"So you and Leinei are participating in that raid on tuesday?" Fuyumi asks as Reina brings a piece of tofu to her lips. "That has to be really scary."
"Not really, it isn't my first raid," Reina assures her, smiling. "And I'll be there with Lei to make sure she's okay. I managed to talk Fatgum into putting her on one of the outside teams between me and Ryukyu. She'll have her classmates."
"But still. What if something happens?"
"It's bound to happen. We're going against villains. But she's smart, and I have my stupid awesome quirk, so we won't be too bad off," she continues. "That's like worrying about your guys' dad every time he goes out."
"That's very true," the woman chuckles. "Maybe after the raid is finished, we could all have dinner together. I'm sure Dad would love to see everyone together again."
"Maybe. He and I haven't really seen each other since Leinei was in the hospital. And seeing Lil Sho again would be fun. How's your mom doing?"
"A lot better actually. Shoto started visiting her more in the hospital when he had the time. Dad's gone a time or two as well, and brought her those flowers she likes. I guess having her family back is helping."
"Really? That's amazing to hear, Yumi. D'you think Enji will let her come home soon?"
"I hope so. It would be wonderful if it was in time for Christmas. It's been so long since we had one together."
"Maybe my family could join you," Reina chuckles. "I think it would be good for Lei."
"Oh it would be wonderful! Mom asks about her all the time. Why didn't you tell us they were in the same hospital together? Why was Leinei there to begin with? We could have helped you, of course. Especially since we know it can get ex-"
"Our guardians took care of it," the red haired woman assures her friend. "And it's a really long story. She's doing a lot better and that's all that matters. And I will definitely drag her here a day or two after the raid so we can all have dinner together."
"Alright…just know we do love you guys and miss you both. You're always welcome here."
"Thanks, Yumi." Reina brushes her hands off after setting her cup down. Fuyumi sits up and starts clearing the table. "Do you need-"
"No, no, I've got it," she assures. "Oh, do you mind taking that extra plate of tofu to the other room, and some of the rice? I think Touya would like some."
"Of course, right away," she replies, starting to make the small plate and bowl to take with her. She stands up as Fuyumi takes some of the dishes to the kitchen, tracing the familiar path to the small shrine/memorial in one of the smaller rooms. "Hey Touya," she greets as she kneels on the cushion in front of it and places the plate and bowl right in front of the picture of the white haired and blue eyed boy she remembered.
"I know, I haven't come to see you for years and I come to bug you twice in a few weeks. Leinei should be by soon, I remember how much you guys enjoyed spending time together as kids. She's grown up a lot, but you probably already know that."
She sighs softly, bowing her head as she closes her eyes. She just couldn't shake this feeling in her stomach, that something was about to happen. Not to mention, she hadn't heard from Atsuhiro in over two weeks, which was concerning to her to say the least. He always found a way before to make sure to let me know he was okay…
"Do me a favor, okay, Touya?" she says softly, looking back at the picture. "Watch over her, and make sure she doesn't end up like me, alright?"
Leinei yawns as she stretches her arms over her head and leans back in her desk chair, feeling her back pop. A soft groan leaves her throat afterwards, correcting herself in her chair and tapping the tip of her pen on the desk as she stares at the essay in front of her. Classwork doesn't stop just because there's a yakuza raid soon after all. I wish it had. Midnight's essays fry my brain…
"What're you doing?"
"Seven fucking hells," Leinei yelps, not having heard Katsuki make his way into her room and peer over her shoulder. She turns in her chair, shoving his shoulder playfully as he smirks at her. "A little warning next time? Please? My brain's already fried enough from the essay we have and trying to focus on the raid coming up."
"Overdoing it again?" he asks, taking the hand with the pencil still tightly grasped in it and unwinding her fingers. "Kirishima is going with you, isn't he?"
"Yeah. Izu, Uraraka, and Asui too," she replies, letting him gently pull the pencil from her hand. "How's everything going with you and Shochan?"
"It's been going," he assures her, using his thumb to rub slow circles across her palm. "I..wanted to do something to make up for the other night. When I yelled at you."
"Not the first time you've had an emotional outburst," she shrugs. "Won't be the last. I just wish you'd actually talk to me, like we discussed, rather than get upset-"
"Will you shut up and let me cook for you or what?"
"...depends on what you made."
"It's a surprise."
"Oh really?" She grins and tilts her head, crossing her legs at the knees. "What?"
"I.." His eyes widened. "What the fuck do you mean what?"
"Well obviously you made something that I would love, because y'know all of the work study stuff leaves me starving."
"Are you really trying to finagle food out of me?"
"Oh my, I would never! But you know what I have been craving?" she asks, inspecting her nails casually as his jaw tightens. "I think mapo tofu sounds really good."
"..."
"And a sea salt caramel cheesecake. But I'll take one of the two, since you're being so nice about it."
His face flushes at the smallest of smirks on her lips, the mischievous sparkle in her eyes. She stands up, one smooth motion of her arm turning the chair towards the desk and pushing it so the arms sit flush against the wood and metal. He swallows the lump growing in his throat, watching the way her fingers tap the back of it, one falling right after the other before picking back up and starting the process again.
"I never thought I'd see you speechless again, Katsu," she tells him, her shoulders relaxing as her smirk grows into a genuine smile. "And I'll eat whatever you make. I'm just glad we can finally spend some time together."
Her cheeks turn pink as he places his hands on either side of her face, a small smile tugging at his lips as he leans forward and presses them to her forehead. She lets out a soft sigh of contentment, reaching up and covering his hands with hers as they stand there. I've missed his forehead kisses…
"Did you want to sleep in here tonight?" she asks, his hands leaving her face to wrap around her waist and pull her to him. He nods, burying his face in her hair and inhaling. He gags as a small clump gets into his mouth, Leinei laughing as he has to pull away and pick a purple strand or two out. She covers her mouth to hide her giggles, earning a small glare from Katsuki that quickly turns to a grin as he starts to chuckle himself.
"I-I'm sorry, I don't know why that's so fu-funny to me," she gets out, one hand pressed to her stomach as she continues to laugh, his smile softening the longer it goes on. "Give-give me a minute to calm down…"
"Take as long as you need," he tells her, using one finger to stroke her cheek. "Oh, and change into something comfortable then meet me outside, alright?"
"Alright."
About ten minutes later, Leinei makes her way outside, her hair in a loose bun and herself dressed in one of his hoodies and a slightly oversized pair of sweatpants. He did say comfortable, thinking to herself as she stepped onto the porch. She glances around, not seeing her boyfriend and starting to get antsy.
"Katsu?" she calls, walking to the steps and leaning forward just enough to look each way.
"Over here," he calls, his voice coming from the right hand side of the building. She looks towards that way again, seeing him waiting patiently by one of the trees. "Hurry up, before it gets darker and we get yelled at by Aizawa."
"I'm coming," she replies, walking down the steps quickly and jogging over to him. "What are we doing?" she adds as he starts to lead her through the small path he carved out.
"You'll see," he assures her. "All Might showed me and Deku this place during training. It's pretty spacious."
"So what? You're trying to spar with me now? Is that why you told me to dress comfy?" she teases, grabbing the back of his shirt to keep up with him.
"No, I just wanted a nice night with my girlfriend," he replies, looking over his shoulder as they near the space he was talking about. "And to apologize still."
"Uh huh."
"I am!"
"I know. I believe you."
"Why do you sound so patronizing saying it like that?"
"I dunno. Guess that's just the way you took it."
The space he was talking about was a spacious clearing similar to the one Aizawa trains her and Shinso in. Scorch marks and trampled grass marks the space despite the decent sized blanket in the middle of it with two bento boxes and water bottles sitting on it. Katsuki gestures to it, not looking at her as his face flushes.
"I couldn't throw more together without it looking weird," he tells her sheepishly. "Kaminari was bugging me enough about what I was doing, and he would have told you if I actually told him the truth. I wanted it to be a bit of a surprise after the other day."
"It's wonderful, Katsu," she assures him, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "I've never actually been on a picnic before."
"Are..are you serious?"
"Well, I mean, I did when I was younger," she replies, shrugging as they sit on the blanket. "With Aunt Rei and the others, but they weren't that frequent and it was more to run our energy out after school."
"Aunt Rei?" His brow creases as he tilts his head. "I thought you didn't have that much family-"
"Oh no, I mean Shochan's mom. I told you before that Reina and I used to spend a lot of time at their house, didn't I?"
"You just said that you spent a lot of time with his older siblings. Never really gave that many specifics," he tells her, passing her one of the boxes as he crosses his legs. "Now that I really think about it, you haven't told me that much about your past beyond Shiketsu and your, um, the attempt."
"Yeah, I really don't like talking about my past before my parents' passed very much. I mean, did you want me to tell you?"
"I'd like to know more about you so yes."
"Alright. Well…My parents were friends of Aunt Rei's before she married Endeavor," she starts, shrugging. "At least that's what Reina said. Anyway, I started going over when I was about three years old, might have gone earlier, but who knows. Shochan was two I think at the time, and the others were a bit older."
"Fuyumi and Natsuo, right?"
"Hey, you remembered," she laughs, nudging him as they eat. "But yeah. There was a third sibling, but he passed away a long time ago, right before my parents did." Her stomach twists as she says the words, but they weren't a lie.
"Didn't the jackass older brother mention him? At the mall."
"Briefly yeah," she assures. "Touya. He was the oldest. Had a fire quirk like Endeavor. Out of all of them, he was the one I was closest to," she tells him, not looking at him as he eats, listening attentively. "He was kinda mean to Reina, but was always nice to me. I think it's because I was so young. I remember one time he shoved her on the ground and she popped back up and punched him so hard she broke his nose."
Katsuki goes to laugh and chokes on some of his food, coughing into his elbow as Leinei laughs. He sets the box down and grabs one of the water bottles, drinking about half of it to help the choking. She rubs his back.
"Laugh too hard?"
"Just a bit," he says hoarsely, clearing his throat. "I bet he stopped after that."
"They kinda kept them apart after that," she says absentmindedly. "About that time, Shoto's quirk manifested and Endeavor started training him and my sister, so it was just me and the oldest three playing together. Aunt Rei would sometimes take us out to different parts of the property for little outside getaways, and Touya and I would sneak away to play together.
'Funnily enough, it was when I found out he died that my quirk manifested," she says softly, her voice thickening. "My family thought I was quirkless, because it didn't manifest when I turned four like everyone else's."
"That explains a lot. So he was like your first love or something?"
"Yeah," she nods, looking at her food. "He was, and I miss him a lot."
Katsuki looks away, his stomach twisting as he regrets asking now. It makes sense now, why she acted the way she did. Why am I getting jealous of a dead guy?
"Hey," she says softly, cupping his cheek and bringing him back. "Hey. I'm mostly over him, promise. I…" She seems to choke a bit on her words, her hand trembling against his skin. "I'm with you. Touya was a childhood crush, those come and go. I…I love you."
His eyes widened hearing those words come from her, the way his heart skipped making him breathless. She's chewing the inside of her cheek after saying it, using her free hand to wipe away the feeling of tears growing in her eyes. She takes a shaky breath and smiles at him, seeing the way his face alternates through various shades of pink.
"I-I-it's okay if you don't want to say it back. It's understandable," she starts, going to pull her hand away. He grabs her wrist to stop her, hearing the hurt in her voice. He pulls her hand to his lips, pressing them to her palm as he closes his eyes.
"I love you too," he says softly, his words muffled by her skin. "Dumbass."
"You sound like you're going to cry," she laughs, her own voice breaking.
"Shut up!"
"Hehe.." She sniffles and leans forward, pressing her forehead to his as she closes her eyes. "Please…don't leave me."
"Why would I leave you, dumbass?"
"I dunno," she murmurs, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Just…just a fear of mine."
"Alright," he replies, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. He kisses the side of her head, letting his lips linger. "I won't leave so long as you don't."
"Deal…"