Ochako has always been protective about her phone. For starters, she can't really afford to replace it with the same model if it were to get broken (even though her current phone is already years out of date). It's not like she has anything incriminating on her phone. There's nothing inappropriate. No questionable favorites, no pictures she wouldn't want her parents to see. It's just that - well...
Ochako's search history is embarrassing. Like, really embarrassing.
Normally it's full of questions like 'what meal can I make with a quarter of a jar of sauce and some lettuce', or 'are expiration dates for real' . She can deal with that getting exposed. It's pretty well known that Ochako is thrifty - and not by choice. No, that's not why her search history is embarrassing.
It only gets weird when Ochako gets a crush.
'how to tell if a girl likes you'
'how to tell if a girl likes you (gay)'
'how to tell girl eyes pretty'
'is it weird to help a girl fix her hair'
'how long is too long to touch hands on accident'
'she followed me back but didn't like any of my photos'
Ochako scrolls aimlessly through the results of her latest search. The sigh that rattles out of her is not the first one of the night, but it is the saddest one yet. She has half a mind to chuck her phone down and roll over, burying her face in the couch cushions. None of the answers were helpful. They never were. Ochako knew that she was just browsing through them hoping to find something that would match up with what she wanted to do. She just needed that little push to tell her that yeah, it was totally okay for her to DM someone at 1:13 AM on a Tuesday.
She's never had problems making friends before. That stuff was easy. Even with someone more reserved like her roommate, Tsuyu, it had never been an issue. Being sociable just came naturally to her.
The difference is that she doesn't want to be friends with Momo Yaoyorozu.
Her life would be so much easier if that was all that she wanted. Earlier that night, Ochako had been filled with so much hope and bravery (and maybe just a little bit of beer) that she had finally toughened up and sent a follow request to - well, like, all of her social media accounts.
The good news: Yaoyorozu had accepted her follow requests.
The bad news: She hadn't liked the picture Ochako had posted that evening.
Ochako thought she had looked cute. She was wearing her favorite sweater, she was smiling, the lighting was great, Tsuyu was holding the camera at the perfect angle for her - all the right elements were there. Still, the time stamp mocks her. Posted five hours ago. 52 likes. Not a single one of them being Yaoyorozu.
It's not meant to be; this is the social media gods laying the facts out straight for her. She refreshes her activity feed one more time, just to be sure. Nope. Nothing. A sigh pours out of her, her body emptying and going slack on the arm of the couch. No matter how many times she rattled it, eight-ball kept coming up with 'sorry, loser, there's no chance in hell'. Ochako clicks back to Yaoyorozu's profile. If it's never going to happen then she can at least dream about what it might be like.
Her profile is on another level. The way it's all organized makes it look so professional. Yaoyorozu makes social media management look easy. The aesthetic is flawless, the theme never broken, colors always complimenting each other even in grid view. It's like an example from one of her media communication textbooks. Yaoyorozu could really do great if she ever decided to switch her minor from hero informatics. How does she pull this off..? Ochako wonders idly. A photo catches her eye. She isn't thinking about applied social media management tactics anymore.
The photo in question? An artfully taken studio quality pic of Yaoyorozu, beaming at the camera with the soft closed-mouth smile that Ochako has practically committed to memory. It's as casual as if she had just happened to glance over her shoulder and the lighting had been flawless - and oh, wow, look at that, a camera. Good thing her makeup was camera ready.
Ochako sighs wistfully, her chest tightening faintly. She can't afford to see a cardiologist. She has to do something else. She decides she should probably be responsible and check her only assignments. Ochako taps the screen quickly and -
Oh, shit .
Ochako's heart stops. The soft, affectionate squeeze of a crush turns into the vice grip of fear. The evidence is damning. A bright red heart in the corner of the photo, burning a hole into her phone screen. Okay - okay, maybe it's not that bad. Ochako drags her eyes across the screen, making use of the time to pray to anyone that was listening to please, just this one time, have mercy on her poor, dumb, heart.
Posted two years ago.
Ochako slowly sets her phone down. She nods to herself. This is fine. This is totally fine. There's no reason to freak out. She sits up slowly and draws her knees to her chest. The placid, empty smile on her face doesn't waver as she locks her phone and sets it down.
"It's over!" She wails. The eerie calm is broken. She presses her palms against her eyes
A soft ribbiting rose up from the other side of the room. Ochako wishes she found the sound more comforting. She drops her hands from her face and looks to her roommate.
"What's wrong?" Tsuyu asks. She barely even glances up from her textbook. Ochako buries her face in her knees and groans. She picks her phone up and holds it out for her roommate to see. She can't stand to look at the evidence of her late night creeping again. Tsuyu leans back in her chair and squints at the screen. "Oh. Well, unlike it. Yaoyorozu doesn't get on social media much anyway."
"She still gets notifications," Ochako says into her knees. Her life is over. She's going to die alone. The whole campus is going to publicly lampoon her.
"It's just a photo," Tsuyu counters. She's trying to be helpful - Ochako knows that. It doesn't make it easier to hear.
"It makes me look desperate, Tsu," she grumbles.
Tsuyu doesn't say anything - probably because she knows that she won't get anywhere in this conversation until Ochako has calmed down a little. Tsuyu never has these problems, Ochako thinks. Tsuyu was either shameless or ignorant to social media etiquette. It was a long-running topic of debate amongst their friends. Ochako's money had always been on both.
Ochako flops back onto the couch and throws an arm over her eyes. Her traitorous phone is discarded by her hip. This is a disaster.
She can't stand laying there with all sorts of exaggerated fantasies playing through her mind. She needs to take action. There's got to be a way to fix this. Ochako sits up and grabs her phone again, declaring a truce. She pulls it close to her chest and taps out a new query.
What to do if you accidentally liked a photo from two years ago HELP
Ochako pours over the results, desperately searching for some loophole to make the notification disappear. Her phone is inches from her face.
"Don't you have an 8 A.M.?" Tsuyu asks.
Ochako freezes. Her hands tighten around her phone. Nausea rises and burns in her throat. She does have a morning class. It's the class that she shares with Yaoyorozu.
"Tsu?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm gonna die."
