"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Tsuyu's gaze turned to Izuku, her green haired, freckled classmate she had gotten stuck in the shipwreck zone with as her own black eyes widened in horror and she shook her head.

Shigaraki, the leader of the villains that had stormed the USJ was inches from her face, ready to disintegrate her when the boy had jumped into action. As if anticipating it, Shigaraki turned on his feet and reached out for Izuku, gripping his hand as the teen's power seemingly disappeared.

"Die, Izuku."

"NO! IZUKU!"

It was too late though, Izuku's body disappeared into the wind, naught more than dust. Tears started to fill the frog girl's eyes despite not being the closest to Izuku.

She had no time to cry though, trying to jump away only to feel a strong set of arms grip her tight. She turned around, only to see Nomu staring into her soul with its blank eyes.

She needed help… she needed….

"IZUKU! HELP! HELP ME!"

The roof caved in, revealing a blood red sky as a shadow appeared on the moon. A large, muscular man flipping into the facility. "I AM HERE! TO DIE!"

And indeed he was here simply to die, as Nomu suddenly pressed Tsuyu's arms against her body painfully, making her let out a cry before the creature disappeared and punched the number one pro a single time.

All Might stood there for a moment, before falling forward into the water that had turned red as the sky, as though filled with blood. The villains got what they wanted.

"Now, to finish off the rest. Starting with Tsuyu." Shigaraki announced lazily, holding up an arm. He didn't even touch her, yet Tsuyu felt her body growing lighter as it dissipated.

'No! Help! Please! Where's Izuku… why Izuku… why!?'

Yet through it all, she found herself only able to focus on the spot where Izuku had died, protecting her. Then darkness took over.

"RIBBIT!" Tsuyu Asui sat up straight in her bed, covered in a cold sweat as she breathed rapidly, feeling something stinging in her eyes. She looked around, only to see the familiar walls of her room, covered in a light green wallpaper.

Her gaze shifted to her clock as she took a few calming breathes and she let out a sigh upon seeing the time. Half past five in the morning, a whole week since the USJ incident had occurred.

'You're okay, you're fine, it's over and Midoriya is safe. Everyone is safe.' She swallowed, wiping away her tears. 'Might as well start the day now, no point in going back to sleep.'

With a groan, she threw off her covers and headed towards the bathroom, running water to splash her face, before she brushed her teeth, trying desperately to focus on anything other than the nightmare.

They'd been happening non-stop since the villains attacked, not a single night of peace had been granted to her yet. There was always a constant within them as well that made the long-haired girl sick to her stomach, the death of her classmate and friend, Izuku Midoriya.

No matter how a given dream would play out, by the end he would be dead by either Shigaraki or Nomu's hands and she hated it. They weren't close by any means, as they'd only really started talking a few days before the USJ incident even took place but he was still her friend and he'd gone out his way, putting his life at risk in an attempt to save her, even if Nomu had ultimately thwarted it.

So she absolutely hated every moment she saw him fade into dust or worse, knowing there was nothing she could do about it as it was just a dream. She just had to settle for seeing he was alright in class the following day usually.

Shaking her head, she spit out the last of the toothpaste in her mouth and turned off the sink, taking off out the room to go prepare breakfast for her siblings.

As soon as she stepped into the room, she sighed upon seeing the mess her younger sister, Satsuki, seemed to have left out. Using her tongue, she quickly grabbed most of the toys and dumped them into the nearby toy box kept at the foot of the couch. (Their dad usually used it as a footstool when it was closed.)

There was only one thing left to put away, a book at her feet. She picked it up and let out a small, happy croak as she recognized it. A fairy tale book her parents bought her as a little girl that had now been given to Satsuki.

It was fairly generic as far as fairy tales went. A knight saving a princess from a towering beast. It just needed the monster to be a dragon instead and it would have been the most generic fairy tale ever.

Despite that though, she absolutely loved the book as a child and seeing it again sent a small surge of happy nostalgia through her. When she looked at the book this time though… for some reason, she could picture the knight with green curls and freckles. The monster, which was never shown beyond vague silhouettes in the illustrations, looked a lot like Nomu all of a sudden as well.

She shook her head, quickly putting the book into the toy box with everything else as she turned to go deal with breakfast with a sad sigh, trying to ignore the feeling of fear rising up in her.

It was something she was sadly accustomed to. It could be easy for others to miss with the blessing and the curse of her usually stoic face but she was rather prone to the unpleasant feeling that was fear.

Even she herself hadn't been able to tell for quite a while. When your face didn't react like most people's, it could be hard for others to give you any indication of what your own feelings were, so Tsuyu had always struggled with emotions.

Though perhaps that used to be for the best, as now she was aware how often she was worried or afraid, it was almost comical at times. She did her best not to let it slip, as she was used to being laughed at enough in elementary and middle school for her quirk without letting that bit of information slip.

Of course, class 1-A, her new class at U.A. high, were nothing at all like her old bullies but despite that, she still found herself hiding it. It was instinctive by now, even if she was trying to be more open.

Still, it was hardly pleasant to find yourself constantly worrying about the future and what could have been.

She fortunately managed to distract herself from her thoughts as she had to focus on the food in front of her, quickly making a big hearty breakfast for her family. Well except for her mother, Beru, who preferred to cook for herself.

Her father, Ganma, would usually offer to help but he'd always be shot down. The Asui family has imposed the rule that the man was only allowed to sit at the table in the kitchen and do nothing else after he burnt down half their old house the last time he attempted to cook.

The first to arrive in the kitchen, as the frog girl began to set out plates was her little bundle of sunshine she called a sister, Satsuki.

"Morning, Satsuki. Ribbit." The teen greeted with a happy croak, as the frog-like child hopped up into a chair with sleepy eyes in her little nightgown, dragging a teddy bear behind her. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, I had a dream I wath playing in the othean with you, thith! Ribbit. we were looking for buried treathure, and you had a printhe!" Satsuki said animatedly, kicking her legs against the chair as she smiled, quickly digging into her grilled fish. Tsuyu simply rolled her eyes fondly.

"Again with the prince business, Satsuki? Ribbit." She asked, trying her best to raise a brow and be more expressive with her face as Satsuki was bad at reading subtler cues. The six-year-old pouted slightly, gripping her teddy tighter.

"You're in high ththool now thith! you have to get a printhe! It'th when everyone getth a printhe or a printhethth!" The young tadpole said seriously, her lisp not doing much to help her sound authoritative as much as just make Tsuyu smile at how adorable she was. "I want you to be happy!"

"I am happy. Ribbit." Tsuyu assured her sister, patting her on the head and wiping off a small bit of sauce that had gotten onto the smaller frog girl's cheek. "But I need to focus on my studying for now, okay? Ribbit. If I am going to be the best aquatic hero I can be, I wouldn't have time for a prince. You watch too many movies, sis. Ribbit."

"Nuh-uh! No thuth thing ath too many movieth, tthuyu!" Satsuki said with a light glare, making Tsuyu shake her head as she sat down at her own seat.

"Morning." A bored new voice said, making both girls look over to their brother and middle child of their family, Samidare Asui, had taken a seat across from them. Both said hi quickly but not much more, as he usually preferred to be left alone in the morning… and the afternoon… and really all the time, but especially in the morning.

The rest of breakfast was fairly uneventful after that, even when their father joined as he was rather quick, downing his food before planting a kiss on each of his childrens' heads and hurried off to catch the train to his workplace.

It was only a short fifteen minutes later Tsuyu herself was waving goodbye to her siblings, wearing her U.A. uniform. She was in no hurry, as she still had plenty of time before their homeroom would begin.

Her journey was quiet and uneventful for the most part, the majority of it spent looking at the news on her phone. A new hero debuting, a few fights in a few nearby cities that almost got out of hand and a celebrity joining a popular television show.

All in all, a pretty slow news day. She was just glad she wasn't seeing more mentions of the USJ incident for once. She had departed the train, checking the time on her phone as she walked up to the gates of her school, glad to see she still had five minutes before homeroom began.

Looking up, she was surprised to see a familiar messy head of green hair not too far ahead of her. She picked up her pace a little, coming up to his side. "Hello Midoriya. Ribbit."

The boy jumped in surprise, head quickly twisting towards her. He blushed slightly as he quickly stammered out a greeting of his own. "A-Ah, morning A-Asui!"

"Tsu, ribbit." She said simply and he scratched the back of his head with a sigh.

"R-Right, sorry. E-Excited for the school day?" he asked, getting a nod from her.

"Yeah. I hope mister Aizawa is feeling better." She croaked, placing a finger to her chin as they walked. "Did you see? A new pro showed up in Kanagawa. Ribbit."

"A-Ah! I did, his quirk seems so cool! Limitless movement seems like such a powerfulquirkandtheamountofapplicationsforitisinsane!YouwouldbealmostuntouchabletomostvillainsandIbethe'llbeinthetopteninnotimeand-" Suddenly, Izuku stopped and slapped his hand to his mouth as his face went crimson. "S-Sorry!"

"It's fine. Ribbit. It's nice you're so passionate about heroes." The frog teen waved away the issue, reassuring the freckled teen. She wanted to talk more… but that creeping worry returned and she found herself silent.

It wasn't that she was worried Izuku wouldn't want to talk with her, they were friends and he was a very kind and friendly person. She wanted to get to know him better but… she couldn't help but worry maybe it wasn't her place to be closer to him.

Was that a weird and illogical worry? Probably, but it didn't change the fact it was there, and so she instead remained quiet with her ever stoic face as they walked into the building and to their class in silence, where they split up to go to their seats.

Not for the first time, Tsuyu had missed out on a chance to get to know the boy who rushed to defend her better.

Tsuyu was having trouble keeping her eyes off Izuku at times throughout homeroom that day, lamenting on her failure to talk more with him. It seemed mister Aizawa had noticed as well, as he sent an odd glance her way every now and again as If trying to make sure she was paying attention.

This all eventually came to a head at the end of the class, when mister Aizawa had stood up and walked towards the door. "Asui, I need to talk to you outside."

"Ribbit?" Tsuyu pointed at herself surprised, quickly standing up and hurrying over to the bandaged man, opening the door for him as the two stepped outside. Present Mic passed them as they stepped out, class 1-A having English as their first class of the day. "Is something the matter, mister Aizawa?"

"You're distracted." The teacher said simply, voice sounding somewhat tired. He turned to face her, his eyes not irritated like she expected but simply curious. "Why do you keep looking over at Midoriya? This is the third day in a row I've caught you staring at him."

"…I want to talk to him. Ribbit." She answered simply. It was a vague answer, but an honest one. Aizawa merely raised a brow. "I want to get to know him better after… what happened last week. I'm having nightmares and I want them to stop. Ribbit. Also just to get to know him better in general…"

"Ah." Her homeroom teacher didn't need any elaboration to know what she was talking about. "So why haven't you done it already? If it's going to be a distraction in class, you should have gotten it out the way already."

Tsuyu looked down for a moment. He was her homeroom teacher. If anyone should have been someone she could admit how she was feeling to, it should be him. Seeing as he did jump into a battlefield filled with villains alone and he was only bandaged up like he was for protecting them, she took a breath and started to explain.

"…I'm not sure if I should be trying to be closer with him? Ribbit. He has Uraraka and Iida for close friends and he can be pretty nervous. I don't want to make him uncomfortable. Ribbit." She explained simply, glad to get that off her chest. Sure, she could be blunt about her thoughts but that didn't mean she liked imposing her problems onto people, so she had yet to tell anyone.

"…Try to talk to him at lunch or some other time." Aizawa advised suddenly. "It would be better for your own mental health if it's keeping you up at night. He seems like he could use a few more friends himself anyways and I need all the eyes I can get on the problem child if he's gonna keep breaking himself. So spend time with him…. Or don't, I don't care as long as you focus in class."

With that, Aizawa turned and left the girl, leaving her blinking in surprise. So he thought she should get to know him then?

She looked back to her class, before nodding determinedly as she walked back in and made her way back to her seat. She'd get to know Izuku better before the end of the day!

For her mental health and to give him another friend, if he really needed one!

It wasn't until lunch when Tsuyu's chance finally came. She'd gotten a helping of more grilled fish from Lunch Rush, much better than how she'd made them for breakfast admittedly and turned to look around for a place to sit.

As soon as she spotted Izuku, she started making his way other as she saw her opportunity. She was surprised to see neither Iida nor Uraraka were with him yet he didn't seem to mind at all as he sat alone to eat his lunch.

Setting her tray down across from him, she sat down and looked up to see his surprised face. "O-Oh, hey A-Asui. What's u-up?"

"Tsu. Ribbit."

"R-Right, sorry."

She shook her head slightly, before gesturing to the empty table around them. "Where's Iida and Uraraka? Ribbit."

"Oh, uh… Aizawa wanted them f-for something. He shooed me off before I found out what he wanted, h-he just said I probably wouldn't be seeing them until after lunch." He explained, scratching the back of his neck. "I hope e-everything is alright."

"I'm sure it's fine. Ribbit." Tsuyu said, taking a bite of her fish as she laughed internally. Seemed like mister Aizawa cared more than he let on. "How are you?"

"O-Oh… well I'm a little n-nervous about math's next period. Fractions always trip me up for some reason." Izuku said with a small chuckle, that was cuter than it had any right to be as he nervously poked his chopsticks into his food. "W-What about you?"

"I'm fine. I'm not really worried myself. Ribbit." She said, before the two green haired students lapsed into silence again. Tsuyu felt that worry creep up inside her again and she clenched her fist, racking her brain for a topic they could talk about together. She wasn't going to be stopped from talking with him this time. "Your favorite hero is All Might, right?"

"Huh? Oh y-yeah! He's absolutely amazing and makes everyone feel safe and just, I really want to be just like him some day!" Izuku said with a bright smile, making a small rare smile of Tsuyu's own appear on her face.

"You're cute when you're confident." She admitted, making her friend almost spit out his drink in surprise. He managed to swallow though as his face turned pure scarlet and he looked down.

"I-I-I…"

Feeling slightly guilty for making him so embarrassed all of a sudden, she quickly redirected the conversation to where she had been taking it originally. "My favorite pro is Levi-Ethan."

Izuku's eyes lit up as his blush faded a little. "O-Oh! I know h-him! He's the American hero who came to Japan a few years back and has been dealing with a lot of the a-aquatic villains! His quirk is Solid Water, so he can make any and all liquids completely solid and direct where they flow to in the process to make solid water constructs as strong as metal! It's why he spends all his time at the sea, as that's where he is at his strongest! Oh… but you probably already knew all that…"

Tsuyu nodded, somewhat amused by the sudden biography he had given her. "Yeah, that's all accurate. Ribbit. He's pretty popular for a sea based hero. I want to be in the same role he is some day, being the best aquatic hero I can be. Ribbit."

"Woah, that's really cool!" Izuku said with a bright grin as Tsuyu swallowed another fish and his own tray was starting to look empty. "I bet you'll be an absolutely a-amazing hero! You've got a great quirk for it!"

"Thank you. Ribbit. I'm sure you'll be amazing as well, if you can get the bone breaking under control." She commented, making him let out a nervous chuckle before he took a final bite of his lunch. "I'm curious, what other sea heroes do you know? Ribbit."

"Oh, well how about Poseidominatrix?"

"Never been fond of her, feels like a sea based Midnight with less effort."

It was with that the two settled into a conversation about different pro heroes and heroines Izuku knew of that worked at sea. Tsuyu had thought she'd have had the best knowledge of Japan's aquatic heroes but she was soon proven wrong when not only did Izuku match all her knowledge but even surprised her by revealing a pro she'd never heard of by the name of Serial Giller. Apparently he was being mistaken for a villain a lot, which didn't surprise her that much.

Soon enough, she was finished with her own lunch and a thought jumped out to her as their conversation about pro heroes began to die down. They were quiet for a moment, neither knowing what to do next.

Then Tsuyu had an idea.

"Hey Midoriya? Ribbit. I want to show you something."

"H-Huh? What is it?" he asked, only to watch her stand up and begin to walk off. He quickly grabbed their trays, taking them with him towards the entrance where he left them on a collection point before following his frog friend out into the hallways. "Where a-are we going?"

"Outside. Ribbit." She elaborated helpfully, as the two started making their way downstairs. Izuku decided it would be better to remain silent if he wasn't going to get an actual answer and fell in line behind her.

Soon they found themselves on the front path into U.A, where Tsuyu immediately took a sharp turn towards the nearby forest.

"A-Asui? Are we e-even allowed in here?" Izuku asked a little worriedly as they started pushing past some bushes.

"I've not gotten in trouble so far. Ribbit." She croaked, listening out for the sound of ribbiting. "And it's Tsu."

Izuku just muttered a quick apology as they came out into a small clearing with a pond and some bushes scattered around. There were lily pads in the pond and even some frogs sat atop them.

It was a rather pretty scene to stumble upon, really.

"I like to come here and watch the frogs. Ribbit. I found it on our second day here." Tsuyu explained quietly, as she watched one of the amphibians she shared so much in common with leap to another lily pad, catching a fly out the air. "I feel connected with them sometimes, cause of my quirk. Ribbit. Watching them makes me feel at peace and-"

Izuku didn't mean to stop paying attention to what she said but he quickly found himself distracted by just how pretty she looked in her 'natural' environment, with the subtle quirk of her lips showing she was smiling a little and a spark in her eyes that showed her happiness.

If you asked him how she looked in a single word at that moment? Stunning. No doubt about it.

Apparently Tsuyu didn't agree, as her rambling suddenly revealed.

"…Sometimes though I think I must look pretty ugly. Ribbit. I like frogs but I know they don't exactly have a reputation for being the prettiest animal…" She sighed and before he had a chance to think, Izuku's mouth started moving.

"W-What? No, you're r-really b-beautiful!" he assured, only for his brain to then catch up. "A-Ah I mean… um, I…"

"…You think I'm pretty? Ribbit."

He swallowed, nodding as his face achieved a shade of red similar to that of a tomato. "Y-Yeah? Y-you're d-definitely n-n-not ugly! I um… t-think y-your mutation m-make you look unique? A-And y-you look a-amazing w-with them…"

He barely managed to squeak that last part out, looking down and tapping his fingers together worriedly as he flinched, almost as if he was expecting some kind of negative reaction from her.

"S-Sorry i-if I u-upset you…" He said very quietly, to the point Tsuyu had almost missed it. She didn't though, and an actual smile came onto her face once more, as her cheeks heated up a little.

"Thank you, Midoriya. Ribbit." She said, crouching down to watch a frog as she was a little too embarrassed to meet his eye now. "You look good as well."

Tsuyu wasn't sure if she'd call the noise he made more of a squawking noise or a strangled cry. Either way, it was admittedly pretty funny to hear come from a normal human.

"T-Thank you!" He shouted, covering his face.

"….You know, you're the first person I've shown this place to. Ribbit." She said, quickly changing the topic. Izuku's eyes widened a little in surprise.

"H-Huh? M-Me?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" he asked simply, making her look up confused. "I m-mean! I l-like it, I'm just curious w-why you w-would show me this. A-Aren't you and Uraraka better friends? Or a-any of the girls?"

Tsuyu let out a rare chuckle, croaking cutely as she looked at him. "What, can't you be one of my 'better' friends? Ribbit."

"A-Ah! I mean y-yeah if that that's w-what you want!" Izuku said nervously, bowing slightly as a confused expression came over his face. "I'm j-just surprised you would w-want to better friends with me, of all p-people.""

Tsuyu frowned at that. There's no way there wasn't a story behind that, but for the moment she chose to simply nod. "I do want to be better friends with you. Ribbit. You seem like a really nice guy and you put your life on the line at the USJ to try to protect me. It's the least I can do. As long as you want to, I'd be happy to spend more time with you. Ribbit."

"…I'd like t-that." Izuku admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. He swallowed, looking as if he was mustering all of his courage before he put on a nervous smile. "I-In that case… w-would you want to s-spend some time training with m-me tomorrow for the Sports Festival? I n-need all the training I can g-get with my quirk being like it i-is."

"I'd love to. Ribbit. I'm not doing anything else anyways." She said with a delighted croak, happy this was going as well as it was. Her worries really had been pretty silly after all. "I'm assuming we'll just be in the gym."

"Y-Yeah." Izuku confirmed and before either of them could say anything else, the sound of a loud bell chimed throughout the forest. "A-Ah! We b-better hurry back to class."

"Right. Ribbit"

With that, the two hurried back to their classroom together. The whole way, they had large smiles on both their faces.