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Atsuhio woke up alone in bed, confused. It wasn’t necessarily a common occurrence. He wasn’t ashamed to admit he had gotten quite used to the feeling of a body next to him, even if that body was more often mist than not.
He made his way out of their bedroom and towards the main room of the league’s newest hideout. He had a good idea where he would most likely be finding his lover. Especially with the night they had.
It was a cold, brutal night. When they were coming back from a mission the air felt particularly nippy and rough. Atsuhiro just knew his hands, despite the gloves, would be cracking from the unforgiving weather.
All the rest of the league members seemed to be affected as well.
Spinner had looked practically miserable and had taken to curling up on the couch as soon as they had made it into their hideout. He had stayed in that position for most of the night. Akin to a lump on the couch. The league had taken to covering in as many blankets and heat aids as possible. It didn’t escape anyone’s notice that Shigaraki had sat down a little closer to his gaming buddy than usual.
Ah young love . Atsuhiro found it particularly cheerful to think about. It was always good to see what parts of the league prevailed, especially when it was something as hopeful as the strong bond those two now shared. Much like Atsuhiro and his love now shared their bond.
When he was growing up Atsuhiro never really had thought this life would have been like this.
He had a family he could call his own. Children he wished to guide. Atsuhiro had already tried being as much of a moral compass for Toga as he could be. Granted they did call themselves the League of Villians, but he did wish to dissuade her from truly evil acts.
He even had comrades he would trust in battle and who trusted him in return. It was true Atsuhiro didn’t always have the same hitting power as the rest of the league. But it was clear through every mission they had always expected the utmost best out of him. Not because they demanded it, but because they knew he could do it. It was a welcome feeling. To be needed and trusted.
And most surprisingly of all, he seemed to have fallen in love.
It was never on his first plan when he set out on his own. Or his second, which ended in disaster. Or what had become his 10th. Sure he had a few lovers here and there, not that ever captivated him. Not that ever truly stayed once they looked past the smokescreen of it all.
Atsuhiro never blamed them. That’s why he kept up the fantasm of it all.
Even towards the end, before the league, he had assumed a petty thief was all he ever was and ever would be. The cards weren’t in his hand for anything more.
Even when he had first met Kurogiri he hadn’t assumed much would come of anything.
He was handsome, sure. And had immediately caught Atsuhiro’s eye. There was no denying that. Maybe a short fling that would burn down in flames between the breaking of vest buttons. Then things had become so much more.
He finally made his way out into the open area and was pleased to see the man covered in mist hanging by the fire.
Atsuhiro knew he would sometimes stay up late to clean up the League’s activities especially when the rest had seemed to have a weary day. He was good like that. Always looking out for everyone. But Atsuhiro was also having a tiring day, and he really would like the opportunity to cuddle close with his love.
“Even the most dutiful of stagehands must take breaks eventually,” he called out to Kurogiri. Slightly startling him if the sudden tension that shot up his shoulders was anything to go by.
“Ah Compress, I was just cleaning up,” Kurogiri responded to him, but didn’t turn around. Near fixated on the fire moving back and forth.
Atsuhiro took his time to take stock of their area. The glasses from the bar had seemed all cleaned and hadn’t that been delightful to have found a place with another bar. Toga’s knives seemed to have been properly sheered away. Even all the blankets and heat packs that were on the couch surrounding Spinner seemed to have been cleaned up. All that was left was a Kurogiri standing near the fireplace.
“I had gotten a little distracted by the fire,” Kurogiri said after a pause.
The fire did seem to have a charming array. In the style of old lodging, it had a few logs and tinder keeping the flame going. There wasn’t a particularly large fire, the display giving off more light than heat. It was a mesmerizing sight nonetheless.
“I can see that” Atsuhiro responded, “and please we are not on the field, you know my name is not Compress.” He moved closer to where Kurogiri stood. Atsuhiro was the one determined it seemed to always get closer. Kurogiri seemed hesitant as if to keep him at an arms distance. At least at first.
Only over time did Atsuhiro notice Kurogiri seeming to make a home in the common spaces of the league. He was beginning to take time to read a book or do other small hand activities. Dabi had once joked that the mist man looked much like an elder that he was worried he was going to take up knitting one of these days.
“Ah yes, Atsuhiro, my apologies”
Atsuhiro bit back the chuckle that rose to the surface, careful not to let his amusement dissuade Kurogiri’s progress. After all this time and sharing a bed, Kurogiri still had moments of tripping up his name when they weren’t sharing a private moment. It was endearing in a way he wasn’t used to.
“I didn’t realize how much you enjoyed it,” Atsuhiro said. And honestly, he hadn’t. Kurogiri seemed content basking in the soft glow of the light. “Does the fire help?”
“I do not think I will ever be fully warm in my body. But for now, it is good enough.” Kurogiri said.
Why did Kurogiri feel so resigned to his fate?
“My love we can move closer,” Atsuhiro tried to reach out a hand to where Kurogiri’s mist had settled. In the next moment, the mist had moved as Kurogiri turned to look at the rest of the room. “It is just us,” he placated in a soft voice. Kurogiri seemed to relax with this knowledge. It didn’t escape either of their notices that their hands didn’t connect. Atsuhiro couldn’t find it in him to break the silence they settled into.
Kurogiri seemed determined to break the ice first. “How are you this evening, Atsuhiro?”
He couldn’t help but smile. Kurogiri sounded more confident saying his name now that they were alone together. The fact that it was intertwined with asking after him made it all the better. That was his Kurogiri, always caring. With the glimpses Kurogiri seemed to be giving Atsuhiro’s shoulder he could tell the pain flareups were a bit worse off today, as was normal with the cold. Always caring and always watching.
“I am…” Atsuhiro debated for a moment, though he actually answer truthfully in the end, “alright.” That was the best way to describe it.
Kurogiri turned to look at him, a sort of soft sadness under the surface, “It does not always seem it.”
“I try not to show things in front of the others” Especially the younger ones such as Toga, or those who needed him to be more stable like Shigaraki. Trust his lover to see through it. Atsuhiro knew somewhere deep down Kurogiri must be feeling the same way.
“You are a master illusionist” Kurogiri responded.
Atsuhiro bit back the urge to laugh. His own words reminded him as he said in the woods that one fateful day, “if I am flaunting something shiny, there is something else I don’t want you to see” he spoke aloud. He weighed the next words in his mind, “Though I don’t believe I’m the only one who uses that particular trick.”
Kurogiri must have had his own hangups with intimacy somewhere along the way. While he had no trouble giving affection in the hidden bits of the night. In the light of day, he seemed to put Atushiro-the-lover an arm’s length away, leaving only Compress-the-ally in its stead.
They both knew this. Atsuhiro could feel the deep look he was being given through golden eyes. He might have been used to the entertainment of the stage at one point in his life, but this was the more terrifying attention.
To be known inside and out. Like being split open on a dissection table. Falling into something that might ruin you.
“You do not have to hide from me, Atsuhiro,” Kurogiri said. Atsuhiro always admired that about him, how he would say things with such authority such certainty. It was probably from years of caring for Shigaraki, mentoring and guiding him through life that he was able to be so sure. It was a certain type of confidence he had grown to love.
How much of it is an act?
“Neither, you from me” Atushiro responded.
“Ah yes, I do believe I have to work on that.” Kurogiri faced back towards the fire.
Atsuhiro reached out his hand to hold through the mist. It brought a dark chill through his arm, but Atsuhiro was amazed to find the cold didn’t bother him as much. Especially not when a mist-covered hand held his in return.
“You and me both.”
The soft flames of the fire flickered through the night, witnessed only by two hands intertwined.