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Sand crusted along the straps of Himiko’s flip flops as she strode across the boardwalk. Sunrays beat down on her face, making her almost feel as if she were simmering in the sun like a pancake in a frying pan. Sometimes she half-expected angry red bubbles to form on her arms from even the slightest sun exposure – as if the parallels between her quirk and vampirism extended beyond a craving for blood.
A ratty t-shirt she had swiped from Ochako’s drawer hung over her swimsuit. Holding the collar to her nose, Himiko noted how it smelled of honey and strawberries. After being let out of prison, Himiko hadn’t really bothered buying her own clothes – because she would much rather spend her days enveloped in Ochako’s aroma.
“Himiko!”
Sandals click-clacking across the boardwalk, Ochako sprinted toward Himiko. Ice cream droplets dripped on the floor as Ochako passed Himiko a cone and planted a kiss on her cheek. Not minding how Ochako’s mouth was sticky, Himiko reveled in the sensation of Ochako’s lips against her cheek. Himiko wistfully licked her ice cream. A slightly tart flavor infused with sweetness melted away on her tongue.
Pomegranate. Her favorite.
Such a similar flavor to the ice cream she’d get back in middle school. Except this time Himiko was around someone who didn’t mind that Himiko liked pomegranates so much because the tartness reminded her of blood.
Himiko couldn’t help but think that Ochako was too sweet for her. Not that she didn’t love how Ochako’s cheeks were squishy like mochi or how her smile seemed to light up the whole sky – Himiko just figured that she didn’t deserve someone so cute in her life.
Biting into the waffle cone, Himiko hummed over the satisfying crunch. A sunshine smile flashed in Himiko’s direction as Ochako held up a cup with a pink ice cream scoop. Himiko knew the cone was more expensive – that Ochako went out of her way to treat her. A scarlet blush crawled across Himiko’s face at the realization.
Ochako hugged Himiko close and held out her phone. As the camera flashed, Himiko’s blush deepened because she was almost certain that her lovestruck expression had been immortalized in a photograph.
What had done to be worthy of standing beside Ochako? She’d killed more people than she could count. Heck, even ruling out war and murder she still had more counts of identity theft than the average person.
But she was also a girl whose entire world had collapsed the second she sank her fangs into the side of a sparrow’s neck. A girl who was labeled a villain from day one just because of the way she loved. A girl who was determined to prove she was more than a villain after years of respite and rehabilitation in a secure prison facility.
Maybe that was why Ochako went out of her way to prove that Himiko deserved a little sweetness. Even if it was as simple as a scoop of ice cream.