Work Text:
Neito stepped up to Hitomi's apartment door, taking a moment to rake a hand through his hair before knocking.
Going on dates- actual dates where they put on nice clothes and went to a location other than either of their apartments- was a rare occasion for the two of them. Hitomi was much more comfortable in private settings, where she didn't feel the invisible pressure of others. Neito was simply happy to be in her company, soaking up her affection like a greedy little sponge. Besides, he had plenty of opportunities to dress up and go out, he could live without it in exchange for the infinitely superior company.
Sometimes, though, the mood did strike them for something different. Hitomi liked a change of scenery every now and then, so long as the affair was mostly lowkey, and Neito was more than happy to oblige her. Tonight was one of those nights for something different.
It had been a while since they'd last spent time together at all. Between two workaholics like them, their schedules happened to align in just the wrong way, always keeping one of them busy whenever the other was free. Or more often than not, the both of them were busy working and neither was free. It ended with them going on seven weeks without seeing each other face-to-face, which was far too long, if you asked Neito.
Yes, he was very excited for tonight.
Hitomi opened the door with her usual crooked smile and a soft, "hey."
"Hey, yourself," Neito leaned gracefully against the doorframe with a fond grin. His grin slowly stretched into a smirk as he caught Hitomi looking him up and down not-so subtly, reveling in her appreciation. He took a moment to check her out in return.
She looked good. She always looked good, true, but when Hitomi dressed up, it was especially hard to look away from her. She was wearing a flowing, burgundy dress he'd never seen before. The color looked delectable against her pale skin and made the color of her hair and eyes especially vibrant. She'd pulled her hair away from her face, which drew more attention to the small touches of makeup she'd applied, the color of her lips looking sweet, biteable.
She looked striking, brilliant, ethereal. She looked-
"Are you hurt?" he asked suddenly, all his thoughts taking a sharp turn towards concern.
He'd been momentarily distracted, both by his excitement to see her and from the mere sight of her. However, the longer he looked, Neito could tell that Hitomi was holding herself stiffly, and she was pale, paler than usual, the slightest pinch in her brow.
She was in pain.
Hitomi stilled, and that stubborn mask that usually flitted over her face at times like these was right on time. Neito narrowed his eyes.
"I'm fine," she said, but it wasn't very convincing. For all her success as an underground hero, doing undercover missions and tricking criminals with her voice modulator, she was pretty terrible at lying to her loved ones.
Neito rolled his eyes, "suuure you are," he said, and invited himself into her apartment. Hitomi let him, closing the door behind him. He looked her over again, this time with the much less sexy motivation of finding the injury. "How bad is it?"
"It's not bad," she carefully crossed her arms, trying not to aggravate something. "Like I said, I'm fine."
"Oh, come on, Tomi. Don't lie to me, we both know that I'm going to get to the bottom of this eventually," he said haughtily, his hands on his hips, "I can out-stubborn you any time."
He could, if it was necessary, like right now. This wasn't the first time Hitomi had tried to hide an injury from him, and Neito always got her to fess up in the end. She knew this, they both did.
It was that awareness that made her cave. She sighed in her defeat and Neito stepped closer. He pressed a kiss to her cheek, which softened the pout on her lips.
"There we go," he cooed, feeling triumphant.
"It wouldn't kill you to be at least a little less smug," she deadpanned, nudging her nose against his jaw.
"It just might, actually," he smirked, then he looked at her expectantly, "now show me what we're dealing with here."
Hitomi let out another bereaved sigh, but slowly began to pull up her dress, "alright, just don't freak out. It's seriously not as bad as it looks."
"You said the same thing when you broke your arm in two places."
"That was one time…"
"Once was enough, thank you very much!"
Hitomi continued to pull up her dress, Neito moving in and helping her when he saw that it was causing her some strain. He moved the fabric higher and higher, past her thigh, her hip, her stomach-
"What the fuck!?" he exclaimed, aghast.
Along Hitomi's left side, from her hip all the way up to her breast was a large patch of scar tissue, pink and shiny and new. Quite a lot of her skin had been damaged, the widest area about the width of his hand from thumb to pinky.
"What the hell happened?" Neito reached out to touch the area, then thought better of it.
Hitomi grimaced, still holding the material of her dress up, "chemical burn. Some asshole got in a little too close with his quirk at the end of my last mission."
He clicked his tongue, wincing in sympathy. That sort of injury was no joke. "This had to be recent then," he carefully fixed her dress for her, "when did this happen?"
He glanced at her, watching as Hitomi drew her lips into her mouth, obviously hesitant to give him the answer.
He blinked incredulously, "don't tell me this happened today-"
"No," she said, shifting uncomfortably, "it was…last night?"
"Last night?" he repeated, then he glared, "and you wanted to go out tonight like this?"
"I don't see why I can't," she said back, shrugging as if her side didn't look partially dissolved, "I've already had a session of healing quirks with the medical team back at the agency."
"Hm, and how many more sessions do you have cued up before they're through?" Neito raised an eyebrow.
"…three."
"Hitomi-"
"I wanted to see you tonight," she cut in, and the prettiest blush spread across her face, taking his breath away. She fidgetted, half-shy and half-guilty. "I was…looking forward to our date tonight. I missed you."
Neito paused, his entire demeanor softening at her words. He let out a slow breath and took her hands in his own, "I missed you, too," he brought her knuckles to his lips, kissing them, "and we can still have our date. We'll just stay in for it. We can order some food and you can put on something more comfortable."
Her shoulders slumped a little, "I guess…" she conceded. She shifted her feet, "shit, I'm sorry, Neito. I really messed up our plans-"
"None of that," he tutted, kissing the words from her mouth. He wouldn't have her beating herself up over this. Things happened all the time on the job, he didn't want her to push herself. "I get to see you, and that's all that matters. Besides, I have no problem with keeping you all to myself."
Her lips twitched, "you are pretty clingy."
"I prefer attentive and affectionate."
"Sure, sure."
Neito rolled his eyes at her teasing, leaning in to give her another kiss. This one lingered, as he gently expressed how much he'd missed her in their time apart. When he pulled away, he smiled at her, using his thumb to clean up her smudged lip color.
"Come on, then," he said, determined. He'd make this the best date they'd had so far, and they wouldn't even have to take a step outside for it.