"Ramen! I'm home, honey!" I called in my sweetest voice as I unlocked the door. He came running out, meowing loudly. "I brought a new friend. Come into the kitchen and I can introduce him to you." Behind me, Katsuki chuckled at me.
Joke's on him; Ramen is a great listener.
We made our way into the kitchen. Kat sat down and Ramen jumped onto the table, sitting in front of him and examining him.
"Your cat is very judgemental."
"He's probably just trying to work out if you're a new friend or a hedgehog." He glared as I laughed. "Do you want a drink? Something to eat?"
"Water would be great, thanks." I made us both a glass of water. When I turned back to them, Ramen was standing on Kat's shoulders, rubbing his face against his cheek and purring happily. Kat had a big, genuine, heartwarming smile on his face. As I watched them both, a big smile on my own face too, I realised just how much I had missed spending time with Katsuki. I didn't ever want us to part.
Shaking all sappy thoughts from my head, I placed the cups on the table and sat next to them, scratching Ramen behind the ear fondly. When I noticed Kat watching me, I couldn't help but ask.
"Do you want me to pet you too?"
"Don't you dare!" I reached over and used my fingertips to massage his scalp by his ear. Almost involuntarily, he leant into my touch and closed his eyes. I didn't miss his blush.
"What happened to 'don't you dare', huh?"
"Shut up." He replied. I giggled and continued for a few more seconds. He looked a little disappointed when I stopped.
"Do you want a house tour?"
"Sure."
I took him around the house, showing him each room briefly, making sure to speed through any areas with pictures of Father. I already didn't know how to feel about everyone knowing about Dad...
"And this is my bedroom." I opened the door and Kat stepped in, looking around. My cheeks warmed up and I suddenly felt very vulnerable.
"It's nice. I like the grey and blue." He said awkwardly before going over to my desk. There were a load of papers over it. He picked one up. It was a crude sketch of a hero suit. He picked up the paper next to it, where I had drawn it properly and coloured it.
"Ray?" He hummed approvingly. "Like light rays. I like it. But..." He took a fresh paper and pencil, then started sketching. A little horrified, I stood over him and watched what he was doing. His tongue stuck slightly out of his mouth. Cute.
When he was done, he held the paper up to me. It was my suit, but he had made a few changes and labelled them.
"If you have the helmet this shape instead, it'll be more streamlined. And instead of a pouch, you could get a pocket. It won't catch on anything. Other than that, you've done a really good job." My heart fluttered at his compliment. It meant a lot.
"Thank you. And I like the changes." We looked at each other and smiled. "Do you have a costume planned?"
"Of course I do, dumbass." He rolled his eyes. I handed him another piece of paper with raised eyebrows. He quickly sketched out his idea and took me through all of its features.
"Wow! That sounds high tech. I love it." Pink dusted his cheeks.
"Yeah. This part was actually inspired by Mr Magnificent." He admitted bashfully.
"I love that show!" I gasped. "Are you caught up with the new series?"
"No. My Netflix account is frozen because my stupid dad forgot that he bought it and thought someone hacked his bank account." We laughed. We'd been doing that a lot together.
"Come on. We can watch it together."
"Netflix and chill?" He asked teasingly, wiggling his eyebrows. I whacked his arm despite my grin. Was that him... Flirting with me? No. Couldn't be.
After watching a couple of episodes of Mr Magnificent, Kat decided that he should head back home. We shared a tender hug.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Katsu-kun." I called in a sing-song voice as I waved him off. He smiled and waved back before walking off. When I walked back inside, Ramen was eyeing me in what I could only assume to be an amused way.
"What are you looking at me like that for?"
"Meow."
"Listen. I may have just bonded with him over one of my favourite shows, but that means nothing."
"Meow."
"I do not have a crush on him."
"Meow." He walked over and put a paw on the back door.
"Oh. You want to go out." I blushed, feeling very silly, unlocking his cat flap so that he was free to come and go as he pleased. When I turned around to go back into the living room, I jumped out of my skin.
Shigaraki was leaning against the kitchen table casually, a purple portal closing next to him. I bristled at the memory of the last portal I had seen, resting my hand over my speeding heart.
"You look... well." He said.
"You look pretty bold. Standing in my kitchen after you kept the fact that you were going to attack my class. After that thing almost killed me and my dad."
"That was never the intention." He walked in front of me and my shoulders tensed. "And you say it like it was just me that did it!" I cocked my head. I realised that this was my first time actually seeing him.
He had the same figure as he did in my dream. Tallish, skinny, shaggy grey hair. He smelt like smoke but not like cigarettes. But, strangely, he had a grey hand covering his face.
"You're just going to stare at me? Oh! This is the first time we've officially met. This is Father." He pointed to the hand. "It's a long story." I nodded slowly.
"Why are you here? My own father should be home soon."
"I want to give you a present. I know that you probably feel pretty unsafe now. So I wanted to do something to make sure that nobody ever hurts you again." He handed me a black bracelet. On the bracelet was a red bead with a black circle on it. "A buzzer. It's attached to my own version. Press it." I obliged. A bracelet that was identical to mine, but blue and white, buzzed on his wrist.
"What is this for?"
"If you ever need me, for absolutely anything, press that button and I'll get Kurogiri to send me straight over to your location. This way, if something happens and you're in danger, you can call me and I'll save you."
"A villain offering to be my knight in shining armour?" I asked amusedly, slipping the bracelet on. It was a very sweet gesture. It did put me at ease a little. I mean, he said that he didn't do anything. He said that he even tried to stop it...
"Okay. I believe you. I'll trust you."
"I'm so glad."
"But if you fuck up, I will turn you into Hosomaki."
"I won't. I don't want to hurt you again. And I really don't want to be turned into sushi..." I smiled at him and I could only assume that he did the same back.
"If I hold it down three time like this," I pressed the button three times. "Then it isn't urgent. If I press it like this," I pressed it three times in quick succession. "Then it is urgent." He nodded. A portal opened up next to us.
"Looks like Eraserhead is almost back."
"You better go then."
"I really am sorry."
"I know you are." Father's keys turned in the door. "Now go! Quick!" I pushed him into the portal.
Father walked in the kitchen. We looked at each other for a few seconds before running to each other and squeezing each other tightly.
"Hinami. My baby." His voice cracked. "I couldn't believe what Toshinori told me. You-" I hushed him and stroked his hair like he had done to me so many times before.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, thanks to Recovery Girl. And to you."
"What about Dad?"
"He should be back tomorrow." I breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm so glad that everyone is safe."
"I'm so glad that you're safe." He squeezed me even tighter. "Tell me the whole story over a hot chocolate."
We made hot chocolates with whipped cream and sat down at the table - the optimal place for conversation. I told him everything about the day, from when he fell unconscious to when I did. I spared no details. Every time I mentioned an injury, he grimaced and shook his head.
"It's a good thing that Toshi came when he did. I don't know what the Nomu would have done if not..." He took my little hand in his tightly.
"I am so proud of you. And Hizashi will be too. You acted like a real hero. In fact, you did what three pros couldn't. I'm so disappointed in myself. What kind of hero am I? What kind of teacher? What kind of father?"
"Stop it. You're a courageous hero, an amazing teacher, and an unbeatable father. You couldn't have done more." He sniffed and looked at me with shining eyes.
"I can't believe that my teenager is comforting me. I have the best daughter in the world." I was pulled in for yet another hug. Not that I minded.
"Yeah. She's pretty great."
"She's also pretty stupid." He mumbled into my hair. "I can't believe you tried to fist fight that thing when you couldn't use your quirk, and that thing had about five."
"Actually, the Nomu had three. I think."
"How do you know that?"
"Katsu-kun told me that they found out that it was a Nomu."
"No. The quirks."
"Regeneration, some kind of strength quirk, and those Wolverine claws."
"What about the portals?"
"Not him. That was from someone else." Then I quickly added. "Apparently, anyway." He pulled away and examined my expression at arms length for a moment before humming and pulling me back in.
"I love you."
"I love you too. And I love Dad."
"Me too."
That night, we ordered a takeaway and watched a movie, curled up on the sofa, pretending that Dad was out on a late night patrol. Eventually, we both fell asleep, tangled up in the big fluffy blanket.
I woke up with a heavy feeling on my chest. I opened my eyes to see Ramen curled up in a tight ball, his tail brushing lazily against my shoulder.
"I can't breathe you oath!" I whisper-yelled at him as I gently pushed him off. It was pretty warm so I got up and got a glass of water. When I checked the time, it was just before midnight. I tucked my father in, kissed his forehead, then got into my bed.
The mattress sunk under my weight and the duvet engulfed me. I sighed and settled into place. Ramen copied me. As soon as I closed my eyes again, I drifted back off to sleep, not remembering why I ever woke up in the first place, or the strange feeling of being watched that lingered in the air.
(A/N)
It's meme time, it's meme time-
https://imgflip.com/i/5r9db7
https://imgflip.com/i/5r9dem
https://imgflip.com/i/5r9dg3
https://imgflip.com/i/5r9dh8 (this one is in reference to a few chapters ago when Hinami was asking about who Shigaraki is)
Also sorry about missing the upload yesterday. It's a long story but basically I was in hospital from Thursday night to Friday morning an I've been recovering. It's all good now pretty much