36

Emerald mirage complex

It was the day Izuku had first hired Kyoka to be his maid.

They were both cleaning the mess that Mineta and Kaminari had made of his home. "They didn't have to ruin my home like this." Izuku sighed in annoyance.

"Serves you right for being a perv." Kyoka replied with a smirk as she barely put in the effort to be a proper neko-maid, actually letting him do most of the work as she lazily cleaned the dishes because there weren't that many dirty ones.

"Oi, I already explained that to you. Mineta blackmailed me. Ah, I have to clean this mess before I go patrolling with Camie."

"Utsushimi? You intern with that bimbo."

"Y-Yeah, She's not that bad. I mean there was this one time-, um... Camie's a good person even if she can be, er, provocative.

"Whatever dude, what hero do you guys work with?"

And without missing a beat he said, " Mirko, the lunar bunny."

And it caused Jiro to wheeze out a chuckle. "Of course you'd join a bunny agency."

"Whatever you say, Neko-maid."

"Kyaa! Oi like I said I only did this for Yaomomo." And then she shook it off. "So you're interning with a bunch of girls huh? Like any of them?"

"Eh?! Wh-What, of course not, I hold Mirko in high regard besides I have-," He was going to mention that Momo was his girlfriend but remembered that he was withholding that from her. "I mean of course I don't have a thing for Mirko."

Maybe she didn't notice how Izuku avoided her or maybe she did notice but didn't care. "Whatevers, as long as Yaomomo doesn't get jealous."

"E-Eh?" Izuku didn't know if she figured it out or not but was about to clear it up until she spoke up.

"As her only client, she's depending on you, okay, so don't get her jealous." She chuckled again as she finally finished the dishes while he finished up the rest.

'Oh she was joking.' But then Izuku took in the words and the slight sound of sincerity coming from her voice. He played along with the joke but also meant what he said.

"Yeah, don't worry. She's home."

Kyoka Jiro opened the door to her home and turned on the lights as Izuku followed behind her. Momo had fallen asleep during their karaoke 'date,' and Izuku was carrying her piggy-back style. They headed into the living room area to lie her down gently on one of the couches.

"Sorry for intruding like this." Izuku mentioned after he finished setting Momo down.

"Nah, it's cool. She barely used to sleep."

"Yeah, thanks. But actually, I meant sorry for intruding in on like this and bringing you on this er d-date, or whatever it was..." Izuku struggled at the end as he looked to the side and scratched his cheek.

"Oh, that." Kyoka also started to feel that weird tension coming back up between them and tried to brush it off. "N-Nah, it was fun... We had fun, right?"

"Y-Yeah, Kyoka it was fun."

There it was again. That frustrating tension between them where they wanted to be themselves around each other, but couldn't, because of the other.

"Um, I'll go make some tea, and you can chill here for a bit.

"Um, O-Okay, for a bit, before my night patrol."

Izuku went to sit down on the couch that was opposite of the one Momo was sleeping on. He didn't know if it took forever or if it was ready in a flash but to him, it was all a timeless blur.

"The tea is ready." Kyoka walked into the living room, speaking with a whispered voice. And Izuku couldn't help to notice how different it was from Momo's breathly sighs, instead it was a lullaby lure.

"Oh, okay." Izuku scooted to the side of the couch to let her sit, as she set down the tea tray on the coffee table between the two couches. They were sitting next to each other on a small couch and due to its size, their bodies were pressed together.

"My bad if it isn't as well prepared as Yaomomo's."

"Ah, don't talk like that, it's just tea after all."

She said, "Yeah..."

And he said, "...Yes."

It was silent as she poured the tea for them. Once she was done, he reached out for his cup, but as he did that, she had grabbed it, intending to hand it to him.

And their hands touched.

Reacting to the moment, their eyes locked. The cup shook from their touch, causing some tea to spill over her fingers. She inhaled in a hiss at the sudden rush of heat, pulling her hand away from the cup. He exhaled in concern as his hand followed hers as he rubbed his thumb over her fingers. Their eyes had broken away from each other, because they were both looking at the same thing.

There holding hands.

"Are you okay?" He whispered with worry.

"Y-Yeah."

Maybe they didn't know that they were lingering in the moment or maybe they did...

And maybe that's why they both hesitated to pull away.

But they did, because they knew they had to.

Their eyes met one more time before looking away, as they drank their tea. They didn't really say anything, as if wanting to stay in that awkward tension that only they shared, as they savored every sip into the quiet night.

Izuku and Koyka had finished drinking tea and were standing by the front door as he got ready to leave for his night patrol.

"Have a good shift." She mumbled half-heartedly. She didn't know why but she felt empty, as if whatever it was between her and Izuku, would never be concluded.

He ignored her sentence, instead letting out a breath before speaking earnestly. "When you asked me, what would have happened if you showed up instead of Momo that day-,"

Kyoka cut him off, "Look Izuku, like I said that day, j-just forget about it." And as she said that, she rubbed her elbow with her other arm, leaning against the doorway frame.

He continued to ignore her, instead deciding to confront the tension between them. "Um, I think..." He smiled to himself with a shake of the head as he spoke about how he thought it would have gone. "I think, you would have been mad that I ordered a Neko maid service, I think you would have bullied and teased me like you usually do right now. And I think you would have been a great maid..." And then he spoke with a weight in his chest,

"But I also know, you would have been upset at me because I wasn't taking care of Momo like how she's always taken care of me."

She listened to him rumble and for once didn't tell him to shut up. Instead her eyes welled up as she let herself laugh. She didn't think about it because she didn't have to, instead letting her emotions act on their own.

She reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against him. His eyes were wide not believing what she just did. He could only react by wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I love you guys." Kyoka was hugging him. Genuinely hugging him, and when she said that, she said it with the honest affection of the familiar bond that they shared.

"Yeah, Kyoka, we love you too." Hugging her back with just as much care.

After the moment passed it was as if the awkward tension between them had left too. Instead able to be content in the others company.

"Okay, have a good shift dude." Saying her goodbye with a rare but honest smile.

"Yeah, I will, say good morning to Momo for me when she wakes up, and um, goodnight Kyoka, the tea was great."

"Yeah, later."

And they said goodbye to each other.

It was the middle of the night as Izuku reached the rooftop of the building where they had planned to meet up at for their night patrol. And he spotted her, casually standing by the ledge.

'It was a full moon, and the lunar glim was radiating off of her serine golden locks and sleek catsuit, revealing her sultry curves. She was blowing a pink bubble of gum before it popped into a glittering smoke. Her ear twitched as heard me approach. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind that same ear as she turned to me with a tilt of her head and that contagious grin. She rubbed her thighs together in impatience because she wanted to ramble to me like she always does when we start our shift. And I knew she wanted to ramble to me because she started it the same way she always does,'

And Camie Utsushimi said,

"Deku, ne!"