Chapter 2 - A Long-Awaited Reunion

A loud thud and the crash of the dumpster lid marked the last of the boxes Tsukiko had to remove from her new apartment to officially be considered moved in. She had not stepped foot back in her apartment in Mustafa for the last ten months. She returned to Hosu city to finish closing her office at the local Hero counseling center a few days after the incident with the sludge villain and had just returned earlier that morning.

With a sigh, the young woman wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of one of her slender hands. Slowly making her way back up the stairs to her 3rd-floor apartment she stopped to glance out at the evening sunset over the building tops through a window in the stairwell.

"What a beautiful sight…" Tsukiko thought to herself as she began ascending the staircase again. Feeling a sudden vibration against her leg, she pulled her phone out of the pocket of her sweat pants. "Oh! A text from Nemuri."

Quietly turning down the hallway from the staircase towards her apartment she didn't notice as she nearly ran face-first into a tall slender man making his way the opposite way down the hallway. Tsukiko looked up to catch the man dodge her path with incredible ease. Looking back towards the man she noticed his long unkempt black hair and the slouched way he carried himself. Something seemed awfully familiar about the man.

"Sorry…" Tsukiko called back down the hall, trying to apologize to the man. In return, all she'd received was the wave of his hand as he made his turn down the hall to the staircase. "What a strange man…" She muttered to herself turning to continue back to her apartment.

Finally taking a moment to read the text she'd received from Nemuri.

"What are you doing tonight?" Nemuri had asked.

"Nothing planned. Just finished unpacking." Tsukiko sent her reply as she opened the door to her small studio apartment.

For her, it was just enough space. She had a small closet in the wall next to the bed that held her minimal wardrobe. A large window looking out at the city, on the adjoining wall next to the bed ran down the wall into the living room where a small staircase separated the levels by only a couple of feet. A small half wall on the other side of the room separated the living space from her smaller kitchen.

"Come with me to this event for Hizashi, please? It will be so much better if you're there too!" Nemuri practically begged Tsukiko to accept the invitation. "Wait… You JUST finished unpacking?!"

"What's the attire?" Tsuki responded to her friend's desperate attempt to get her out of her apartment for the night and scolding.

"Black Tie…" Nemuri's response was brief at first.

"We have to be there by 8…"

"I'll pick you up at 7:30."

Tsukiko couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head at the whirlwind that was her friend Nemuri.

"It's a date," Tsukiko responded, tossing her phone onto the couch before ascending into the bedroom and entering the bathroom through the door on the wall opposite the large window. At least she had time to get ready.


7:30 arrived sooner than the young hero had expected. Applying the finishing touches to her hair, she heard her phone begin to buzz repeatedly on the countertop. Swiping her finger quickly across the screen she answered the call and placed the call on speaker.

"Hey, I'm just about done getting ready. I'll be down in a moment." Tsukiko answered, grabbing her clutch and giving herself one more once over in the mirror.

She wore a tight, form-fitting black dress that hugged her every curve. The cut of the dress coming nearly down to her navel, the dress was just on the right side of scandalous. There were gold floral patterns laced through the lower lengths of the skirt of the dress ending just above her knees. Quickly she pulled her black strappy stilettos on, on her way out the door, stopping briefly to lock it.

With the grace of feline Tsukiko turned and strutted her way back down the hallway and out to the front of her building to meet with her friend. Entering the lobby Tsukiko was easily able to spot her friend waiting for her. Nemuri's deep purple hair, a definite contrast to the vibrant red dress she was wearing.

"Hey, Nemuri!" Tsukiko nearly shouted as she wrapped the woman in a soft hug. "It's been so long. I'm so glad to be back home."

"Tsuki!" Nemuri exclaimed, her normally loud voice echoing through the empty lobby. "Shame on you for not visiting more!"

Tsukiko chuckled at her friend's vain attempts to scold her. Her soft giggles pouring into tear bursting laughter the more serious Midnight would get with her scolding. Midnight waving her finger at Tsukiko was how she knew when she got super serious.

"Nemuri!" Tsukiko interrupted her. "I'm sorry I was not better at staying in touch." Tsukiko smiled her sweetest smile.

"I hate you…" Nemuri pouted, unable to resist the amount of adorable energy in Tsukiko's smile. Crossing her arms she turned away from her.

"Oh come on Nemuri!" Tsukiko protested.


The women's quick reunion in the lobby of the building turned into more than a quick hello. By the time they caught a taxi and made it to the event, the party had been well underway, with most of the guests having already arrived.

"We have to find Hizashi," Nemuri turned to Tsukiko as the pair entered the event hall. "He's so excited to know you're finally home!"

Tsukiko looked around the event hall briefly as she was dragged away by Nemuri's arm looped around her own. The hall was large in size with golden yellow curtains hanging from pillars that ran along both sides of the room.

"Hizashi's station sure knows how to throw a party." Tsukiko chuckled to Nemuri, who was focused on scanning the crowd.

"Come on, Tsuki," Nemuri said, pulling her off in the direction of the bar, they had passed when they were headed in the opposite direction. Tsukiko was only briefly surprised by her friends' sudden change in direction, aware enough of the movements that she didn't stumble once.

"Midnight! Chill out." Tsukiko rolled her eyes at her stopping and walking towards the bar. Leaning back against the bar on her elbows, she looked back to Nemuri with an eyebrow slightly lifted.

"Fine, but I'm at least texting him that we're at the bar." Nemuri huffed defeatedly. Taking a spot next to Tsukiko to wait for their friends to find them, and probably enjoy a drink.


By the time Hizashi found the girls at the bar, they were both about halfway into their second drinks. A slight pink hue gracing their cheekbones made the pair even more enticing. Any man would recognize the beauty of the women in front of them.

"YEEAAAHHH!" Hizashi exclaimed, pointing to the girls with his finger guns, rocking each arm back and forth on his approach. "You ladies look stunning!"

"Mic!" Tsukiko smiled, wrapping the Hero and Radio host in a gentle hug. "It's been too long. How have you been?"

"Tsuki my dear, It will be so great to have you back! These guys have been no fun at all!" Hizashi groaned.

"These guys?" She internally questioned just as she caught a glimpse of the man standing behind Hizashi. The slender man had long black hair, the upper half tied in a bun, and she recognized him immediately.

"Shota…" Tsukiko stepped around Hizashi to step up to the man behind him. "Heeeeyyyy, you." She ducked down just a bit to intercept his view of the floor.

"Evening, Ms. Masanori." He replied in an uninterested tone.

"Ouch, Shota." Tsukiko stepped back, straightening her dress as she stood up straight. "You really think that even after all this time you still need to be so formal?" She shook her head.

Tsukiko grinned her usual devilish grin before she wrapped her arm around Shota's, pulling him over to the bar with them. Forcing him into the center of their group like she always used to when they were teenagers. Still to this day, he hated when she would do this.


As the night began to come to a close each of them had enjoyed copious amounts of alcohol. Some more than others. Nemuri being escorted home by Hizashi, left Shota and Tsukiko deciding their own routes home.

"What a fun night…" Tsukiko sighed happily. She'd already begun walking towards her apartment but was surprised when she noticed that Shota was following her. "Ya know, I can get home just fine from here. You don't have to walk with me." She smiled back to him over her shoulder, eyes heavy-lidded from alcohol consumption.

"I was going this way anyway," Shota responded, the same disinterested tone that he always used. If it was not for the faint shade of pink across his cheeks, she would have thought he was completely sober.

"Is that so…" Tsukiko turned to face him, walking backward down the street. "And here I was hoping you were just waiting to get me alone tonight." She teased him with a coy smile.

Shota showed no response to her impetuous teasing. She had always been like this with him, and honestly, sometimes it made him downright annoyed, not that she could ever tell behind his ever stoic expression.

"You don't even care that I'm home do you?" Tsukiko pouted with a huff, stopping at the door to her apartment building. "Well, that's just fine. Good night, Mr. Aizawa."

Tsukiko knew that he would know that she wasn't truly upset with him by her words. She never had been one to understand boundaries too well and never called the people in her life by their family names.

Walking through the lobby of her apartment building she could still hear Shota's footsteps up to the elevator. "What are you doing?" She asked, stopped at the elevator doors, pressing the button to summon the carriage.

"This is my building." Shota's response was short but still surprised her all the same. The ding of the elevator snapping her thoughts back to the present.

Upon entering the Elevator, Shota was the first to select his floor leaving Tsukiko even further surprised to see that he lived on her floor. Slowly the pieces began to click into place and she'd realized that he was the man she nearly ran into in the hall earlier that day.

"Shota, you ass!" Tsuki shouted and unleashed a flurry of playful smacks against Shota's chest. "You could have said something earlier!"

In her drunken spirits, she continued to jokingly strike at him until he grabbed her wrists to get her to stop. "Ms. Masanori, I am going to have to ask that you stop that." His voice was demanding, this was when she looked up at him.

Neither sure who moved first, but when she looked up at him; eyes heavy-lidded in intoxication, her lower lip sucked between her teeth, like a plump fruit; that was all he could take. Within an instant he had her pinned between him and the wall of the elevator. His mouth immediately taking possession of hers, his tongue hungrily exploring her mouth. With her hands pinned by her head against the wall, she slid her right leg up the side of his leg to wrap around his leg, gently brushing the inside of his leg as she slid the outer side of her foot up and down.

She could feel the deep rumble in his chest as a result of her actions more than she could hear it. His mouth moved to plant rough kisses along her jaw to the flesh of her neck where he'd nip roughly at her skin before covering the area with the heat of his kiss. A gentle purr escaping her chest when she felt his hot breath on her ear.

"Kiku…" He breathed into her ear, sending shivers down her spine. He had moved to pin both of her hands above her head under one of his large hands, she always had had small wrists. His free hand was now traversing the valley between her breasts, the low cut of her dress giving him almost full access to her body…

Ding!

The elevator had come to a stop, and both had snapped out of the lust-filled haze that had overcome them. Pulling her hands free Tsukiko roughly pushed Shota away from her, immediately rushing for her apartment. The red in her face, no longer a result of the alcohol.


In Tsukiko's dreams that night, fueled with the alcohol she'd consumed, the scene was the same as always only heavily fogged. She was there again, that fateful day that All For One nearly killed All Might. The scene is always the large crater that was left as the aftermath. All Might, and Sir Nighteye lying motionless in pools of their own blood. Her own body pale at her feet in a pool of her own blood.

Of course, this wasn't how that night had actually ended. All Might and Sir Nighteye were both alive and well for the most part. However, that was how it felt to her. The intense trauma she suffered at the hands of All For One had been a harrowing experience.

Sweat poured out of her every pore while she tossed and turned in her sleep as she did every night. The nightmares eventually overwhelmed her desire for sleep when she jerked into an upright position in her bed, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Huffing to catch her breath as she became aware of her surroundings again, she ran a hand through her sweat-drenched hair. Her white bangs sticking to the moist skin on her face. To be honest the nightmares had not gotten that bad in a while. She expected that all the emotions of her reunion with her high school friends had caused her to get overwhelmed by her anxiety. This was part of the reason she didn't try to see her friends when she first moved home.

"I hope Shota didn't hear that…" Her first thought left her chuckling and shaking her head. He may have lived on her floor but there was no way he was actually next door. Looking over at her clock, it was 4:30 in the morning. "Might as well go for a run."

Quickly she pulled on a tight pair of running pants, throwing a zip-up sweater over the tank top she was already wearing. "He called me Kiku." She thought as she laced up her running shoes. Kiku had been Shota's specific nickname for her that only he used, and even then he only ever used it in very special conditions.

Deciding to put it out of her mind, she exited her apartment, determined to run away from the nightmares keeping her awake at this hour.