I finish up paperwork at my desk and prepare to leave the agency for the night.
"Phew…" I turn my computer off. "That was a long day…"
I rub the back of my neck, glancing at the clock that reads 7pm. My eyes lower at the thought of Touya.
'I haven't seen him in almost three weeks…' I think to myself. 'What could he be doing?'
"Akira," Enji approaches my desk. "We'll be leaving early for the night."
"Hm? But the other sidekicks haven't returned from the evening patrol," I'm surprised.
"It's alright!" Burnin exclaims. "I'll close the office up for the night."
"Let's head out," Enji gestures for me to follow him.
"Uh, okay…" I'm a bit confused.
Because I've been in the office all day, I'm wearing my normal outfit. I quickly put my jacket on and rush after Enji into the elevator. I notice that he's also not in his hero suit.
"Where are we going?" I ask.
"I figured having dinner at my estate would be nice," Enji replies. "You've been awfully busy working hard at the agency, I thought you'd enjoy dinner with us tonight."
'Is this his attempt to bring his family together?' I think to myself.
I figure it's a nice idea, following Enji out of the building after getting off the elevator. He opens the door to the limousine and we climb in. After the twenty minute drive, we arrive at the Todoroki estate, Enji leading me inside.
"I hope I'm not intruding," I say.
"Of course not," Enji insists. "You know you're always welcome to our home."
He opens the front door and allows me in first, both of us taking our shoes off at the entrance. I notice that the inside is dim and the only light on is in the kitchen area.
"Hm?" I'm confused. "Is anyone else here?"
I hope that Enji's effort to have dinner didn't fail, considering that his family isn't accustomed to having dinners together. I make my way over to the kitchen and open the sliding door. To my surprise, Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Shoto are here.
"Surprise!" Fuyumi exclaims.
"Huh?" I'm confused.
"It's your birthday!"
"Did you forget it again this year?" Natsuo teases.
"I...I guess so…" I rub the back of my head.
"You're so busy!"
I glance over to the table and see a cake and plates of food, along with some gifts.
"Come on!" Fuyumi says. "Before the food gets cold! I didn't cook for nothing!"
They carry plates to the dining table and we all settle down to eat. I glance at the food in wonder.
"You guys really shouldn't have…" I shyly say.
"Nonsense!" Fuyumi says. "We weren't going to let you go home by yourself without a birthday dinner."
"Plus, you didn't answer our calls for Christmas yesterday. You loner!" Natsuo teases.
"But...I hate to be such a bother…" I look down.
"You don't have any family to celebrate with…" Shoto says. "But you're family to us."
My brows raise at Shoto's words. It's true. They know I have no blood relatives, and they're the closest to it. We actually haven't celebrated my birthday like this in years. I watch how Natsuo is still uncomfortable around his father, and Shoto also seems to ignore him. Despite this, they try to make the best of this dinner for my sake. My eyes tear up a bit.
"Hm?" Fuyumi and the rest notice.
"Are...you alright?" Shoto asks.
"Are you comfortable?" Enji asks.
"Is the food too spicy?" Natsuo asks.
I close my eyes as tears are at the brim of my lids, looking up with a smile.
"I'm alright," I beam. "I'm just really happy!"
They're all glad to see me pleased and we enjoy the dinner together.
Touya is sitting on the ledge of a window at the League's new hideout. He stares off into the distance in thought while the rest of the members are lounging about this evening.
'She turns 23 today…' Touya thinks to himself about me. 'Should I go see her?'
Touya rests his arm on his raised knee. He drowns the sound of the other members fooling around and chatting. He then recalls a memory of us when we were children on my fifth birthday.
Touya wanders through the atrium, rushing around in search of me. He holds a single rose in his hand. After running for a while, he finally spots me sitting on a bench, facing the pond. He approaches me from behind as I sit quietly.
"Akira," Touya says as he stops in front of me.
"Hm?" I turn to him. "What are you doing here, Touya? It's not my day to visit your home."
He catches his breath before holding a rose out to me.
"Uh...what's that for?" I ask.
"It's for you," Touya replies. "Duh!"
"But...why?" I slowly take the rose.
"You...don't know what today is?"
"What's today?"
"It's your birthday, silly!"
"My...birthday?"
"How don't you know your own birthday!"
"I…" I gaze down at the rose in thought. "I guess because I don't celebrate it."
"You don't celebrate it?" Touya is confused. "Don't you get cake or presents?"
I slowly shake my head, unsure of what he means. Touya stares at me for a moment in thought.
"Touya," Enji approaches us. "I told you to wait."
"Sorry…" Touya replies.
"We have to go through certain protocols when we come to the Commission building. You know this."
"I just couldn't wait."
"I know…" Enji understands as he sees I'm now holding the rose. "Akira...are you ready to leave?"
"Leave?" I look up at him.
"You're coming to our home for dinner."
"What?" Touya is also surprised.
"The President approved for you to celebrate your birthday with us now that you've gained more control over your quirk."
"Really?!" Touya exclaims. "Haha! Yeah!" he jumps with his fist up.
"Well - what do you say, Akira?" Enji asks.
I look up at him in awe. I've never celebrated my birthday, let alone with a family.
"Sure, Mr. Todoroki," I reply.
"You can call me Enji," Enji gives me a small smile.
I'm surprised at how amiable he is, considering I'm not part of his family. I continue to stare up at him in awe as this is so new to me.
"Well, what're you waiting for?" Touya snaps me out of my thoughts. "Come on!"
"Yeah…" I finally respond with a small smile.
Touya takes a hold of my hand as we excitedly head out.
Touya sits in silence, recalling that memory of us. It was before his youngest brother was born, before his disappearance - before everything changed.
'I've gotta see her,' Touya finally decides.
He jumps up and rushes to the door.
"Remember, the boss wants to meet with us tonight!" Twice reminds him. "Yeah! Gotta meet with those Liberation turds again! We're now officers of the Paranormal Liberation Front! Whoa that's a long ass name!"
Touya ignores and slams the door after him.
"You have a good night too!" Twice is sarcastic. "Sheesh."
I arrive at my apartment close to 10pm. After hanging my jacket and purse by the door, I make my way over to the kitchen with my birthday gifts.
'It really was nice of them…' I think as I smile to myself. 'It was almost like back then."
I remember my fifth birthday, the first time I ever celebrated my birthday with the Todoroki family. It was before everything changed.
"Almost…" I mutter.
I switch the kitchen light on, surprised to see something on the table. It's a bouquet of flowers and a gift bag.
"What the…" I'm confused.
I set the gifts on the table, grabbing the gift card that's settled in the bouquet.
"Sorry I couldn't see you in person today…" I read the card. "I hope you enjoyed your day. Happy birthday! Love, Keigo."
I laugh a bit at the thought of him sneaking into my apartment for this. There's a sudden knock at my window and I see Touya.
"Touya," I'm surprised to see him.
I head over to the window and he climbs in after I open it.
"It's a little late for you to be out, isn't it?" I joke.
Touya suddenly responds by holding out a rose to me. I'm surprised at this, blinking at the rose.
"Happy birthday…" Touya says.
"Touya…" I slowly take the rose.
"It's not much, but I just wanted to…" his gaze looks past me.
Touya glances at the bouquet on the kitchen table. By the looks of it, he already knows who it's from. His gaze lowers in disappointment, once again feeling inferior to Keigo.
"Hey…" I get closer to him. "This means a lot to me…" I hold the rose close to my chest. "It really does."
I try to reassure him, gently placing my hand on Touya's cheek. His lidded turquoise eyes meet mine as we stand in silence, exchanging gazes of love. I caress the side of his messy hair as he also leans in closer. No longer able to hold back, Touya then cups my face in his hands and pulls me into a kiss. I'm taken aback, but fall into the kiss and return it. We pull back for a moment, our foreheads almost touching.
"I really should go…" Touya mutters.
"Stay…" I whisper. "Please, stay with me…"
Touya stares down at my loving gaze as I continue to caress his face. Seeing our feelings are truly mutual, our lips reunite. I break away, taking a hold of his hand and leading him to my bedroom. After closing the door after us, we return to kissing. My hand caresses Touya's face, moving down his neck and to his shirt. His hand quickly stops mine and I pull away.
"What's wrong?" I question.
"The patches…" Touya lowers his eyes. "My skin…"
"Touya…" I cup his face.
I caress his face more and plant a kiss on his cheek, holding him close for a moment. My heart aches knowing that he feels self-conscious.
"It doesn't bother me," I reassure him.
Touya enjoys the touch of my skin as I caress my cheek against his. We kick our shoes off as he then backs me on to my bed, climbing on top of me as we continue to kiss. I sit up with him as he kneels in front of me on the bed. He slowly takes his dark blue jacket off, his white t-shirt after. I study the patches, gently gliding my hands on his skin. Touya watches me lean forward to plant kisses on the stitched skin of his neck, kissing my way up to his cheek. The scarred areas are rougher than his undamaged skin, but it doesn't bother me. I know he doesn't care what others think of his appearance since there's practically no way in hiding it; it's me who he feels self-conscious around. We then return to making out. Touya unbuckles his belt while still kissing me, slipping his black jeans off. As I'm sitting up, Touya reaches for the bottom of my sweater and pulls it off. I pull away from our kiss, nervous as I reach to take my bra off. I cover my bare breasts with my arms, looking shyly away as I blush. It's apparent that I've never exposed my body to anyone this intimately, which makes Touya more aroused. He kisses me as he lays me on my back. His hands reach for my skirt, leggings and panties and slip them off. Touya pulls away from me, taking a moment to gaze at my nude body. After all this time, I've grown into a mature woman. My face blushes as he admires every inch of me, scars and all. He then slips his boxers off, both of us now completely naked. I take a moment to gaze at Touya's body, noticing how he's matured into an attractive man, despite the scars. His slender yet toned body with sculpted muscles. He was always a smaller size when we were younger. Now that he's an adult, it's less obvious as his body has matured. Only those who've known him since childhood would know. Touya can see the arousal in my eyes as I gaze at his naked body. Our eyes meet again, the passion apparent to each other. Touya then plants his lips on mine. My hands press against his toned stomach while he massages my breasts with his hands. His lips move down my neck to my breasts, sucking on my nipples briefly before returning to my lips. He spreads my legs as he positions himself to enter me. As he slips inside me, I moan a bit, to which he answers with a moan of his own. Touya savors the feeling of being inside me before beginning with slow thrusts, lowering his face to kiss me. I run my fingers through his hair, pulling in the back of his head closer to deepen our kiss. His thrusting speeds up, our pleasure building up with each thrust. The thought of Touya taking my virginity and making love to me arouses me even more, making me his woman by doing so. Once we're at the verge of our climax, we pull away, gazing into each other's eyes. I moan as I orgasm which makes Touya finish with me, groaning as he clenches his jaw and releases himself inside me. We pant as we stare into each other's eyes. We're no longer the children we remember us to be. We're grown adults now capable of showing our love. This act of intimacy was further proof of our love for one another.