It had not taken the group long before plates were empty and stomachs were full. Bakugou and Sakaki had bickered almost the entire meal about something or anything. It had started with the wasabi and at some point had evolved to them bickering about who could make a better dinner. Even though both parties who were bucking knew Bakugou would win. But Sakaki wasn't one to back down, especially when challenged by an alpha. It was so bad at first Sasara thought the woman completely hated alpha's and in some ways she did.
Then of course came the bill when the waiter dropped it off on the table. That started an entirely new war between the blonde man and dark haired woman who wanted to pay for her own meal and Sasara's and Hatori's. The blonde seemed down right pissed that the woman wouldn't just accept a free meal. Which in turn had her even more pissed off. There was nothing worse than watching the two get into a screaming match that had the entire restaurant watching and the poor wait staff standing around unsure how to approach the pro hero's arguing in the dining area.
In the end Kirishima scooped up the bill and paid as both parties turned to glare at him as soon as they heard the waiter thank Kirishima and wished him a good night. Sakaki was pouting with her arms crossed over her chest, unhappy with Kirishima having bought everyone's meals.
"You didn't have to do that Kirishima," the dark haired woman was grumbling under her breath.
"Well I had to think of a way to end your arguing somehow," he was completely teasing her as he flashed the woman a toothy smile which had her blushing.
"Sorry about that," she mumbled, now embarrassed about her actions over the check.
"Shun you're too stubborn for your own good," Sasara giggled softly as she grabbed Hatori's hand and started leading her son out of the restaurant. Which had all three hero's following her.
"I can't help it," the woman mumbled back at her friend. Which in turn had Sasara smiling happily at her friend.
"Well it's getting late. Hatori still needs a bath before bed. Thank you again Kirishima for the meal," Sasara said as the group stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. She was looking down at Hatori when Sakaki quickly dug her elbow into the red heads side when he didn't instantly reply to the silver haired woman. He nearly grunted at the pain of her sharp elbow jabbing into his ribs.
"Oh uhm it wasn't a problem. Uhm it is late. You shouldn't walk home alone, let me walk you home. After all it wouldn't be very manly of a hero letting a woman and young kid walk home alone," he was nearly tongue tied, his face nearly matching his hair colour as a large hand moved up to nervously rub the back of his neck.
"Oh you don't have to do that. We need to take two trains. There's no need for you to go so out of your way," now it was Sasara's turn to turn red.
"We'll have fun you two. Make sure she gets home safe Kirishima. Come on Bakugou you're walking me home," the dark haired woman said smiling from her friend to Kirishima before glaring over at Bakugou as she started to walk away from the group.
"Who the fuck said I was gonna walk you home?" Barked Bakugou and even though he said that he still quickly started after the woman as the two of them walked away leaving behind a poor flustered Kirishima and Sasara behind.
The two watched till Sakaki and Bakugou disappeared in the dark before finally acknowledging each other faces still a little painted with colour.
"Well then which way?" Kirishima asked with a soft embarrassed smile.
"This way," it was actually Hatori who answered him before his mother could. Happily tugging at his mother's hand to encourage them to start walking. Which they did as Kirishima fell into step beside the woman and kid as they led the way to the first train they would have to get on.
"So do all hero's feel the need to walk their friends home?" Sasara asked, glancing over at the red head before quickly explaining, "Shun does the same thing even though she lives in the other direction. If we hang out she never lets me walk anywhere alone."
"Oh yeah it tends to be an occupational hazard. We know what lurches in the shadows, it tends to make some of us a bit paranoid," he said, once again rubbing a big hand against the back of his neck.
"Well I'm happy it's not just her then. I've never known another hero. And since she does not enjoy discussing her work with me I can only assume," Sasara said softly as she glanced over at Hatori who was once again to awe struck by the fact Red Riot was walking with them.
"I can't blame her. Our line of work can be stressful and sometimes people who are not in our line of work don't understand all aspects of our job. But Sakaki is really lucky to have you as a friend," Kirishima said, flashing the woman his typical wide toothy grin. It was even more heart warming and dazzling in person than it was on tv. Sasara started to softly chew on the inside of her cheek as she quickly looked away from the man.
"Nah I'm the lucky one that she puts up with me," Sasara said with a light giggle trying to lighten the mood.
The reminder of how the two met drew Kirishima's eye down to the woman's shoulder where he had remembered seeing the faintest of marks when she had removed her jacket before sitting down at the table. At first it had made him feel so bad for finding a taken woman so attractive. But now that he thought about it, the scar that sat where her right shoulder met her neck was so faded it had to be old. Probably eight years or more if he thought about it. How hard had it been breaking a bond while being pregnant? Kirishima couldn't even imagine how hard that must have been for the woman. And yet it really showed off a soft side of Sakaki that she had helped a complete stranger by letter her stay over.
It wasn't till his name was called that Kirishima realized he had completely spaced out, stuck in his head. Oops. He had completely missed what she had said. He flashed her an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, what were you saying?" He asked, completely embarrassed for getting caught with his head in the clouds. Though the way she smiled and tried not to laugh at least meant it didn't bother her the same way it bothered Katsuki whenever Kirishima would daydream during a conversation.
"I was curious. It's a bit of a personal question so feel free to deny. But I'm curious. Why did you decide to become a hero?" Sasara asked curiously. She knew for Shun she wanted to prove a female omega could be a hero. The chip on that woman's shoulder did not allow her to back down when she was told she couldn't be a hero due to her second gender. So what was this man's drive or reason to do something so selfless but also kind of stupid in her eyes.
"Oh well as a kid I used to really look up to Crimson Riot. There was this incident while I was in middle school. And I decided I wanted to grow stronger, become fearless and to help people," Kirishima said, trying to keep his answer short and not wanting to just jump right into a detailed explanation of his childhood and his love for the hero Crimson Riot. Or how freezing up in fear while classmates were scared. Or how amazed he was to watch a friend just jump into action to face that fear.
"Well I see where your hero name comes from," she said lightly teasing him as she watched his cheeks flush a little and again that large right hand of his was rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah ha it just seemed kinda fitting," Kirishima said with a light laugh as he combed his fingers through his dyed hair.
"Shun hates talking about her line of work with me. But it's just so amazing to me. To think you guys can just easily jump into the line of fire like you do. It's incredibly amazing," she said softly smiling down at Hatori who was yawning softly uninterested in the adult-like conversation. She turned to look over at Kirishima giving him a very similar look as the one she had just given Haroti.
Kirishima on the other hand was just melting as they finally reached the first train station. The look she gave him was such a heartwarming one. It was small and soft but yet so warming. It felt like she was looking at him with such admiration.
"You're welcome," the red head just burst out, which was not exactly what he meant to say at all and his face lit up.
"I didn't mean it as a you're welcome like you were thanking me for being a hero," the poor man started to ramble.
"Relax Kirishima it's fine," she said, biting back a soft giggle as she watched the man as they walked through the platform and onto the train where a number of eyes seemed to glance at the group. Sasara could only assume people recognized the man she was standing beside. After all you would pretty much have to be a hermit to not know who the man was or to recognize him. Even if he was wearing clothes and his hair was down around his face. It was impossible to not know that the man was thee Red Riot top ten pro hero and one of UA's elite students during the liberation war. Him and his classmates have been all over tv, in magazines, and just over all littered the media for yours through their school days and once. After all everyone wanted to know what would happen with the legendary class of students.
Sasara really wanted to ask more rather personal questions. It was just so interesting trying to understand the mind of a hero. But asking on a public train where a lot of people were within earshot was not the place to be getting into personal conversations. And so she stood glancing over from time to time at the mountain of a man beside her. She didn't even meet the man's shoulder in height. Standing beside him really did make her feel rather tiny. He was nearly as wide as he was tall, his hands were so large that hers would surely look like baby hands beside his.
At the thought of his hands she glanced over at them. Large, and they looked hard and calloused. Or was that part of his quirk? His body hardened for his quirk but did that mean he was materially more rough and hard skinned than typical people? Or was it simply a result of his lifestyle and daily training? She was rather curious before she reminded herself she was staring and forced herself to look away from him not wanting to be caught.
Though Kirishima was still embarrassed and trying to calm himself down as he stood beside her as the train moved along the city. He was trying to decipher if the woman beside him was simply being polite because he was a pro hero? or did she just find him nice? Was she trying to flirt with him? When was the last time he flirted with anyone? Highschool probably. Oh no, was he equipped to handle someone flirting with him? Nope he wasn't sure how to react to that. Now Kiri was just digging himself into a deeper mental panic.
"Is everything alright?" The soft whisper almost went unnoticed but it had just been enough to pull Kirishima once again from his thoughts. But still his mind had not deciphered what had been said fast enough.
"Huh?" Oh shit. How unmanly. Now for a second time in one night Sasara had caught him deep in through.
"Are you alright?" She softly asked again as he didn't instantly answer though he did nearly a second before she repeated herself.
"Oh yeah I'm fine, everything's fine," he said, flashing her a guilty smile.
"Are you sure?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest softly. Her quiet tone picked up the same tone she used with Hatori when she knew he was lying with her. That was only a tone a skeptical mother could pull off.
Kirishima's reply was simply to nod his head at her and keep his mouth closed like a smart kid. Well at least he wasn't stupid enough to try and lie. Okay maybe nodding his head was the lie but still he wasn't going to vocalize the lie. And by the way one of her delicate light eyebrows arched he could tell she didn't believe him. But she also knew it wasn't worth pushing at this moment. Also wasn't the best place to try having that discussion either.
Luckily it had not taken long for the trail to come to the first stop they needed to get off at. Having to nearly wake Hatori who was almost asleep on his feet she was quick to drag the kid out of the train as he rubbed his eyes with the hand that was not holding his mothers hand.
Quickly waking up the kid came to life filling the slightly odd silence with telling his mother more of what he had done while away from her. Of course the Hatori had to tell her how cool it was when Kirishima showed up one of the first days to pick him up from school. And of course Hatori had to brag about how impressed the other kids were that he knew Red Riot.
Of course Kirishima was beaming, he always did enjoy watching the way kids light up when they see pro hero's. And even though it had been a busy crowd of kids every time he picked up Hatori while finishing up a patrol while Bakugou and Sakaki were on stake out duty he would have done it again. Maybe he should see if he could get some patrols that go by the school then he could pop in and see Hatori after classes before his evening shifts start. That would surely make the kids day.
"Wow it sounds like you had a lot of fun this week," Sasara said smiling down at her son as he happily rambled on about all the fun he had. Which was nice, it filled the silence between the two as they quickly approached the second trail station and quickly boarded before Hatori went silent.
But the day had taken its toll on the kid and this train ride Hatori sat down while Sasara and Kirishima stood beside his seat. It didn't take even a minute for the small boy's head to hang as he drifted off to sleep. Leaving the two adults to stand side by side like the last train. And like the last train ride Sasara found her eyes very often glancing over at the man beside her.
She knew she shouldn't have stared so much, but it was hard. The man next to her looked like some Greek God came to life. His shirt did little to hide what she knew was underneath, after all the man ran around shirtless in his hero costume. It really took no effort on her part to imagine what the man would look like shirtless. She felt her ears heating up at the images that started to fill her mind. She tried to blame it on the lingering after effects of her heat and that is why the man beside her was invading her mind in ways she really didn't mind. But still it was inappropriate to think such thoughts of the man who was nice enough to walk her home, even if Sakaki left them both no real way out.
The train coming to a stop forced her out of her own mind as she looked down to tell Hatori they needed to get off but the boy was out cold. She went to go pick him up, prepared to carry him the rest of the way home. But large hands beat her to it as she looked over to watch Kirishima scoop the kid up into his arms as if he weighed nothing.
"Here I'll carry him. You lead the way," He said, flashing her a wide sharp toothed grin as Hatori sat against his chest, his head resting on Kirishima's shoulder.
"You don't have to do that," Sasara said softly even though it didn't stop the man from starting to walk off of the train with her quickly following on his heels. This was just like dealing with
Sakaki. Seemed hero's tended to have a lot of similar traits even if the reason they were a hero was different.
"It's no problem. I don't mind," Kirishima said, waiting for her to take the lead allowing her to be able to show him the way to her home as he carried her kid in his hands. It was quite the sight watching the large red head carrying a young child as if it was his own with his mother walking in step with him. It was a good thing no press had seen them, though Kirishima would need to remember to call their PR head and make sure nothing leaked out from the events tonight. He was more than aware that civilians did not enjoy being the newest headline after simply being spotted with them. And women especially didn't seem to enjoy the unwanted attention and rumours.
"You're a lot like Shun. She always carries Hatori when he falls asleep as well," Sasara said with a soft giggle as she walked beside him.
"Oh yes I noticed that. He fell asleep at our place one night and she was persistent that she would carry him home and she did," Kirishima said with a light chuckle remembering the night she got drunk on her own quirk. And how the kid refused to leave till he fell asleep and she had to carry him home.
"That sounds like something she would do. I'm not even surprised. Then again you and her carry him around like he doesn't weigh a thing. I guess it's easier for you two than it is for me," Sasara said softly as she glanced over at the man who was once again blushing softly.
"Well he's not that heavy," Was the mumbled reply Kirishima gave. It was true for him. He was well accustomed to being able to carry people around to save them so carrying around a little kid was effortless.
"Well luckily you don't have to carry him far," She said smiling as her apartment came into view before she started towards it digging into the pocket of her jeans to pull out her keys.
The apartment wasn't anything super nice, though it was better than Shun's. Sasara still didn't know why the woman stayed in such a shabby place with the money she made. Though Sasara could barely afford her place it was still perfect. A bit far from her work and Hatori's school but she couldn't afford a two bedroom apartment anywhere else. Pausing once she reached her front door she doubted the man wanted to walk into her apartment. Any other day wouldn't have been an issue but she imagined her home would reek of her heat and with him being an alpha that wouldn't be a good idea to invite him in.
"Here I'll carry him in from here," She said, giving the man a warm smile as he nodded his head and passed the sleeping body over to her.
"Thank you very much for tonight Kirishima. We had a lot of fun," She said as she tried to rearrange how she was holding Hatori as his soft snoring filled her ear.
"No, it was our pleasure. It was really nice meeting one of Sakaki's friends," Kirishima said with a wide grin and a soft tilt of his head.
"Good night Kirishima," Sasara said smiling as she turned and slipped her keys into the lock prepared to head into her home.
"Hey Naito. Uhm maybe some time we could go for dinner without Katsuki and Sakaki," Was he asking her out? She'd be lying if Sasara didn't admit, it completely surprised her and caught her off guard. And the poor guy looked like he may be about to piss himself as he shifted his weight from one leg to another as his eyes darted around.
"Oh sure that would be really nice," She said softly after all could she really turn down a pro hero who looked like she was about to kick his puppy if she said no. Her answer seemed to just bring him to life as the widest grin she had seen in person yet light up his face.
"Great! I'll see you later. Have a good night Naito," Kirishima said, smiling widely at her waiting till she said good night again before he turned and made his way out of the apartment complex to now make the trek home. Though now it was with a little extra pep in his step.