#setsusen

[vannahfanfics]

Picture Perfect

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Characters: Sen Kaibara, Setsuna Tokage

Hello, everybody! I am super stoked to present my story for the @class-b-abuzz-bang! I had the pleasure of working again with my talented friend @danyartime​, so be sure to check out their super beautiful and cute art for the story!

The smudge of ruby-red gradually came into focus as Sen twisted the dial on his camera, revealing a blooming rose nestled among the spiny branches of a rose bush. Its soft, silken petals glistened with dewdrops from the early morning rain. The little beads caught the sunlight to shine like crystal-clear gems on the red petals, their iridescent sheen glinting even through the lens. 

Sen kept his hands steady as he fine-tuned the focus until he was satisfied; then, with a simple press, he clicked the shutter and captured the image. 

He straightened up with a small sigh, letting the camera flop down against his chest while the thick leather strap around his neck kept it from falling. He tilted his head back to squint at the sun, which shone brightly in the azure sky amidst the white, cottony clouds. It was a lovely Saturday morning, still slightly cool with the lingering chill of the night. Sen was making his weekly rounds of the campus to practice his photography. 

Sen had always liked cameras and had dabbled in photography in middle school. Once he arrived at U.A., he thought that homework and hero training would dominate much of his time. However, after Midnight had given them a lecture about the importance of maintaining a hobby to promote mental well-being, he’d picked up his camera again and taken to wandering the campus on the weekend. There were more things to capture than he’d anticipated, so he now had a large collection of candids taped to his dorm room wall and was adding more every week. 

He picked up his camera to inspect the photograph of the rose, scrutinizing it for any imperfections. A smile slowly bloomed on his lips as he realized it was a quite pretty photograph indeed— definitely one he intended to print later. As he mulled about on the sidewalk, wondering where he should look next, he heard the glass doors of the dormitory open. 

He glanced over his shoulder to see Setsuna trotting out onto the porch, and his heart thumped against his ribcage. 

She didn’t notice him standing there at first, giving him an opportunity to unabashedly admire her. She walked out into the sunshine, closing her eyes and tipping back her head to let the warm rays fall upon her face and thread into her dark green-black hair. She wore a sleeveless white dress that hugged her figure and stopped a little above her knees. A golden belt looped around her waist, and shiny white boots enclosed her feet. A golden necklace with a lizard charm hung around her neck. Sen had always thought that Setsuna had impeccable fashion sense, in addition to being stunningly gorgeous. His fingers itched to hit the shutter and snap as many photographs of her as he could. 

Of all the things he’d ever wished to immortalize in a picture, Setsuna Tokage was perhaps the greatest. 

After soaking up the sun rays for several moments, Setsuna opened her eyes and finally noticed him standing in the garden in front of the dormitory. His body had grown slack with dreamly laxity while he’d gazed at her, but he tensed tight when a grin split her face. She cheerily called, “Morning, Sen!” 

“Good morning, Setsuna,” he replied. She hopped down the steps and trotted toward him. He hoped the heat on his cheeks was from the intense spring sun and not a blush rising to the surface. She stopped in front of him and immediately looked down at his camera, and then her eyes widened in curiosity. 

“Oh, are you out and about taking pictures? Do you have any good ones?” 

Sen nodded and lifted the camera, turning it around so she could see the display screen on the back. She pressed up against his side to look over his shoulder, and he felt his face blaze with heat as her hair, still damp and smelling of her dewberry shampoo, brushed over his neck. He could hear her breathing in his ear; every inhale and exhale made him dizzier and dizzier. Somehow, he managed to retain enough control of his body to cycle through the photographs he’d taken that morning. 

The first was of the sunrise. He’d climbed to the roof of the dormitory to catch the hemisphere of white emerging over the horizon, the blue curtain of night rising to reveal a flood of red-orange. It had been cloudy that morning, so the sunbeams had caught on the clouds to stretch in white lines across the sky. “Wow… That’s beautiful,” Setsuna praised. 

“Yeah.” Except, he wasn’t looking at the photograph of the dawn. 

The next photograph was of a squirrel sitting on the roots of the oak tree next to the dormitory. It rested on the gnarled chunk of root that rose from the loamy soil like a sea serpent. Its little paws clutched an acorn, holding it to its little snout while it scored its long front teeth across the surface to try to break through the hard shell. Its fluffy, long tail curled over its back like a plume of wispy brown-gray smoke. Setsuna giggled, “It’s so cute.” 

“Yeah.” Except, he wasn’t looking at the photograph of the squirrel. 

He showed her the photograph of the rose next. She inhaled sharply with awe, then leaned more over his shoulder to peer closer at the screen. His face darkened as more of her body pressed against him, but she was too enraptured by the beautiful bloom bursting in colorful pixels on the screen to notice. Her eyes sparkled as she murmured, “Amazing…” 

“Yeah.” Except, he wasn’t looking at the photograph of the rose. 

Sen lowered his camera back down when she pulled away, though he lamented the loss of her body heat along his side. She smiled radiantly at him. Sen felt his heart start playing his rib cage like a xylophone, and he lowered his face to fiddle with his camera so she couldn’t see the haze of red staining his cheeks. 

“Wow, Sen! I never knew you were so talented!” she gushed. He mumbled some sort of gratuitous remark in response. “What are you going to take pictures of next?” 

Sen felt a lump form instantly in his throat. He peered through his bangs at her, watching, measuring. He’d always wanted to photograph Setsuna, and here she was, so interested in his hobby. Would she agree to a small photoshoot? He didn’t want to bother her or creep her out, but… Holy cow, Sen had never seen someone that was more a work of art than her, and he was gripped with such an intense desire to see her through his photo lens that it was almost suffocating. 

He swallowed several times, but that lump in his throat just bobbed in place. Somehow, he managed to force the words out around it: “I’d like to photograph you, Setsuna.” 

Her eyes blew wide, two dark moons floating in a sea of white. She pointed at herself and squeaked out, “M-me?” 

When he nodded, a bright flush of pink rushed into her cheeks, and a shy smile teased at her lips. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other while her eyes rolled up to the corners, unable to look Sen in the eye at the realization he wanted her to be his muse. He waited patiently for her to answer, despite his stomach twisting in his belly, until she uttered a meek, “O-Okay…” 

Sen couldn’t help the giddy smile that tugged at his lips and the light that lit up his eyes. 

“Okay,” he echoed, and the happiness that bled into his voice made Setsuna smile bashfully. He held out his hand for her, and when Setsuna coyly slipped her fingers into his, it felt like electric shocks rocketed up his nerves. He wanted to jump for joy, but he had to remain professional. He forced down his elation to focus on the task at hand— capturing Setsuna in all her goddess-like glory. Smiling softly, he tugged her down the sidewalk, walking backward while he led the bashful girl by the hand. 

As he walked, he glanced around the garden to find some suitable settings. He couldn’t just photograph Setsuna in any old setting, no, no— it had to be something truly magnificent, fitting of his image of an angel fallen to earth. He thought of her standing on the porch, her head tipped back to soak up the warmth of the sun, and at the same time his eyes fell upon a patch of wild dandelions growing in a patch of empty green grass. Perfect. 

“Here,” he said and pulled her off the sidewalk and into the grass. He treaded carefully, trying to disturb as few of the dandelions as he could. It wouldn’t be much of a backdrop if he kicked all their floaty little seeds to the wind before he could get started, now would it? Setsuna milled about next to him, her cheeks stained as pink as carnations, while Sen stared at the small patch of wildflowers and mumbled under his breath. A vision took shape in his mind, one that made him as floaty as the dandelion seeds. 

He directed Setsuna to sit among the dandelions in the clearest patch they could find. She eased down into the dewy grass, tucking her legs against her side. Her right hand rested on her thigh, while the other pushed into the loamy dirt, supporting her weight. She tossed her tresses of dark green hair over her shoulder, and there was so much magic in that simple movement that Sen’s mind momentarily went black. He just gawked at her, wide-eyed, until Setsuna bashfully said, “Sen? Is this good?” 

“O-oh,” he stammered, flushing. “Yeah, that’s good.” He crouched down a few feet away from her and picked up his camera, then peered through the lens. He tried to keep his hands from shaking— it would ruin his shot— but it was so hard with the way she smiled sweetly at him through the camera lens, her head tilted just so to give her a demure demeanor. Her eyes were lidded as she rested contentedly amongst the dandelions. Sen waited until the wind whistled across the grass, bobbing the dandelions and fluttering her hair, before clicking the shutter in quick succession. 

While he lowered the camera to choose which of the set he believed to be the best, Setsuna turned to watch a few of the dandelion seeds float away on the breeze. As a serene smile graced her lips, Sen snuck a candid photo. Unfortunately, the click of the shutter betrayed him, and she rolled her head on her shoulders to smirk at him in amusement. 

“I feel like a model,” she laughed. “I never thought I would be a part of a photoshoot.” 

Sen blushed, using the bulk of his camera to hide his face. 

“Well…” he mumbled, deleting the photos he didn’t intend to keep so he didn’t have to look directly at her. “Hopefully my photos live up to your expectations.” 

“I know they will,” she hummed with so much conviction that it made Sen’s heart flutter. While waiting on him, she picked up one of the dandelions and gently blew on it. Sen scrambled to back out of his photos so he could snap a picture of her slightly parted lips blowing into the seeds, dislodging them into the breeze. They bobbed around her hair, some of them settling into the waves of dark green like little snowflakes. Suddenly, Setsuna laughed and flopped backward into the patch, slamming her arms down to send hundreds of the little seeds spiralling into the air. 

Sen hopped to his feet, but he didn’t pick up his camera. He just stared in adoration at the beautiful sight before him. Setsuna’s hair spread around her head like a dark halo, threaded with grass blades and dandelion seeds. She gazed reverently at the seeds spinning above her body; with no wind to catch them, they slowly swirled down, down, down to settle on her form. Her eyes drifted to Sen, who was gaping at her like she was the most sublime creature on earth. A tinge of pink appeared on her cheeks as she asked, “What? No more photos?” 

He played with the thick black strap of his camera as he stiffly said, “Some things a photo can’t even do justice.” 

She tilted her head slightly at that, eyebrows creasing in just the barest hint of amusement. Sen took a deep breath, preparing himself for the crazy thing he was about to do; then, he pulled his camera off from around his neck and set it down amongst the grass. Setsuna just watched him as he walked to where she lay in the grass, her chest rising and falling with rapidly-quickening breaths and a knowing smile spreading over her lips. 

“Is that so?” she breathed when he knelt down next to her, on her left side. Surrounded by the grasses, Sen could see the hidden rivers of emerald shining in her eyes and her hair. Even with the most expensive camera equipment, he could never capture those streams concealed within the dark of her hair and eyes; they were immortal only in Sen’s memory. 

“Yeah,” he answered, his voice just as breathy. “A photo could never do you justice, Setsuna. Not in my eyes.” 

A shy smile played over her mouth, and then she quickly swiped her tongue over her lips to wet them. This action did not go unnoticed by Sen; it made his heartbeat quicken and adrenaline surge through his veins. Setsuna’s hand snuck through the grass like a lithe snake, latching onto his. He didn’t resist as she guided him to crawl over her body, knees resting next to her hips, hands on either side of her head. 

“Then why ask me to do a photoshoot for you?” she asked teasingly. 

“It’s a good excuse to be able to look at you longer,” he answered matter-of-factly. Her face flushed red as her flirtatious taunt was turned so effortlessly back to her, and this made Sen’s mouth curl up into a smirk. “Besides, even if a picture can’t do you justice, I’d still like to have them. You’re beautiful, even through a camera lens.” 

He brushed his fingers gently over the cascade of hair framing her face, teasing through the strands and dislodging the dandelion seeds. The way she was looking at him, the fire smoldering in the depths of her eyes, emboldened him. His fingers slowly shifted to skim over her cheek, feeling the heat that rose to the surface in response to his touch. He brushed down the curve of her jaw until he met her chin, and then he turned his hand to place his thumb just under her mouth, tugging down to part her lips ever-so-slightly. 

“May I kiss you, Setsuna?” 

“Please,” she whispered, literally agonized by the fact he wasn’t kissing her already. This made Sen chuckle, but he didn’t want to keep the lady waiting. He dropped down onto his elbows to bring his face centimeters away from hers. She craned her head slightly with a low, needy whine, bumping her nose softly against his with the motion. Sen chuckled again, then tilted his head so he could close the gap and slot his lips against hers. 

Truth be told, Sen had thought about kissing Setsuna many times. Still, all his daydreams could never prepare him for how it really felt to have her lips melding with his. It felt like his heart exploded in his chest, filling him to the brim with a cloudy, floaty feeling from the crown of his head to the very tips of his toes. Sen pressed his body down against hers slightly, grounding himself because it really did feel like he was going to float away, just like those dandelion seeds. 

Setsuna hummed against his lips as he moved his mouth over hers, kissing her with a growing hunger. She just felt so good, tasted so sweet, and that scent of her dewberry shampoo was flooding his nose again. He kissed her until his mind was growing fuzzy with oxygen deprivation instead, then pulled back with a deep intake of air. Setsuna’s eyes fluttered open to look at him reverently, like he’d just hung the moon in the sky for her. Damn it, Sen would if that’s what it took to see that look on her face every single day. 

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered again. His voice cracked with the sheer amount of worship he put into the statement. Setsuna shyly bit down on her bottom lip, but the twinkle in her eyes intensified. Unable to help himself, he leaned down again to kiss her nose, each of her cheeks, and then her lips again. Setsuna giggled at the soft, feathery kisses brushing over her skin, and the sound was music to Sen’s ears. 

“You’re not too bad yourself,” she joked cheekily. Sen rolled his eyes, but wasn’t exactly surprised at her impudence. Her overwhelming confidence was one of the many, many things he adored about her. He nosed along her jaw as he smiled softly down at her, making her squirm and giggle. She wound her arms around her neck, indicating that she had no care to go anywhere anytime soon. The wind rustled the grasses around them, dusting Sen in a few of the dandelion seeds. 

No, a picture really couldn’t do her justice at all, Sen thought as he gazed down at Setsuna. She crossed her eyes as a dandelion seed drifted across her nose, then playfully blew it into Sen’s face. The little feathery fibers of the seed tickled his cheek as his lips teased up into a loving smile. A picture was worth a thousand words, many people said— but as they gazed into one another’s eyes, a million words passed between them that a picture couldn’t even hope to capture.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

[junionigiri]

BNHA Rarepair Month - Day 16 - Love

for @bnha-rarepair-month​

Summary: Tsuburaba Kosei thinks that Asui Tsuyu is his 100% Perfect Girl, but doesn't have the courage to talk to her. Luckily (???) Tokage Setsuna is willing to help him out.

Relationship(s): Asui Tsuyu/Tsuburaba Kosei (Tsutsu...? TsuyuRaba?); background Tokage Setsuna/Kaibara Sen (SetsuSen???) if u squint

Rating: T

Warnings/Notes: How did this end up 4k words; enjoy this 1-B mess I guess! I got the '100% Perfect Girl' term from one of my favourite short stories ever: On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning by Haruki Murakami; but of course the stories are nothing alike

Links: AO3 | FFNet

Life as an aspiring hero isn’t the simplest thing. Even though he’s fortunate enough to be in the relatively stable 1-B (and not 1-A, to which lady luck keeps a steady storm of shit flowing into their collective fortunes), he’s had his own share of sticky situations.

However, for the first time ever, Tsuburaba Kosei, 16 years old, finds himself facing a conundrum so puzzling that he needs to look up the word ‘conundrum’ to describe it. And that thing which he faces is…

Love.

He covers his mouth shut just thinking about the word. He has to, ‘cause otherwise he’d blow a neat little air prison around him with just enough room for him to rock back and forth and to hit his head against the wall as much as he needs to, until he calms down. Given that he’s contemplating all this in the 1-B classroom with all his other classmates milling about him, it’d definitely cause a commotion and would likely send him to an unwarranted trip to Recovery Girl’s office. Or the loony bin, if her humble little clinic is unequipped to treat vexing emotional problems like his. Which it likely is.

“You’re thinking about that 1-A girl again, man?” Kaibara Sen asks, as he leans against the desk next to him. His usual judgy stare is extra judgy as he watches Tsuburaba struggle against the turmoil of his emotions.

“You don’t get it man,” he says with a sigh. As he opens his mouth, a puff of solid air the size of a dinner plate forms in front of his face and crashes to the ground like, well, a dinner plate. The sound resonates throughout the classroom. This only earns him a pointed glare from half of his classmates. It’s a little embarrassing that the class is now used to the noisy sound of his sighing fits that none of them even flinches.

“Hey, you’re talking about Tsuyu-chan, aren’t you?” It’s Tokage Setsuna who suddenly chimes in, turning her seat around and fixing her reptilian eyes to him. “Well I understand you perfectly, Tsuburaba-kun. She’s awfully cute.”

Ah, yes. Small and pretty and strong and smart and awfully cute. With her huge round eyes and forest-green hair with that complex hair bow thing that makes her look elegant and down-to-earth at the same time. With that cute little slip of her tongue always peeking from her mouth. He can go on and on about Tsuyu-chan--oh, Asui-san--can’t pretend to be too close now, since they unfortunately don’t really know each other then, never really had a proper interaction before apart from that one time she said caught you!In that cute little croak of hers, but--

“Hey, wait a minute--‘Tsuyu-chan’? Since when did you have the right to call her t-t-Tsuyu-chan?!”

The green-haired girl snorts at the way he hesitates over his green-haired goddess’ first name. When he presses her further about how she earned the right to call Asui-san that, she merely shrugs, wide eyes mildly amused. “She told me to call her that. We’re practically close friends now.”

“What? Since when?!”

“Since I made friends with her. Duh. I figured us cold-blooded heroines should stick together.” She sticks out her forked tongue at him, looking absolutely mischievous. “It’s super easy, dude. Just go next door and talk to her. She’s really friendly.”

“Easy for you to say,” Tsuburaba groans in exasperation. Another transparent plate of air forms in front of him, which he catches with one hand and places on his desk before it breaks. “You guys don’t understand. The moment she captured me, I was so sure that she’s my--”

“100% perfect girl. Yeah. We know,” Kaibara says boredly, already spinning one of his fingers to amuse himself. “You’ve only told us that everyday since the Joint Training Exercise, man.”

He’s miffed that Kaibara would say it so flatly, like it isn’t a miracle to know in the deepest part of your heart that the girl who has wrapped your entire body with her tongue and subsequently threw you in a cage during a really violent all-out battle royale is your 100% perfect girl. Damn, just thinking of the way his heart throbbed, how right everything felt when he was enveloped in the warmth, when parts of her tongue covered his m-m-mouth--

“You’ve got that awful perverted look in your eyes again, Tsuburaba-kun. They’re looking extra googly today,” points out Tokage in amusement. “You better not let her see you like this.”

He isn’t being perverted, he’s merely remembering their first tender moment together. Although, granted, one day when he’s giving their two future children his well-rehearsed How I Met Your Mother spiel, he’s gonna have a hard time making the tongue incident sound romantic and magical…

“He’s thinking about the tongue thing again,” Kaibara tells her bluntly, stone-cold as ever. “Definitely perverted.”

“Yeah. That’s disgusting, Tsuburaba-kun,” cackles the lizard-girl with a teasing grin. “Forget about my advice to go up and talk to her. I have to protect Tsuyu-chan from you at all costs.”

Such friends. He’s about to retort harshly and defend the purity of his love for her when Kaibara shoves him with a sharp elbow to the shoulder. “Shut it. Monoma’s back and extra manic today.”

True enough, the guffaw of their fearless, shameless blonde leader reverberates throughout the classroom. “Victory upon our shores again, you deplorable Class 1-A! Aren’t you supposed to be smarter than us? When your class grade average is 0.75 points less than ours?!”

There’s a collective sigh of exasperation and gloom inside the 1-B classroom. Tsuburaba feels lucky that Monoma doesn’t know about his raging crush on someone from ‘deplorable 1-A’. But it’s true that ages ago, he’d rather have nothing to do with any of the competition, especially not the class that keeps upstaging them. Now his distaste for 1-A’s lessened, and limited only to the other 19 students in that class.

Isn’t it funny, how love changes a man for good?

Someone argues incomprehensibly against him--from the sound of the voice, it’s probably Red Tetsutetsu who’s talking back to Monoma--before the blonde’s undeterred cackle resonates around the room once more. “Who cares if it’s just in English? I didn’t read the entire list! Aren’t you supposed to beat us in all the subj--”

The loud smacking sound that everyone’s accustomed to comes next, and they instantly knew that Kendo-san has taken care of it. Soon, the very capable redhead apologizes profusely to the other students in the hallway. “Sorry ‘bout that, friends. He’s just a liiiittle jealous that Shinsou-kun transferred to your class, and not ours.”

A muffled croak comes out through the door, and that beautiful sound is enough to snap the wide-eyed boy out of his disinterest. “It’s okay, Kendo-chan. I don’t think Monoma-chan’s any different from his usual self, ribbit. You’re doing a good job of keeping him under control.”

His heart actually stops<. There’s an entire second where his heart forgets what to do. He isn’t being dramatic when he makes an ugly, embarrassing sound and clutches his chest comically.

“Aw, I’m so glad my efforts are appreciated~ Tsuyu-chan, you are such a bright spot in a thankless day!”

“Ribbit. I do what I can. Keep working hard, Kendo-chan.”

He catches a peek of her long, green hair flowing behind her as she walks away with the redhead from 1-A. Not like he’s spying or stalking or anything, but what’s red Tetsutetsu doing, just walking together during lunchtime, just the two of them?! Never mind that they look terrible together--they look like an incomplete set of traffic lights, they look like bad Christmas decorations, they’d have horrible looking children together, not like the potentially cute round-eyed wonderkids he already fathered in his head--

“Chill, Tsubu,” Tokage breaks through his off-the-rails mental rant with a shit-eating grin and a cackle. “Is my poor boy jelly of Kirishima-kun? Now that’s just priceless.”

“Who’s jealous? Not me. Maybe you’re jealous.” he mutters, as he crashes forehead-first into his desk. Over and over. Who’d be jealous of that hardening rip-off who deems himself worthy of having lunch with his 100% perfect girl, just the two of them? Not him, definitely. And there’s definitely no need to remember Red Tetsutetsu’s name and to put him in a kill list. No need at all.

He practically hears Kaibara roll his eyes at him. Might be spinning them like a drill, with how bored he is of this discussion already. “Dude, seriously, just man up and talk to her. If she’s really your 100% perfect girl -- whatever the hell you mean by that -- you probably owe it to yourself to at least have a real interaction with her.”

A real interaction with her does sound nice. They can go to a nice cafe and have a nice conversation. He’d listen to her talk about swimming and rainy days and other things she might like. He’d talk to her about classes and heroism and the things he likes. Maybe invite her to watch the next Giants game with him, if she’s up to it. And then they’d have so much fun, she’d ribbit in that cute way of hers and ask him if they can do this again, and--

“Interactions in your head don’t count,” Kaibara interrupts rudely, cutting in through the very vivid pleasant images he’s formed in his head.

Tsuburaba scowls at his friends. “I know that,” he grumbles. “I just--you know, I have to be ready, I can’t just walk up to her and talk to her--”

“That’s what I did. Literally,” Tokage supplies flatly, to which he makes an exasperated sound. “Look, it’s not hard, okay? She’s cool, she can talk to literally anyone, even a disaster like you.” She makes a face of enlightenment in the next second, and puts a fist in her palm. “Hey, I think I have an idea how we can help you out, Tsuburaba-kun--”

“I’m not helping,” Kaibara cuts in, which Setsuna ignores blatantly.

“--all you have to do is come with me and Kaibara-kun later, after class. I’ll take care of the rest.” There’s no malice at all in the excited, almost manic grin that she flashes the hapless brown-haired boy. Still, he can tell that it reeks of trouble, and he makes his disdain plain on his face.

“Or… you could spend the rest of the school year pining over her and whiling away in obscurity. Your choice.”

Well… even though obscurity’s a safe place to be, he’s sure that if he pines over her, it won’t be just for the rest of the school year. Such are the cruel throes of love.

The first bell rings, cutting their discussion short. Present Mic-sensei’s shrill voice resonates inside the classroom, forcing most thoughts about his green-haired goddess to the back of his mind, in favor of conjugations.

 *

 Later, Tsuburaba finds himself staring at the back of Tokage’s green head as the girl marches her way quite cheerfully towards the 1-A classrooms. He’s trailing behind her with his hands in his pockets, cool as a stone-cold cucumber that’s progressively shriveling over a piping hot BBQ grill.

“Keep cool, Tsuburaba-kun,” the lizard-girl whispers conspiratorially at him as she stops by the back door. “Just follow my lead. I’ll take care of ya.”

“This is dumb,” he hears Kaibara mumble behind him. For all his complaints though, he still followed the two of them all the way there, under the pretense of making sure neither of them do anything to embarrass 1-B in front of 1-A anymore than Monoma has.

Well, he can say anything he wants, Tsuburaba’s pretty sure that the guy’s out there just to watch over Tokage. At the moment though, said lizard-girl is now peeping through the doors and catches someone’s eye. “Hi, Tsuyu-chan!”

“Kero? It’s Setsuna-chan! What brings you here, kero?”

The two green-haired girls hug each other as if they’re old friends. Tsuburaba tries to convince himself that maybe it’s all a green-haired-solidarity kind of arrangement and that it’s stupid to be jealous that Tokage’s somehow on a first name basis with Asui, but he feels himself turn green all the same.

“Listen, Tsuyu-chan, I was hoping to ask you for a favor,” she says, gesturing to the two boys ever so casually. “Me and these guys are having trouble in Heroics history… I know you guys are like a couple of lessons ahead of us, so I was hoping we could study with you? We’re really desperate.”

Asui glances briefly at them. When her dark, round eyes fall over his, Tsuburaba feels the moment stretched out in slow motion. Flowers blooming in the background, twinkling lights, all that shoujo mangashebang.

“... sure, I don’t mind, ribbit. I was planning to go to the library myself to study.”

He struggles to keep his cool, even though again, there’s another couple seconds where his heart seems to forget what the fuck it’s supposed to do. Tokage’s response barely registers with him. “Cool! But the library’s so boring. Lucky for us, Tsuburaba-kun’s feeling generous today and was planning to treat us all to coffee at StrumBucks--”

Wait, what? Tsuburaba feels his eyes going wider than ever possible as he glares at the undeterred Tokage and her runaway mouth.

“--so it’ll be a fair trade. Your notes for coffee. Tsuburaba-kun, you don’t mind buying Tsuyu-chan coffee too, right?”

Of course he doesn’t mind buying her coffee. Heck, he’d buy her all the coffees she wants. Cakes. Parfaits. A three course dinner. A house and lot. What he minds very much though that Tokage’s just teasing him so freely in front of his hopeless crush, and somehow swindling him out of his allowance at the same time.

“I think that sounds fair. I want a grande vanilla cold brew, Tsuburaba,” adds Kaibara dully. He also minds very much that he’s also suddenly obliged to treat these two jerks to expensive coffee. True friends, indeed.

For all his rage though, all Tsuburaba can do is gape at them like a fool. And Asui’s looking at him with an unreadable expression on her face.

“Okay. I’ll go with you guys. But it’s also okay if Tsuburaba-chan doesn’t treat me to coffee, ribbit,” she answers coolly.

Tsuburaba-chan. Oh, the sheer rush of emotions that run through his chest hearing his own name from her mouth. It gives him enough strength to somehow say, “No, it’s cool, Asui. You get coffee too. No big deal.”

“Look at you, Mister Moneybags,” he hears Tokage mumble behind him. Wow. He sounded cool just then, didn’t he? He probably did, judging by the little smile on the lizard girl’s face. (He’s pointedly trying not to look at Kaibara’s face, though).

“Well, okay. But I’m okay either way. Promise.” Her big round eyes crease ever so slightly as she looks up at him. “By the way, call me Tsuyu-chan, ribbit.”

He’s done it. He’s on Tsuyu-chan terms with Tsuyu-chan. If he has any less self-control, he would have already jumped for joy and clicked his heels in mid-air and made a giant invisible sky scraper out of all the breath inside his happy little lungs.

“Same goes for you, Kaibara-chan,” she says, turning to the darker-haired boy next to him. Tsuburaba instantly feels the skyscraper shatter into tiny little bits, as if he just let OG Tetsutetsu and beast mode Shishida-kun and a pack of rabid dogs loose inside it.

Tokage looks like she’s about to burst out laughing when she glances once more at the crestfallen Tsuburaba, but she’s able to keep it together as she suggests the four of them start walking to the cafe.

Conversation flows naturally between the two green-haired girls, while the complete opposite happens with the two brown-haired boys. He can only hope that the silence makes the two of them look like the cool, brooding types of guys that girls seem to like (i.e. Todoroki Shouto, whose allure has also somehow infected the girls of 1-B and the rest of the school. That half-head really has everything dammit).  

When they make it to the cafe, Tokage drags Kaibara with her to secure seats, or so she says. “I’m having what Fidget-Spinner-Boy’s having. Tsuyu-chan, order anything you want,” she says rapidly, not giving any of the three any chance to protest.

And so Tsuburaba Kosei finds himself standing next to his 100% perfect crush, in a line to buy her coffee, so they can spend time together in a coffee shop. There are couples in front of them and behind them and he can’t help but think that they now look very much like a couple on an actual honest-to-goodness date.

“Ribbit. Setsuna-chan’s really hyper, isn’t she.” She croaks humorously. The top of her head only reaches his shoulder. Ahh so cute…!!!

“... yeah.” He hopes that steam doesn’t blow out of his nose--he doesn’t want someone nearby to get aircuts.

“It must be interesting in your class, Tsuburaba-chan.”

“... yeah, it gets wild sometimes. But I’m sure it’s not as wild as your class, though.”

Tsuyu-chan stares up at him blankly. Shit, did he say something offensive? “N-not that I mean you guys are a pack of wild animals--I mean, have you seen my classmates? Compared to you guys, we’re practically a zoo--”

A pleasant sound emerges from her mouth and into Tsuburaba’s ears. Hearing it makes him forget about the very concept of anxiety. “You were right the first time, Tsuburaba-chan. Our class is pretty wild too. That’s why I think we should work together more, ribbit. The Joint Training Exercises were fun.”

Hngh, thinks Tsuburaba, as he thinks about her tongue around his body again. Now is not the time to think of that totally-not-perverse memory! He turns his face away from her in a stupid effort to keep his stupid face in-line.

“Oh--Tsuburaba-chan must be remembering our fight too, ribbit.”

Oh shit, she noticed?! Whatever happiness he might have felt knowing that she, at some level, thought about him too, shatters as she keeps those discerning eyes on him. Shit, did she see him with that unmistakable lecherous glint in his eyes?! Is this it, is it over? Is she going to run out the door screaming, crying, swearing on the graves of her ancestors to never have anything to with him ever again?! “W-well, about th-that--”

“It’s as I thought, ribbit.” She sighs, suddenly despondent. “I thought it’s weird that Setsuna-chan left us alone, even though we’re not friends. She must be trying to patch things up between us, isn’t she, ribbit?”

Eh? Come again?

Tsuyu-chan tilts her cute little face at him with a look of concern on her usually unreadable face. “I’m right, aren’t I? I noticed that you were awfully quiet in the cage after I captured you, ribbit… ever since then, I was worried that Tsuburaba-chan definitely hated me--”

Hated… hated Tsuyu-chan?! That’s not the case at all!

“--but I wasn’t able to talk to you guys after the exercises, so I wasn’t able to apologize to you properly, ribbit.” Her eyes are downcast as she says this. She twiddles two large, webbed fingers together cutely. “So… I’m glad I have a proper chance to say sorry to you now…”

No, that’s wrong, Tsuburaba would never hate on Tsuyu-chan. Never, you hear?! Tsuyu-chan’s too cute, too wonderful, too perfect to be hated. Besides, I mean, who would hate on their 100% perfect--

“... ribbit…?”

“Um,” the cashier tells him awkwardly, as his mouth is frozen open with the impassioned words dying within. “S-sorry, you’re having 100% what, sir?”

Tsuburaba turns to the cashier slowly, googly-eyes twitching, neck cracking with each gear-like shift of his suddenly stiffened body. “U… uhh… 100%, perfect… roasted… coffee beans… in milk…?”

The poor cashier, who looks like she isn’t paid enough for this shit, is staring at his madman’s antics in confusion. “So… a latte?”

Tsuyu is staring up at him with eyes as wide as vinyl discs, stunned beyond belief. Like someone just told her that the sky isn’t blue, that global warming isn’t real. Or that she’s some 1-B weirdo’s 100% perfect… perfect something that he isn’t able to properly finish, she might as well think that she’s his 100% perfect cause of death, for all he’s good for. Shit, why the heck is he like this?! How much did he say out loud?

“R… ribbit,” she croaks after what seems like an eternity of just staring at him. Trying hard not to be too mortified, she turns to the cashier, face suddenly red and voice suddenly timid, “We also want two grande vanilla cold brews and a soy latte…”

“Okay…” He doesn’t even hear how much the total is. Instead, he shoves a 5000 yen bill into the cashier’s hands, looks down on the floor, and rushes to the other side of the counter, not daring to look at the face of the girl who just heard the worst confession ever on the face of this planet.

As he makes his way to sulk over the counter, he sees Kaibara and Tokage staring at him, and he isn’t sure if they’re sympathizing with him or trying their hardest not to burst out laughing right in their seats. He has half a mind to put ten tablespoons of cinnamon in their drinks for leaving him unsupervised, when he sees a small, green form in the other side of his peripheral vision.

“Ribbit,” Tsuyu-chan says, shyly holding out an array of bills and coins in her large hands, “You forgot your change…”

“Thank you,” he says quietly. He feels the tips of her fingers on his palm as she carefully places the money within--he momentarily forgets his shame as he feels their point of contact, only to have it come back full-force when he is forced to see the way she couldn’t look him in the eye.

“Asui-san… I’m really sorry for, you know… making things awkward for you,” he tells her in the most honest, heartfelt way he can. “Yeah… I’m being really honest, but… I d-don’t mind if you change your mind about studying with us. No need to pay me back for the coffee--”

Again, he feels his breath just die in his stupid throat when he notices her tugging on his sleeve. He feels his already-wide eyes widen even further, like they’re going to come out of their sockets.

Before he can figure out what’s going on and maybe pick up after his eyeballs that have surely popped out of their sockets by now, Tsuyu-chan looks up at him with an odd look in her eyes. ”Um… Tsuburaba-chan… I don’t really understand what’s going on…”

Of course she doesn’t. Tsuburaba himself doesn’t understand what’s going on. He’d pay another 5000 yen if someone gives him a good explanation as to why the hell he is like this. Bonus tips if the guy gives him a good and thorough beating and whisks his fried-egg eyes for him.

“... and I really don’t know anything about you, so…”

He shuts his eyes, tries not to look too much like the insides of his chest is being thrown into a blender. Hopefully, with the way he’s struggling with his stupid face, Tsuyu-chan just thinks that he’s had an acute case of constipation.

“… so I can’t give you a proper reply yet, ribbit. But… but I don’t mind if we try to be friends first, ribbit.”

Friends. The term echoes in his head, like the sound of the microwave dinging in a cold and hungry night. He snaps his head up to face her, and he’s treated to the sight of her shyly trying to meet his eyes for just a second.

“Yeah… okay.” The weight disappears from his shoulders, and for the first time he’s able to look at her calmly. “I’d like that.”

To everyone’s pleasant surprise, the two of them are able to walk peacefully to the table, where a giddy Tokage and a suspiciously-relieved Kaibara are waiting for them. They’re able to study their coursework, as promised, and Tsuburaba is proud to say that even though he spent 100% of the time fawning over his 100% perfect girl, the girl spent about 40% of her time interacting with him. Plus, he’s able to answer at least 50% of the coursework this time!

Now, when’s the next Giants game…?