Turn Out The Lights

Your Identity Is Safe With Us

They had to talk me into it, but in the end, it made the most sense. We debated other options, but none of them fit so well. They noted that he works well with me, understands how I work, and is able to stop me if I overexert myself. Aizawa was the most logical choice for the mission, but the thought of being nearly alone with him for up to a month made me feel like I was going to vomit. Or explode. Or both. I'm not completely sure but it wasn't a particularly exciting thought. All that was left was to ask him. They suggested I use the Hero Network to propose the team up if it made me uncomfortable, but I figured it would be better to do it in person. I knew I'd see him eventually, so I took to sorting out the rest of my schedule around the mission. I called my mother and let her know she couldn't come out for the holidays and informed my staff of my scheduled absences. Fat and Sir would inform the boys, so I didn't have to take care of that at least.

I was scheduled with Sir that night, which meant I got to work with Mirio while we patrolled. It was a relatively slow night, so we spent most of it just walking around. Around 10:30 he broke our silence, "June, we're still friends, right?"

I wondered if that was what had been keeping him quiet all night, "Yeah, why? What's up?"

"Can I ask you something weird? If it makes you uncomfortable you don't have to answer it."

Oh boy. "Sure, ask me anything."

He played with the tip of one of his gloves, "What did it feel like when we kissed?"

I looked over to him but he kept his eyes on his glove, "Umm, I'm not really sure. Are you sure that's something you want me to answer? Wouldn't that be harmful to your current relationship?"

"I don't know. I'm really just trying to figure out how I feel I guess." He pulled his glove back on and sat on a bench we were walking past.

"Okay," I sat down beside him, "So how do you feel?"

He pushed out a breathy huff, "That's the problem! I don't know! I feel really happy with her, and I like spending time with her, but every time she kisses me or tries to do anything more, I dunno. I guess my heart's just not in it? Like she tells me she loves me, and I say it back. And I do love her, but not in the same way? I dunno, I just feel like there was something solid with you. Like something that I could grab onto. So that's why I wanted to know what you felt when we kissed."

I sat there for a moment and tried to put my feelings into words for him, "It felt like I was going to vomit." He looked at me like I'd just punched him, so I quickly tried to make him understand. "It wasn't because you were bad or weird or whatever, it was like something was squeezing me inside, and like my heart was going to explode. It felt like I was going to die if you had kept your lips on mine, but also like I would die if you took them away."

His eyes grew a little wider and he frowned to keep from smiling like he always did when he was trying to be serious. "I understand. Thank you."

I tried to be steady in my response but all that came out was a stumble and awkward, "No problem. Besides, what are friends for?" I stood up and kept walking, determined to keep my eyes straight ahead for the rest of the night.

Eventually, we decided he could go home early, especially since it was so slow. I kept patrolling, determined to at least make quota for the night, and came across a few kids who were running down a mostly dead street laughing loudly. It was pretty late, and a school night at that, so I decided to investigate. They headed down an alley and I followed, calling out to them and asking about their parents. I could only see two of them so I turned on my helmet's light and saw two middle-aged men staring at me. I got an uneasy feeling and asked them if they'd seen four children running this way. They told me they hadn't, and I looked over their shoulders to see the brick wall cutting off the alley. I asked if they were sure and they assured me no children had run by. I asked them if they could follow me to the police station a block over and make a report, and suddenly the two men turned into one huge man.