Lullaby Licorice || Amajiki T. x Reader

13. Communicate

FATGUM AND (Y/N) gobbled down their meal from Panda Express, shoving the food down their mouths with occasional sips from their drink like they hadn't eaten in days.

Tamaki awkwardly ate some clam bedside the pro hero, and stared straight ahead.

"Nothing beats Chinese food after a day of hard work!" cheered Fatgum.

"Wahhhhh. . . I haven't had orange chicken in so long," sobbed the (h/c)nette as she ate said chicken. She used a fork to gather up rice and noodles and rolled as much of it onto the fork as she could before chowing it down too.

Her cheeriness when it came to food was surprising. With her scent of licorice always lingering around, Tamaki sort of forgot it wasn't the only thing she ate.

He suppressed a laugh, finding it amusing. But he didn't even have the energy to try.

"You okay, Suneater? Want some coconut shrimp, I don't mind sharing," offered Fatgum.

"No, it-it's okay," Tamaki shook his head.

(Y/n) leaned forward, glancing at the boy. Tamaki looked at her, but quickly looked to the side anxiously. From afar, he quickly analyzed every little thing he could, any sign she was annoyed or uncomfortable.

He was immensely worried he'd fucked up that day somehow, and that maybe she was actually mad at him. Maybe her grandma got mad at her and she hated him. Maybe he screwed with something he didn't really understand.

But (Y/n) was too kind to admit all that, or even show it. She wouldn't dare tell him about how infuriated she was at his stupidity, or how much she hated looking at his face.

Plus, his hormonal body had come up with not very cool things that morning before he woke up. Usually, a teenage boy would feel relieved or whatever, but Tamaki felt sick to his stomach.

I can't look at her without feeling. . . He didn't know how to describe it. Guilty? Disgusting?. . . Hor-

"We should probably head out for patrol soon," Fatgum pointed out.

"What kind of stuff do you usually do on patrol?" asked (Y/n), innocence laced in her curious tone.

Another thing that Tamaki picked up on, which was by no means anything bad, was the way her voice changed when she spoke to certain people.

If she talked to Neijire or Mirio, it was happy and giddy and energetic. With other general peers, she maintained that same optimistic vibe, but it felt more still, like she was keeping it in check or something. And with adults, like staff or teachers, it was firm, diligent. Like the kind of voice that belonged to a person you can trust to listen to what you tell them to do.

And when she spoke to him. . .

"Suneater, go ahead and explain," Fatgum suddenly ordered. "You've been here a bit longer than she has, so it'd be good to communicate more between you two!"

His eyes blinked, and they slowly adverted to the ground. "Um. . ."

He wanted to say sure, but was too slow too. In result, (Y/n) spoke up, "It's fine, forget I asked, Amajiki-Senpai."

It's soft and gentle. Quiet, like she's trying to reassure him even when she doesn't use those words. Everytime she speaks, it's. . . soothing, in a sense, that she keeps that in mind. That she doesn't yell at him pumped sigh energy all the time, which would only make him feel pressured as many of his classmates often do. But at the same time, it's not like she's trying to baby him (even though she's the kouhai).

He wondered if it was intentional or not. But his mistake in not answering right away made him burn up, along with all of his thoughts mixing together just now.

"N-No, it's, um, not a big deal," he replies. "Um. . ." Find the words. "S-So. . ." It's easy. "We usually just walk around. . . If we, see something suspicious, we report it. . . Or inv-vestigate ourselves. . ." The brief and long pauses between his words annoyed him, but he found it easier not to stutter so much if he spoke quieter or took a nanosecond long break, as most commas in his dialogue implied.

"Oh, I see," she put a hand on her chin. "Fatgum-San, is the villain activity usually high in this area, or would you say it's average?"

Tamaki sulked against the corner when she dressed Fatgum specifically.

"It's pretty average yeah, and just call me Fatgum! Until we figure out your hero name, I'll call you," he hummed, looking up in thought. "Hmmm. . ."

"At school, my upperclassmen call me (Y/n)-Chan," she chimed in. "Well, Amajiki-Senpai calls me (L/n)-Chan, but eh."

"I'll call you that then!" he said with his usual grin. "(Y/n)-Chan! We're like family here! A team! You can always count on me for anything!"

Holy shit, he was so fucking nice, she was overwhelmed. (Y/n) teared up again, sniffling, and clutched her chest. "Fatgum. . ."

The gloomy aura caught both their attention, distracting them from their bonding moment.

"Oh, dear," Fatgum exhaled.

"I'm worried," (Y/n) dropped her shoulders. Somehow I feel I had something to do with this.

As they walked on their patrol a half hour later, Fatgum gave advice to both his students. The streets were a little more busy than expected, with several cars parked and a bunch more being caught up in traffic. Even the sidewalks had a higher number of pedestrians.

"Usually, you'll want to take into account your surroundings; I'm sure you've been told countless times by your teachers," he said. "If there's a villain attack right now, where would it come from? Who's most vulnerable? Where could I direct the people away from danger? That kind of stuff."

"Yeah, I understand!"

Tamaki glanced around, taking Fatgum's advice. The gleamy lights around them was bright and shimmery, but he paid it no mind. There were buildings all around them, and he felt his quirk could do better in a not so crowded area with all those structures prone to collateral damage.

There were people coming and going from everywhere, but he noticed a citizen standing in front of the convenience store, frozen and staring. Tamaki squinted. Huh.

"Tell me, (Y/n)-Chan, where would be the best place to protect as many people as you can if that's your number one priority?" questioned Fatgum quickly.

"Oh, um-" (Y/n) flushed.

"One, Two, Three!"

"Belgium!" she blurted in a panic. "I mean, p-probably from-" Her eyes scanned the area for a moment. "-the middle of the street? So people can see me, and I can shield them in case?" They wandered to the ground thoughtfully. "But, my quirk isn't suited for protection, so that'd be out of the question. . ."

Tamaki listened carefully to her voice again without realizing it.

"It's definitely important to take your quirk into account if you're in that situation! And if there's any other heroes around, and what they can do to help!" beamed Fatgum. "So, in short, it depends! But good reasoning skills, (Y/n)-Chan."

Her eyes sparkled. "Oh, thanks!"

The ravenett couldn't help but smile just a bit. He felt something warm in his chest, and he was proud of her, he realized. It was a nice feeling, a pleasing one.

He didn't mind it that much.

--
Sorta on mini hiatus but I already have a couple of these written so eh