Sanctuary

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A 'My Hero Academia' fanfiction

Villain!Deku x Fem!Katsuki

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Summary:

You're the fear; I don't care
'Cause I've never been so high
Follow me through the dark
Let me take you past our satellites
You can see the world you brought to life
(Ellie Goulding)

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Chapter 12: Love Me Like You Do

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#Katsumi's PoV

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MCU Loki said that love is like a dagger-an imaginary dagger, more like.

He said, and I quote, "It's a weapon to be wielded far away, or up close. You can see yourself in it-it's beautiful until it makes you bleed. But ultimately, when you reach for it, it isn't real." An awfully horrible drunk metaphor, spoken by the one person that never felt true love in his entire immortal life. And yet, here I am, sitting on Mina's drawer table that is full of her make-ups and skincare, pondering upon how I could weirdly understand what the god of mischief said.

My eyes moved to my reflection in the mirror. Still the same resting-bitch-face, still the same eerie black shadows under my eyes, still the same pale zombie skin as the day before or the year early. But something inside her intrigued me, unrecognizable to me; foreign. Wait, she blushes-not in a way a sick person would, but in a soft pink kind of like the petal of roses. There's something in her narrow, crooked ruby eyes that sparkling like the stars. What happened to her?-I mean, to me? Is it what love can do to a heartless person?

Wait, what? Love?

I got goosebumps on that thought, even screeching unconsciously in disgust. I reached for my bangs out of habit and pulled it back, hard. Oh my God, am I in love? For real?

The nerd and I are indeed dating now. And I do like him. But do I love him? No. That's an entirely different thing.

...right?

Love, for me, is just a concept made up by humans as an excuse to procreate. Yes, just like that: a hard, cold concept. Like the concept that a piece of paper could equal an apple, and we call it money. Nothing more, nothing else.

But if I put that in the context of what is happening right now, do I want to have children with him? No, no, no, it came out weird. I don't want to think about that right now. We're just dating for, like, twelve hours, and I am already thinking about kids? What am I, a schoolgirl? Yikes.

Ugh, clearly, love isn't my expertise. And why would I dare to assume that? Haha. Until yesterday I was pretty sure I'm an asexual and aromantic. I'm not like Mina or Denki that are full of passion and love their loved ones immensely. If only Mina were still alive, I could just turn my head, find her lying on the bed while reading an all-male porn magazine, and ask her the question.

Yeah, if only I didn't murder her.

"Breath, Katsumi," I said to myself in a whisper, unconsciously holding my breath up this whole time. I held the urge to break down in sobbing, then gently pushed myself away from this desk and walked out of the room to look for my remaining roommates.

And there they were: laying around in the living room, with Denki holding his precious phone and Kirishima watching a documentary about sharks on TV. I dumped myself between them so hard it made the sofa bounce a little. Their eyes were on me, big and rounded, asking for an explanation. I stared at the sharks.

"Kats, you okay?" asked the shitty hair. I slumped deeper into my seat.

"Guess."

Denki put away his phone. "Katsumi, what happened, girl?"

I was searching for the right word for about a minute before finally just said, "I don't know where to start. Maybe… maybe… let me ask you first. How could you know that… Mina and Shinsou were the ones?"

"He is still the one for me," said the electric Pikachu quickly.

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"And so does Mina to me," added the macho freak.

I sighed. "Yes, yes, I apologize."

Both of them looked at each other and started giggling.

"What happened, Kats? Do you found 'the one' already?" teased Denki while pocking on my waist. But joke on him, my hoodie was so thick I couldn't feel anything other than annoyed.

"Just answer the damn question already, will ya'?!" I roared.

Then they stared at each other again, exchanging non-verbal dialogue that only they could understand. All I heard was just, "You or me?" from Denki, and Kirishima answered with, "You."

I slapped both of their silly faces. "Spill. NOW!"

The Pikachu giggled. "Okay, so, one time in our early twenties, Eijiro asked me if Hitoshi and I were serious. I said I don't know…. And then he asked, 'Could you live a day without him?' And that was then… That's when I knew." He nodded proudly. Kirishima gave me a wink and a thumbs up.

I screeched again in disgust. "That's it? That's the only sign?"

"What do you mean?" asked the macho freak. "You know when you know it. I applied the same rule with Mina, and hey, I can proudly say that I found the love of my life already."

I took a deep breath. "Alright, then."

"Now tell us what happened!" Suddenly Denki's face was already a few inches apart from mine. His eyes glittered in sickening enthusiasm. So I told them. Everything. You know me, I'm not the type who shares stories. But, at that time and moment, I did. The story started when I met the nerd at the underground bar after thirteen years. Then the night we spent strolling around Tokyo while drunk, the new phone, the costume, the untold past about him and me, the adventure through space, the hugs, the kisses, the tears, the failed first sex. Then the confession. My confession.

By the time I finished, my metabolism was already dead tired to make the blood rushing through my face anymore. So I just look like my default face-bitch, annoyed, flat, and tired. Maybe that's why it was so hard for them to take my words for real.

Denki even grabbed my hoodie and shouted in ten cm proximity: "YOU WHAT? CONFESSED? You? You?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm surprised too. If you don't believe it, then shut up. It's not my problem."

"Girl, I believe you. One hundred percent! But it's just so hard to take…."

"Then which one is it? Make up your mind! God… why am I even talking to you?"

Had no energy left to continue this stupid argument, I turned my head to Kirishima, who unexpectedly remains calm amidst all this craziness (that mostly Denki caused). He doesn't say anything, but his eyes do. Those red orbs tell a thousand things he could never have the word to express: surprised, confused, doubt, concerned, happy, relieved, sad, angry… jealous?

What?

"Say something, shitty hair. Your silence freaks me out."

He pulled a small smile. Not the genuine one, but soft enough to tear my heart to pieces. "I'm happy for you. I just couldn't believe that you finally opened yourself up to love, even if it is just a possibility. I'm so proud of you, Kats." But all I could hear was the opposite. He's lying, and he was bad at it.

Damn, I hate liars. But if he wants to play this bullshit game, I could play it too. "Thanks," I said, flat and with a half-hearted smile.

He grabbed my shoulder and stood up. "I just wish that you know him well enough so you wouldn't get disappointed in the future. But I'm sure that ground is already covered. Right?" There was pressure in his word and pressure on my shoulder as his thumb pressed my collar bone. He implied something else: the mission. The one I was supposed to be a mole.

"Don't worry," I said, grabbing his hand that was on my shoulder. "I'm working on it."

He rubbed off that serious face in a millisecond and now smiling brilliantly with those shark teeth on display. "Then good! Best of luck to you, Kats! Don't hesitate to tell us if something ever bothers you again!" Then he walked out of the room to the kitchen.

Denki and I were eyeing him until we couldn't see his muscles anymore.

"He's acting weird. Something's happened," said the electric dumb, who at this time actually not really dumb. I raised an eyebrow but refused to say shit. "But, well, I guess he's just jealous cause finally, you got your soulmate, girl."

"I didn't say anything about a soulmate."

"Oh, Katsumi. Potato, tomato. We all know it was the same."

"No, they're two different-"

"Anyway, have you found the answer to your question?"

"What question?"

He paused. Stared at me loudly with those amber eyes. "DUH! Whether he was the one for you or not! Girl, what are you, fifty? How could you forget the point of talking to us even though you'd rather avoid it in the first place?"

"You mean whether I could live a day without him? I don't know. I've been living like that all these years so how could I know the difference in just one day?"

"Okay, now, let's start at something simple. Do you or do you not, thinking about him all day every day for the past… thirteen years? Am I right?"

Now it was my turn to pause. My train of thought suddenly couldn't move forward, even for an inch. Instead, it went backward in memory lanes, visiting all those simple times between my chaotic life where I would wonder where on Earth he would be, what he was doing, what he looked like, or simply whether he also thought about me or not. Reminiscing those memories brought its kind of pain back to my chest. I hate to think about him because of that.

"I do."

Denki looked perplexed. "You do… thinking about him? All-day, all night for thirteen years?"

"...yeah."

"Damn, girl! We got our answer! You're in love with him!"

I looked at him. Pure shock. "...huh?"

"One plus one equals two. He is the one for you!"

I slowly removed my eyes from him on the TV. The sharks were now ravaging the carcass of a dead sperm whale. Blood and guts were floating everywhere, turning the sea red. Denki was shouting in my ears to ask me to change the channel. But I increased the volume instead.

If the nerd is the one for me and I do love him, does that mean… that I already knew him well enough to trust him with all my heart? What if love really is like a dagger-a weapon that is so fragile but strong, so beautiful it reflects my soul… will someday it break? Will I be disgusted with the reflection of my soul that it projects? Will the beauty fades away when it stabs me hard through my chest? Will he stabs me? Should I wield it at an arm's length, or should I hold it close to me? What if I held it too close and hurt myself?

But more importantly, when I pulled it out, would it even… real?

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A tall, skinny man with slick black hair, thick glasses, and a crisp white suit sat casually on a big green sofa inside the nerd's office. The second I entered the room, the two men who were busy looking at some documents that scattered around the table immediately moved their attention to me, which made me a little intimidated. You know by the atmosphere that he was someone important, and the nerd also dressed dandily in his plaid green vest and trousers, tight turtleneck sweater, and shiny black leather shoes. Thank goodness, I decided to throw away my baggy jacket back to the wardrobe and chose a white sweater, skinny jeans, and white sneakers. At least this time, I wasn't looking too lost even though clearly I was still out of place.

And as usual, the nerd greeted me with his overly bright smile. "Kacchan!" He stood up, walked towards me with open arms, hugs me, and kissed my cheek, but I automatically moved away first.

One of my hands froze in the air with palm facing his chest. "Ey, nerd, people here," I said while eyeing the expressionless man in a white suit who's now pretending doesn't witness anything as he fixes the position of his glasses.

The nerd giggled and straightened up his posture. "Right. Sorry. Kacchan, may I introduce you to Sir Nighteye, my lawyer. And, Sir," his head turned toward the lawyer who now stood next to him, "This is Bakugou Katsumi, my girlfriend." The last part he said while grabbing my waist from behind. I froze in time, but my blood rushed all around my veins. It was weird to be called someone's girlfriend.

"Yes, pro-hero Supernova," he said, offering his hand in a handshake. I took it and shook it firmly. "Mr. Midoriya already said so much about you. May I congratulate you in advance for your wedding?"

"I'm sorry, my what?"

"Oh, I thought you two were getting married… because Mr. Midoriya suddenly moved half of his assets to your name."

"He did WHAT?"

I immediately turned my face to him. And if my face doesn't scream 'EXPLAIN IT TO ME, ASAP', I don't know what is.

The nerd only gave me half-assed nervous giggles while lamely stroking the back of his head. "Ah, yeah, about that… what he meant is the power plant. It is half of my assets."

"No disrespect, Sir, but you also gave her half of your company shares. That's what I meant by 'half of your assets'."

I grabbed his collar and pulled it high. "Are you going to die, Nerd? Are you terminally ill right now? Cause if you're not, I could kill you right here right now."

"Ahaha, no, Kacchan, I'm perfectly healthy."

"Then, explain to me, shithead! Do you wanna buy me? We're only dating for two fucking days and you already treated me like your fucking slut?"

He grabbed my hands and pulled it off his neck. "No, Kacchan, calm down! Let me explain."

"It better be good."

He sat me down on the sofa and explained that it is my right as the source of energy for the power plant to profit from the business. And because the profit money would also be used as the capital for his other businesses, it was only logical for me to also hold half of the shares.

Which is a bullshit explanation to me. But, hey, who wouldn't want free money?

I sighed, slumped in my seat, and rubbed my face. "Still, you should've told me beforehand, Nerd. At least I need time to accept my new identity as a billionaire."

He laughed as if my concern was a petty little thing. "It wouldn't change anything about you, Kacchan. I'm sure. You will always be you, and that's okay. I love you like this, anyway."

I held my breath unconsciously. It amazes me how he could use every opportunity possible to turn it into flirting material.

"Alright," Sir Nighteye said, "We cleared the misunderstanding, so all you need to do is sign some little documents."

Little, my ass. These papers are worth diamonds, and even holding the pen made me nervous.

But some documents later, I already forgot what we were here for.

"That's it. Thank you for your cooperation. The money will be sent immediately to your account once the power plant is running." Sir Nighteye stood up and packed his things.

"And when would that be?" I asked, terribly clueless.

"Soon after the grand opening ceremony," answered the nerd. "Oh, and, speaking of which, we will also introduce you as the co-owner of my company at that event, Kacchan."

My expression must be in all sorts of form right now. "Okay, now you really pissed me off. What is it this time? What event?"

"As I said, the grand launching of the power plant, Kacchan! And also the anniversary of INKO Inc. It's almost my mother's birthday. And also mine, if you still remember."

My jaws dropped, but I was left speechless. While the nerd walked to the door to see Sir Nighteye out, my thought was still trying to process whatever the hell happened today. He eventually sat beside me and held my hand.

"Are you okay? Is it too much?" he said with those sweet tender voices. I turned my gaze to his emerald eyes slowly.

"Nerd, I'm not born for this," I said, shaking my head slowly. "I was born for hardship and low-middle class life. And this? I don't even know how to live in this." I didn't know where I should point, so I pointed at everything and anything in between that filled up this luxurious room.

The nerd just rubbed my hand with his thumb and brought it to his lips. "You were born to greatness, Kacchan. And I was born to support you, stand beside you. So it's the least I can give you. You deserve this. Much more than this, even."

Yeah, I believed if he owned the Earth, he would also give it to me without any second thought. But it doesn't lighten my concerns at all.

"Just think about it this way," he said suddenly, "If you're rich, you could help more people than you could ever do without the money. You…" Now he starts imagining, "You could build a school, or give full scholarships to children that are short on money, or both! You could free the world from hunger and discrimination. You could maybe even stop a war or this age-of-heroes society and start a new equality era! Imagine the great things you could do!"

"And reinvented the dinosaurs?" I said while smirking.

And he laughed. "Yes. Reinvented the dinosaurs. Now you see why I had a dream to ride a Pterodactyl, right?"

I laughed at that, and he laughed with me too.

Then, while rubbing my hands again, he said softly, "Just think of it as someone else's money that was trusted on you. Use it for good things. And you would never think of it as a burden. I promise you."

I cupped his face with one hand and rubbed his freckles slowly with my thumb. He leaned toward my hand and even kissed my palm. "Okay," I said, surprisingly soft. "Let's do this."

Then he bloomed into a gleaming ray of a smile. "Okay!"

We moved our heads closer instinctively and kissed each other's lips tenderly. His tongue felt so sweet and warm I was afraid I'm getting addicted.

So, this is what falling in love feels like, huh? It's… not bad, I think?

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The company's anniversary fell on July 10th-the median between Aunty Inko's birthday on July 5th and the nerd's birthday on July 15th. This means that there were only two more days until the big day, and I still left clueless on what I should wear to the first-ever gala I would attend in my entire poor life.

While gazing at the horizon from behind a fast-food restaurant storefront window with a soda in hand, I was reminiscing about the moment when Izuku took me to his mother's graveyard three days ago to celebrate her birthday. He brought a big bucket of baby's breath and put it on the tombstone before kneeling and started praying. After that, he told her about me and our newborn relationship. He repeatedly said that everything still felt like a dream; that he couldn't believe that we're finally together as a romantic couple. And to be honest, I was thinking the same thing too.

It felt surreal: all of these. To be loved by someone this immensely, to be treated so importantly, to finally be able to put a concrete name in this feeling and relationship. I think I never had a chance to give myself such pleasure, so it still feels foreign. But as I said, it's not a bad feeling.

After he was done, it was my turn to get down on my knees and pray. I don't believe in god, so I just said whatever stuff crossed my mind from inside my heart. You know, normal stuff, like 'how are you? I hope you're in heaven and enjoying your afterlife' and such. I also told her that I missed her, and how it would be great if she was still alive because now everything is different. 'I would never know your reaction to knowing that I'm dating your son right now, but I'd like to imagine that you would be happy,' I said, still in my heart.

When I stood up again, Izuku was holding back his tears like a child. I smiled and held his hand, resting my head on his shoulder while solemnly listening to him crying. We didn't say anything, but I feel like we were communicating enough with just our touches, gestures, and presence. I never knew that staying in silence with other people would be this comforting.

After that, we abruptly decided to visit my father's grave. The location was across the town, so we spent most of the day on the road: singing Olivia Rodrigo's breakup songs while laughing in the car, bought a bucket of white roses at the first flower shop we saw, and had lunch in a cheap ramen stall before continuing our journey to the local graveyard near our old neighborhood. Then we repeated the ritual process again: got on our knees, put the flower on the tombstone, prayed a little, said a few things, and stared into nothingness while reminiscing the memories of my father, which, to be honest, were nothing but blurs these days.

When Izuku held me from behind, that was the moment when I realized I was crying in silence. He doesn't say anything, just occasionally kissing my shoulder lightly while I was trying to contain my sobbing that got wilder by the minute.

'Ah… damn. I love this man,' I said internally. 'Dad… I love him. I love him so much it confuses me sometimes.'

I didn't know why, but at that time, I really hoped that my father was still alive, and also aunty Inko. It would be wonderful to share all these new feelings I had with Izuku with them. We would never know what they would say, and that realization is what hurts the most.

'I hope you accept him,' I said again; prayed.

Then the picture came: me in a long, flowing white dress, and my father in his classic tuxedo, smiling at me while reaching out his hand. We would walk down the red carpet aisle hand in hand, with him crying and I giggling nonstop. And there would be Aunty Inko and my mother, hugging each other. And Izuku, on the other end of the aisle with the same stupid crying face as my father. I would laugh so hard it brought me to tears. And then my father would hand me over to Izuku, where we would stare in another solemn silence before saying, "I do".

Izuku's tight embrace on my body is what brought me back to reality. Then dusk threw cold wind at my face, making me more aware of the surroundings.

"Let's go back," I said while escaping his arms. "It's already dark."

He stared at me, caressed my cheeks to erase the tears, smiled, and nodded. "Let's get a drink."

That was three days ago. The next day and yesterday, we were busy planning the grand launching slash gala slash anniversary event that we barely talked about our relationship. But I guess that's the point of having a relationship, right? That we got to still living our lives while being together with the person we love.

I intentionally took a day break from him to see if I would miss him or not. And this far, I could say that I was enjoying the me-time, but at the same time, wishing that he was here.

"Your head is a mess, girl."

I turned my head. To my surprise, Mina sat right in front of me while slurping her favorite strawberry milkshake.

"This boy really did a number on you," she said, pointing her straw at me, then laughed. "I'm glad you're happy, though." She slurped her drink again with a loud noise.

And I laughed, giggled, and cried at the same time. "I miss you, Pinky," I said, in a whisper.

She reached her hand across the table and held my hand tight. "I miss you too, bestie." And she laughed. And I cried. Hard. I could even hear my own sobs echoing through the room. When I opened my eyes again, she had already disappeared. People stared at me like I was crazy-and maybe I am. I was too happy to give them a fuck anymore, so I let them stare as I was walking out of the room.

'Ah, I wanna see my mom.'

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As usual, Bakugou Mitsuki is nothing but a loud, noisy, bossy eccentric middle-aged woman who refuses to get old with all her might. Talking to her is like losing half of your remaining youth because she sucks it away from you. That's why I never accept her phone call or see her in person. Because life for me is already draining as it is; I don't need an overwhelming mother to turn me into a zombie in my late twenties.

But, sometimes, that giant energy is what I miss the most from her.

"Katsumi! Is that you?!"

I was just one step inside her store's front door, and she was already shouting from across the room, behind the cashier desk.

"How could you see me coming with those thick ass glasses?"

"It's because of these thick ass glasses that I could see your ungrateful sorry ass from miles away!" I remind you, she is still shouting while scribbling something on a paper in front of who I guess is one of her employees. After she finished writing whatever shit that was and handed it over to the person in front of her, then she looked up and stared at me with her signature disdain glares. "What's now? Did you get fired? About the damn time."

Between all of these mannequins, hanging clothes, and fabric roles, I stood with hands folded while trying so hard to grasp for the little air left in this pathetically small space. "You damn hag! How could you say that to your own daughter?"

She slammed the desk while still holding a pen. "How could you still consider yourself a daughter of mine when you never even call me back?!"

"My old phone is lost, okay!"

"And you had a new one? And you didn't tell me? Or even had the thought to save my number? Are you rich now or something?"

Actually, the nerd moved all of my data from the old phone to the new one, but how could I say that to her?

"No! I was just busy, okay!"

"Liar! I saw the news and even called your boss! You're unemployed!"

"I was suspended! I still have my job!"

"But you're not working!"

"Why am I yelling these shits at you? It's not why I came here!"

"What? You're pregnant?"

"How could you say that?!"

"Then what is it?!"

"I'm dating someone, old hag!"

There was a dramatic silence. And then she sucked all the remaining air left with her huge ass gasp. "So you are pregnant!"

I slapped my face at this point. "I'm not!" I sighed. A big one. Just two minutes, and I already lost half of my remaining will to live. Great. "You remember Deku? Midoriya Izuku, the broccoli-haired nerd who always followed me around like a duckling when we were practically babies? Yes, he's back in town, and I'm dating him."

My mother wasted ten seconds of our time just staring at me blankly. And then another ten seconds to laugh her ass off. "What are you talking about? Izuku-kun? He's here? Didn't you say that he was dead?"

"Huh? When did I say that?"

"When you were in middle school! You cried to me, screaming that he was dead, then refused to come out of your room for three days!"

"Wha-! Huh! No! That didn't happen!"

"It did!"

"You don't have any proof!"

"So now he's back and he's dating you? Ha! What a time to be alive!" Then she laughed again for thirty seconds. Believe me, I counted.

I was on the verge of slamming the table that separated us in her face, but I regained my cool because I remember I would have no family member left if she's gone.

"Okay, whatever. So the day after tomorrow we will hold a big party in honor of his mother-and also celebrating his company's anniversary and his birthday-so I need a dress. A good one. That also suits my personality and style. And the ones that wouldn't embarrass me! Don't give me a hooker's dress, okay! I'm not your customer. I'm here as your daughter!"

My mom's business is this small clothing line that targets low-income women. It is located in a slum back-alley area near pachinkos, casinos, love hotels, host clubs, and of course, brothels. Even though she also sells some decent or professional attires, and were made in high qualities, but she mostly sold extravagant and slutty ones. Well, if we consider the location, it's not a surprise because most of her customers are local hookers who can only afford so much to spare between their salary, roof above their heads, and food to eat. And my mother, being the softy that she surprisingly is, oftentimes lets them pay her in credit or debt because she took pity on them. That's why this rundown workshop has never been upgraded.

But between all the things I said, she only got one thing: "Izuku-kun's mother is dead?"

"Uh, yeah, I forgot to tell you that."

Then she slapped me. Like, for real. In the face. "Why don't you say that sooner?! You damn daughter of a bitch!"

I slapped her back. "Then you're the bitch! I came here with other concerns, and that was the only damn thing you heard?"

She slapped me again. "Shut up! Inko was my best friend! Do you even know how it feels to lose contact with your bestie for ages, and the next thing you heard about her is that she was already dead?!"

Holding the urge to slap her back, I slammed the table instead. "Believe me, I know! I lost Izuku too for years, and my best friend just died recently!" Now she couldn't move, just stared at me with a face that was eerily similar to mine. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but it was also because I just found out recently." She looked surprised, partly because of the sad news, and partly because of the changes of tones and atmosphere that I suddenly made. "I'm sorry," I said again, carefully.

She put her head down and bit her lips hard. Small sobs were coming from her, and I could see her shoulders shaking.

"Mom…" It was a rare occurrence to see the strong and mighty Bakugou Mitsuki cry. So it was a panic response of mine to reach for her and hug her tight. But within less than thirty seconds, she pushed me away and already back to her usual self.

"So, you need a dress, right?" she chirped while wiping her tears. "And what you said? Not the slutty one? Ha! Like you would ever wear something like that!"

And I sighed. Relieved. "As I said."

She then moves all around the room, rummaging from one wardrobe to another, even up and down the floor. When she came back, there was already a pile of dresses on her arms that made me raise my eyebrows.

"The fuck is that?" I said in disgust.

"Dresses that are not slutty enough for you and suit your aesthetics."

"Euw. Stop talking like a youngster."

"Stop commenting on your mother, and try the goddamn dresses!"

I picked one on the top: a black leather dress with one shoulder strap and a big hole on the left side that only holds together by three belt-like straps. And I stared at her in disbelief. "This is what you called not slutty? It's a whore!"

"Stop slut-shaming my dress! It's black, so it suits your soul!"

"It looks like what a dominatrix would wear!"

"Well, haven't you become a hero to dominate the world? Or just the men? You slut!"

"Stop slut-shaming your own daughter, for fuck sake!"

"Stop cursing in front of your mother!"

We glared at each other for a few seconds. And I swear she almost gave me another slap. But instead, she threw one of her dresses on my face and yelled. "Don't comment on it before you try it! And I want you to try it now. MOVE!"

I dragged my ass to the nearest changing room-or should I say a vertical coffin with a mirror and only a thick ass velvet curtain as the door. As I got undressed, I was trying to remind myself of the purpose of all these humiliations. Oh, right. I was supposed to help the world with my future money. Right. Really worth my pride.

The dress was leather too, but it was yellow-green-purple metallic. It is hard to describe, but it looks like the color of a star, or maybe the aurora after it exploded. It's not beautiful-it's stunning. And it doesn't really hug my body too tight; it just gives enough of my curves without exploiting it. It doesn't show cleavage or too much skin. The bottom part of the dress was ankle-length, and it split in the middle on my knee-length. And what I like the most is that it is displaying my back just enough to showcase my red dragon tattoo. I like this one. It's perfect.

If Mina was here, I bet she would go wild and take a bunch of photos to prove to the boys that I am indeed an actual woman.

I admired my reflection for another second before taking it off, putting on my clothes, and coming out of the changing room. My mom was bewildered and furious at the same time. "Where's the dress? Why aren't you wearing it?"

"I did, and I'm taking it home. How much?"

"WHY AREN'T YOU WEARING IT RIGHT NOW?"

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANNA SHOW IT TO YOU!"

We got into another glaring battle. I gave up first this time. "Just tell me the price, and I'll be on my way."

"Ha! Like you got enough money to afford it."

"Bitch, I could buy this whole damn store if I want to. So just tell me the goddamn price!"

"BITCH, NO! I'm giving it to you so just shove your money up your ass!"

"You what?"

She sighed and gave me the smile that she only shows to me when she is soft. "It's been years since you're asking me for a dress. Of course, I'm gonna give it to you. You're my daughter, after all. And it's for an important date night, right? Go swipe him off his feet, baby. I'm rooting for you."

I couldn't believe what she said, so I just snorted. "Alright. But just for your information, I'm rich now. So I could really buy this rundown place from you and even give you a new one with better architecture and in a better neighborhood. No monthly rent. It would be all yours."

Then I intentionally increased my volume, looking around at all of the women, men, and everyone in-between that happens to be here today. "And I could also buy all of you bitches here, so you wouldn't have to sell your asses and pussies for money anymore! You could just learn from this hag to be a dress-maker-"

My mom quickly corrects me with, "Fashion designer," but I only said, "Whatever," behind my breath.

"-or become a pro-hero like me! I'll even build a school for all of you with free scholarships! So, hang in there! Your pitiful life will be over soon, and you could start a better one!"

All of them were wide-eyed, frozen, but seconds later burst out in laughter. "No offense, Katsumi, but what a nice joke!" one of the hookers, also a regular customer, Nemuri Kayama but better known as Midnight, shouted from behind a clothes hanger stand.

"You? Buy all of us?" Now this bitch Yu Takeyama, or Mount Lady, who sneered at me. "You must have to be crazy rich first to even talk to Chisaki!"

I sighed hard. Finally, someone dropped that cursed name. Chisaki Kai is the wakagashira of the yakuza family that controls this area. He owns most of the entertainment shops around here and even all of the hookers. He always had beef with me because he's been wanting to buy my mother's shop for a long time, but I always came in time to kick his sorry ass every time. Oh, and not to mention his attempts to buy me to be one of his sex slaves. Ha! That bastard is lucky he's still alive to this day.

"Listen, listen, folks," I said while waving my hands as a gesture to calm them down. "I don't fucking care whether you believe me or not. That's not my concern. But believe me when I said I'm gonna free you all from Chisaki's filthy hands and beat his ass until he begs for mercy. Don't you worry. I'm a woman of my words."

"In the meantime," I walked toward my mother, pulled out a piece of a paper check from my jacket, and slammed it to the desk, "This is for the building maintenance and whatever shit you wanna buy," I said to her. "And tonight's dinner on this hag, bitches!" I yelled while also pointing at my mom. The room suddenly went apeshit with screams and stuff flying in the air.

My mom was looking at me like I already lost my mind. "What are you doing this time, Katsumi? Did you sell your soul to the devil?"

I was thinking for a second. In a sense, having a relationship with the nerd indeed feels like selling my soul to the devil. "More or less."

"What? That couldn't be true!"

"Whatever, Mom. I got a party to plan and Lucifer to meet. Adios."

And I walked out of the building in style.

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#Eijiro's PoV

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There was going to be a magnificent ball in a day. The news has spread far and wide that a young billionaire with a name beyond familiar to me will be launching a new energy resource with its power plant at the said event. The event also served to attract potential investors to the latest renewable energy, securing its position as one of Japan's future national economies. There would also be massive performances by renowned global entertainers, such as One OK Rock, Rina Sawayama, and Joji!

Well, it seems like the worst mix of singers you could ever think of, but no one could deny that whatever it is, it's going to be huge! No wonder it was so freaking hard to get the invitation. Only the elites of the elites were invited; celebrities, politicians, pro-heroes, entrepreneurs, and highly influential people in Japan only. Lowly heroes like me have to be satisfied by the live report from the TV.

But it wouldn't be the case this time because, luckily, I'm a good friend of the central star. And also because we had a deal, basically.

"What the fuck are you called me here for?" said Katsumi, pretending to be bored, while drinking her morning dose of red wine and leaning half-asleep at the doorframe of my bedroom.

I immediately turned around with a dramatic pose and a big smile, shaking my head so that she could see my new short haircut. "So, what do you think?"

She just clicked her tongue, uninterested. "Like shit."

"Oh, c'mon, Kats! It took me hours to choose this hairstyle!"

"Wow, the barber must've been pissed." She giggled with an evil smirk, then burst into big laughter over her own terrible joke.

I was looking at her like I couldn't believe my eyes. This woman, the one who is currently laughing her ass off after verbally harassing me, is the least romantic human I had ever met in my entire life. And yet she's the one who holds a massive announcement party over a few days old relationships? Life really had a sick sense of humor.

And also, suddenly she's a billionaire! I couldn't believe that while she was still walking around the house using my sandals, sleeping in three-hundred yen shorts from a flea market, and eating every grocery that I bought inside the refrigerator-including the wine. Yes, it was mine.

"Oh, for real? This is what I got after trying so hard to look good for your party?"

"Hey, no one told you to do that."

"Ha! And you think I would be dumb enough to show up at Japan's MET Gala looking like, what you said? A hobo? So you could humiliate me for the rest of my life? No, thank you. I'm gonna do this undercover mission in style, Kats."

She froze for a second, raised her eyebrows slowly, then laughed again. Degradingly.

"The first rule of undercover is not to look too flashy, dumbass. And that red suit just makes you look like a sore thumb." She pointed at a set of metallic maroon suits that I laid on my bed.

"That's the only 'fun' suit that I got, Kats. The others are for funerals."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot that our life is so dark and depressing."

I sighed hard, feeling hopeless. This suit is one of Mina's birthday presents for me. She bought a matching metallic pink dress for us to wear in our post-wedding afterparty. But because that wedding would never happen, it's a shame just to shove this suit in a closet forever.

Maybe it was because Katsumi caught my desperation, but either way, she still came inside the room, sat on Sero's bed while crossing her legs, sipping her bottle of wine again, and said, "You look good," in a soft smile that freaked the hell out of me.

What just happened?

"A few accessories would be nice. Maybe a golden necklace or rings. Denki has tons of it, so just ask him to lend you some," she said casually.

I frown, suspicious. "Did you just… give me some friendly fashion advice? Without yelling or cursing? Who are you?"

She snorted out the wine from her nose; it looked like she had a nosebleed. I laughed my ass off this time.

"I mean, for real, you changed, Kats! I can see it! Love changes you!"

Now she just chuckles. "I hope it's for the better."

And I smiled back at her. "Yeah, I hope so too." We were still giggling over the wine incident a minute later.

"Anyway, how's your top-secret detective job?"

"Ah… yeah… about that…." I scratched my neck unconsciously, pacing restlessly around the room while I could feel her sharp eyes following me. "So far, there's nothing I could find about the missing people. They just… disappeared into thin air, like they never existed. As for your boyfriend's company, nothing seems amiss. Yet. I firmly believe that we just haven't found anything suspicious."

"Or there is none," she added immediately.

"NO!" I roared. "They must've hidden a few skeletons in their closet. We just have to find it!"

"And you think this massive hedonistic party is the right moment to sneak in and search for it?"

"When could I get a better opportunity? Everyone would be too busy making small talks over million-yen deals while dancing and singing to One OK Rock or Rina Sawayama."

"Or Joji. I like his songs."

"Exactly! So no one would notice if a handsome and dandy guy like me was investigating a few things in secret. It would look like everything just going according to their plan."

"Yeah. Wow. Amazing strategy," she said flatly, unimpressed. "So, what should I do?"

"Nothing. Just do your thing-giving speeches or being magnificent you, whatever. Oh, maybe spy him a little, like, you know, digging some information over pillow talk. And, obviously, help me out when I need it."

Again, with the same flat tone, she said, "Wow. Amazing. So cool," while swallowing the whole bottle dry, then blurbed loudly.

"You should learn to appreciate people more, you know that?"

"I know."

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To Be Continued

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Author's note:

Hiiiiii! Audrey here! So happy I could finish this one not long after I uploaded the previous chapter! I'm so proud of myself omg I'm crying….

Anyway, what do you think about Izuku and Katsumi's relationship? Is it what you imagined it would be? I'm so happy they finally together AAAAAAAAAA. Like, I waited for chapters for them even though I'm the one who put them in those situations in the first place.

If you want to see reference pictures of their outfits when they met with Sir Nighteye, visit my Twitter on ladyambrose2!

Next chapter we will go to the ball with every character! Wait to see the outfits I'm setting up for them! I just hope I could finish it within July so I could still celebrate Izuku and Inko's birthday for real this year.

See you in the next chapter!

Love,

Lee Audrey

(June 29th, 2021)