Chapter 2: Tsuyu Asui

Tsuyu Asui was a blunt person.

It wasn't a statement, it was a fact. One she expressed upon all of her friends when she first met them so they wouldn't be so put off by her little tic. She just didn't really see the point in dancing around what she really wanted to say, why do 'logical ruses' like Aizawa sensei when she could just say what was wrong straight up.

Tsuyu Asui was a blunt person…but she was also observant. Even more so after the fiasco that was the argument whether or not to disobey the Pro Heroes and go after Bakugou. She wanted to be more aware of her friends feelings before she spoke and now once again she had to be careful with her words concerning Bakugou.

Although this time for a completely different reason.

Don't get her wrong, it's not like she's against him staying in the hero course just because he's quirkless. She's fine with it; her problem lies in another matter. Or rather another person.

She'd notice the divide the class had gained when it came to Midoriya, especially after Kirishima had come back seemingly hurt after his talk with their friend. Tsuyu had kept her mouth shut then but she found it weird. The image Kirishima painted didn't fit with the image of Midoriya that Tsuyu had in her mind, from day one he was never bothered by hers or the others' looks. In fact, he seemed fascinated by it.

They all knew about his notebooks, she'd even been shown the contents during the Dekusquads on and off sleepovers and hangouts they had. He always highlighted their looks and how unique they were in his drawings, she couldn't imagine someone like that being discriminatory against anyone.

But she'd also noticed how he'd been acting too.

The way he withdrew himself whenever Bakugou was brought up, the way he avoided the explosive blonde, the way he seemed to clench his teeth whenever something about quirklessness came up. He tried to act normal and to his credit she was pretty sure people only noticed during the fourth week of his act. She, like the others, thought it was weird, but she also thought if they talked to him they'd be able to solve it.

Then again when she meant talk she didn't mean whatever Kirishima had done because that made things entirely worse.

'This is getting ridiculous.' Were her immediate thoughts upon seeing the situation in the lunchroom. Everything was completely normal…if you counted Midoriya sitting alone normal.

The boy looked absolutely miserable, merely picking at his food as he slumped in his seat. He looked like he hadn't properly slept in days and…it hurt seeing him so withdrawn. It was like the beginning of the year when it felt like Midoriya was walking on eggshells around all of them. It felt like a kid trying to hang out and keep up with the older kids and part of the reason she wanted him to call her Tsuyu off the bat. Sure, she wanted everyone to call her Tsuyu or Tsu due to her friendship goal but Midoriya…Midoriya felt like he needed her friendship. Hers and everyone else's.

It had taken them so long to get him to open up and even then it felt as if he was hiding something, the others didn't notice but she did. She noted how he always avoided talking about his life before UA, switching the topic to something that distracted everyone in excitement.

But she noticed. She always noticed what others didn't, a trait she and Jirou shared.

Which is why she noticed the frosty frown on Todorokis face when he stopped her from going over to their friend and instead directed her to their usual table.

"Hey Todoroki! Hey Tsu!" Ochaco called out as they approached, waving at them happily as they sat. "Man, Aizawa sensei has been putting us through the ringer lately hasn't he?"

"Why aren't we sitting with Midoriya-chan?"

….

Hm, maybe she should have started some casual conversation before bringing this up. She'll have to take note of that.

"He's sitting all by himself," She motioned to the boy in question. "He looks miserable."

Ochaco seemed to frown as she looked over in Midoriyas direction while Ida gained a conflicted look on his face, beside her Todorokis brow furrowed as he began to eat his Soba.

"Deku's been acting really weird ever since Bakugou lost his quirk, he's avoiding him on purpose and he doesn't even talk to him anymore."

"He avoided Bakugou-chan when we first started school too. That also doesn't answer my question." She tilted her head. "Why aren't we sitting with him?"

Ochaco seemed uncomfortable now, as did Ida. She turned to Todoroki who returned her stoic glance with one of his own.

"We think Midoriya might be discriminating against Bakugou."

Tsuyu blinked. The thought…what? How did they—that notion was ridiculous, the mere thought of the boy doing anything quirkist made her heart twinge in both fear and hurt. Not because she believed that he could do those things but because it seemed that their friends believed he could.

"Why?" She asked, giving them the benefit of the doubt. She wouldn't call them out on being dumb. They must have their reasons and as a good friend she'd listen to them.

"I've been keeping an eye on him ever since I first noticed his behavior." Ida started. "Midoriya-kun has been constantly staring down Bakugou-kun whenever he thinks no one is looking and not in the usual way. I daresay he's glaring at him."

"There's also the way he and Bakugou fight nowadays. He goes too hard."

"That's the point isn't it?" Tsu tilted her head. "Everyone is fighting Bakugou-chan at their best, treating him as if nothing has changed. It'd be disrespectful otherwise."

"I know, I know." Ochaco quickly waved her hands. "I don't want to change that its just-I spar against Deku-kun all the time—"

Not really, at least not anymore. She always seemed to spar with Bakugou nowadays, Tsu couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Ochaco and Midoriya go out for a casual spar.

"—and it seems like Deku is purposely trying to…to…I can't describe it, but something's changed. He's angrier when he fights now."

"So why not just ask him what's wrong?"

"Because I talked to Bakugou."

Tsuyu turned to Todoroki and felt a pit form at the disappointed look in his eyes and the scowl he now sported. It had taken a long time for Todoroki to open up, always cold and angry and indifferent. Midoriya was the one to first chip the armor he put up so others could be let in, the two had become exceedingly close and if he of all people thought Midoirya might be quirkist? Well Tsuyu was inclined to believe him if only a little, especially if whatever information he garnered seemed to prove their little theory.

"I talked with him after our latest battle trial, I asked him if Midoriya had a problem with quirkless people." Tsuyu often forgets that Todoroki could be as blunt as her. "He clammed up when I asked and told me to leave it alone and that it was none of our business. That Midoriyas past wasn't our business."

He stabbed at his Soba in frustration and Ochaco and Ida looked down sadly.

But Tsuyu was confused.

Was that it? All the evidence they had? It was circumstantial at best and still didn't answer the question both why they were avoiding Midoriya and if he was quirkist or not. It alluded to something but that didn't mean Midoriya was against quirkless people.

Ochaco seemed to notice her confusion and tried to 'reassure' her. "We're not going to avoid him forever! Just until he comes to his senses, Deku's a good person and an even better hero! I'm sure he'll realize his mistake soon."

"We could always simply go ask him. It seems like you guys are assuming a lot and jumping to conclusions. If something happened in the past that's affecting him now we should be helping him, Kero."

"Midoriya has always been skittish about his past before coming to UA, he always changes the conversation. This way we can bring to his attention that he's doing something wrong and he'll come to us. Then we can focus on dealing with the issue."

Huh, so she wasn't the only one to notice that after all, just not for the right reasons. This was a stupid plan and it could backfire immensely, they could end up doing the exact opposite and drive Midoriya

away from them instead of too them. She could speak up about it, poke holes in their plan…but she was nervous.

The hospital aside, Tsuyu was always afraid of doing something that would cause her to lose her friends. Prior to UA it wasn't just her bluntness that drove people from her, it was her mutation. No one wanted to be friends with the weird frog girl with the creepy eyes. Habuko was the one true friend she'd made and now that she had more….

She looked back at Midoriya one more time, he had pushed his food away and was laying his head down on his arms. She frowned and turned back to her friends, listening to their discussion. Everything would turn out fine, they'd survive the League of Villains and the PLF one little argument wouldn't break them apart.

She ignored the little voice in her head calling her a coward.

Things would get better.

Things did not get better.

It had been two weeks since Kirishimas talk with Midoriya and things had gotten so much worse. Jirou had openly taken Midoriyas side and Tsuyu would be a liar if she didn't find the subsequent near isolation of the two to be hurtful. Oh sure Jirou still had Momo talk to her, but it was never around Midoriya and when they had girls night things had gotten absurdly tense.

Tsuyu hated it.

She hated how it seemed like her friends were turning on each other. How they weren't talking to each other over an issue they only had a vague one-sided story of.

She ignored how she wasn't talking to Midoriya either, she ignored how she knew that just because she talked to Jirou like nothing had happened she wasn't helping her or Midoriya in any way.

The Bakusquad especially were getting out of hand with their treatment of the two, especially after Jirou had 'betrayed' Kaminari. Most of them knew about his crush on the girl and the fact that she herself had developed feelings were noted among the girls but this whole situation had soured any chance of romance they may have once had. Tsuyu still caught the two of them staring at each other in sadness at times, but it would always be short and Kaminari would always frown in anger when he turned away.

Tsuyu considered everyone in 1A her friends, but she would admit she wasn't as close to everyone like she was to some others. She couldn't really confront the boys of the Bakusquad about this…so instead she turned to Mina.

She wasn't doing this to appease her guilt. She wasn't.

"I think you guys should stop."

The pink skinned girl looked confused at her question to the point Tsu nearly sighed.

"How you're treating Midoriya-chan and Jirou-chan." She elaborated. "It's wrong."

Her eyes lit up with realization before turning to anger, she crossed her arms and frowned.

"We'll stop when Midoriya stops being mean to Bakugou for something he can't control. He sacrificed himself for him and all Midoriya has done is ignore and glare at him."

"Bakugou-chan doesn't seem to mind."

"That's because he's Bakugou, practically nothing fazes him. But that doesn't mean he should have to take it!" Ah, there it was. The fierce protectiveness that Mina was known for. "If Midoriya is going to bully Bakugou like that I'm not going to stand for it Tsu!"

Bully? Is that what they're considering bullying? Really?

"Mina-chan…we both know that's not true. Midoriya isn't a bully, we both know what bullies are really like."

Mina flinched. She knew what Tsuyu was referring to, they were both mutans after all and unfortunately their mutations weren't hideable. Sure, Mina looked exotic to her friends and Tsu looked cute in her own way…but they also looked like freaks to most people. They looked like an animal and a monster respectfully and have been under the barrage of such insults both verbally…and physically.

Mina had the advantage of being bubbly and having people warm up to her that eventually made her untargetable. On the other end Tsuyus blunt personality helped deter some of the bullies as well as her just flat out ignoring them but that didn't dissuade the hurt she received. It also didn't blind either of them to what their fellow mutant brothers and sisters go through on a daily basis.

She thought Bakugou was a sort of bully at first but he'd made it into UA and Midoriya and him were friends so she chalked it up to him blowing out hot air as time went on.

"…Still, Midoriya is the one being a jerk and Bakugou saved his life—"

"Midoriya-chan saved all of our lives, he killed Shigaraki remember?" Tsuyu cut Mina off. "Everyone's been focused on helping Bakugou but Midoriya-chan took a lot of hits too, he's the one who killed someone and no one's been helping him deal with it either."

Tsuyu didn't like to make her friends feel bad but the wide eyed look Mina got sparked some form of hope in her. If she could just push this a little more.

"There's a reason Midoriya-chan is acting the way he is, but we won't get any answers from him if you guys keep treating him the way you have been. You'll only do the opposite and we'll lose him as a friend, Jirou-chan realized that…why can't all of you?"

She left Mina there to contemplate her words for the day. Hopefully nothing strenuous could happen and the girl would talk to the others.

She ignored the little voice in her head calling her a coward again for using her friends to do what she knew she herself should on her friends behalf. Midoriya risked his life to save her at the USJ and this is how she repaid him? What a joke.

Tsuyu shook her head. Hopefully today would be a good one.

"Team A may enter the area!"

Well, there officially went any hope of today going or ending well.

Tsuyu looked at her 'villain' partner for the day and tilted her head. "Do you have a plan Midoriya-chan?"

The boy blinked at her in surprise, the two of them were playing the role of hostage takers for today's exercise while being tasked with defending a bank they were sticking up. The goal was to teach them how to deal with groups of villains attacking multiple places, Aizawa-sensei wanted them to get a better grasp of how to discern real intentions behind villains' plans and how to discover decoys.

In the wake of the war Tsu thought that was a pretty solid lesson plan compared to their first one.

Behind them sat a tied up Kaminari who should really be doing a better job at hiding his glare at Midoriya. Seriously, did he think he was getting away with that? Midoriya wrote detailed things about them that not even Tsu noticed about herself and he thought he wouldn't notice someone glaring at him?

"Um, we're f-fighting against Kirishima and Sh-Shinso-kun right?" He asked getting a hesitant nod, when had he started stuttering again? Why hadn't she noticed he'd started stuttering again?

"Then I think it'd be best if I go out and lure them in, you can use y-your camouflage to hide from Sh-Shinso so he can't use his q-quirk on you. I can ta-take care of Kirishima and with Shinso focused on ch-choosing on whether to help h-him or g-g-go after Kaminari you can tie him up with your tongue."

Tsuyu nodded, it was a good plan. Although she did have one question about it.

"You don't want to fight Shinso-chan? You're the only one out of the two of us that knows how he fights?"

Midoriya flinched and scratched his cheek, Tsuyu watched as he shifted from one foot to the next. Was he that nervous around her now?

Well of course he is. You haven't chosen to hang out with him or spoken up for him once.

"I-I didn't want you to c-cut your tongue on Kirishima if he used h-his qu-quirk Asui."

"…I told you to call me Tsu."

The surprise in his eyes sent a wave of guilt through her gut. She noticed just how tired those eyes were now, when had he gotten those bags under them?

"I-I can…?"

"Of course you can, Kero." She said firmly. "We're friends."

He opened and closed his mouth in confusion before turning away to put on his mask…did…did he not think they were friends anymore?

"I should probably get going. I'll signal you over the radio when I lure them here As—Tsu-chan."

It was strange how his confidence seemed to return to full force when he put that mask on, as if he was pulling a persona on to help cope with what was happening. Is that why he keeps his mask in his pocket nowadays? Had this been hitting him harder than Tsu had originally thought?

'I can worry about that later.' The green haired girl thought crouching down and activating her camouflage as she jumped onto one of the far walls.

There she and Kaminari waited, the faint sounds of explosions and booms in the distance keeping them alert as they waited in silence for Midoriyas plan to hold true.

"Tsu...hey Tsu!"

Or they would have if Kaminari would stop trying to whisper to her.

"Tsu, c'mon Tsu don't ignore me, help me out."

She ignored him, this was supposed to be a test and she was supposed to be a villain. Kaminari was probably trying to distract her into interacting like one of those cliché villains in movies they watched sometimes.

"Tsu? Tsuuuuu~" The blonde frowned when she continued to ignore him. "Fine, be that way just make sure you steer clear of Midoriya alright? We don't want you getting hurt."

Okay, that certainly set off some warning signs in her head. What did he mean about not getting-

A loud boom caused any train of thought concerning Kaminaris words to leave her mind as the door to the bank was thrown straight off of its hinges. She had to close an eye to protect herself from the resulting cloud of dust and wind as Kirishima and Shinso came flying into the bank.

'Wow, Kero.' She thought, wincing as their newest member slammed against one of tables and Kirishima tumbled into and through a shelf.

She'd seen Midoriya angry before but…wow this was a whole new level of angry and judging by his expression it was all directed at Kirishima. The boy had seemingly had it out for their fellow classmate as of late, maybe it was because of how close he was to Bakugou or how protective he was of his classmates as a whole but he had completely turned on Midoriya. It was like watching two different people nowadays, whenever they interacted he was normal and bright and funny but when It came to Midoriya….well….

Tsuyu winced as her friend sent a brutal kick to the redheads solar plexus, she could hear his hardening chipping as she positioned herself to wrap up Shinso in her tongue. Shinso, now there was someone who Tsu was truly conflicted with. She had no problems with him being in their class; he knew exactly how far behind he was and they could all see how hard he was working to close that gap.

No, her concerns came more from what she'd witnessed at the Sports Festival. In her own opinion there were plenty of other examinees during the cavalry battle that showed more promise than he did there, she got that the entrance exams were tilted for those with more physically demanding quirks but Shinso was…well he was skinny.

Too skinny.

From what Tsuyu could see during his fight with Midoriya there was little to no muscle on him indicating that he hadn't trained at all for the profession he'd claimed he wanted to be in. He didn't do anything aside from make it to the singles round and barely held his own against Midoriya in their fight. Yet Aizawa-sensei took him on as a student and got him a place in her class.

Tsuyu wasn't going to push against her teachers' decisions he'd long since earned her trust and the benefit of the doubt but…she still felt as if he was comparing himself to the boy too much.

Huh, maybe Todoroki-chans theories were right.

Then again maybe not for when she shot out her tongue Shinso failed to react quickly enough before she got a good grip and reeled him in. Wrapped around like this he couldn't use his capture scarf against her and she sure wasn't going to respond to anything she heard now. One quick production of her capture tape later and—

"Shinso Hitoshi has been captured!"

She put the boy down much to his chagrin and returned to Kirishima and Midoriyas fight which at this point wasn't really considered one. Kirishima was a good fighter for sure, but his style focused on brawling and while Midoirya used to do just that there was always a strategic element to it and now that he'd gotten control of his quirk?

Well, when you have both brains and brawn you tend to come out on top more than half the time.

Tsuyu watched as Kirishima tried and failed to combat the speed that Izuku assaulted him with, they were saying something she couldn't quite hear but from the looks of it the words were only making Midoriya more and more angry. She winced as a particularly hard kick sent Kirishima stumbling back, winded he was unable to react to the sweeping of his legs and the subsequent lunge that followed afterwards.

"Kirishima has been captured! Villain team wins!"

Then why didn't it feel like it was over?

Tsuyu took in the scene before her, two angry hero hopefuls just finishing fighting each other, one still glaring and the other coming down from his own. Another hero student currently being unbound was

also upset and muttering something while also scowling at Midoriya and then there was Kaminaris warning…wait…

Where was Kaminari? He wasn't where they'd left him?

Looking around she was quick to find him and even quicker to simply drop Shinso completely and flick her tongue to smack his hand.

He hissed in pain at the force she'd hit him with and for once she could feel no sympathy for him. Not when Kaminaris hand had been sparking and pointed at Midoriyas back. Not when he had moved to where the cameras in the room wouldn't have been able to see him to do so.

Her frown was deep as she turned to Shinso who was staring at her in shock, disgust swelled in her gut as she realized it wasn't shock at Kaminari who was clearly about to electrocute Midoriya…but that she'd stopped it.

He was in on it. He was in on it and she quickly realized that Kirishima was probably in on it too. He was going to let them intentionally hurt her friend…

"You disappoint me Hitoshi-san."

Her words seemed to strike a chord in him, he flinched back before leveling a glare that she returned with a blank stare. Whatever opinion she was hoping to reevaluate about him was now very much placed in the negative side of the spectrum.

She turned to her partner…and froze when she realized he was staring right at Kaminari.

'Go in.'

She didn't move.

'Go. In.'

Still she didn't move. Combat class had ended a few minutes ago and here she was in front of the boys locker room knowing her friend was in there, thank you Sato, and she couldn't move. She instead stared blankly at the door listening for….she didn't even know what she was listening for.

"Kero." Her croak came out weak and worried. They had all been through so much, Midoriya had been through so much and now they were turning on each other—turning on him

And you've done nothing.

Tsuyu stared at the ground for a moment…she had done nothing. She'd simply been waiting for the problem to solve itself. For it to go away and for them all to be friends again.

But this wasn't going away…and she knew what the right choice to make was.

She opened the door and entered the boys locker room, she knew she would be reprimanded if caught here like this but determination steeled her nerves and drove her forward. The frog girl followed the only sound that could be heard echoing off the walls.

The sound of crying.

It wasn't long before she found him.

Hunched over with only his top laid bear she found him wiping his eyes to uselessly stem the tide of tears coming down.

"I don't get it, this was supposed to be different. UA was different and now—now it's happening all over again and this time I don't understand…what did I do wrong?"

Her heart shattered.

He turned around as she lunged at him, instinct sensing her coming before hearing her. His eyes widened when he was almost toppled from the bench as she collided with him. His ears burned as he found himself smushed softly against her chest in a hug.

"A-Asui—"

"You didn't do anything wrong."

He froze.

"None of what's happening is your fault, Kero." She said as she softly ran her large hand through his hair. She did the same for her siblings whenever they were upset. "It's not your fault Midoriya-chan."

"Asui I—"

"It's not your fault."

"I—"

"It's not your fault."

She felt her uniform begin to dampen as he shook with her words. She hugged him closer.

"You don't deserve this Midoriya-chan, you're a good friend and when you're ready to tell me about what's going on I'll be here for you because that's what friends do, Kero." She croaked. "They don't hurt each other, they don't isolate each other, they're there for each other. Especially during difficult times."

"A-As—"

"I keep telling you to call me Tsu. My friends call me Tsu."

She stayed quiet as Midoriya began to quietly sob into her hug, if he returned it or if they were fifteen minutes late to their next class she made no mention of it.

She did however take some enjoyment in herself when she chose to sit with her friend at lunch the next day instead of with Ida, Todoroki and Uraraka. They were surprised of course but they really shouldn't be.

Why would she sit with people she didn't consider her friends?