"Yo, Koyurei! I never thought I'd see the day that you'd get married!" Keigo crows on the other end. It doesn't sound like he's anywhere near the ground so he's probably on patrol.
"Oh, hey... how've you been?" my voice sounds a lot more hollow than I meant it. See, Keigo Takami or Hawks and I kind of have this weird lockstep when it comes to my relationship with him.
"I've been good dude. You're in love with Midnight, huh? How is it?" Wind rushes through the call and he grunts a little with a, "Stupid planes..." growl.
"Are you in airplane space right now?!" I gasp, "Kei, come on man I know we had a bad-"
Nemuri shifts and my voice immediately quiets down, "I know we had a bad time together but come on, don't fly into planes for me. I already have one death on my hands."
"Don't worry sweetheart, I won't." he assures me, "Just... I want you to know that if you need anything I'll be there. You know that." his voice is softer and he *knows* I wasn't as into him as he was into me.
We just... couldn't click. So now here we are with this air of awkwardness between the two of us.
"What's this about anyway?" I ask, "It's three in the morning and you call me just to be weird? What's wrong?"
That's when I remember that in any case he'd probably lose his mind with nervous thoughts about whatever was happening. Before my old birdy friend could get on the tinfoil hat and start squawking about how Nemuri was playing me or some other bigger issue.
"I'm just worried that you're making a big mistake, dude." he brings up a good point. Maybe Nemuri and I getting married will have ripple effects I don't know about.
"Well, sometimes mistakes help you learn. We can't all be perfect at everything." I sigh, "I appreciate your concern though Keigo."
Nemuri rises a little and pulls me down, "Uh, I gotta go bye." I squeak and hang up.
She rests her chin on my chest, "Honey, who was that?" her voice fills with skepticism. It makes a lot of sense considering that she doesn't really know about my tryst with Keigo.
"Well, one of my Exes was Keigo Takami." she looks at me with a slightly shocked expression.
"You had exes?" she asks.
"Well, I'm not exactly the most unappealing guy out there, you know?" I raise an eyebrow at that. Nemuri giggles and nods.
"Just how many of them do you have? Is it a lot?" she continues with that same playfulness. Her lips brush against my cheeks.
"Not a ton, just... a bunch of weird ones. A villain, a reporter, and Hawks." When I list them off there's this feeling that maybe I dodged three different kinds of bullets because each of them were weird.
"Well! Aren't I lucky?" her eyes become half-lidded, "I won in the end."
Her chin rests on my chest with her fingers tracing my sides over and over, "So, when we're married, will I be Mrs. Todoroki?" her voice lowers to a gentle purr.
I already know my answer, "No." I almost sound eager about it.
She's at my neck now with and there's a soft pressure and a slight pain there. She kisses and nips at my neck, "Mm... good." she croons.
"You'll be Mr. Nemuri Kayama soon, and I can't wait..." her lips're against my ear.
My fiancee continues her little smooching crusade. Slowly passing her lips against the rough white skin of my burn scars. Her work is very serious judging by the slight furrow of her brow. Nemuri gently slides downward with her lips brushing against my stomach. The blankets cover her head a little. Warm breath ghosts against my skin making me shudder.
The flames that torched me can't compare to how Nemuri touches me. Her hands lift my leg and kiss the inner part of my thigh after my feet and ankles. I close my eyes feeling the stinging of my tears.
I can't stop smiling, can't stop giggling, and she knows I love her body worship. She lingers there and looks up at me. Those eyes full of love and hope, given to me because she loves me. A sweet scent fills the air and its smells like her. The scent of gently crushed flowers and the softer scent of thyme. She used to work with her family so it still is deep down in her quirk.
I don't know if she's planning something but my eyelids are way too heavy to-
I slip gently into a dreamless sleep.
He sleeps soundly under the covers. Still so gentle and soft looking. He's finally out but there's still that nagging feeling I get deep in my heart that he's just with me because he wants a strong baby.
But no.
Every action he takes tells me the exact opposite. His blind faith in me is probably way more than I deserve. It's not that I don't feel worthy of him, it's just that we're so different.
Our entire lives we've been similar but have had certain differences. My hand gently runs through his red and white hair. I go to the closet to get ready and all I can really think about is how we're going to be together.
Somewhere deep down I think of how lucky I was to find someone who didn't care about me being a heroine. About how he understands what its like to be that hero that people like to admire. I get on my motorcycle just to ride through the city and forget about things for a while.
At least I wish it were that easy. The minute I get out there it's just about bumper to bumper traffic going towards my agency. Not for the usual reasons of the morning rush but...
"CANYON CANNON!" a voice booms and there's a heavy impact and backdraft that rips through the air.
All the sudden a giant villain crashes into a building nearby and in moments I'm weaving my way through traffic with my Nightbike speeding down the way like a black and purple bullet.
Rubble settles and clatters as Mt. Lady rises from where she landed. Standard procedure but the situation gets even worse. From behind her rises another giant villain.
Arms shoot around her tightening their grip and I kick it into overdrive. It might just be really stupid, but I reach down to my utility belt and take out a scent grenade. Enough to knock out one of these guys with a single pin pull, toss, and boom. Hitting the air Takeyama sees me and slams her head back into the guy's face. He jerks back and if my aim's right...
One switch and my bike tears through the air. The engine screams like an eagle and I can only pray this move's committed to muscle memory. Pulling the pin and pitching it hard, the grenade shines out and whirls right into the guy's face. The afterburner dies and I steer it onto a rooftop, sliding into a skid and stopping side saddle. My scent bursts out and gets breathed right into the giant villain's nose. He wavers and topples if not for Takeyama's arms around him.
Then bit by bit he shrinks until he's just normal and she's got him in her hands. I roll out near where she is and her glare's enough to cut down to my soul. Of course she covers it up quickly enough when the crowds come roaring in. She just has this look of snobby superiority about her but she smiles and downsizes as I take off my helmet. At that moment she absolutely drops that snooty expression to go for a fake smile.
"Whew! Thank goodness you're here, Midnight!" she exclaims, "I was having a kind of hard time with the Oni Bros." Considering the property damage and the fact that one of them is splayed out over a building or two?
She needed more than just my help.
"I can see that." My tone's flatter than a pancake but I almost just want to talk things out with her considering what all is going to happen. I might as well explain myself.
"So... wanna get some drinks?" I ask.
"God yes." she huffs, "It's on you, right?" I nod and she gets on the Nightbike winding her arms around me as we weave back through the bedlam. I know it's probably not great to blitz in and get the fuck out but here I am.
Sitting across from Yu Takeyama AKA Mt. Lady. Not really looking forward to it but she sighs and takes off her mask. Her purple eyes have bags under them and every move is lined with frustration.
The way she teases the straw between her teeth, the tenseness in her shoulders, and the twisting of her blonde hair around her fingers. No force on this earth could really explain the frustration this job causes for both of us.
"How do you do it?" she asks, and I already know my answer. It's the same feeling every day putting on that makeup and that damn white suit to giggle at the camera and slip into sexy poses.
"I smile and wave hoping that nobody looks too deeply into my eyes." I sigh, "I just want to get married and move on to another job."
"Why? You're at the top of your game." That question falls familiarly into that same category of 'Why not?' but I want to actually give Yu an answer that isn't just that.
"Why do you ask? There're plenty of other heroines that're trying to break through that glass ceiling." My counter's met with her nodding but still staying stalwart. I gotta give her props for being so determined.
She and I are still sort of new, after all. Not too old and not too young. Still in that desirable sweet spot that gets men going. She continues through the heavy silence.
"I just want to know." she continues and I give her a smile.
"Because I don't like it. I don't like the cameras or the attention or even the JP Billboard event." My hand clenches the cup of liquor I got almost like it wants to smash it, "I want to warn the girls who want to go into heroics that it'll take everything you have and more."
"Right right. Yeah, I get it." she says with a slight smile. The silence slowly presses down on the two of us. We never really get along and it's always been a competition so it's kind of awkward.
"I get what you're saying, my boyfriend and I kinda had to sneak around too until you and your partner went public. He's so proud of his big brother he called me and rambled about it for hou-" I cut her off with a spit take.
"Wait wait wait!" Wheezing and coughing I can't even believe who she's referring to.
"Natsuo Todoroki? The med student? My fiance's baby brother?" my voice starts building and Yu nods at each one. Of course I'm not mad I'm just shocked that it's such a small world.
"Wow, I kinda knew about Enavant having siblings but *wow* we might get to be sisters in law." she grins and I smile back. I guess outside of heroism she's not so bad.
"I mean it's a good possibility. They're good guys although Koyurei has his moments. He's adorable, but he's got a temper on him." I laugh a little into my drink remembering a poor villain that managed to piss him off.
"Oh yeesh, yeah. Third degree burns?" she winces and drinks some more. In fact they keep flowing until my head swims. Yu and I ended up laughing the evening away. But I know I'm not drunk.
"Still." Yu takes up her drink with a grin almost like she's going to make a toast with her flushed cheeks and gentle swaying, "To our boys." it slurred together and sounded like 'Tuurboys.'
I'm still not drunk considering how much money I did spend. I know what would make me drunk but I still have to ride on home. I take up my own glass and clink it against hers.
"To our boys." I answer and down it.
It'd take several bottles and I only had one or two. Curse you, mom's high alcohol tolerance! Something else takes me over though. The thought of going home to cuddle with my fiance turns into something else.
That same feeling that I want to make him squirm and everyone I want to take on as a heroine squirm. The power I've been given. The riskiness of always having the feeling that any moment could be my last out there.
I rev my engine with those thoughts guiding my actions. Everything blurs by and turns into a loud tunnel of colors and stretched-out sound. Muffled by my helmet but still going through and speeding me back towards home. I pop a wheelie and drift into a turn towards the part of my drive where it truly feels like I'm racing. My blood pumps through my ears roaring like it always did in moments like this. My heart races and I can't stop. I speed up even more.
Thoughts of Koyurei thrum through my mind. The fire and ice touching my skin making everything thrill me. The fact he could fly on with his flames giving me dreams of loving him in the skies above. But then there's that ever-present feeling of *victory.* I won. Those villains were nothing because of me and Mt. Lady but at the same time I always wanted to feel that high of being the conqueror.
But that's when the reek of flames fills my nose. In moments there's... someone in the road in front of me? Weaving around them I get a good look at their eyes. The same dull blue color as my fiance. What's he doing out here? We make eye contact but there isn't much more to it. I notice also that his eyes are ringed with darker burns.
It's not him.
Walking through the hallway towards our apartment I feel like I'll still find Koyurei in bed sound asleep almost like he's never heard of a bed in his life. I open the door and take off my heeled boots.
Waiting for me towards the outside guest bathroom were my clothes neatly folded and waiting for me to change into them. I get into the guest bathroom and start the warm water, peeling my black suit off me and getting into the shower.
The water cuts through the grease and the grime. My eyes close as I feel it wet down my hair and press it in a long, slick, and dark rain against my back and shoulders. My mind's sick with the thoughts of Koyurei being himself.
I almost can't wait to see him.
Padding over to our bedroom and making sure Sushi wasn't going to wake him up, I peek through the door. I notice the burnt smell of something in the air. It wasn't hair but it was also an extremely heavy amount of cologne. He's still in bed but sitting up staring blankly as the TV sounds like another rousing episode of GoRangers. He's regressed.
Dammit.
Not that it's horrible that he regresses just that he probably faced something that caused it. Was it the burnt guy I saw on the road? The smell of food was also in the air when I came in.
"Hey hon!" I exclaim, "How was your day?" Play cutesy, Nemuri. I lay my head in his lap as he watches intently.
"It was good." he answers, "This new episode's really good."
I look at the screen and see GoRanger Theta and Beta end up fighting each other. It wasn't normal but then again he's watched this series ever since he was little. His hand gently runs through my hair and we're following the bright colors and the transformations.
"Baby?" I ask.
"Sssh. It's getting to a good part." he states, looking down at me with that slightly scared look in his eyes. I almost want to pause his show and talk to him about what happened while I was gone.
But I wait until afterward. His hands gently wind through my hair and play with it and the credits roll. Koyurei turns off the TV. Sitting up there's this moment when I realize that my poor fiance is crying.
"Nemuri..." he hisses through his teeth, "My brother... he's alive." his hands shake as he grabs me and pulls me into his arms with a warbling cry, "He's *alive.*" I knew what he meant by that.
"Koyurei are you sure it was him?" I just want to make sure. If it was actually him then I don't know what exactly to do with that information. I could capture him and interrogate him, but...
Koyurei breaks further, "He... he said he was going to..." At this point he's inconsolable. I squeeze him tighter and my shirt gets wetter and wetter from all his crying.
But I hold onto him as tight as I can because I want him to feel that I'm not going anywhere. That burnt guy can try to kill me all he wants but I'm not going to leave him to the wolves.
"It's okay baby, you're gonna be fine. We're gonna get through this." I just wish my words weren't so empty. I can't understand what it's like to go through years of knowing that your brother is dead only for him to turn up alive and knowing our address.
"He's gonna kill you, Nemuri." Koyurei's low voice sounds so small and defeated, "He doesn't... doesn't like you."
"Honey, look at me." I push him off and see his pretty blue eyes filled with tears focus on me, "How about you come along with me tomorrow and we'll pick out our wedding cake, hm?"
"I'd like that..." he gives me a shaky smile and I tuck some of his hair behind his ear giving him a soft and slow kiss. He leans into it almost like he's terrified that the minute I let go I'll just vanish.
But then we slip into that comfortable haze. I kiss his sadness away and lay that beast low for now. So much of Koyurei is dependent on me. Every time he's lost he looks to me or to anyone else. He's still that little boy deep down that just wants to make his family proud and to make things better. He's never been this independent before and it scares him. I'll give him the nudges he needs though.
I keep him close and hold him tight. Just like always. He'll be okay.