9

Michael's eyes opened to see Himiko asleep next to him. His phone lying in the middle of them, quietly playing an old soft rock track. Her hair hadn't been put back into its messy buns yet, so a few strands hung in front of her face. Michael had to admit, she looked beautiful how she was now with the sunlight reflecting off her hair. Occasionally a quiet snore could be heard as she slept away. A look at his phone's clock told him that it was still relatively early, at seven in the morning. Taking care not to wake the girl, he slid out of bed and looked down to see he was at least wearing a pair of loose grey gym shorts. Stepping out the room, he made his way into the kitchen and started his coffee. A few minutes later, he had a cup of the bitter liquid made to his liking and went back to his room. His phone still cycled through his playlist and had settled on Hippie Sabotage. Music quietly filled the room as he sat back with his coffee and thought to himself about last night.

After their talk in the shower, the two of them sat in silence as they both processed what the other had told them. Michael had finally asked if she had anywhere to sleep. Himiko revealed that she had been living in random abandoned houses, and the league hadn't added a room for her yet. Michael had gone against his better judgement and asked if she would like to stay the night. She had taken the offer and slipped into his bed almost immediately. Once he'd gotten comfy, she had latched onto him and the shared body heat had put the two to sleep quickly enough.

"Hey." Said the drowsy voice of the blonde girl in his bed.

Michael's eyes snapped to her to see her rubbing her golden cat eyes and yawning. Her teeth were normal besides an extra pair of canines that seemed razor sharp. Subconsciously running a tongue over his own set of fangs, he replied, "Good morning Himiko."

She patted the space beside her and whined before saying, "Come back to bed."

Taking care not to spill his coffee, he slid back onto the bed and sat up against the headboard. Himiko had crawled up to bury her face into his side and sighed happily when Michael had started running his fingers through her hair. "Why are you up so early?" She asked, muffled by his body.

"I have a date today."

Toga picked her head up to look at him. "With her? Mina?"

Farron mentally sighed at his slip in revealing her name. "Yes, with her."

"Why do you like her?"

"She makes me smile. She's funny, and I think we have a real connection."

"Is she worth it?"

Michael set his coffee down and looked at the blonde lying next to him for a while as he repeated her words in his head. "What do you mean?"

Himiko tilted her head and said, "Is she worth all this? You risking your spot in the league and being killed or worse, being found out by the heroes and imprisoned for who knows how long?"

"I don't know yet. All I know is that I think it's worth finding out."

She was silent for a few moments after that. The two looked away from each other for a moment until Himiko made a move. Crawling up, she came to his eye level and straddled him so that she sat on his hips. The covers had fallen off her, revealing that she was still shirtless like him but wearing his old red shorts. She leaned forward and gave him a long, slow kiss. Her tongue asking for permission and slipping in when he relented. Pressing her body against his, he could feel her breasts against his chest as her arms wrapped around his neck and kept him there. She broke the kiss, and for a second, he could see mania flashing in her eyes, threatening to come back and take control back from the soft side that had been present. "I wanna meet her." She said with a slight grin forming.

"Fuck no." He said as his eyes narrowed.

"I promised not to hurt her."

"Why then?"

"Because if you like her, then she must be just like you." She answered as she gave him another kiss.

Breaking apart with a small strand of saliva still connecting them, She continued, "So that means she's probably just as heroic and nice like you."

"That video you saw just shows me literally beating two villains to death despite them being incapacitated."

"You only did it to save yourself and others."

Michael was at a loss for words as Himiko brought him in for another kiss before she said, "You taste like coffee. What do I taste like?"

Michael shot forward and surprised her with a long kiss that left them both gasping for air. "Blood." He answered before sitting back again and grabbing his coffee.

She smiled and asked, "Didn't think you'd be so eager to get a taste. I haven't even had to threaten you with telling Handyman or anything."

"I've already committed to this fucked up situation enough that kissing is on the lower end of mistakes made. It's not like you aren't pretty, you're just…" He trailed off before she answered.

"Crazy?"

"Broken, but so am I." He said with a sad smile.

Himiko looked over him for a moment before resting her chin on his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her in close as the two shared each other's company.

A hissing sound interrupted the music playing on his phone, and Michael set his coffee down to pick it up. A text with Mina's name on it had just been delivered and waited to be opened. He unlocked the phone and read the text to himself as he gently scratched Himiko's back and rocked with her to the music. The text read, "Hey Michael! What did you wanna do today, and when would you like to head out?"

A glance at his clock told him that it was now nine in the morning, and he shot her a text back saying, "I was thinking we could go to the arcade around two in the afternoon and get something to eat afterward. After that, it's up to you."

He clicked send, and Himiko asked, "Is that her?"

"...Yeah."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Are you trying to stalk me?"

"Maybe." She said with a giggle.

"Are you going to interfere?"

"I won't hurt her."

"That's not what I asked."

Toga huffed at his questions before saying, "Fine. I won't interfere unless it's necessary."

"I hope it doesn't come to that. Please, don't make it weird either."

She giggled and pecked his cheek before moving to lay by his side and resting her head on his shoulder. Another hissing noise and Michael was reading Mina's reply. "Awesome, I love the arcade, but only if we go to the little noodle shop by the park afterward. I'll have to think about what to do after that, but I'm totally hyped for this."

"Cool, see you then, hon." He texted back before he heard Himiko giggle.

"The arcade, huh? Any good?" she asked as she read through his conversation.

"Fuck around and find out."

"Are you asking me on a date, Mikey?"

Michael looked down to see the blonde's manic grin stretch across her face. "Maybe I am."

"Maybe I accept." She shot back before shifting her body closer.

"I know it's a change of pace, but how does your quirk really work? Like you just drink blood and shapeshift?" Michael asked as he finished his coffee.

"Pretty much. The more I drink, the longer it lasts. I can't use their quirk unless it's built-in, but I take on all their features and their clothes. Someone's a bit curious, huh? Care for another demonstration?" She asked, running her fingers across the scars she left on his chest.

"Information is my job. Just please don't make it weird." Was all he said, making Himiko's eyes widen.

"You're sure?"

Michael responded by sliding out of bed and grabbing one of his knives from the bedside cabinet. Her golden eyes clouded with mania from the bloodlust as the blade edged closer to his palm. He watched her body shiver in anticipation like a recovering addict fighting withdrawal symptoms. Gritting his teeth, he slid the knife across the flat of his palm. As soon as the blood began to pour, Himiko had snatched his hand and began licking at the cut, sending a stinging pain throughout his arm. Her saliva almost seemed to encourage the blood to keep from clotting as she gorged herself. The crimson liquid had smeared over her lips and chin, with drops running down her naked upper half and staining her pearly white fangs red. She finally pulled away from him and wiped her mouth only to further smear his blood across her cheek.

The girl slid out of bed and dropped her shorts to show she had actually stolen a pair of his boxers. They were the next to go as she slid them down and kicked them to the side. She immediately pounced Michael and was exploring his mouth with her tongue. He could hardly feel the sting of the cut as she tried to force her tongue down his throat. Copper was all he could taste before she shoved him back and activated her quirk. A mass of shifting flesh engulfed her before he looked at an exact copy of himself. He wasn't quite as shocked as the first time but was still amazed at the detail of her disguise. Every healed scar on his body was present, from a shallow stab on his thigh to the newest cut on his left palm. The two wore the exact same grey gym shorts that hung loosely around their hips. His overgrown medium fade was perfectly copied down to the small scar from a childhood fight that his hair would never cover again. "Talk like me." The real Michael said, amazed.

"Go fuck yourself!" She said in perfect mimicry of his heavily accented Japanese.

"Hardy fuckin har. Funny, now say it in English."

The shapeshifter wearing his skin answered him in his voice by saying, "I don't actually know any English. The disguise itself is perfect, but I don't get your memories or anything."

"You can drop the form now if you want."

"Hmm. I don't know. It's kinda fun being you. I feel like a spring that's all coiled up and just waiting to pop off. It's neat being able to have heat vision, and your fangs are so nice." She said as she opened his mouth and pointed at the copied pair of his fangs.

"Uhuh. Drop it, and I might let you get a little more blood from me sometime."

The fake flesh rolled off her body instantly, leaving behind Toga naked once again as Michael grabbed the discarded boxers.

Offering them to her, he said, "Blood affects your behavior, doesn't it?"

She was silent as Michael circled her before stopping and continuing. "When you first met me, you were constantly all over me and acting… pretty fucking psychotic. You got a little blood from my chest when we fucked last night and had almost instantly calmed down and let me take control. Now here we are, and I'm willing to bet you're almost docile… Almost. Look at me." He said, walking up to her and resting his hands on her sides.

Himiko had to look up to meet his steely grey orbs. The black slit pupils offered thin windows to his soul as she stared into them. "If it will help you… You can get some blood from me when you need it. We can help each other out here. You keep me informed on what the league is doing and control yourself. In return, I'll feed your blood lust, and we can continue this... Relationship." He said, hoping she'd accept.

Toga thought over the offer in her head for a moment before turning away and walked to where the knife lay slick with blood staining the bed sheets red. Picking it up, she turned back to Michael as he watched in silence. The girl slid the blade across her own palm, and the scarlet liquid began to drip. Her right hand grabbed his left, and she looked at the cut, still weeping its crimson tears. Bringing it to her lips, she gave the wound a kiss before offering him her own bleeding hand. He took the hint and bent down to kiss her cut palm. As soon as his lips left her palm, she pulled him down into a rough kiss. Blood and saliva mixed as she desperately held onto him. Their bleeding hands stung as they ran across their bodies, marking them in the blood of each other's promise. The taste of copper and the feeling of her tongue caressing his flooded his mind as they fought for control over the other. Finally, the two broke away, gasping for air, and saw the bloody messes they had become in the embrace. "Let's get a shower." Michael said as he grabbed his speaker and a pair of black compression shorts.

Himiko watched him leave the room and smiled to herself as she burned the image of his bloody body in her memory. She shivered in delight before quickly following him into the bathroom. Music filled the room as he waited for the water to heat up. His compression shorts and a pair of light grey shorts sat on the counter, waiting to be used. The girl shut the door behind her, and Michael's eyes snapped towards her before slowly taking in her figure. She was petite and curvy with her lightly tanned skin and ashen blond hair covering her upper chest. The only thing wrong were the streaks of his blood covering her, and yet it only brought out her golden eyes. Toga was repaying the favor as she drank in his image. He was solid with nicely tanned skin stretched taut from the muscles underneath. Crimson stains decorated his body with a bloody handprint from where she had held onto him stood out on his chest. A small part of her mind screamed for her to cover him in even more blood. It wanted nothing less than to drain him entirely so that she could become him. Quickly suppressing it, she stepped into the now steaming shower water and kept her eyes locked onto him as he joined her. She was almost disappointed as the water began to rinse them of each other's blood. The water mixed with the blood, falling into a cloudy red pool before draining away. It didn't matter much to her, however, as she could still feel and taste his blood in her own. The coppery taste ecstasy to her as it cleared her head brought her out of her quirk's drawback of psychosis. Himiko smiled as she thought of having someone she loved being this close to her. He hadn't rejected her and even propositioned to keep their relationship, even if she had forced herself upon him. The only issues now would be his other interest in the Mina girl and hers in Midoriya. She stood in quiet thought before being interrupted by Michael asking, "What's on your mind, Himiko?"

She simply hugged him softly and with a smile, answered, "Head empty, no thoughts."

The water ran down the pair as Michael grabbed the soap and began washing her hair. She hummed happily as his fingers ran through her hair and massaged her scalp. Taking the soap from him, she returned the favor and ran her fingers through his short black hair. He rolled his eyes as she began moving her hands down his body and tracing his muscles. "Are you trying to wash me or grope me?"

"Why not both?" She said, her mischievous golden cat eyes looking up at him.

He answered by huffing and pouring more soap in his uncut hand. "Because in a few hours, I have a date. I'll be damned if I go into it half-dead from you trying to drain me dry."

"Afraid of a girl half your size, Mikey?"

"Those are the most dangerous kind." He said as he gave her hips a gentle squeeze. The pair spent the rest of the long shower lightly teasing the other before finally leaving the shower and drying off. Michael made his way into his room before getting dressed for his date in an hour. The black compression shorts hugged his hips to Himiko's delight as she laid naked on his bed. A loose pair of blue jeans and a white shirt with a black American flag on the back were thrown on with a black pair of shoes. "Needs more red." Commented Toga as she inspected him.

"I'll keep that in mind for when it's your turn."

"Aww, Mikey, you're such a sweetheart." She said, laughing to herself.

Once he was done making sure he was presentable, he looked over to see Toga still naked and blood all over his floor. He reached back into his dresser and pulled out a pair of green sweatpants. They were old with a small faded Marine Corps symbol on the left thigh. A gift from his parents that he received years ago. "Here. Don't fucking ruin these." He said as he tossed them to the girl.

She looked at the pants for a moment before asking, "Where'd you get these?"

He dug around for the top half that went with it while he explained, "Parents were military. Those are the sweats my dad wore throughout his time in the Marines. He gave them to me sometime after mom died."

"What happened?" She asked quietly.

"A lot. I'll tell you later, okay? I'd rather not go into this date thinking about all that." He said with a sigh as he found the matching green sweat top.

The symbol had faded from time and use but never completely disappeared. The symbol sent a chill through him as memories of his parents flooded his mind. He stood in complete silence as he stepped towards the bed where Toga laid watching his every move. Michael held out the top, and after a moment of uncertainty, she took it in hand and slid it over her head. The sweatpants came next, and she stood as she got used to the soft threads on her skin. Farron had turned away to try and stem the tidal wave of emotion coursing through him and felt two hands wrap around him. Himiko locked him in her embrace and pressed her face into his back, whispering, "Thank you."

"Your welcome." He said as he held onto her arms.

He was still for a few moments before wrangling his emotions back deep down inside and broke away from her. Looking back at her, Her damp hair framing her pretty face and splayed across the sweat top. The faded black Eagle, Globe and Anchor stood proud on her chest, resting above her heart. "You look great." Michael whispered as he looked her over and took a step back.

Hiding her blush, Himiko looked up to the clock on the wall before saying, "You should go before long. It's not nice to keep a girl waiting."

Michael nodded and grabbed his jacket and wallet as he walked to the door. He had only grabbed the doorknob before looking back over his shoulder and saying, "You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need. Just stay out of sight, ok?"

He didn't wait for her reply as he shut the door behind him and made his way out.

Stepping outside, he slid his jacket on and did one last check. Keys, phone, and wallet were all accounted for, and he started walking. The sun shone brightly, with plenty of clouds in the sky to offer shade. Cool winds blew his hair and jacket to the side as he walked the short distance between their two houses. He had barely made it to her door when it flew open to reveal Mina standing with a smile. She was wearing a black tank top and blue jean shorts, with pink shoes and black knee socks completing the outfit. "See something you like?" She asked teasingly with a hand on her hip.

Michael smiled and copied her pose before putting his hands behind his head and flexing. He adopted a few more poses and settled on one before saying, "Jotaro."

She quickly caught on and started walking towards him with a serious face and replying, "Dio…"

"Oh?" You're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're coming right to me?" He asked, barely restraining his smile.

"I can't hug the shit outta you without getting closer." She said with fake anger.

"Oh ho! Then come as close as you like!" He said as they wrapped their arms around each other in tight hugs.

The two laughed as they separated and looked at each other again. "Hey, Ashido."

"Hey, Michael." She said, smiling brightly.

"You look great."

A faint purple blush dusted her cheeks before the two were interrupted by a voice from her doorway. "You are both such huge nerds." Said Kaori with his arms crossed.

Mina snapped her gaze to her little brother and yelled, "I'll melt you, you little brat!"

He laughed as he shut the door and left the couple out in the front yard alone. "You ready?" Michael asked as he turned to leave.

"Let's go!" She said, taking his hand in hers and smiling.

The two began their walk to the arcade by passing up Michael's house once more. Switching to his thermals, he could just barely make out the heat signature of Toga in his window. Switching back to color vision, the blonde was perfectly hidden away behind his curtains. "Forget something? We can stop if you need." Asked Mina.

"Nah, I'm good. Just been having a cat hanging around lately. Don't want it to get in trouble while I'm gone." He answered.

"Aww, that's so sweet. I love cats." She said.

"I'm a dog person myself. This one had nowhere else to go, though, so I let her stay. Besides the fact that she likes to bite and scratch, I guess she's alright."

"That's nice of you. I'll have to meet her sometime."She said, laughing at his defeated tone of voice.

"Yeah, yeah, you will." He said as he played through every possible disaster scenario in his head.

He snapped himself out of that train of thought and asked, "So apparently, there's a video of us going around school."

"The one of us dancing? Yeah, I even saved it to my phone and everything. Toru loves it and said we looked great together."

"I take it that your class knows then?"

"Yeah, I told them. That's not a problem, is it?" She asked, now a little worried.

"No, I don't mind at all. I was just a bit curious… So how'd they all take it?"

"Toru was super excited to hear it, and most everyone else seemed happy to hear it."

"Most? Did someone have a problem with it?" Michael asked, casually cracking the knuckles in his free hand.

Mina giggled at his subtle threat and answered with, "Not really. Bakugo and Todoroki didn't seem to really care, except when Bakugo heard your name, he frowned a bit. Don't even get me started on Mineta."

"The tiny purple fucker, right?"

His question earned another happy laugh from the girl as she said, "Yes, him. He seemed a little upset, but it's no big deal."

Michael opted not to reply and just nodded his head silently. The two chatted about a few other small things as they made their way to the arcade. Roughly an hour of walking and talking about school and whatever crossed their minds brought them to the front of the arcade building. The entrance was a set of double doors that led into a giant dark room lit up with neon lights placed everywhere. The sounds of buzzers and strobe lights filled their senses as the two walked inside. Kids ran around with prizes and coins to play more machines, followed by their parents trying to keep them in sight. Pop music played from speakers hidden from view and the smell of popcorn and treats added to the experience. "So what games ya wanna play first?" Michael asked the girl. She quickly grabbed his hand again and drug him to a dance machine. A thick glass pad with arrows in each direction mirrored the screen in front and a grab bar behind the dance pad. "Dance Dance Revolution, huh?"

"I love this game!" She said, scrolling through the music selection and choosing a song while Michael inserted the coins needed to play.

Loud music began blasting through huge speakers on either side of them as the game started. Arrows began to slide up the screen in time with the beat, and the couple moved accordingly. The two were in perfect synchronization as the music sped up, and their footwork was perfect. Michael finally made a mistake and missed a step, breaking his full combo. "Already slipping up, are we?" Teased Mina as she kept dancing.

Michael ignored her as the track came to its crescendo, and arrows flooded the screen. Ashido was lost in the music as her feet flawlessly shuffled across the glass in time to the beat. Michael had resorted to using the grab bar behind him to keep upright as he fought to keep up. The music's volume drowned out all other noise as the speakers blasted at max volume, shaking the glass pad at their feet. The couple could feel the bass shake their very bones as they approached the end of the track. With one final stomp of both feet, the music came to an end, and Mina had jumped in the air and squealed in joy, "Flawless victory!" She cheered before looking over to Michael.

He was still holding onto the grip bar and struggling to catch his breath but smiling all the same. "Jesus fuckin christ, hon, I need a fuckin pizza or something." He said with a laugh.

A look at his screen showed that he only missed the one in the middle of the song and a few of the arrows near the grand finale of the track. She still blew his score out of the water but he had made the leaderboard at fourth place for that song. Her score sat in first place, and she quickly threw her initials in before looking back at Michael and saying, "Your turn to pick a game."

The boy wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and took a look around the arcade. Different games lined the walls ranging from skeeball to claw machines and everything in between. Finally, he spotted the game he wanted and offered his hand. Her pink fingers interlocked with his as he led her across the floor to the next game of the night. The couple came to a stop in front of two shiny plastic pistols. A small screen in front of the two displayed a pair of survivors running through hallways and firing behind them occasionally. The camera shifted to show zombies chasing them down as they fought through the hordes and ran into a mansion of sorts. "House of the Dead. I haven't played this game in fucking forever." Michael said as he inserted the coins and took one of the pistols in hand.

It was a simple replica pistol with a blowback slide to simulate recoil. He smiled as Mina took the gun in hand and took an awkward stance. Walking behind her, he put his chest against her back and corrected her position. "Hold it like this and keep your feet spread like this. Yeah, just like that. Besides that, it's just an arcade game, so you don't need to worry too much about it."

Pressing start, the game's speakers let out a groan, and a small intro cutscene played. Michael smacked the skip button, and the camera shifted to a first-person view to reveal zombies rapidly closing the distance. Mina quickly pointed her gun at the screen and rapidly pulled the trigger. A few zombies went down, but most were only peppered with body shots as she quickly ran out of ammo. Michael exhaled and narrowed his eyes with a smile as he raised his pistol and took aim. Smooth, rapid trigger pulls, and well-aimed shots took the heads off the horde as he fired into the undead. "Point the gun off the screen and pull the trigger to reload it." He explained to the panicking girl.

She followed his instructions and smiled as she began shooting wildly at the shambling corpses.

Michael was thriving in the chaos as he ran gun drills on any corpse that survived the bullet storm that Mina was unleashing. He knew in his head that this was just a game but couldn't entirely break out of the habits his dad drilled into him. Box drills and failure to stop drills were as natural as breathing to him at this point. The two eventually fought their way to a giant room completely filled with undead headed their way when Michael's snake eyes caught something in the corner. "Shoot that!" He excitedly yelled as he picked up his rate of fire to cover her.

She took a second to aim at the glowing object, and a deafening roar of gunfire erupted from her side of the screen. A rattling buzz of firepower cut through the ravenous swarm, and Mina's eyes shone with delight as she held the trigger down. "This is awesome!" She said as she swept the barrel across the screen.

Finally, the torrent of digital lead came to an end, and Michael's pistol was up and gunning down any that came too close to them. The game came to a close soon after that, and a continue screen began its countdown from ten. Once it reached zero, Michael checked their scores to see Mina had edged him out in pure points and damage dealt, but he excelled in accuracy and damage taken. "Oh my god, that was so freaking fun! Is that what real guns do?" She asked, looking at him with wide eyes and a dazzling smile.

"I mean, they are a lot louder and tend to have a good deal more kick, but I mean, it's close enough, I suppose." He said with a shrug before setting the pistol down and moving on through the arcade with Mina by his side.

"Dude! You can't just go all John Wick like that and pretend like it wasn't the coolest thing!" She said with a light smack to his shoulder.

"John Wick is much better than I could ever hope to be. He is one of the most dangerous criminals out there, and he doesn't even have a quirk. There's a reason he's still alive and has a movie series about him." Michael said, remembering watching a video feed of the old assassin smoothly work through a domestic terrorist cell back home.

"Jealous?" She asked him with raised eyebrows and a wide smile.

He smiled before breaking into laughter alongside her and saying, "Extremely."

The couple had tried their hands at most everything the arcade had to offer, and Michael had a small card with a truckload of points in it to show for it in his pocket. Skeeball had still managed to hold up as the most rewarding game, and Mina was a natural at rhythm and pattern games. Between them, they had earned a little over five thousand points in three hours and used all but one coin. Walking up to the prize counter, they began looking over the prizes with Mina's eyes locking onto a giant Xenomorph plush. She grabbed Michael's shoulder and shook it with one hand, and frantically pointed at the fuzzy grey alien with the other. "Oh my god, It's adorable!" She said, almost yelling in his ear.

Her smile was infectious as Michael couldn't help himself but do the same as he looked at the woman behind the counter. She seemed amused at the pink girl's antic as she took Michael's card and scanned it. Looking over to the plush, she read the price to the couple, "The plushy alien is 5,200 points. You have 5,250. You sure you want this?" She asked as she began to undo the knot holding it up.

"The lady gets what she wants." Michael said as the lady handed him the stuffed monster.

He looked at her for a moment before handing her the plushie, and she lit up as she bounced around hugging the stuffed Xeno. Once she had gotten the initial happiness out of her system, she wrapping Michael in a tight hug. "Thanks, Mike." She said as he hugged back.

"Are you ready to get out of here and get something to eat?"

"Hell yeah!" She said as she let him out of the hug and grabbed his hand.

Michael chuckled to himself at her energy as they left the loud music and bright neon of the arcade behind them. The noodle shop was only a few blocks away from the arcade and right across from the park. It was a small and cozy little shop that only had three booths to use but made up for it with a few tables set up outside. "You wanna eat inside or out?" Michael asked as they walked inside.

"We can eat outside. I wanna see the sunset."

"Fine by me. Go ahead and order whatever you want. It's on me."

Mina smiled and looked at the menu before ordering a plate of natto. Michael raised an eyebrow before ordering tempura served with a side of noodles. The two took a seat outside and sat in silence as they took a moment to look at the other. Their eyes locked for some time before Michael broke the silence and said, "You know, I wasn't lying back when I said you have beautiful eyes."

A purple blush erupted across her face before she looked down and said, "You don't have to lie to make me feel better."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked, now serious at her words.

"My eyes, my skin, my horns… None of it is natural. None of it is normal. I'm not pretty. I'm a freak."

"I don't care. You're beautiful to me. If you're a freak, then so am I. Just look." He said, exposing his fangs and pointing to his grey slit pupils.

Her black eyes looked at him and studied his quirk's mutations before Michael offered her his hand and continued, "If you really think that something is wrong with you, then you should meet my uncle from back home in the states. His quirk makes him ugly as hell. Oh, wait, never mind, he just looks like that."

She quietly laughed before taking his hand in hers and saying, "You shouldn't be like that about your uncle."

She ran her thumb across his palm for a moment before looking down at it and gasping. "What happened to you?" She asked as she began to examine the deep cut on his palm.

"Don't worry. It happened when I was sharpening my knives. I dropped it and tried to catch it like a dumbass. Got me pretty damn good, didn't it?" He lied as she fretted over the wound.

"Why do you even have knives like that? You should know better than that." She said with worry.

"Mina. Calm down. I've had much worse than this before. I promise I'll be more careful in the future, okay?" He said with a reassuring smile.

She looked at him seriously for a moment before offering him her pinky and narrowing her eyes. "Pinky promise?"

Michael raised his eyebrows and looked from the pinky to Mina and back again. "You're serious?" He asked the girl.

"Pinky… Promise… Now." She said, putting an edge to each word.

"Yes, ma'am." He conceded as he wrapped his pinky around hers.

Her smile instantly returned, and she huffed at him. "Good. Thank you."

"You're always welcome, hon." He said as the door to the restaurant opened, and the host came out with their food.

Michael paid, and the two thanked him for the food before picking up their chopsticks and began eating. "Wanna bite?" Mina asked, offering him a bit of her natto.

"No, I'm good, hon. I'm not exactly a fan of that stuff." He said, shaking his head.

"This stuff is awesome! How can you not like natto?" She asked.

Farron just shook his head and said, "I can hardly stand the smell, and the taste absolutely kills me. I just don't like it." He said as she pouted at him.

Michael smiled as she poked her tongue at him and continued to eat his fish. "Fine then. Why do you like tempura so much? This is the second time in a week you've eaten it." She asked before popping another bite of her dish in her mouth.

"One, this is actually my third dish in a week. Two, I share dietary preferences with the cottonmouth as well as its abilities. Three, I'm from Louisiana. Fish is a big deal there." He explained.

"Oooh. So that's why Tsu gets nervous when I talk about you." She said with a smile.

"That's just too precious." He said with a grin at the thought.

The two laughed at the idea and finished their food before standing up and cleaning up after themselves. Michael returned the plates and walked back outside, offering Mina his arm. She smiled as she took it in hers, and the two began the walk home. "So, are you excited about the big sports festival this Friday?" Michael asked.

"Definitely. I can't wait to go out and show off my moves to the world. I wanna help people and fight villains. I'm just so ready for this that it's got me burning up!"

"And if we have to fight each other?" He asked with a smile.

"What do you mean, the last event is always randomly chosen." She said, confused.

"It may be random in name, but it's just so happened to be the last event since U.A. started doing the festival. There have always been small tweaks to keep it interesting, sure, but it always comes down to a one vs. one. What if we have to fight each other?" He asked again.

She was silent as she thought to herself and walked arm in arm with him. It took a few minutes before she settled on an answer. "If we end up fighting and you take it easy on me, I'll melt you." She said with an evil smile.

Michael looked down at her and laughed before saying, "It's your funeral, hon."

She smacked his shoulder with her free hand, and the two laughed together as they made their way home. The couple had finally made it back to Mina's front yard as night had fallen and street lights lit the way. "I had a lot of fun today." She said with a small smile.

"Good. So did I."

Mina turned and locked him into a tight hug before saying, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course. I'll wait outside for you, and we'll walk to school like usual, but first, we actually need to go to bed and wake up for that."

She looked up to him with a pout and huffed before letting him go. "Fine."

"You two are still huge nerds!" yelled Kaori from the doorway before breaking into a laughing fit.

Mina began nodding to herself before saying, "Goodnight, Mike."

"Goodnight, Mina."

Turning around to her brother, Mina raised a hand that began to secrete her acid. The liquid fell to the ground and loudly hissed as it melted away patches of grass. "What did I tell you, Kaori!" She yelled as she ran towards her brother with a playful growl.

Michael began the short walk back home and stopped in front of his door. Listening carefully, he could hear his TV in his room, playing some kind of movie. Quietly opening the door, he could pick outlines from one of his collections he brought over from America. He made sure to walk as silently as possible to his room and peeked inside. Himiko was passed out on his bed, still dressed in the sweat top and bottoms he'd let her use. Her hair was still undone and splayed out wildly across his sheets as the blue glow from the movie's scene played out in front of her. He began to undress quietly to not disturb her. Stopping at his black compression shorts, he turned the TV off and slid into bed behind her. After a moment of hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered, "Goodnight, Himiko."

"Goodnight, Michael." She whispered back as they both slipped back into unconsciousness.