Chapter Text
Kita had been scrolling aimlessly on her phone for what felt like hours. She had retired to her room at around ten o’ clock to go to sleep, but ended up just tossing and turning until she eventually pulled out her phone. First it was YouTube, then Reddit, then Tiktok…pointless stuff. Just bad news and more bad news. Then Kita scrolled to the video about All Might, and how Japan just isn’t the same without him anymore.
She rolled her eyes and shut off her phone, setting it on her chest. Kita rubbed her eyes and sat up again. The time read 12:48am, and by the sound of it, everyone else was asleep.
Kita blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to her dark room after staring at her phone screen for so long. Now what? She sighed to herself. The growling in her stomach broke her out of her thoughts, and instead, an image of one of those fluffy pork buns popped into her head. Kita would eat one on her breaks when she used to work at a local convenience store, right before being found and recruited by Dabi.
Dabi…her fiancé—but not? It was a complicated and weird situation. One she and him both did not like to talk about. Not with others, and not between themselves either. Thankfully, they had separate rooms, and he was always asleep at this time of night.
Her legs swung to the floor and Kita stood up. She put on a pair of exercise shorts and threw on a large jacket over her shirt. She needed some air. She needed to get out of this house for a couple of hours. But someone still needed to know so the League wouldn’t think that she just run away. When Kita left her room, she could hear the faint sounds of cursing then laughing. She knew that voice. It was Spinner playing another one of his video games. The guy rarely slept, so it didn’t surprise her.
Spinner was a little awkward and gruff around her, but still nice. He minded his own business for the most part and did his work pretty well despite having a weak quirk. There were even days Kita found herself admiring Spinner, and maybe staring at him a few seconds too long. Spinner worked out a lot on his days off, and boy was it paying off.
Kita walked down the hall softly until she reached Spinner’s door. She gave a few soft knocks then heard the game music stop instantly. A small grumble and the creaking of bedsprings were heard before the door cracked open.
“Twice, I told you, I—“ Spinner froze when he saw the redhead in front of him. Her eyes were wide and so were his. “Uh, sorry,” he mumbled and rubbed the back of his neck before opening the door some more. Kita felt like she shrunk suddenly under him. Spinner’s hair was down and…and he didn’t have a shirt on. Just pajama bottoms. She’s never seen him like this before, and had never thought she ever would. “Stop spacin’ on me, Red. What do you want?” He asked her, snapping Kita out of her trance.
“I’m-“ she paused and Spinner raised his brows. “I’m going to the convenience store,” Kita said. Spinner blinked. “and maybe for a walk after that? I just need some air, so…yeah. I’ll be back.” Kita muttered the last bit of her sentence quickly. She started towards the genkan to grab her shoes before hearing Spinner’s door shut. Now she just felt embarrassed. Did he really need to know where she was going? Why can’t she just leave people alone?
The little but loud voice of regret screamed over and over in Kita’s head as she slipped on her pair of slides. Then, she heard footsteps coming down the hall after her.
“Wait, I’ll go with you,” Spinner then kneeled down next to her, putting his own shoes on. He was fully dressed now in a pair of ripped jeans and a blue hoodie. His hair was still down so he could hide his face a little better in public, but he still was pretty recognizable. Kita stared at him in shock as he stood back up and put his mask on. “It’s late. I can’t just let you go by yourself.” He sighed. Kita pouted. So that’s why he was coming?
“Seriously, Shuichi? I can take care of myself. You’ve seen me on the field enough to know that.” Kita huffed and a puff of red flames shot from her lips. It went past Spinner’s left shoulder and he grunted as he dodged it. She furrowed her brows as she put her mask on as well, now ready to leave the hideout for some delicious, cheap snacks.
Spinner held his hands up in defense. “I never that you couldn’t. It’s just safer this way, alright?” He opened the door and gestured for Kita to go first. She walked quickly past him and Spinner rolled his eyes. He locked the door behind him and they walked together down the sidewalk to one of the many local convenience stores. There was a small one just a few blocks away, but they sold some really good steamed buns and also had a broad selection of snacks and drinks.
“What’s your favorite snack?” Kita asked, breaking the silence. Spinner hummed, thinking for a moment about it. He’s always liked sweets, but had laid off on them since joining the League.
“Chocolate,” Spinner grunted. Kita looked up at him, motioning for him to go on. “Mostly KitKats…or steamed matcha buns,” he added. Kita nodded, taking a mental note. They continued walking. Cars passed by and Spinner gently nudged Kita to the other side of the sidewalk so she wasn’t so close to the traffic. “What about you, Red?” He glanced down at her. Kita was glad she was wearing a mask, because she always felt her cheeks heat up a bit whenever Spinner used the nickname he gave her.
“Well, I really like anything spicy. Karamucho chips are the best though.” Kita explained. “Oh! And the onigiri with the spicy tuna filling. I used to live off of those.” She laughed. Spinner smirked behind his mask. That made sense since he normally saw her eating those extra spicy instant noodles for dinner.
He felt his hand wanting to inch closer to hers, or to even place itself on the small of her back. But, the image of him getting burnt to ashes by Dabi made Spinner’s hand stick directly to his side. He gave a soft sigh and glanced at Kita through the corner of his eye. Spinner never really saw the two talk, or kiss, or even hold hands. They barely seemed to tolerate each other most times. The only times Dabi ever showed Kita any affection was when he was around. Maybe he knew…he knew about Spinner’s feelings and did this to get at him? If that were true, then it was working.
Spinner buried his hands deep in his pockets and silently followed Kita to the convenience store. Its neon lights were visible from a couple blocks away and Kita started to pick up the pace. Spinner found himself getting left behind.
“Dammit,” he grumbled and jogged a few paces after her. Kita was standing by the doors waiting for him and didn’t enter until he caught up. Spinner swore he heard the faintest giggle come from behind her mask before she entered the store.
As expected, it was basically empty except for the cashier, who was sitting by the register flipping absentmindedly through a magazine. They didn’t seem like they cared enough to look up from the article they were reading, so that eased both Spinner’s and Kita’s worries a bit. Still, they wanted to get what they came for and get out before anyone else came in.
Kita walked to the back first to grab one of those tall beer cans from the fridges and Spinner blinked in shock.
“What?” she asked.
“I thought you were 19.”
“I turned 20 last week, Shu. So I can legally drink now.” Kita winked at him. Spinner’s smiled faded. Kita’s birthday was last week and she didn’t tell anybody? Shuichi was silent as he watched Kita also grab a bottled aloe vera drink for later before she started looking at the large steamed buns that sat in the warmer by the cashier.
While Kita was paying for her things up front, Spinner decided to grab a tall can of beer for himself before picking up a king sized pack of matcha KitKats. Before he reached the front, he saw a table that had a variety of cakes on it. Each plastic container had one big slice in it, enough for two people to share easily. Looking over the cakes, Spinner realized he didn’t exactly know what Kita’s favorite flavor would be, so he decided to grab the chocolate and vanilla marbled cake with vanilla frosting.
Spinner got to the front while Kita was getting her things bagged up. He placed his beer, Kitkats, and cake on the counter and Kita nudged his arm playfully.
“Didn’t you mention something about laying off the sweets?” she teased. Spinner nudged her back gently.
“The cake is for both of us, ding dong,” Even though half of his face was covered by his mask, Kita would tell by his eyes that he was smiling. She blushed and her words suddenly got caught in her throat. Spinner just bought her a piece of cake? “I didn’t know your damn birthday was last week.” Spinner tried to keep his eyes off of her while he paid the cashier, but he still glanced down at her. Kita was gazing up at him, her eyes sparkling. Her pupils were dilating right before his eyes.
Spinner had to tear his face away from hers so he could take his change. He stuffed it in his pocket and took the bag and a couple of plastic forks so he and Kita could share the cake. This time, his hand actually found its way to the small of Kita’s back as they made their way out of the store. Seeing her look up at him like that gave Spinner a new boost of confidence.
“We can eat this and drink our beers by the water over there,” Spinner pointed to one of the roads by the water where the civilians would picnic during cherry blossom season. Right now though the cherry blossoms had all fallen off, leaving the trees to look their usual green. There were benches people could sit at to watch the city across the water. Not only that, but it had a perfect view of Yokohama.
“The city is beautiful at night, isn’t it?” Kita commented as she looked over the water at the tall buildings and the ginormous ferris wheel. Spinner nodded, taking off his mask since the area was pretty secluded at this time of night. Everyone would be gathered downtown right about now having drinks or going to clubs.
They both sat down on a bench together and cracked open their beers before Spinner opened up the plastic container. “I didn’t know what you liked, so,” he rubbed the back of his neck, feeling shy all of a sudden. Here he was, in a secluded park in the middle of the night, drinking beer and eating cake with the girl that has slowly been tightening her grasp on his heart since day one. Spinner ended up taking a long swig of beer to calm his nerves.
This was also the girl that was set up with Dabi…by All For One of all people. The entire situation was fucked up, and everyone knew that it would only lead up to a miserable, forced, quirk marriage. Dabi hated the idea of marriage, and Kita hated the idea of being married to him. Long story short, All For One wanted a soldier with an unmatched flame quirk. With Dabi’s Blueflame quirk and Kita’s Firebreathing quirk, All For One could only see a potential future super-soldier for his League of Villains.
Yet another reason why Spinner was starting to question his decision on joining the LoV. He glanced up at Kita, and his breath hitched in his throat. She looked…so happy. Spinner had never seen her like this before, with her face all lit up with happiness and her red eyes, that matched his, sparkled. Then she took off her mask, and Spinner saw the biggest smile he’s ever seen on her.
“Here,” Spinner handed Kita a plastic fork. “happy late birthday, Red.” He winked and motioned for her to take the first bite.
Kita was totally and completely enamored now. She’s been through so much in the past two years. From dropping out of UA high school to joining the League of Villains…and being in a forced “relationship” with someone who reeked of burnt flesh and cigarettes. This…this was pretty nice.
She blinked back a couple of tears and took the first bite of the marble cake. Kita closed her eyes and let out a happy hum when the mixture of flavors hit. It made a tear fall from her eye though, but she didn’t care. Spinner sighed and took a bite himself before reaching over to wipe away the tear with his thumb. He was mindful of his claw though. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally scratch her. Spinner wasn’t an idiot. He knew Kita’s been through a lot.
They both ate the cake in comfortable silence. They watched the water and listened to the distant sounds of people having fun in downtown Yokohama.
“You are so much nicer than you let on to be, Shuichi.” Kita admitted. Nothing like a little bit of beer to make it easier to say what was on your mind. The cake was gone and they had since moved on to their other snacks. Spinner was in the middle of taking a long swig of beer before nearly choking on it.
“Don’t tell anyone. It’ll ruin my image,” he grumbled and looked away, a faint blush dusting his scaly cheeks. Spinner took a bite of his matcha KitKat. Kita smirked and took a bite of her steamed pork bun. Another hum left her lips. It had been a long time since she’s had one of these, and they’re just as tasty as she remembered.
Kita scooted closer to Spinner until their shoulders were touching and she leaned her head on his shoulder. Her half-finished beer was now long forgotten by her feet. The warm pork bun and the scent of Spinner’s clothes was a much better distraction from the chill than the alcohol was anyways.
For a moment, Spinner froze in his spot. This was honestly so—unexpected. This whole night was, he had to admit. But slowly, he moved his arm and placed it around Kita’s shoulders. Spinner’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest as Kita only cuddled him closer.
“I promise I won’t tell anyone,” she whispered and gazed up at Spinner through her lashes. He looked down at her and let out a soft gasp when she reached up to cup his cheek. “if you promise not to tell anyone about this either?” Before Spinner could say anything, Kita had brought him down for a lingering kiss.
It didn’t take long for him to lean into it. The beer and KitKats now on the ground after Spinner dropped them to run his fingers through Kita’s short, messy hair. Kita’s arms wrapped around his neck as they started to deepen their kiss.
Of course, kissing Spinner is…different. Because of his quirk, of course. He doesn’t have normal lips like the others, but still, Kita enjoyed this so much more than the forced kisses she and Dabi would leave each other. She pulled away for a moment before Spinner just pulled her back in for more. Kita’s eyes would flutter shut again and she felt his arm snake its way around her waist, pulling her in closer.
Needless to say, Spinner’s heart was absolutely pounding. It was a mixture of so many feelings; anxiety, happiness, amusement, surprise…
He pulled away to trail kisses from Kita’s cheek then to her neck before he buries his snout into the crook of it. Spinner felt her fingers smoothly run themselves through his wild, violet hair, and he simply melted into her.
Kita felt relief. She’s had her eye on Shuichi, and they’ve always got along well. Trying to bury her feelings for him while having to play ‘fiancé’ to Dabi had exhausted and depressed her. Kita’s only worry was what could happen if either Dabi or All For One found out about this.
Easy. They just won’t find out.
Kita’s hand wandered from Spinner’s hair and it trailed down his shoulder and arm. He moved his hand from behind her back to gently grasp hers, then bought it up to his kiss for a kiss.
“Shu…I don’t know how we’re going to make this work. I-“ Kita began to fret, but Spinner shushed her suddenly.
“Stop,” he held up his free hand, his other one still holding hers, but tighter now. “I don’t care what happens to me if the wrong person finds out,” he squeezed her hand gently, earning a small squeeze back. “I just want to be with you—and I want to protect you.” Spinner’s breathing became more ragged and Kita felt her entire face go hot. She let go of his hand to place both hands on her burning cheeks. “Everyday I’m becoming stronger not just to change the world, but for your sake too. You mean more to me than you think, Kita.” Spinner confessed.
“You—you really,” Kita stuttered and she felt a burning in her chest. It was her quirk acting up. It rarely did this, so why now? She covered her mouth quickly, her eyes wide as dinner plates now. The burning sensation travelled up her chest and throat until it reached her mouth. Kita turned her head to the side to release the flames that had built up in her chest from the intense, raw emotion that she was feeling at the confession.
Spinner leaned back a bit, blinking in slight shock. He’s seen Kita’s quirk like this on a couple separate occasions, but that was when she was in the midst of battle. A rush of adrenaline did wonders for a quirk 99% of the time. What really surprised him was what came next.
Kita turned back towards him quickly, flames still dancing from her lips and up towards her cheeks and sparkling eyes. The sparks flew wildly around her face and Spinner felt his heart suddenly become light as a feather. She gripped his hands and leaned in.
“You really mean that?” Kita asked him quickly, a purely ecstatic look on her face. Spinner’s face turned from slight worry and shock to an expression that matched hers. He gripped Kita’s hands firmly and looked her in the eyes. Spinner found himself starting to lean in closer again. The heat from her flames didn’t bother him, but—he was hoping that they would extinguish themselves before going back in for another kiss.
“Wha—of course I mean it! You don’t think I’m a man of my word?” Spinner chuckled and he pressed his forehead against Kita’s. His thumbs lovingly rubbing circles along the tops of her hands.
Kita knew that Spinner always kept his word. In her time working with him, not once has he let the League down. Sure he isn’t the strongest, but he has the most heart. And out of everyone, he’s probably the only member to keep Stain’s ideals in mind, never straying from them even for a moment.
Kita lifted her hands to place them on either side of Spinner’s chest. She leaned in more to rest against him, shifting on the bench a bit to get in a better position. Her head was tucked under his chin, and after a moment, Kita felt Spinner’s toned arms wrap around her frame, holding her close to him. She hadn’t been held like this in years. So without hesitation, Kita took a deep breath and savored the moment. With the type of ‘work’ they do, tomorrow was never guaranteed. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his chest. This made Spinner relax even more and his hand went to her hair to gently stroke it.
Spinner felt himself relax further into the bench with Kita in his arms. He’s never held anyone like this before. He’s only ever imagined it—or dreamt it.
And all they had to do to maintain this relationship was to keep it a secret…from everyone.
No problem…