I tugged at my collar. It was snug and it felt like it was choking me and the blue scarf I was wearing definitely wasn't helping, but I never took it off just as I never took off either Excalibur or Avalon, so you take the good with the bad.
I looked down at what I was wearing. Black slacks, a white button-up with the sleeves rolled to my elbows, and a navy jacket that Mina had called smart casual, whatever that meant. It was definitely something out of my usual style, in fact I didn't even know I had it in my closet but it was what Mina and the rest had chosen for me to wear after about an hour of trying different combinations. An hour. For clothes. The whole ordeal had been exhausting.
"You can't just wear sportswear everywhere," Mina had said, hands on her hips.
"Why not? It's practical."
"Because this is a date, Arthur. A DATE."
I still didn't fully understand the distinction.
Perhaps it was like what Nezu had told me about my hero costume, making a good first impression and presenting myself as what I wanted to be regarded as, but that didn't make much sense, I already knew Nejire.
Speaking of, Nejire walked into the mall where I had been waiting on a bench at the entrance.
I noticed her before she noticed me. Her hair a shade of periwinkle tied into a single long ponytail, she was wearing a sundress the same shade as her hair. A few people turned their heads as she passed, likely recognizing her from the Sports Festival or her work-study with Ryukyu.
Our eyes met and we both smiled. Hers one from ear to ear, mine smaller but with as much meaning behind it.
Mina and the rest had educated me a lot on this date thing. Apparently Nejire wanted to form a romantic partnership with me, or at least was interested in seeing if she could form said relationship. Still I had never heard the terminology before so until Mina explained it, I had no clue what it meant. Romance had never been something I thought about during my years as a vigilante. And before that, well. Mother had never gotten the chance to explain any of it.
As for my own romantic interest? I didn't have any, but Nejire was a nice person so I didn't understand why I would turn her down. She was kind. She made me smile without effort. Those seemed like good qualities in any relationship, romantic or otherwise.
"Hey Arthur," she said excitedly as she jogged over to me. The fabric of her sundress swayed with every step. I rose from my bench, and before I could even register felt her lips land on my right cheek.
Huh?!
The contact was brief. Warm. Her lips were softer than I expected, not that I had any expectations to begin with. But the sensation lingered on my skin even after she pulled back. My enhanced senses registered everything.
Her mouth moved but I heard nothing, when she closed it she's smiling. What did she say?
My mind had gone blank. Completely, utterly blank. I had faced down villains. I had stared into the eyes of Stain himself. I had learned to control power that could level buildings. And yet this simple gesture had rendered me speechless.
"I'm sorry," I began. "I didn't catch that."
"You didn't catch it," Nejire replied almost in shock, her hand going to my forehead. Her palm was cool against my skin, and I became acutely aware of how close she was standing. Close enough that I could count her eyelashes if I wanted to, well I could also do that from a few hundred meters but still.
"Are you feeling okay?"
For some reason I could feel my body heating up. A warmth spreading from my chest outward, settling in my cheeks, my ears.
"You're warm. Do you have a fever?"
My hand grabbed her wrist, when I do so I began to hear Nejire's own heart beat faster, her cheeks flush, she immediately pulled away and began to stutter.
"Uh, I-I'm s-sor-ry, I jus-st k-"
It was... adorable.
"Don't worry about it Nejire," I replied feeling as my own body begins to cool down. "As for your question, no I don't have a fever, I'm feeling fine Nejire, thank you. I just didn't hear what you said before."
"Oh," Nejire replied with a smile as she scratched her cheek turning away her face turning a bit redder. "I just said that you look great, not as good as your hero costume but still great. Double thumbs up from me."
She actually held up two thumbs as she said it, the gesture so earnest that I felt the corner of my mouth twitch upward.
"Thank you Nejire, you look great too."
The words came out automatically, but I meant them. The dress suited her. She looked almost ethereal.
Her head turned from the side to gaze at the floor, her cheeks flushing a bit more, which made my own flush for some reason. God this is awkward. Neither of us seemed to know where to look or what to do with our hands. She fiddled around in her purse that hung from her left shoulder fishing out the phone. The screen lit up her face as she checked the time.
"We're going to miss the movie."
With those words she grabbed my hand and we began running up the escalators, one after the other. Her grip was firm but not uncomfortable. Well I wasn't really running but it did have the same form, I couldn't use my quirk in public after all, it felt slightly weird.
The escalators rose in a zigzag pattern through the mall's center, if I remembered right the Musutafu Mall was the second biggest mall in the entirety and my god did it live up to that, each floor was like an entirely different space.
It wasn't long before we made it to the last floor, where the cinema was.I could smell the popcorn from here. Movie posters lined the walls, heroes and villains from fictional worlds staring down at us with dramatic expressions. None of them looked anything like the real thing.
We walked in or were about to but before we could do so I felt something on my right arm. I looked down, a child was tugging at it. She had puffy cheeks, short purple hair that fell to her nape and similarly colored eyes.
I looked at Nejire and Nejire looked at me, then we both looked down at the child.
"Mister," she said her voice meek, her eyes meeting mine for only a moment before going back down to the ground. The word twisted something in my chest. I think everyone had a soft spot for children, it was certainly mine, maybe because I myself hadn't had a childhood, the only people whom I had more compassion for were those who were mentally ill. My instincts took hold and I took a knee in front of her and with my index pulled her face up so she could meet my own gaze.
"What is it child?"
Her lower lip trembled. Up close I could see the tear tracks on her cheeks, still fresh. She smelled like candy.
"I can't find my mommy."
The words came out in a rush, she almost stammered as she spoke.
"That's troubling indeed," I replied as I looked back at Nejire she had a nervous look on her face. When our eyes met, something passed between us and both of us new then and there, we could miss a movie. "Do you want us to help you find her?"
The girl nodded vigorously at my words a smile forming on her face. It was remarkable, how easily a child's mood could change.
"Guess we'll be missing the movie," Nejire added jokingly.
"I guess we will," I chuckled back.
She took a knee at my side, bringing herself down to the child's level exactly the same as I had. The gesture made me smile.
"What's your name?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Yume," she answered. Her voice was steadier now.
"That's a beautiful name," I added. "Well then Yume, when was the last time you saw your mommy? Where were both of you?"
Dream. Her name meant dream. I wondered if her mother had chosen it for a reason, if there was a story there.
"Uh, I don't remember," she replied pouting tears forming at the edge of her eyes. Her small hands balled into fists at her sides, most likely frustrated with herself for not remembering.
"That's alright," Nejire said quickly, her tone soothing. "Malls, especially this one, are big and confusing. Even I get lost sometimes."
"Well then let's go to the reception, I'm sure they'll be able to call your mommy there, don't you think so Nejire?"
She nodded. Yume's arms raised up and with it came her cute voice. "Carry me." The request was so innocent, so trusting, that I couldn't help but smile wider. I picked her up, careful to support her properly, and she immediately wrapped her small arms around my neck. Her weight was nothing to me, but there was something about holding a child which always made me feel heavy.
With Yume in my arms and Nejire walking beside me, we made our way back down, moved past a few shops until finally making it to the mall reception. The journey was slower than our initial rush up the escalators, Yume occasionally pointing at things in shop windows and asking questions that neither of us could answer.
We walked in together. Finally making it to the desk where a man was. He looked bored, it most likely had not been a very exciting day, his eyes were on his phone until we approached.
"Hello," Nejire began, her voice bright as ever.
"Uh yeah hi, what do you want," the man answered. His eyes barely lifted from his screen.
"This girl was alone," she added as I walked over to the counter with Yume in my grasp. Yume buried her face in my chest, suddenly shy in front of the stranger. "We would like for you to call her mother to the desk."
His eyes landed on the girl, his expression shifting slightly as he seemed to actually see the situation for the first time. His finger moving to a button on a mic that was placed in front of him.
"We have," the man covered the mic with his hand. "What's her name?"
"Yume Ahiko," she said quickly before burying her face in my chest again, he nodded taking off the hand from the mic. "We have Yume Ahiko here at reception. I repeat we have Yume Ahiko here at reception."
The announcement echoed through the mall, through the speakers. I listened to it bounce off walls and floors, tracking the sound as it traveled.
"Thank you very much," Nejire said, we both bowed our head toward him slightly after which we sat on three seats that were lined on the wall. I placed Yume in between Nejire and I, her feet not even reaching the ground as she swung her legs back and forth. It was adorable.
"So Yume," I began, wanting to keep her mind off the wait. "What's your mommy like?"
"She's tall, really tall. Very pretty."
"As pretty as Yume?" Nejire asked, a smile on her face as she looked into her indigo eyes.
She shook her head, the motion exaggerated. "Not as pretty but very pretty."
Nejire laughed at that, a bright sound that made Yume giggle too.
It didn't take long before someone who looked like an older carbon copy of Yume came rushing in, the sole thing that differentiated the both aside from height and age were the deep dark bags under her eyes. She had most likely not been sleeping well. A single mother, perhaps, I wanted to ask but I restrained myself. Her face brightened up when she saw us or more specifically Yume, she ran towards us picking up Yume quickly and throwing her slightly into the air as she twirled around. The scene brought a smile to my face.
"You gave me such a scare, little one!!" she laughed joyfully before bringing Yume to her bosom. The relief in her voice was palpable.
"Hahaha, mommy stop you're crushing me."
"Oh I'm sorry, I was just so worried, why did you run off?"
At the question Yume looked downcast, twirling her thumbs. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mommy."
"Don't apologize everything is okay," she replied as she settled her down on the ground. Yume's hand was enveloped by her mother's as she walked over to us, bowing deeply. The bow was low enough that I could see the gray at her roots. "I can't thank you enough truly."
"It was no trouble mam."
"Still thank you."
"What do you say to the nice lady and gentleman?"
"Thank you," Yume added bowing deeply, mimicking her mother's posture. With that it looked like everything was said and done as they began to walk away, Yume once more in her mother's arms but just as they were about to leave Yume whispered something in her mother's ear.
The woman paused, looking back at us. Something soft passed over her expression. She let Yume down on the ground and Yume ran towards us.
"Down please," she said which made Nejire and I look at each other before we knelt in front of her, she gave Nejire a kiss on the cheek and then came over to me. Just as she kissed my cheek she said something into my ear.
"You're really cool Arthur," as she whispered that into my ear, my ears pricked up and with it came a sound but I didn't quite realize from where even though it was close, it was the sound of buzzing.... like a bee?
The sound was faint, extremely so, a vibration at the edge of my enhanced hearing. I tried to pinpoint its source, but I couldn't. She then ran back to her mother, the buzzing sound lessening as she went, I couldn't think about that too long since Nejire spoke into my ear. Her breath was warm against my skin, and I found myself leaning slightly toward her voice.
"Well that was a good way to spend the evening, helping people in need, there is no better feeling."
"Yeah," I replied my gaze turning to her. Her eyes were bright, reflecting the lights above. "Sorry about the movie though."
"It's fine, it's fine," she waved it off, her hand brushing my arm in the process. "Besides if you still want to we can make the second screening, it's starting in fifteen minutes."
"I'd love to," I replied and as we walked out of the reception, my eyes almost wandered to look for Yume but I didn't find her and besides that buzzing sound why was it so famili...
Again I couldn't think too long as I felt fingers interlock in mine. Nejire's hand was grasping my own. Her palm was warm, slightly smaller than mine, and I could feel her pulse through the contact point, steady and strong.
What was I thinking about?
A/N: So… how are you all doing? Good? Sure hope so, been a bit but nice to see yall again, well not really see but you guys and gals get my point. Any interesting stories? Happy to know any of them. If yall have any questions of the fic feel free to ask em here or in Cypress' (Author of MHA:Blink) discord. Either way 2.645 words as a coming back chapter ain't too shabby if I say so myself.
Also stones would be super appreciated. Thx for reading. Author out