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Ochako saw her first day of college classes going entirely differently, though she supposes that’s only natural. She doesn’t think anyone can foresee being trapped in an elevator with a girl who seems way too at ease with being trapped in a small space.
“They said we’d be stuck here for half an hour,” the girl says, backing away from the elevator's emergency call button. “An hour, for a worst-case scenario.”
Ochako nods. An hour. Okay, she can do that. She’s not claustrophobic, exactly, but she doesn’t like the idea of being stuck here, either. But an hour wouldn’t be that bad if she can make sure things don’t get awkward.
But, God, she is so good at making things awkward. Especially around pretty people, something Izuku won’t let her live down. He’d declared her a disaster bi, after watching her stutter her way through a conversation with Tenya when they first met, and then Mina shortly after, though she’s pretty sure he stole that term from his boyfriend’s friend. It sounds like something he’d plucked right out of Kaminari’s vocabulary, at least.
She takes in the girl next to her and gulps. With her long hair that Ochako can’t tell is really green, or if the shitty lights of the elevator are just making it look that way, big, round eyes framed by ungodly long eyelashes, she is, without a doubt, the kind of pretty Ochako loses control of her mouth over.
She can feel the word vomit crawling up her throat, and it nearly pushes past her lips when the girl says, “Wanna play twenty-one questions?”
All of the words become a soft whoosh of air, and a quiet, “Huh?”
The girl shrugs and leans against the opposite elevator wall. She makes looking cool seem effortless. Elegant, even.
Ochako crosses her arms and tries to copy the position, but ends tripping over her feet. A blush overtakes her face as she straightens out her skirt while clearing her throat.
“Twenty-one questions, sure. Sounds good,” she says, avoiding the girl’s eyes.
“Cool,” she says. “Question one - what’s your name?”
“Ochako Uraraka,” she says, crossing her arms tighter to avoid the urge to shake the girl's hand. It’s too late for that sort of formality, right? You don’t shake hands with a pretty girl you got stuck in the elevator with after more than ten minutes have passed… right? “Uh, what’s yours?”
The girl’s lips tilt in amusement.
“Tsuyu Asui, but call me Tsu. Question three - what’s your major?”
Ochako tilts her head.
“Three?”
“I asked a question, and then you asked one. Asking one more makes it…” Tsu trails off, holding out her hand while she waits for Ochako to fill in the blank.
Ochako feels her cheeks heat up even more under Tsu’s teasing smile.
“Three,” Ochako says, lamely. “Communications. What’s yours?”
“You’re not just going to copy my questions all game are you?” Tsu asks. “Kinda defeats the purpose of the game.”
“Wha - I - No?” Ochako says, and Tsu snorts. “I’m not! I’m just curious, is all.”
Tsu nods, not looking convinced.
“Marine Biology. Question five, what’s your guilty pleasure?”
Pretty girls with long eyelashes, Ochako thinks, making her bring a hand to her mouth despite not saying anything.
“Don’t laugh but - The Fault in Our Stars,” Ochako says, and Tsu laughs anyways. “Hey!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Tsu lies, wearing a shit-eating grin. “It’s just - you’re a little predictable, is all.”
Ochako lowers her hands.
“Is that a good thing?” she asks.
“It can be,” Tsu says, looking Ochako up and down.
Ochako feels her blush come back tenfold, and sends a silent thank you to her genetics for her naturally rosy cheeks. They make it harder to tell that she’s completely falling apart the way she is.
But maybe she isn’t the only one? Tsu is totally flirting, isn’t she? That’s what that look meant, right?
“Mine’s Suicide Squad, so I don’t have much room to talk,” Tsu says, filling the silence that Ochako left.
Oh, right, she’s supposed to be asking a question.
“Do you think all the technical advances are worth the loss of privacy?” Ochako asks, and Tsu quirks an eyebrow.
“Oh, wow, getting deep here,” Tsu says. Ochako puffs her chest out with pride. She’s not completely predictable. “But, hmmm. I think it could, if we used the loss of privacy more for catching pedophile rings and things of that sort that take place online, and less about capitalism and targeted ads and all that. Question seven - where would you be right now if we weren’t trapped in here?”
“Ahh, honestly?” Ochako says, rubbing the back of her neck, “Probably third-wheeling for my friend and his boyfriend.” She expects Tsu to laugh again, and it’s almost relieving when she just hums instead. “What would be the biggest perk of not being able to smell?”
“Not having to smell the freshmen halls,” Tsu says with a grimace.
Ochako groans in agreement and Tsu grins at her.
“It’s like no one taught them how to shower! I’m so glad I enrolled late and lost my spot in that hall.”
“God, same,” Tsu agrees. “Okay, question nine - what’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done because of a dare?”
Ochako hums and looks up as she thinks. She’s spent a lot of time around the Bakusquad ever since Bakugou and Izuku finally got their shit together, and there’s been plenty of games of truth and dare, usually started by Kaminari or Sero. She usually picks truth, though.
“Hmm, oh! Okay, it wasn’t really a dare per se, more like a taunt. You know how when you’re in, like, middle school, and everything is very boys versus girls?”
Tsu snorts.
“Middle school? That’s literally what half of freshmen rush was.”
Ochako pushes her hair behind her ear as she says, “Ah, I didn’t go to freshman rush week. Pretty much all of my high school friends ended up applying here, so I didn’t feel the need.”
“Fair enough,” Tsu shrugs.
“Yeah. Anyways, I went to this retreat thing with my friend Toru and there was one day where the stove caught fire, so the adults took us out for tacos instead. I don’t remember how it lead up to it, but the boys started saying no girl could handle how spicy the mild sauce is,” Ochako continues, stopping when Tsu burst out laughing.
Ocahko grins at her, as Tsu grabs her stomach with one hand and waving the other around as she tries to catch her breath to talk.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she chokes, “but the mild sauce?”
Ochako giggles and nods her head giddily.
“Yeah! The boys couldn’t handle it - and it really annoyed me, for whatever reason? I don’t know why, I’m pretty good at ignoring that stuff, usually. But it rubbed me wrong, so I got up, stared them all down, and drank like ten hot sauce pockets while they all watched.”
Tsu chokes with laughter as Ochako mimics the shocked faces those boys wore that day.
“You didn’t,” Tsu laughs.
“I did!” Ochako protests, “And, God, did I regret it. It wasn’t overly spicy, but the higher up in spice things go, the more gross they taste. To me, anyway.”
Tsu’s laughter cuts off with a snort, and Ochako grins at the sound. Before she can ask the next question, the elevator jerks and they start moving again.
“I’m almost disappointed,” Tsu says, as the elevator stops at her floor. “Never thought I’d enjoy being trapped in an elevator, but I guess if it’s with a cute girl it’s pretty painless.”
Ochako flinches in surprise and feels her blush take over her face again.
“Well, I, yes,” Ochako stutters.
Tsu giggles and uncaps a marker she pulls from her backpack. She sticks her back against the elevator door to keep it from closing and writes her number along Ochako’s arm.
“Call me the next time you don’t wanna be a third wheel,” Tsu says, winking as she leaves.
Ochako blinks down at her arm until what just happened sinks in. Then, she’s falling against the elevator wall, and muffling an excited scream into her palms. This certainly isn’t how she expected her first week of college to go at all.