Chapter Text
To avoid startling her, I say "Not the best power couple there could be," as I walk up to where she's sitting on the top of the wall. Its a long way down from up here. Five-year-old me would be screaming 'why did you make me come up here??' though I'm better with heights now.
She looks at me, and it takes a moment for recognition - which was always kind of the point with this outfit - and then "Vice Principal Midnight," and starts to stand up.
"Relax," I ask of her. I don't mention that that was not a promotion I enjoyed getting - nobody believes me anyway. "Can I sit and watch with you?"
"I - uhm, I - it isn't..."
Hard not to smile a bit at the effort she's going to. "You're not the first person to admire a Bakugo from a distance." Also not the first person to wear sweats and baggy clothes while doing so, though mine form seals at the joints.
"You do too?" which is a connection she made considerably faster than recognizing me. Not sure if I should be worried. Nah.
"I do," I say as I sit down, next to but not beside her. "Young Katsuki's father was an old friend of mine. We grew up together, back when my Quirk was nothing more than a smokescreen in name and in deed." And then puberty hit, and I went from obscuring to fumigating.
Young Asui looks back to where her friends are laughing and standing entirely too close for PG-minded thoughts...well, most of them. "I never said anything."
"I said entirely too much," I replied. Because sometimes, sometimes there simply is no way to win.
Sad eyes look over at me. "So it wouldn't have mattered if I'd...dressed more like a girl, smiled at him, or...?"
"I bantered and, at times, flirted with Masaru all the time, and he bantered right back. We were going to be a team, Pro heroes working side-by-side and defeating criminals together. And then he found the love of his life."
"Katsuki's mother."
"She didn't show up quite so early in the story," I say. I don't think it would have helped my chances even if she had. "He started getting offers from design houses, companies that wanted him to shape the future of one thing and another - homes, artworks, canals. I politely disagreed with his opinion that his penwork was better than his heroism. But he still went off, keeping in touch, of course, gentleman that he has always been. Then he met Mitsuki."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be - I've always been glad Masaru was happy. Not that Mitsuki knew I was his guardian angel, ready and willing to strike her down if she hurt him." Sigh. "I kept myself busy with other things - work, mostly. Hard to have a social life when one rip or tear can bowl over most neighborhoods." Most people, if they're going to say it, would put their 'I'm sorry's there. Smart girl, not apologizing over a fact.
"They both see me as a friend - Katsuki and Ochako. Just a friend. Good old Tsuyu, always dependable."
"At least you have that in your favor." Though I probably should have said so before her 'good old' bit. "No matter what else happens, they will always turn to you. They can count on you."
"Mr. Bakugo never...?" and trails off, either out of politeness or not being sure how to end that question. My reputation once again marching out before I can catch up, and sometimes its just easier to comply with what image you have, to go along with it...visually, that is.
"Never ever. Then again, we never tried. We got as far as flirting and double entredes, never more, nothing more. Maybe you'll have better luck."
Her jaw drops, and she makes several sounds that could have grown into words if given a chance, and they merge into a strangled croak.
"Whatever you just thought I meant, no, its not my intent," I assure her. "I'm not one to advocate adultery or cheating of any sort." Threesomes, on the other hand... Or simply waiting, biding one's time until the one you love is available once again. But if I said that, I'd disclaimer it with advice to not bear ill intent to their current partner. "Though at the risk of inciting voyerism, I've come to find it easier to simply sit and watch from a distance."
"'Come to' suggests it took time," she says once she figuratively picks her jaw back up.
I nod, because what else could I do? "Everything takes time, I'm afraid. And while love is patient, so do the darker things in life." And if I hear one more person saying that I chose this color for my uniform because I'm a cryptovillain...grr.
She sniffles, turns her head back to gaze at the Bakugo boy. "It took me this long to find someone I could give my heart to. I suppose I can wait longer."
Oh gods. This is the sort of thing that my public persona would just eat up and swoon over. And for good reason. Its hard to know what to say other than 'you shouldn't have to wait', which is obviously true, but also useless because it doesn't supply any solution that would not be looked kindly upon by the objects of desire.
"Thank you, Vice Principal," she tells me.
I'd offer the use of my hero name or my given name, but I doubt she would drop my title even if she used either of my other names. Good kid. If I had a daughter, I'd want her to be like you. Though, personally, I suspect any kid I had, would've been neurotic. Or paranoid. Maybe narcoleptic at best. "And thank you just as much. If you ever want to talk, about this or anything else, my door is always open," I tell her. Actually, now that I think about it, "If you would like to, you're welcome to some of my old uniforms." Aaaand her eyes go wide. "I dressed far more conservatively in my early days. More like this," raising one sweater-coated arm for effect.
"I..."
I get it - how to politely turn down an offer of help from someone who can single-handedly destroy your grade point average. Or simply surprised that I didn't always look so...bountiful. "At the very least, a whip would compliment your ensemble."
"I don't...hmm," and like the smart young lady she is, she considers it. "It would be nice to have a backup so I don't have to use my tongue on all surfaces; particularly during a rescue mission. May I think it over some more?"
"Of course." Though now I have a hankering to go watch my copies of that old rebooted movie series The Indyanna Jones Adventures, starting with the one where she rescues her grandfather Indiana from some cursed temporal archaeology. "For now, though, back to people-watching?" Nearly always a safe pasttime for me.
"Okay."