On a Sidewalk in the Rain
"Come on, Tsu-chan! Let's catch up to the boys!" Ochako shouted behind her shoulder as she readjusted her grip on her umbrella. She splashed through several puddles on the sidewalk as she began a jog to catch up to Deku and Iida who were walking ahead.
"Coming!" Tsuyu replied as she hoisted the bag at her feet into her hands and opened her own umbrella, stepping out from under the awning of the conbini a few paces behind Ochako.
Tsuyu sighed happily and tilted her head backwards, allowing a few droplets of rain to evade the umbrella's rim and splash across her face, their damp, sweet smell wafting into her nose and filling her lungs with a fresh crispness. She was happy to have had such a great day off exploring town with her friends, and the accompaniment of the rain made it even better.
Ochako slowed down to match Tsuyu's pace as she caught up to her, and the two girls walked quietly behind the boys, taking time to observe every small mystery about the world that they saw in the puddles beneath their feet.
"We haven't had a weekend this fun in a while," Ochako beamed to the group. "We've been so busy with classes that we never get a break!"
Deku nodded and offered a quick smile to the girls over his shoulder. "I've really enjoyed training and everything, but having this time to just be together was really nice!" He turned and offered the same smile to Iida, who nodded happily.
It's true, kero, thought Tsuyu. We have been working so hard to become the best heroes we can be. We haven't had much time to hang out as friends since those first few weeks of classes, so this feels nice. She glanced down at the bag in her hand, smiling at the thought of surprising her friends with the ice cream she had secretly bought along with her regular groceries once they had made it back to the dorm. She wasn't one to mush over how she was feeling, but she liked to show that she cared about her friends in little ways like this.
As Tsuyu lifted her eyes to return to the path in front of her, she noticed something strange just beneath the ledge between the sidewalk and the road. She stopped in her tracks, pulled her umbrella shut and knelt down to examine.
"Tsu-chan, what is it?" Ochako leaned over behind Tsuyu, placing her hands on her knees. "Guys, hang on a sec."
Deku and Iida both turned around, Iida coming to stand beside Ochako while Deku squatted down next to Tsuyu.
"Oh! It's a frog!" Deku exclaimed excitedly, droplets of water splashing across his face from the hood of his raincoat and the tips of his tousled hair. "Or is it a toad?"
"No, you were right, it's a frog," Tsuyu beamed at him before turning her gaze back to the tiny creature. "But he's hurt," she said as she carefully lowered one hand below the ledge, resting it a few inches away from the frog. "See that gash there, on his hind leg?"
The frog was slumped over against the underside of the ledge, both its long hind legs splayed out behind it towards the street. It seemed almost lifeless, hardly resisting as the streams of water that passed by tugged at its body.
"How could he have gotten like this?" Deku asked carefully, shifting his head closer to Tsuyu's to get a better look. "Could he have been attacked by a bird or another animal?"
"I'm not sure," Tsuyu replied quietly, inching her fingers closer to the tiny creature. "But we have to help him, kero. If he tries to move from this spot, he could get squashed by a car."
The frog offered no sign that he cared about being picked up, nor any signal at all that he was aware of the group's presence, so Tsuyu carefully cupped one hand over him and angled her wrist, allowing him to slowly fall into her hand. Then she cupped her other hand over him to keep him from jumping away, but the frog made no motion to do so. He simply lay motionless against her palm.
"He's really not in good shape," she said shakily, glancing at Deku as she stood and turned to face the group. "I think I'm gonna take him back to the dorm and give him a safe space to heal a bit, kero. I don't know what else to do."
"That's a great idea, Tsu-chan!" Ochako smiled as she knelt down and grabbed Tsuyu's bag of groceries off of the ground. "Don't worry, I'll carry these for you. Just don't drop him!"
"I'll hold your umbrella, too, Tsu-chan!" Deku stood and offered his hand, so Tsuyu leaned forward and let him take her umbrella from under her arm. He opened it up and took Ochako's place beside her while Ochako moved forward to walk with Iida.
"Thank you both," Tsuyu said quietly as she moved closer to Deku to share the space under the umbrella. Deku smiled back, while Ochako tipped her own umbrella forward happily before beginning to move again.
"Ah…" Iida spoke as the group continued moving again, choosing to focus on the puddles around his feet as he walked next to Ochako. "Asui-san… I don't mean to cause any trouble, but I don't think it's a good idea for you to be bringing an animal into the dorms. That's against the rules."
"Oh, come on, Iida-kun!" Ochako propped her elbow up on the boy's shoulder as she leaned closer to him. "We're in an emergency situation here!"
"Yes, but…" Iida looked back at Ochako with a nervous glint in his eyes, then turned his gaze briefly to Tsuyu and Deku behind him. "You all know that I'm 1-A's class rep, so taking part in the rule-breaking is something I have a hard time agreeing with…"
"I promise I will be really responsible with him, and I'll release him again as soon as he's healthy enough to be on his own," Tsuyu replied quietly.
Deku reached forward with his free hand and placed it lightly on Iida's shoulder. "Iida-kun. You know that Tsu-chan is the most responsible of any of us here, besides maybe you, of course, but my point is, you can trust her wholeheartedly. I think the teachers would understand that she has good intentions, too, if they found out."
Tsuyu smiled as she watched Iida's shoulder relax under Deku's hand. After he offered a short nod and returned his gaze to the sidewalk ahead of them, she leaned to the side and whispered, "Thanks, Deku-kun."
"Anything for you, Tsu-chan!"
As they continued their rainy walk back to U.A., Tsuyu carefully separated her hands just a crack and watched together with Deku as the frog slept motionlessly within her grasp.
After umbrellas had been stored away, wet boots laid out to dry, and raincoats hung up, the four students clambered carefully up the stairs and hurried towards Tsuyu's room, Iida doing his best to fight against the increasing weight of the guilt of breaking the rules.
"I'm proud of you! You're such a rebel now!" Ochako joked with him, jabbing him lightly in the ribs, as they followed Deku and Tsuyu into her room.
"Oh!" Deku stopped a few paces into the room and turned around, weaving by Ochako and Iida. "I'll be right back! I have a box we can put him in and a little container we can put water in, to make it feel more like home."
A few minutes later, after Tsuyu had stood waiting in the middle of her room with the frog cupped in her hands, Deku returned with a small box, something rattling around inside it. Tsuyu's jaw dropped, and she almost lost her grasp on the tiny amphibian.
"Deku-kun, that isn't the packaging for the new All Might figure that you just bought last month, is it?" He nodded sheepishly as he shut the door behind him with his foot. "But it'll be ruined, kero!"
"That's okay," Deku smiled as he placed the box down on Tsuyu's desk. "It's only cardboard, after all. The thing I really wanted was the figure itself."
Tsuyu glanced away from the box to see that she wasn't the only one who was surprised. Ochako's mouth was hanging just as wide as Tsuyu was sure her own had been.
"Deku-kun!" Ochako squealed. "You told me just last week that you keep all the boxes for the collector's value. You always keep the figures in the boxes!"
"Really, really, it's not a big deal!" Deku replied, his cheeks burning red as he waved his hands in an okay, just chill manner. He opened up the flaps of the box. "Let's just get this set up for our little buddy so Tsu-chan can put him down."
"I'll take this and fill it up with water," Ochako said as she scooped up the small container Deku had brought with the box, then scampered out of the room.
"There are some plants on the windowsill over there," Tsuyu gestured with her head and the two boys walked over to the sill. "Please rip a few leaves off of each plant and scoop some of the dirt out of the pots to create a little home for him, kero."
After several minutes of the two boys shuffling leaves and dirt around in the box, and Ochako having returned victorious with fresh water and even some twigs that had fallen onto the hallway windowsill outside the bathroom, a decent temporary abode for the small frog had been created. Tsuyu carefully lowered the frog onto a soft pile of leaves and stepped back, holding her breath. Although the frog didn't get up and hop around right away, he raised his head and surveyed his surroundings. That would have to be enough for now.
"Thanks for helping me with this, everyone!" Tsuyu turned to the others and offered a short bow. "I was going to give this to you right when we got back, but that didn't end up happening." She walked over to her bed, where Ochako had deposited the grocery bag from the conbini, and pulled out the ice cream pops she had planned as a surprise. "They, ah… might be a bit melted, kero."
"Thank you so much, Tsu-chan!" Deku raced over and grabbed one of the pops, then gave her a quick hug of gratitude. As the others took their own and began unwrapping them, he beamed. "Let's go down to the kitchen and grab some spoons! We can definitely eat these no problem with some!"
Iida and Ochako both nodded and headed out the door after Deku, but he popped his head back into the room when Tsuyu didn't follow.
"You coming, Tsu-chan?"
"Uh… no, kero. I think I'll stay with the little guy and watch over him. And maybe go to bed early. I'm feeling a little bit… anxious for him."
Deku's smile fell and he stepped back into the room. "Oh, okay. Let me know if there's anything I can do. Thanks for sharing how you're feeling... Goodnight, Tsu-chan."
"Goodnight, Deku-kun. Thank you for all your help!"
"Mmm!" Deku nodded and offered a short wave before closing the door softly behind him.
Tsuyu placed the rest of the snacks she had picked up at the conbini on her desk, then ruffled through her dresser drawers until she found her favorite old t-shirt and pajama shorts. After changing, she sat down on the chair in front of her desk and peered over the rim of the box. The frog was sitting up, his injured leg stretched out behind him a bit, staring up at her with wide eyes.
"Hey, little buddy," she whispered, feeling a smile stretch across her face. "I'm gonna find you some food tomorrow, kero, so hold on a little longer, okay?"
Early the next morning, Tsuyu was the first one to arrive at the bathroom to brush her teeth, already fully dressed in her school uniform. Her plan was to head into town to scout out a pet supplies store and buy some food for the little amphibian, but when she returned to her room to grab her purse, Ochako was waiting in the hallway outside. Also fully dressed.
"Good morning, Ochako-chan!" Tsuyu smiled at her. "You're up so early!"
"Here!" Ochako thrust a small container into her hands. "I couldn't sleep all last night thinking about our little buddy, so I went out and got him something to eat right when the shops opened this morning. This should last for around a week."
"Thank you!" Tsuyu looked down at the small container and felt her heart warm with happiness. She had gone to bed the night before riddled with doubts that she would be able to nurse the poor little frog back to health and believing that her friends were probably thinking she was crazy to want to harbor a live animal in the dorms and take care of it. She had been almost sure that was Iida's stance, at least, which meant Deku and Ochako weren't far off. But she was wrong, because Ochako seemed to care just as much as she did.
And as she opened the door to her room and ushered Ochako inside, she saw Iida himself coming up the stairs with Deku trailing behind. They waved as they approached, and she ushered them inside as well.
"We wanted to see how the froggy is doing!" Deku beamed. "Uraraka-san texted us saying she got him some food."
Tsuyu began to crack open the lid on the food, happy that her self-doubt was being put to rest as they spoke. She lifted the flap of the box, which she had poked holes into just to be sure that the frog had good airflow, and poured in some of the contents of the food container.
"He's moving around more than yesterday," Ochako remarked as she watched the frog chase slowly after his meal.
"I'm sure he'll be back in good health really soon!" Deku smiled, wriggling between Iida and Tsuyu and wrapping his arms around their shoulders.
"Yes," Iida said as he watched the frog hop wobbly, and the others laughed as a smile widened across his face. "We should probably start heading over to the academic buildings. Classes will start soon."
The others nodded and followed Iida out of the room, Tsuyu stopping at the door to look at the box. Would the tiny frog be okay in such a small living environment, all alone, for the next eight hours? Her fear was met with a small squeeze on her shoulder, Ochako smiling beside her as Deku and Iida stood in the hallway throwing cheesy thumbs-ups again and again.
"He'll be fine!" Ochako assured her, and the four students began their trek to classes.
Day after day, for the rest of the school week, Tsuyu attempted to keep herself from getting distracted during class with thoughts of the frog. She would come home from school and race up to her room to check on him, sometimes with the others and sometimes without. They always wanted to come with her, but Deku often had meetings with All Might and Iida had student representative business, while Ochako had been invited to do some occasional training with Nejire-senpai. Tsuyu had been invited as well, but she had had to refuse.
The frog was making progress in terms of the wound physically healing, but he still limped around far too much for her to feel comfortable with letting him go out into the world alone again. Tsuyu imagined that the life of a frog could often be very lonely, as they tended to stick to themselves and didn't like being around other frogs.
I was like that once, she thought to herself while watching the frog attempt to swim around in the water after class one day. With the responsibility of caring for my younger siblings, I never had much time for friendship. I'm really happy I decided to try to become a hero, because I met so many people at U.A. who make me feel like I belong. Deku, Ochako, and Iida were the first to flash into her mind, but other members of class 1-A found their place in her heart as well.
"I can only hope that you will find friends that love you, too, kero," Tsuyu said as she leaned her head down on the desk and listened to the frog splash water around inside the box.
Suddenly, a knock at the door caused her to jump and almost sent the box flying off of the desk. She grabbed it quickly with her tongue just as it sailed over the edge, and the door opened.
"Oh, oops!" Deku had popped his head in to see if she was in the room when she hadn't responded right away. He opened the door wider and quickly rushed over while Tsuyu placed the box back on the desk. "Sorry, Asui!"
"Tsu."
"Right, yes, Tsu-chan!" Deku scratched his head and chuckled. "I get polite when I'm flustered, I guess."
"It's okay, Deku-kun. What did you need?"
Deku had come to her room dressed in his hero costume, scuffed up and dirty, with even a few bruises scattering his cheeks. He had come straight from training of some sort, which meant that he had something important to share.
"Well," he huffed a bit, catching his breath. He had run to find her. "I was walking home from doing some training with All Might in the city, and I passed a little park not far from where we found the frog last weekend. I took a look around because I had never really noticed it before, and I saw, like, three frogs all clustered together by a pond! It's pretty unusual for them to be like that, right?"
Tsuyu nodded, tapping one finger against her mouth as she tried to think of a time when she had ever seen frogs collecting in groups.
"So, I thought, what if this little guy is part of their group, and they're looking for him?"
Tsuyu's tapping increased as she pondered Deku's idea. It didn't make any sense, but then she thought again. Her own quirk gave her the ability to be like a frog in her actions, her behaviors, even the way her body worked, yet she had found a way to avoid living the solitary lifestyle of a frog. She had friends who really cared about her, like the boy standing in front of her now who had run to her to share even this small bit of news. Who could say that this frog wasn't just the same as she was, an anomaly in the best way possible?
"Okay," Tsuyu nodded. "Let's all go to the park together tomorrow morning and see if our little buddy recognizes these guys."
Tsuyu curled her fingers protectively around the cardboard box as she entered the small park, trailing behind the others as hesitation began to get the better of her. She looked down to see that the frog was staring back at her, his mouth hanging open loosely and his leg tucked under his body properly as he sat. She stopped and stared as the frog held her gaze, then stood still in surprise as his tongue shot up and lightly dabbed at her cheek. She smiled, not sure if this was meant to be a kiss of thanks or a hungry search for more food. He had only just been fed, so she convinced herself it was the former.
"I'm glad we got to spend some time together, kero," Tsuyu smiled down at him. "You've helped me to trust in my friends a little bit more, so thank you."
Deku, noticing that Tsuyu had stopped, turned around and came back to where she stood at the entrance of the park. Ochako and Iida followed him, hoisting umbrellas high above the group as rain started drizzling over them.
"I saw the other frogs over here," Deku spoke softly, wrapping his arm around Tsuyu's and leading her in the direction of a small, murky pond. He knelt down in front of a large clump of tallgrass near the water's edge, his eyes lighting up after a few moments of searching. "Here! They came back today!"
The four students carefully lowered the box to the ground near the clump of tallgrass and Tsuyu pulled the box flaps wide open. The frog was hopping around all corners of the box now, seeming almost as good as new. Before she could offer even a word of goodbye, he had risen onto his haunches and leapt into the air, shooting over the rim of the box and landing in the peripheral pieces of tallgrass. He offered a hearty kero, then hopped shakily into the grass.
Deku leaned over and focused on the group that he had found minutes before, and Tsuyu smiled as she watched his face light up.
"He's going straight to them!" Deku shouted giddily. "He found his friends! We did it, Tsu-chan!" Deku raced over and enveloped Tsuyu in a warm hug, Ochako and Iida coming towards her from behind and tackling her and Deku both in a massive group hug.
"We might not be heroes yet," Tsuyu laughed. "But we can still save a life and make someone happy together!"
Deku, Ochako and Iida all nodded back at Tsuyu as they pulled apart from their hug and linked arms together, all laughing as they began their stroll back to U.A. with the cool mist of morning rain tickling their faces.