The music plays softly through my earphones as Dad and I wrap up yet another case. Tears for Fears always calms me down. It's almost like they've always been there. He's looking at me so I pop one out.

"Koyurei, are you alright?" my father rumbles, his flames making him look all the more intimidating than ever. He's taller than me and more muscular than me. Looming over me like some massive statue of a Greek God. He's really scary sometimes.

"Uhm... I'm fine!" I squeak, my blue flames going out and my suit smoking from the output I had during our fight against a really tough villain. I scramble and put my phone away. Avoiding the fact that my girlfriend texted me.

"Hm. Keep your wits about you, son." he moves away and the heat dies. Letting out a soft sigh, there's not a moment to lose. I can't be near him otherwise he'd know that I'm shacking up with the love of my life.

"Okay, okay... just... take it easy, Koyurei." I state, "Dad only knows that when I panic I listen to my favorite song." I close my eyes, thinking of going home. Not back to the agency, going *home!*

That's when I get pinged, "Huh? Wait, it's another villain?" I groan, looking up at Dad and he's not on the move.

"I'll handle it, Dad!" I jet off on wings of flame before he could answer. It's not long before I see them speeding down the way. This isn't normal procedure, most of the time Dad would come barreling in bathed in flames.

But this time I beat him there. Landing in front of the car and planting my feet, my flames leaping from my hand. The blue flames form into a javelin. Launching it into the air, I split it into a rain of smaller arrows. This is Flashfire Fist: Ember Rain.

The car skids and tries to dodge the arrows but some of them land and stick into the car, spreading and licking at the metal. The villains bust out and I cross my arms. The first is Volcano, the second Dusty Ash, and then Gust Boy. Normal C-listers but this time... what was their cargo? I clear my throat.

"Maguma, what's your cargo?" I ask, "I won't allow you to waste my time."

"Like we'd tell you, Enavant! Get 'im, guys!" He yells back and the other two jump out, the wind from Gust Boy making the dust Dusty Ash forces out of her skin spread into the air with lava floes spraying at me.

I throw up a fiery wall, cordoning off the area as the authorities make their way closer. My temperature drops, smoke and heat jetting out of my scars and hero costume. Steam rushes out in a cold burst, jets of ice blast out of my hands and hit the lava. It hisses and eats at the floes, steam and smoke dancing together as I heat up again, blocking a club hit by Dusty. I melt it down and headbutt her down. A huge squall of wind almost knocks me down.

"GWEEEEEEHEHEHEHE! Take it, hero scum!" Gust Boy yells, his quirk going at full tilt. My flames flash to burning life, Pumice gets stalled by the intensity of my flames. But I still march on, trudging through the wind and lava.

Steam, smoke, all of it. My flames blow it all away. A firestorm of blue flames sweeps Gust Boy up, a Hell Tornado! It makes him drift down charred and wheezing but still alive. Two down, one to go. Volcano glares at me, the glare he gives me is enough to rile me up again. All of this is normal. Standard villain shlock. That is until I see Volcano's body tremor, shining with bright orange magma, cracks appearing in his body and obsidian forming.

The ground trembles below me, "EVERYONE OUT!" That's when the entire area bursts into hell. My ice making slides and ramps, getting all I can out of the way. Volcano's body spews out smoke, lava, rocks and he marches right for me.

"Enavantttttt... Youuuuuuuuu..." he growls, "You bastaaaaarrrrdddd." My temperature drops like a stone, my flames sputter and die as I've hit my heat limit. I whip out my phone.

"Anyone! I'm here at- AH it doesn't matter! You can track me!" I yell into my phone, trying to keep him at bay with my ice. Even though it pretty much instantly melts and it's slapdash more than anything else.

Smoke jets out of my scars, and Volcano cackles.

"Whaaaatttt's the maaatter?! Too HOTTTT?!" he roars, tiny volcanoes erupting from the earth and blasting me into the air, the heat barely bothering me thanks to my frost shielding me.

My body temperature is in freefall. The frost solidfies as the mist equalizes my temperature. I grit my teeth, I know I haven't mastered this just yet, but Absolute Zero is my only recourse!

He shoots igneous rock, and I hop from floe to floe, my temperature still dropping. I have one shot! Underneath the flash of lightning, the rumble of thunder, and the fury in my eyes...

He trembles, before I notice a volcano ON HIS BACK?!

"Fu-"

In seconds, there's heat, cold, stone and lava. All of it slamming into me at once. But I was in perfect range for it. See, my quirk has two sides. Overheat is my standard Blueflame, I can perfectly control it. Absolute Zero, my Ice, is far from the most perfect even though I found out I could control it too. In mere moments, my touch froze the lava and rock, and Volcano too. As a result, the sudden drop in temperature caused Thundersnow.

That's a good name for it.

I land with less than grace. My body and hero costume in shambles as the people who were once there look at me in shock. I start to hear cheering, clapping, even shouts of "SNOW DAY!"

The smoke and mist drift together, not too far apart. I don't say much until I see Burnin' come running. My best friend Moe Kamiji followed me from UA into being a flaming sidekicker like me.

Her yellow green hair flickers in the cold, "Enavant! Are you-"

"I'm fine, Burnin'..." I groan, shuffling towards her, "I'm fine." my body shambles but I have to keep going. I have to keep pushing. There's a reason why I do what I do. I look at her with a shaky smile.

"I..." Stumbling, I lean against her, "I think... Volcano had a quirk enhancer..." my hands shake and my body tremors get worse. My breath ghosts out of my mouth as she half-carries, half-drags me away.

We get into one of the agency's cars, driving off to the agency again. A huge building, a high rise even. It has an E over the entrance and has tons of clippings in the halls detailing all the arrests and battles my father's fought.

"Seriously dude, what's wrong?" Moe asks, "You're really out of it today."

"I think it's happening, Moe." I state, "I'm finally getting out."

She grins, "Really? You and her have a place?"

"Yeah, she just got the keys today." there's a warm feeling in my cheeks, "I'm finally out of here."

She hugs me tight, "Hey, you're commuting, right?"

"Well, about that..."

"Koyurei, no." she pushes off me, "You can't- Say it ain't so."

"Moe, I never wanted to be a hero." my voice is flat, "I only replaced my brother because I didn't want my little brothers and sister to suffer." Lifting her hands off me, I move off towards the elevator.

"You're going to be the top sidekick now, get used to it." The door closes and I can't help but feel like I did something wrong. Like I'm not supposed to have this ending. Like it's wrong for me to even think about being away from him. When the elevator stops at the residential floor, I peek around the corners.

No one on the left.

No one on the right.

Easy does it, get out your keycard, Koyurei. Grab your last bag and hit the road. The one floor that doesn't have cameras is this one. Dad usually has security make the rounds though.

It's almost like a prison sometimes. Sidekicks get more freedom, secretaries and other workers do too, but it's always on his schedule. On his time. Maximum efficiency. That's what it was.

That's what it'll be.

Even without me. Getting in, I grab my bag and look around. It's fancy, it's nice, but it isn't mine. Not really. I shoulder it and start to head out. I pause, looking back at the fancy kitchen, the nice living room, it's basically all I'd need if I wanted what I dreamed of.

All I'd need to do is wait out my Dad's life. Swoop in and take over. Then lead the Endeavor Agency to new heights... but I don't want that.

I just want her.

The boxes are stacked high, the new home smell is hitting me in the face. It's almost like I can breathe easier now that I'm here. Our new apartment is roomy, sure. But it's still a far cry from my old one where I was stuck in my dad's agency. Going through the boxes, marching around and putting stuff away. We mostly filled my new home with my girlfriend's stuff. I only have a few things. Some plates, some cutlery, pots, pans… I pause, hands shaking and I pluck the picture frame out of the box. A picture of my family.

Father, glaring at the camera with intense azure eyes and short red hair, muscular and dressed in a maroon dress shirt carrying my little brother on his shoulder with a wide smile. My big brother, smaller than me and having a white patch in his red hair, excitedly grinning and holding onto my father's arm. Happy. Then my mother, beautiful and kind, white hair falling to her neck and arm wound around my shoulders. Gray eyes shining with the light of life in them.

I remember how cool she felt that day. How she used to hold my hand and look at me with those eyes and tell me she loved me. How we'd make dinner together and how much she used to sing while we went along. I look at the younger version of me. Red and white hair, the roots and main color being red and tips being white, dulled blue eyes peeking out from next to my mother, a shy smile on my face. Elementary school entrance day.

Mother had a baby bump soon after, Father grew colder, Brother went insane and…

Tears dapple the glass over the photo. I stand there, almost wanting to burn it. My flames whisper out of my mouth, bright and blue. My eyes squinted and blurred with tears that softly hiss into steam. The door beeps open and my arms gently let the photo drop onto the table, the glass undamaged aside from the tears. Heels gently clack on the outer floor as my girlfriend sits down. It's strange, normally she'd have longer hours.

She lets out a soft sigh, "Haaah… it's good to be home." her voice is warm and strong, commanding and gentle in equal measure. I stand in my socks, my eyes watching her undo her long boots and I notice her coat. She unties her hair from it's usual bun and it flows down temptingly right at her waist.

She shakes it out, with it all fluffing up from being kept so tight. Fluffing up to a rain of dark, very dark purple hair. Almost black, but when the light hits it there's a lovely royalty to it.

Her head turns, her hair flowing the other way, and her bright azure eyes pin me down, "There he is," her smile is dazzling, "Gimme a sec, lover boy." she takes off her coat and there's her torn bodysuit.

It's white, easy to tear into. More and more often she wears it to hero events and even patrols. It's not really all that great. The only protection she's got is the harder to tear black part, almost like a fetish-gear harness.

She stands and pads over to me, hair billowing behind her and a soft smell coming from her body, eyes becoming half lidded. But then she notices my tears.

"Honey? What's the matter?" she sweeps closer, kissing me on the forehead like a mother would to a sick child, a slight hum warbling through her body, "You're hotter than normal,"

"That's 'cause I… I had a…" I look at the photo.

"Oh, right." She smiles and throws her arms around my neck, "Koyurei, look at me." she puts her velvety soft hand on my cheek and makes me look into her sky eyes. She's got a beauty mark under her left eye.

"Nemuri, I…" I start.

"You did a good job, baby." her smile dazzles yet again and here I am being too shy to admit that I had used my quirk. She kisses me and her slender lips still have traces of the strawberry lip gloss she likes.

She pulls me closer by the belt, loosening it and taking off the armored pieces of my hero costume. I let her but its still weird. She continues to take off my hero costume with steam lightly cascading from my body.

"You're early, Nemuri." and what she says next takes me aback a good bit.

"Well, you're late." she sighs, "I know you've been busy, honey." she wraps herself around me, we look at ourselves in the mirror. I'm shorter than her, more haggard and tired.

She presses a kiss to my cheek, and helps me get the jumpsuit off. She looks at the steaming skin, the shimmering scar tissue, a history of all I've been through and all I've been.

"What was it today?" she asks, leading me into the bathroom, the exhaustion getting to me. I lean against her and she runs her hand through my soaked-through hair. I don't want to answer but knowing her, I do anyway.

"The Volcano Thieves, Volcano got ahold of some Trigger." she starts the water, "I had to use my flames and my ice."

She lowers me into the water and I close my eyes, "You didn't have to help me."

Her smile's dazzling and her raised eyebrow tells me that she wanted to. She tears off the rest of her bodysuit, vaulting over the side of the tub and straddling my waist, gently touching my cheek.

"Hold still, honey." she says, wetting my hair down. She likes doing this. Her hands lather my hair, softly humming a song as I close my eyes. I don't want my eyes to sting.

"There's a good boy..." she coos, rinsing out my hair, "You pushed yourself so hard today." I can't help but let out a little giggle at her tone. She's mothering me again. Nemuri gently wipes the foam from my eyes and leans forward, lips meeting mine.

Almost hungrily I lean into it. Her thick, wetted down hair clenched in my hands as she pushes me further into the water, "Mhmmmm..." she groans, pulling back.

"So greedy, Koyurei." she pulls me back up, grabbing a washcloth and putting some body wash on it. Rubbing it over my body, thinly muscled and spiderwebbed with shimmering scars.

She works gently, "You like me doing this, don't you?" she purrs, "Washing you after a hard day's work?"

"Not... always..." I groan as she works her way down, "Can... can I do the same to you?"

She grins, "Sure!" her voice is like summer and it's warm and safe. Her lathering is done and I rinse myself off. We switch places and I lather up her hair. She leans against me with a joyful hum.

"Well, my day was pretty normal, you know?" she explains as run my fingers through her wet hair, "Some patrols, some arrests, other things. The usual." All the suds are out so I start lathering up her body.

It's fit, lithe, and also has some scars from past brawls as a heroine. She moans softly at my massaging. Her smile warms my heart a lot. Nemuri giggles as I work. She likes when I do this and she doesn't have to lift a finger.

"Koyurei?" she pipes up.

"Hmm?" I look up at her, still rubbing small circles into her thighs. She looks down at me with the softest smile I've ever seen on her face.

"I love you."

Heat rushes to my cheeks, "Y-Yeah... me too..." I go back to work and she gently reaches down, touching my chin and lifting me up, sitting up and pulling me up too. Her breath puffs against my face.

Looking right into my eyes she kisses me, wrapping her arms around me and tracing my scarring, pulling back a little to kiss my neck. Melting into her touch and embrace all at once, she covers my face with kisses.

"You're too good for me, baby!" she exclaims, getting out of the tub, "I'll race you to the kitchen~!"

"Hey! Wait a minute!" I snap, trying to get out but I almost slip.

"Last one there makes dinner!"

"Not fair, Nemuri!" we both scramble to put comfier clothes on but there's this feeling that regardless I'd still be the one to make dinner. Which is totally fine. I like doing it.

Turns out, she won.

Oops. She sits at the table, looking at me with a teasing smile. I always liked cooking so it's not too big of a deal. The problem starts when she sashays up behind me and starts kissing the back of my neck and nibbling the sides.

"Ne-Nemuri!" I squeak, "What are you doing?" she nuzzles me and watches me cook.

"I wanna watch." she states, "You're really good at this." so she does, watching me cook the food and plate it. Almost like she always wants to. Like she sets time aside in her life to come see me, to have lunch with me, and to just hang out and vent.

But now...

We're in the same house. The same place. Probably going to share the same bed and everything. She eats what I made. Katsudon with a little bit of spice in there. Something Mom would call a little 'zing.'

Nemuri groans and grins, "Oh my GOD this is good!" her eyes dazzle and her smile's so wide and happy I almost cry at it. I know it isn't common to cry about something like that, but it's something I like to do.

I like taking care of others. I swallow down the tender, spiced meat and let it sit in my stomach a bit. It's not that bad, but it's not that good either. It could be better. Maybe it needed more zinging?

"I'm glad you like it." I start, "See, the trick is precise temperature control and exact measuring of spices. It's like... moderation I guess?" Cheeks get hot again and I look away, "I mean... you don't HAVE to say you like it."

"Koyurei, I mean it. It's good." Nemuri melts from another bite, "Like seriously, it's fucking good. Probably as good as sex."

"Pffftwha?!" I sputter, flames shooting out of my back scars, "Wha... s- Why?!"

She laughs, "Koyurei, it's okay to be shy."

"Shy? I'm not shy! It's just... I'm not ready for it right now." I close my eyes and my thoughts scream at me.

'It's been three years, Koyurei! Three years with this amazing woman and you haven't even tried?!' I open my eyes at the feeling of her weight in my lap. She strokes my hair, 'See, maybe she wants it too!'

"It's okay, Koyurei. I'll wait." she leans down and kisses my forehead, "All in due time, right?"

In the end, after feeding her cat and making sure he's got a good amount of water, we end up in bed. She's got her back to me. I reach out but my hands tremble a little.

Just pull her into your arms, Koyurei. It's that easy. She's soft, she's willing. I wrap them around her and pull her close, burying my face into her soft velvet hair. Deep down, as long as Nemuri was by my side I felt like I could beat anything. Closing my eyes, I almost want to imagine the ending. Us together, maybe she's a hero, maybe she isn't. We have a couple of kids, maybe two girls or boys, a girl and a boy? Dad's far away, and the rest of my family visits.

It's a good dream.

Little did I know that Nemuri gave it to me. I fall deeper into sleep with her humming my favorite song. Make the most of freedom, and of pleasure.

But I like when things last forever.