Grim dismissed Teiko to get fitted for a costume. As for me, he kept me in his office for a much anticipated chat. I watched my manager spider his fingers over his forehead. A sigh passed his lips. "I'm sure you think you're doing a good deed, All Might, but you're going to get that girl killed. She's arrogant and would rather take on suicide missions instead of doing a few interviews." From his tone, I judged John thought of those that operated underground as nothing more than uppity heroes with an antisocial streak. "If that bear of a brother of hers can do it, then why can't she?"
I didn't like how he spoke about her, but he was my boss. I had to tolerate a certain amount of idiocy in my superiors, just like any other job. "I could try to talk to her, but I don't think I can weaken her resolve." I admitted, fearful yet admiring of her spirit.
"Do you know why it's important to start heroes young?" I did, but he was going to go on without prompting. "It takes a certain mentality to fight or even kill a villain. If someone starts too old, they're far more likely to get messed up by it. They won't have devotion like yours. They'll face moral dilemmas after every mission. An untrained person is more likely to become a villain. They could act on what they think is right." He sighs and scratches his head. "I don't say this to upset you, but as a warning. Keep this girl at arm's length."
I didn't believe him. Why would I? Then again…I thought of how entirely she'd changed. She was selling her farm and only took a small suitcase of possessions with her. Thanks to my presence in her home, she had become homeless. I felt a small twinge of guilt, followed by a far stronger twinge of fury at Endeavor. I'd given him no reason to hate me. I couldn't have possibly comprehended how a brother became protective over their sisters. Maybe tonight we'd speak of it, if we were home at the same time. "What job would you like me to do, today?" I asked Grim in an attempt to close the conversation.
He took the hint and moved on. "Today you're going to find a car thief."
I was debriefed and spent the next twelve hours of my day doing what heroes do. I watched, waited, exploded in a flurry of action, and delivered the culprit to the officers. I almost could have done it in my sleep. I was on my way to the secretary's office to report my testimony when a tall woman in a suit caught my eye. It was like many others. Skin tight, for stealth – or so the manufacturers advertised. I personally had other reasons to like it.
"You know what stinks about being a man? If your thoughts turn too naughty, you're in a skin tight suit." She stated so brazenly that I felt my entire face grow red. Had I been that obvious? Surely there had to be a way to play it all off. I looked over the synthetic burgundy fabric, her dark boots with metal soles and matching bracers. I assumed them to be made of Invar, a popular choice among fire-based quirk users. She, of course, pushed it further. "I might need your help getting out of this thing when we get home."
"You're trying to kill me," I muttered as my mind slid down a treacherous slope.
"Nah, that's Enji's job. My task is to be bait."
Suspicion had me questioning her motives yet again. I belatedly recalled her task with the Shadowsnail. "When do you begin work?"
"Tomorrow night. I'm supposed to switch my schedule over in the next twenty four hours."
"I could take tomorrow off. I have a lot of unused days off." My quest to become the Symbol of Peace wouldn't suffer from a single day of relaxation.
"What exactly do a man and woman do during a party where nobody slumbers?" The way she said it painted a picture. One I'd very much like to be a part of, but had no idea how to get there.
"I'm sure there's a pillow fight." I said innocently enough, playing off her advances. This could only end terribly.
"We can't have a non-slumber party without one," she agreed. We both turned and headed out of the Grim Agency. At my instance, we picked up take-out yakisoba to eat at home. I carried the family sized box and grinned with reason. If we didn't sleep… I felt my heart thump faster and had to remind myself of the full-body spandex. Now was not the time to think like that. I'll admit to a spring in my step as we walked to the elevator and rode it up to the apartment. I reminded myself repeatedly that she could be teasing me and that all of her words could amount to nothing. My hope and nerves refused to be so easily quelled.
We sat on the couch with a pair of chopsticks each and shared the overlarge bowl. Neither of us was in the mood to do dishes. I kept the TV off, not wanting anything to distract from the mood. I registered how she sat closer than normal. Weeks of small talk had led to a single date where her house had exploded. Now we were under the same roof. Was this too fast? In my line of duty, I saw how men and women could die from a single misstep. A dodge too slow or swiftly drawn gun could end everything in the blink of an eye.
"Are you alright, All Might?" She used the same rhyme. Teiko leaned back and released her half captured hair from its ponytail. My mind was a flurry of indecision.
"I am. Why do you ask?"
"You've been staring at me since we left the agency, and you aren't smiling." I felt the accusations fall precisely on the truth. "I'm sorry you've had to put up with me so much. The minute I'm paid, I'll be out of your hair – as voluptuous and welcoming as it is."
I shied to think of her on her own. "You can stay with me longer than that. You could get a feel for the city and find an appropriate place for you. That'd be better than taking up residence somewhere just because it happens to be available at the right time."
"I'm not your problem," she assured me, as if I ever thought of her as a burden. "You've done enough for me. I'd look into moving in with Enji, but I don't think his house could survive the night. I have no idea how our house made it as long as it did."
"If you have to choose between homelessness, Enji, and me, I hope you pick me." I declared softly.
Apparently it was the right thing to say. Before I knew what was happening, her lips were on mine. My grin crumpled and body turned, keeping her as in front of me as possible, despite the fact that we were sitting beside one another. I followed her lead as best as I could, unable to help but feel like a blind man being led over a tightrope by a master balancer. One moment we were sitting comfortably. The next, she'd managed to straddle me. I managed to find myself over and under thinking everything possible. Was I breathing too much? Did my hands go on her hips, or her head? Was I supposed to keep them at my sides? How would I know when she had enough? I needed someone to tell me these things.
Teiko pulled her face away first. Too soon, she drew her chest from mine. "You're stiff as a board," she noted. My immediate reaction was embarrassment. I assumed the worst. Awareness of my body caught up to me. Not there. What could she have meant? "If you don't want me like that, all you have to do is say no," she chuckled. "I'm not going to make it weird."
Too late. "I've never done this before," I said in a low voice, embarrassed by my lack of experience.
"Me neither." I couldn't help but feel this were a lie. Something must have given me away, for she read it on my face. "Really," she said again, her brows lifted earnestly. "I'm just following my instincts."
"Mine appear to be hiding," I joked, hoping she'd understand.
"We don't have to go any farther than a kiss," she promised me. "I've wanted to do that for a while, but now I'm done taking advantage of you. I'll be a good guest now." She plants her feet on the couch and begins to stand. Out of reflex, I grabbed her hand and pulled her back down.
"You don't need to leave." I said gently, studying her face. I knew that in mind she'd see obvious longing, but I didn't care. I liked to believe I saw the same desire in her eyes. This time it was I who closed the distance between us. I caught her in a tight embrace and reveled at the feel of a woman in my arms. I felt a sense of security mixed with an overwhelming urge to protect her. Could all of this have happened yesterday, if not for Endeavor?
She seemed happy to sit in my hold. Her arms slid on either side of my neck, as the rest of me was too bulky for her to reciprocate the gesture. It seemed that we'd sat still for hours before I felt strong enough to begin a kiss of my own. I slid my pointer finger beneath her chin and gently pulled it off my shoulder. We stared at one another, both of our desires obvious to the other. Reassured by her willingness, my lips touched hers.
We spent the rest of our time wide awake. I had never known hours to fly by so swiftly. For the first time in a long while, I considered that there may be more to life than hero work. While saving others and ensuring their lives were secure filled me with satisfaction, I had always longed for connections with others. I had experienced that comradery of a colleague, the strict discipline of a teacher, and even something identical to a mother's love, but this was unparalleled to any of them.
Come morning, we were both in the bed. Even with my quirk of One For All, my chest puffed with each breath. I wiped a thin sheen of sweat from my forehead. Teiko lay with her head on my chest, her eyes heavy with sleep. I curled my arm protectively over her, wanting to keep her close for as long as possible. She snored again, but I was too tired to care. I tumbled into unconsciousness not long after her.
My dreams were of fire. They began pleasantly enough, with a soft campfire, but escalated to a raging forest fire well beyond our ability to stop. I tried to use my quirk to alter the weather, but found it was entirely ineffective in the imaginary land.
When I awakened, the afternoon was nearly gone. "All Might," Teiko whispered. From her tone, it might not have been the first time. I smiled down at her, warmth flooding my chest as I looked at her disheveled hair and bare shoulders.
"Yes?"
"You grabbed onto me tightly. Were you having a bad dream?" I was touched that she cared and worried that I may have hurt her with my strength. My eyes scanned her shoulders for bruising.
"It was nothing." I assured her, loosening my grip. She crawled onto my chest, pulled free of the blanket, and straddled my hips. Her face was curious. I could see her warring with the instinct to ask more. She leaned in and butted her forehead against mine, then delivered another sweet kiss. "If you say so, I'll believe you." She drew off me and headed to the bathroom. I appreciated her from behind, my eyes roaming her figure without restraint.
"And just where do you think you're going?" I knew, but it was more fun to joke.
"Couldn't tell ya," she called back, rounding the corner to my bathroom. I heard the faucets shift and the shower pour water over her. I knew that a true hero would never let a woman shower alone, and was quick to hurry out of the tangle of bedding and join her.
We didn't sleep one more time, dried off, and she cooked a glorious dinner. I couldn't remember the last time I felt so full in both body and spirit. Perhaps it had been back in my days with Nana, though in an entirely different way. I looked at the suit that marked a change in her life and inspired quite the change in my own. The moment we were done eating, I wanted nothing more than to strip her and start again. Unfortunately for us both, she was more responsible than that. "I've got to go to work," she chuckled. Her hand nudged mine away from her chest and grabbed it in her significantly smaller grasp.
I couldn't help but feel like a boy who'd been given a new game. I wanted to explore all the levels. Some I wanted to revisit time and time again for the sheer satisfaction of doing them perfectly. She stared levelly at me, then offered a playful smirk. I wondered how someone could keep calm under so much change. "Good luck on your first shift."
"Thanks. Have a good sleep." I nodded, fully intending to. She walked out the door. I felt like she took a piece of me with her. Despite my body's wishes, I barely slept. The day dawned, but she didn't return. I longed to reach for my remote and have someone on the TV tell me where she was or why she hadn't returned, but knew it'd be useless. She had been firm on her refusal of televised cases. I felt a twinge of regret at that. I couldn't show her off. Barely anyone would know of Sandspark and her deeds.