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The doorbell went off just as X was getting ready to sleep.
He blinked blearily, heading towards the door with barely disguised exhaustion in his voice. The sight of a familiar face met his gaze.
Smile was wearing his usual mask to avoid being recognised, but X immediately noticed that something felt off. Peeking from the edges of his disguise was a bruise that had taken on the colour of dark blue-purple.
"What happened to you?" X asked as Smile stepped in rather unceremoniously without their usual banter. That alone set off some alarm bells in his head, but concern took precedence. He raked his eyes down his outfit, finding no other traces of a fight. But that was of course. Smile avoided going near his apartment as much as possible whenever he was dispatched to handle villains, just so that they didn't cross paths. It was out of consideration that the last thing X would want was for whatever sense of normalcy in his life to be disrupted.
"Nothing much." Smile sounded worn out as he took off his mask. The bruise looked worse than he had thought. Against his skin they were grotesque, purple welts that looked like the result of a hard punch.
X refrained from making another comment and headed to the kitchen.
By the time he was back, Smile had changed into slippers without being asked, sitting on the couch whilst looking a little out of it. His smile was a lot less pronounced than it always had been, with just a faint uptick in the corners of his lips. He glanced up only when X nudged a small ice bag onto the bruised side of his cheek.
"You still owe me an explanation for what happened."
"O-oh," Smile took the ice bag as X sat down on the other couch, suddenly a little sheepish. "I was nearby, and somehow made it here without thinking." He murmured. "I'll make it up to you next time."
How is that the main focus here.
"And the bruise?" He asked. Being a previous X, Smile was usually quite durable when it came to fights. Punches shouldn't have an effect this huge on him unless the impact was insanely strong.
"... Self-inflicted." Smile murmured. X's expression must have changed to reflect confusion, for Smile quickly added, "It's not intentional. I've just been hearing fuzzy noises lately, of people mocking me and degrading my career." He looked down at the table. "There's also this stinging feeling like someone is staring at me. I really thought that I was hitting a villain, but it turned out to be just myself."
X considered his words for a moment, his eyebrows creasing rather uncharacteristically while deep in thought. "When did it start?"
"A few days after the fight with Dragon Boy." Smile recounted.
... That explained a lot.
On that day, X had made it just in time, snapping Smile and Nice out of the trajectory of fear that was expelled from Dragon Boy. But he wasn't quite fast enough. By the time he moved them, a little bit of the potent oozing fear had already seeped into their clothes, clinging onto skin. Both of them waved it off since it didn't appear to have affected them that much at that point in time.
"If it's fear, then what it feeds on are your vulnerabilities."
"... Vulnerabilities?" Smile mumbled to nobody in particular. "It's no wonder I only hear them on bad days." He suddenly seemed to remember something, and scooted closer. "Actually... have you crossed paths with the other hero? Nice?"
"What about him?" X's voice was flat but curious.
"I'm more worried about him. He didn't look good that other day. There were a couple of times he'd stand there and stare into space while Dragon Boy and I were at a standstill. And he's been avoiding me since the video of our fights against Dragon Boy went viral."
...
"Weren't we just talking about you? How is this about someone else."
Smile chuckled. "I guess he constitutes as part of my fear."
X had seen the pattern enough times to recognise it. It was a habit that developed due to his hero persona: the moment anything cut too close, Smile would slip sideways, dodging the sensitive topic with a joke or a new conversation as if the shift was effortless.
And as much as X wanted to pry that mask up just enough to see what was actually happening beneath, he held back. If Smile needed to talk, he would eventually. Until then, all he should do was accompany him.
"If anything, it's probably the call made by his hero agency." X didn't have much interaction with the other hero to begin with, and could only guess.
He remembered Smile approaching Nice to ask about whether he was hurt right after X dealt with Dragon Boy. The younger hero visibly flinched at his touch, looking rather perplexed as his gaze cut between X and Smile, before leaving prematurely like he was guilty of something.
"The vial of fear that Nice injected into Dragon Boy couldn't have been his own creation. As for what he personally thinks of you... I'm sure he still holds you in high regard. Or at least, higher than Dragon Boy, if his decision was to inject him instead of you."
"Higher than Dragon Boy, huh." Smile repeated. "I should try talking to him again."
X made a sound of acknowledgement. "He might hold clues as to what you're experiencing."
"Does that mean... do you think he's experiencing the exact same symptoms as I am?" He leaned forward. "The voices I hear goes away once I'm around someone else I can talk to. But he looked really distressed on that day. Way worse than me."
"Smile." X put a pause on his rambling. "Whatever you're thinking of doing, I don't recommend going alone."
"I know." Smile hummed. "Wait, was that you volunteering to come with me?"
"I don't know where you got that idea from." X retorted. "But why not."
That seemed to really brighten his mood.
Smile's shoulders relaxed, and his grin seemed to shape into something more sincere.
"... It's late. About time I went back." Smile got up from the couch. "I had a great time."
X stood up after him. Though Smile looked better than before, the bruise still stood out on his cheek, evidence of fear's influence somewhere beneath his skin.
X was certain he preferred solitude, and this thought was only reinforced by the horrible feeling in his mouth upon seeing his injury. He was torn, for he hated the sight of the bruise and would much prefer to not have to see it, yet didn't exactly feel good about having Smile leave either.
It wasn't the first time Smile had been put in dangerous situations. But nobody could say he would not be maliciously targetted again, now that the hero tournament was drawing near. The repercussion of fear was another thing.
"Do you need me to watch over you." X asked, watching him put on his shoes at the door.
"No." Smile chuckled. "What's wrong? This isn't your style at all."
It wasn't. X was mildly annoyed by how frantic he was feeling. If he had never been involved with Smile, it would certainly save the brooding by a large margin. But there's a faint tug in his chest that he couldn't quite name at the mere thought of never becoming acquainted with Smile.
"What else, other than the fact that someone else might ambush you on your way back?" Especially with Fear acting like a wild card now, X thought, though he kept that part to himself. "Also, you don't have to be in a hurry to leave next time. My bed's not that warm, but it's enough to fit us both."
Smile looked bewildered, his smile dropping slightly. "I don't think I've seen you this worried in all these years of knowing you."
"Who's worried about you?" X made a face. "Your punches could knock even me out."
"If I could land a single hit, yeah." Smile looked a lot cheery now, reaching out to cradle his cheek. "I'll be fine. I feel a lot better after visiting."
"Ice your cheek. And text me on FOMO once you get back."
"I thought you never used that thing!" Smile protested.
Despite those words, X received a message on his phone a while later. It was from a private account on FOMO, one that had no chat history with him prior.
Reached home :)
👍 read 01:48
X sighed, setting his phone and glasses down on his nightstand before rolling onto his back. If he tried hard enough, he might be able to squeeze in a little more than 6 hours of sleep before having to wake for his work commute.
Why did Smile only visit on weekdays, anyway?