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“Did you guys actually fall in love when you were young pro heroes?!!??!”
Emi Fukukado, also known as Miss Joke, bit her lip in frustration. He had really gotten her into it now. She should have known Shouta would have gotten his revenge for that cheek kiss at the end of last week's visit that essentially confirmed that the two of them actually were in a relationship. She didn’t regret it one bit, though.
Shouta’s revenge was essentially what was going on right now, AKA the girls (and some boys) of class 2-A grilling her for the details. Mainly the Mina Ashido, who seemed to have an extreme interest in the romantic lives of anyone and everyone. From the corner of her eye, she saw Shouta reading a book.
“I mean, not really. I had liked him since I was sixteen, but Shouta didn’t warm up to me as a potential friend for like…three months?”
“It was four”, Shouta’s grim voice said from the corner.
“Since you were sixteen? Did you go to UA too?”, the student known as Uravity said.
Emi shook her head, “Nope. Our schools just had a joint training event. Shouta saw that Vlad was being a big ole jerk to us and literally took out his own teammate to teach him a lesson.”
A chorus of “Ahhh”s was heard from the ladies, along with the student known as the Eijiro Kirishima/Red Riot saying something about how “manly” that was and Izuku Midoriya, better known as Deku, began to ramble on about how that showed the true heart of a hero. She also saw Iida Tenya tell the girls to quiet down as he made a motion with his hands.
“He protected you???”, Ashido said, holding her hand over her heart.
“No”, Shouta cut in, his annoyance clear, “I was stopping my classmate from behaving disrespectfully.”
Emi beamed, “Which was also protecting me from-“
“Joke”, he said, using her hero name to show that she should not finish that sentence.
Jirou Kyoka, a student with a particularly interesting quirk in Emi’s opinion, spoke next, “Did you guy become close after that?”
Emi shook her head, “Nope! It wasn’t until 4 years later, when I had signed with an agency that Eraser was teaming up with and they paired us together. I remembered him from before, so I was excited. It was a pretty crazy mission, though.”
“What happened?”, Deku said, jumping to the front of the kids who were standing around Emi.
Emi laughed, although a bit nervously. That mission had been….hard. It was an underground mission, and it was the moment she realized what this work could be, especially for those who worked to take on the Yakuza. She didn’t like remembering all the death that had taken place.
Shouta caught her eye and spoke up, “Midoryia, I have a file on that mission. I can assure you it would be more thorough than anything Miss Joke would come up with. I’ll let you see the file before I pick up Eri from her playdate with Togata.”
Deku’s eyes lit-up, “Thanks, Mr. Aizawa!”
Emi almost laughed at how Shouta referred to Eri’s afternoon out with Mirio as a “playdate”, but she was more just touched by how he had jumped in to protect her from having to relive that mission without exposing how difficult that mission had been for her. He really was so thoughtful.
“Did you guys get together soon after?”, Ashido asked.
Emi shook her head, “Nope. We just flirted like ALL THE TIME.”
“You flirted at me. I didn’t flirt back.”
“Didn’t you want me to answer their questions? Let me do my job, Eraser!”
Shouta raised his eyebrow, “You have a tendency to embellish what actually happened. I’m making sure that your responses are somewhat accurate.”
She winked at him, loving that they still had this banter even though their relationship had obviously developed into a much more meaningful one. He could still give back his usual sardonic sarcasm to match with her witty optimism.
SHe looked back at the kids, “And that’s basically it! We were friends for about ten years and then he finally decided to confess his undying love for me and here we are!”
“I did not-“
“Let me tell the story!”
Shouta just sighed and stood up, looking at his students. “Is that good enough for you guys? Will you stop asking me about my love life now?”
He was practically glaring at his students, but Ashido seemed undeterred. “We don’t know any of the details, though! Like, what was-“
“Mina”, the soft voice of Uraraka said, “Miss Joke was very kind to answer our questions. None of the rest is our business, is it?”
Emi smiled at the brown haired girl, understanding why Shouta was so trusting of the girl with watching Eri. She seemed to have a kind heart and a good spirit. SHe would make a great pro one day.
Emi also noticed how Mydoria seemed to smile goofily at her and when the girl noticed, she began to blush. She smiled, as he thought of the developing relationship between the two was sweet. She began to laugh however, when saw how Ashido got annoyed as the kids all left, leaving Emi with Shouta. She had to admire the pink-skinned girl for being shameless about her interest in the dating lives of others.
The green-haired woman plopped down next to her boyfriend, leaning against his shoulder. “Whatcha reading?”
He showed her the book, titled “Stain: Was He Right?”. Emi gave him an odd look, “Why are you reading that?”
“Stain was correct in some of the things he said. It would be foolish to throw away all of his ideas and opinions without giving them their proper consideration. How else are we supposed to better ourselves unless we are willing to acknowledge our faults?”
Emi nodded, “You aren’t wrong. It just feels weird. That guy gives me the creeps.”
Shouta gave her a look, “Truth is often uncomfortable.”
Emi nodded, thinking back to the way he had gotten her out of having to talk about that mission they went on all those years ago.
She pressed her right hand to his arm, “Thanks for saving me up there.”
He nodded, “I didn’t forget how you were after that mission, Emi. I couldn’t.”
Emi felt a shiver. She remembered seeing the bodies and the dismembered body parts. All the blood. She had seen plenty of that since, but that first time….it still made her feel so…scared.
She smiled at him, “Do you remember what you said to me after? When you saw me slumped against the wall?”
Shouta raised his eyebrow, “Not word for word.”
She blushed, “Well, I do. You told me that it was okay to cry. That it was horrible and the men who did this weren’t going to stop unless we stop them.”
She felt a tear prick at her eye, “And then, you held your hand out and helped me back to my feet. You even walked me home. That’s when I knew.”
The black-haired man raised is eyebrow. “You said you knew when you were sixteen.”
“I knew that I liked you and had a crush on you when I was sixteen, but I didn’t know that I loved you until that night.”
Shouta just nodded, which prompted Emi to ask a question she felt a bit nervous about asking.
“When did you know you liked me?”
Shouta shifted uncomfortably. “During the Christmas Dinner a year after that mission.”
Emi felt her interest peaked, “Really? Why?”
Shouta stared straight ahead, “You were wearing that black dress. It looked…nice.”
Emi blushed, “Oh Shouta! Are you trying to say I looked pretty?”
Shouta was full-on blushing now. “Shut up.”
Emi reached over and kissed his red cheek. “You’re sweet.”
She layed her head on his shoulder, as she felt him shift. “The second part”, he said, his voice sound gravely, “came during…that mission where you spent a while hour sitting with that boy in the hospital after the Yakuza raid. That’s when I knew that I…loved you.”
Emi felt a tear threatening to fall from her eyes. For years, she had dreamed of hearing him say those words. Hearing him say that he loved her was something she had dreamed of since she was like twenty-one, so hearing it now was an emotional experience.
“Thanks, Sho”, she said, using the nickname she had begun using during the early years, but hadn’t used in a while.
Shouta just shrugged, looking at his watch. “I need to get that file for Mydoriya. I’m supposed to pick Eri in twenty-minutes.”
She nodded, letting him get up. She remembered what she had meant to say when she had intially sat down and grabbed his hand tightly, “You ready to talk about Chisaki? You still look like you’re carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
The dark-haired man looked at her with an intensity that made her blush. “Do you really want to open that door?”
Emi nodded, “Of course. I want to open any door that has your name on it, Shouta.”
The dark and brooding hero nodded hesitantly, “Meet me at the park Sunday afternoon.”
She nodded with smile, “I’ll be there. Make sure to give Eri a hug for me!”
He didn’t respond as he left, which caused Emi sigh. She was worried about him, but she also couldn’t help the smile that forced it’s way to her lips, replaying his voice uttering those three special words in her mind.
She decided to get up after a moment. She may feel like a teenager at the moment with butterflies in her stomach, but she had papers to grade back Ketsubutsu. Still, as she left, she couldn’t help as her mind wandered to what that afternoon meeting with Shouta would entail and how she hoped she could end up being some source of comfort to him.