"I'm totally not!" I whined loudly; puffing out my cheeks as I stepped into the elevator alongside Amajiki.
"Y..you are...You've been walking kinda...funny...for the last two days, actually..." He mumbled in response whilst shuffling to the far corner.

Not my fault I now have an over-steamed clam...

"Besides...I think you're coming back too early...You shouldn't be jumping back into hero work after...you know..." He hung his head low and pressed his head against the wall, which made me feel painfully guilty.
"I promise you, I'm fine, Tamaki..." I reached out and patted his shoulder. "Put a little more faith in me, okay? Believe in me like I believe in you!"

Amajiki flushed that adorable shade of scarlet as he heaved a sigh; nodding slowly. I knew he wasn't going to change this easily, but at least I had put an end to his helicopter parenting.
"Just...let me know if you're in pain...o..or scared...I'll...pro..protect you..."

Ahhh! He's so sweet!

I walked along with him in a constricting bear hug as we left the elevator, and I didn't care to let the cutie pie go until we approached Fatgum at his desk.
"Ah, my favourite children!" He gave us that wide grin of his whilst spinning side to side in his custom-made office chair, which was almost as wide as my bed. "We're about to head out on patrol. All together, just like the ol' days!"

Sure...because you don't trust me to not get into trouble again...

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited about it being the three of us again. It was rare that I got to spend time with both my best friend and my favourite hero at once, but I was still pretty disheartened. It would take a millennia to regain their trust to go out on my own again.

"Perhaps we could even grab some lunch before we come back?!"

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Of course we grabbed lunch; twice, before we started on our way back to the agency. It had been a quiet day, to say the least. One measly pickpocket and nothing else to report. It was, of course, a good thing in retrospect, but I was kind of disappointed that I couldn't prove to them I was still in fine form.

Fatgum was talking our ears off as we strolled along, and I was happily listening to every word, until I stopped dead. My eyes went wide, and both of them jumped into a defensive stance.
"Wh..what's wrong, (Y/N)..?" Amajiki asked in concern; eyes darting around the area.
"See something sketchy?" Fatgum questioned in addition, and I slowly raised my hand to point dead ahead.

"W..wrinkles...I need to touch it..." I whispered before sprinting off. When they finally locked their sights on what I had spotted, Amajiki nearly passed out in relief and the pro hero shook the earth with his guffawing. It was a pug. A hideous one, at that, and I skidded to a halt in front of it's startled owner.
"PLEASE MAY I PAT YOUR DOG, SIR?! IT'S FOR THE SAKE OF HUMANITY!"

"U..um...sure..?" The poor civilian sweatdropped as I fell to my knees and reached out to let the squishy dog sniff at my hand.
"Thank you! She's the cutest thing I've ever seen! What's her name?!" I was way too excited to care that he thought I was insane, or that my boss and upperclassman were both witnessing me acting like a child.
"Uh...Tamago..."

Tamago snuffled at my palm for a few moments before shoving her face into my hand. Ignoring the copious amounts of drool that began to pool upon my skin, I beamed as I felt that tingling jolt; almost like a shock, rush up through my body. After a quick snuggle with the ugly pup, I stood up and grinned at the man; bowing respectfully.
"Thank you, Sir! I hope you have a pleasant evening! Bye bye Tamago!"

"You're such a precious little thing, (Y/N), my dear!" Fatgum chuckled as I returned to them, wiping tears that had gathered in the corners of his eyes.
"Y..you nearly gave me a heart attack..." Amajiki grumbled under his breath, though he wasn't at all mad at me.
"Sorry! You just have no idea how badly I needed to be able to do this!" With a showy spin, I morphed into the exact same pug I had just bid farewell to, and Fatgum took no time in scooping me up and squishing at my flabby jowls.
"I can see your point! So cute, I could eat you right up!~"

I remained as a pug until Amajiki had walked me home. I couldn't help it, I just felt so damn adorable with a fat, squishy face and stubby little legs.
"(Y/N)...could you maybe...at least turn back for a second so...uh...so I could...um...g..give you a...h..hu..." The ravonette cleared his throat and clenched his fists. "Soicouldgiveyouahuggoodbye?!"

Okay...maybe this dog wasn't the cutest thing I've ever seen, after all...

Morphing back, I dusted off my hero outfit and scooped him into a tight hug. He was shaking a bit, but that was the usual. I was starting to wonder if he'd ever get used to any kind of affection.
"I wouldn't let my best friend leave without giving him a big hug, would I?" I giggled, and for a moment I thought I felt him deflate in my arms.

"N..no...I suppose not..." He mumbled as he lightly hugged me back; kind of reeling me back in before I had a chance to step away.

"Ya know, I reckon our lil' Suneater has a thing for you!"

I tried to push the words that Fatgum had said before to the back of my mind as I finally broke the embrace, and I gave Amajiki a light punch in the shoulder.
"You, me, Mirio and Nejire should hang out again soon, like we always used to! I don't get to see them much anymore, and it's usually only work when I get to see you, too." I suggested, and he nodded quickly as he began to back away.
"Y..yeah...sure...A..anyway...have a good night (Y/N)...Uh...s..stay safe..." With that, the little elfen boy turned tail and fled up my driveway with me waving after him until he was out of sight.

Gosh...with all this drama it's like I'm in some trashy fan fiction...

I called out my greetings to a vast, empty house, as usual, and made my way up to my room. I didn't cry out when I saw someone laying on my bed, but I definitely had to do a double take.
"M..Magne..?" I tilted my head as I realised it wasn't Dabi who was sprawled across my bed; Karma and Nagisa lapping up the attention of two large, kindly hands rubbing their bellies.

"Sorry to pull a burn unit and pop in unannounced, sweet thing, but I was just so bored...and everyone's in such a foul mood!" She gave me a smile and I returned it; glad to have some sort of company.
"You can stop by any time, Sis! Is Tomura being bratty again? Or is it Dabi this time?" I queried as I pulled off my belt and hanging it on the back of the door.
"They always are...but that's not the problem..." She sighed as she sat upright; fixing her auburn hair. "We have potential recruits coming to meet us tomorrow night...Strong ones, apparently...and everyone's a little nervous, I guess...Even Toga has the jitters..."

Strong villains? That's...

"Concerning..." I mumbled quietly as I took a seat between her and Nagisa, who began to lick at my elbow lovingly. "I can't help but worry about you guys...I mean, save for Tomura, you're all my friends...and I don't want you guys to get in too deep..." Magne uttered a loud laugh and covered her mouth before nudging me in the ribs.
"That's a classic! Honey, we dove off the deep end a long time ago, but you don't have to worry your pretty little head about us. We may be a little cuckoo, but we're strong." She began to unravel one of my buns and comb through my (H/C) hair with her fingers.
"I know...but...I still worry about you guys..."

I guess I know how Tamaki feels now...

"Speaking of guys...What did Spinner do to get Dabi so worked up the other night..? He got his scaly ass roasted after you went home..." I knew she already had a vague idea, thanks to the shit eating smirk on her face, but I was still too embarrassed to gossip about the details.
"N..nothing, really...I guess...we were just making some...emotional progress..?" I turned to allow her to take out my other bun whilst trying to hide my heated cheeks.

"Say no more, I totally know what you mean..." Magne chuckled; tussling my hair about before forcing me to face her. "I've only known him for a short amount of time, but I can tell you're bringing out the good in him. We may be the bad guys, but we're not all bad people...He just doesn't seem to know that you can be one without the other." Her soft smile was infectious, and I found myself wrapping my arms around the broad woman and giving her a tight hug.
"You really are like a big sister, Magne...I wish we met under better circumstances..."

She hummed in agreement; squeezing me back before standing up and giving both Nagisa and Karma another pat.
"So do I, sweetness...But, I'm just glad that we got to meet at all. You're going to make a good hero one day...or villain, or whatever you choose. Whichever path you decide, you're going to make a big difference." My heart swelled, even if she had suggested there was a possibility I would become a villain.

"You would've made an amazing hero, too...All of you would have...even Tomura..." I said softly, which made her full lips twitch into an amused smirk.
"It was never in our design, (Y/N), honey. It was flawed from the start, but we make do. Now, you should get some rest, and I need to get back and make sure they haven't torn each other to pieces. Heaven knows Jun would have a breakdown if I wasn't there to at least try to keep the peace..."

She gave me one last pat on the head before pulling out her phone; typing out a quick text and sending it before one of Kurogiri's warp gates opened up in front of my bedroom door.
"Hey, Sis..?" I called out to her before she completely disappeared.
"Hmm?" Magne turned back to look at me, and I gave her a zestful thumbs up.

"Everything's gonna go great tomorrow!"

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***Okay, sorry for taking ages to update...All I have to say is please be patient with me. I get messages on the daily asking when I'm going to update this and I'm really doing my best. I'm a single mother, so that in itself is stressful, but I also have custody court and other things going on that make it impossible to have a steady updating schedule. I make so much extra work for myself with starting all these fics, and god knows I'm already thinking of another one for a different fandom, but I'm really trying. If you guys could just ease up with the "Please update asap!" and stuff, it would really mean a lot to me, because I just don't want to feel like I'm letting you guys down 💖***