So then, what did you want to talk about? Yonda asked.
She and Yami were currently having tea in her room after Yami invited her to talk.
Is Amai in love with me? Yami asked plainly.
Yonda sighed. You know I can't just give you an answer to that right? It'd be a pretty big breach of privacy.
Would Amai not want me to know? Yami said, giving her a confused look. Why?
Because confessions are special, Yami. Yonda rolled her eyes. Yes, it would just be simpler if I gave you an answer, but if Amai did have feelings for you, I doubt she'd be happy with someone else telling you about it. Also, this has been bugging me for a while, how can you not SEE if she has feelings for you? You can see love, right?
Yami nodded. Yes. But not that simple. All love looks the same. But it is not the same. You don't love Espurr the same way you love dad…I hope you don't love Dad the same way you love Espurr.
I see, so you can't tell the difference between the different kinds of love. You just see that she feels love towards you, but that love could be as a friend. Yonda surmised. Well then, looking back at how Amai acts around you, do YOU think she has a crush on you?
Probably. Yami answered pretty quickly. When he considered all of Amai's actions around him. Namely turning into a blushing flustered mess, and then comparing it to how Ochaco acted around Izuku before they got together, it seemed almost obvious.
Almost.
In the end, Yami knew that he lacked the experience to truly make that call.
Alright, second question, why don't you just ask Amai? Yonda asked. For someone like you, I thought you'd just go to her directly.
I…don't know. Yami admitted. It feels…weird. To go up and ask that…feels…
Presumptuous? Yonda offered.
Yami nodded. This is…important. I want to handle this…well.
Well, something like love is important, even I know that much, so I guess I understand. Yonda said. And I guess it's time for my last question, how do YOU feel about Amai?
I…love her. But I'm not sure how. Yami explained.
You mean you don't understand if what you feel is romantic love or platonic love? Yonda clarified.
Yami nodded.
Interesting. Hmmmm. Well, imagine yourself and Amai together as a couple, how does it make you feel? Amai asked.
Yami took a deep breath and then plunged himself into his mind.
He imagined his adult self coming back from hero work at exactly 9:00 P.M.
Why that time specifically? Yonda asked.
It was a mid-sized, two-story house, with an attic and basement. No backyard, and a very small front yard.
Have you had this fantasy before? Yonda asked, getting rather suspicious as to why this was so specific.
No. Yami answered, before continuing to imagine.
Yami entered the house, taking off his shoes and hanging up his robe, before he walked into the living room, finding his wife, playing games in a tracksuit, surrounded by empty bags of chips and empty soda bottles.
What a flattering image. Yonda snickered.
"I'm home." Adult Yami said.
"Hey honey, welcome back! How was work?" Adult Amai asked, not looking away from the screen.
"Fine," Yami said as he gave Amai a head pat, causing her to shiver in delight. "Gonna start dinner."
"I love you so much." Amai smiled fondly.
About an hour later, Yami finished cooking, laying out a massive feast at the dinner table, which the two of them quickly got to demolishing. Just tearing into their food like absolute savages together.
Afterwards, Amai collapsed into her chair, with a satisfied look on her face. "Whew, nothing like some good food after a hard day of work."
What work does she do exactly? Yonda asked.
Pro Gamer. Yami answered.
So you'd be the one actually making money here huh? Yonda figured.
Yami got up and brought Amai into a princess carry. The woman leaned her head into Yami's chest.
He brought them to their room and laid her down on the bed.
"Cuddles." Amai softly damned, and Yami gladly complied, falling into the bed next to her, and wrapping his arms around her.
Alright, I think that's enough, now why don't you try thinking about a future in which you two are just friends for comparison? Yonda asked.
Ok. Yami agreed.
He imagined his adult self coming back from hero work at exactly 9:00 P.M.
This is the same fantasy. Yonda pointed out.
Yami entered the house, taking off his shoes and hanging up his robe, before he walked into the living room, finding his wife, playing games in a tracksuit, surrounded by empty bags of chips and empty soda bottles.
Why would you two still be living together if you're not a couple? Yonda asked.
Why can't we? Yami asked.
…Touche. Yonda knew that there were some friends who chose to live together. It was just uncommon that those friends were of different genders.
"I'm home." Adult Yami said.
"Hey Yami, welcome back! How was work?" Adult Amai asked, not looking away from the screen.
"Fine," Yami said as he gave Amai a head pat, causing her to shiver in delight. "Gonna start dinner."
"You're the best!" Amai cheered.
This is just the same fantasy with some small details changed. Yonda pointed out.
Why would it be so different? Yami asked.
Starting to see the issue here. Yonda realized.
About an hour later, Yami finished cooking, laying out a massive feast at the dinner table, which the two of them quickly got to demolishing. Just tearing into their food like absolute savages together.
Afterwards, Amai collapsed into her chair, with a satisfied look on her face. "Whew, nothing like some good food after a hard day of work."
Yami got up and brought Amai into a princess carry.
Yami do you really think that friends casually go around giving each other princess caries?
Why can't they? Yami asked.
He brought them to their room and laid her down on the bed.
"Cuddles." Amai softly damned, and Yami gladly complied, falling into the bed next to her, and wrapping his arms around her.
You can't honestly think that this is something that FRIENDS do. Yonda sighed.
Me and Amai have done this a few times. Yami revealed.
Alright enough with the fantasies, I see this won't help. Yonda rubbed the sides of her head.
The problem here was that Yami didn't really know where the line between friendship and something more, should be drawn.
Yami didn't hang out with Kota all that much, and they just met Frisk, meaning that Amai was Yami's only real close friend. Making things very complicated.
What's more, Yami also didn't really care for what other people thought of as norms for relationships. So they couldn't go off that.
Honestly, Yonda shouldn't be surprised that this was complicated. Yami was a mind unlike anything else Yonda had encountered. Made unique by his upbringing, his quirk, and his intelligence.
It didn't help that love was one of the emotions Yonda had the most trouble with.
Alright, one more thing. How would you feel if Amai got together with someone else? Yonda asked, pulling out her last trump card. If Yami got jealous then she could say he did have feelings for her. If he didn't care at all, she could say he probably didn't.
I'd be sad I wouldn't get to spend as much time with her. But happy that someone is making her happy. Yami answered with a slight hint of sadness.
SLAM!
Yonda slammed her head into the table. Well, that told me NOTHING! Alright, well I can't really offer any more advice. The only thing I can say is to ask Tokoshi about it.
Why him? Yami asked, looking a bit confused at the out of nowhere suggestion.
Because he is the only person in this place that has any experience with romance. Yonda explained. When it comes to love, sure Dad and Ochaco are together, but to say they're experienced is laughable. And the other bodyguards have zero experience with love. And Sensei…no comment. Anyway, that's all I can offer you, take it or leave it.
Hmmm. Guess I'll do it. Yami said, finishing his tea before getting up. Thank you.
As frustrating as this has been, it is nice to talk to someone pure of heart, with a strong intellect. We should do this more. Yonda offered.
So long as you're not scheming. Yami said as he left.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Ohhhh. So you want love advice hmm. My you kids are going through life fast!" Tokoshi chuckled.
Yami just stared at him, still waiting for his answer.
"Hmmmmm. How to know when you're in love. That's a tricky one. If you've already thought about it this much, and you still can't find an answer, then it's probably best to just wait until you can." Tokoshi advised.
Yami sighed. Getting frustrated at not finding a proper answer.
"Don't be impatient. You're still young. A lot of kids your age don't even worry about this until their teens. Although there are some exceptions." Tokoshi said, patting Yami's head. "You've got a lot of time. And with that time, you can go through more experiences. Get more friends. Figure out things that seemed puzzling at first."
"...Maybe…right." Yami thought about it, and while he wasn't key to waiting, gaining more experience with this issue did seem like the best way to handle it. "But…Amai."
"Ah, you're worried about the little lady's feelings. What a gentleman you are." Tokoshi praised with a grin. "But don't worry about that too much. It's best to understand your own feelings before accepting someone else's. And I'm sure she'll understand that. Once you figure out how you feel, you can figure out where to go from there. It may not always be easy, but such things never are."
"...I see," Yami said. Internally, he wasn't satisfied with this at all.
But he did say it wouldn't be easy.
Okay and here is another chapter done. Again sorry for its brevity, but I didn't want to just insert a bunch of meaningless filler for the sake of extending it.
Now I just wanna get ahead of this, some people are gonna say that Yami shouldn't act like this because it's not "child-like" but here's the thing. Not all children act the same. Especially when those children have superpowers.
Amai handles this situation of a crush, in a way that's more in line with what you'd expect for someone her age, while Yami is different because of various factors, causing him to appear less "child-like" in the way he acts. At least in this regard.
As Yonda said, Yami's mind is utterly unique due to the situation he was brought up in and the one he finds himself in now, along with his quirk, intelligence, and personality.
Anyway, please review and have a nice day.