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His keys clattered in the small bowl by the door. Six dropped to the floor, not bothering to dissolve his most current face (borrowed from the Crawler but he didn’t feel that bad about it) and ran over his latest interaction with his pesky coworker in his head. She was strange, that much was sure. He closed his eyes, but her face flashed across his mind as soon as he did. Reigai Nakagaī “Call me Naka!” had a death wish he couldn’t figure out. She’d been trying to hang around him since he joined the Marukane marketing department and, from his point of view, she had as little to do with marketing as he did. Her quirk allowed her to create little animated drawings, which jumped around her desk but never seemed to show up anywhere else. Why she worked in marketing was a mystery to him. She could have been anywhere else but she was there, trying to convince him to watch some show on a tv he had recently broken (he threw a dumbbell at All Might’s face). Today she had been telling him about a band that she thought he might like, and he realized that he had already forgotten the name. He kicked himself mentally for it.
It wasn’t that he minded the attention, and he liked the fact that she was trying to befriend him. It was quite lonely, living on his own in the almost constant silence that permeated his every day. His other coworkers ignored him, even though he had tried to copy their mannerisms. He’d overheard one of them calling him “just a little off, ya know” at the water fountain the other day. He’s only at the damn company to find another host for the queen anyway. Regai probably wouldn’t mind. He’ll try to get closer to her to use her! That’s a good idea, right?
Several weeks later, Six was realizing that it was a horrible idea. Not only was Naka way too easy to get close to (she opened up the minute someone mentioned her interest) she was just really hard to drug. Not that she was fighting him or anything, but whenever he invited her over to his place, or to an abandoned area, or to the back alley with the massive dead man in the corner, she was just too vibrant. He would be just about ready to inject the drug into her system when she would start talking about his favorite band or just give him a smile. He liked having her around—actually, he liked being around her.
The final straw came when, one night, they were sitting together on the couch in his apartment and she fell asleep on his shoulder. Her body was contorted funnily and when he shifted her onto his lap to try to lengthen her spine (she was in a literal “U” shape, sue him) she snuggled in. He sat there for hours, watching her dream. Her deep brown hair moved slightly when she breathed, and he worried it was hitting her face, so he tucked it behind her ear. There was a movie or something on in the background, but he didn’t notice.
He knew he couldn’t hurt her. He knew that if he implanted that bee in her head, she would lose all the things he loved about her. He was pretty sure he was in love with her. He didn’t want her to lose the way she sparkled at the mention of her favorite band or the way she quietly slept next to him when they had movie nights, completely unafraid of the monster he really was. She didn’t deserve a monster messing up her life. He’d learned that she’d attempted to go to an art school but got cold feet at the last moment. Naka ended up in marketing because she’d decided to settle. Six knew that if he continued to love her, she would end up settling again. Settling for a monster who didn’t deserve her love, didn’t even deserve her attention. So he made up his mind.
It was easy to steal her personal information, even easier to apply to an art school in America. Somewhere far away from him and the destruction he knew he would cause. He got the letter of acceptance. It was easy enough to knock out their boss and fire her. She’d be safe in America. He would be the only thing keeping her in Japan, her parents having moved to Italy years prior. Six sat down to write her a letter, long and detailed and apologetic. The pen shook in his hand and tears splashed onto the crappily written letter.
Dear Naka,
I love you. I’m sorry. Enjoy America.
*Three weeks later*
She was haunting him. He saw her everywhere, in everyone. The girl with the pink hair who loved the Crawler made him angry. She didn’t need someone like him destroying her life. He would take away that love and make her better. She would be better and she wouldn’t feel the horrible pain he did. Six turned a corner and Nomura smiled on the other side.