Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

     “Here we are. Everything is happening exactly the way it’s supposed to. You came back, because you always will.”

     “Where are the rest of your little lackeys?”

     “Gone. Transported to somewhere else, somewhere safe, thanks to Kurugiri. This? This is familial. Personal. This is between a woman and her daughter.”

     “I didn’t come back because I changed my mind. You do realize that, don’t you?”

     “You haven’t changed your mind… yet. But I figured long before now that if I couldn’t coerce you with words then beating you into submission was a viable option as well, and now here you are, having given up your one chance at escape and practically handing me the opportunity to teach you your place in the world. Why else would you return to me?”

     “To find the means to an end, that’s why. You run a two bit circus act and call it a theatre and who better than me to teach you your place in the world? The next time you turn your back on me, it’ll either be because you’re in handcuffs or because I’m too busy dying to stop you.”

     A rush of air. The repetitive whooshing of helicopter blades, far above and lingering. A red-eyed gaze shifted, then returned, this time with a sinister smile. 

     “They’re watching us, you know. I bet nearly all of Japan is tuned into this very talk of ours; stacks upon stacks of microphones trained to pick up the very march of our heartbeats. I wonder if your little friends from UA are watching? Perhaps your infuriating rescue squad has landed somewhere that your precious boyfriend can see? I for one would love to know if he’s out there somewhere right now, kicking himself for letting you slip from his fingers and wondering if he is preparing to watch you die. Maybe he’s even crying.”

     And indeed, Bakugou Katsuki was watching. Indeed he was kicking himself and indeed he was in tears. He was there and she wasn’t beside him. She was nothing but a small dot on a screen and indeed, he was wondering if he would have to see her die. 

     “You know, you’re exceptionally good at changing the subject. What do cameras and other people matter when right now the only things in this world are me and you? I thought that was what you wanted.”

     “Not like this. I didn’t want it like this. We were supposed to be unstoppable.”

     “I am unstoppable. The difference is… you aren’t. It’s time for the games to come to an end, Akiko. You’ve hurt people and you’ve destroyed things and I can’t stand by and pretend not to know it anymore.”

    A grin. Familiar, yet at the same time, a stranger. “You know, if you’re going to act so disrespectful, the least you could do is call me Mother.”

     “Why would I when you’ve been anything but motherly?” Head tilted. Voice… oddly calm. “I’m not going to live my life one step behind you, lifting your heavy things and being the fear you strike into the people who won’t listen. You are not a ruler, mother , you are a dreamer. You kneel before ambition and pay no mind to the way it eats at you from the inside out.”

     “You speak as if you know me.”

     “I speak because I am you, whether I like it or not. The difference is, my ambition bit and I bit back. I desire to save, you desire to be the reason people need saving. But now I’m offering you the chance to stand down; to hand yourself over to the authorities and take the consequences you’ve made for yourself in stride, because even if you are a villain, you’re my mother, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

     Bitter laughter. Mirthless laughter. Cold sounds lying six feet under. They tasted like metal. Crumbled like dirt. 

     “Oh, dear child, even after all these years you still live with your head in the clouds. The only person who will wind up hurt is you.”

     And all at once, as though the passage of time jumped from a near-dead dragging of the feet to all but a sprint, Akiko and Nadoka leapt for one another, a pair of crystals meeting with a thunderous boom in the middle of a ruined battlefield. One was a glittering purplish-red, familiar, comforting. The other… black. Void. Abysmal. 

     One glance and you’d see exactly what you were made to see: Two women of power with startling similarity engaged in heated battle that carried so much more baggage than simple heroes vs. villains. But a second glance saw more; saw a teenager pulling her punches because through everything else… through all the haze and all the crystals and all the blood, she was here and that was her mother. Alongside, it saw a full-grown woman heeding not a drop of such a mercy even if her opponent was her own flesh and blood, because the high of ambition was addictive and she was overdosing on a copper taste. 

     Nadoka dipped beneath the swinging arc of a dagger. A closed fist jabbed into Akiko’s ribcage, her magnification Quirk allotting the punch enough added power to cause its receiver to double over in pain, sure at least a few ribs were cracked. Nadoka took advantage of this and soon a crystal-clad, glowing kneecap was kissing her nose, knocking the older woman nearly twenty feet away as the delectable taste of blood rode from both nostrils into her mouth. 

     Akiko rose to her feet with a hand poised in midair, wiping at the blood and leaving behind a wicked grin in its wake. She planted her foot and the obsidian crystals that had earned her her villain name rumbled forth from the ground, but Nadoka was quick to dive out of the way of their path, flinging an array of her own crystal shards in a flurry toward her mother. Akiko was hardly able to draw a wall up in time to catch them. 

     Akiko wasn’t stupid. Naive and quite frankly insane, but not stupid. She knew how much power Nadoka possessed and that it was well beyond what she could conjure, but she also knew that she had at least twenty years of extra conditioning on her side and she planned to exploit this. Not to mention Nadoka had already been previously involved with the other villains. Less power, made up for with three times the stamina. As long as she could play defensive, Nadoka would run out of steam. 

     The sound of the helicopter far above was secondhand now, hardly paid attention to. Nadoka couldn’t care less that half of Japan and her entire class were currently crowded around TV screens in their homes, in restaurants, in bars, on the very street itself, watching the battle with such wide, innocent eyes. God only knows how the news anchors found out, surely thanks to the microphones trained on Nadoka and Akiko’s every word, but all the headlines were plastered with the news that Nadoka was Akiko’s daughter. Her secret wasn’t quite so secretive anymore. 

     Somewhere in a far away place, a place that was safe, Bakugou Katsuki was crying. His hands were curled into tight fists as crescent moons bit into the flesh of his palms. Every tear that fell upon his skin was scalding hot and seemed to drudge a trench down his face. He desired above everything to shut his eyes, to squeeze them until he saw stars and hide from something he should’ve been able to prevent, but he wouldn’t dare.

     He was supposed to be beside her. Actually, she was supposed to be beside him. Healthy, safe, and beautiful like she always was. 

     He tried to recall the last time he’d spoken to her. He wondered if it would be the last thing she ever heard him say and in that moment whispered into the air that he loved her; begged whatever powers at be to lend him the wind so he could carry his words across miles into her ears. He begged whatever powers at be to protect her, because he couldn’t. He begged whatever powers at be to bring her back safe, because he couldn’t. 

     Bakugou Katsuki had always been the boy who could. He’d never met a task he couldn’t do.

     But he couldn’t bring her home.

     The ground rumbled and cracked as crystals of purple and black burst from all directions, some in large shards, some in haphazard chunks, some with no real form at all. Anytime they strayed close to one another, the Takahashi’s would exchange hand-to-hand blows so quick they could hardly be seen, only to soon retreat away again soon after.  

     Nadoka wasn’t entirely sure what her plan was. Could she hope to hold Akiko’s attention long enough for the real pro heroes to arrive? And if they did, what would they do to her mother? She was already breaking the law again by fighting her, but would they be more lenient since they knew of their connection? Or was she playing the hero just to give up her chance of ever becoming one?

     Akiko threw out a dagger and it caught Nadoka’s jaw in the same place it had all those years ago, slicing through her like paper and opening her skin for her blood to fall like mere rain upon her shoulder. 

     She was tired. But yet, she’d never felt so awake. Crystal bloomed from different areas of her skin yet her limbs were not stiff. 

     “You’re giving up your chance for greatness, child!” Akiko was angry now, fire burning in the depths of her eyes and providing rejuvenating energy to fuel her mountainous rage, “Why must you insist on such insolent and tiny things as heroes when you could be so much more than? You could be a god !”

     “I don’t wanna be!” Nadoka snarled back, crystals knocking away one of Akiko’s walls as she rolled to the side, “And I wish you didn’t want to be, either!”

     The battlefield wasn’t there. Not to Nadoka, at least.

     What was there, was the image of her own self. She was quite a few years younger. Her face was a little rounder, her hands a little smaller. She was in her room and she was afraid of the dark. She never really stopped being just a little bit afraid of the dark. 

     Akiko was there. Her smile was the candlelight Nadoka crawled to when the thunderstorm outside became too much to bear. Her arms encased her and her voice sang out to her. Softly. Gently. The voice of a mother who loved. 

     She was there when Nadoka was sick. Bedridden and weak, she could only watch on with a sleepy smile as Akiko tucked her hair behind her ear and encouraged her to take the medicine that didn’t taste good. She could still hear the way she promised that it would make her feel better. 

     She was there when Nadoka injured herself during an intense bout of training. Her arm was broken and wrapped in a cast that was itchy and made her sweat, and when it had happened Akiko spoke to her with concern and worry sitting upon each shoulder and bleeding in her tone. 

     There she was, coated head to toe in flour and laughing while she and Nadoka attempted to bake sweets. There she was, slow dancing with her husband in a dimly lit living room while her daughter busied herself with toys at their feet. There she was, rubbing over Nadoka’s dirt-caked face with a damp rag and wiping away her tears. There she was, saying don’t cry, saying I’m here, saying I love you. 

     But then… thunder. Rumbling, crackling. Obsidian crystals blacker than night and swallowing all. Red eyes aglow with flame… with hunger that would never be satisfied and rage never to be quelled. It was so dark there. The stars were gone. 

     She could see her father. But, more specifically, she could see his wheelchair. Where would that chair be if things had been different? Would it support someone else’s weight?

     Things weren’t going to stop here. Nadoka understood that. Whether or not she would let herself understand that was still a question she couldn’t answer. 

     The crystals were the size of buildings now and Nadoka and Akiko were the tree toppers that sat upon them. Akiko was steadily lobbing boulder sized crystals at Nadoka only for a glowing hand to punch them, shattering them before they could meet their mark. 

     Nadoka wasn’t immortal. She wasn’t inhuman. She certainly wasn’t a God, even if there was some sniveling, aching piece of her that wanted to be. She was growing more tired by the second, purple film stitched across both eyes and making it hard to see while crystal blossomed from her skin so thickly you could hardly make out her body underneath it. It couldn’t go on anymore. 

     There was a loud cry of pain as Nadoka reached around with both hands and ripped crystals from her back and forearms, ignoring the blood that splattered from the open wounds in favor of increasing her steadily declining mobility. With a narrowing of her eyes, she focused her magnification Quirk on her legs, seeing them begin to glow with purple light from the corner of her eye as she squatted, gritted her teeth, and leaped. 

     The ground beneath her feet cracked as she left it, soaring nearly a hundred feet above Akiko’s crystalline mountain. And as Akiko looked up at her, for a brief moment, her daughter was the moon. She felt so far away, otherworldly, but the look on her face was pained… sad. 

     Nadoka drew her closed fist up in the air, a loud hum ringing above the chatter of helicopter blades and rumble of Akiko’s crystals. Her fist began to glow and all but vibrate, and Akiko couldn’t help but to momentarily hesitate, stricken with awe as Nadoka began a rapid descent toward her. 

     Just like before, the ever inconsiderate entity called Time gave pause in his conquests in order to make an exception for the girl with purple hair, and Akiko was able to watch Nadoka’s entire life cross the stage of her eyelids as she fell. Akiko had never been one to enjoy movies or tv shows or theatrics of any kind, yet this she watched with wide eyes and bated breath. From the moment Nadoka opened her eyes to the moment she took her first steps, developed her Quirk, lost her first tooth, all the way until the day where her blood splattered the living room while the sky took pictures and roared laughter.

     Her daughter. Weighed down, she floated. Wingless… flew. Falling… she rose. 

    Takahashi Akiko smiled for the first time in years.

     Nadoka’s fist met that smile and a boom loud enough to be heard from all corners of Mutsufasu echoed through the land as Akiko was driven through layers of shattered crystal all the way into the concrete below. A massive wave of pure energy blew out miles in every direction, vaporizing all small debris and sending the ground rattling and shaking. Alarms blared through the dead air as the wave knocked helicopters backward, nearly turning them upside down while pilots worked frantically to steady the nozzle. 

     And then there was silence. 

     Dust settled thickly, wrapping the crash site in an opaque hug that bid not a single eye passage within. It blanketed heavily, concealing destruction while all of Japan leaned toward their pixelated screens with bated breaths, squinting as though they could hope to peer through the smoke.

     It took a minute or two, but eventually the entity called Time decided to stop being greedy and holding everything in place, trudging along to bother someone else while the dust slowly followed behind him.

    The ground was a crater, dug deep. A massive clawmark within the earth. In the middle lay one Takahashi Akiko. Her breathing pierced the silence in shallow, ragged gasps, fiercely hindered by the jagged shard of purple amethyst protruding at a sharp angle from the direct center of her chest. 

     She couldn’t feel. Couldn’t move. Crimson looked nice with purple. 

     And there, above her. Among the images of stars, fading in out of focus, there she was. Her body was dyed, layered in dirt. Crystals poked from all angles out of her bruised and battered skin. When had she gotten so beautiful?

     Akiko was dreaming. She must’ve been, otherwise she never would’ve seen Nadoka hovering over her with tears cutting trails in the reddened dust on her cheeks. 

     She coughed feebly, twitching. “You cry, child.”

     A long pause. Eyes that glistened brighter than any star. A quiet whisper.

     “It was never supposed to be like this.”

     Blood bubbled past her lips as a coughing fit overtook her. She had never looked so small. 

     “Do you still love me?”

     It wasn’t the first time she’d been asked. And it wasn’t any easier to answer than it had been back then. She found that she was unable to bring her voice any higher than a broken whisper if she wanted to, hardly a breath to distinguish from the sounds of settling dust. 

     “I love my mother. I love the woman you were before.” Her bottom lip trembled as a shuddering hand reached out and took hold of Akiko’s cheek. It had been a long time since Akiko had ever felt something so tender, “But something like this could never know such things as love.”

     “We… we were supposed to rule the world.”

     “ And you were supposed to be good.”

     Akiko offered a shaky chuckle. She drew her hand up to lightly grasp the crystal within her chest, but she made no effort to remove it. It was getting hard to breathe. “Now look at you. At what point do you step back and understand what it is you’ve done?”

     Nadoka was cold. Akiko’s skin was cold. Was it possible to run out of tears? “I know what I’ve done. It was what I had to do.”

     “Keep that sentiment,” Akiko turned her gaze upon the sky, “Makes the hard parts easier.”

     “No more fighting, mom.”

     Akiko turned her head to one side, then the other. Her lips were slightly parted and amongst the spattered droplets of blood Nadoka could see them turning blue. The color red made her sick. 

     “No more fighting, Nadoka.”

     Nadoka watched her eyes turn to glass and her body to porcelain. She watched the rhythmless rise and fall of her chest breach the end of the railway where it could not go on any further. She watched twitching fingers uncurl and let go of blood-stained crystal and flutter down to sit upon an icy, unbeating heart. 

     The silence filled. 

     And her tears fell. 

     Everything around her was blocked from her senses as she clutched her head between both hands and sobbed into the gaping valley of her balled-up form. In that moment, she was nothing more than Takahashi Nadoka who had just lost her mother. There weren’t heroes, nor were there villains. Only people… beating hearts with every capability to love and be loved and to hurt and be hurt. 

     The spotlight from the helicopter was trained on her form and if she’d bothered to look up she’d quickly discover how much she hated the way pooling blood reflected the sheen of the light like a mirror. It would be hard to find a dry eye in Mutsufatsu that night. 

     And slowly, starting quietly and growing louder, the train stations and the back alleys and the homes and the streets were all flooded with loud, thunderous cheering. Whistles and screams pierced the air as the sky shed many tears and people rejoiced in the fall of so much fear. A success for the heroes, but what exactly had she given up to provide them this?

     Nadoka didn’t notice when the pro heroes and medics arrived. She didn’t notice when Aizawa Shouta pulled her balled up form into his chest and rocked her back and forth. She didn’t notice when he whispered calming reassurance to her and called her a hero. 

     But she certainly did notice when medics came and shifted Akiko’s corpse onto a stretcher and attempted to take it away. How could they call her a hero when she’d killed?

      “Put her down,” Nadoka’s voice was croaky, a scratched record, a broken CD. She tried to pry her way from Aizawa’s grip and didn’t like that he tried to stop her, “ NO! PUT HER DOWN! THAT’S MY MOM, YOU CAN’T TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME!”

      Bakugou Katsuki was crying. Kirishima Eijirou stood close beside him, and when he placed his hand on his shoulder and Katsuki turned to look at him, he saw that the redhead, too, was steadily dripping tears.

      “Nadoka, stop.” Aizawa pleaded desperately, easily blocking her feeble blows and pinning her arms as gently as he could to her sides, “You have to let her go.”

     “ That’s my mom,” Nadoka was sobbing again, tearing with a strength she didn’t have at Aizawa’s arms and reaching for her mother. A mixture of tears and blood dribbled from her cheeks as her face twisted into an anguished sob caught on camera for all of Mutsufatsu to see, “ Please, please don’t take her, I need my mom. Please, she’s not bad, she’s not bad, I need her. You can’t take her.”

      Aizawa put his mouth close to her ear, shutting his eyes and ignoring the tears that rolled down each of his cheeks. “You have to let her go. I’m so sorry.”

      “Mama,” Her voice was receding, her fragile movements gradually dying off as she let more and more of her weight fall into Aizawa’s arms until she was speaking in a whisper, “ Please… Mama. I want my mom.”

      But it was far too late for such a wish. Takahashi Akiko was growing colder by the minute and Nadoka’s blurred gaze didn’t leave her until the doors of an ambulance were blocking the view. 

     The driver didn’t bother to turn on the siren as he drove away. 

—

     Nadoka wasn’t sure at what point she had passed out, but the next time she was conscious, she was in a hospital, groaning a little as she peeled her eyes open and forced herself upright. 

     “Good morning, Miss Takahashi.”

     Nadoka grunted and didn’t bother to look for the owner of the voice, scratching her head as she tried to remember what had happened and how she’d ended up in the hospital. She made to rub her chin and her fingers brushed against a bandage on her jaw, the simple touch breaking the dam as everything suddenly flooded back to her. 

     Leaving the rescue squad, talking to her mother, fighting her… and eventually, watching her die right in front of her. Her throat tightened. Crimson looked nice with purple, but such a color red made her sick. 

     “How are you feeling?”

     And much to her surprise, she felt… “Fine. Thirsty.”

     “There’s a glass of water on the table to your left.”

     Nadoka found it and took greedy sips, cooling her stinging, burning throat. “How long was I sleeping?”

     “Thirteen hours,” Her doctor answered. She turned her gaze to him and peered closer; discovered that his name was Yoshito, “Though I’m honestly surprised you’re already awake. Not only did you overuse the crystal Quirk you were already accustomed to, but you also tapped into and abused the dormant magnification Quirk that you’ve never used before. It was a wonder your body didn’t fall apart trying to keep up.”

     “Why don’t I feel stiff?” Nadoka asked curiously, bending and unbending her elbows for effect, “Normally, whenever I overuse my Quirk, I practically turn to stone.”

     “To that question I don’t have an answer—“ Nadoka looked down, peering beneath the baggy white shirt (which definitely wasn’t hers) she wore at the layer of thick, pink-stained bandages that encased nearly her entire torso, leaving only her collarbone and a strip of stomach visible— “You’ve got some pretty bad tearing on your arms and your back is practically in ribbons from where you ripped the crystals from your skin. There’s quite a few smaller cuts in your ribcage as well, alongside a few broken ribs. You needed many stitches and it will be quite a few days before the pain even begins to die down.”

     “I don’t feel much pain.”

     There was a bit of a snort. Amusement, must’ve been. “That’s because you’re on enough painkillers to make you forget what day it is.”

     “What day is it? And where am I?”

     “Sunday, and you’re in Mutsufasu General,” The doctor came forward and did a few basic tests, taking Nadoka’s temperature and looking into her eyes and mouth, “Now that you’re awake, if you feel up for it, I can send your guests in.”

     Nadoka blinked. “My guests?”

     “Yes. When you first arrived there was an entire group of nearly twenty young students—“ He pointed to a pile of get well soon cards, stuffed animals, and other small trinkets nearby— “They brought all of that for you, but after learning you wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon, most of them were forced to leave, save for two boys. One of them, a redhead, seems nice enough, but the blond is very angry. Anytime anyone tries to enter or leave this room he intercepts them and demands to see you. I think the only reason he hasn’t stormed in yet is because the redhead always holds him back.”

     Nadoka smiled a little. “I’d be more surprised if he acted any different. Sure, doc. You can send them in.”

     The doctor nodded and performed a few more tests before shuffling out of the room, leaving the door cracked enough that Nadoka could hear him speaking to someone outside. 

     Moments later, two familiar faces burst through the door and Nadoka hardly had enough time to hobble to her feet before Kirishima was thudding into her chest, arms encasing her in a giant bear hug as he lifted her a little off the ground. “CANDY! Thank fucking God you woke up and you’re okay! I’m so sorry that I didn’t know your mom was a villain—!” Behind him, Bakugou narrowed his eyes and smacked the back of Kirishima’s head— “oh, right, right, don’t talk about that right now, sorry!”

     Maybe in different circumstances, Nadoka would’ve laughed, but right now all she could do was wince and choke back a squeak of pain. “Ow. Ei… Eijirou, please. My ribs.”

     “Oh, shit, sorry!” He squealed, setting her down as abruptly as he’d picked her up, face painted with frantic concern and guilt, “I’m sorry, I’m really fucking this up, huh? I’m just really glad… like, really glad you’re okay, I was so worried.”

     “It’s okay, Ei, I understand—“ She patted his cheek, stroking the top of his cheekbone with her thumb— “We definitely have a lot to talk about.” She admitted a bit sadly before her attention was drawn by movement to her left. She turned and gazed upon Bakugou, standing with teary eyes and clenched fists. She could feel her own tears welling in her eyes and she didn’t think she’d ever been more relieved to see his familiar, beautiful face. She instinctively reached for him and he accepted her as carefully as though he were holding cracked glass, cradling her in his arms as she buried her face in his chest and bit back the sudden urge to break down into sobs. 

     He buried his nose in her hair and kissed her scalp repeatedly, shutting his eyes and breathing in her scent of blueberries and coffee grounds, unswayed even by the clean smells of the hospital. He allowed only one tear to roll down his cheek before he was wiping them away, his voice shaky. “You fucking scared me,” He whispered, “I thought I was gonna lose you.”

     “You can’t get rid of me that easy.” Nadoka answered, voice muffled by his shirt as she squeezed him with as much strength as she could muster, “I’m just glad you were safe.”

     And after that there was a long moment in which they simply held each other and basked in the knowledge that it was all over. All during the fight and in the waiting room after Bakugou had been overwhelmed by feelings of guilt and fear eating away at his conscience, but now that she was here and alive and he could feel her in his arms he was too busy trying to keep his knees from buckling under the relief he felt to worry about anything else. He stroked the back of her head with a gentle hand and every few seconds he would kiss her hair or forehead, as though reminding both her and himself that they were together once again. 

     “How are you doing?” He asked upon her eventual pulling away, allowing her to crawl back into her bed and taking it upon himself to squeeze in beside her while Kirishima pulled up a chair, “Since…?”

     “Since I killed my own villainous mother?” She finished, almost bitterly, before shrugging, fiddling with her hands and gazing curiously at her black-and-blue knuckles, “I… I don’t know. A part of me is angry, a part of me is sad, a part of me is satisfied knowing I did what I had to and stopped her from causing any more damage. I guess right now it’s all just a little overwhelming. I can only assume it won’t really hit me until sometime later.”

     At the gentle tugging of his hand by Nadoka, Bakugou obliged her wishes and slid his arm around her waist, latching it gently yet securely across her stomach and rubbing soothing circles in her hip with his thumb while she leaned her back gingerly into his side. She suppressed a hiss of pain that surely would’ve discouraged his touch, positive that she’d much rather be a tad uncomfortable than ever fucking let go of him again. “Doesn’t matter what comes next or when it comes, I’m sure as fuck not leaving you to deal with anything else alone.”

     “So, what happens now?” Kirishima asked quietly. 

     Nadoka sighed, resisting the urge to massage the dull ache in her temples for she knew it would only serve to upset her companions even more. “I wish I could say that things would go back to normal, but I know they never really will. All of Japan knows about my true heritage now, I have no idea if the cops are going to sentence me for using my Quirk without a license again, and even if my mother is gone I still have to take care of my father—“ Nadoka’s eyes blew wide and she abruptly straightened— “PAPA! Fuck, I have to get home and check on my father!”

     “Woah, woah, chill out, rocky,” Bakugou said, easily pulling Nadoka back into his side when she tried to get up, “I already called the nurse to check in on him. She saw the news and recognized you so she told me she’s willing to keep coming for as long as it takes you to get out of the hospital. He’s fine, piddling around in his wheelchair with his damn plants like usual.”

     Nadoka breathed a sigh of relief and slowly melted back into the bed, dropping her head back to Bakugou’s shoulder with a light thump. “Good, that’s good. Thank you, Katsuki.”

     “Uh, hey so, now might not be the best time to ask, but I’m… really confused. Why is your dad in a wheelchair?” Nadoka winced upon remembering who else was in the room, timidly turning her gaze upon bewildered red eyes coupled with a toothy, nervous smile as he scratched the back of his head, “You don’t have to answer me if you don’t want, of course, if it’s a sensitive topic.”

     Nadoka considered his question before a moment before running a hand down her face, practically able to feel the bags under her eyes. “No, it’s okay, Eij. One of my big secrets has already been revealed, might as well air out the other one as well. And besides, you’re my best friend and I trust you. Settle in, it's kind of a long story.”

     And so he did just that, listened on with wide eyes and apt attention as Nadoka retold the story of her mother leaving, the origin of her scar, and the deteriorating of first her father’s legs, then his health. It was the same story she’d told Bakugou months ago, but this time she didn’t bother to leave out that her mother had left to become a villain. This extra added detail made Bakugou’s eyes widen, having somehow missed making that connection before. 

     By the time she was finished, she was out of breath, but just like the first time, telling her story and letting out the parts of her she’d spent years hiding left her feeling lighter; a little bit less alone. 

     “Wow,” Kirishima had breathed once she was done, his tone that of empathy, compassion, and complete awe, “You work so hard at school and you do so much at home, too! I’m so sorry that happened to you and your dad, but if there was ever anyone strong enough to handle something like that, it was you. If there’s anything I can do to help, just say the word.”

     “Thanks, Eijirou,” Nadoka said, smiling a little, “It means a lot to hear that. Katsuki comes over often to make dinner for me and my dad. Maybe one night you can join.”

     Kirishima’s voice was soft as he watched Nadoka’s eyes begin to droop. “That sounds really nice.”

     “Thank you guys for coming,” Nadoka mumbled, a fairly large yawn interrupting her as she curled her knees into her chest and tucked her tiny frame into Bakugou’s side, “I don’t think you really know how nice it feels to know I’m not alone anymore.”

     “It’s you and us against the world, baby,” Bakugou said, pressing a kiss to her forehead and holding her a tad more snugly in his arms, “Go back to sleep. You’ve gotta be mentally fucking exhausted, at the very least.”

     “I don’t want to be called a hero for this.” Nadoka murmured, almost more to herself than to them, “If I were someone else I certainly wouldn’t call myself one. And if tomorrow comes and the powers that be decide that I’m to be thrown in a child’s jail for breaking the law, then I’ll go knowing I did what needed to be done, and try to sleep a little easier at night. Hopefully my mom can try, too.”

     Bakugou and Kirishima didn’t try to respond, partly because she was already asleep and partly because they didn’t really know how. It made sense, to not want to hear people praising your name from the rooftops and declaring you a hero because you killed someone of your own flesh and blood. And now, hearing her vocalize acceptance should the worst of fates befall her and the chance to become a pro hero be snatched away made them realize just how serious the extent of all this madness was. 

     It wouldn’t be fair to take that away from her. Not when she had put herself through so much pain to rid the world of a great evil. But, it wasn’t their place to decide the law, only to obey it. 

—

     Nadoka hummed along to the tune playing over a small speaker on her table and alternated between coloring in a large coloring book that had been provided to her and staring out the window to her right, lost in thought. A half finished box of apple juice sat in one hand, her lips toying idly with the straw and every so often taking a small sip. Hazy sunlight filtered through the window, opened to let in air that didn’t taste so sterilized, and Nadoka could vaguely hear birds and the sounds of a bustling city from outside. 

     It had been a few days since everything happened. The U.A. students were back to attending school, which was fine except it meant that not only would Nadoka not get to see Bakugou and Kirishima as often, but she’d also be inevitably falling behind in her studies. Not much had happened to her during that time, the authorities and U.A. staff kind enough to let her take the time to rest and heal before they bombarded her with whatever it was that came next. Nadoka’s injuries had gotten marginally better, but seeing as she had refused help from Recovery Girl in favor of advising the older woman to use her Quirk for those involved in the fight, she had a ways to go before she could get back to being her usual active self. 

     Nadoka was broken from her rampant thoughts by the sound of the door sliding open, glancing over to see Bakugou shuffling through with his bookbag thrown over one shoulder. In his hand was another plastic bag and tucked under his arm was one of his hoodies, a personally requested item that Nadoka bunched into a ball and shoved her face into the moment Bakugou chucked it at her. “You actually brought me one of your hoodies.”

     “Course I did, dumbass. You asked for it, didn’t you?” He replied as he set his bookbag upon a chair and came to her bedside, “Scoot over.”

     Nadoka did so and Bakugou slipped into the cot beside her, handing her the plastic bag. Curiosity struck her and she dropped the hoodie (which smelled sweetly of caramel and a little of his cologne) into her lap, peering within to find it chock full of fruit leather, seaweed sheets, boxes of Pocky, and more. “You got me all my favorite snacks? That was sweet of you, babe.”

     “Shut up, I just figured you’d get tired of eating the same two fucking things they give you every day and complain until I brought you something else,” He answered simply, reaching into the bag to pull out a bag of spicy chips he’d gotten for himself, “How’s your back?”

     Nadoka tore into a strip of strawberry fruit leather with a happy hum as Bakugou hooked one arm around her waist and cracked open his chips. “Getting better. I still can’t sleep on it but it doesn’t hurt so bad to lean back or bend over anymore. Hey, gimme a kiss before you start tasting all spicy—“ Bakugou rolled his eyes but nevertheless leaned forward and pressed a long kiss to her lips before popping a chip in his mouth while Nadoka returned her attention to the coloring book sat upon a tray connected to the bed frame— “How’s Papa?”

     “He’s fine. Keeps asking where you are and when you’re coming home.”

     “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about taking care of him for me much longer,” Nadoka murmured, her voice taking on a sad edge as she scribbled away at a page full of butterflies, “Apparently when All Might and Aizawa made their rounds asking parents permission to house the students in dorms, they found my dad. They came and asked me about him and I didn’t really have much choice other than to tell them the truth. Aizawa promised me he’d fight to let me stay with my father but he legally can’t keep this a secret from child services.”

     “When did they come see you? I went to your house right after school and your dad was still there like always.” Bakugou inquired, eyes scanning Nadoka’s features and actions for some sort of clue that would give away how she was really feeling under the guise of nonchalance. 

     “They came yesterday, coincidentally right after you went home,” She answered, her posture slumping a bit more into the bed as her shoulders drooped, “I thought I was finally starting to come to terms with my mother’s death, but now it turns out that I’m probably going to lose my father, too.”

     “You’re not going to lose him,” Bakugou said firmly. Taking care not to brush the bandage on her jaw, he took her chin in his hand and gently forced her to face him, “Look at me. You’re not gonna lose him, okay? Even if he’s taken to a nursing home or whatever the fuck else, he’s not gone for good.”

     Nadoka slowly nodded and upon being released propped her elbows on the tray, crayon still grasped in one hand while the other ran through her hair. “I don’t know what to do, Kats. I think the reason why I’ve been so calm through all of this is because there’s just too much to try and figure out and I don’t know whether I should cry, scream, or do nothing at all.”

     Bakugou rubbed the back of Nadoka’s neck as comfortingly as he could. Reassuring words were definitely not his forte but damn if he wasn’t about to try his hardest to ease at least some of the pressure he could practically see seated atop her shoulders. He swallowed back the unfamiliar thickness in his throat and sighed. “Look, Nadoka. I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now, and I’m definitely not the fucking person you want to hear it from, but… maybe sending Haru to a nursing home isn’t such a bad idea—“ He felt her body tense underneath his palm and leaned over to kiss her shoulder blade, resting his chin on her shoulder— “Your life revolves around taking care of your old man and you haven’t gotten the chance to just be a kid in nearly seven damn years.”

     He stroked her arm and toyed with her silky hair softly. “Maybe now, without having to constantly look over your damn shoulder for your mom, you can move into the dorms with us and give yourself some freedom. He’ll still be close by and you’ll still get to see him whenever you want, but you can finally stop putting your fucking life on hold for him and rest. That’s what you need, baby. You need to rest.”

     Nadoka inhaled a long, shuddering breath and released it in a dry sob, tangling both hands in her hair and dropping her head. Tears fell upon the crumpled coloring page, soaking the butterflies and warping the colors together. Bakugou, feeling awful but generally unable to do much else, could only sit and rub comfortingly at whatever part of her arms and back weren’t covered in bandages, shushing her in a quiet tone. 

     Nadoka’s body shivered as sobs shook her malnourished and battered frame and she felt so tired, she’d never felt so tired before. “You’re right. I know you’re right and I know what I’m supposed to do but he’s all I’ve had for so long and I don’t know if I even remember how to be a kid! I want to have fun with my friends and go on dates with you and do things that regular teenagers do but at the same time I’m… I’m terrified of letting go.”

     Bakugou bit back the lump in his throat, furiously blinking away the wetness spread across his eyes. “It’s your choice, baby. If you want to stay with him, then I’ll fight tooth and fucking nail to make sure you stay with him, but if you think you’re ready… maybe it’s time to let go.”

     Nadoka nodded and for a long time there was only her quiet crying and even quieter music to break the silence, all while Bakugou offered whatever minuscule comfort he could by holding her with his chin propped upon her shoulder, kissing her temple every once in a while. It took some time for her to finally calm down, but Bakugou didn’t mind. He could only imagine how much pent up emotion had festered and boiled over the past few days and knowing that she might be losing her father alongside everything else was the straw that broke the camel's back. 

     Eventually, she calmed down enough to wipe feebly at her eyes with her palms and find a new page to color on, her apple juice emptying a lot quicker now that she was dehydrated and parched. She pulled the tray closer so she could lean into Bakugou’s side and he slipped his arm around her waist once more, thumbing over her shirt absentmindedly. “Hey. I love you, you know.”

     Her crayon momentarily stilled and Bakugou thought he detected a piece of a smile. “I know, and I love you too. Did you bring me my work I’ve been missing in school?”

     Bakugou knew she was changing the subject away from her dad, but he also knew that was probably the best thing she needed right now. “Yeah, I did. Most of the classes have been reviewing the same damn things but there’s a few new lessons in math I’ll have to teach your stupid ass.”

     “You gonna hit me with a rolled up magazine while we work?” Nadoka joked, glancing up at him with a smirk. Her eyes were rimmed with red and he could make out the dried tear trails on both her cheeks, but that didn’t make her any less beautiful. 

     He couldn’t help but to snort, cupping her cheek and pressing a kiss to her lips despite her complaining that he tasted spicy. “No, I don’t have a magazine. I’ll just have to hit you with a rolled up coloring book instead.”

—

     “Pro hero Erasur Head, the chief of police, and a child services agent walk into a hospital room—“ Nadoka tented her knees under the covers and propped her elbows on them, sending a sarcastic grin to where Bakugou sat in a chair nearby— “This is the start of some awful joke, isn’t it?”

     “Now isn’t the time to goof around, Takahashi,” Aizawa said sternly, taking a seat while the chief of police and the child service agent remained standing. He pointed over his shoulder to the dog man behind him, “You’re already familiar with the chief of police, Tsuragamae, and this is the child services agent assigned to your case, Nomi Rei.”

     “Pleasure.” Nadoka said, not bothering to hide the edge to her voice. She had a feeling she knew exactly what this lady was here for, and she didn’t exactly like her because of that. 

     “Pleasure’s all mine, Takahashi,” Rei chirped with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. It was a rehearsed smile. Practiced. PR perfection. Her gaze drifted until it landed on Bakugou, slumped in his chair and looking entirely unimpressed by the situation, “And you are…?”

     “Bakugou Katsuki,” He grumbled boredly. He looked as though he liked Rei just as much as Nadoka did, “I’m here for rocky.”

     “That’d be me.” Nadoka said upon noticing the confused character of Rei’s features, features which it should be noted were one Botox session away from being nonexistent, “We’ll call him emotional support.”

     The PR smile returned. “Ah, of course.”

     “We’ve got a lot to talk about, Takahashi,” Tsuragamae barked, casting a lingering, pointed look at Bakugou, “grrrhaps it would be better to speak privately, ruff.”

     “No can do, chief,” Nadoka answered almost immediately, pointing a thumb sideways at Bakugou, “We’re a package deal; He stays or all of you go. I’m not gonna argue about it, either. He doesn’t know anything less than all of you. In fact, he probably knows the most.”

     The chief dipped his head. “Very well. First order of business, ruff. Due in part to widespread public influence, the police department has decided not to charge you with violation of the law for using your Quirk in the battle with your mother.”

     Outwardly, Nadoka remained calm. Inwardly though her head was spinning and if she were standing she was sure her knees would buckle. “Well, that’s a relief. But, what do you mean by ‘public influence’?”

     “You didn’t know?” Aizawa said, surprised, “It’s all over the news.”

     “I’ve been staying away from the news recently. If I wanted to rewatch that fight over and over again, all I’d have to do is close my eyes.”

     It was clear this nonchalant comment was rather concerning seeing as Aizawa, Rei, and Bakugou’s eyes all widened a little, but thankfully no one said anything about it as Aizawa awkwardly cleared his throat. “Well, social media has been all over your story. It wasn’t exactly a secret that the debate on whether to charge you for breaking the law was giving us a hard time, but luckily for you it seemed as though hundreds of thousands of people believed you did a good thing and shouldn’t be punished. People have posted all about you, made shrines of thanks to you, held up signs and marched the streets for you. And, they were very influential.”

     Nadoka blinked in surprise, taking in the information. She knew she was a little bit famous seeing as her face was plastered across every news station in Japan almost constantly, but she hadn’t expected so many people to be on her side. “They support me even if I’m a villain's daughter?”

     “A villain’s daughter who gave up nearly everything to stop her own mother from hurting people.” Tsuragamae corrected, “You’re a hero, ruff.”

     “Don’t call her that, mutt,” Bakugou interjected, arms crossed and glare piercing, “She doesn’t want to be called a hero.”

     “Of course. My apologies,” Tsuragamae dipped his head once again, “Consider yourself officially pardoned by the law for a second time, Miss Takahashi. I’d advise you not to test your luck at a third one.”

    With that, Tsuragamae growled a farewell and left the room. Nadoka watched him go before turning to look at Aizawa expectantly. “What else is there? The sooner we get this over with the sooner I can take a nap.”

     But it seemed as though Nadoka’s joking sentiment was not shared. In fact, she didn’t think she’d ever seen Aizawa look more like he didn’t want to speak. “Takahashi, you… you have to decide whether or not your mother will have a funeral.”

     Now, she’d been expecting plenty of things, but this certainly wasn’t one of them. The curtain of comedic nonchalance she’d built up fell away like a kicked sandcastle as her breath caught in her throat and the entire room seemed to close in on her. “I have to… what?”

    “You’re Takahashi Akiko’s only next of kin besides Takahashi Haru, who isn't mentally capable of… well, anything really,” Aizawa explained, “All decisions regarding the fate of Akiko’s… remains , lie with you. Even villains have the right to a proper burial—“

     “We’re not having one.”

     “I… are you sure, Takahashi?”

     “Yes, Mr. Aizawa, I’m sure.” Nadoka nodded before throwing away her strong front in favor of leaning over and rubbing her temples in a mixture of frustration and overwhelming stress. Beside her, Bakugou sat up a little straighter and thought about reaching out to comfort her, but ultimately decided to leave her be. Even if he could push aside his pride long enough to hold her in front of these people, he had a feeling she’d probably just stubbornly push him away. “I don’t have any family in Japan. The only relatives I even know I have are my father’s parents. They live in Canada and won’t travel all the way back here for a funeral for my mother, especially not now that they know she was a villain.”

     Nadoka sighed heavily. “I don’t… I don’t know how it works or anything, but please just do whatever you have to to transfer the rights to her corpse from me to a cremation or burial service. No ceremony, no eulogy, no funeral. I just want her burned and gone. I’ll figure out how to pay for it.”

     “Don’t worry about that part,” Aizawa said reassuringly, “All Might and I will be taking care of expenses. As long as I know that this is one hundred percent what you want, then we can move forward and you won’t have to hear anything about your mother’s fate again.”

     “It’s what I want,” Nadoka confirmed, scratching the back of her head. In that moment, the bags under her eyes rivaled Aizawa’s, “What’s the point of organizing some huge funeral when I’ll be the only one there to mourn? Besides, it’s probably better that I try to move on as fast as possible. She may have been my mother, but she was also a villain.”

     “Good, then that brings us to our last order of business,” Rei interjected, as though she’d been impatiently awaiting her turn to speak the entire time, “Your deadbeat father.”

     “Hey, watch it.” Bakugou snapped warningly, sitting up in his seat, “Can’t this wait for some other day? Haven’t you fuckers dumped enough shit on her shoulders already?”

     “No, it’s okay, ‘Suki,” Nadoka said tiredly, pinching the bridge of her nose and waving a hand in his direction idly, “I’d rather do it all now so it’s over then stretch this out over a long period. But before you say anything, uh… Rei, was it? I just want to put my standing on things out there and make sure you understand that I will not be changing my mind.”

     Nadoka sucked in a deep breath. “I’ve been doing some thinking, and I’m willing to hand my father over to a nursing home—“ Beside her, Bakugou’s eyes widened— “I know I don’t really have a choice, but I’ll just pretend I gave you permission to take him rather than you were gonna take him either way. My only condition is that I will not be going into foster care.”

     Rei absorbed this information and gave a nervous chuckle, adjusting her glasses on her nose, “Refusing foster care is not exactly a decision you get to make, Miss Takahashi—“

     “Rei, know that I say this as nicely as I possibly can, but I don’t fucking care. I’m not going and you’ll have to drug me and tie me up before I let you take me to some stranger’s house where they can ogle and pretend to pity me while flaunting the fact that they’re fostering the dead villain’s daughter.” Nadoka’s tone was so firm and concrete it intimidated even Bakugou a tad, and if circumstances may have been different the blond would most likely be found grinning proudly at his unwavering girlfriend, thinking something along the lines of: hell yeah. Get ‘em baby.

      Rei seemed unprepared for the attack to her plans, spluttering and wiping at sweat pooling on the back of her neck. “I, um… wh-where do you plan to go otherwise, Miss Takahashi? As soon as your father is given to the nursing home, your house will be sold and the funds transferred to a savings account for when you are an adult.”

     “Aizawa said he’s moving us into dormitories, right?” Nadoka pointed out, “I can just live there, and then by the time I graduate, boom, I’m an adult and can legally live on my own.”

     “What about during holidays or other scheduled school breaks?” Rei retaliated, acting as though this argument was some kind of battle rather than a simple conversation, and she was determined to win, “Where will you go when the rest of your classmates are gone and the entirety of campus is empty?”

     “Easy,” Bakugou interrupted, “She stays with me and my parents.”

     At this, Rei had no comeback, clearing her throat and adjusting her collar while Bakugou bit back the urge to smile smugly. “Miss Takahashi, I’d advise you to think about this a bit more rationally. I have a foster family lined up who is very nice and could provide you with a good life.”

     “I’ve got a good life. A great one, actually. I don’t need fake love from a fake ‘family’ when I have plenty of real love in other places. Besides, I still have a dad.”

     “Even if you could live in the dormitories, you still need a parental figure that doctors, dentists, therapists, and whoever else can turn to should the need arise. You cannot just freelance living in borrowed areas with friends and leech off your boyfriend’s family.”

     Bakugou growled, narrowing his eyes. “You’d better fucking watch it, glasses. I’ve liked you less and less since the damn second you walked in and everytime you talk it gets worse. She’s not leeching off of me or my shitty parents if we want her there.”

     “And as for parental figures,” Aizawa added, having decided that rather than scold his students for disrespecting an adult, he would much prefer to defend them, seeing as he wasn’t exactly fond of this Rei character very much either, “If she ever needs someone to step in and act as guardian, she can come to me.”

     Rei was starting to look defeated and rather desperate now, feeling small beneath the combined weight of three gazes of which none were happy. She pushed at her glasses yet again, face timid. “I’m afraid that’s not how it works, Mr. Aizawa.”

     “Then make it work. ” Aizawa demanded forcefully, “She’s sixteen and over halfway to seventeen already, so it’s not like she’ll need my guardianship for very long. If she says she doesn’t want a foster family, then she won’t have one. And as far as I’m concerned, your presence isn’t needed here anymore. Have a nice day.”

     “But, sir—“

     “Have. A nice. Day.”

     Rei remained a beat longer, seeming as though she were contemplating whether to argue any more, before she eventually dropped her head and scurried from the room, saying something about ensuring that Nadoka would be living in the dorms under Aizawa’s parental guardianship as she went. Nadoka slowly let out a long breath and relaxed her tense shoulders, giving a shaky chuckle. “So you’ll be signing my field trip forms from now on, huh Mr. Aizawa?”

     “Better than you forging your father’s signature like you’ve been doing, wouldn’t you agree? If you ever need anything, you know where to find me,” Aizawa stood up and ruffled Nadoka’s hair, fondness and empathy battling for dominance in his gaze, “As soon as you are released from the hospital we’ll gather your things from your house and move you into the dorms.”

     “Thank you, Mr. Aizawa. Seriously,” Nadoka said, fiddling with her fingers nervously, “I don’t think you understand how much the idea of going into foster care and being one of those kids terrified me. This means a lot more than you could know.”

     Aizawa smiled a little and dipped his head. “Of course. Also, off the record, but All Might and I may have discovered your flying squirrel when we visited your father. I’ll arrange a form so you may keep it in the dorms with you. We’ll call it your ‘emotional support animal’.”

     Nadoka laughed. It felt really nice to laugh after everything that had happened. “Thank you, sir. I’m glad I won’t have to give Sugar Loaf up.”

     Aizawa chuckled a little. “Sugar Loaf. Why am I not surprised that that’s its name? Anyway, I’ll leave you be for now. Seems like you’ve got a lot of new information to absorb.”

     Nadoka nodded and waved goodbye as he slipped silently from the room, and suddenly it was as quiet as it had been before they had barged in. Bakugou moved to the cot almost instantly and sat down, watching Nadoka file her fingers through her hair exhaustedly. “Fuck, I actually did that— “Counting off on her fingers, she listed— “I’m not gonna be thrown in jail, I asked Aizawa to burn my damn mom, I refused foster care, I gave my father up to a nursing home so now I’m basically an orphan, and now I’ve got Aizawa signing my permission forms and I’m moving into the UA dormitories for the rest of my high school career with my flying squirrel as an emotional guide animal. Did I miss anything?”

     “I don’t think so, babe,” Bakugou said, maneuvering himself so he was sitting cross-legged in front of her and petting her knees, “But at least now that it’s done, you won’t have to fucking worry about most of it ever again.”

     “Did you… did you mean what you said?” Nadoka asked quietly, peering up at him through her lashes, “About letting me stay with you during breaks?”

     “What kinda stupid fucking question is that?” Bakugou said incredulously, flicking her forehead while she pouted and rubbed the sore spot, “Of course you’re coming to stay with me. Did you think I was just gonna leave you at the dorms by yourself for the holidays? Besides, my shitty parents are already asking me to bring you over more often, they’ll probably be head over fucking heels to hear you’re coming.”

     Nadoka giggled and swatted at his hands when he tried to pinch her sides. “You make it sound like your parents like me better than you.”

     “They probably do.” He answered, “After all, the first time you met them you cooked one of my old man’s favorite dishes, and after you left he told me it was some of the best damn food he’d ever eaten.”

     “Aww, that’s so sweet.” Nadoka sighed and scooted over a little, lying back against the bed and opening her arms, “C’mere.”

     Bakugou hesitated. “I… I don’t wanna hurt you. You’re still injured, idiot.”

     But Nadoka simply smiled softly, finding his hand and giving it a gentle tug. “You could never hurt me, dummy. Now come here. Please?”

     He shook his head with a smile filled with far too much fondness for his own good as he slithered into the bed and slid his arms around her, resting his head against her chest. Her arms went around his shoulders while her fingers glided into his hair, sifting through the soft sandy locks slowly. “Soon enough, I’ll be a teenager again. No more working two jobs, no more getting up at the asscrack of dawn and staying up halfway through the night, no more lying to avoid hanging out with our friends, no more making dinner.”

     “You know, I’m not even going to bother lying, I’m gonna miss making dinner for your crippled dad,” Bakugou admitted, sliding his hand under her shirt to ghost his fingers over the bandage on her back, “I didn’t even really realize how much I enjoyed cooking with you and just being with you until the first few times I wasn’t able to come for whatever damn reason.”

     Nadoka hummed. “Since we’ll all be living together in the dorms, I’m assuming we’ll be put on some sort of rotation system for chores like cleaning and cooking and buying groceries. Maybe we can push the system so that we can cook together for everyone. It’s one of my favorite things to do with you. Like a little date.”

     “Which, by the way, now that neither of us will have any prior fucking obligations to your dad, where do you wanna go for our first official date?”

     Nadoka considered this question and couldn’t for the life of her figure out why her eyes were suddenly welling with tears. “I… I think I’d like to go to an arcade. I’ve never been to one before.”

     Bakugou could hear the shakiness of her voice as well as feel it rattling in her chest, but rather than comment on it he chose instead to cradle her closer, leaning up to kiss under her jaw. “If that’s what you want, then that’s where we’ll go. Be prepared to have your ass kicked at all the games, though.”

     Nadoka laughed. Bakugou didn’t think it was impossible to be so in love with something as simple as a sound, but here he was, a complete sap all for her. “We’ll see about that, fireworks.”

     For a long moment, there was nothing but quiet. Coyotes and deer. Turtles of contentment and frogs of sincerity lying in a pond.

     Peace.

     “You ready to go home yet?”

     He didn’t bother to tell her that he was already home. It was obvious she already knew. 

     “Hm… no. I think I’ll stay awhile.”