Mind Games - Chapter 24

I put my feet up on the table and sighed, long and loud, the odd and impossible living room of my pocket apartment blessedly empty of anyone save myself and Himiko. It had been a long day, after all, and my inner introvert was exhausted after dealing with the collective interpersonal bullshit I'd been subjected to.

Himiko, cuddled up against my side, practically melted into me.

There was silence as we simply enjoyed each other's company.

Then...

“You're still mean.” Himiko muttered into my shoulder. “Totally uncute.”

“The looks on their faces were pretty nice, though,” I chuckled, remembering the expressions of shock I'd glimpsed while dismantling my girlfriend on the mat with my wrists and ankles cuffed.

“Did I do it right?”

I looked down, into the surprisingly vulnerable golden eyes as they watched me, the tension plain on her face slowly relaxing as she read me like an open book.

She sighed, nodding. “Good.”

“You did very well,” I praised her, just to drive the point home, shifting slightly and running my hand through her hair. I almost thought she'd start purring for a moment, but no such luck. “You impressed everyone and served as a good measuring stick for my own abilities while coming off as approachable and friendly while you weren't wearing my face.”

Himiko giggled. “It was funny seeing them freak out when they noticed the permanent marker dots.”

“Accomplishing your bonus objective as the infiltrator has earned you some spending money,” I informed her. “As well as Hot Ice's backing for the recommendation exam.”

“Is that going to be hard? Is that why you need a pro-hero to vouch for you?” Himiko asked sluggishly, her mind obviously slowing down as I ran my fingers over her scalp.

“Actually, it's much easier than the normal exam,” I replied with a soft chuckle. “A pro-hero's word holds significant weight. If they're vouching for you, it's assumed that you have some level of experience in using your quirk at the very least, if not in actual combat.”

Himiko cocked her head and looked up at me, her eyes slightly dilated, but her expression thoughtful nonetheless. “What if someone just signs off on their kid or their friend's kid getting the job? Father complains about that happening sometimes. Especially when they hire women to do important stuff.”

“Of course he does,” I muttered, then sighed. “If that happens then the hero school in question has the right to stop taking recommendations from the hero in question, if I understand things correctly. That is, of course, if they turn out not to be as skilled or competent as the recommendation implies.”

Which, as Todoroki Enji's children showed – all his children – receiving a recommendation from a parent and proving worthy of it was something that both could happen pretty regularly and could result in impressively skilled and powerful professional heroes.

That's the issue with nepotism sometimes. In niche careers that require substantial training, kids can pick up a lot of the prerequisite skills and mentality required for the job simply by osmosis while growing up. Just like how your parents being college graduates made you, yourself, more likely to be a college graduate, a higher level of skilled education in specific sectors made a child more able to succeed in a given area than one who didn't have parents working in the same sector.

...and that's before you get into the mess of friends and connections and favor-trading that tilt the scales in their favor.

“That makes sense,” Himiko nodded, drawing me out of my thoughts. “Should I start dinner now?”

I blinked, momentarily taken aback by the question. “We'll cook it together in a few minutes. My dad doesn't expect me home for a while since I told him we'd be going out briefly after work.”

“I can make something if you're tired,” my girlfriend proposed, a trace of anxiety in her voice.

“Hmm... your mother tell you to do that?” I guessed, my tone carefully neutral.

Blond hair bobbed against me. “It's my job, when we get married and start living together. I didn't tell her about... all of this, since you told me not to, but... since I'm wearing a binding now... we're married, right?”

My arm tightened around her slightly and I considered my reply, then sighed deeply and leveraged myself away from her slightly so that we could really look each other in the eyes. “Okay, I think we need to have a talk about expectations, roles, and boundaries.”

Himiko's face went blank as she stared at me. “Did I do something wrong?”

I shook my head and reached up to rub at my eyes tiredly. “No, you didn't. This isn't a conversation about designing rules and boundaries so that I can punish you for doing the wrong thing. This conversation is designed to make sure we both feel happy with the arrangements between us moving forward. That way if one of us does something that causes strain in our relationship we have a baseline set of behaviors to fall back on and an established way to open a dialogue between us if we need to talk about something new.”

The blond girl nodded slowly, her face still completely blank. “I understand, but... what boundaries are there? You're my husband and I'm your wife.”

Would crazy serial killer Himiko be harder or easier to deal with than brainwashed normie trad wife Himiko?

“First off, even if the power dynamics are skewed between us because of you being bound to me,” I established, reaching out to run a thumb over the collar on her neck. “I nevertheless want to give you as much freedom and support in making your own decisions as is feasible. Part of why you decided to stay with me even when I warned you about the consequences is because you no longer wanted to stay in the same kind of household your parents provided, isn't it?”

Emotion, now. A grimace and a look away. “I... shouldn't discuss family business outside the home. It's a rule.”

It's too late to kill the parents, Hitoshi. You've already put them on Endeavor and Hot Ice's radar, man.

I took a calming breath. “You don't have to discuss anything you don't feel like. I'm not going to force you to talk about something unless lives are at stake or our relationship is straining to the point that it has negative consequences for our public lives.”

Some of the tension flowed out of the blond and she nodded, though the relief didn't really register on her face.

“The one thing I'm going to insist on is that you inform me when you start feeling like you need to feed your quirk,” I stated bluntly, and Himiko blinked in surprise, a tremor of trepidation running through her body. “Given what you've told me about it and what I've observed, your physiological need for blood appears to correlate roughly with both the amount of physical activity you're undergoing in your day to day life and how much stress you're under at any given point in time.”

“The-um... it's gotten a lot better,” Himiko offered, her eyes trailing downwards in shame. “I... between the rations the hospital gives me, your candies, and... what happened, I don't feel like I need any right now.”

Regret was plain to see in the set of her arms and the way she fought back against holding herself. I could read the desire to curl up plainly and, instead of allowing it, I pulled her to me again. “I'll believe you if you say that right now and let it go, but know that if you deny yourself a biological need over a long enough period of time, what happened at the paintball range will happen again and this time... it will be where people you know can see it.”

Himiko shivered, unable to stop the creeping wave of revulsion and denial that ran up her spine. “I-I... understand.”

I nodded slowly, then bent down slightly and pressed my lips to her forehead.

Himiko's breath caught and she melted against me.

“Okay... that's something that I wanted to talk about. Is there something that you wanted to talk about?” I asked her.

She was silent for a few moments, then... “I want to cook for you. And do the laundry. And the dishes. Those are my chores. I... if you do them, I'm not sure I know what I'm supposed to be doing.”

“We won't be cooking and eating meals here all the time, but I can agree that you'll at least be involved in any meal preparation that occurs,” I stated, releasing her from the tight hold I had on her. “I cook for my father often, he's not very good in the kitchen, and I enjoy making some western-style dishes. So I'll want to share some of that responsibility.”

“Then let me do the laundry, the dishes, and the dusting,” Himiko entreated me, a certain desperate need in her.

I opened my mouth to deny her... then sighed. “Alright. I should compromise to. I don't really like the idea of foisting all of the housework on you and I want you to tell me if you feel overwhelmed, but I can let you do the dishes, laundry, and dusting if you really want.”

A tiny flash of white teeth broke through Himiko's lips as she flashed me a relieved smile.

“It's, um... your turn? I think. What did you want to talk about next?” She asked, a certain level of blankness returning to her expression.

“Now that you're my companion, you'll need to be able to access this place on your own,” I waved my hand around demonstratively, then pulled out my phone and felt only a slight twinge of regret as I dropped ten credits into the new perk. “There, now you'll be able to.”

“What's that?” She twisted her neck to look at the screen, then relented as I turned it towards her. “All Roads Lead to Home.”

Her eyes widened as she looked up to me in surprise and a shade of alarm. “You didn't have to-!”

I raised a hand. “Yes, I did. This place is as much your home as it is mine. Given that I understand why you wanted this relationship, I want to do my best to provide you a refuge from the problems you're having. If you consider me to be your husband, then that's part of my job: providing for you.”

Himiko stilled for a long moment, then nodded slowly. “I understand, Dear.”

I hid my grimace, hearing the echo of her mother's tone in that address. The word she'd used, specifically, was 'anata.' By virtue of a strict translation, the word meant 'you' in English, and that was it. However, as a form of address it held a strong cultural connotation. No one used that specific version of address on a street corner or in a casual environment. It was a term of affection that was best rendered as 'my darling' or 'dear.'

Himiko's mother had often used it in the short time I'd known her and had a particularly uncanny intonation to the word.

Part of me wanted to fight that battle right now.

The other parts of me knew it would take more than a single conversation to completely remake Himiko's worldview on the subject of gender roles and power dynamics in relationships.

Treat this as a scouting mission. Determine the lay of the land, locate problem zones, and make a plan of attack for later deprogramming operations.

“You may call me that while we're inside the apartment,” I stated with a slow nod. “I'd prefer you simply call me Hitoshi, but most forms of affectionate address are fine. In public, you should maintain the illusion that we're still merely boyfriend and girlfriend. Now, I need to show you something...”

Himiko blinked, then rose with me as we walked out of the living room and down a set of stairs that ended in what appeared to be a vertical shaft of a hallway. However, taking the step over the threshold where the stairs ended, gravity reasserted itself and the column of empty space reoriented itself into a normal hallway.

Himiko followed after me without a care in the world.

I put another item on the list of problems to address eventually. The trust she had in me was both flattering and convenient, but also worrying. Most people wouldn't take for granted that such a thing was safe simply because someone else did it.

I stopped in front of one of the doors in the hallway, inserted a key into the lock, and opened it to reveal a relatively simple-looking bedroom. “This is your room. You're free to decorate it however you like.”

Himiko walked into the space slowly, looking around with a kind of low-key surprise that probably wouldn't have registered were I anyone else. “We won't be using the same room?”

“I want you to have your own space,” I replied, holding out the key for her to take. “This room locks. I have an emergency key hanging on the rack in the living room, but I won't use it unless it's an emergency.”

Giving her the key, I walked over to the computer set up at her desk and opened The Company's browser before selecting the proper page. Seeing that Himiko had followed me and was looking curiously over my shoulder, I gestured to the screen. “You get one free kit to personalize the room, time-locked to be redeemed within one week of purchase, so you've got five days to select what kind of furniture, electronics, bedding, and clothing you want before the offer expires and you're stuck with what you can buy.”

“What should I pick?” Himiko asked, frowning lightly.

I shook my head. “That's your choice. This is your space. I'm fine if you want to stay with me in my bedroom when we're using the apartment, but this will primarily be your room. Just as that will primarily be mine. I want... I'd like us to move a little slower and get used to each other, especially living together, okay?”

Himiko frowned slightly, then nodded. “I... that's okay? I guess? I... didn't think this would be what it was like, being married.”

I huffed a laugh. “What did you think it would be like?”

She paused, crossing her arms and then bringing one hand up to tap her mouth with a pointer finger. “I... don't know? Something like my parents. My husband would go to work, I'd go shopping if I needed to and buy cute things for him and me, then I'd come home and make dinner? Before we went to sleep together.”

I nodded along. “Some of that will come later, when you've started UA with me and you're officially living in the apartment that the Endeavor Agency will facilitate for you.”

“But I'll really be living here,” Himiko stated with a nod.

“Unless you have an objection to it, yes. You'll be living here,” I nodded.

“When will you move in?” Himiko asked, once again showing that unnerving fixation.

“My situation is a bit-” I stopped myself from saying the word 'complicated' given the specifics of Himiko's own living arrangements. “-different. In some ways, I'm my father's primary caretaker. So I'll need to keep some presence there. I also live in Saitama, which is only thirty minutes out by train from UA at worst, so there's less reason for me to move out fully. Given that you live in eastern Gunma, it's a bit more plausible for you to want to move out.”

“That makes sense,” my girlfriend-wife stated, even if her body language stated rather blatantly she didn't like it.

“That said, I'll likely be moving most of my things into my room once I have it properly set up,” I stated, making her perk up. “I'll need to have a conversation with my father and stick around to make him meals occasionally and make sure he's not living off cheap energy drinks-”

Do as I say, not as I do.

“-but I'll likely start spending a lot more time here once we get into UA just like you,” I finished, watching a bit of tension release from her.

“That... that's good. Can I see your room?” She asked instead, jumping to a new topic.

“Once it's done,” I replied, stopping her fairly obvious play for a complimentary design sheme in its tracks. To soothe the frustration, I gestured towards the computer again. “I'm not going to be monitoring your internet usage here or anything and you can look up whatever you want to use as inspiration. The Company's browser links to their interdimensional internet service and the normal browsers will let you get onto our world's standard internet.”

A spark of interest lit up in her eyes as she realized she was going to get unpoliced internet access for, likely, the first time in her life as she sat down in the chair in front of the computer.

I took a step away to let her explore, but added one more thing. “Oh, when you're using the computer here in the apartment and are on the normal internet, you'll have an incognito mode option. That switch will make it so that no one on Earth will be able to track your location no matter how good of a hacker they are. It's essentially fiat-backed.”

Himiko blinked, looking away from the screen and up at me. “Fiat-backed? What's that mean?”

“It means that it's an inviolable rule imposed upon the world.” I stretched lazily and expounded upon it. “Theoretically, if you combined the exact right kinds of quirks you might be able to track down where the connection is coming from, but even that would just look like nonsense unless you understood the metaphysics of pocket dimensions. Unless you're accessing your social media profiles, though, I'd recommend keeping incognito mode on just as a precaution.”

“Yes, Dear,” Himiko nodded obediently, then paused as she looked back at a few of the options. “Ah... some of these cost 'credits.' That's money, right?”

I nodded. “Try to avoid any of those for now. You don't have access to spending permissions given I'm on a budget at the moment, but if there's anything really important you think the apartment needs, I'll be open to discussions about it.”

“Mother and Father often discuss things like that. I think Mother wants him to purchase a new car soon,” Himiko stated softly, her eyes scanning the various augments for the living arrangements The Company provided. “Will we be getting a car?”

I snorted. “I'll have to upgrade the apartment to a house first, but... yes, in theory, I'm open to the possibility of purchasing a car later on. A priority purchase as far as vehicles go is probably going to be a motorcycle, though. One for my vigilante identity.”

Even if various members of the Bat Family had, on occasion, taken the Gotham Subway in-costume during absurd situations, those were the exceptions that proved the rule.

“Michiko and Arupaka say that only bad boys ride motorcycles,” Himiko replied idly. “And that I shouldn't go near them. They're dangerous.”

I shook my head. “I'm pretty sure you're much more dangerous than any thug on a motorcycle. Besides, I'll be in my vigilante identity, so I won't exactly be a bad boy.”

Himiko paused, catching the emphasis I'd put on the last word as she turned to me. “Wait! Hitoshi's vigilante identity is a girl? You can transform?”

I blinked.

Hadn't I... no, I hadn't. We'd had to start heading back home on Sunday to get ready for dinner at her place, so there'd been no time for a full briefing. Then Monday had been busy, too.

I palmed my face. “I only told you I had a vigilante identity. I didn't tell you what it was... right. That's my fault.”

Himiko bounced towards me, her eyes wide. “Can I see? Please? Hitoshi as a girl would be so cute!”

Groaning, I rubbed at my face. “Ugh... fine. Just remember, you aren't supposed to know this girl if you see her on the street. Some of the heroes at the agency have encountered me in that form as a vigilante, so you can't slip up and indicate you're acquainted, right?”

Himiko's head bobbed rapidly. “I promise!”

There wasn't really anything else to discuss and... well, there was no real need to hide my other identity from Himiko. Beyond needlessly complicating things with more superhero shenanigans, there could easily come a time when I needed Himiko to cooperate with some plan that would require her to interact with my alternate persona in some specific way. There was also the fact that even as good as I was, more experience in that form would never be a bad thing and Himiko was perhaps one of the most naturally skilled sparring opponents available.

I shifted.

Himiko's eyes widened as she took me in. I busied myself with shifting my clothing ever-so-slightly to accommodate parts of my body that were on time share. While I did that, the blond girl traced a path around me, looking me up and down.

“Do you wear a bra when you go out like this?” Himiko asked bluntly.

“I usually wear a kind of unisex rash guard that has flexible support,” I explained with a shrug, my voice making Himiko pause in surprise again. “That way I can shift back and forth as-needed and just swap a jacket to change my entire look.”

“That's why you knew what I should wear when going as the infiltrator,” Himiko muttered to herself, still looking me over. “Transforming gets my clothes all icky, but something like a swimsuit makes it really easy to clean the mud off.”

“Pretty much,” I nodded. “I don't like wasting money on specialty stuff for this body since I only use it when I need to go undercover, but I have a few sets of dedicated women's clothing just to make sure any fabric I leave behind can't be connected to Shinso Hitoshi.”

Himiko nodded again, looking up at me sharply. “I wanna see Hitoshi in cute outfits!”

I held up both of my hands and crossed the forearms into an 'X.' “Denied.”

My girlfriend pouted. “Mean! I deserve a treat for doing a good job today!”

I gave a long-suffering sigh. “When we have some free time I'll try on a few outfits you pick out, okay? But I've actually got some work tonight I need to do. I finally managed to track down this guy I've been looking for now that I have a full computer to do work on with an untraceable internet connection.”

Seemingly mollified by my appeasement, Himiko cocked her head. “Who is it? A villain? Or a monster?”

I shook my head. “It's actually just a small-time pit fighter. He's part of a group called the Underground Masquerade, which is an illegal fighting organization that operates around Japan for people who want to engage in quirk combat and gamble on it.”

“Whoa... places like that actually exist outside of Ami's manga...” Himiko muttered, then smiled. “You're going to arrest him?”

“Putting aside the fact that vigilantes can't actually arrest anyone... no,” I replied, much to her surprise. “I need him free, for now, at least. I just... need to set some things up.”

~~~

Nice-sized chapter, even if it's late due to my little health crisis during the weekend. Once again, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy the chapter. This is a bit of a 'bridging' update, meant to serve as downtime between things happening. Especially given how much is happening in Hitoshi's life.

Next chapter will return to a more extended vigilante arc that I'll be sneaking in 2-3 chapters before we get into the quirk assessment and the Office Hero Exam.

That's the plan, anyway.

I also plan to have a new chapter of Entrepreneurial Spirit up over the weekend, so look for that, too.