"Look, I'm just saying, not everyone deserves a punch to the face." Kyoko explained; Shizuo looked at her skeptically.
"What if they punch me first? Or stab me? Or shoot me?"
Kyoko looked at him strangely. "Walk away. I mean, just one of your punches could probably put someone in a coma."
"Yeah, I know." Shizuo moved the lollipop stick he was sucking from the right to the left side of his mouth. "It's not like I like doing it….you know I can't control it completely still…"
Kyoko gave him sad smile. "I know, but it seems like when it comes to me you have no problem kicking people's asses. I don't want you to do that at all, much less for me."
Shizuo scoffed. "Come on babe, what if some guy tries to hurt you? Are you tellin' me you don't want me to beat the crap out of them?"
"Well, I'd want you to stop them of course," Kyoko pursed her lips in thought. "But I don't want you to go overboard. Let me give you an example: say someone broke into our house. What would you do?"
"Put my foot up their ass."
Shizuo stared at Kyoko blankly as she frowned. "What?"
"Shizuo, just toss them out. Not that anyone would be stupid enough to try to rob us." Kyoko conceded. "Well, how about this-?"
"Hey!"
Both of them turned around at the sudden interruption; a young man had stepped out from the alley way they had just passed by. He was holding a small kitchen knife, the kind that would probably be swiped from his mother's pantry; his hands were shaking slightly.
"Give me your money or else." the man threatened with a harsh voice; Kyoko stood rigid as Shizuo slowly took the lollipop stick out of his mouth.
"Oh boy…" she looked between the mugger and her husband; the stranger had his attention completely on Shizuo now, and he was staring as if he was trying to remember something.
"...blonde…"
Shizuo broke the stick in half.
"Bartender...suit…"
He tossed it nonchalantly to the pavement and ground his foot on top of it.
The mugger felt the knife slip from his hands. "You-you're Shi-?!"
"AAAH!"
The mugger was sent head first into the nearest trash can, the metal slamming against the nearby building as the young man slowly sank to the ground next to it with a low groan.
"Kyoko?"
"Huh?" Kyoko let out a deep breath and lowered her leg; Shizuo was frozen in a lunging position.
"...the hell was that?"
"What?" Kyoko asked him innocently; Shizuo wanted to laugh; there was nothing innocent about the way she had just kicked out three of that guy's teeth. They were lying right there on the dirty sidewalk, not too far away from the attempted muggers prone form. Shizuo was pretty sure he was knocked out cold.
"That!" Shizuo looked between his wife and the unconscious thug with wide eyes. "Where did that come from?!"
"Oh." Kyoko grinned proudly. "I learned that from one of Kasuka's movies. Pretty cool huh?"
"Yeah."
Kyoko peered closely at Shizuo; his sunglasses hid his eyes well enough, but she knew his overall posture when he wasn't feeling normal. Well, normal for him.
"Shizuo?"
"It's getting late." Shizuo began to turn around. "We should get home before we run into any other bullshit."
"...okay."
Kyoko kept glancing over at her husband as they made the short journey home; Shizuo was pretty quiet by nature. Usually Kyoko did more than enough talking for the both of them, but he was never this silent unless something bad had happened; his shoulders were loose, but his legs were rigid as he strode forward and she could tell he wasn't really even paying attention to where they were going.
"Shizuo, are you upset about that mugger?" Kyoko asked later that night; Shizuo was laying on his side on their bed, his back facing her. "Don't worry about it, nothing happened right? Everything's fine."
Shizuo seemed completely unaffected by her encouraging words. "Yeah, I know."
Kyoko frowned in confusion. "Then what's got you so down?"
Instead of answering her question, Shizuo almost seemed to curl in on himself in reply; Kyoko stared worriedly at his back.
"Shizuo, please," Kyoko said gently; she tentatively placed a hand on his own, still lying limply on the pillow. "You have to tell me what's wrong."
"I'm sorry Kyoko."
"Shizuo-"
"I'm sure you're sick of hearing it by now, but it seems like it's all i can say to you half the time." Shizuo continued lowly. "I'm sorry I didn't protect you, but I'm even more sorry that I wish you hadn't kicked that prick."
Kyoko felt his hand tightened over hers ever so slightly; he was always so careful, even with little touches. "Shizuo, I don't understand…"
He kept his back to her. "I wanted it to be me. I have all this power, unlimited strength and when I finally had the chance to use it, you didn't even need me." Shizuo buried his face farther into the side of his pillow. "Instead of being happy and proud of you, I'm disappointed cause…"
Kyoko heard him gulp and sigh heavily.
"It's so fuckin' stupid." he mumbled; Kyoko slowly laid down next to him, hands still intertwined loosely.
"What? Tell me." Kyoko nuzzled the back of his neck; she needed to know. She loved him so much. What could she do to make him feel okay again?
Shizuo reluctantly turned around, but he wouldn't look her in the eye. "I wanted to be your hero. I wanted to swoop in and save you with my power. This stupid, useless power that's given me nothing but trouble." Shizuo smiled bitterly. "I wanted to use it for you and you don't need me to and it sucks."
Kyoko put a hand to his cheek. "That never mattered to me. Your power is only a small bit of who you are. Of the person I want to spend my life with. There are so many other things that matter and those are the things I need."
Shizuo sighed softly as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"You taught me that I don't have to be something I'm not to get approval." Kyoko told him. "You love me for who I am and that's more than anyone else has ever done."
"How could I not?" Shizuo chuckled as he pulled her into his arms gently. "How the hell could I have done anything else?"
"Besides," Kyoko grinned up at him cheekily; Shizuo loved the way it made the corners of her eyes crinkle with mischief. "I was awesome~"
"Well yeah." Shizuo smirked. "You're my wife."
