It's a much quieter fourth of July than Cathleen is used to.
Hanabi started only a few days ago, and none of the firework festivals today are in Mustafu. And even if they were, there's still a difference between a show put on by a committee planned well ahead of time and how people in America fire off their own rockets and firecrackers for the hell of it.
At the very least Cathleen won't spend the entire day jumping at ever bang on the off chance it's a gunshot.
No, it's a quiet July fourth. Spent in the loving embrace of her girlfriend as they celebrate their shared birthday.
Izuku is full of energy, running around the apartment and wishing both Cathleen and Inko a happy birthday every time he sees them.
"I'm exhausted just watching him," Inko says with a quiet laugh. "How do children do it?"
"It's because of how small they are," says Cathleen. "All of their energy is condensed. Like geese."
"No, Katsuki is a goose. Get too close when he's feeling territorial, and he bites you. Izuku is more like a puppy."
"My point still stands."
Inko laughs like chimes and pecks Cathleen on the cheek.
Izuku runs into the room again. "Cake!"
"Not until after dinner," Inko says.
"I had wondered about that wonderful smell coming from the kitchen," Cathleen says as Izuku pouts.
"It's something new I'm trying. I haven't really bothered with cakes in the past, but I figure you're used to having them."
Cathleen smiles. "You don't need an excuse if you want cake." Inko looks away, blushing furiously at being caught. Cathleen laughs, reaching an arm around her and lightly squeezing Inko's shoulder. "Don't worry. I want cake too."
"You shouldn't enable me so much," says Inko.
"But you're so damn cute!" Cathleen says, lightly tapping the tip of Inko's nose.
"Oh, so now I'm the puppy."
"You said it, not me."
"When do I get to give Ms. Bate her gift?" Izuku says, not at all visibly reacting to the two of them bantering.
"After the cake," says Inko, smiling at him.
Izuku trembles in place. "But I wanna give it to her now!"
"The anticipation will make it better," Cathleen says.
Izuku tilts his head back and groans, wandering back to his room.
(Cathleen does have to admit though, that the dress Izuku found for her is very nice.)
The time difference between Los Angeles and Mustafu is annoying sometimes, but there are some certain benefits to it.
Namely, that Cathleen Bate is always awake 'earlier' than her girlfriend.
Inko is hardly what most people would call a morning person—especially to someone like Cathleen, who's used to getting up early from her training. But for Cathleen, it's still just past noon when Inko is waking up. She's up and alert and has been for some time.
Usually, this would be a few hours before their weekly call, specifically to give Inko the chance to wake up and get her brain working. But now that Cathleen can visit Inko and Izuku whenever she wants? A whole new world of opportunity is available to her.
Namely, Cathleen has a kitchen all to herself.
Inko's been a big help, showing her where everything is, explaining what purpose different ingredients have so she can adjust recipes to her own taste, that sort of thing. And honestly, Cathleen thinks it's paying off. She's never been bad at cooking, far from it, but she's finally stopped feeling the need to triple and quadruple check the recipe to make sure she's got the right measuring spoon.
She moves the pan off the heat with a smile.
Now it's time for her favorite part.
Creeping into Inko's room is not at all what Cathleen thought she would ever use her stealth training for, but she can't picture a better use of it now that this is how her life is turning out.
Inko's long hair is a mess, her green locks clumping and sticking out every which way. But even so, she looks so peaceful that Cathleen finds herself enraptured once more.
She brushes a finger against Inko's cheek, moving some loose strands of hair away. Inko groans quietly.
"Good morning," Cathleen says softly. "I made breakfast."
"…mm," says Inko, shifting to pull the blanket over her more. "Cathy… when I said I wanted you to come over in person more… I thought you knew I don't get up early."
Cathleen leans over her and plants a gentle kiss on her temple. "I made hashbrowns."
"Ugh," says Inko. "My one weakness. I'll get you next time, Cathy."
She's out of the bedroom and seated at the table in only a few minutes, not that Cathleen was worried. Having the chance to cook for each other has gotten both of them rather invested in the other's cuisine. Cathleen seriously doubts that Inko is going to switch over to hamburgers and apple pies, but she's not going to turn down Cathleen's.
"Here," Cathleen says, pouring a cup of tea for Inko. "Just how you like it."
"I will be the judge of that," Inko says, but the way her body melts at Cathleen's words gives her away. Inko takes the cup from Cathleen and raises it to her lips. "Mm. Perfect."
Cathleen lightly bats her shoulder. "You haven't even had it yet!"
"Yes, but it smells perfect."
"Inko!"
Izuku sits quietly at the table, surrounded by mountains of books, writing down notes in his notebook without making a sound. This is hardly an unusual sight; after all, Cathleen only truly met him and Inko because of how passionate he is about Heroes and Quirks. He's often somewhere in the apartment writing things about a Hero he's seen on TV.
But that's not what he's doing right now. Cathleen's sure of it.
The silence is eerie.
Izuku has an adorable habit of thinking too fast to keep up with, and mumbling his thoughts aloud to process them. Seeing him sit quietly leaves a pit in Cathleen's stomach.
She approaches without doing anything to conceal her presence. Honestly, she rarely needs to actually try to sneak up on Izuku. Once he's focused on something, he tends to tune out everything else while he's working. For good and ill.
When she's a few steps away, Izuku looks up and sees her. He lights up instantly, gasping in joy.
"Ms. Bate!"
Cathleen takes a seat beside him. "What're you working on, kiddo?" She glances over the stacks of books. Many of the names are familiar, but she hasn't thought about them in a long, long time.
L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, E. Nesbit.
Ah, she thinks, even before Izuku can explain.
"I am practice my English!" he says in English. Izuku pauses, scrunching up his little face. "Practicing?"
"Practicing," says Cathleen, switching over to English herself. "Which of these is your favorite?"
"This one!" Izuku holds up the E. Nesbit book that had caught Cathleen's eye a moment ago, Five Children and It, a book about the titular children discovering a friendly wish-granting creature.
"Oh, that's a good one."
"Uh huh! And they have to be saying their wants correctly, like you are doing with your Quirk! I am having enjoyment!"
Cathleen forces herself not to laugh at Izuku's still somewhat stilted English. What he needs is encouragement to improve, not to be driven into giving up because he isn't instantly perfect at it. Instead, Cathleen focuses on what he actually says instead of how he says it.
"What's this about my Quirk?"
Izuku stumbles over his words with a few false starts and bites his lip.
In Japanese, he says, "When you were trying to figure out teleportation, you would say something in English to use your Quirk, but if you said it wrong it didn't work."
Cathleen switches back to Japanese too. "You know, kid, you're pretty clever." She ruffles his hair, and Izuku beams at her.
Well, thinks Cathleen with a huff, I guess this is my life from now on.
Inko, the traitor, snuggles in closer, her head resting on Cathleen's lap. She can feel the ghost of Inko's breath on her leg. Cathleen sighs, running a gentle hand through Inko's hair; no matter how many times she feels it, Cathleen never expects it to be as soft as it is.
"You're like a cat, you know that?" Cathleen whispers. "Falling asleep on anything warm. Not letting me get up. Putting my leg to sleep."
The numbness is seeping through her legs now, but it is actually illegal for Cathleen to get up and disturb Inko, so she's going to have to put up with it. She reaches over for the remote and turns down the sound of the TV.
"You've been really tired lately. I hope your clients aren't running you too hard."
The one problem with Inko falling asleep in her lap like this is that Cathleen can't bend herself over to kiss her like that. Inko's incredibly kissable face is sitting there, taunting her.
"I mean, they'd never find a better legal counsel than you, no matter how hard they looked, but still. You can't bully me into taking time for myself and then let people run you ragged."
Slowly, Cathleen leans herself back into the sofa, making sure that she doesn't shift her weight enough to wake Inko. If she's in for the long haul, she may as well make sure that she's comfortable. At the very least, they've already had dinner, so they don't actually need to move for a while. Cathleen still has a few hours before she has to head back in time for her patrol.
Cathleen lets out a breath, turning her head so she can see out the balcony to the setting sun. Rays of light stream in through the glass barrier, painting the sky a beautiful mosaic of pinks and oranges.
It's hard to believe in destiny or predetermination when Cathleen can actively warp reality itself. Not to mention how insulting it would be if the fruits of her labors were actually the will of some other power and not the rewards of her own hard work. Cathleen does not believe there is anywhere in the world that was made specifically for her—some hole for her to fill.
If there is a place for someone in this world, then it's up to them to go out and find it. Or, failing that, make it themselves.
Cathleen considers herself to be one of the lucky ones.
"There's a lot I want to do with my life," she says quietly. "Stuff I've been working on for as long as I can remember. Being the best Hero—the kind that lives up to All Might's example. And no matter how far up the rankings I shoot, I'm still pretty far away from that goal. But you know something, Inko? I could stay right here for the rest of my life."
Inko staggers out of her office, posture slouched, blowing air through her lips. She runs a hand through her already messy hair and falls into a chair more than sits down.
Cathleen wordlessly sets a cup of tea in front of her, and Inko smiles.
"Rough case?" says Cathleen.
"Something like that."
"Want to talk about it?"
"Not yet. Trust me, Cathy, the wait will be worth it."
"You've never lied to me before." Cathleen turns back to the stove, stirring the broth slowly with the wooden spoon. She can feel Inko's eyes lingering on her and can't stop the smile from spreading across her face. The smell—vegetables, noodles, and meat, blending together with the broth itself—wafts up from the pot.
"Could you try this for me, see if it's good?" says Cathleen.
"Sure."
Cathleen isn't paying as much attention to Inko as perhaps she should be, so when Inko wraps her arms around Cathleen waist and nuzzles her face into Cathleen's neck, she jolts slightly in surprise before softening.
Inko's arm reaches around with a spoon, and she scoops a small bit of broth for herself.
"Mm," Inko says. "I think it could do with a touch more seasoning."
"Oh no you don't," Cathleen laughs. She'd point the spoon at her if Inko wasn't still snuggling into her back. "I remember what happened last time you tried to season one of my broths."
"It tasted wonderful."
"Inko, you took over the soup! I'll never learn if you do it all for me!"
"But Cathy," Inko says, stifling a yawn. "You work so hard every day fighting the good fight. Aren't I supposed to treat you to dinner for that?"
Cathleen huffs. "But I want to learn. Maybe you deserve being treated sometimes, hm? Did you think of that?"
Inko pauses, then says, "I'll never understand how you've made it this long without dating anyone before me. The way you act, I have to assume you had suitors lining up from across the country."
"Why do you think we employ secretaries?" says Cathleen. "Someone has to screen them all."
"He let me in."
"Inko, you could probably get anywhere. No one would dare stop you. You're too polite."
She laughs. "Oh, is that the secret? The greatest Hero in America can be felled by a polite enough assassin? Maybe I should ask your bosses nicely to give you more time off."
"Would you? Finding time to make dinner for you is a pain when I've only got a day, with our time differences and everything."
Inko snuggles herself in closer in Cathleen, and she raises a hand to put over Inko's hands clasped around her waist. They stand there together, with Cathleen slowly moving the spoon through the broth, saying nothing and everything all at once.
"What do you think? Is Izuku going to like it?" Cathleen says softly.
"I keep telling you that he'll like anything you make," says Inko.
"Of course he will; I'm a Hero," Cathleen says. "But I want it to be good!"
"Well in my opinion, it's great."
This is quite possibly the most important night of Cathleen's life.
Izuku knows the drill by now for how date nights work, and he's staying in his room while Cathleen and Inko sit together on the couch, watching a movie. It is, specifically—crucially—one of Inko's favorite movies of all time.
They're both a bit dressed up for the occasion, but Inko is best friends with a fashion designer and Cathleen has an important reason to look her best.
They spend the movie occasionally providing their own commentary on the events, but mostly content to sit quietly, huddled together, basking in each other's company.
The two of them are sharing a blanket, their body heat mixing together. Cathleen snuggles herself in, making sure to expose at little skin as possible.
She shifts slightly to be closer to Inko.
It's cozy.
Cathleen breathes in Inko's presence, the weight pressed into her side, her arm, where she meets Inko's soft skin.
Inko's long hair is down today, lightly brushing against Cathleen cheek and ear.
She can feel Inko's heart beating as one with her own.
As the credits roll, Cathleen knows that now, now, is the time.
Cathleen slips out from under the blanket the two of them are sharing and lowers herself down onto one knee, pulling out a small box.
"I—" she swallows. "I considered planning some—some kind of speech, but. But I think this is one of those things you just know." Cathleen takes a deep breath. "You are the single kindest woman I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, and I—I want to spend my life with you. Midoriya Inko… would you please do me the honor of making me the happiest woman in America and marry me?"
Inko stares at the band in the box, twisted golden streams wrapping around each other, with an emerald gemstone embedded in the swirls.
Inko snorts and Cathleen's heart plummets.
"Cathy," Inko says, forcing down her laughter, "Did Izuku help you pick that ring?"
Cathleen forces her face to remain neutral in the face of her panic. "Yeah, why?"
They hadn't picked it out together, but Izuku can be very cunning when he wants to be. He'd swung by a jewelry store on the way home from school one day and looked over the selection for one he thought Inko would appreciate. Cathleen is incredibly grateful, and she was certain that Inko should've loved the design, so why?
She doesn't understand what she did wrong and it's killing her—
"Because you aren't the only one," Inko says.
Cathleen blinks. Why is Inko kneeling in front of me?
Inko smiles again with a quiet snort of air, reaching into a pocket of her dress.
Wait.
Slowly, her hand emerges again, a small box clutched firmly in hand. Inko's eyes sparkle as she opens it, revealing an identical ring to Cathleen's own, but with a blue gemstone that matches Cathleen's eyes.
"Cathleen Bate," says Inko, audibly forcing down another laugh. "Ever since you've come into my life through that twist of fate, you've made my life brighter, reignited fires within me, and helped my son more than words can describe. Would you please do me the honor of making me the happiest woman in Japan… and marry me?"
Cathleen stares dumbstruck at the ring in Inko's hands. Her mind whirs like a malfunctioning computer as she tries to comprehend what she's looking at.
Finally, it sinks in what's happening.
"Did—we—" Cathleen snorts, giving way to full blown laughter, Inko joining in soon after. They sit there embracing, laughing on the ground together for several minutes until they manage to compose themselves again.
Inko softly presses her forehead into Cathleen's.
"I think," Cathleen says, "I think we were played by the world's smoothest five-year-old."
"He's almost six," says Inko. "And I'm grounding him until the wedding." Cathleen chuckles before fully processing what she just said.
"Does that mean—"
"Cathy," says Inko, cupping her cheek, "Yes."
Cathleen probably would have screamed in joy right then and there had Inko not shut her up with a kiss.
