(Time skip to the next week)
Nezu's POV
I left my office early, knowing that the walk was long. I had a small basket with me that my staff seemed very curious about.
"What's in the basket Nezu?" Snipe asked me.
"Just some small snacks. I'm just going for a picnic, Snipe," I lied, my voice betrayed nothing.
What was really in the basket was some thermostats filled with hot tea and some bread. Along with some cookies I thought that Kuro might like. I had other things in the basket as well, like some fruit and chips.
"Alright, well, we'll see you later," Snipe called out as I left the work room.
I was walking down the street just as the sun was going down and into the neighborhood where I usually met the petite vigilante.
As I neared the building I was wondering how I was going to get up with the basket. This was supposed to be a surprise for Kuro so I didn't want to call out for her to help.
I decided to just hold the handles of the basket in the jaw while I climbed up the ladder to the roof.
When I got up there Kuro wasn't there yet so I got up and walked over to the small wall at the edge and placed the basket down. Then I sat and waited.
I looked to my left and saw the tarp that had hid her guitar on the first night and wondered what was under there now.
I stood back up and walked over to the tarp and pulled it up with my paws. There under the tarp was a few instruments. The guitar was gone as I had previously expected put in its place was a ukulele, a viola, and a flute. They were all in cases, old cases, but still in cases.
They were all pretty dirty and old, they looked like they needed some repairs.
I didn't see anything other than that so I put the tarp back down and waited for Kuro. I was still pretty anxious after hearing that she was aiding the students against Stain, and worried if she was injured.
Just as I was about to fear the worse I heard small footsteps, they were almost nonexistent. I probably wouldn't have heard them if not for my animal hearing. I looked over and saw Kuro walking along the edges of the rooftops without a fear of falling. She quickly made her way over and I looked at my watch.
1:30 am on the dot.
"I must commend you for your punctuality, Kuro," I said with a smile when she finally reached the building.
I reached over and patted the spot next to me in an inviting way. She flinched when my hands moved and it didn't go unnoticed, but I brushed it off as her being jumpy.
Kuro had on her usual black hoodie that she wore the previous weeks but this time she wore blue jeans.
Her clothes were still dirty and I wondered if she washed them. On her face she still adorned the black medical mask that covered the bottom of her face.
Kuro had her backpack and guitar with her and they were strapped along her back.
She slowly made her way over to me and sat down next to me. She seemed more tense but I didn't want to spook her away.
"I brought you something," I quickly got to the point.
"mhm?" She hummed in reply.
I revealed the basket and sat it in front of us and made way to open it. The second the lid was opened, the sweet smell of cookies made way to our noses.
I looked over at Kuro and saw what looked like tears welling up in her eyes and I thought I might've made a mistake before she spoke, "Nezu, you didn't have to do this! I didn't bring anything for you! I'm sorry you felt like you had to do this!"
I was shocked that she was apologizing. Kuro quickly brought a hand to her eyes and wiped them.
"You don't need to apologize, Kuro! I did it as a thanks for helping me. I also wanted to have some tea with you, I thought it would be nice," I said smiling.
It looked like a sudden thought came to her as she looked into the basket, "There isn't a catch, is there?"
I had to keep remembering that she's suspicious of everything. I wouldn't blame her, she was always in a life threatening situation most of the time and probably learned to be wary of everything. Especially food given by new people.
I reached in and took one of the cookies and ate it, showing her it was safe, "Nope! I just wanted to do something to thank you for the help," I finished the cookie and continued, "We finished the cases you told us about and all those criminals have been caught and put away thanks to you and Droplet's hard work. The only thing left to take care of is the League," I purses my lips but quickly turned to smile at her.
"We shouldn't worry about them right now, for now let's eat this before it gets too cold," I said as she moved to sit across from me.
She pulled her hood up a little more so it was covering her face and she looked hesitant as she grabbed a cookie and pulled the mask off.
We sat and enjoyed the silence and the company.
Kuro still sniffed everything out and taste tested before she ate anything before coming the the realization that there was no trick.
Finally.
"So Tsukauchi told me about Stain," I broke the silence.
She tensed up, "uh, yeah, what about him?"
"You fought him!" I chirped happily, despite how scared I'd been.
"What makes you say that?" I saw her smirk sarcastically under the shadow of her hood.
"I had Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida tell me too when I asked them," I said.
She paused for a second before she sighed, "Yeah," She paused again, "I was there."
"We're you hurt?"
"No," She replied and stuffed another cookie in her mouth, "I stayed on the rooftop and shot at him like rag doll," She laughed.
Her laugh was dry, almost fake. I could hear Kuro's stomach growl and she stopped laughing and held her stomach.
"How starved is she?" I wondered.
Kuro reached and grabbed the thermostat filled with tea. I made sure to brew Chamomile tea for her, it's known to relieve stress and anxiety. She took a sip and relaxed a bit.
"I must give you my gratitude," She looked up at me while I spoke, "If not for you then my students would have sustained worse injuries or possibly been killed," I looked down at my own tea.
"It was no problem, honestly. I went to Hosu because after I heard about Ingenium I was worried for his little brother, Tenya. I know that people can get blinded by hate and revenge and end up doing something they would regret. I've seen it happen to people. Good people. Tenya Iida is a good guy, and I knew how much he loves his brother," Kuro put the tea down and I saw a distant look in her eyes and a sad smile graced her face, "And so I went to Hosu just in case. Then I saw that Iida was interning with Manual and I knew he must've gotten better offers so it only proved my suspensions so I went to watch over him. I didn't get there until he was already hurt, though," Her smile dropped.
I looked up from my tea and saw a small tear run down her face which was quickly wiped away, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect them to my full extent. I wasn't fast enough."
Kuro put the tea down and she bowed.
I was shocked for a moment. I should've been the one bowing but here she was with her forehead on the ground. I snapped out of it and reached over. I didn't know what to do, the last time I touched her she was startled into a panic attack.
I hovered my paw over her back, "Stop, you didn't do anything wrong. I should be the one apologizing to you!"
She looked up at me in confusion.
It was then that I could fully read her, like a wall broke and I could see the extent of her emotions.
I was close to her and could finally see her face however dark it was.
She had wide and piercing grey eyes that looked dull and sad, full of tears. She had a scar on her right cheek that stuck out against her pale skin. She was so pale she almost looked sick and she had a dirt stain on her nose. I couldn't shake the feeling I'd seen her before.
"You saved my students, Kuro," I whispered softly, "When I spoke to them and asked about you they each wanted to say that they were very grateful for your help," Her eyes widened.
"what?" She whispered.
"You saved them," I moved my paw slowly in front of her so she saw it and slowly moved it to her back.
She flinched when my paw touched her but she didn't stop me so I began to rub comforting circles on her back. Again feeling large scars.
After two minutes or so she sat back up and wiped her face again. She moved her arms back down to her lap and began to rub her wrist.
I reached in the basket and pulled out a small biscuit. It was thankfully still warm.
I offered her the biscuit and she took it in her trembling hand, "Thanks"
She bit down and I moved back to where I was before. Kuro broke the silence with a curious question, "What did they say about me?"
Her voice had a playful ring to it.
"Bipolar much?" I thought to myself.
Now that I thought about it, that might've actually been a possibility.
"They said that you were pretty helpful. You kept Stain off of them enough so they were able to attack without much worry," I said smiling, "I also must ask a question though"
"Shoot," She said.
"There were traces of poison in Stain's body when they took him in," Kuro flinched ever so slightly, "The poison was found to not be fatal and had traces of diazepam and chloroform at a nonlethal dosage."
"Yeeaaah," She grabbed an apple, "that might've been my fault."
"How did you get a poison arrow?" I said with genuine curiosity.
"I have my ways," She took a bite while smirking.
I chuckled.
Figuring that she wasn't going to tell me I brought up something a little different, "So who taught you to play?" I gestured to the guitar.
She wore a small distant smile that seemed somewhat forced.
Kuro looked up at me and smirked again, "This really old monkey I met in the states a few years back. I swear, you have no idea how many baboons are in Alaska."
"What a cheeky girl," I thought with a smile as we sat back and enjoyed each other's company, just talking about common interests and having intelligent conversation.
Soon Kuro got up saying she had to leave and packed up her stuff, while grabbing some of the chips and putting them in her bag.
"They're for Droplet," She said. Her face was back to a neutral state and she put the mask back on.
She was waking away when she suddenly froze and looked back at me, "Hey Nezu," Kuro dug in her bag again, "Thanks for the food, haven't had food that good in a while."
Then Kuro tossed me an object.
I caught it in my paws and looked down to see a cleaned and empty flask.
My flask.
"Thanks again," Kuro then jumped to the other rooftop and ran.
No I don't feel bad.
But I am sry that this was a bit cringy.
It's all in the name of character and plot development so don't be mad at me.
Also... whoops I accidentally made another Chapter of only Nezu and Sora talking. It's just really fun to write those two.
What do you think happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
If you know that comment and show me your answer!
Nezu got his flask back!
Ye.
Thanks for Reading!
Bye!
~Care-chan
(2103 words)