Thursday – 2:13 PM

Seven Days until the UA Sports Festival

"Hey, Tsu, so we've, like, been wondering," in the hallway between english literature, totally useless since she never planned on visiting America, and math, which gave her a migraine simply imagining all those letters and numbers, less than six minutes to ask the only question on her mind, Mina Ashido leaned sideways, one hand against her mouth and black eyes glaring over her shoulder, "How exactly did you and Ryuko become friends?"

"That's kind of a personal question, Mina," ignoring how close Mina was standing, Tsuyu tipped a finger against her chin, "Besides, didn't you already ask Ryu?"

"We did," Toru Hagakure whined, empty sleeves demonstrating her exasperation, "But she refused to talk to us!"

"Well, she kinda, sorta, maybe told us to mind our own business," several pink fingers unfolded as Mina recounted their earlier attempt at coercing the information, "Then threatened unspeakable crimes if we pressed the issue or asked Uraraka for advice," a memory of Ryuko furiously cracking her knuckles passed through the acid girl's subconsciousness, eliciting a shudder, "Which can only mean one thing," with curiosity overwhelming survival instincts, she grinned a mischievous smirk, "There's something really juicy about how you and her became friends!"

"So, c'mon," matching her friend's curiosity, Toru stumbled in front of Tsuyu, "Tell us! Pretty please! We promise we won't tell anybody!"

Tsuyu stared at Toru, or where Toru would be if she could see her, "Well, alright."

My Bloody Academia

Three Years Ago

"Freak!"

Every word hurt a little more than the last. They'd caught her on her way home, chasing her across the park to the playground. Tears welled in her eyes. She tried drowning out their voices, but nothing worked. And as they screamed and jeered, insulting her appearance and Quirk, Tsuyu could barely muster enough confidence to defend herself.

"Look at you! You're a frog!" snot dribbling from his nose and hair like porcupine quills, one of the bullies laughed.

"…r-ribbit…"

"Ha! Did you guys here that?" another bully, beady eyes and hair the same color as grass, sneered, "She even ribbited like a dumb toad!"

"What should we do to her?" the first one argued.

"Where do you think dumb animals belong? In the trash," their leader, wearing a tank top and ragged jeans, grinned, "Now, come on. Grab her before a hero comes snooping – "

A rock smashed into his hand.

"Hayato!?"

"What happened, man?"

"D-Damn it! My hand!" holding his bruised hand, the bully staggered backwards, "Who the hell threw that!?"

"I did!"

Through her tears, Tsuyu saw someone standing on top of the jungle gym. A girl probably no older than herself silhouetted against the setting sun, "Now scram!" wearing a black and white t-shirt with a dragon skull on the front, red shorts and dirty sneakers, plus a bandage on her shin and nose, the mysterious girl growled, "Before I start kicking your butts!"

"You bitch!"

The fourteen-year-old bully flexed, doubling nearly twice in size while his skin gained the consistency of something resembling bark, "I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never – "

Wham!

A deceptively tiny fist smashed into the bully's nose, knocking him backwards and over a seesaw.

"Anybody else want a piece of me!?"

The strange girl turned towards the remaining five bullies, each at least one year older than her, "I ain't afraid of punk-ass villains! One at a time or together, I'll take you all on!"

"Get her!"

"I got her!"

"How is she so fast!?"

"My nose!"

"Gah!"

"Oof!"

The fight, if it could be called that, lasted barely sixty seconds. It was a one-sided massacre. Punches were exchanged. Quirks were activated, utilized and tossed about despite being against the law. And words not meant to come out of eleven-year-old mouths were spoken with urgency. But when everything was said and done, the last blows deal and the mostly empty park grew quiet, only one person remained standing above the others.

"Hah…hah…hah…"

Her unexpected savior huffed and puffed, "They weren't…so…tough," blood trickled from a nose caught by a glancing blow. Knuckles bore countless scrapes from repeatedly smashing faces. The front of her shirt was covered in mulch and dirt. And her knees were bloodied. Yet despite having beaten six bullies, the girl looked little worse for wear, "You okay?"

Tsuyu sniffed, "T-Thanks."

"Heh! No problem," pounding a hand against her chest and grinning, the weird girl rolled over one of the defeated bullies with her foot, exposing a bruised and bloodied face showing indentations from her fists, "Hey, I'm Ryuko Matoi. So, uh, these guys didn't hurt you or anything, right?"

"No," Tsuyu wiped the tears from her eyes, "And I'm Tsuyu…Tsuyu Asui, but you can call me Tsu."

"Alright, Tsu, glad yer okay!" late summer inevitably brought change, good and bad. Crickets, fireflies and other insects emerged from their burrows, drawn out of hiding by the fading heat and approaching autumn, "Oh, and ya don't need to worry about these sorry punks," even though she was covered in blood, some of it hers, but most of it not, Ryuko smiled as gnats and other small insects buzzed around her face, "Because if they think about revenge or something, I'll just have to kick their butts twice as hard!"

Tsuyu ribbited.

"Hey, uh," Ryuko grumbled in the back of her throat before pursing her lips, "I hate to ask, but can ya keep this a secret? My dad sorta doesn't like it when I sneak out of the house."

There was an intense look in Ryuko's eyes.

And a little desperation.

So, she nodded, which was the best option.

"Great!" the bloodied girl laughed, "I bet yer wondering how I saved you, right?" she really hadn't wondered, but now that Ryuko mentioned it, Tsuyu realized it was actually a really good question, "It's ain't anything special. I just saw these punks…" Ryuko emphasized 'punks' by kicking a little mulch on one of the bullies, "…outside my window talking about some girl with a weird Quirk. So, I followed them here," she grinned, "Ya know, I thought they'd be tougher! Heck, you could have beaten them yourself with your ultra-amazing frog Quirk!"

Tsuyu didn't know how much she'd needed to hear someone say that about her Quirk.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

"Uh, Ryuko," unsure whether or not to say anything, she felt her stomach turning inside-out, "I think you're bleeding."

Said preteen, instead of panicking or crying like a normal girl, looked at her hand like it wasn't important, "Eh, I'll be fine. Cause of my Quirk, I tend to bleed a lot."

Tsuyu thought about Ryuko's answer far more than she should have, "Your Quirk?"

"Yup! I have, like, way too much blood because of my Quirk," the blood coating Ryuko's fingers, as well as her scraped knees and elbow, exploded into life, as if struck by a current of electricity, "Dad says that's why I need to always eat a lot of meat," a look of pure concentration crossed Ryuko's face as the blood floating around her fingers morphed into a rough approximation of a cube, then a sphere, before vanishing through her skin, "I hate hamburgers, but if I don't eat enough meat, I get all woozy and dizzy. So, ya know, my life sucks."

Fireflies illuminated the park around them.

Crickets chirped.

"Hey, want to get some ice cream? There's this place that has, like, a hundred different flavors," sticking a hand into her shorts, Ryuko stepped into the grass, "My treat."

Tsuyu didn't know what to do.

Her mom and dad would be worried if she didn't call them soon.

And she needed to make sure her little brother and sister did their homework.

But Ryuko was so nice, "Sure, Ryu."

"Ryu?" an eyebrow disappeared into disheveled hair.

"Tsu," Tsuyu pointed at herself, then at Ryuko, "And Ryu."

My Bloody Academia

The Present Day

"I met Ryuko during our first year of junior high," Tsuyu croaked as Mina and Toru leaned a little closer, "That's pretty much it."

"What!?"

The immense weight of disappointment threatened to suffocate Mina as she grabbed Tsuyu's shoulders and began shaking the froggy girl, "There's gotta be more! A villain! Schoolyard bullies! Neglectful parents! Something! Anything! Don't leave me hanging here!"

Each question was accompanied by a slightly harder shake.

"Please. Stop. Shaking. Me," Tsuyu begged, her head snapping back and forth.

"Hey!"

A hand latched onto Mina's shoulder. Another grabbed Tsuyu. And with far less effort than someone her size needed, Ryuko shoved her way into the conversation, "The hell's going on here?" it was a question that didn't need an answer. Or rather, it wasn't necessary. Because Mina's deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression was enough for Ryuko to realize what was going down, "I thought I told you to mind your own business."

I'm sooorrrrryyyy," the pink-skinned girl begged.

When Ryuko smiled, a not-so-friendly expression, Toru and Mina grimaced.

"Heh, I knew you couldn't resist snooping about my life, so me and Tsu came up with a plan to screw with your plan," shooting her gossipy classmate a shit-eating smirk, Ryuko rolled her eyes, "All I had to do was get a little too angry and you'd go running straight to Tsu," a snort and a chuckle, "Pretty good acting, huh? Bet I really fooled you," as the weight of the deception settled on Mina's shoulders, leaving said girl gasping for relevance and answers, Ryuko gave one last shove, "Especially since there's actually an interesting story."

"What!?" Toru exclaimed.

"Yeah, and guess what? You're never gonna hear it," bag slung over her shoulder, Ryuko patted a catatonic Mina on the back, enjoying the pink-skinned girl's despair just a little more than necessary, "Consider this payback for that bull about me and Bakugo. Now, c'mon, Tsu, let's get to class before Ectoplasm blows a gasket."

Mina's scream of despair could be heard all the way to the teacher's longue.