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It was a stupid question, an overused joke, but that didn’t stop Hizashi from asking it to everyone and their mother.
He asked Shouta, who said no and almost strangled Hizashi to death via both erasure and binding cloth when he wailed in anguish at his heartless answer. Best friends for fifteen years and this was what he got.
Then he asked Nemuri, who laughed and said that of course she would. She would take him everywhere and keep everything as similar as she could for him, even giving him alcohol in little drops whenever they would bar hop. At least for a week or so. Past that point she said that he would probably be lost or dead for any number of reasons (squashed in her purse at best or eaten by Sushi at worst). Somehow her answer felt even crueler than Shouta’s.
At some point Hizashi even asked All Might, who initially said that he’d look for a way to change him back, whether it was through a miracle cure or quirk reversal or what. After insisting that changing him back wasn’t an option- because it would completely defeat the purpose of the question- All Might thoughtfully decided that he would let Hizashi live among his house plants. Hizashi full body shuddered at that idea. Living in dirt with a bunch of other creepy crawlies? Hard pass. But the thought was much appreciated.
He asked plenty of other people too, so many that eventually some of his students caught wind of the question. Hizashi only found out when one of the kids- Jiro- caught him briefly after class. Without meeting his eyes, she told him that she would, and so would the rest of 1-A (although he was pretty sure at least one of her classmates would strongly disagree).
Hizashi thought about it for a week straight. As silly as it was, it kept him going for days. Some of the UA kids were just too sweet for this world.
After that though, everyone seemed to forget about Hizashi’s annoying question.
But then, on one of the weekly nights that Hizashi got to spend with his partner, his question was aimed at him for the very first time.
“Hizashi, would you still love me if I was a worm?”
“Huh?” Hizashi looked away from his phone- which he was holding too close to his face since his glasses were off- and up at Tsunagu, who was reading under the warm book light that was attached to his headboard.
“Yes, you heard me correctly,” Tsunagu said without taking his eyes away from the page. There was a playful lilt to his voice, one that he reserved largely for Hizashi alone.
“No, yeah, I did, but where’d you even get that from?” Hizashi asked in disbelief, completely abandoning his phone and whatever he’d been watching. How the hell did his question get all the way from UA to Jeanist? Or maybe it was just a coincidence.
It must’ve been. No one- especially no one at UA- knew that the two of them were together. Not even Shouta. Hizashi went through painstaking measures every single day to make sure it stayed that way. Until they were both ready to announce themselves to pretty much the entirety of Japan, his lips were full sealed. So how the hell did Tsunagu know that he’d been asking people around UA the worm question? Did he slip up somehow?
Tsunagu raised a brow, glancing down at Hizashi stretched out on his side of the bed, head level with his hip. “Online somewhere, I’m not sure. Why?” he paused, searching Hizashi’s face. Whatever he found there caused a small wrinkle of worry to form between his brows.
So it was just a coincidence, thank god.
“Eh.. nothing, never mind.” Hizashi lifted himself up so he could sit with Tsunagu properly, trying to tamp his rising anxiety. “Just thought I messed up and blabbed about us to my coworkers or something.”
“Oh?” Tsunagu closed his book, lowering it to his lap. “You haven’t been biting your tongue over this have you? You shouldn’t have to worry yourself this much.. Perhaps we should inform the rest of the UA faculty, get a few NDAs signed off. If we contact Nezu directly the process shouldn’t be too difficult. I can reach out to him if you’re not comfortable-“
“No no, it’s cool! It’s cool, I can keep a secret, Jeanie, promise. It’s not that hard.” Hizashi lied through one of his toothy smiles. It seemed to fool Tsunagu well enough.
Hizashi’s innate inability to keep his mouth shut was no excuse to let Tsunagu go through any trouble. Besides, the last thing they wanted was to risk leaking their relationship to any of the students. If that happened then their names would probably be all over national headlines in a matter of days.
That wasn’t Hizashi’s only worry though. The mere idea of Nezu using that kind of information as leverage made him queasy. Not over Hizashi, but over Tsunagu. Nezu would never do anything as malicious as straight up blackmail, but Hizashi knew that the principal was an opportunist at heart. He wasn’t sure exactly what he would do, he just knew that he would rather not find out.
“If you insist.” Tsunagu reached for one of Hizashi’s hands, warmly intertwining the two of them. “Mm. You didn’t answer my question.”
Hizashi was grateful that Tsunagu didn’t push the issue. He was more than happy to leave it at the back of his mind for the time being. “If you were a worm, I think.. Well, hold up, what breed of worm?”
“What breed of worm?” Tsunagu laughed.
“Yeah!”
“Will my answer change yours?”
“Nah, I was just wondering. Because there are probably hundreds of different worms, right?”
“I wouldn’t know. But most likely,” Tsunagu paused to think, actually considering the question. “Mm. If I get to choose, then I would be a silkworm.”
“Dang, I should’ve guessed that one.”
Tsunagu released Hizashi’s hand, moving his book to his bedside table before lying down on his side. Hizashi followed suit, rolling over so they were facing each other.
“What type would you be?” Tsunagu asked in return.
“Hmm..” Hizashi folded an arm beneath his head. “I dunno. I don’t really know any worm types. Not a big bug guy.”
“I know.”
Tsunagu knew all too well. He was the designated spider killer- or spider saver on occasion- of the household.
“But that’s why I asked you: would you still love me if I was a worm?” Tsunagu repeated, shifting a little closer.
“Tsunagu,” Hizashi took on the most serious voice he could muster, taking an unnecessarily deep breath. “I’d love you if you were a worm, or an ant, or a spider- or even a big ass centipede.”
Tsunagu, wearing the most loving smile in the world, called him out on his bullshit without missing a beat. “You are one boldfaced liar.”
Hizashi swiftly latched an arm around his partner, tugging him in close as if it would somehow make his claim more believable. “I’m not lying! Seriously, if you were a centipede I’d totally let you be my scarf. Any day, every day!” An unpleasant chill shot right down his spine at the image of all those tiny little legs around his neck, but Tsunagu didn’t need to know that.
“If I was a centipede, I sincerely doubt that you’d get within a ten kilometer radius of me ever again.” That was probably much closer to the truth than the scarf thing was.
Instead of admitting that, Hizashi doubled down. “Whaaat? No way. You’d live with me. And I’d bug-proof my whole apartment for you.”
“You’d sooner use a flamethrower on me.”
“Y’know I’m starting to think that you’re the one that wants bug-you to die!”
“I don’t. I simply want you to know that bug-me wouldn’t be offended at all by your disgust. He might even be willing to sacrifice himself for your comfort.”
Hizashi looked appalled. “But I wouldn’t sacrifice bug-you for anything.”
“Oh? Anything?”
“Anything,” Hizashi paused. He could practically see Tsunagu starting up a mental list of things that they both knew he couldn’t live without.
“Like, imagine this: gun to my head, right?” Hizashi tapped two fingers to the side of his head to help Tsunagu’s imagination. “They’d go ‘it’s you or the jean-bug!’ And then bang! I’d let the gun go off,” Hizashi stated, voice pitching higher at the gunman’s line before dropping his thumb like it was the trigger. Blow his brains out, but not his silkworm’s.
“That’s terrible,” Tsunagu said, but the way that his eyes crinkled at the corners betrayed him. His eyelids were getting visibly droopy too, and Hizashi could tell they wouldn’t be talking for much longer. “Please, if I ever get turned into a worm, promise me that you won’t get yourself shot for my sake. Or, on second thought, promise me that you wouldn’t get yourself shot in any scenario, whether I’m a worm, a human, or otherwise.”
“But I would if I had to,” Hizashi promised the opposite instead. In a heartbeat he would.
“Unfortunately I’m inclined to believe you.” Tsunagu’s voice was as soft as his gaze. He wrapped an arm around Hizashi’s waist, tilting forward until their foreheads were almost pressed together.
Tsunagu closed his eyes- probably intending just to rest them- but Hizashi’s remained open. But he couldn’t find a response, the breath stolen from his throat. At that moment, with Tsunagu’s face so close and half-bathed in warm light, all golden hair and terribly lovely lashes, Hizashi thought that he would probably make the prettiest silkworm on Earth.
After a while, probably too long, Hizashi had to say something. Just a single question. “Hey, would you still love me if I was a worm?”
For a moment he felt stupid, realizing that Tsunagu was probably fast asleep after lying in silence for so long. But then Tsunagu moved, tucking Hizashi’s head under his chin as he fully wrapped himself around him.
His answer came out soft and sleepy. “Of course, always.”
Hizashi carefully reached over Tsunagu for his abandoned book light, sealing the two of them in darkness. Then he settled back into his partner’s arms, quietly mulling over his answer.
“Bet you wouldn’t take a bullet for me though,” Hizashi whispered.
“I would, worm or otherwise,” Tsunagu quietly promised. It sounded like he was in a losing battle against exhaustion. He must’ve had a long day, covering up his fatigue until now. Such was the life of a top pro.
Even though Hizashi wished they could’ve talked for longer, he smiled against his chest. Tsunagu’s days started too early for him to keep bugging him all night. “I believe it. Sweet dreams, Tsu.”
“Goodnight..” Tsunagu mumbled.
Hizashi waited another minute for Tsunagu’s breathing to fall into that telltale rhythm. Only then did he let his own eyes close, drifting off to dream of one little silkworm.