To Be At Peace

Chieko lay silently in the dark, cold room. The sound of an oil diffuser buzzing, a small fan whirring cool air across the one leg that hung from the sheets--this is what it means to be at peace.

The clock's red glow blinked "3:20am"

Although he wasn't home and she awoke to an empty bed, it was still peaceful and in that calm there was happiness.

Gently, her eyelashes began to flutter closed. She knew he would be back soon to pull her to his tired chest, smell her hair, and put his hand on her growing belly hoping to feel even the tiniest kick. Work was hard on him. Some days were worse than others, as with all jobs, but he was a hero... A bad day for him was a bad day for the city, for families, for businesses. With so much resting on his strong shoulders, the moments he took to stroke her hair as she slept were the few good ones he got.

Soon he would be slowing down, though. He had recieved a request to teach incoming freshmen at the prestigious hero academy across town. It couldn't have come at a better time.

Lazily, Chieko tossed an arm over to his empty spot.

What an honor.

"My smart, beautiful, sleepy man..." she thought, as she slowly drifted back into sleep.

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Several hours later, with the sound of a soft snore drifting through the room, Chieko slowly opened her eyes. As expected, her husband lay by her side, a hand twined in her long dark hair.

"Shota?", she spoke softly, "Love? I'm going to start coffee.."

He twitched and offered more small snores in response. Sigh. He worked too hard.

She stood, slipped into a robe and made her way to the kitchen. As she passed by the mirror in the bathroom, pausing to place a hand on her belly. Barely a bump. Maybe I'm imagining it, maybe it's the extra egg rolls. Nowhere near ready to pop. But he had been hovering and petting her belly like a newborn kitten. He was so loving it made her heart melt. To the world he was placid, emotionless, even cold-seeming. To Chieko he was the gentlest soul, who would do everything in and out of his power to see her content. Everyone blamed it on her quirk, how could they not?  The gift of telepathy, and mind-bending. It was scary to behold, but he knew the truth: it was love. Nothing less.

That was the beauty of their quirks coming together.

Even when he  jokingly allowed her to use her quirk on their third or fourth date, there was no point. His heart already beat for her.

Each pulse whispered her name through his veins Chieko thump, Chieko thump thump

She plugged in the toaster and slid the switch down, popping in some toast and pressing the little green start button on the coffee pot.

"Chieko?" his monotone voice reached her on the other side of the flat. Quickly scooping up the coffee mugs and slapping some butter on the toasts she shuffled in to greet him.

"Good morning my sleepy head!" she passed him his coffee and toast, "How are you this morning!"

His gentle smirk made her heart flutter. He bent his head forward to kiss her belly, then straightened to kiss her waiting lips.

"The same as always. Tired. I missed you, did you sleep well? How is... Are we calling it a bean? Please don't make me call it a bean.." his tired eyes looked genuinely concerned.

"Fine, we slept fine. And no we are not calling it a bean. It's a baby! The Baby is fine I suppose. I thought we could look for apartments further in the city today. Shorter commute for daddy!"

"oh, no. That won't do, I love you, but please don't call me that. And you know how I feel about inner city. It's too unsafe, especially in your condition." his eyes slowly scanned from her abdomen up to her big green eyes.

"We can't stay here, it's a one bedroom and over 2 hours commute to UA!" Chieko blurted, voice beginning to waiver.

"We can look but that's it. We need to take our time with this. The entry exam isn't for another 2 weeks anyways."

With that he sat the coffee mugs aside and pulled her into his lap, one hand at her hip the other twirling her hair around his index finger.

" I just don't want to chance it, seeing a hero vulnerable like this.. " he pointed to her belly, " is just asking for trouble."

"Please don't be angry with me?" he said flatly, not asking, but telling.

"I guess." she huffed, with a breathy sigh and pushed her hips forward, grinding into his boxers. She could feel him hardening beneath his clothes. She smirked. He stretched forward to kiss her neck, gently nibbling, leaving a trail across her collar bone.

Slowly, he moved a hand down to the warmth between her legs and rubbed until her panties grew moist.

"I can't stay mad at that face," she managed to get out, it sounded more like a moan than an intelligible sentence.

"Good girl," he whispered into her ear, it made the hairs on her arm stand on end. His breath left a warmth on her neck, and sent chills through her body.

Using one finger he slid her panties to the side and pushed himself in.

She leaned her head back and moaned, he shifted his hips and put his arms around her waist, pulling her closer and pressing himself deeper.

The smell of his hair filled Chieko's senses. His breath was quick and his hands trailed hungrily over her body, grasping for anything they could touch.