Work Text:
Blood runs thicker than water but they both feel the same when your eyes are closed
The Water Is Fine, Chloe Ament
Tsuyu grew up in the water. I mean, she’s part frog, right? She’s intimately familiar with the way that the water slides across her skin when she swims, when she jumps in and out of pools and sea. She knows all of the different smells of it because they’ve always clung to her skin and her hair. She got even more familiar with it after her internship and all those rescues at sea. Hell, she’s even had to swim in some sewers. So she knows what water feels like, alright? Or she thought she did.
It’s been raining for the entire fight. It hasn’t bothered her, but she knows Shouto hasn’t been able to use his fire and Iida’s had to pull back on his speed so as not to skid on the slippery roads. The only ones that were at full power in this takedown were Ochako and her. And things were under control, Tsuyu swears they were. They had the two quirked up robbers contained, the public was held back by the police and Bakugou or Midoriya had surely been called in by this point, ‘cause they always were. And Ochako. Oh, she was beautiful, fighting and floating debris and her teammates so that they could move around easier in the rain. Tsuyu could feel the warm rain making her suit cling to her skin and she was so proud of Ochako who was now showing off her close combat skills. They had it all under control. Until they didn’t.
Ochako was fighting the guy with the blue hair, who they had determined had some kind of agility quirk, and then, his partner was behind her, something glinting in his hand. Tsuyu didn’t understand, that guy had been standing on the other side of the street, fending off Shouto’s ice a second ago. She turned around to check, but Shouto was looking at Ochako too, the horror plain on his face. Tsuyu turned around, a warning ribbit falling off her tongue, but it was too late, the guy had already cut across Ochako’s throat.
You know how they say that in situations like this, time gets weird? Tsuyu knew it from experience. Sometimes it freezes, sometimes it speeds up, sometimes it fades. Except, it’s not really time that gets weird, it’s you.
Tsuyu doesn’t know how she made it to Ochako’s side, but she’s there, holding her to her chest and telling her that it’ll be okay, that Iida will bring help soon, that she’ll be okay soon. She feels the blood soaking into both of their uniforms, she sees it pooling along with the warm rain water all around them on the floor. She feels Ochako’s garbled attempt at words and keeps trying to shush her, reassure her. She knows she must be crying, but she doesn’t feel the tears on her face. All she feels is water, all she sees is red. Ochako gives her a smile, red tendrils dripping from her lips fast, too fast, too watery. And too fast, or too slow, or maybe never and all at once and repeatedly, Tsuyu feels her go limp in her arms.
With her eyes closed, she hears voices all around her, people yelling frantically to one another and someone wailing like they’re wounded. Later, she’ll catch a glimpse of the footage which they’ll play on TV for way too long, and she’ll know that it was her. But right now, her eyes are closed and she no longer can tell the difference between warm rain and blood on her skin.