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Izuku walked along the sidewalk with a renewed pep in his step. The buildings lining the road towering over him and casting shadows from the afternoon sun. He wasn’t far from his destination, which happened to be the largest building on the block. A skyscraper made of glass and matte black material, an curiously small sign above the revolving door read “Ground Zero” in orange lettering, outlined in a pine green.
With a smile gracing his features Izuku pushed open the heavy entry doors and walked over to the front desk.
——
Yui had been having a relatively quiet day. The paperwork was as monotonous as usual and no unusual visitors had arrived, a nice content feeling flowing through her veins at the perceived easiness.
As she was reading through the overall schedule the telltale whoosh of the doors opening made her avert her attention away from the computer screen. The sight that greeted her made her eyes widen for a split second before she schooled her expression.
A man, rather young, probably around her own age, was walking through the doors. He was wearing a white cropped hoodie that showed off his lean abdomen along with ripped black skinny jeans with fishnets underneath. Truly a sight to behold, as it was not often she saw men dress in such a way, and usually when she did it was online. A dazzling smile was gracing the boy's features and his hair was a deep green that fluffed up into unstyled curls that framed his face. All around, she thought the man was very cute.
“Ah, how can I help you, sir?” She voiced in her usual light customer service voice.
His smile somehow got wider for a second, “Oh! I was just dropping this off for Dynamight! If that’s okay, of course.” She noticed how his voice was soft and gentle even as it held an undeniable brightness to it.
Unintentionally, her normal smile turned into something closer to a grimace. Of course this sweet person was here to try to win the affections of the pro hero who happened to be her boss. The idle thought of ‘why do so cute people always fall for assholes’ slipped through her mind.
“Oh, alright…” She trailed off, awkwardly taking the neatly wrapped bento from the boy’s hands. Yui was slightly impressed, most of the suitors that showed up simply had chocolates or something sappy, never was it a nicely made lunch.
“Oh, also, I was wondering if he was in the building right now? I’d really like to be the one that gives it to him… but if not that’s alright, too!” The man’s voice was sweet but had a nervous edge to it that made something in her heart twinge. Such a genuinely nice person was about to get their heart broken right before her very eyes.
This was sadly something she was quite used to. Except none of the other people had seemed so sincere in their actions as this person.
Reluctantly, out of the goodness of her heart, she nodded, “He is in right now, I could call him down if you like?” The man nodded quickly as he made a soft noise of agreement. It almost looked like his eyes were sparkling.
As she reached for the comms to call-in to Dynamight’s office she stole more sidelong glances at the guest. He looked like he was made of all things good and pure. He had star-like freckles and everything about him screamed safety and warmth. The idea that she was sending someone made of sunshine to their heart’s demise made an uncertain guilt crawl up her spine. She muscled through it though, such an act was part of the job at this point. Working for the one of the most sought after heroes made her have to develop nerves of steel in moments like this. Crazed fans and potential suitors were an everyday occurrence, sadly.
“Dynamight, sir, could you come down to the main reception? You have a guest.” She spoke into the mic with a practised tone, calling down her boss was always a weird experience.
“Who the fuck is it?” Came the gruff reply as it crackled through the speaker.
She looked at the guest, a single eyebrow raised, “Name?”
“Ah, just say it’s Deku, please!”
Yui’s polite, ever present smile immediately fell into a frown. Such a sweet person should not have a nickname that was so degrading! She bit her tongue in an attempt to quell the odd protective feeling that coursed through her. She didn’t even know this person! Why was she feeling so intensely about him?
She held down the button and spoke the rather demeaning nickname into the mic, or at least she tried. She barely got through the first syllable before she was cut off by the pro hero. “I’m on my way down.”
She felt stunned for a moment. It was usually a terse conversation when she needed the pro to come down during his in-office hours. He never liked to disrupt the process or flow of paperwork, claiming it was annoying and threw him off.
The man in front of her fiddled with his sleeves as his eyes flickered between the bento, now sitting on the ledge of her desk, and the “staff-only” labelled elevator.
Taking the most subtle of deep breaths she readied herself for anything she was about to witness, of course Yui’s mind was supplying her with worse case scenarios. Like watching the boy with stars in eyes and flowers in his soul get rejected in the usual harsh way Dynamight did. Yelling and blatant disgust was always involved when he turned people down, never letting them down easy. All the tearful faces she’s seen over the past year filtered through her brain.
The ding of the elevator doors and the familiar stomping of combat boots made her gaze direct itself to the pro hero. His mask was off but he was still in the base get-up of his costume. The usual baggy cargo pants and tank top with the signature orange X. Her eyes go back to the cute boy before her and she almost internally weeps at the pure happiness and excitement in his eyes at the sight of the pro hero. She cannot stand to let such an innocent person get crushed in such a way. But if she spoke… goodbye to her (rather nice) income.
Pro hero Dynamight stalks his way towards the man who is still smiling brilliantly at the hero. He’s bouncing a little on his toes and it makes the receptionist want to coo. This guy was adorable.
She sees Dynamight open his mouth. She braces for the worse, already wincing a little in preparation.
“Hey.” Her eyes snap back into focus so fast it almost feels straining. The hero’s tone was gruff, as usual, but there was a different undertone to it. She couldn’t be sure though, as her ears could definitely be playing tricks on her.
Sunshine boy gave the hero a smile that could probably bring peace to the world if he spared one to the right person. His eyes got brighter, the lovely shade of green they were glimmering. They looked almost jewel-like. Emeralds, if you will.
“Kacchan!” Sunshine boy, or Deku, exclaimed. Rendering the receptionist speechless, not that she was talking in the first place. But the sentiment counts. “I brought you your lunch because I saw you forgot it! And I know you forget to eat sometimes and I worry about you a little too much because you really, really need to take care of yourself more…”
The boy was rambling, borderline lecturing, the hero on self-care and the hero wasn’t yelling in his face? What? This wasn’t a part of the routine.
“You’re doing it again, Deku.” The hero said, tone soft, almost fond. Yui felt her eye twitch. The demeanour her boss usually had versus the one he had in front of this boy was so drastically different. She was missing something.
“Oh, sorry!” Sunshine boy apologised but he let out a soft giggle which made the pro soften further. Yui is considering the possibility she was hit with a quirk on her way to work earlier that day and that this is simply an elaborate illusion.
“Thanks, ‘Zuku. You didn’t have to bring it though, you know that.”
‘Zuku?’ Her mind supplied.
The boy made of light looked affronted by the suggestion, “Of course I did, silly! I care about you! It’s my personal duty to make sure you’re taken care of.” The boy’s voice was so sure and final that it almost startled her. He had the same conviction that most pros had. Was he one? No, no, he couldn’t be, she would have recognised him.
“Whatever. Do you wanna go up with me? I don’t usually get to see you during the day…” And whoa, why did pro hero Dynamight sound nervous? Who was this boy? And why was this scene slowly getting more and more intimate.
“I’d love to!” was the easy reply that slipped from the boy’s lips. Eyes shining with so many emotions. All positive. The fascination, admiration, fondness, and something that looked very close to love were all there. Her jaw almost dropped when the green haired boy latched onto Dynamight’s arm, fully hugging it to his chest as he smiled up at the hero.
She lost herself in a daze, trying to come up with who the boy was and why he was so friendly with her usually grouchy boss. Because of her stupor she failed to see the way the hero looked at the man with love in eyes as he tucked a stray curl behind the boy’s ear before leading them to the elevator and up to his office away from prying eyes.
After about two minutes of stewing in her own confusion the door opened again. Looking up she saw a familiar face this time, another hero that worked in the building. “Oh, Red Riot! Nice to see you again, doesn’t your patrol with Dynamight start soon?”
The hero grinned at her, “Yeah! In about twenty minutes. Is he still on lunch?”
She wavered, not really knowing how to explain the current situation since there were details she was obviously missing.
“Oh. Uhm. Yes, he is. He also has a guest in his office right now though…” She trailed off, not knowing how to explain.
The red head’s eyebrows raised comically high, “He has a guest?! Who?!”
“Ah, I don’t really know them! They’ve never come in before today but he was around the same age as all of us I believe. A bit on the short end and he has green hair. Big eyes and a really nice smile.” She listed off the details.
A knowing gleam flashed across the waiting hero’s eyes, “Oh… interesting.”
“Interesting? Do you know him?”
“Yeah, I’ve known him since high school.”
That was shocking news, both of the heroes went to U.A. but this person seemed to not be a hero. So how did they meet in high school…?
“Is he also a hero?” She was almost sure he wasn’t but of course there are underground heroics and simply masked heroes.
“Oh, no. He works in support though, actually he’s the founder of the support agency we’re signed with!” Red Riot exclaimed.
What? No, no no no. That boy? Sunshine incarnate that wears cropped sweaters and fishnets? Was the founder of the support agency they work with? Also known as the top leading support agency in the world ? The surprise she felt must have shown on her face because she was broken out of her thoughts by the hero’s laugh.
The two continued to talk, the topic of the boy eventually shifting away since the red haired hero wouldn’t surrender much unless it was common knowledge she could probably find with a quick google search. The next 15-ish minutes passed quickly as they flowed from one topic to another. Conversing about random things and about the upcoming conference that was most likely gonna be boring as hell. Like usual.
Laughter brought the two’s conversation to a halt, both looking over to see Dynamight carrying the green haired boy on his back out of the elevator. The latter whispering something that made the pro chuckle.
Pause. Did Dynamight always have that nice of a laugh? No, no. Absolutely not. She can not be thinking these things about her employer. She had more interesting things to focus on like the fact Dynamight was carrying and laughing with someone willingly .
The boy, that she was now sure was made of sunshine and maybe deception, considering he did not give off the vibes papers made the top support specialist out to have, was nuzzling into the pro hero’s neck that made the other man smile.
A real genuine smile, none of the battle eager or adrenaline rushed grinning she had seen before. It was a nice smile. Sunshine boy was officially now also made of magic in her eyes.
When the boy looked up from the hero’s neck he saw Red Riot standing there with his signature sharp toothed grin with a hand cocked on his hip. He immediately started squirming out of the pro’s hold, making Dynamight grumble. As soon as his feet touched the floor he booked it into the redhead’s arms enveloping the man in a tight hug, he whispered a quiet but excitement-laced greeting of “Hi Eiji!”
The two started quickly, already barrelling into a conversation at full speed. Both were gesturing animatedly and talking rapidly, their words jumbled to the two other people in the room. Dynamight made his way over, placing an arm around the smaller boy and hugging him to himself but just standing there otherwise not making any move to talk.
Today was weird, she concluded. It could not get any weirder, she thought, like a fool.
Within the next few minutes the conversation between the two dwindled as the reminder of their patrol rang out from the communicators on their belts. Both heroes openly grimacing and looking toward the green haired boy dejectedly, like neither of them wanted to leave the other. Odd.
“Ah, I should probably get going… Mei did want me to meet her at the lab this afternoon…” The boy trailed off, being a hand up to pinch at his bottom lip, he was clearly deep in thought. The two heroes in front of him just seemed endeared.
“Well! It was nice to see you, man! Our schedules always clash.” Red Riot pouted as Dynamight just blew him off with a dismissive hand.
“‘Cuz he’s always being a fucking nerd at the goddamn lab. I don’t even see him some nights.” The grenade themed hero seemed deeply upset as he said this. It brought a worried pinch to the sunshine boy’s face.
“Ah! Kacchan, Eiji! It’s only because we’re working on the update for your guys’ gear right now! I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I wasn’t around that much lately…”
“Dude, it’s alright! Me and the guys know you’ll be around when your done, you’ve always gotten sucked in by your work.” The redhead’s eyes shot a quick glance to the, now scowling, blond, “And Bakubro can handle a bit of time away. He’s just as bad as you anyway.”
“Shut the fuck up, Shitty Hair.” Came the rough reply, fire in the blond man’s eyes.
She stared on at the trio. They seemed really close with one another but there was a distinction between the way they were. The sunshine boy was close with Red Riot but there were obvious mannerisms that hinted to something deeper between Dynamight and him. She couldn’t place her finger on it though.
“Okay, okay. I need to go so you two can go be the hardworking heroes you are. Kacchan,” He turned to the blond, getting up on his tippy toes to place a quick kiss to the pro’s cheek, “I’ll see you at home later.” His eyes were soft and Yui was absolutely stunned. He kissed his cheek? ‘See you at home’? They lived together? Her mind raced.
“See you later, nerd.” The blond leaned down to place a real kiss on the man’s lips. She almost felt like she was intruding at this point.
With a nod and another quick hug to the red headed pro the boy made of light left the building. Yui had so, so many questions but she didn’t know if she could ask them? What was the etiquette on questioning your boss’s personal life? You weren’t even supposed to do such a thing but, god, she wanted answers.
Taking a steadying breath, she found her voice, “Um, Dynamight, sir, I apologise for my intrusion but may I ask who that was?” Her voice didn’t tremble near the end, absolutely not.
The blond man stared her down, eyes imploring straight into her soul. She fell still, this was definitely a test of sorts.
With a final squint of his eyes, he looked off to the side as he answered, “That was my husband. And the support specialist for our agency.”
Sorry, husband? Just like that, with one word, all the pieces clicked together. The full picture making itself obvious in hindsight. No wonder the boy was so sincere and genuine in his affections for the pro, he was actually in love with him.
“Wait, then why are you labelled as a bachelor to the public? Isn’t that… blatant false information?” The pro gave her a bored expression as he cocked an eyebrow at her.
“He’s the most sought after support specialist and quirk analyser. He’s also quirkless which somehow still offends some people but nonetheless does make him a seemingly easier fuckin’ target to some people. Why the hell would I add to the list with ‘husband to the number one hero in japan’? Give dumbass villains more shit to use against us? I don’t fuckin’ think so.”
And yeah. That made a lot of sense. They were both targeted by so many villain groups it was almost pathetic. Especially since none of them have ever succeeded in their attempts of capture.
“That makes sense. So it’s just a safety precaution that you’re not public? That’s respectable. How long have you two been together?” The blond looked away from her, unanswering. She got worried for a second, she didn’t mean to overstep even more!
Thankfully, Red Riot seemed to take mercy on her and joy from teasing his friend, “They started dating during our first year of high school! But they didn’t get married until Izu turned 20. They won’t say why but I’m 100% sure it’s because they wanted to drink at their wedding.” A growl sounded from the explosive hero but Red Riot just laughed.
“Oh, wow! Well I hope you know I do not plan on sharing this information. Not to sound dramatic or unprofessional but your husband is probably one of the most precious people I’ve ever met. I would never intentionally put him in harm's way.” She said, her tone full of conviction and honesty. It seemed to get through to both heroes because they looked utterly impressed by her miniature speech.
“Good.” Dynamight said. Meanwhile, Red Riot smiled as he chimed in a, “Izu’s always had that effect on people.”
She could only imagine how many poor stranger’s hearts were captured by the boy that already had someone.
——
The next day there was a neatly made bento on her desk. A little note attached that had a swirly looking script on it.
Thank you for being so nice! And putting up with Kacchan all the time, I know he can be a bit difficult sometimes ;) So I made a little something for you! I don’t know what you like so I just went for a bunch of safe options! D: I hope it’s enjoyable! Have a good day!!
Without any signature she knew exactly who it was. She had a smile on her face the rest of the day.