The Hero and the Damsel

Fantastical Interlude

            I was still flushing red as I referred to Toshinori as my boyfriend. Very rarely did I do such a thing considering we had both agreed that it was in our best interest not to share our relationship with people. However, with the way my parents were treating him, I couldn't take it.

Perhaps I should have kept it to myself though. Upon the words leaving my lips I saw my father turn around to glare at my now embarrassed boyfriend and then back to me as I noticed the anger welling behind his eyes. "Since when?!"

I sighed as I put my hand over my face, getting more embarrassed. "S-S-Since about s-six months ago. I-I started living with him a-after he s-saved me and t-things kind of w-went from there."

My father was seething as he turned on Toshinori once more. Toshinori stood his ground though, even though he looked tense and a bit awkward with the entire situation, he didn't seem to want to back down at the moment, but he also didn't want to raise a fist against my father. Strange predicament.

My mother could sense the urgency of the situation though and hurried around the bed to grab him. "T-T-Takeo! Calm down! Idiot..." She turned her gaze up to Toshinori. "So...you're dating Ayano, that still doesn't explain this morning when we came in. Just because you're dating her doesn't mean you can have sex with her whenever you want, especially if she is in the hospital. You of all people should know that Pro-Hero All Might."

I watched as Toshinori took a step back, my father struggling, but not too much as he did not want to hurt my mother. Toshinori rubbed the back of his head nervously and I could see the frantic look in his eyes as he searched for the right words to say at this particular moment. "W-Well...t-this morning was u-um..." He sighed and hung his head in defeat. "Y-You're absolutely right ma'am. I-I w-was...I-I s-shouldn't have done what I did." He rose his head quickly and started waving his hands, I saw the corners of his mouth cracking to get that smile out and that laugh as well, but he seemed to be biting it back. Toshinori was...scared right now? "I-I a-assure you though, I-I meant nothing u-untoward and n-no harm to A-Ayano!"

My father continued to struggle. "D-Don't you dare call my little girl by her name you bastard!"

My mother reached her limit. "Takeo! Hallway, breath, now!" She pushed him towards the hallway and pointed to the door. I had seen this all too many times as a child. Though my mother was Quirkless and my father was Quirked, he never went against his wife. When my mother set a rule or law down, he abided too. He always said that's where I got my confidence.

My father went to the door, irritation and a snide look as he glared at Toshinori one last time before leaving the room and slamming the door behind him. My mother took a breath and went back to focusing on Toshinori. "W-Well...I-I'm still upset at this whole ordeal, but at least you're owning up to it." I heard her sigh as she went over to me and placed a hand on me. "It explains a lot really..." Her eyes were downcast, looking painfully worried. Had I been causing her worry?

Toshinori stepped forward a bit nervously, his face relaxing a bit as his scared smile faded. "Ma'am?"

My mother laughed and lifted her eyes to focus on him. "Mika. I'm Yamane Mika." She went back to petting my hair. "Ayano is our only daughter, and when we heard about the incident with the fire, we worried, but we knew when she sent a picture of her in the hospital that she was doing all right and we remained on vacation. We offered to send her money for expenses and to purchase a new home, but she refused, saying she would handle it. We asked countless times where she was staying and she always said 'a friends' and she sent pictures, but I was curious as to the bulky bicep I saw occasionally."