After sloppily rummaging through your pockets, you finally managed to find the key. The lock clicked and you both entered your shared piece of tranquillity. You plodded over to your couch and plopped on the nearest cushion, a relived sigh leaving your lips. Hizashi went to the kitchen for a too familiar red box and placed it on the coffee table. Then he sat beside you, closing his eyes for a minute. Without uttering a single word, you stayed like this for a while. He turned his head towards you.
You looked so calm, despite what has happened on the mission. Your face was stained by blood a little and a single stream was running down from your forehead. You blinked at Hizashi slowly, gesturing how tired you were. The corners of his lips turned upward, but his eyes bore the same exhaustion.
“It’s your turn today” you pointed at the red box.
“Sure, love.” He grabbed it and prepped himself so he was facing you directly. He took out a piece of cotton and poured some disinfectant over it. While tapping your forehead, you stared at the man in front of you, admiring his face quietly. The hypnotising green hue of his eyes, almost acidic, seemed to almost glow in the dim lighting. His smile still plastered over his face. The usual banana on top of his head was now fully destroyed and his hair got lazily draped over his shoulders. He hanged his flashy glasses by his jacket. It was rare seeing him like this, you though.
“May I?” you raised your hands towards his neck, and he nodded, leaning in contently. You reached behind his head and under his hair, the motion making him shiver. You clipped of the speaker and took it off, which made Hizashi’s shoulders relax immediately. Then you zipped off his leather jacket, revealing his bare torso, which surprised you, he usually had a shirt on at least.
“My, my, are we skipping to this part already?” You punched him playfully for his snarky comment. He stripped himself of his jacket, which also revealed a huge cut over his arm. You tutted and ran your fingers around it. It was lightly swollen, but the cut didn’t appear to be deep, stitches weren’t necessary.
“I thought I felt something stinging on my arm, but, wait…” and he grabbed his jacket folded beside him.
“Now, this is a work of a villain” he whined and pointed at the sleeve, which was ripped, copying the cut on his arm.
“I’ll sew it up for you, darling.” You pecked him on the cheek and poured another dose of liquid on a piece of cotton.
“Hey, good work today, songbird.” He hummed.
“I got luckier than your jacket it seems. No, we both did well today.” You contemplated for a moment.
“Why don’t we take a day off tomorrow? Let’s just hang out and clear our heads a little. We could stay in bed for the morning, turning on one of those American old cheesy movies.”
Hizashi chuckled. “That sounds wonderful, but I gotta hand in a report from today and who’s gonna help me with that, hm?”
“I’ll write it for you. Hell, I’ll even hand it over if it meant to have just one day for ourselves. Please Zashi.” You cartoonishly expressed a pleading face and cupped his face. You can’t even remember when you two went on a real date. You barely managed to get in bed together on time.
“You’re forgetting something, sweetie.” You bandaged his arm, finishing off your mutual wound treatment. Hizashi was pointing on a shelf, which had a digital clock with an in-built radio. Radio.
“Noo” you whined and dramatically threw your hands over your boyfriend’s chest. Hizashi chuckled over your reaction.
“Your listeners might try sleeping for a change, who listens to a radio at 2am anyway?” You started to argue like a child. Not that Hizashi wasn’t aware of the whole satire behind it. He knew you weren’t serious. Or were you?
“You would be surprised, last week, we hit over 6000 tune-ins in one minute.”
“6000 people taking you away from me every night” There was a hint of sadness in your voice. You had little time with him when he came from patrol, let alone if something happened and he had to stay overtime, or when he had to catch up on grading papers for his students. Having 3 jobs was just a little too overbearing for one, which in Hizashi’s case was admirable, but very frustrating for you.
Sometimes you just wanted him for yourself, at least in the evening. You meet a few times during school, in the teacher’s lounge for a quick kiss, occasionally you lunch together in the cafeteria.
Your train of thoughts was interrupted.
“-and it is really just a safe space for those in need and I’m glad to provide it.”
You blinked for a few times, muttering a quick “What? Sorry?”
“You weren’t listening just now, weren’t you?”
“I’m sorry Zashi. I’ve been thinking how little time we spend together. I respect your hobby as a radio host and all, but…”
He cut you off with placing both of his hands on your shoulders, looking into your eyes softly.
“I know, songbird. Next month should be a little more manageable, in terms of shifts I mean.”
“Next month” you sighed, getting annoyed, while anger pooled in your belly. You stood up, taking a deep breath for what’s about to come.
“I’ve had enough of your excuses, alright? I just wish we weren’t so caught up in work only to meet for an hour every day. And if you’ve already forgotten, I had dropped tutoring and cut off most of my patrol work just to see you at home taking a shower before disappearing again. You’re like a ghost. Why can’t you drop off something too, Hizashi?” Your heartbeat was unstoppably fast as you spat the words.
You’ve not called him Hizashi for a long time. He stood up in a flash.
“Well maybe not everyone has all the time in the world. It’s my job as a pro, and my duty to be there for people. But you wouldn’t know, would you? Helping me on a patrol sometimes doesn’t help, we’re still stuck with paperwork, no, I am stuck with it. I’m tired, but I just need you to bear with me and stand by my side. I love my jobs and I would really appreciate if you respected that.”
“Wow, that’s a new one. Why would you care anyway? It’s our relationship that’s at stake, so why would it matter?” You caught yourself yelling, but that was nothing in comparison to…
“I FEEL LIKE I’M TALKING TO A WALL” Echoed violently throughout the room, a rumbling so powerful the stuff in the living room was shaking. If it was a little more louder, the window glass panes would definitely break. You winced in pain, covering your ears. The sudden shock made you tear up instantly, but a new feeling overtook your body. Fear.
You both have crossed the boundary. You, as his trigger, him being yours. Hizashi stood there bewildered by his actions. This was the for the first time emotions took over his quirk. He just hurt the most important person in his life and the realisation hit him like a train. He paced over to you, raising his hands to hold your face.
“DON’T TOUCH ME” you cried, wiggling away and scurrying to your bedroom, shutting the door.
Hizashi’s vision blurred with upcoming spree of tears. He hid his face with hands, ashamed, pained.
“What have I done?” his voice was breaking. Thoughts of heartbreak, punishment, the whole argument flooded his brain. It was all his fault, and in the end, you were right. He was pathetic. You were the first person in his life who made him feel the warmth of love only a significant other could. He loved you with the entirety of his being and now he got to the point of hurting you.
His chest tightened. If he could, he would flagellate him self this instant. He shook his head, trying to get it together. He was ready to fix it, right now. In an instant, he picked up a phone.
“Shouta? Hello, I need a favour of you and Kayama”
It wasn’t fair. Why was it so bad to want a value in a relationship? You were hyperventilating for a while, trying to shake off the anger, trying to keep your head cool and think rationally. But it was difficult, especially after he resigned to use his quirk on you, which he had promised he would never do. If only you didn’t start to get into an argument instantly, but instead try to talk it through like adults do. You held your knees to your chest, cradling yourself on the bed, contemplating what to do next.
You heard a knock on the door.
Slowly getting up, you prepared yourself mentally.
Another knock.
You grabbed the handle hesitantly, taking a deep breath for the last time.
Opening the door, his expression piqued your interest. His eyes weren’t avoiding you. He held a firm stance, ready to take responsibility for his actions.
“Can you come to the kitchen with me? Please?”
You eyed him curiously, nodding.
He grabbed a chair for you, offering you a seat. ‘So, we’re gonna talk like adults’ you thought. He sat across you, but close enough to keep the intimacy. His eyes were all over your face, trying to figure out your state of mind. You both sat there for a moment in an eerie silence.
“Are your ears okay?” Was the first question. You nodded.
“You know, the first time I used my quirk, I almost deafened my parents. It couldn’t control it well until I went to UA, but back then, I made a promise. A promise to never hurt my close ones with it, for I know it’s destructive power.” He paused to see your reaction. You nodded, encouraging him to continue.
“I trained hard to have full control over it. I had to start mentally, trying to face myself with emotional obstacles on daily basis. I instructed my friends to prank me, the teachers to insult me from time to time, and it worked. I learned to let out my anger without using my quirk, although it was rough.” He cleared his throat.
“Today was the first time I managed to break my promise. I went way overboard, and I’m so, so sorry (Y/N)” His voice was laced with sincerity with an attempt to speak as softly as possible.
“I felt… fear, as clear as day,” his eyes squinted in remorse, “but, I understand it was in the heat of the argument, and I also believe you wouldn’t hurt me on purpose”
His eyes flared in hope.
“Truly, I wouldn’t, songbird. May I?” After denying his touch before, it came into his mind to ask you back for permission. You offered your hands, to which he responded with a sight of relief.
“Will I be forgiven?”
“You already are.”
“Can we hug?”
Raising up, you embraced each other in a long hug. Hizashi kept whispering sweet words into your hair, pulling your body towards his even tighter, as if you were to dissolve into the thin air. The atmosphere suddenly got more calm and pleasant. His hair began tickling your face, so you nuzzled into the crook of his neck.
“And now, for the main topic of tonight’s row.”
“Yes?”
“I made a call with Shouta and Kayama. They will be taking over my patrol shifts. Well, most of them. I promised to take at least two days a week.”
You gave him a surprised look, mouth agape, brows furrowed.
“Wha-… how did they even agree on this? What have you bribed them with?”
“Nothing, I just poked at them for being single” A familiar grin crept onto his features. “As for the radio, first thing tomorrow, I’ll post a hiring announcement for a position of a radio host. We would be switching, so I won’t run it solo and, most importantly…” he leaned close to your ear, “I’ll finally have some time for you.”
“A-Are you sure you really want this? If it’s such a bother, then-“ Hizashi placed a finger over your lips, shushing you.
“We want this. I don’t want to be a ghost for you anymore.” He caressed your cheek, leaning in closer, his lips gently stroking yours.
“Hmm” you hummed, content with the way things turned out.
“Aren’t you afraid to lose your listeners after they find out someone else talks to them?” you asked.
“My little listeners will just have to manage and wait for my turn.”
“I’ll be your little listener.”