A soft chime from y/n's phone filled the room from the other side. Y/n got herself out of bed and slowly walked over to turn off the alarm. She placed her arms on the dresser and rested her head down, nearly falling asleep standing up. "Okay," y/n mumbled to herself, in a futile attempt to motivate herself; "time to go to work."
She glanced over to the bed and wished she was still sleeping. The first few days at the bookstore were smooth, y/n even liked having a job, it was nowhere near as stressful as working for The League. Y/n had been showing up undercover for a couple of weeks now, and the novelty of having a real job was wearing her thin. The man only visited once and a while. Y/n maximized her chances to catch him by being in the store for as many hours and days as possible. While the job was easy enough, she still found herself feeling exhausted and sleep-deprived after a short week.
Y/n picked out her uniform and dressed up in the closet. Still tired, she walked to Kurogiri's door and knocked. "Kurogiri," she called out. "I need to go to work." She pressed her forehead against his bedroom door. With closed eyes, she waited for the villain to transport her to work.
The black fog manifested, and y/n groaned. She wished Kurogiri waited a few more minutes before sending her away. Y/n entered the portal and found herself in her usual spot. Kurogiri always took her to the same rooftop. Y/n groaned as she looked down the fire escape ladder. Once down at the bottom, y/n had to walk another five blocks to the bookstore.
The little bell chimed as the front door swung open. "Hello, there Atsuko," a petite woman with short hair and glasses greeted.
Y/n stared blankly at her for a moment. "Oh. Oh! Good morning."
The woman laughed lightly. "Not a morning person?"
Y/n gave her a smile. Usually, after her walk, she's wide awake. Y/n wasn't used to responding to her false identity. "Yeah, I guess I stay up a little too late sometimes."
Y/n walked up to the front register and typed in her code. Her eyes scanned the bookstore. Yesterday, she picked out a mystery novel to take home with her. The next row over was the historical fiction genre. Y/n hummed as she considered skipping to the next row. She shrugged off the thought, y/n had eight hours to decide what she was going to pick out.
The girl with the glasses waved as she announced that she was going to pick up breakfast down the street. Y/n gave her a nod. As soon as y/n was alone, she slumped over the counter and sighed.
The shop was as empty as it always was. Customers came sporadically with few in between. Y/n walked around the counter and headed towards the rows of historical fiction books.
Y/n sat behind the counter with a book in her hand. She would occasionally glance up and scan the store for her target before returning to her reading. Sometimes, y/n would skip looking out into the empty store and look at the clock. Near the last few hours of her shift, she would spend it staring at the clock.
Y/n stretched out her back and legs as she walked back to the location Kurogiri would often pick her up. She sat down by the building's edge as she waited for the black fog to manifest.
"I'm home," y/n mumbled, passing through to the other side of the portal.
Kurogiri stopped y/n. "Good evening, did you find him?" Y/n merely shook her head and walked past the villain.
She gave Tomura a weak smile as she walked by him. Feeling tired, y/n went straight to the bedroom. She faceplanted onto the bed and buried her face in her pillow. Almost instantaneously, she fell asleep.
The alarm went off. Y/n felt like she hadn't even slept. She tried to pull herself to the edge of the bed. However, she found herself struggling. It soon became apparent why she was having a hard time getting out of bed as she woke up. Y/n felt Tomura's firm grip around her waist.
Y/n tried to pull Tomura's arms from her, but it was no use. After a few futile attempts, y/n noticed his grip on her was not just firm, but it was getting tighter as she struggled. Y/n noticed how unusual it was to have his grip tighten.
She glanced over her shoulder and noticed Tomura's eyes were slightly opened. "I gotta go," y/n said in a low tone.
"You went there yesterday," he replied. Y/n could still hear the tired tone in his voice.
"Yes, that's part of having a job. You gotta go, even if you don't want to." For a moment, y/n forgot who she was talking to. She remembered Tomura has never had a real job. Y/n could imagine the whole concept was probably baffling to him.
"You're my scout," he mumbled. "That's your job."
Y/n knew she had to rethink her explanation. She needed to tell Tomura something that he could more easily understand. "What if he shows up today and I miss him? Then this whole process will just take more time."
Tomura went silent for a while. Y/n could tell that he didn't like her answer, but he knew she was right. Slowly, his grip loosened until he let go of her. The villain rolled over onto his other side.
Y/n hoped Tomura would take her words better than how he did. She didn't realize Tomura even noticed she was gone. Y/n thought the villain spent most of the time she was gone sleeping; then playing games while he was awake.
Quietly, y/n got herself ready for another day and walked out of the room. As she closed the door, y/n glanced over to Tomura. She frowned as he didn't bother turning around to look at her.
Tomura had set her behind. Y/n requested Kurogiri find some way to transport her closer to the little bookshop. He didn't seem pleased with the sudden orders, or rather that y/n was giving him orders in general. Regardless, he did as she asked.
Unsurprisingly, the quaint little shop was just as quiet as it always is. Y/n hated that it was so slow. Today was not the day to be left alone with her thoughts.
Y/n spent most of the day wondering what happened to Tomura. Something told her that he was feeling something akin to separation anxiety. Although there was no way for her to say for sure, y/n thought it was one of the more logical possibilities. She felt awful for Tomura. It was difficult to concentrate on anything. Y/n wanted to do something to make up for all the time she's been gone, but nothing was coming to mind.
Tomura was difficult. He disliked way too much. Y/n vacantly stared out the front window and thought about what she could possibly do. An idea crossed her mind, and she grinned to herself. She was convinced that her plan was perfect.
The rest of the day was just as disappointing. Her target has yet to show up. Y/n began to wonder if she was at the right store. Tucked away in her pocket, y/n pulled out the small report Giran gave her. She reread it for the first time in weeks. This was, in fact, the correct location. Y/n spaced out as she wondered what was taking the man so long to show up. She wanted to quit as soon as possible.
Y/n met with Kurogiri's warp gate at the usual time and place. She walked through, fully intending to hide just how drained she felt from the two villains. "Good evening," a familiar voice said. Y/n ignored it for a moment and glanced around the room. Tomura wasn't around.
"Where's Tomura?" y/n asked, completely ignoring Kurogiri's greeting.
"He hasn't left the room all day." Y/n frowned at Kurogiri. She wished that he would have at least checked up on Tomura. However, she couldn't blame him. Y/n understood why Kurogiri would opt to keep his distance. It was hard to tell what kind of mood Tomura was in sometimes, although y/n felt some pride as she basically had the blue-haired villain's emotions figured out.
"I have a special request for tomorrow if that's okay." Y/n could see past the shadow-like villain's featureless face. She knew that Kurogiri was most likely skeptical.
Y/n bit her lip. There was no way she could tell Kurogiri what she was really up to, he would never agree to her plan. Y/n hesitated before spinning an excuse for tomorrow.
Her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest. Do not use Liar on anyone in The League was one of the few rules Tomura had in place for her. It was one of the few things he was stern about. Y/n had just broken it. The stress from knowing that she had done something she wasn't supposed to have done was eating away at her. The looming fear knowing that Tomura was bound to find out was even worse. Y/n's awake and energized facade wore down. Quickly, she excused herself and went straight to the bedroom.
Y/n sat down at the edge of the bed while she watched the blue-haired villain lay utterly motionless. She wondered if he was awake. Her fingertips lightly caressed his skin. No reaction.
A wave of exhaustion suddenly hit y/n. She cuddled up to Tomura, feeling his shirt against her face. Y/n lightly ran her fingers up and down his arm as she closed her eyes. The last thing she remembered before passing out was feeling Tomura's sleeve against her fingertips.
Y/n stretched as soon as she sat up. The first thing she noticed was that Tomura wasn't protesting her leaving today. She looked over to his side of the bed and realized he wasn't lying down next to her. She stumbled out of bed to look for Tomura. Y/n had made plans, and she didn't want them ruined because Tomura was letting his temper get the best of him.
She relaxed as soon as she saw a tuft of blue hair over by the couch. Quietly, she turned around and walked back into the room. Instead of the work uniform, that had become her usual attire, y/n had put on a f/c sundress. Before leaving the room, y/n grabbed Tomura's coat.
Y/n excitedly hurried to Kurogiri's room and knocked on his door. The shadow-like villain seemed upset, but he created a portal without question. "Tomura," y/n called out from the hallway. The villain didn't turn around.
She frowned slightly and walked up to Tomura. She made sure to wipe the frown off her face before facing Tomura. "Hey there."
Tomura looked up at her from his game. She noticed his eyes linger on her. "Why aren't you at work?" he asked. Tomura's tone had a biting tone to it. He was clearly still upset about y/n leaving every day.
"I'm taking a day off," y/n said.
"What happens if he shows up and you're not there? What happened to that?" Tomura crossed his arms.
After yesterday, y/n thought he'd jump at the chance to have y/n stay home for a day. "That's fine, I'll catch him next time." Y/n had already lied to both the people at the book store and Kurogiri to make today's events happen, she didn't want to add Tomura to that list as well. "I had something planned for just you and me today."
"Fine," Tomura grumbled. He stood up, and y/n handed him the coat she had been holding onto the entire time. As soon as the villain was ready, she took his arm. Y/n led him to the Kurogiri portal that had been waiting for them the whole time, nearly pulling on him in her excitement.
On the other side of the portal, Tomura lifted up his hood. He allowed y/n to pull him along while he kept his head down. Tomura stared at the sidewalk below him as he walked, but occasionally he'd look up ahead. The area seemed familiar. Tomura couldn't lay a finger on when he'd been here before.
He observed the area in small glances. It was a wide-open street, lined with stores that seemed mostly closed. Tomura noted that it wasn't late in the day, so he thought it was odd that the shops would be closed. He guessed that they were only open on special occasions. The other thing that caught Tomura's eye was that there weren't many people walking around. He hadn't seen any signs of heroes patrolling or alerted civilians. Eventually, he felt confident that he could safely walk with his head held high.
"We're here," y/n announced. "I'm glad this place is open year-round." Tomura looked up at the building she stopped in front of. The claw machine sitting up front and the darkened building instantly cleared up the feeling of deja vu he had.
This was the arcade they visited while at the festival. Tomura took one last look outside before the two of them walked into the darkened room. Tomura liked the gloomy energy the empty streets emanated, the whole area seemed different without the festival atmosphere.
He watched as y/n looked around. "Uhm," she hummed. "Oh!" Y/n pulled on Tomura's coat and pulled him towards a machine. Instantly, Tomura recognized the game. This was the game he had forced y/n to play with him. He looked down at y/n and saw her eyes were lit up by firey determination. She fed the machine money and looked at him expectantly.
Tomura stepped away from the machine. "Do you expect to play against me?" he asked. Y/n nodded confidently. "You might want to play the campaign and give yourself a practice run."
The smile faded from y/n's face for a moment before returning. "Oh, okay. That shouldn't take too long."
Tomura leaned against the machine as he watched y/n pick out a character. As expected, she picked out the same one as last time. He noted that she must have found her favorite character. Tomura watched her play.
Admittedly, y/n was a lot better than the last time they were here. That wasn't surprising, though. Y/n was good at learning by watching, and he figured that she probably picked up a few tips here and there by watching him play games. Still, he was far more skilled than her. He mentally decided whether or not history should repeat itself and he throw a game or two for her. The villain decided against it. He knew y/n would notice if he were intentionally losing.
Tomura heard y/n let out a disappointed groan. The screen went dark, and a large count down stood in the center of the screen. He watched as y/n continued and then promptly lose shortly after. "Maybe it'll take longer than I thought," he heard y/n utter under her breath.
After another loss, Tomura stopped leaning against the machine. He walked up behind y/n and rested his head on her shoulder. Tomura slid his arms around y/n's body, pressing himself against her. He noticed y/n was playing a little differently. The few, short combos she knew were messy, and several hits didn't land. Her fingers resting on the buttons were trembling, and her hand was practically squeezing the joystick.
He reached forward, pulling y/n's hands away from the game panel. Tomura pushed the start button, continuing where y/n left off. "I don't like playing this character," Tomura mumbled.
Tomura chewed on his lower lip as he made his way to the final match. It was close, but Tomura saw his opening to win. He paused for a moment, and his health depleted to zero. "Close," he said. Tomura pressed his cheek against y/n's neck as he rematched. Knowing that the same trick wouldn't work twice, Tomura finished the campaign for y/n.
Tomura covered his mouth against y/n's neck, and he noticed she stopped breathing. A well-hidden smile crossed his lips.
The blue-haired villain pulled himself off of y/n. "Still think you can win?" he asked.
"I never said I could," y/n replied. The smile on y/n's face made Tomura feel uneasy.
The two played against each other. As expected, Tomura easily won every match. Regardless, he noticed the smile on y/n's face didn't fade.
Tomura studied her face reflected in the machine's screen. He could clearly see her eyes and the kind smile on her face. "Oh, I won one." Tomura's attention snapped back into the present. He looked at the little lit-up icon under her health bar. Tomura's eyes narrowed at the screen as he tried to focus on the game. After winning another round, he mentally beat himself up for getting distracted.
Tomura and y/n went around and played a few more games, using the cash she had earned from the book store. Much to his surprise, there were ones that y/n was fairly decent at. He thought it was surprising considering how she rarely played any. If she put some time into it, he could imagine y/n being more than capable.
"Ah, neither of us have eaten all day," y/n began; "how about we call it here? I'll make something when we get back home."
She began tugging Tomura closer to the door. As soon as they got outside, Tomura dug his heels into the ground, nearly pulling y/n back to him. He pointed to the claw machine up front. "I'm surprised you don't want one."
The old f/a plush he originally got y/n was kept on display on a shelf in the room. Y/n used to sleep with it at the previous hideout, but she stopped shortly after Tomura began sharing a bed with her.
Yn smiled at him, resulting in him feeling anxious. "I suppose he needs a friend. The shelf is sorta lonely." Tomura held his tongue. He wanted to mention the skull on display near the plush, but he knew y/n didn't want him casually joking about the remains. To this day, he's never been sure if y/n ever forgave him for that. Knowing y/n, and how sentimental she is, he guessed she'd never truly forgive and forget.
Tomura looked at all sides of the machine. Claw machines were still somewhat rigged, so he wanted to look at as many vantage points to give himself an edge. The villain spotted a plush he thought seemed promising. Before he had a chance to pick something out, he noticed y/n paid the machine.
Tomura was focused on the colorful unicorn plush. It was practically a ball-like, so he thought the claw would have an easy time holding onto it. Just as he thought, Tomura was able to use all the credits fed into the machine to nudge the stuffed animal down the prize hole.
Tomura turned to look at y/n, about to tell her to collect her prize, when he felt a force pull on his hood. The next thing he knew, y/n had her lips roughly pressed against his. He saw her hands tightly squeezing onto his coat.
Y/n tugged on his hood, pulling him into a deeper kiss. He heard y/n moan in his mouth. Tomura's chest felt like it was being torn in half.
He felt y/n's grip slide from his hood and the two parted lips. Rosy-cheeked, y/n looked up at him. "Sorry. I-I wanted to do that back then. I figured I shouldn't miss out on it again."
A chill ran down Tomura's spine as he heard y/n admit to wanting to share a kiss back then. Had he known, and had the concept of someone wanting to kiss him seemed unbelievably foreign to Tomura at the time, he would have taken advantage of the opportunity then.
It made sense for why y/n never acted back then. Y/n seemed to be firmly against taking risks at the expense of looking like a fool. As she had explained it to him, y/n valued Tomura saw her.
Tomura thought back to the last time she embarrassed herself. The blue-haired villain allowed her some peace of mind and drop the topic. He was already burdening her with single-handedly lifting his Tartarus plan off the ground. He didn't want to add to the stress by inquiring about something she clearly didn't want to talk about. Especially after their short-lived argument about y/n coming along with The League to Tartarus.
"Thank you, it's adorable." Tomura watched her hug the plush unicorn in her arms with a warm expression on her face. She gave him a hug. "I lo- uh," y/n pushed her cheek against his chest. He heard her take a deep breath.
The villain pulled himself free from her hug and began walking without her. "I'm starving."
He heard her lightly giggle. "Right." Tomura caught the sound of her footsteps following close behind him. The villain felt her fingers wrap around his coat sleeve.
He looked down and noticed how content she looked. It was as if they could do this for the rest of their lives, and she'd be perfectly happy. That was something Tomura couldn't promise y/n. Times of peace were scarce. There was no telling if they could have anymore after Tartarus. He was unable to see the future, for all Tomura knew The League of Villains will soon be no more. The blue-haired villain wondered how he could explain that to y/n, and make her realize how foolish she was being.
Art Corner #5:
It's been a hot minute since I've set up one of these! ^^ This was drawn by ilumofly83. Seriously, this picture is hella dope.
LOOK AT NOBUO! LOOK AT HIM!! <3
...for some reason, wattpad really wants this image rotated. Like, it's not in my gallery and other places so I appologise for that. Wattpad, get yourself together. lol.
I got to show this picture off to one of my employees as soon as it popped up in my email, and I quote: "Oh my god, what is that. It looks terrifying." ...so good job on that. A+ effort
Please go show the artist some love and drop a follow! They deserve it!!