Tough Love (BNHA Fanfic)(Boyxboy)

Chapter 12

He was better, and worse, at the same time. He didn't sit around quite as much, taking more jobs and getting out of the house. You could still tell he was suffering though, in the moments where he ran out of things to do.

I tried to be there when I could. To take his mind off of whatever was bothering him by just being a dork and trying to get him to smile. I came very close once. I borrowed a cat laser toy from Midoriya, and when he got home announced that I had a new way to play since he never joined me in video games. He'd almost smiled, possibly almost laughed. He'd put a hand to his face and the corners of his mouth had twitched while his eyes laughed.

He never did though. It seemed years of being unhappy had permeated into his body, keeping him from showing even brief happiness. It was upsetting to think about, and I had a lot of time to do that. I joined another agency, the partner agency to the one most of my friends worked at, and for the most part that kept me busy. Field work was productive, but the hours spent back at the agency doing paperwork or being on standby left me with lots of thinking time to worry about him.

Being home, at least, was a bit of a break. I didn't have to worry about him. I could make sure he was alright. Unfortunately, tonight was one of the times I came home more in the early hours of the morning. Sometimes he'd wait for me, or at least be awake enough to greet me, but this time it seemed he'd found the tv remote. It only takes me a minute to find him sitting on the couch, watching the news languidly. The noise is enough to where he doesn't seem to notice me until I'm standing behind the couch. He turns around, and I recognize the 'I'm really tired but hello' expression he often gives me.

"Anything interesting?"

"They don't play the news all day at your work?"

"Too busy to monitor it usually. There are others in charge of that."

"Mm. There's a couple new villains vexing policemen."

"Really?"

He turns to face the tv again, though I'm sure it's easier for him to just listen to it than actually read or look at it. Although maybe he needs to look with the distraction of me talking to him.

"One of them stalks specific victims, and kills them with an anesthetic. They don't know his quirk or identity yet. The other they call Blue Horn. She's just violent, but they haven't been able to catch her."

"We've heard of Blue Horn. Nothing about the other one though."

"They're still trying to figure out his target pattern. They thought it was just women, but his last two were men. Now they don't know his gender either."

"Why does that change his gender for them?"

"Men are almost always the culprit for dead women. Especially violated ones. But you throw in two men and it starts looking to be more like a woman."

"You're really smart..."

"Average. I know these things from my old job."

"What did you do again?"

"Acoustic analysis. A client gives us a recording and we identify the main components of it. Voices, background noises, distortions. Most of the time we worked with the police, or at least my team did. That's how I know."

"How did the company fail then?"

"Another department did acoustic studies on earthquakes... they were funded mostly by an organization that was funded by the government. That organization didn't give the desired results, so the government withdrew funding. So the organization couldn't fund that department, and around that time, the owner decided to make a risky move that didn't work out. Company collapsed."

"Oh... sounds complicated. Isn't there a company like that nearby?"

"There is, and another one quite far from here."

"Wouldn't they hire you?"

"I tried. Unfortunately I know what I'm worth, and they don't want to pay that. The other one I'd have to move to even be considered for."

Something in the way Akage says it makes me pause. If the company collapsed years ago... why hadn't he moved? The Akage I've come to know is an exceptionally hard worker, even though he was only working here and there.

"So why stay?"

"Stay?"

"Why didn't you move for the other one then?"

"I barely had my shit together. I was pretty much the same as when you first came to live here, only employed. No work means more time to drink..."

"But you could move now, couldn't you?"

"I don't want to move homes."

"Why not? You've got experience already, so I don't see why they wouldn't consider you for the position..."

"The job isn't... the problem. Just don't see a point in tearing my life apart right now, when it's just started to settle a little."

"I don't think I'm following... how would that-"

"Drop it."

His voice is firm. Enough to make it clear he's not talking about it any further, without actually snapping at me. Although I wouldn't be angry if he did. Sometimes the muted way he speaks, though grumpy and a little aggressive, makes me worry. I move around to the front of the couch and sit next to him.

"Got it. So what are you doing up?"

"Nothing... just... habit."

Habit. It was his habit, wasn't it. To stay up until the sun rose drinking himself stupid. Then he'd clean up the mess and go to bed, usually passing me on my way out. I don't recall ever actually experiencing drunk Akage. By the time he'd gone that far, I was on my way to leave for work or he'd already disappeared into his room. Except there's no drinking to it now.

Just him sitting alone fighting it.

He stands up, moving around the couch and heading down the hallway. He doesn't say anything, and he doesn't really need to. It's obvious he's worn out enough to go to bed, especially now that I've come back home so he doesn't have to worry about me.

He says he doesn't, but I know he does. It's written all over his face in the first look at me when I return home. When he looks for any injuries. I stay a little while, before turning off the TV and going to my own room after grabbing my bag from where I left it. I shower and change clothes, repacking my bag for tomorrow before heading to Akage's room.

He's still awake. He's sitting in bed just in his underwear and a shirt, the blankets gathered around his waist as he sits in bed. He's looking out the window, and doesn't turn away from it though I know he can hear me. I cross the room to sit on the bed behind him, and wrap my arms around his torso, leaning my chin on his shoulder. If I could say Akage had one weakness, even when completely on his feet, it would be touch. The second you get your arms around him he just melts. He leans back into me, turning his head slightly to rest his cheek against mine. He's tense. Not in the sense of he's stiff and unwilling in my arms, but that his muscles are tense and movements are slow. He's stressed out or upset about something...

I don't think I should ask. I don't want to pry too much, or Akage will pull away and we'll be starting all over again. Words are a difficulty. Lions talk mostly through body language, like most animals. So I have to ask or say without words. Or just act how I see fit. Right now, Akage is stressed...

I'm confident I know how to help that at least.