#prohero! reader

"Nem- what the fuck happened to you?" You say, looking at your slightly battered friend. She had definitely seen better days, her hair was a mess and her makeup had gone runny, she looked tired, overwhelmed, and, overall, drenched.

Why the fuck was she soaking wet in 3°c weather? (That's 37°f btw)

"So, I got caught up on call helping with villains, right? Calls just kept coming in, yknow? Everything was going fine until the last group." She starts gesturing with her hands as she speaks. "They- they all had really powerful quirks, so I was doing my thing, and then one of them started a fire. The villains went down, and BackDraft started handling the fires. Except he burst a fucking fire hydrant and drenched me!" She says weakly, her shoulders slouching. "And then! And then my key card doesn't work because it's drenched, so I had to call Nedzu and tell him this whole story."

"Oh, Nem, I'm so sorry," You say softly, walking over to her as she sits down to take the frustratingly tall boots off. She struggles with the zipper for a minute before sighing in defeat. "Here, let me help. You've obviously had a rough night." You sit down besides her, lifting the fabric of the boot away from her leg before pulling it down.

You can see it in the way her eyes shine that she wants nothing more than to cry in frustration, and frankly you don't blame her. She'd been looking forward to being here for the movie night. "I didn't even get to be here for the stupid movie," She says wrought with emotion as you unzip the other boot. "I must look like a mess right now, crying over what is literally my job," she says, chuckling wetly.

"Well, I think it's fair that you're upset. You were looking forward to this. And if it means anything, I still think you look pretty, even drenched in water and dirt." You chuckle, setting the boots aside and handing her a pair of slippers. "We can always watch a movie, just the two of us, if you want."

"I would like that, yeah," she says, powder blue eyes staring into yours.

"C'mon, Nem, let me take care of you."

"First things first, let's get you warm." You say, gently nudging her towards the communal baths. They weren't exactly communal, more so bigger bathtubs meant to hold two or three people at a time. Not all of the staff were exactly comfortable showing themselves off.

You start the faucet on the bath, turning the water to a moderate 36°c. (roughly 97°f) she chuckles quietly at your insistence. "Are you just trying to see me naked?" She taunts, taking off accessories.

"No! You just need to warm up before you get sick, and you're also covered in sweat and dirt," You say, blushing furiously.

"Awwww you're no fun. Are you at least gonna get into the tub with me?" She asks. Her voice intones in a way you're familiar with, but not enough to the point that you know what it means. You've heard other people use a similar tone before, but that was in romantic settings. Clearly, she meant something else since the two of you were only friends.

"Do you want me to?" You ask, tilting your head owlishly.

"Sure, why not? I need help with my hair. I think there's a rock in my hair somewhere." She says, her eyes grow soft as she observes you.

"Alright, I'll be right back." When you come back to the bath, Nemuri is already in the tub. Her dirty clothes are in the bucket, and she seems to have put a bath bomb in the tub from her collection. You have bathed together before, as all friends do, but you couldn't help but be stunned by her beauty every time. The way her long slate black hair clings to her pale skin in a sharp contrast, while also managing to make her baby blue eyes pop. The way her face was littered with faint freckles and moles like a constellation that you desperately wanted to connect with your fingers. She's breathtaking, you felt lucky to have such a pretty friend.

"Well, are you just gonna ogle at me, or are you gonna get in, hun?" She says with a chuckle. "I don't bite- unless you want me too?" Your face lights up like a fire, not realizing you'd been staring.

"Sorry, I had to get you some of my clothes because I don't have your room key. I know they're not your style exactly, but it's better than walking around naked." You mutter the last part, setting the dry clothes and towels aside.

"Oh, it's fine, your clothes are plenty comfortable enough." She waves her hands, scooting back into the pool of warm water.

"Alright, do you mind..." You trail off with your face still incredibly red. Heroes had to change costumes around each other all the time, you had even done it a couple times behind a dumpster. For some reason, changing in front of Nemuri like this was much more tense. Maybe it was because you guys were such good friends.

"Oh! Of course," she says, closing her eyes and turning around. Nemuri was such a good friend, sometimes even the smallest gestures made your heart flutter. Undressing quickly, you feel something bubble in your stomach. This feeling always happens whenever you're naked or not fully dressed around Nemuri. Sometimes it happens even when you are fully dressed. Nemuri was just so pretty, you were probably just insecure.

You enter the water with a slight splash, quickly making yourself comfortable in the water. "Okay, I'm done."

"Okay," She says with a smile.

"Do you... want help?" You murmur, moving a bit closer to her.

"That'd be lovely, starlight. I can't really reach my back very well. I'll help you with yours if you want." She turns around to lean against the rim of the tub. This moment feels… strange. Oddly intimate for two friends. The special nickname she'd given you, starlight, made your heart flutter. You resist the urge to kiss her.

Kiss her? You were only friends. Sure, it was a little weird, but friends did this sort of thing all the time, you were sure of it. You again shake yourself of your thoughts and move closer. "Sure, Nem" You quickly grab the bottle of passion fruit body wash and pump a bit of the goopy purple soap into the palm of your hand, rubbing them together to create a nice lather.

You massage the soap across her left shoulder, going over any scrapes or bruises carefully. The large mass of her hair lays across her right shoulder as you massage the tissue of her upper and lower back. Nemuri sighs softly as you work out a tense not in the middle of her back with your thumb. once the left side of her back is done, you dump warm water out of a cup over her body to wash the suds away. "Does that feel alright?" You ask, instinctively holding one of her hips for stability as you scoop the mass of her hair to the other shoulder.

"Feels amazing, sweetheart." She sighs bonelessly, making your stomach summersault so hard you think it's attempting a new record. You run the pad of your thumb down her spine, applying gentle pressure throughout before repeating the same steps on her other shoulder. Her breath stutters occasionally as she continues washing her front and legs. You wonder occasionally if you're hurting her based on the way she reacts, but you know she'd say something if you were. She looks completely blissed out by the time you're done massaging her scalp and neck, and you almost wonder if she's fallen asleep.

"Still with me, Nem?" You ask softly.

"Course I am, babes," She says dreamily. "'S my turn now, yeah?" She turns around quickly, very nearly ending up right on top of you. She's still practically in your lap, at which point you turn around as fast as you can so that she doesn't see your face go red again for the umpteenth time tonight.

"Can you scoot a bit closer? I can't reach well like this," she asks, resting her soft hands on your bare shoulders.

"Y-yeah," you stammer, scooting back. Her legs drape along yours. You instinctively scrunch your shoulders as she tries to massage them.

"Calm down hun, I won't hurt you." She says quietly, running a hand down the small of your back. You know she wouldn't hurt you. You trust Nemuri more than you trust yourself sometimes. You want nothing more than to relax into her and enjoy this, but something feels caught in your throat, like your lungs have been squeezed too tight.

"Ah, I know, I'm just sensitive, sorry," you apologize and try to straighten your shoulders. It's not exactly a lie, but you also don't know what the truth is.

"It's alright, darling, don't worry." She almost seems to know something is wrong, even without telling her directly. Your face throbbed again at the nickname.

You felt the need for something, some way to understand why you were feeling like this. This couldn't be normal, you were sure people didn't usually act like this around their close friends. Maybe Nem would know, she was well versed in relationships. Nemuri had done an entire podcast on relationship advice, and she had been teaching you how to tell the difference. It was still incredibly hard to do though, so sometimes you deferred to her to understand.

"Nem, this is really off topic, but I have a question," you say as she works soap into your scalp and through your hair. You rub soap on one of your legs, before lowering it back into the water to get rid of the suds.

"Shoot away starlight," she says while massaging out a knot in your neck.

"So you know about relationships, right, and you know how much I struggle with telling the difference between romantic and platonic, whatever it is." You explain, cleaning your other leg and your front.

"Mhm, you couldn't tell if someone was interested in you if they asked to bathe with you." She says, carding her hands through your soaking wet hair.

"Yeah, exactly. So I've been having these feelings around someone, where it feels like my stomach is flipping around." You mutter, hoping she hasn't caught on just yet. "I want to spend the rest of my life with this person, and it feels way more intense than friendship, and seeing them undressed makes me feel kinda weird."

"That would be a romantic attraction, yes. Although that ‘strange feeling’ could be sexual attraction. Not everyone experiences the two the exact same way." She dumps water over your back and scalp, washing away the soap.

Oh.

Oh.

She pulls the plug to the tub, standing up abruptly. You follow suit, choosing to avoid looking at her body to avoid that strange feeling again.. "What, uh, what do I do with that?"

"Well, you could tell this mysterious person.”

"That's a horrible idea," You mutter, pulling a tank top over your head.

“Why?" She asks sincerely, gathering up both of your laundry and dumping it down the chute.

"I doubt yo-they'd like me like that. They're beautiful and amazing, and I'm-" you gesture at your entire body.

"Anyone would be lucky to have you, babes, trust me." Nemuri turns the light to the bath segment off, heading out.

"Maybe someday. Or, maybe I just... Bury these feelings forever! That could work, right?" You ask, following behind her.

"No. The more you repress it, the more it's gonna hurt." She says solemnly.

"Here, I made us both high protein smoothies while I was waiting for you, in case you weren't hungry." You hand her the cup with a smile.

"Thank you, dear." She smiles at you, making your heart flutter again.

"Okay, Nem. Hypothetically, If I tell this person, and they don't like me back, what do I do?"

"If they hypothetically don't like you back, you could always stay friends, it's not really a big deal," Nemuri says, sipping her drink as you walk to her room.

"Okay," you say, shutting her bedroom door behind you. You barely make it through a movie before Nemuri decides to lay down to "relax her eyes." In her defense, the clock had just ticked over to two AM, and she had morning classes. Maybe while she slept, you could get some practice. You had no idea what to say to "confess." It's not like you were admitting a crime.

"I think I have a romantic attraction to you, Nemuri." You muttered, trying to keep quiet as you watched her sleep. That sounded too... robotic. She was beautiful, ethereal, you couldn't quite understand how someone so perfect wanted to spend so much time around you.

"Nemuri, I think- I think I'm in l-love with you." You flinch as you end the sentence, your heart racing.

Yeah. That felt right, love. Love was the right word to describe how she made you feel. "Nemuri, I think I'm in love with you," You say again, this time much more confident. "You're- You're amazing, beautiful, a competent hero and teacher, and I'm glad to spend every day with you." Your heart pounds in your chest. That felt good to say, like a weight had been lifted off of your back.

"mm.. I love you too, starlight." She says back, causing you to fly out of the bed in shock.

"Y-you heard me?" You squeak, covering your face, although it's not like she can see you anyways, you're hanging half way off the bed. The bed creaks, and then she's looming over you.

Tired blue eyes peer into yours that are currently peeking through your hands. The way she looks at you feels different now. Like she could pick you apart in seconds "Mhm, I wasn't deep asleep yet, silly." She says with a giggle. She pulls you up with her and sideways onto the bed with surprising ease. "For your information babes, I kinda knew the whole time. You aren't exactly... Subtle, darling." Nemuri kisses the side of your face.

"Wait, does this mean you like me too?" You ask, your mouth falling into an ‘o’ shape.

"What do you think 'I love you too' means, hun?"

"Oh." She peppers kisses across your face as you lay chest to chest.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to realize." She giggles into your now dry hair.

You smile lopsidedly at all of the affection, yawning quietly. "Can we figure the rest of this out tomorrow...? I'm tired... And you have class in like five hours."

"'Course, starlight, I'm just a little excited, sorry. good night, I love you." She says, pulling the blanket over you both as your limbs intertwine.

"Night night Nem, I love you too." You respond back, carding through her still-damp raven hair with your fingers.

End!