Chapter Twelve
"So, what do you think of Yaoyorozu?"
"Momo?" I asked back, from my place, reclining next to the river on the picnic blanket in the middle of the woods, alongside my kinda-sorta-girlfriend. "Seems like a nice girl, glad we're all friends. Friendly acquaintances? Not-enemies?" I shrugged. We hadn't actually said what we were, just that I'd like for us to be her friends, and then we'd hung out twice. Did that make us friends? I wasn't sure. I was just glad I was here with Mina now.
We'd wanted to do the 'wilderness picnic/Quirk training' date the day after the 'not-a-drill', but Mina's parents had sprung a 'Happy first week of school' dinner on her, and she couldn't refuse. My question of if I could come over had prompted a ". . . not yet," before she'd hung up. So there was that. While I appreciated the extra time to train, my dad being surprised, sympathetic, and willing to help me, I'd've rather spent it with her.
My explanation of wanting to improve for the sports festival covered things with my father, though he'd warned me not to burn out. I'd reassured him I wouldn't, and while it seemed like he didn't quite believe me, he'd gone along with it.
I'd found that learning new tricks, like the grapple-pull I'd used in battle-exercise, weren't helped that much by his direct assistance as he was learning it from me, though he could offer insights once he'd gotten it down. No, it was my attempting to recreate what he himself could do where my Psychic Talent really kicked things into gear.
Then another week of classes had passed. I'd seen Mei every morning, even proposing a 'baby' of my own, which she then mercilessly tore down to pieces on why it not only wouldn't, but couldn't work. However, she, almost as quickly, rebuilt the concept into something that might function, and had told me that even if it didn't work that it would be time well spent, a learning experience.
The fact that her first build of it had exploded in my face the second I used it. . . really wasn't that surprising, considering who she was, but Recovery Girl had healed me, and my practice of keeping an extra uniform in my backpack paid off once again, serving to divert weird questions like 'why is your shirt in tatters?', 'why do you smell like ozone?', or 'why is your tie on fire?'. I'd also almost turned to lightning in time to avoid it, managing to get both blasted in the face and cause every muscle I had from my bellybutton up to spasm, which. . . hadn't been fun.
Mei had, however, made sure I'd gotten to the nurses office before running back to the design studio to 'fix our baby so it wouldn't hurt its daddy!' For her, that seemed to be loving and caring attention. . . or at least I assumed it was. That girl was. . . an acquired taste, but one I was slowly getting used to. The grin on her face when I'd walked in the next day, ready to give it another try, had been worth the pain. It didn't work the second time either, but it didn't explode, so, Progress!
And then it was Saturday, and I was once again able to spend the day with Mina, UA not having Saturday classes, as that time was saved for professional development later on. The fact that Saturday classes were even a thing offended my American Sensibilities, but, when in Sorta-Japan, do as the Sorta-Japanese do. The three of us, Momo, Mina, and myself, had spent Wednesday together, hanging out, but I'd missed this, just being the two of us together, and not just because we were both keeping the PDA's on the down-low so as not to make Yaoyorozu feel awkward.
Though that was one of the reasons.
"You seem like you want to be more than 'not-enemies' with 'Momo', Sparky," Mina teased, sitting beside me and watching the river, though her eyes regularly wandered over to my chest as I relaxed, shirtless, Body Talent meaning I wouldn't get something as minor as a sunburn. "Should I be worried?"
I.. . really didn't know how to respond to that. Was it an honest question? A jealous one? Her just making conversation? Or was I overthinking it and it was just teasing? I really wished I could've picked up Social Talent, for times just like this one. Best to assume it was just teasing. If it wasn't, I'd know soon enough, and getting defensive would just make things worse.
I knew that from experience.
Shrugging, knowing I'd taken too long thinking about it already, I stared up at the trees above us and replied, "I don't think so? I'm not the only one that's been looking at the Class Prez, Pinky. Should I be worried?" The silence was worrying, and I looked over to the girl beside me, who was flushed, though I wasn't sure if that was with embarrassment or anger. "Mina?" I prodded.
"What are we?" she asked, curiously, changing the topic, or was she? "What's this?" She waved around nebulously.
"I'm ninety-percent sure this is a date with my friend. My best friend," I added, realizing that, other than Mei and Momo, I didn't have any other friends, Denki's middle school friends were really just 'acquaintances' who'd drifted away from him/me, or had I drifted away from them? It wasn't jealousy, not like Mina's friends, just a mutual knowledge that we were going in different directions, and an unwillingness to stay friends despite that, which, when I thought about it, meant we likely were never friends to begin with.
"Is that all we are?" she asked, and there was a hesitance, and a vulnerability there. She was staring right at me, and I quirked an eyebrow at her, waiting, having had this conversation a couple of weeks ago, and not knowing what she was getting at. "Have you and Momo hung out, just the two of you?" she asked with faux-nonchalance when I didn't answer.
Ah, I thought, understanding a little. It might be jealousy, anger at me 'cheating' on her when we weren't even any kind of official thing. Or it might be a worry that I'd dump her for Momo who was more 'conventionally' attractive, read: Human-looking. It was something that'd come up obliquely when we'd talked, how her appearance had made her different in a society that, despite the changes of the last two-hundred years, still showed it's conformist Japanese roots from time to time.
Again, this was something that I'd understood much less when I was the age I was now then I did when I was the age I was before I got here (and wasn't that a confusing thought). Experience had allowed me to, even if only a little, pull my head out of my ass. Then again, having had so many people try to, in retrospect, control and abuse me by getting 'angry' with me for things that weren't my fault just so I'd do what they wanted to make it 'right' when I was younger probably had done me no favors either. If I'd had a friend back then, they might've been able to help, but I hadn't had any.
"No. Hadn't really thought to ask her," I told her, refocusing on the here and now, not the past which couldn't be changed. "We hang out with her on Wednesdays, and my Saturdays are booked solid for, hopefully, the foreseeable future, and the rest of the time I spend training. Why, have you?" I asked turning over, facing her fully, and propping my head up on one arm.
"I. . . yeah," she admitted. "Last Sunday. She called, and asked, and I. I said we should call you, but, well, she said she just wanted to hang out, just us girls, and, well. . . I said yes," she winced. "Sorry!"
I stared at her, confused, and she started to squirm. "Why are you sorry? Do I actually need to be worried?" Did I really just get the first real girlfriend I'd ever had just to lose her to Yaoyorozu? Neither of them seemed the type, but-
"No!" she quickly tried to reassure me, though I wasn't sure if she was too quick. Or I was just overthinking things. Again. "It's just, she's, like, super pretty, and super bougie, but in a good way! And she asked what we were,' she said, waving a hand between the two of us, "and I said we were friends, but the way she asked, I just thought. . ." she trailed off.
I sighed, getting the gist. It was fear, probably, which was. . . endearing, in a way I wasn't really used to. Turning my free hand to lightning, I lightly flickered her nose, causing her to blink in surprise, before reaching past her head, taking hold of the back of it, and pulling the electric limb back to me, taking her with it.
She gave a squawk of surprise, hands out to brace herself, and I caught her, kissing her. She was sweet, like pineapple, the sting of acidity less then I remembered, and while she was tense, that stiffness melted away as she relaxed into the kiss.
We didn't break apart, and she went from holding herself above me, arms posted to either side of my head, to laying against me, skin against skin. Her tank-top rides up as her arms reach to hold onto my own, which were gently, but firmly, wrapped around her. If she wants to pull back, she can, but she obviously doesn't, which suits me just fine.
My hands move, slowly, over her back, which is soft, but with firm muscles that twitch slightly as I half massage, half caress them, gently picking her up so she's entirely on top of me, which, by the smile I feel on her lips, she enjoys almost as much as I do. I'm flying blind here, never having had anyone who'd. . . returned my affections so ardently, but the experience is as novel as it is enjoyable. We'd kissed, yes, but the intensity of it, as if she were scared of what would happen if we stop, adds another dimension to it. She doesn't need to be, but I'll talk to her later, enjoying the now too much to stop.
Going along with the feeling, I run one hand down her back, over her very tight shorts, gripping her butt, soft, and warm, and firm, eliciting a half-moan from her as I do so. Her own hands try to reach down, mirroring my motion, but, on my back as I am, her prize is denied her.
With a grin which I know she can feel through our kiss, our tongues intertwined, I pull on the practice I have maneuvering Mei, repurposed for an activity twice as fun, and pull one of Mina's legs to the side, arching my hips as I roll over, her thighs holding tight to my hips as she finds herself under me, one of my arms posted to hold myself up, the other easily holding her up off the ground.
She practically purrs in delight at the new position, legs hooking up and around me, one hand across my back, supporting herself, while the other shamelessly gropes my ass. It's not that great a feeling, to be honest, at least for me, but I appreciate it all the same, the feeling of pressing her up against me, and her pulling herself almost painfully tight in return, far better.
We continue, both of us lost in the feeling, tight against each other. She eventually breaks off, panting, "Aren't ya getting tired?"
I grin, pushing off with my posted arm, letting go of her with the other and catching her with the first, the second now posting. "Nope," I smile and she laughs, pulling her back up against me. I don't know how much later it is when she shudders underneath me, pressed even tighter for several seconds, limbs going a little slack as I have to pull her to support most of her weight.
Twisting back around, I have her on top of me, arching my back so I'm holding her up with my shoulders and feet, reaching back to unhook her legs. She grumbles, but lets me, which allows me to lie back down fully, Mina straddling me, half curled up on my chest.
She laughs, "Is that a sword in your pocket, or are you happy to see me, Sparky."
Leaning up, I kiss her, not another deep, searing kiss, but a closed-lips, gentle affirmation of my affection. "I'm always happy to see you, Mina."
". . . You want me to take care of that for you?" she asks, voice husky, her deep pink blush, almost purple in color, giving lie to her confident words.
"I wouldn't say no," I smile, "But if you don't want to, I'll just take care of it later. Probably while thinking of this," I grin, bucking my hips just a little, causing her blush to deepen ever-so-slightly.
She returns the smile, sliding up my chest, and moving to my side, kissing me deeply. I enjoy it, still surprised when I feel her flick open my belt, soft, warm fingers reaching underneath my clothes and grasping me, at first hesitantly, then firmly, but not too hard. It's not the sensation alone that makes it work, though that it's undoubtedly nice, it's the entire thing.
The feel of her against me, the warmth, the softness, the taste, the smell of her, it all comes together for an experience I never could reproduce on my own, which makes it even better in ways I can't put to words. Then, when her hand becomes slick, even as the rational part of my brain knows it's likely a weak acid, the rest of me says something very different, the warm, slick, grasping something else entirely, and the feelings of pleasure, which had been steadily building, spike, my body tensing in release as I hold her close, my exhalation of ecstasy beyond my control.
For a second I feel like I've used too much electricity, my thoughts scattered, but I refocus on the girl in my arms, who'd pulls away from me slightly, and is grinning that adorable, sexy smile of hers. "So, how's that?"
I blink, then grin in return. "I think I need to return the favor."
She giggles, sitting up, pushing me back down with one hand as she pulls the other away from me, flicking it to the side in a burst of acid that sizzles slightly in the dirt. "Down boy," she laughs. "We're even"
Even? I think, eyes widening slightly as I recall her shuddering against me. "Then I should go beyond. Plus Ultra," I quip, only half-serious, but still game.
"God, you're such a dork," she laughs, snorting a little. "You do that, we'll be here for hours."
"And?" I ask, laughing myself. "Sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon."
She shakes her head. "Go clean up, Sparky. I'll unpack lunch," she orders.
I lean over, giving her another heartfelt kiss, before pushing myself up fully. "As my lady commands," I tell her with a bow, heading over to the stream.
MHA
I returned, commando, leaving my boxers hanging to dry, and sitting down to eat. "What were we even talking about?" I asked, trying to remember. "Before we got distracted. Though if we get distracted again that's okay," I told her with a wink, giving her a once over.
She handed me the other bento box I'd packed, and smiled back, but the expression faded. "Momo," she said, glancing up at me.
"Oh, right, you were feeling guilty about hanging out with her, for some reason," I nodded, trying to make it a light-hearted statement
From her expression, I fail.
"Do you like her?" Mina asked, staring at me.
"She's my friend, I think," I added. "Of course I like her. Who doesn't like their friends?"
The pinkette sighed, muttering, "Boys." "Do you like her like her?" she asked instead, trying to be clear, without actually saying anything.
I thought about it. Momo Yaoyorou was absolutely attractive, physically, especially in the ways I liked, and, both from what I'd seen before, and what I'd seen in the last two weeks, she seemed liked a good, kind, and caring person, making the answer of "Yeah, a bit," a no brainer.
Mina winced, her shoulders dropping, and I sighed, stating, "I have a feeling you're taking that to mean way more than I mean it to mean. What are you worried about? You know me, Mr. Straightforward, I won't lie, and I won't judge. Lay it on me."
"I. . ." she started to say, but trailed off.
Shifting over, so I'm sitting beside her, I put an arm around her, to try to be there for her. She shrugged it off, and I fought the instinct to put it back, instead reaching over and grabbing one of the bottled teas I'd brought, waiting. "Do you like her more than me?" she finally asked.
"I barely know her," I reply, which I can tell is not the answer Mina wanted. "Though unless you're not who I think you are, I doubt I will," I clarified.
She turned around, so she was facing me, and the naked vulnerability in her expression, that anticipation of emotional pain, it hurt. "Who am I?" she asked, quietly.
"You're Mina Ashido," I replied automatically, as if it was obvious, because it was. "You're upbeat, want to help people, and want to have fun doing it. You're self-conscious, though you don't like to show it, and you throw yourself into whatever you do. You're not big on reading, preferring doing over theoretical work, but you're not bad at it either. You'll jump into something, and try to make the best of it, rather than hold back and figure out the optimal path, prioritizing quick action of perfect solutions that might come too late. Um, you're strong, capable, drop dead sexy, and going to make a great hero one day. I don't really know your favorite color, or food, or whatever, but that's not terribly important," I shrugged. "Am I wrong?"
She stared at me, and I felt a sinking sensation. I'd done this before, when presented with essentially this exact same question. It hadn't gone well. I hadn't realized why at the time, not knowing why the girl had cut all contact with me. I'd learned, later, that such frank assessments, even if they were positive, made people uncomfortable. Especially if they were accurate. But she'd asked, and I didn't really know what to say that wasn't a lie, and I couldn't bring myself to do that.
"I. . . what?" she asked, nonplussed. "No I'm not."
Well, she wasn't angry, that was a good sign. "Um, uh, can we just pretend I didn't say that and go with something more general like 'You're great?' That's also true and not as, uh, specific," I requested, embarrassed, hoping to salvage this. Over the past couple weeks I'd gotten to know Mina, as a person, and I'd been. . . happy in a way I hadn't really been before, even with the threat of imminent life-or-death combat on the horizon.
She blinked, "I, no, no I can't. Why did you say that!?" And there was the anger. Lovely.
"Because you asked?" I shrugged, not knowing what else to say, so defaulting to the truth. "And because that's what I see? Also, um, yes you are," I disagreed.
"No, I'm not," she reiterated, getting angrier.
Shit shit shit, think, I panicked. "So your name isn't Mina Ashido?" I asked, starting at the top, trying to remember what I'd just said and going for a joke.
She glared at me, "You know it is. I meant the other stuff!"
"You don't want to help people?" I questioned incredulously still not sure what part of what I said she was taking issue with. "Then why are you in the Hero course?"
"Of course I want to help people!" she snapped, "The other stuff!"
"What other stuff?" I snapped back, frustrated with the lack of anything to work with. But that wasn't the right move either, and I put up my hand, cutting her off as I took a deep breath. "I don't have a Mind Reading Quirk Mina. You need to tell me what I'm wrong about," I told her calmly.
"I'm not sexy!" she yelled.
I looked at her confused. "I've got some boxers drying that would disagree," I stated, jerking a thumb towards where I'd left them.
"I'm not as sexy as Momo is," she disagreed.
Ah, here we go. Actionable Intel. "Nope. Gonna invoke my straight male privilege right here. Yes, yes you are."
"No I'm not," she disagreed mulishly.
Rather than go 'Yeah-huh', I went for the gamble. "Which one of us here is attracted to women?"
"Both of us are!" she shot back, hands going to her mouth. "I'm-"
"Bi, yeah I guessed," I shrugged, not caring. "As far as I can tell, either most women are, or a very sizable minority are. Either way, you've got me there, but people are shit at figuring how hot they are. I'd say I'm an eight, for instance."
She blinked, before shaking her head, clapping her hands together, pressing the tips of her pointer fingers to her lips, before separating them slightly and pointing them in my direction. "Sparky, don't take this the wrong way, but you're an idiot. You're built like a Greek god. Wait, what do you mean most women are Bi, no they're not!"
"You know the entire 'let's practice kissing' thing that girls sometimes do?" Mina blushed, nodding, once. "Yeah, every girl that does that is either Bi, to some extent, or worryingly weak to peer pressure. You would have to pay me a lot of money before I'd willingly kiss another man."
"But you still would?" she teased, almost automatically.
I shrugged, glad to be back to teasing. Teasing was where we were before, and not what had happened when the girl I liked had ghosted me. "It's just a kiss, and for enough money, yeah, sure. But that's kind of my point, you'd have to pay me a considerable sum before I ever would. A lot of girls do that on their own. Ergo, Bi, even if they don't admit it. Back on topic-ish, so you like Momo. She's very likable. So are you. So what?"
"I, you. . ." she trailed off. "What if you like her more than you like me?"
"Not gonna happen," I told her instantly. "Unless you can actually tell me what I'm wrong about you, that isn't a matter of my personal taste, like you being sexy, or a good person, which you're both, by the way."
She winced, "What if I like her more than I like you?"
Ah. "Topaz and Onyx," I nodded, understanding.
She blinked, "What?"
"Sorry, say you have two gemstones of approximately equal cut and beauty, a topaz, and an onyx, a piece of onyx, you get what I mean," I explained, getting sidetracked. "Does liking one mean you don't like the other?"
"So, Momo's the Topaz?" Mina asked, trying to understand.
"No, I am. Or you are. Depends on whose perspective we're talking about," I clarified, "I'm going off eye-color here. Momo's the Onyx." Wait, Mei also has yellow eyes. That's an odd coincidence. Focus.
"Do you get what I'm saying?" I asked, hoping this wouldn't blow up on me. Part of me wanted to go the 'just the two of us' route, but it would both likely make Mina unhappy, denying her a part of herself, and also, as the Stamp which just appeared in my hand to tell me how I could solve this instantly reminded me, probably wouldn't be an option anyways. I pocketed it, and waited for her response.
She was quiet for a long moment, then nodded, slowly, though a small smile spread across her features. "You're just wanting to date two girls at once, aren't ya?" she teased, her tone and expression undercutting the accusation I was afraid of.
I can roll with this. "Wrong on two counts," I replied, though I smiled as well. "That's two kind, amazing, and sexy girls, and I'm also trying to get you to date a kind, amazing, and sexy girl, and a kinda okay guy."
"Nope!" she smiled, and I looked at her confused, not sure how to settle the disparity, "I'm trying to date a kind, amazing, and sexy girl and guy!" She paused, "Assuming Momo's okay with it."
I laughed, relief flooding me, making me a little giddy. How the fuck did I pull this off? "Yeah, we're kinda getting ahead of ourselves here, aren't we?"
"Well," she smiled, launching herself at me, and I fell backwards with her arms wrapped around me, a gesture I returned happily. "You did say I liked to jump into things, didn't you? And I'm sure you've got, like, five other reasons why this'd work, right?"
"A depressing but practical one, a logistical one, an emotional one, a sexy one, and one that's a really long version of 'why not?' So, yeah. Apparently you know me just as well as I know you," I agreed with a smile, which she returned. "You want to hear 'em?"
"Maybe later," she laughed, leaning in to kiss me again. "For now, I've changed my mind," she announces when she pulls back. "Plus Ultra."
I'm confused for a moment, before a grin spreads across my features. Rolling over, avoiding the food, I put her on her back on the picnic blanket, leaning in to kiss her. I hold her with one hand across her back, raising her up to keep the kiss going, while the other slowly makes its way down her body. I pull back, staring into her lidded black and gold eyes, and wonder how I got this lucky.
"Plus Ultra," I agree.