A/N: Hello there, and welcome to my first attempt at writing for the world of My Hero Academia. This story is sort of a test for me. I hope everyone enjoys the story I'm writing for our favorite cinnamon rolls.

It had been so easy, at first, Ochaco reflects, shutting her feelings away. When Aoyama had made her realize that maybe, just maybe, she had feelings for Deku. Becoming a successful Hero and making money so that her parents could have easy lives had been the most important thing, and any possible distractions from that couldn't be permitted.

So, she'd locked away those feelings. It hadn't been very difficult at the time. It wasn't like Deku felt the same anyway, right? Besides, all of her classmates had seemed similarly focused on their goals after all, and weren't wasting their time on such frivolous things, right? Well, whether that had even been true back in the summer or not, it certainly wasn't now.

Granted, Kaminari still wasn't the best student, but the electric teen had consistently been putting the effort in to improve, and that certainly hadn't stopped after he'd begun dating Jiro. If anything, his efforts to improve as both a student and a Hero had only increased. So… If her friends could strive towards being Heroes, and still be honest with themselves, and their emotions, couldn't she? The idea had honestly scared her a little, but the lid on the box began to lift ever so slightly which made it increasingly difficult to suppress her feelings for Deku.

Still, confessing wasn't something she intended to do without thinking it through, so even though it had been on her mind since shortly after the School Festival, she kept her thoughts to herself for a time. It was only after Ashido had teased her about jumping in to save Deku, causing the green-haired boy to turn as red as Ochaco herself had, that Ochaco had realized she needed to get some advice, or at least talk to someone so she could break through her nerves. So now, two weeks later, Ochaco tries to figure out who she can talk to about all of this.

Ordinarily, Deku would probably be her first choice if she needed advice, or help sorting out plans. Even discounting the fact that he is her closest friend, Deku is very smart and good at making strategic decisions. But she can't exactly talk to him about this. She can just see it now: "Deku, I have feelings for you. Could you help me figure out how to confess to you without makin' a fool of myself?" Yeah, no. Not a chance. She isn't going to talk to him about all this until she's ready to give him the type of confession he deserves. Her best friend deserves no less.

Despite being heavily invested in whatever is blossoming between Deku and herself, Ashido is also clearly out. The pink girl is friendly, but she's also the biggest gossip in Class 1-A, quite possibly the biggest in all of the first-year classes. Even if Ashido is willing to try and keep Ochaco's crush on Deku quiet, Ochaco is relatively certain her hyperactive friend will still unintentionally blurt it to all of Class 1-A by the end of the day in a fit of excited squees. And if that happens… No, no Ochaco is not interested in dying from blushing too much. That would be far too embarrassing to have on her obituary: Ochaco Uraraka, aged 15. She died today after one of her friends revealed she had a massive crush on her best friend, Izuku Midoriya, to their entire classroom. This resulted in death by internal facial bleeding for both Ms. Uraraka and Mr. Midoriya. The funeral services will be held at U.A. High this Sunday. In lieu of flowers, please donate money to the Uraraka Construction Company, run by the late Ms. Uraraka's surviving parents.

Aoyama is briefly considered, but the idea of asking him for advice is dismissed even more quickly than asking Ashido. While the sparkling young man has become a good friend of Deku's the past few months, and he'd been able to notice Ochaco's crush before even she had realized it herself, his attempts to befriend Deku showed that his social skills were… lacking, to say the least. Any advice he gave ran the risk of making things more confusing and awkward, not less. Ochaco isn't interested in force-feeding Deku cheese, or convincing her crush she's suddenly taken up stalking, thank you very much.

Ida is a good friend, both to Ochaco herself and Deku. Unfortunately, she doubts that Class 1-A's representative will be much assistance with her current problem. Knowing Ida, he would probably give her some ridiculous multi-step Confession Plan that's been in his family for generations. Even worse, if Deku accidentally stumbles across their conversation Ida would not have it in him to lie to his friend. And while Ochaco's end goal is confessing to Deku, she doesn't want him to accidentally hear it from one of their friends instead! That would defeat the entire point of asking for help with her confession in the first place, after all.

Jiro would seem like the best idea at first blush. She's one of the only classmates Ochaco knows for certain is in a relationship, after all. However, Kaminari and Deku are so different that anything that helped Jiro and Kaminari get together would probably just stress out Deku, and quite possibly Ochaco herself. So, despite Jiro, or even Kaminari, seeming like a valid option, Ochaco figures she's probably better off getting advice from someone else.

But who else is there? Ochaco thinks to herself. I mean-

"Ochaco," a familiar voice croaks from behind her, "are you alright? Ribbit."

"Tsu," Ochaco says, surprised she didn't notice her friend coming into the kitchen. "Sorry, I didn't hear you there."

"It's fine," Tsu assures her. "It's just, you looked like Midori when he's mumbling about Quirks. Everything okay?"

How do I answer that? Ochaco thinks to herself. She could lie of course, but Tsu knows her better than almost anyone in Class 1-A. Even if her froggy friend chooses not to comment on it, she will almost certainly know Ochaco is lying. And, Ochaco reflects, Tsu is probably the best one to talk to about this. Ochaco is sure she can trust her to keep quiet. Tsu is honest enough that Ochaco can be sure she'll get Tsu's real opinion, not a lie to reassure her about her chances or something equally useless.

So instead of giving Tsuyu one of the myriad half-baked excuses she has stored up just in case Mina or Aoyama or anyone else for that matter decides to give her a hard time, Ochaco takes a deep breath, looks around to make sure no one else is there, and starts to explain everything. "I have feelings for Deku," Ochaco begins. "I mean, I have for a while now. And with everything that's happened lately, I… I want to tell him how I feel. I need to."

After taking a minute to consider her words, Tsu just says, "Took you long enough. Ribbit." Ochaco's expression must be pretty priceless because Tsuyu laughs. "Your crush on Midori is the worst kept secret in class, Ochaco," her friend informs her, not unkindly. "The only one who doesn't know is Midori, and that's because he's too busy pining for you to notice the obvious."

"Wh-What?" Ochaco stammers out as her cheeks turn red, blown away by Tsuyu's revelations. "Everyone knows? Deku likes me?"

"Well…" Tsuyu muses, a finger to her chin. "I suppose its possible that Koda doesn't now. I don't think anyone's ever asked him, and he's quiet enough that he's never brought it up if he does know. But besides him and Midori, I'm pretty sure everyone else does. Even Bakugo, although he probably doesn't care either way."

"And about that part about Deku likin' me?" Ochaco reiterates, because as shocking and embarrassing as it is to know that everyone already knows how she feels for him, it's even more surprising to hear that her best friend likes her back, and that this is apparently common knowledge.

"Ribbit. Midori's liked you since the start of the school year, Ochaco," Tsu tells her patiently, though something in her placid tone still says, This should be obvious. "I'm pretty sure some of the boys have bets going on which one of you will confess first."

"No one's told Deku about my feelings for him, have they?" Ochaco asks nervously. "I really only want him hearing about all of this from me."

Tsu places a reassuring hand on Ochaco's shoulder. "No one's told him anything," the frog girl reassures her. "Apparently one of the boys has tried to get him to confess to you, but that hasn't really gone anywhere."

"Aoyama," Ochaco guesses, receiving a nod of confirmation from Tsuyu. "Not that surprising," Ochaco notes quietly.

"But if you're looking for advice on how to confess… I don't really have anything to say beyond that you need to be upfront with him," Tsu admits. "Midori probably won't understand unless you tell him bluntly. You know he tends to overthink things. Ribbit."

Ochaco nods, options already running through her head. "I could…" she mumbles. "Or maybe instead I could…"

Tsu chuckles at the sight of Ochaco unknowingly mimicking Izuku. It didn't happen all that often, but it was always endearing to see when it did. But in the interest of helping her friend, she says, "Ochaco, you shouldn't start overthinking this either."

Ochaco blushes from her head to her feet. "Oh, right," the gravity girl says sheepishly. "I suppose that would be counterproductive."

"Just ask him to do something off campus on Sunday," Tsu suggests. "When he bites, and he will, talk to him about it then. No unwanted ears, no one to make it more awkward than it needs to be. Ribbit."

Ochaco surprises Tsuyu with the sudden hug though the frog girl returns it all the same. "Thanks, Tsu," Ochaco says sincerely. "I've been thinking about this for months, and I've got the beginnings of a plan now thanks to you."

"You're welcome," Tsu replies, hugging her friend back. "But in return…"

"In return… what?" Ochaco asks curiously as she pulls away.

"In return, I get first dibs on hearing how well your date goes afterwards, okay?" Tsu requests, a slightly teasing lilt to her voice.

"TSU!" Ochaco shrieks indignantly, much to her friend's amusement. "It's not going to be a date; we're not even dating."

"You're not dating yet," Tsu corrects impishly. "But you will be afterwards!"

"Y'know, Tsu," Ochaco complains without heat, "I thought you were the perfect person to talk to about this, but I'm starting to rethink that now."

Tsu laughs. "I can handle that, you still have to tell me everything, though."

Ochaco can't help but laugh with her. Honestly, she feels better about the whole thing now than she has in a while. And so, as the stress that she'd barely realized was there leaves her shoulders, she just laughs along with her friend.