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“Hey, remember when we were trying to kill each other?”
6’s question snaps Koichi out of his daydream. He looks over at the other, “Huh?”
“Remember when we were, like, arch enemies?”
“Okay, no, I was your arch enemy, and you were trying to kill me. There was no ‘we’. Not then, anyway.”
6 waves a hand dismissively, “Semantics.”
“It’s really not,” Koichi shakes his head, “and why are you bringing this up?”
“I’m just thinking… we’ve changed a lot since then, huh?”
Koichi pauses then. 6 is right, of course. They have changed a lot, it’s just…
“I guess I never really noticed,” Koichi admits, causing the shapeshifter to glance at him in surprise, “it was… well… pretty gradual, you know?”
And it had been. The day 6 nearly burnt himself to death in Lightning Style feels like it happened ages ago, when it’s really only been two or three years.
The day 6 had finally let himself be saved.
“Yeah, I guess,” 6 says, but Koichi barely hears him.
He’s lost in thought, the gears of his mind turning as he looks back on everything. Sometimes it’s hard to believe how far they’ve come. 6 had reluctantly agreed to stay with him after the Naruhata lockdown. That reluctance faded as time went on, which gradually led to 6 opening up, then their friendship… and, eventually, their relationship.
A weight settling into his lap brings him back to reality for the second time.
“Hey,” he murmurs, holding 6 close as he gets comfortable.
6 just purrs contentedly.
“We should get lunch,” Koichi whispers in 6’s ear.
“Like, at a restaurant?”
“I was kinda hoping so, but if you don’t want to, that’s fine! I can just - uh - you know, cook some-“
“Nope,” 6 cuts in, “I don’t trust you in the kitchen.”
“Aw, come on, I only set the stove on fire once! ”
“And how many times before I came around?”
Koichi hangs his head in defeat.
“How many, hero?” 6 laughs.
“… five. Or six. Or… more than that.”
Another memory comes back to him then: The two of them standing by the stove, Koichi awkwardly explaining his very limited cooking knowledge. 6 had, of course, caught on immediately, and proceeded to become better at it than Koichi.
Kazuho had found that hilarious, she and 6 temporarily setting aside their differences in order to tease Koichi relentlessly. Now if only they could get along more often…
It makes sense, though, seeing as 6 is the reason Kazuho only has one eye.
“Heeey,” 6 snaps his fingers in front of Koichi’s face, “wake up. I’m hungry.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry ‘bout that,” Koichi replies, grinning sheepishly, “so? Anywhere specific you wanna go?”
“Mm, I don’t really care, as long as you’re with me.”
Koichi’s blushes, even more so when 6 kisses his cheek and nuzzles his neck, “Actually, how about Hopper’s?” he asks.
6 frowns, “No cats, remember?”
“I will never understand your rivalry with cats. Okay then, how about… that curry place really close to here?”
“You know they sell other things than curry, right?”
“The curry is what they’re known for, though, my love.”
6 blushes at the pet name, which makes Koichi chuckle. He kisses 6’s hair.
“You know,” he mumbles, “you have to get up if you want to go anywhere.”
The shapeshifter groans, reluctantly clambering off of Koichi’s lap and into a standing position in front of the couch.
“Let’s go, then,” he exclaims, grabbing Koichi’s arm and pulling him up off the couch.
Koichi yelps in surprise, grabbing 6’s shoulders in an attempt to steady himself.
“You almost made me fall over,” he says, though there isn’t any anger in his voice.
“Sorry,” 6 smiles in a way that suggests that he is not, in fact, sorry.
“Sure you are. It’s only, like, a ten minute walk, we have time.”
“Koichi.”
“6.”
“I’m hungry.”
Koichi grins and 6’s eyes narrow playfully.
“Don’t you dare,” 6 whispers.
“Hi, hungry,” Koichi says, that grin only growing, “I’m Koichi.”
“I am going to kill you.”
“You love me too much.”
The phrase his boyfriend uses has Koichi reminiscing again. Three years ago, 6 would have been completely and utterly serious about that threat, as he had proven by attempting to deliver on it. Multiple times.
But now? It’s a phrase used playfully, whenever Koichi makes a particularly corny joke, or refuses to stay in bed for just five more minutes.
“Ko-i-chi. You’re so spacey today. I’m gonna leave without you,” 6 grumbles, emphasizing every syllable of Koichi’s name.
“Please don’t,” Koichi says, already walking to the door, “you don’t want me setting the oven on fire trying to cook something, do you?”
“Point taken.”
~
The restaurant is surprisingly empty, for lunchtime in July.
6 and Koichi enter, hand in hand, and immediately beeline to their usual table. A table for two, crammed in a corner. Koichi had initially thought that 6 wouldn’t like how cramped it is, but he puts up with it.
For Koichi.
A warm and fuzzy feeling blooms, then. A feeling that only 6 has ever made him feel.
“The usual?” he asks 6, who doesn’t seem to be listening.
“Uh… gonna run home real quick, forgot my headphones,” 6 mutters.
He disappears and reappears within a minute. Well, not actually disappearing and reappearing, just moving so fast that that’s what it looks like. Aka Overclock in action.
“6, public Quirk use is gonna get you into trouble one of these days,” Koichi sighs.
“Hypocrite,” 6 responds, pairing his headphones to his phone, “besides, they’ll never catch me. I’m too fast.”
Before Koichi can argue, a waitress approaches their table, “6, Koichi, hi! The usual for both of you?”
“Yes, please,” Koichi says brightly. 6 just nods.
The waitress walks away. Koichi attempts to resume their earlier conversation, only for 6 to make a show of turning the volume up on his headphones.
“Okay, fine, different topic,” Koichi sighs, noting the way 6 leans forward in interest, “it’s almost been six months since we started dating.”
6 tilts his head, “Is that, like, important? For a relationship?”
“Well, it’s half a year, so-“
“I know math, Koichi.”
Koichi chuckles softly. He reaches a hand over to squeeze the one 6 has resting on the table, “Anyway, it’s not anniversary level important, but I still wanna do something, maybe.”
“Yeah?” 6 squeezes his hand in return, “Like what?”
“I don’t know… I’m not the best at this stuff.”
“You think I’m any better?”
Koichi chuckles again.
The waitress arrives with their food before the conversation can continue. Both of their eyes light up.
“God, that smells good,” Koichi sighs contentedly, “this place is a real gem.”
“It’s a restaurant,” 6 says, and Koichi can’t tell if he’s joking or not.
“I meant that metaphorically.”
“Yeah, I know. Just messing with you.”
Koichi rolls his eyes, but smiles, “C’mon, eat. You said you were hungry.”
“Maybe, but messing with you is pretty fun…”
“Suit yourself,” Koichi shrugs, digging into his curry.
He looks up, noticing that, for once, 6 is using his table manners. While his usual, messy way of eating is… strangely endearing, he doesn’t exactly want to see it in a decent, albeit cheap, restaurant.
“Do you want to watch a movie after this?” Koichi asks after they’ve both gotten close to finishing their food.
6 swallows, rather loudly, before answering, “Sure, but no stupid romcoms. ”
“Okay, that movie wasn’t advertised as a romcom! We were promised epic action scenes.”
“Then why did you watch the whole thing?”
“… okay, I get it, no romcoms,” Koichi says. He would rather die than admit to secretly enjoying shitty romance movies.
“You didn’t answer my question~” 6 teases.
Koichi ignores him, pretending he’s waiting for the waitress to reappear so that they can pay.
Only then does he notice that, despite them both eating, they’re still holding each other’s hands.
Huh.
6 seems to become aware of this at the same time as Koichi, looking down at their intertwined fingers.
“I love you,” he whispers.
Koichi smiles, “I love you, too.”
The waitress finally arrives. 6 pays, of course, using stolen money from All for One.
But does it really count as stealing if it’s from a murderous supervillain who is now very far away from them?
Koichi decides that it doesn’t, if only out of pure hatred for All for One. The one person Koichi can truly say he hates.
He shakes those thoughts away. No need to think about that right now. Not when there are a million better things in the world.
Not when 6 is here.