"Popcorn! We need popcorn, yo!" Hizashi jumped up from the couch in the teacher's dormitory where several of them were watching a movie. He snapped his fingers and pointed at the kitchen nearby. "Think we got some instant in there. Who wants?"
"I could go for some," Elly piped up cheerfully. She spun around and threw her arms on the back of the couch.
Yagi smiled but shook his head. "I couldn't manage it right now, Yamada. Thanks."
"Make a big bowl anyway!" She called out.
"Okay!" Hizashi winked at her and threw her a jaunty finger gun and wiggle of his hip.
When Hizashi got to the pantry, however, there were so many different kinds he was at a loss. He scratched his head for a minute, thinking, and then turned to walk back towards the television. He stopped once he got there, though, staring at the empty spot where she'd been sitting between them.
"Ms. Elly left," Yagi supplied helpfully.
"Wha? Why?" The Voice Hero rubbed the back of his neck where the overflow from his bun flowed. The smaller fray of blond hair wasn't long enough to be put up with the rest, and it ended up tickling him sometimes. "Is the movie that bad?" He blinked at the screen where a father was currently consoling his children.
"I don't think so. She appeared upset about the scene we were watching." He nodded at the screen.
"I'm gonna go see if she's okay."
Elly was flopped on her back on her bed, her precious pair of Hage brand headphones on and her eyes closed. The expensive brand worked so well at noise-cancelling that she never heard the door open and Hizashi call her name. She did, however, catch the scent of leather and sweet hair product, and she jerked upright just as he was reaching out to tap her on the shoulder.
"Hey, Ches! Ya beat feet so fast I couldn't ask which type of popcorn ya wanted. Still hungry? Snacks? Maybe some takeout? Yeah?"
"Uh..." Elly choked at seeing him so close in her personal space. "W - wait a minute, I was just trying to relax..."
"Oh, hey! What type of music ya listen to?!"
<i>Oh, no</i>. Panicked, she fumbled with her phone in an attempt to mute it, but her mind was muddled with anxiety and she still had her headphones plugged in. Hizashi simply popped them out so the sound played openly. She cursed her choice of using the corded ones instead of her Bluetooth enabled buds, but it was too late.
It wasn't music. The person she was listening to had a mimic quirk and used it to record Pro Heroes saying all sorts of things. Hizashi stood, half-stooped over with his hazel eyes widening as he listened to a near-perfect imitation of his voice.
"<i>...had it rough. It's okay, just relax and let me rock you in my arms. Present Mic will make it all better for his number-one listener...</i>"
"Shit!" She swiped it off, but the damage had been done. Breathing hard with her face burning with shame she sat there trying to think of an excuse or apology that might salvage some pieces of her pride.
Nothing came to mind.
"<i>That's</i> how you relax?"
Elly made a face, scrunching up her nose like she'd tasted something bitter and shaking her head. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't think of anything appropriate to say.
"Well?"
"Well, what?" She asked somewhat crossly. Today currently ranked high in her top ten of mortifying moments her traitorous brain would use to torture her with in the future.
"<i>Do</i> you want Present Mic to make you feel better? 'Cause, yanno, the real deal is here now." She choked, clapping a hand to her mouth and staring at him in disbelief. Hizashi grinned down at her with one eye squinted and the other wide, calmly gauging her reaction. He knelt on the bed to get closer but stopped right before their noses could touch. "Why would you want a cheesy fake? All ya had to do was ask!"
"M - Mic - Hiz..." She caught herself with a gasp, mortified she almost used his given name. "<i>Yamada</i>!"
"Mic or Hizashi's fine, Ches baby." His expression grew softer, the <i>gotcha!</i> look replaced by a gentle smile and half-lidded eyes. "Anything for my super favorite, plus-ultra number-one listener." He wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
She cringed, her ears flattening further. "Please don't tease me."
"Look, I know I joke around a lot. I promise I'm not this time, 'kay?"
"You ...what?"
"I'm serious." His grip went from friendly hug to a softer, more protective cuddle. Hizashi cradled her in his arms, humming softly using just the hint of his quirk. She trembled, uncertain, as he began rocking her back and forth.
"Y - Yamada -"
"Hizashi," he told her firmly.
"Hizashi." She swallowed hard, unbelieving. "Hizashi, what's happening?"
"I guess I'm - I'm... uh, I dunno?" He shrugged. "All I know is that you feel absolutely perfect in my arms, yo." His voice drifted, becoming deeper and, she could have sworn, almost <i>dreamy</i>. "I shoulda told ya how I felt a long time ago, but, uh, I'm kind of shy." He chuckled sheepishly. "I know, I know - <i>me</i>? Shy?" He paused for effect and she relaxed a little, daring to nuzzle her head against his chest. The necklace chains he wore were cold on her cheek at first, but she barely felt that, instead focusing on the steady beat of his heart.
"<i>Zashi</i>," she whispered in awe.
"Ohoho, that's cute!" He squeezed her tight for a brief second and a miaow was startled out of her. "That's even <i>cuuuuter</i>!"
"Hizashi!"
He chuckled and placed his expressive forehead on hers. "You want Present Mic to kiss you all better?"
Elly had absolutely no words to respond to that. She couldn't even nod, because if she did, it might break whatever dream she was having and wake her up. Hizashi took her silence as agreement and kissed her lightly, not pushing hard at all and just barely mouthing her lips. The electricity in the simple touch and tickle of his furry mustache points almost convinced her she was awake.
"There, now," he hummed softly, backing up a bit to stare deeply into her eyes. "I need to tell you something, baby."
Her heartrate doubled and she couldn't take her eyes off him.
He was <i>gorgeous</i>.
Hizashi was wearing casual clothing which consisted today of a black t-shirt and faded jeans. The ubiquitous red-beaded bracelet was on his wrist and he wore a single gold chain around his neck. And although she adored his silly, pointy mustache, that wasn't really what held her attention.
No, it was his <i>eyes</i>. The hazel such a pretty, mesmerizing color. They shifted with his mood and what glasses he was wearing at the time, and the concentric circles surrounding the pupils gave him an intense stare. At the moment they were warm and gold, filled with affection as he smiled at her.
"I shoulda confessed before," he sighed. "All that time wasted pining after you when all I had to do was tell you that <i>I love you</i>." He spoke the last in English, accenting the confession with a gentle stroke of his thumb on her lips. Elly's mouth opened a little, but she was still speechless. Luckily, Hizashi saw that she was overwhelmed and waited patiently until she gathered her wits about her.
"I fell asleep." She shook her head slowly. "I'm asleep." She paused, then in a voice so wistful it nearly broke his heart, whispered, "Oh, please... I don't wanna wake up."
"Holy shit," he husked sadly, again in English, though he switched to Japanese after. "Who hurt you this bad? Who hurt my baby?"
"I'm..."
"Not asleep," he cooed in a soothing tone. "Yer wide awake, Ches. And that's a good thing, right? You can tell Mic who hurt you so he can help."
"If I'm awake," she said slowly, "then I don't want to scare you away with boring stories of my past."
"I wanna know," he wheedled with exactly the right amount of simpering puppy dog eyes.
Elly's resolve faded fast before this terrible tactic. She grew more agitated, however, her brow scrunching up and her striped tail beating wildly on the sheets beside them. "It's stupid," she tried one more time. "You shouldn't have to listen to me cry."
"There's absolutely nothin' wrong about leaning on a friend," he assured her. Then his eyes slid half-shut and he grinned slyly at her. "Or a <i>lover</i>, yeah?"
"I... Hizashi, please." Elly closed her eyes, then tried again. "It's a bit more than just airing some little problems out. I don't want to dump on you. I've got too many issues and I - I can't ruin..."
"Yer not ruining anything." He told her more firmly. "I promise. I wanna help you no matter what! Tell me what's wrong."
"Okay, you want to know?" She sighed shakily, wiping a hand over her eyes. "Shortest version, then. I had a bio father that was barely in my life, and a stepfather and grandfather I lived with from when I was like, three. The grandfather was the <i>kindest</i> to me, and he told me, among other things, that I was a 'fat fucking bitch', and like, when I was pretty young, that I 'wasn't cute anymore'."
He was silent after she finished speaking. Elly cried softly in his arms, hiding her face in his chest and twining her hands in his shirt. Hizashi realized the loving father figure in the movie had upset her, as it was something she missed out on growing up. When he'd come in and tried to soothe her, she couldn't believe a man she was in love with would treat her that way.
All she knew was hurt and rejection.
"My father - <i>fathers</i> -- and family didn't love me. I wasn't good enough for them, so how could I ever be for..."
<i>...me</i>? The blond-haired man gasped. <i>Oh, no. How can I tell you I think you're wonderful if you don't believe me</i>?
"...anyone else," she finished weakly.
She rested her head near his heart for some time, concentrating on controlling her breathing in the hopes that her tears would stop. About five minutes uses later, she shook herself as she felt a light tickle on her head.
And another.
Elly slowly lifted her head, ears twitching. There it was again - a warm, wet drop, now on her forehead as she looked up. Her bleary eyes widened and the next sob caught in her throat.
<i>Hizashi</i> was crying.
The action confused her so much that it broke through her own sorrow and the mix of joy and terror that had come along with his confession. She reached up and brushed the trail of dampness on his cheek with wondering fingertips.
"Z - Zashi?"
"I'm sorry," he sniffled. "I shoulda kept reassuring ya, I meant to, but I'm sad an' angry about how ya got screwed over."
"No, it..." She trailed off, her mind racing. "It's fine. It's - it's better than fine. No one has ever cared about me enough to cry."
"You deserve to be treated right!" Hizashi kissed her cheek and held her tight. "Every little girl needs to be treated like a princess by their parents, 'specially their <i>dad</i>! You were robbed, baby, my poor baby, they robbed you. Oh my god."
<i>His baby</i>...? Elly reeled, her mind spinning as she heard words that had never been directed at her before. "It's - it's okay," she stammered.
"It's not okay," he whined. "It's <i>not</i>." Hizashi's voice deepened abruptly, and he spoke with such determination that he lost control of his quirk. The furniture rattled as he continued. "But I can make it okay. I can try. You want Present Mic to make it all better, then you can be <i>my</i> princess, an' I'll treat. You. Right."
<i>Princess</i>?! "Hizashi, I'm not a -"
"Shhh. Yes, you are, babygirl. No arguments. Yer my pretty city kitty beautiful princess, an' I'm'a remind you all the time. Mic loves you. Hizashi loves you. <i>I</i> love you."
"Oh!" And with that, the fire in her brain was extinguished; her tears stopped completely. It wasn't as if she was one hundred percent better, but the pain diminished a great deal as she realized he meant what he said. It was as if he'd helped her unwrap a lot of ugly, painful layers, like a bitter gift that held her true self hidden inside. The last tearing away had been his heartfelt acknowledgement of her pain.
Hizashi wasn't leaving, either, nor was he laughing or mocking. He was still holding her as if he never wanted to let go and sniffling, trying to stop the flood of tears but clearly affected by the fact that she was hurt.
"Oh my god. Hizashi, you did it. You made me feel better."
He shuffled her in his arms, cuddling her sideways so they could face each other. "For real? All because I was a wuss and cried?"
"You're <i>not</i> a wuss," Elly hissed so fiercely he jumped a little. "Sorry. You're the sweetest, best man I've ever known. I was right about that," she added in a much lower voice.
"Awww." One of his hands stole up to rub her ears. "Quit it, yer makin' me blush."
"You were already blushing," she pointed out impishly.
Hizashi slowly raised one eyebrow as he broke out into a sunny smile again. "You really feel better?"
"Yes. That movie set me off. Then I got more frightened when you confessed. My - my dad, that was supposed to be a given, right? Like, unconditional love. When all of them treated me like they did, well..." She grimaced. "Ugh, that's what I didn't want to do - start babbling."
"S'okay. You're not, I wanna hear what you've got to say."
She took a deep breath and sat up, wrapping her arms around his neck. Hizashi fidgeted, looking slightly more embarrassed as she straddled his lap, but then she kissed him softly and he sighed, closing his eyes. "I love you," she whispered.
"Oh, baby you did so <i>good</i>." She shivered and he dipped under her chin to mouth her neck. "So brave for me. I'm proud of you, Ches."
"I didn't do anything!"
"You <i>told</i> me," he whispered with barely-controlled glee. "Tellin' me ya love me makes ya vulnerable, princess."
"Oh, yeah."
"I promise I'll be worthy of your love. I'll be what ya should've had, give ya what you need 'cause yer so starved for it an' I got so <i>much</i>."
"Don't make me cry again," she warned, half-joking.
"I'll <i>never</i> make you cry bad tears," he whispered fervently.
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