The group that had settled around Ohcako's fire was an odd mixture of vagabond-pirates and people that Ochako had known her whole life. Granted, one part of the group was bigger than the other part, but that was neither here nor there. Izuku and Tsuyu's presence to Ochako's right was not unlike a soothing balm - a comforting heavy blanket, or a warm drink on a cool day. The slight differences in her friends were off-putting, sure, but their combined presence was as familiar to her as the back of her own hand.
The rest of the group that sat to her right gave off the opposite aura of her friends'. They were new, and their presence around her fire sat heavily on her consciousness. She was aware of every time one of them shifted where they sat, every time one of them sighed.
Even more than the rest of the group, Ochako was acutely aware of Himiko. She was aware of how the blonde girl hummed under her breath and how her finger tapped relentlessly against Ochako's own under their entangled skirts. Stray locks from Himiko's twin buns brushed up under Ochako's chin on account of her sitting position. It was driving her insane.
She had just met this mysterious (and - though Ochako was a bit embarrassed to admit it - attractive) girl the night before, and now they were supposedly courting? Surely, Ochako thought, it must have had something to do with the gifts that Himiko had given her. She hadn't known that selkies had existed before she met Himiko, so she couldn't have known that the gifts were courting gifts. Ochako felt somewhat tricked, though she had a feeling that Himiko hadn't done anything with malicious intent. She wasn't completely opposed to giving Himiko a romantic chance, but she did not want it to start off with misconceptions, no matter how harmless they may have been. She was glad that she had asked Himiko for a talk later. They had to clear the air on this whole situation.
Ochako heard very clearly in her ear when Himiko hummed low and content.
"How about you introduce your friends first, Ochako, since it'll take less time. I have a distinct feeling that my portion will take significantly longer." Himiko said.
Hearing this, both Izuku and Tsuyu sat up a bit straighter - not that they were slouching, but it almost seemed as if they were bracing themselves. Eri, though, seemed to shrink further into Ochako's side. Ochako looped her left arm around Eri's small shoulder (still holding onto her hand, of course), and took a breath to begin introductions.
"Esteemed guests," Ochako began, injecting sarcasm into her words, but not not venom. She couldn't afford to make these trained fighters upset with her, but she couldn't help herself to stop the teasing. "I introduce to you my friends, who you threw through the air and into this very clearing."
Some of the guests had a bashful look on their faces, but one in particular looked smug. She would say something to him later.
"This," she said, gesturing to Tsuyu. "is Tsuyu Asui."
Tsu lifted one of her hands in a small greeting, though her expression was the opposite of inviting.
"You may call me Asui." Tsuy said, "Do not call me 'Tsu'. Only my friends call me 'Tsu'."
The man with the heavily scarred body cocked an eyebrow, and smiled a small smile as if he found Tsu's statement amusing.
"Duly noted." He said. Ochako knew then that he certainly found her friend amusing, as his voice sounded moments away from laughter.
With a scowl on her face, Ochako continued.
"And this is Izuku Midoriya."
Izuku didn't have anything else to add about what he wanted to be called like Tsu did, but by the look on his face he would not take kindly to being called 'Izu' or 'Zuku' by this new group of people.
"Ah," the scarred man said. At this point, even his own group looked about ready to throttle him if he didn't keep his mouth shut. "So this is the lightning wielder." He rested his head on his fist and gave Izuku a rather condescending and sarcastic look. "How're ya feeling after the beating we gave ya?"
Before Izuku or any of the rest of the group had a chance to cut in, Ochako jumped to keep the group on task. She wanted to get her portion done as soon as possible.
"If I may," she said. "Continue without interruption?"
The scarred man rolled his eyes and sat back a little more in his spot, though Ochako could tell that he was still biting at the bit to interrupt with an untoward remark.
"Thanks." Ochako gripped Eri's hand a little tighter before she went on. The little girl gripped Ochako's hand right back and grabbed a handful of Ochako's skirt with her other hand. "Lastly, this is Eri. We only met briefly before you decided to show up, but I find myself very protective of her. If we could keep the foul language to a minimum, that would be appreciated."
Ochako internally winced at how much she sounded like a prudish school teacher scolding her students. Her points still stood, though she wished she could have made them a bit differently. Oh well, she thought, the damage is already done.
"Well done, your highness. Shall we wait for your instruction to continue on with this little friendship circle?"
Ochako whipped her head around to the scarred man with (what she hoped was) a fierce look. "No, actually. In fact, Himiko, would you be so kind as to introduce this fine gentleman that feels the need to speak at every turn?"
"That's just Dabi." Himiko said, not bothering to remove her head from the crook of Ochako's neck and shoulder. "He tends to be infuriating. I suggest just ignoring him."
"Hey!" Dabi protested (though he didn't really look all that wounded by Himiko's remark). "How you wound me, dear friend."
Himiko's only response to that was a cheshire grin.
"If you interrupt me during introductions, I'll just tell Tomura that you drank the last of the ale."
The two of them narrowed their eyes at each other as the rest of the group watched on. Tomura - whoever this person was - must be relatively important, Ockako guessed, and judging how the color drained from Dabi's skin and made his scars look even more ghostly, she guessed that this Tomura person must hold a very special position in relation to Dabi in particular.
"You wouldn't."
"Try me, b-" Before Himiko could finish her chosen expletive, she looked at Eri and quickly back-peddled. "-ackstabber."
"Oooh, nice catch," said the nicely dressed man that was sitting beside Dabi.
"Anyway," Ochako said. She didn't want to seem like a nag, but she really did want to have that talk with Himiko as soon as possible and get home. Maybe she could offer Eri a bath and see if her mom had any of Ochako's old clothes lying around for the little girl to have.
Himiko cleared her throat in an auspicious - and obvious manner - manner and began her portion of the introductions.
"I'm just going to go in the order that they're sitting in, if that's alright?"
"Perfect." Was Ochako's response.
"Perfect," Himiko echoed back. "This is Jin."
The translucent man waved, just as Tsuyu had done but with a tad bit more enthusiasm.
"Hello! It's great to finally meet you!" To Ochako's surprise, he whipped his head to the side suddenly. "Rot in hell."
"Excuse me?" Ochako said, taken aback by the sudden contradiction, as did Tsuyu and Izuku. She could see, though, that Jin looked remorseful about the second half of his comment.
When Himiko spoke next, her voice was soft but also guarded, as if she were protecting herself from whatever Ochako might respond to her with.
"Jin always contradicts himself. The second half of what he says isn't at all what he actually means." The blonde girl said.
Jin formed a fist and rubbed it - with the back of his hand facing out - in a circle on his chest.
"He's saying sorry."
Ochako gave Jin a small smile. "It's okay. I was just a little shocked, that was all."
Around the fire, the tension seemed to have lifted the tiniest bit. It seemed, almost, as if Ochako had passed some sort of test set forth by the pirates.
"Next there is Magne. She's like the mom or the big sister of the group."
Magne lifted her sunglasses to the top of her head and gave Ochako a smile and a two fingered wave.
"Then there's Compress." Himiko said in relation to the fashionably dressed man that sat beside Dabi. Compress lifted his hand and gave an expressive bow from where he was seated.
"You, of course, already know Dabi. He's the asshat of the group." Himiko said. Ochako sighed at the word 'asshat'. She would have used that word to describe Dabi, too, but not in front of Eri. Realizing why Ochako was sighing, Himiko once again backpedaled. "Oh shit, sorry. Wait, fuck, uhhh."
Ochako cut off Himiko's word vomit with a pat on the other girl's hand. "Just - shhh. Introductions." Ochako then turned to address Eri. "Please please please don't repeat any of those words." After a small nod of understanding from the little girl, the introductions continued.
"Then there's Spinner. He's a pretty cool guy." The rest of the people around the fire that Himiko had just introduced nodded along with Himiko's character description of Spinner. To Ochako, he really did look like a 'cool guy'. He was covered in scales and had purple hair. How often did a person see that?
"Well, everyone," Ochako said, extracting her hands from both Eri and Himiko to clap them together once in front of her. "It's nice to meet you." Dabi snorted from across the fire, but Ochako chose to ignore it. It was then that she noticed the fire had shrunk down to almost nothing.
"Would anyone like to venture back to my house for tea?"