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A.N.: Time period is after All Might's first fight with All for One.
P.S. I only just started season 3 of the anime so I'm writing from that reference
Also, Trigger Warning! There are discussions of loss & grief after loss in this chapter.
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"God, you look awful." Noriko didn't even register what she'd said until it was too late. The woman had never been one for beating around the bush, but sometimes her straightforward attitude could get the best of her. When it finally clicked in her brain, her hand shot up to her mouth and covered it. She was inwardly berating herself for her lack of control over her tongue (Hanako surely would've reprimanded her for such a careless choice of words).
While Noriko was fighting with herself, Toshinori chuckled at her candid comment and gave a meek, but warm smile.
"Finally someone is giving it to me straight." He laughed. His body could hardly even hold his laughs and he soon succumbed to a coughing spell. He clutched at his chest and put a cloth to his mouth. Just a few coughs left the rag soaked in blood. The coughs became chronic hacks that made him unable to breathe and it didn't take long for him to start gasping for air.
"Toshi!" Noriko rushed to his side. "Somebody hel-!" He raised a hand as if to say that he was okay. Despite that, the longer she watched him struggle the more her worry started to spiral out of control.
When she first heard about his confrontation with All for One, Noriko put all of her faith into All Might. She was sure he'd return back to her with a heroic tale of his victory. But that vision changed when Noriko received word of his almost fatal injury. The woman had just lost her mother a few months ago, so the news of what happened to her lover nearly sent her over the edge.
"Go see him." Her father, Isaiah Murata, said to her.
At the ripe age of 65, Mr. Murata was a kind man with years of life lessons to pick and choose from. He loved both his daughter and wife dearly, and to him, each day was a blessing to be lived to the fullest.
When his only daughter confided to him what happened to Toshinori, he knew that she had to go and see him.
"But Papa, I can't leave you..." It meant getting on a plane to go all the way back to Japan, and Noriko was just starting to grow comfortable with her new life in California; she was able to visit her extended relatives regularly, and she was beginning to love her new civilian job. It was small in comparison to what she was used to, but after her Mother's passing, spending time with her relatives in America had become therapeutic for her grief.
Her father knew better though. "As much as I hear you talk about that boy," He chuckled, "You love him, right?"
She nodded. Her father didn't respond at first, choosing instead to take a second and wipe off his glasses. Once they were cleaned to his liking, he placed them back on his face and smiled as he gazed up at his daughter. "There was a time when your mother broke things off with me. It was going on two years into our relationship..." He gazed off into the distance and smiled as if reliving the fond memory. "We were both young and about to start grad school, but there was so much going on in my life that it affected our relationship. It took us being a part for me to realize that I couldn't live without that woman... I had to get myself together- if not for me, then for her."
Noriko gasped. "No way, you and Mama had a falling out? Why have I never heard of this?"
Her father only shrugged. "There's really no rhyme or reason for why we never told you. It just never came up. But Noriko, listen to me when I say that if you truly love him, you should go. Over thirty years with your mother went by so fast, and even with all of the time we spent loving each other, there's still so much I wish I could do for her or say to her... so make every moment count, okay? Make sure the ones you love, know that you love them, and cherish every second with them."
By the time her father had finished, Noriko was on the verge of tears. They hugged it out and cried together. Then again at the airport they cried some more before her departure for Japan.
Currently, her emotions were trying to get the best of her. She maintained a calm-enough voice and rubbed soothing circles on Toshinori's back, even assisting him in getting another cloth and some water. Once his coughing spell subsided, he looked way more winded and frail than he had a second ago- one could easily see just how much the fit depleted his energy. His face was gaunt-like and his eyes that were usually alive with the sparks of justice, were sunken in and hollowed out. Seeing him now, Noriko was ready to burst into tears again. A light moisture started to form over her eyes. Toshinori noticed this and said, "Not the waterworks." The gravelly sound of his voice is what set her off. As tough as she was, she was a cry baby at heart. They both knew this. So when the tears started coming, Toshinori sighed, being more amused than anything else. "Come here."
With her face buried into his gown she let it all out. "I-I'm sorry... it just hurts me to see that you're hurting..." She blubbered out words in-between her cries. "I should have been here for you..."
She mumbled more incoherencies that Toshinori nodded and listened to. One hand was gliding up and down the middle of her back and the other was moving her curls out of her face so she didn't get snot in her hair. This went on for a few more minutes before she finally calmed down.
"I'm sorry," She said again.
"Don't apologize for doing nothing wrong. I know you're just worried about me." Not to mention, there wasn't anything she could've done to protect him or help him, and that was just a fact. A part of him was glad she'd been away for so long so she couldn't have been used against him. He wouldn't have been able to ever forgive himself if that happened. "Besides, I'm just glad you're here with me now."
Noriko wiped the remaining tears from her face and sniffled. "Yeah?" She grinned. "Well you'll have to thank my Father for making me come."
"Your Father?"
"Mmhmm," She nodded. "He gave me a little lesson on cherishing the ones you love."
Toshinori replayed those words over in his head. "Love?"
Noriko bobbed her head in confirmation with a knowing smirk on her lips.
Toshinori's cheeks turned red with realization. "Wait, are you saying that-" He never finished his sentence. Noriko cut him off with her lips, taking his into a passionate kiss, careful to be gentle with him since he was still technically in recovery.
When she finally pulled away, the both of them were breathing heavy- Toshinori because he needed air and Noriko because she was so excited.
"Is this what I think it means?" He asked.
She rolled her eyes at his question. "Yes! Toshinori Yagi, I love you... I'm in love with you. I know we both have so much going on in our lives, and I don't know how we would make a relationship work, but still, I can't stop how I feel. I don't expect you to say the same, and I don't know how you feel but-"
"I love you too." He stopped her mid-speech.
Noriko's eyes went wide at the revelation.
Before she could say more he continued. "When you're so close to death, it makes you think about all of the things important to you in life... all of the things that you'll be leaving behind... all of the things you never got to do." He looked into her eyes. "I promised myself that if I made it out alive, I would tell you how I felt." He reached out a hand and caressed her cheek, taking one of her kinky curls and twiddling it with his finger. "I have always loved you, Noriko."
And they kissed.
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A.N.: So guys, what do we think? What do we like & what do we not like? I plan on doing one last, longer, steamy part to this story, and after that I'll add more to it as I get deeper into BNHA!
Hope you all have enjoyed it thus far!
P.S.S. Image is not mine, so if you're the artist please DM for recognition or removal.
