“I told you it would be a week at the latest!” I shout as I burst into the bar, the door bouncing off the wall and slamming closed behind me.

“Indeed. Though it would be appreciated if you were to avoid damaging both the door and the wall. It does cost money to repair them.” Kurogiri’s version of welcome back is just what I need after spending four days in a forest! On the bright side, it turns out wolf is pretty tasty! It would probably taste even better cooked! And also not kill me! Though eating something that killed and ate parts of you did make it go down easier.

As a counterpoint to Kurogiri’s greeting, Shiggabigga falls out of his chair laughing when he catches sight of me. Which is fair, given what I scrounged together for an outfit.

“Seriously!?” He howls from the floor. “Out of everything, you chose to wear a sailor outfit!?”

I sniff with my nose in the air, giving a spin to flare the black skirt that barely reaches past my thighs. They’re connected to the black top half of the sailor uniform by two straps. “Please. You’re just jealous that I pull this off better than you ever could.”

He snorts as he gets up. “Yeah, no. The color’s good, but no.”

“What’s with all the- nope.” One walks down the stairs only to turn around once he sees me. “I am not dealing with whatever this is.”

“Hi One!” I shout before he can retreat. “Since you aren’t in the infirmary, does that mean Two is better?”

“No, she’s with the doctor. The literal doctor that takes care of the group! Why did you have me watching her if we have a doctor!?”

Well. It makes sense that All For One has his own doctor given how bad his injuries are. Of course he’d need someone to make sure everything is working properly, not to mention in case something new popped up. But this also means that he’s not hiding his existence from the new members of the League. Or he could just be hiding his identity, playing the role of the mysterious benefactor. Either way, I don’t want to lie to him.

I hate lies.

Tricks and pranks are fine of course, like what I pulled with UA. I never told anyone that my name is Biggius Dickus, just that they could call me that. As for the application itself? Well, that doesn’t count. You can’t lie to a piece of paper, and the people who read it and think that I wrote down my name fall into the category of ‘tricked or pranked’. Not lies.

Anyways. “That’s because it’s the benefactor’s personal doctor. I didn’t think that they would let us send a member of the group to them for healing.”

He sighs ignoring me as he finishes his journey up the stairs. Shigaraki chuckles as he goes back to his game. Mario Kart, judging by the music. “Oh yeah,” he idly says. “You need to gear up. You’re acting as a bodyguard for our Broker tonight while he has a meeting with some rich people.”

I tilt my head before shrugging and fishing for more details as I make my own way towards the stairs and up to my room. “That’s new. You never have any actual jobs for me. Usually it’s just asking/telling me to go out and kill some heroes.”

“Yeah, well Sensei said that if I’m going to be a proper party leader I need to start thinking like one. Which includes securing our own funds. Something about him planning to retire after All Might’s dead.”

“Makes sense.” I nod.

After changing and getting in a power nap I make my way back downstairs where Shigaraki scowls at me.”The hell have you been, it’s almost time for the two of you to go!”

“Then I’m right on time aren’t I.” I shoot back before realizing what he said. “Wait, two? Who else is coming?”

I feel arms wrap around my neck even as I ask the question, a shiver going down my spine as their low voice whispering into my ear answers the question.

“You didn’t think I’d let you get away from me so easily after vanishing for a whole week now did you? Mi~. Do~. Sa~. Gi~.”

“Himi!” I shout, trying to whirl around in her arms and give her a hug. But she keeps her grip tight so that she spins around with me, staying behind my back.

“Whee! Faster, faster!” Chuckling at her childish demands I keep my spin going, my feet putting all those lessons on proper footwork to good use as I rapidly pick up speed. Himi squeals in excitement as her body starts to float, my eyes catching brief glimpses of her legs trailing behind her.

“Hurry up. Keeping the Broker happy is how we get all our stuff.” Shiggy complains, but I know he’s just jealous that he’s too big to go on the Midosagi Whirl. But apparently Himiko thinks that his complaint has substance, ugh, and it’s time to stop.

“And…leap!” Suddenly she lets go, throwing my balance off and causing me to tumble to the floor in a heap. I wait a few moments for the dizziness to subside before looking at my girlfriend, who somehow managed to stick the landing after flying off of me. I’m just about to complain before I process what she’s wearing and my eyes widen.

Her skirt is a given, since she enjoys the freedom of movement that it gives her. But under that is a pair of dark gray tights and black knee pads. She has dark green combat boots with dark red toes. On her right hand are the set of silver claws I gave her for her birthday, and her left is covered by a black glove. She’s wearing a dark green shirt under a blood red jacket, though the way it’s unzipped gives me a nice view of the valley of her cleavage. And with her hood up the trailing bunny ears are clear to see.

It’s just like my costume, but with the colors reversed. And with her love of blood they fit her very well. She salutes me with a knife that appears in her left hand tapping her forehead.

“Introducing the new and improved, most adorable girlfriend ever, the Blood Rabbit Chusagi!” She looks at me with a wide grin as bounces over to me with her hands clenched excitedly in front of her. “So? What do you think? It took a while to get it all done how I wanted it, but when I came back you were gone!” She pouts with her cheeks puffed out. “Next time you go out to have fun like that you wait for me!”

“You were stuck at the hospital getting medicine for Two…” I mutter in a daze as I look at her.

She crosses her arms. “You still could have asked before you went. Instead the first I heard about it was you asking if you could ‘bowleg some girls and see if they can pass the exam’. You didn’t even respond when I told you to send me a video of them trying to pass like that!”

That’s enough to shake me out of my daze and I awkwardly scratch my cheek. “Uh, whoops?” I give a half-hearted chuckle. “The exam ended up starting not long after I asked that, so I didn’t get the chance to do it anyways. And then I was fighting robots and probably didn’t feel it ringing. And then I got blown up and my phone got destroyed.”

I shake my head as I plant my hands on her shoulders. “But that’s not important.” I look into her eyes with a serious expression. Sensing the mood she looks back at me with just as much seriousness. “Are you sure that you want your villain name to be Chusagi? You know that that means you’ll forever be known as the partner to Midosagi. Which means that we’ll always be together. Always. No matter what. Even if you were to separate from me one day. Chusagi and Midosagi will never be apart in the eyes of heroes, the news, or other villains. Do you really want to dedicate yourself so deeply to us like that?”

Yes… Even with all we’ve been through together. After the surprise of finding out that she’s thought of me as her boyfriend practically ever since we met. All the fun. All the murder. All the fun murders.

There’s always been that little sliver of doubt that one day, she’d leave me. That she’d get bored, or angry. That I wouldn’t be good enough for her. That I’m holding her back from reaching her full potential. That she’d become a villain powerful enough that she could walk the streets in broad daylight with her chin held high.

And would leave me behind in the shadows.

But naming herself Chusagi? While I’m Midosagi? That would mean that our villain names would be connected. Midosagi and Chusagi would become a villainous pairing, one talked about whenever the other is mentioned. Even now people in the streets talk about how I might have some connection to Mirko, the Rabbit Hero, just because I have a rabbit theme.

People do love to have their patterns.

She just looks at me with searching eyes. Evidently finding what she was looking for, her expression softens, and she leans forward to give me a kiss on the nose. “Of course I’m sure you baka. Haven’t I told you before?” She wraps me in her arms, both of us ignoring the gagging noises Shigaraki makes. “We’ll always be there for each other. No matter what. Having our names connected like that just means that we’re that much closer.”

I’m touched by her choice. I really am. But I’ve heard those words before. That we’d be a team no matter what. That we’d always have each other’s backs.

I was betrayed once by the person I trusted most. I don’t think I could handle it if it happened again.

I don’t say that though. Any of it. Instead I pull back even as my head moves forward as I give her a long, gentle kiss. One filled with love. With trust. I forcibly smother the part of me that’s always been doubting, claiming that she’d leave once she loses interest.

Izumi scarred me in a different way than Kachan did. I hate her in a different way than Kachan. Even then my feelings towards her are more complicated than that, and I’m not even sure I want to try unraveling them.

But right here. Right now? I decide that I can move on. That I will give Himi the one thing that I haven’t given another person since Izumi. Not even Shoko.

My unequivocal trust.

I pull back and open my eyes, not even remembering when I closed them. I stare at her face with a loving expression as her own eyes slowly open, love practically overflowing from her eyes and bleeding into the rest of her expression.

It’s only when we hear a loud cough that we’re pulled away from the world of each other’s eyes. We see a middle aged guy with silver hair and round glasses over pink eyes. He gives us a gap toothed smile with a cigarette between his teeth, a slight stubble trying to masquerade as a goatee.

“So, I was supposed to pick up Midosagi for some bodyguard work. Did I come at a bad time?”

I look back at Himi, our eyes meeting. We smile before turning back to the Broker.

“No. You actually came right on time. And you’re in luck! For today only, you’re getting a two for one special!”

I grab Himi’s arms and we spin around a few times, our toes not separating until I let go. When I do we jump apart before lunging towards each other, her just behind me brandishing her claws while I crouch with my knife drawn.

“Tonight, the Usagi Twins will be making sure you stay safe.”