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Your favorite song blared somewhere off to your right. Cracking an eye open, you saw that the sun hadn’t quite woken up yet, either. First alarm, then . Face still planted in your pillow, you slapped at your phone until everything went quiet.
What woke you next was not your second alarm, but the sound of your husband bursting into the room as carefully as he could. When your bleary eyes finally focused, you could see that his own eyes were still puffy with sleep, but already full of life. Still clad in the white tank top and boxers he slept in, Inasa gripped a breakfast tray in his large hands. Only one thing sat in the middle: a large, round cake, curlicue writing penned across the top in gel icing.
“Happy birthday!” Right, that was today. You ran a hand across your face, the words taking a second to reach your brain through the sleepy haze. After years of marriage, sudden noises had just about ceased to faze you; even first thing in the morning, his loud voice was music to your ears.
You lifted yourself up onto your elbows. “I appreciate it babe, but...cake at 6 a.m.? A whole cake?”
“It’s your favorite! Also, I burned breakfast!” His grin didn’t waver in the least as he announced it. That got a sputtering laugh out of you. Inasa couldn't hide even the smallest secrets, and his endearing frankness made it easier to preemptively forgive whatever kitchen nightmare might await you. Not one for birthday blowouts, this memory alone was all the gift you needed.
Sitting up in bed, you patted the blanket beside you in silent invitation. He set the tray down over your lap, planting a kiss on your temple before hopping over you and back onto his side of the bed. There was only a cake and a fork atop the tray - he hadn't stopped to grab plates, or slice the cake. But he was right, it was your favorite: strawberry shortcake, covered in a snowy-white layer of whipped cream. A cheery, pristinely penned “ Happy Birthday ” stared back at you in bright red gel icing, surrounded by dollops of whipped cream and delicately sliced strawberries.
As you picked up the fork, looking for the best angle to attack the cake, you leaned against his shoulder and murmured, “Thank you, Inasa. It looks amazing.”
It was certainly the most unique breakfast in bed you’d ever enjoyed. The cake was delectably delicate, filled with more fresh, sweet strawberries and smooth custard. The two of you took turns scooping out bites directly from the side of the cake, passing the fork back and forth as Inasa regaled you with the tale of how he annihilated what was meant to be breakfast.
“You should have seen the way those eggs exploded in the microwave!” he recalled, roared with laughter. “Who knew they had that kinda power?”
Microwave explosions were the stuff of nightmares to you, in all honesty, but something about the way Inasa described it as though it was already a hilarious memory helped you see it that way, too. As you brought another strawberry-laden bite to your mouth, you wondered if he realized how much he put you at ease without even trying.
As Inasa finished getting ready, you gave the kitchen a brief once-over. Fortunately, Inasa had already disposed of the eggy evidence, so all that was left was for you to put the half-eaten cake away. As usual, Inasa left before you, but not before several extra-tight bear hugs each time you crossed paths, and an extra-tight farewell hug before he made his way for the door.
“I miss you already!” He called out, walking backwards. His sheer sincerity sent your heart ricocheting around your chest.
You allowed yourself to try and match his energy: hanging out the doorway, you waved after him and yelled back, “Be strong for me, my hero!” While Inasa could say even the sappiest sentiments with ease, it didn’t come quite as easily to you, but for him you were willing to try.
Walking down the street on autopilot, you made your way down to the small florist's shop where you worked. Before you could even say hello to the owner, a kind older woman, she rushed out from behind the counter and took you by the arm, pulling you toward the back room. She always had energy to spare, even on the morning shift, but she’d never intercepted you first thing like this.
“Happy birthday, dear! Someone’s got a visitor, ” she sing-songed, “and he’s been waiting for you since last night!” With hands well-versed in poking fun at you, she opened the door to the back room and shuffled you inside, slipping back out onto the floor in the same fluid motion.
Indeed, sitting atop a stack of upended metal buckets, there was a familiar face waiting for you - only, that face was covered head to toe in hair, as was the rest of his body.
“Nagamasa...?” You tilted your head. No response. Your husband’s friend had stopped by the store from time to time to talk chrysanthemums, but why would he be waiting for you back here? And was he a bit...shorter than usual? And how was he sitting perfectly still like that? The stare-down continued until finally, the pieces clicked in your head, and you let out the breath you'd been holding in an incredulous laugh.
It wasn't Nagamasa, but a nearly life-sized stuffed toy of the man in his hero outfit. Despite his calm, serious demeanor, Pro Hero Chewyee's mascot-like appearance made him popular with children, with stores across Kansai boasting similarly enormous plushes in their storefront windows. Slung over the stuffed Nagamasa’s arm was a small wicker basket overflowing with your favorite snacks, the cherry on top.
Pulling out your phone to take a picture, you saw four missed calls from Inasa. There was still time before you had to clock in, so as you approached your present you rang him back. He picked up the phone even before the first ring had ended.
“Good morning! Did you get your present?”
You turned to look at it, unable to hold back a grin. “I did, thank you. I thought it was the man himself for a second there!"
“There’s more where that came from, just you wait!”
You shifted the phone from one hand to the other to give your ear a rest. “Thank you, but this is plenty, really. It’s already so much more than I usually get."
“No way is that enough! I couldn’t believe how much it cost, but it was worth it! You always get a kick out of seeing Nagamasa’s merch."
You fiddled with the ear of the giant Chewyee plush self-consciously, even though neither he nor Inasa could see you. "That's...really sweet. But maybe we should agree on a gift budget for next time?"
He roared with laughter. "Yeah, probably! That thing cost me—”
Your stomach dropped, and you blurted, “Actually, Inasa, I think I’d rather not know.”
He’d probably picked out the gift without even glancing at the price tag. Inasa wasn’t the kind of person to measure love in money, but you worried that if you heard the actual price, you’d feel too guilty to accept it.
The sinking feeling gradually gave way to a creeping liquid warmth, spreading up through your chest and blooming across your face as you imagined him picking out the gift. You could practically see him barging into shops in the middle of his patrols, his naturally broad frame even more imposing in his heroes’ costume. The mental image of him fumbling for his credit card with his gauntlet still on, towering over parents and children, tugged at your heart.
You gave the stuffed Nagamasa a pat on the head as Inasa continued, unfazed by the interruption. “Ah, gotta go! Looks like I’m getting chewed out for making personal calls again."
He called out to his patrol partner, forgetting to move the phone away as he hollered, "Be right there! Love you! Wait—" Inasa’s voice was quiet er , but by no means quiet as he addressed the correct person this time. “Love you! Miss you! I’ll pick you up from the shop!! Bye!!!”
“Love you too, Inasa. See you soon.” You smiled down at your phone long after his name faded from the screen. You could only imagine how much kowtowing he had to do to convince his stickler of a boss to let him out early. The day couldn’t end soon enough.
True to his word, you looked up from the time clock to see a Gale Force-sized shadow cast over you. Turning to face him, the shopowner’s giggling face was the last thing you saw before Inasa crushed you against his chest.
“There’s my favorite person!” You could feel the words rumbling in his chest more than you could hear them as he began twirling you around. “Hey!” he called out to the rest of the store, “Guess whose birthday it is today?!” You always enjoyed being buried in Inasa’s broad, warm chest, but you were more grateful for it than ever in that moment. The small shop only held a handful of people at a time, and all their eyes must have been trained on the two of you in that moment.
Tapping his chest like a wrestler pinned to the mat, you managed to wriggle your face to the side just enough to speak. “Inside voices, babe...” Your feet finally touched solid ground as Inasa let you go, lock-stepped backward a few paces, and promptly dropped into a rigid bow.
“You’re right...! Terribly sorry for the trouble, everyone!”
“C’mon,” you leaned over and patted him on the back. “Let me go get Nagamasa from the back before I forget, and we can go home.”
You hooked the basket of goodies over one arm; Inasa carried the stuffed toy on his back, holding the arms in place around his neck with one large hand. Your free hands found each other wordlessly as you headed for home, fingers weaving together with practiced ease.
“So, where to next?” Inasa asked. “Wanna go to an all-you-can-eat buffet? Ikea? How about Tokyo Disney?!”
You shook your head, eyes fixed ahead. The sun was just beginning to dip beneath the tallest buildings, setting the sky on fire. “I’m not really up for a bullet train ride.” Inasa opened his mouth, but you were faster. “ Or a cross-country flight.”
“But today’s your day - you deserve excitement! Passion! Thills! I know: all-night karaoke!!”
“We’d have to leave the city for that, too, remember? Karaoke no Tetsujin has the best songs, but they banned us last month.”
Inasa threw his head back in uproarious laughter. “I just get so fired up singing World is Mine! ”
At the memory, you clap a hand over your mouth to stifle a laugh of your own. “Banning a hero, can you believe it?! Maybe we should go so I can give them a piece of my mind.”
Inasa clenched a fist. “No no, even if I am a hero, I deserved it! I was being a nuisance!”
A quiet night in sounded like heaven to you right about now. He was rarely done with work so early, so it was just nice to have him pick you up like this. But before you could tell Inasa as much, you stopped dead in your tracks. A young man stood in your path, more than a little too close, his awe-stricken eyes trained on Inasa’s face.
“Oh man, you’re Gale Force, right?! You’re totally him!” He was practically glowing, the words tumbling out. “Please, sir, you gotta let me take a picture with you!”
Inasa’s popularity was never an issue for you - he deserved it all and then some, and with him still in uniform, it was hardly a surprise. For your part, you’d more or less made peace with the intrusions: patiently waiting as the noodles aisle of the grocery store turned into an impromptu meet-and-greet, or scrolling through your phone as just one signature please! turned into half a dozen. Really, you couldn’t blame them for wanting a moment with the guy. You were nuts about him, too.
But something about the way the man thrust his phone in your hand, not so much asking as demanding you take a picture, left you feeling more than a little small. Like a personal assistant, or a department store clerk tasked with working a meet-and-greet event. Not that you’d planned to make a big deal of your birthday, but it wasn’t just your day at stake - it was your day with Inasa. And there weren’t nearly enough of those.
As you lifted the phone, you contemplated “dropping” the stupid thing for a brief, vengeful moment, but stamped down the urge. That’d only make Inasa feel responsible, and if he bowed in apology there on the sidewalk, he’d likely give himself a concussion. Instead, you hid the irritation behind a terse smile as you quickly snapped a few pictures. After you placed the phone back in his wordlessly outstretched hand, he gave Inasa a couple of quick bows, thanking him (and not you) before dashing off.
The commotion marked the beginning of the end of your peaceful walk home, barely a block away from your work. The stranger had set off a chain reaction: a couple walking in the opposite direction took notice, which set off a gaggle of teens across the street, and before you knew it the two of you were surrounded.
Walking down the street with Inasa Yoarashi was enough of an event, but with Gale Force? Forget about it. As more and more people began to close in on all sides, clamoring for a moment with their local hero, that quiet evening you’d hoped for seemed to slip out of your grasp.
Taking Inasa’s free hand in yours again, this time so that you could anchor yourself to his side, you pressed into him for some security. You breath grew shallow as your eyes darted from face to unfamiliar face, pressure mounting in your chest until--
“I AM EXTREMELY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR SUPPORT!” Inasa boomed, startling the chattering crowd into silence. “However, today is my wife’s birthday and we must be going now! For details on official meet-and-greets, please check my agency’s official website! Thank you very much! ”
Inasa shifted the oversized plush into the crook of his left arm, wrapping his right arm around your waist. A rustling emanated from around your feet, growing in intensity until the two of you were in the middle of a cyclone of leaves and other debris. You felt your feet gently, slowly lifting off the ground; reflexively, they kicked at the empty air, and you let a wordless cry slip out. Even after your senses caught up, your hands instinctively grabbed fistfuls of Inasa’s jacket as he took you up higher and higher, the crowd shrinking away beneath you.
You were nowhere near as used to flying as Inasa, but you did trust him. Even with an entire city beneath you, your racing heart slowed down just a bit, panic giving way to excitement. The wind feels like a comforting embrace, not harsh at all, and you let yourself relax into it. Buffeting you forward, the winds responded by kissing your cheeks and chilling the tip of your nose. Inhaling deeply, filling your lungs with crisp, fresh air, you wrapped your arms around Inasa tightly and let him carry you away.
Home sweet home . If you thought you looked a mess after your shift, you could only imagine what you must have looked like after that flight. Your pant legs were pollen-blotched, your hands were chapped, and there was more than a little potting soil buried under your nails. Now, your wind-whipped hair completed the ensemble, but you couldn’t find it in you to be irritated. The buzz hadn’t worn off yet, your cheeks still thawing and your fingertips buzzing.
You tugged on his sleeve twice and tilted your chin up, and Inasa leaned over to oblige, closing his eyes. Throwing your arms around his fur collar, you pulled him in closer and pressed your still-cold lips to his cheek, his mouth, his nose, every inch of his face you could reach.
As the two of you separated, his arms loosely draped around your waist. “Thank you for the lovely birthday,” you said, fiddling idly with one of the buttons on his jacket.
Inasa’s near-permanent grin faltered, his brow furrowing. “I wanted to do more.”
You shook your head. “Even with everything else on your plate, you still made time for me. That’s plenty.”
The way he looked down at you, the warmth radiating from his chest, and the knowledge that you had the rest of the evening to yourselves - that was all you wanted out of the day.
“Now, I don’t know about you, but I am starving.” You slipped out from between his arms. “We can split the rest of that cake for dessert, but first, how about some udon?”