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“What? You’re my partner for this stakeout mission?” Jirou said as she looked incredulously at the person standing in front of her.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing!” Kaminari protested.
Jirou looked at her stakeout partner up and down, sizing him, and said "I guess it's not that bad," with a shrug.
"Of course it's not bad," Kaminari said with a slight pout. How can it be bad, he got to spend the whole night doing a stakeout with the most awesome superheroine he had ever known. It’s the exact opposite of bad.
The fact that he's been having a crush on her since their high school days was beside the point.
Kaminari might or might not have purposefully asked to be assigned to this particular mission, knowing that his agency is working on this case with Jirou's agency. He had hoped beyond anything that Jirou herself was working on the case. And the universe had granted him his wish for once.
"Here, take this," Jirou said, handing Kaminari binoculars. They were standing on the edge of the roof of an abandoned building near the docks, their mission was to monitor the activity of a smuggling ring for quirk-enhancing drugs and get proof so the police could make arrests.
Kaminari took the binoculars, and putting them in front of his eyes, he directed his gaze towards the location where an illegal transaction was supposedly about to take place. "Looks like nobody's there," he said to Jirou.
Next to him, Jirou nodded and put down her own binoculars. "Well, the night is young," she said, taking a few steps away from the edge and seated herself on a piece of concrete.
Kaminari followed her and sat next to her, noticing that Jirou had one of her earphone jacks plugged on the concrete floor.
"So you can listen from this distance now?" Kaminari asked, pointing at her plugged jack.
"Yeah, I've been practicing to increase my radius," Jirou answered, smiling slightly.
"Good for you," Kaminari said, flashing her a wide smile, genuinely happy for her improvement. "You've gotten stronger."
Jirou smiled back but didn't say anything, and Kaminari knew she was trying to concentrate so she could hear all the sounds coming from the docks. So he sat there in silence, occasionally peering through his binoculars.
Having to sit in silence made Kaminari more aware of his surroundings. He was never a night person, so he never really noticed that the wind blows somewhat differently at night. He never really noticed that the world could be so quiet and yet so comforting. He never really noticed that everything looked different under the yellow and white glow of artificial lights.
He was a people-person, and he had always been drawn to crowds, to noises, to the discordant sounds of busy streets and cars honking. He had always thought that at night, when fewer cars were out and most people had retreated to the comfort of their homes, the silence would be deafening and debilitating.
But night, as it turns out, was not like that at all. Especially this particular night. It was indeed quiet except for the sound of the wind blowing and the waves crashing. Their proximity to the docks brought about the salty smell of the sea, carried by the crisp late-autumn wind. And everything in front of his eyes were beautiful. The vast black velvet sky adorned with stars, the twinkling lights of the buildings reflected on the sea waters, the silver moon high in the sky... Night, Kaminari had to concede, reserves a beauty of its own. A beauty that is comforting in a special way.
What made the night even more beautiful though, was the girl sitting next to him. Stealing a glance at her, Kaminari saw how Jirou was concentrating to hear the sounds from the docks. Her expression was serious and her eyes full of determination. But she smiled, happy just being able to do her job as a hero.
A gust of wind blew past him, sending shivers through his spine. It was almost winter, after all. "Jeeze, it's so cold out here," Kaminari commented without thinking.
Jirou unplugged her jack from the concrete and said, "This is why you shouldn't have worn thin clothes during night-time stakeout, Jamming-Way." She bent down and took a thermos from her bag. She opened the lid and poured the liquid inside into the lid. The smell of coffee soon filled the air.
"Here, it will warm you up," Jirou said again, handing the thermos lid turned cup to Kaminari, who took it from her hand while mumbling his thanks. "You're lucky I brought enough for two people."
"What would I do without you, Jirou-Jack?" Kaminari said, in a feeble attempt to flirt. All his best flirting techniques almost always became feeble when it comes to Jirou. What he didn't notice tonight, though, was that Jirou actually responded with a smile and a slight blush.
Jirou is just like the night , Kaminari thought as he sipped the cup of coffee. His gaze was fixed solely on her and how her short hair moved along with the wind as she plugged her jack back into the concrete.
Yeah, she was just like the night. At first glance, the night makes you think of darkness and the unknown. It is intimidating and unfamiliar. Just like Jirou when he first met her, with her sharp gaze and her ‘I-don’t-give-a-damn’ attitude.
But in truth, the night has its own light, its own warmth, just like Jirou. The night has its own unique comfort, and so does Jirou's presence.
With its contradictory qualities, the night is alluring; very, very much like Jirou.
And Kaminari adored those qualities in Jirou. How she's almost always cold and cruel and even condescending. Yet underneath the rough surface she was just as caring and considerate as any of the other people he had ever known. If not even more so…
Isn't it amazing that a man with electricity running through his veins — the same electricity that in human history had conquered the darkness of night — could be so madly in love with a woman who is essentially the embodiment of the night?
Kaminari didn't know how long he had been frozen in his seat, so lost in his thoughts and musings. Could be a minute, could be hours. But it was Jirou's voice that called him back to reality.
"I think the smugglers are here," Jirou said, suddenly tense and alert, ready to fight. "I can hear them down there."
It took him a few moments, but Kaminari finally remembered that he was on a mission. He shook his head to drive away all his previous thoughts.
He had a mission to finish, and that must become his priority.
One of these days, he'd muster the courage to tell Jirou just how much he adores her. Just how amazing he thinks she is. Just how much he loves her.
One day… Someday…
For now, though, his feelings would stay unspoken.