.

Tsuyu bluntly responded, "Yes I do," as she she shook her hands dry and left the kitchen, making her way back to her room.

She sat on her bed once more, staring at her phone. "Kero…" she sighed before pulling the phone close to her face as she typed out, "THIS IS TSUYU," sticking her tongue out as she pressed send.

She jumped when she got an immediate response from Ochako: "OH, HI! I WAS WONDERING WHEN YOU WERE GOING TO TEXT ME!"

Tsuyu blushed. "Kero. Kero…" Ochako was thinking about her? That was… nice.

"YEAH, I JUST WAS BUSY WITH DINNER AND STUFF."

"IT'S OKAY! NO WORRIES!"

Tsuyu smiled. Then a text from her friend Habuko arrived. "ANY DEVELOPMENTS, TSUYU-CHAN?"

Tsuyu's smile widened as she replied, "WE JUST EXCHANGED NUMBERS."

"GOOD!" Habuko's reply was quite enthusiastic.

Tsuyu nodded as she switched back to the conversation with Ochako. Texting was easier for the articulation of feelings.

Tsuyu had had a crush on Ochako since the beginning of school. She found out about Ochako's part-time job at the café she frequented and was pleased. It meant she could get closer without being creepy, something she tried not to come across as. Therefore, she knew better than to outright ask Ochako out at the café, despite her usual penchant for saying whatever happened to come to mind.

The nerves were intense. Tsuyu almost didn't want to go through with it because of the intensity of her anxiety. Her chest tightened, and she finally gulped. "Kero," and typed out, very slowly: "OCHAKO-SAN. LET'S GO ON A DATE."

She hoped this—admittedly somewhat impulsive—action on her feelings didn't bite her in the ass.

Ochako was stunned. She read the text over and over.

She didn't want to reject Tsuyu, but… goodness. Shouldn't they get to know each other better first before a… date?

Her inner critic shouted, "What do you think a date is?"

She found herself agreeing. True, a few dates with someone involved getting to know them better. So. Why not.

She bit her lip and sent a simple, "OKAY."

Ochako had to admit that Tsuyu was cute, so how could she say no? Maybe this wouldn't turn out badly.

"A date…" Ochako murmured. She glanced out her bedroom window and smiled. "Not a bad idea."