Chapter Text
Ojiro could still taste the sour metallic sludge in the back of his throat. His hero costume was soaked and weighed down by the sticky grey gunk that he and two other heroes had to beat out of a sludge villain. Being the first on the scene and throwing himself in front of some civilians, he had gotten caught for a good few minutes in the villains sticky body mass. It didn't help that the villain had tried to shove a slimy appendage down his throat either. If the hero with the water quirk hadn't arrived when she did, he'd probably be pumping his stomach to get the sludge out right about now.
"You alright Tailman? You really got hit, jumping to defend those school kids."
"Yeah- I'm fine. Don't worry-" The blond managed to say between sticky coughs to the rather concerned officer who had come to collect the now puddled villain.
"You should get checked out Tailman, sir-" the water heroine, Geyser- if Ojiro remembers her name correctly- added worriedly. He was pretty sure she was a new hero; he vaguely remembers seeing her name in the papers when she made her debut about a week ago.
"Thanks Geyser- I'll do that. And thank you for the assist-" He was slightly embarrassed that he had been rescued by a newbie, but he had only been a pro for just over a year so he didn't really have much of a reputation to upkeep at this point. But at least they managed to beat the villain out of commission in the end.
After they were done with villain clean-up, he went to his office's in-house clinic for a quick check-up. Being given an "all clear" by the medic, Ojiro changed into his civilian clothes, packed up his gear and headed home. This gunk was most definitely going to break the washing machine, he'd be surprised if he could even get it off the fluff on the collar of his costume.
He took out his phone from his pocket to check his texts. A little smile crossed his face as he read the new message he had.
Don't make dinner tonight. I'll be home at 6. Let's go out.
Without the need to make dinner, Ojiro could now focus on cleaning the sad mess of a costume he had in his backpack. He cleared his throat and grimaced as the sour taste reappeared on his taste buds once again. As much as he would like to rinse his mouth with bleach, extra strong mouthwash would have to do.
It was a short bus ride home to his decently sized apartment in a rather old but well maintained complex. He grabbed the mail on they way up to the third floor unit, sorting through it as he climbed the stairs. He got out his keys as he reached the third floor, their jingle immediately triggered an incessant meowing from behind the apartment door. The meowing grew louder as he unlocked and opened to door until a little blue grey cat was able to slip out and rub affectionately against his leg.
“Yuu-chan.” The tailed man greeted the little cat with a rub on her head as he took his shoes off and placed them neatly on the shoe rack. The first order of business was to dump his hero costume out of his bag and let it soak in a basin of super strength detergent. Ojiro stripped and went to take a much needed shower in the meantime. He smelled bad, worse than sewer bad. And the taste in his mouth was bad, he didn’t even want to think of what he’d swallowed. He ended up wrenching and gagging in the shower, managing to cough out a mildly concerning amount of grey sludge. The blond was happy to see it being washed down the drain to the sewers from where is most likely came. After scrubbing himself well enough that he was sure he’d scrubbed off a layer of skin in the process, the tailed man stepped out of the shower to gargle about half a bottle of extra strength mouthwash and brushed his teeth at least twice. He threw on a t-shirt and some shorts.
Feeling a lot cleaner, Ojiro went to make himself a nice hot cup of miso soup. That usually helped him relax and ease up after a days work. He sat cross-legged on the couch with his drink, the small cat, Yuuei, purred as she curled up next to his tail. He took a sip as he admired the framed photograph on the old coffee table. It was a lovely photo of his boyfriend and himself, both grinning and holding up the little blue grey kitten that they would later name “Yuuei”, after their alma mater. Ojiro just sat there in the much appreciated silence, sipping the miso soup until his cup was empty.
Ojiro did not realize that he had dozed off until he was woken up by Yuu’s meowing.
“Hello Yuu-” came a familiar voice as the little cats meowing ceased.
Ojiro stretched and pushed himself up with his tail as soft footsteps echoed in the doorway. He gracefully leapt over the couch and made his way to the door, his muscular tail draped over his shoulder.
“Welcome home-” he greeted cheerfully.
At the doorway sat a young man with messy, dull greyish blue-purple hair. His shoes were already off but he was still seated to play with the little cat. He turned at the sound of Ojiro’s voice, the corners of his mouth turning up into a small smile. He stood up and gave the shorter male a peck on the lips.
“Glad to be home, Rao.”