Fumiaki and Hanzo Have To Lie Low

{Sekai’s POV}

Immediately after that incident, Principal Nezu called us to his office and prepared tea for us. As we were drinking tea, he said, “I understand that the villains were not targeting your true identities, but they attacked you regardless, and per our initial agreement, I want you to move back on campus.” We both sighed, bummed out that we can’t use our apartment anymore. Principal Nezu continued, seeing our disappointment, “I understand how losing freedom may feel like a punishment, but this is for your safety.”

I groan hearing his explanation, and Aya-chan grimaces while holding my hand, as it almost feels like a scolding even though we didn’t do anything wrong. Principal Nezu places his tea down and grabs his phone and says while unlocking it, “The press has been hounding me for any news of you two since I am the one that seemed closest to you two. In lieu of this, we are probably going to have to do a press release to calm the press.”

He pulls up a news channel on his phone and turns up the volume and starts the segment from the beginning where the journalist says, “No one has seen our beloved models after the ordeal at their apartment complex. They seemingly dropped off the face of the earth, and many concerned people are concerned for their safety after that emotional scene that was captured." As she talks, video of me crying and shielding Fu-chan while glaring at the camera is shown as she continues reporting, "Their modeling agency refused to reach out to them for a sound bite, and the other person we have been trying to reach has told us they are safe and will do a press release soon.” He locks his phone to make the recording stop and places his phone back down.

We groan, understanding his predicament, and I say, “I don’t want to put Fu-chan in front of a camera, sir. Not yet at least.” He sighs and takes another sip of his tea. “I understand. I’ll continue to keep them at bay. However, I won’t be able to keep this up forever.” I nod, and I take Aya-chan back to the dorm room.

It has been about a week since the incident, and Aya-chan has been more depressed since then, and I still can’t enjoy my food. It has been a week since the bomb scare, and she has lost a lot of weight by drinking only the occasional protein shake. It is like she is withering away before my eyes, and it is breaking my heart.

I see the news and how they are pressuring the principal more and more every day, and I call him and whisper to him in our dorm room, “Would it be alright if I were to do the press conference without Fu-chan?” Aya-chan hears this, and she pulls on my sleeve, “If you are by my side, I think I can manage telling them that we will step out of the public eye for a bit. I don’t know if I can answer any questions though.” The principal sighs audibly in relief, and he says, “The press has gathered at your apartment in the lobby. If you could change and transform and meet me in front of the UA gate, I can have my driver take us there.”

We change into our Fumiaki and Hanzo clothes, and we kiss and combine quirks and awkwardly teleport in a secluded place near the gate of UA and then pop out into 3D and walk the rest of the way. We wait here until we see the principal’s car; then we promptly hop in. The drive feels like it takes forever. I hold her hand the whole drive, and even after we get there.  

We walk hand in hand with the principal by our side as the press storms us. Fu-chan puts her hand up as Principal Nezu says, cutting off their barrage of questions, “The boys will not be answering questions today and will only be giving a statement.” Fu-chan tries to steel her resolve with a shaky breath, and I squeeze her hand supportively. She says with a breaking voice, “Due to recent events, we are going to be lying low for a bit. Our existence puts people we deeply care for in jeopardy, and we think it will be best to step back from the public eye.”

The reporter closest to us asks, “What do you mean by wording it like your ‘existence’?” Fu-chan starts crying and responds, “If only I wasn’t born, then maybe our neighbors and loved ones here wouldn’t have faced such terror.” I put my hand up in front of the cameras and, scowling harder into the camera, say, “Turn those off now.” I pull her into a secluded room in the lobby area meant for meetings and such, and I shut the door. I put her face in my hands, and I told her, “Don’t ever say anything like that again, Fu-chan.”

She is sobbing and says, “But if I wasn’t born, then they wouldn’t have had to be terrified by that villain.” I scolded her with a broken voice, “Damnit, Fu-chan! I just fucking said to not say it again! Don’t you recall how we first met?” She nods as tears fall down her face, and I continue sobbing myself, “If you didn’t exist, then I wouldn’t either! I would have successfully committed suicide that day if it weren’t for you existing!” I wiped her tears, and I pleaded with her, “Just as you made me promise I wouldn’t attempt to take my own life again, I want you to give me the same promise right here and now.”

She half-heartedly says, “Ok, I promise.” I scold her more with a breaking voice as her condition fills me with absolute despair, “Damnit, Fu-chan! Say it like you mean it! I can’t even use my quirk properly because I can’t stand to see you miserable! Promise me that you will stay with me! If you die, then there is no reason for me to be living anymore!” Fu-chan falls to her knees, and I follow her down, and she attempts to wipe the never-ending stream of tears, “I promise I won’t try to end my life.” I begged her, “If you mean that, please eat a proper meal.” She continues to cry, “I don’t know if I can.”

I demanded from her, “Give me your phone right now.” She hands me her ‘Fumiaki’ phone with a shaky hand, and I dial Deonte, “Hey, Deonte. Can you do me a favor?” He responds, “Sure. What’s up, kiddo?” I ask him with a breaking voice, “Can you make Fu-chan a hearty soup that is purely liquid? He hasn’t eaten a proper meal in a week.” I hear his voice breaking a bit over the phone, and he says, “I’ll get on it right away. Where do you want me to bring it?” I asked him, “Can you bring it to our apartment?” He responds, “I’ll bring it as soon as I can.”

I hang up and give it back to her, and I embrace her. It is now, when it is a little quiet, spare our tears, that I noticed there were cameras pointing at us through the window, watching our vulnerable moment just now. I take my suit blazer off, drape it over her head, and walk her out, where I see the Principal pleading with the reporters to stop recording: “Please respect their privacy during their strenuous times.” I glare at them as we exit; tears fall from my face as we walk to the elevator to go up to our apartment.

We get to the apartment, and we sit on the sofa in front of our new coffee table we had to buy because of Garlic breaking the other one. She drops her transformation while I keep mine for when Deonte comes in, in case someone is watching the cameras. Sir Floof comes out and cuddles with us and places his ribbons on us, and I start to feel a little less desperate. I would honestly like to see what is on the news, but I know that is the furthest thing that Aya-chan needs right now. I sit here and stroke her dark purple hair delicately while we wait for Deonte.

In about 15 minutes (or so, I wasn’t really tracking the time), Deonte arrives with his usual cart, and I open the door for him. He gets a bowl, ladles soup into the bowl, and places it at the dining room table while I help Aya-chan up and take her to the table while dropping my transformation. He made me a bowl as well, then sat down to watch us eat with watery eyes. I don’t touch mine until I know that she is going to eat. She takes a spoonful of soup and slurps it down, and I cry tears of relief. I take a sip of the soup as well, and even though I know it is gourmet, I struggle to enjoy it.

Deonte cries as we eat, and that makes me cry harder. I hate not being able to give him the pleasure of seeing us enjoy his meals. I struggle with every bite, as does Aya-chan. When I finally finish my soup, I hug Deonte and say, “I’m sorry. I can’t find pleasure in eating if Aya-chan is withering away like this.” His voice breaks as he gently squeezes me supportively, “I know, kid. It’s ok.” As he hugs me, he asks with his voice still breaking, “Would it be alright if I deliver food to your school to make sure you both are eating properly?” I respond with a breaking voice of my own, “Please do.”

After eating, Aya-chan looks exhausted, so we go take a nap while Deonte takes food out of the freezer and warms it up for Garlic, Sir Floof, and Squash.

I wake up to find our friends cuddling with us in bed. Sir Floof had his ribbons on Aya-chan as she slept, and when she started to come to, she pet Sir Floof groggily. I grab my phone and check the news and see that they are still in the main lobby, lingering to catch another sound bite from us. I groan, and Aya-chan asks groggily, “What is it?” I tell her, and she also groans. I transform into Hanzo, use the apartment phone by the bed, and call the front desk. Hidemi answers and asks, “Thank you for calling Sunset Suites. This is Hidemi. How may I help you today?”

I ask her, “This is Hanzo. Can you help us get out without being noticed by those pesky reporters?” She replies in a way that is generic so the reporters right in front of her don’t realize who she is talking to, “Definitely, I can help you with that. What time were you thinking?” I replied, “Five minutes?” She responds, “I have it marked down in the system. Thank you for calling Sunset Suites and have a nice day.” I hang up the phone and update Aya-chan, who transforms into Fumiaki while we collect some things since we won’t return here for a while.

After 5 minutes, we hear a knock at the door and open it to find Hidemi there. We grab the stuff we are taking from the apartment, and she says, “Follow me. I was paying attention when the building manager taught Ryukyu how to turn off the building alarms, so I went ahead and turned them off briefly so we could use the emergency exit in the back undetected.” We sigh in relief, and Fu-chan says, “Thanks, Hidemi.” She smirks warmly with compassion as she guides us to the emergency stairwell.

As we walk down the stairwell, I ask her, “We are going to stay away for a while. Could you water our plants for us while we are gone?” She says, “Certainly. It is my job as a concierge to take care of the residents' needs.” We sigh in relief, and Fu-chan squeezes my hand and says, as tears form in her eyes, in a slightly broken voice, “I am sorry for causing everyone so much trouble.” Hidemi snaps at Fu-chan as we descend these countless flights of stairs, “It isn’t your fault that a villain attacked, so stop beating yourself up for something outside of your control.”

I chime in, “Literally what I have been telling you this whole goddamn time, Fu-chan.” Hidemi says with watery eyes and a warm smile, “Everyone at the Sunset Suites is thankful for your courage that day. Sure, they might have been scared, but you gave them hope. You were our hero, and we appreciate you.” Fu-chan stops walking and starts crying, “D-do you really mean that?” Hidemi starts crying as well since Fu-chan’s tears are contagious, and she says, “Absolutely.”

Fu-chan goes from crying to sobbing, and Hidemi asks, “Would you like a hug?” Fu-chan nods, and Hidemi hugs her. Fu-chan says in a breaking voice as they hug, “Thank you for asking permission, Hidemi.” She chuckles through her own tears and says, “Well, it is something I learned from you after all. ‘Always get consent’.” Fu-chan chuckles through her tears as well. I think she needed to hear this from them, not me, since I am obviously very biased in her favor.

​

Fu-chan gets so emotional/comfortable that, during the hug, she must have forgotten to keep her transformation quirk active, and a poof of pink smoke envelops her, startling Hidemi. I would have been panicking if it were literally ANYONE else. She retreats from the hug while stroking her black hair out of her face, looking surprised to see Aya-chan. She gasps and says, “Damn, you are just a kid.” She then repeats herself and places her hand on her forehead in realization that she was attracted to children transformed as men. She looks at me and asks, “Are you a kid as well?” I nod and release my spell to reveal my scarred face and pink hair, and she cries and hugs us both in our true forms and says, “We owe you kids, our lives.”

​

After the hug, she asks while wiping her tears, “Out of curiosity, why did you two become Fumiaki and Hanzo?” Aya-chan says while stroking my hair, “It was a way so we could hide from the villains targeting us while being in plain sight. Principal Nezu knows our secret and said that if villains attacked, we would have to move back into UA.” Hidemi sighs, understanding everything now, and says, “Don’t worry. I will keep your secret.” Aya-chan smiles that warm smile of hers and says, “We know. Otherwise, you would have made things difficult when we were Fumiaki and Hanzo.” She pats us both on the head, and we transform back for optics for the camera outside the apartments and continue to walk down the stairs.

After a long trek down these stairs, we reach the door, and Hidemi takes the lead, pushes the emergency exit open, and looks around to make sure the coast is clear. She waves us out, and Fu-chan hugs her one last time before we go, and she says, “Thank you for all your help, Hidemi.” She separates from her, discreetly pulls out a wad of yen, hands it to her, and says, “Take care of yourself.” Hidemi’s jaw dropped at the amount of yen handed to her, and she nodded, speechless. We wave goodbye, and she goes back inside the building and shuts the emergency exit door.

We get out of the security camera shot and discreetly use Fu-chan’s quirk, and we awkwardly use my quirk with kisses to teleport back to our dorm. Teleporting like this isn’t precise, and it almost feels as if I am under the influence because it is hard to see where I am teleporting as I kiss her. When we get back to the dorms, we revert to our normal selves and change into our regular clothes. We hear a knock at the door, and it is Tsu and Toru. I answer the door as I am buttoning my pants.

Tsu asks, “Can we come in? Ribbit?” I nod, and they come in and sit on the bed next to us. Toru says, “We were sitting by your door, waiting for you to come back.” She starts shedding a few tears, “We saw the news and our hearts were breaking for you.” I ask them while clutching my hoodie, “Did those vultures air the video of us in the private room?” Tsu starts crying as well and nods while hugging Aya-chan, who starts sobbing. I grumble while fuming as tears of rage flow down my face, “I told those parasites to turn off those goddamned cameras.”

Toru hugs me with one arm while wiping her tears with the other, “We know.” Tsu asks, “Did you eat that food that Sekai had gotten your chef to prepare, ribbit?” Aya-chan nods, “Y-yeah, Kai-chan made sure I ate.” They both sigh in relief. Toru asks as she stops hugging me and starts stroking my hair gently and platonically, “Are you going to start eating again, Ayaka? You have lost so much weight, and it is extremely worrying.” Aya-chan tells them, “Our chef is going to deliver food to make sure I eat.” Tsu asks, obviously concerned, “Won’t that put your identities at risk? Ribbit?” I say, “I honestly couldn’t care less about that if Aya-chan stays alive.” Tsu responds, “Well, I hope everything works out, ribbit ribbit.”

Toru tries to shift the subject slightly and asks, “So, how did you guys leave the apartments without alarming the staff with a sudden disappearance?” Aya-chan says with a breaking voice, “Kai-chan talked with one of the concierges who escorted us through the emergency exit to avoid those assholes.” Tsu and Toru both say simultaneously, ““Ahhhh,”” in understanding.

Tsu looks like she got hit with an idea and pulls Toru out of the room. Aya-chan looks perplexed and asks, “Do you have any idea what that is about?” I shake my head. I ask her while looking at her bare arm, “Do you want to finally replenish those kunai on your arm?” She nods, and I reach into my drawing notebook and open to the pages of countless kunai knives I have drawn in preparation. She kisses me and pulls them out one at a time and gradually layers them just like the other side. As we are wrapping up the last few kunai knives, we hear a knock at the door. I tell them, “One second. Aya-chan isn’t decent at the moment.” I hear Toru’s voice, “Ok, whenever you are ready, come downstairs.”

We finish putting the last few kunai knives on her skin as tattoos, and Aya-chan puts her shirt back on, and we head downstairs to see what Tsu and Toru had planned. We see our classmates had made an array of smoothies of varying flavors, and Tsu says, “We wanted to do something together that you would be able to handle. So, I thought of a smoothie party. Ribbit.” Toru says with a warm smile, “No whole food in sight.” Aya-chan starts crying at their consideration, and Bakugo yells, “Stop crying extra and get a goddamn smoothie already!” I cry as well and chuckle, knowing that he is worried in his own explosive way.

Kaminari says, sipping his smoothie he already got while holding a game controller, “Hey, Kubo, do you want to lose?” I say with a bit of an attitude, “If anything, she is going to beat your ass.” Aya-chan chuckles through her tears and says to that dumbass, “Sure.” The nerd says, “Get a smoothie first, Kubo.” She changes course while stammering, “Y-yeah.” She grabs a pinkish-looking smoothie, and she takes it to the sofa where the dumbass was.

I grab a grape-looking smoothie and follow her, and I wait until she takes a sip before sipping my own. She puts the straw to her lips, and I start crying tears of relief again. Yaomomo passes me a tissue that I use to wipe my tears and blow my sniffles away, then starts stroking my back affectionately. Ashido, while sipping her own smoothie, asks Tsu, “Tsu, did you get this idea from Hanzo from that emotional newscast?” We start crying harder, and Ida says to Ashido in a hushed tone, “Careful with your words, Ashido. Kubo went through her own terrifying experience, and we don’t want to trigger anything.” Jiro says quietly, “Yeah, what the class rep said. That doesn’t rock at all.” Ashido slumps and apologizes, “I am sorry. I was just curious, is all. Forget I said anything.” I know she is just innocently curious, but her timing couldn’t have been worse.

Kaminari passes Aya-chan a controller and says, “Are you ready to lose?” Aya-chan takes the controller and asks, “Can we change the game to something less gory? I think Duty Calls is a bit too much." He nods, “Yeah, what about Super Fighting Brothers?” Aya-chan nods, “Perfect.” Kaminari boots up the game, and Kirishima asks, “Can I play, too?” Kaminari tosses him a controller, and Kirishima asks Bakugo, “Hey, Bakugo. Do you want to play, too?” Bakugo yells, “You extras are just going to beat me again and rub it in my face! Why don’t you fight me for real instead?!” Kirishima sighs, and I don’t know why. Anybody could have seen that response coming a mile away, but then again, he is dumb as fuck, just like Kaminari.

I watch Aya-chan play and see her tears slowly stop as she starts getting into it. I periodically hold her smoothie up to her lips so she can sip. After a few rounds of their playing, we hear a knock at the door. Bakugo answers it and yells, “Hey, extra, the principal is here for you!” I assume he is talking about me, so I kiss Aya-chan’s forehead and go see what he wants.

I get to the door and see that he is riding Jewel, who has a bag of something in her mouth. The principal says, “I have a special delivery for Miss Kubo. I need to make sure that my students are healthy. Without a good balanced diet, your coats will suffer.” I could recognize that gourmet smell anywhere and realize it is from Deonte. I reach down, grab the bag, pet Jewel, and stammer to the principal, “T-t-thanks.” He looks inside to see that we were having a smoothie party and smiles warmly, “If she is too full to eat that tonight, have her eat it for breakfast tomorrow. Have a good night and get some much-needed rest, Miss Mochizuki.” Having said that, they leave the dorms.

I go back in there and ask Aya-chan, “Are you going to be able to eat this tonight?” She shakes her head, and I sigh and place it in the fridge and say pointedly to the rest of the class, “You losers better not eat this. This is for Aya-chan.” Bakugo yells, “Well, duh, extra! I don’t want to eat that shit anyways!”