Forget Chisaki, this was the dumbest idea that I'd decided to commit to by far.

There was madness in those crimson eyes. I could recognise it well enough after seeing it in Muscular's single pupil, right before I'd crushed him. The desire for domination, the hunger for consumption. Seeing it aimed at me without being accompanied by a readied Quirk made my head feel like it was spinning.

She probably thought she had me by the balls, even if right now it was only metaphorically. She had an identity for me; it wouldn't matter that it wasn't real. It was more than anyone else would have been capable of so far.

Having the mixed biology of two different people would do that to a guy. That sort of info should have sent her running back to her superiors in the commission to report.

But no, Mirko wasn't the kind of hero to run, was she? Even now, knowing that my touch was deadly, she'd closed the distance between us. Both hands on my chest and a gaze that was promising either pleasure or pain. Or, most likely, both.

The first impulse, the one that had gotten me this far and convinced me that murder was justifiable, wanted me to push away and take a moment to actually think. The second impulse, the one that had a nasally voice and often went overlooked by virtue of being incredibly unhelpful, wanted me to stop being a pussy and go for it.

And really, what other options were there? Memories had physical locations in the brain, so technically I probably would have been able to Overhaul them away given the time to work, but what would the point be? She'd lose an afternoon that had a whole squadron of witnesses and the fake name on record. Wipe away any mention of me from her brain? That left whatever records she might have left behind. If they were digital we'd be able to delete those as well, but if they were hidden away on paper?

I could probably Overhaul those memories into my own head, and then destroy them too. That was absolutely an option. An option that I already knew I couldn't take, because no matter how heinous the actions I'd taken in this world, that was still intrusive to the point where I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

The hero ship had sailed on me a long time ago, but there was only so far out of port I was willing to take the SS Villain. I wasn't going to kill any part of someone who didn't deserve it. I couldn't allow myself to slip that far.

Regardless of how at ease she felt against me, me lifting my arm still made her flex her muscles in preparation for whatever I may have done. It was nice to know that even as insane as this proposal came across as, there was still enough sense left in her head to acknowledge that she was in grave danger.

That meant that I wasn't somehow subconsciously controlling her with some aspect of a Quirk I hadn't noticed before. The last gate of resistance crumbled as I swept my hand up, enjoying the way her lidded gaze widened as I trapped her sharp chin between a thumb and index finger.

"Nothing to lose, huh?" It was my turn to bare my teeth in a grin. The flush that spread lightly across her cheeks at the motion made me understand why this could become addicting. Would she look up at me like that every time? Maybe I'd have to run this experiment a few more times in the future. For science, of course.

Of course, with rabbits being as quick as they were, she'd gotten her bearings back within the time it took me to blink. The full head of height I had over her meant nothing with a slight hop, my huffed laugh muffled and swallowed into her own open mouth as she swooped down to me, her arms wrapping around my neck with enough urgency to almost take my breath away.

Literally.

Full scenes of both chapters on Questionable Questing under the same fic and chapter names.

I'm not posting it here.

Quick, explosive, and painful. About what I had been expecting. Hell, my ears were still ringing even as I tucked myself back into my pants. Except, no, I narrowed my eyes and scanned the forest around us even as I overhauled my clothes back into functional order, that wasn't my ears.

It took a couple of sweeps of my eyes, but I finally picked up on the small box that was lying partially hidden underneath a smattering of leaves, probably having been knocked aside by the trunk of the tree I discarded over there. Flicking my hair to get the moisture off of it, I sent over the locks to retrieve it, leaving the mundane task up to them as I instead focused on Mirko.

I ran my hands carefully over her body, letting Overhaul readjust mangled clothing and soothe the bruises that had cropped up even despite me trying to not cause any damage. The pieces of her fragmented boots were dragged over by other strands of hair, and I was busy clipping them into place when the ringing box was finally dragged close enough for me to glance at the screen.

Mirko's satisfied purring was interrupted when I practically shoved it into her face. She glared up at me, the afterglow shattered, but her eyes managed to scan the screen before she could say anything. In a flash, she was on her feet, stumbling forward when her legs proved unable to handle the entirety of her weight.

I rose just as quickly, catching her on my chest. Neither of us made any effort to move, even though now we really should have.

Backup - 3 minutes 10 seconds was written across it, the second counter periodically ticking downwards.

"I missed the last three radio check-ins." Mirko pushed her face into my chest, groaning. There was another bruise on the top of her back, one that had her melting into my contact as I willed it away with warm fingers. "Fuckin' damn it, you owe me another tree and a ride, I wanted a round two."

"We'll start with that next time."

The words were out of my mouth before I could think about them. I felt her stiffen against my chest, before she pulled away. Those crimson eyes were on mine again, searching for something.

I broke away first, my eyes flicking down. Partly in thought, partly to check the timer.

1 minute 45 seconds.

"Next time, huh?" The forced casual tone wouldn't have fooled me even if I couldn't feel just how rigid her body had become against me. We'd not really considered what would happen afterwards, had we?

Seeing her so unsteady on her legs before had sparked no small amount of pride. Seeing her uncertain now, still on shaky ground, drew forth a different image. One that had sacrificed and lost limbs to a force that was inevitable, and also one that I had reason to believe would be targeting me and anyone who just so happened to be close.

There were other journals in my body, stored away in case something happened to the one I'd left Momo with. Drawing out a page with Overhaul, I drained some of the ink from a calculation that never went anywhere, instead printing it out across the paper as a string of numbers.

It was one hell of a risk that I was taking, and it was a risk that I was more than willing to make.

"Here."

The page was small, folded over a few times to make it easier to store away. Mirko took it slowly, flipping it over to inspect the blank side first before reading the string of numbers. I watched her eyes widen in recognition and disbelief, her head snapping back up so quickly that she lost her balance and probably would have toppled to the side if I hadn't caught her by the shoulder.

"You nut inside once and suddenly trust me with your life?" The way she wiggled her eyebrows just proved that they were as dexterous as the rest of her. "Damn, I'm good."

She must have been feeling better if she could bounce on her toes like that. I snorted, pushing her face away from mine with the palm of my hand and ignoring the long lick she was probably expecting to repel me.

"The world is about to become a very unfriendly place. This is for you just as much as it is for me."

The bouncing stopped. I lowered my hand, surreptitiously wiping it clean on my pants as she narrowed her eyes at me once more.

"...Unfriendly how?"

"There are some ancient evils waking up and I'm going to be doing my best to make sure they stay asleep." If I wasn't face to face with someone I'd just been balls deep in, I would have cringed at the way I'd phrased that. Never in my life had I managed such an embarrassing sentence with so straight a face.

I then gave it a single second of thought, and cut Mirko off before she could open her mouth. "And no, if I tell you more, you're going to go off and get yourself in trouble, don't even pretend otherwise."

If she was going to pretend otherwise, she was tragically interrupted when the pager in her hand beeped again. 1 minute was proudly displayed across the screen. Her ears twitched, and a moment later I could pick it up too; the sounds of multiple footsteps crashing through the underbrush. In a literal minute we'd likely be surrounded by officers, and some very awkward questions.

Throwing caution to the wind for the final time today, I scooped Mirko up in my arms, wrapping them around her shapely rear and picking her right up off the ground.

Her grunt of confusion was cut off as I surged up the new distance and planted a kiss on her lips. The only thing that stopped me from deepening it when she attempted was the actual threat of the law hanging over our heads.

I set her down, taking no small amount of joy in the fact that she seemed disgruntled by the interruption as well. Part of me was literally an insecure teenager, after all.

"What will you tell them?"

"Lost the pager, kicked a tree over." The answer was immediate, and even though I had been here the whole time, I immediately believed it. With a shove against my shoulders and a quick swipe at my ass once I'd turned around, she guided me towards where the trees were thickest. Even with the voices shouting out her name being so loud, there was a serious temptation to stay. "Wouldn't be the first time. Now hurry up and don't go straight to the road."

Ah, so our little law abiding citizen had some insights on evading the fuzz, huh?

"Yes ma'am." I snapped a quick salute to her, along with an exaggerated wink. Her snorting laughter followed me as I activated Chameleon, melting away into the trees once more.

Had this entire encounter been a mistake?

Perhaps.

Did I care?

No, not really.