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‘I can’t believe I’m doing this.’ Kugo Sakamata thought to himself, resisting the urge to run a hand over his face. The Killer Whale hero would have rather done anything else, Hell, he’d rather be back in the office going over paperwork and logistic forms instead of being here.
“So, is this your first time doing speed dating?” The light voice of the event planner broke him out of his thoughts, making him turn to the single-horned woman who seemed to flinch at the sight of his red eyes, not helping the hero’s mood at all.
“Uh yeah. Some co-workers suggested I give this a try.” Kugo admitted, sighing a bit as he rubbed the back of his head, moving against his dorsal fin and making him feel uncharacteristically nervous at the sight of some of the other attendees. It was clear none recognised him as his hero alias, though this only reminded him of being young and getting stared at for being ‘monstrous’. Turning his attention back to the event planner, she offered him a form to sign before giving him a member tag with his first name written on it. The orca-like hero pinned it to his buttoned shirt as she led him inside, the only reason he hadn’t already left was because of his associates goading him to do this, claiming it would be a nice break for him. Entering the room where the male attendees were to wait, he felt more eyes gauging him as he made his way to the drink section. It didn’t help that Kugo was the only one who had a visible mutation.
Grabbing a bottle of water and a stronger drink, Kugo resigned himself to the failure that the night will be. Eventually, the attendees were lead to a vast room with a series of tables set up. Kugo got to his seat at one of the tables, looking around as a door on the other side of the hall opened, letting in a stream of women who had also agreed to this event. Taking a sip of the beer he had gotten, Kugo prepped for the event to go badly, at least thankful he had the morning off tomorrow barring any major incidents.
Trying not to completely give up on the evening, Kugo listened to the event planner list the rules before it began. The men staying in their seats whilst the women swapped positions.
‘This will be a long night.’ Kugo thought as the first woman greeted him, starting by saying she never went out with a guy who had a mutant base quirk before.
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Within the hour, Kuga had written off the night as a failure. Most of his ‘dates’ seemed to focus entirely on his orca like appearance with a few who didn’t outright flinch when he moved either being incredibly shallow or admit to just looking for a quick screw. He shivered at the one woman who commented on if his mutation affected his ‘package’. The majority of the speed dates wound up with both running the clock till the bell rang and they could change partners.
“Hello.” The new woman seated across from him greeted, pulling Kugo from his rather depressing thoughts. He looked at his latest date, noticing how she was blushing a bit as she smiled at him. Kugo couldn’t keep from smiling back as he introduced himself, more than relieved when she didn’t flinch or seem put off by his smile or his eyes.
“It’s nice to meet you, my name is Inko.” The woman, Inko said. A hand moving to her cheek, blushing at the use of her first name. “Sorry I’m not used to this, my friend suggested I try this and I’m just nervous to go back to dating,” Inko admitted, sighing a bit. “Well, I say suggested, it was more she sight me up and then sprung this on me.”
Kugo chuckled, nodding in agreement at the predicament. “I know the feeling, my co-workers practically forced me to do this too.”
“Well, at least it’s a nice way to meet new people. Even if a few are looking for things that… well I’m not comfortable with.” Inko said with a blush, glancing over at some of the men in the hall.
“You’d think they would realise speed dating isn’t just for cheap hookups.” Kugo admitted, chuckling a bit as he got Inko herself to laugh at the rather pitiful attempt at humour.
“Well, I guess we should start with small things. What do you do?” Inko asked, settling on the conversation breaker.
“I work for a hero agency.” Kugo said, being honest but vague as he knew the moment he said he was a Pro-hero, he’d kiss any hope of the date going well with the person normally just being a ‘cape chaser’. “It’s mainly paperwork, setting up public events and dealing with damages that occur. Though the heroes manage to keep things from getting too severe.”
“Oh, that’s nice. I bet it can be hectic working with heroes.” Inko said, seeming to be genuine as she spoke. “It sounds more interesting than being an administrative nurse.”
“That is good, I mean, working as a nurse I’m sure you’ve helped plenty of people.” Kugo recalled the times he had to be under the care of medical staff, keeping himself from shivering as he recalled his time at school where Recovery Girl gutted him every time he got hurt enough to be sent there.
“T-Thank you.” Inko smiled, blushing slightly at the praise and looking at her drink as she continued. “Though it has been a while since I’ve tended to patients since working on the administrative department, even longer if you count when I took my maternity leave.” She explained, keeping her gaze down as Kugo widened his eyes at her words.
“You’re a mother?” He asked, surprised as he didn’t expect this to be a place a single mother would come to try and find a connection. Though he remembered how she mentioned a friend of hers had signed her up for this. Inko meanwhile raised her head, a wistful look on her face as she smiled.
“Hmhmm, a young boy named Izuku, he’s just turning one soon,” Inko said, shaking her head. “Look at me, I shouldn’t be gushing about my son during a date.”
“Oh, it’s quite alright. I actually love kids.” Kugo said, pausing as he realised how that might sound, “I didn’t mean that way, I just think they’re good. I mean.” He said, starting to ramble on as he tried to dig himself out of the grave he was seeming to only dig further into. The normally composed hero found it hard to regain any semblance of control. He only stopped the apparent word vomit when he heard Inko let out a soft giggle.
“It’s fine, I understand what you mean.” She said, relieving him of the awkwardness he thought he brought on. Kugo saw she seemed more relaxed than when she had initially sat down. Clearly used to her dates shutting all conversation once she mentioned having a child. “Would you like to see a photo of him?”
Kugo was surprised by the offer but nodded all the same, watching Inko search through her bag before pulling out her smartphone. After a few quick taps on the screen, Inko reached across the table to show Kugo the content. Taking the small device, Kugo had to resist the urge to aww at the image of a green-haired baby sitting up in a playpen, seeming to have been nomming on a bunny plush in his arms. His green eyes sparkling as he was caught mid-laugh, his vibrant hair and eyes reminded him of the woman across, easily showing the resemblance to his mother.
“He’s adorable.” Kugo smiled, growing wider at the sight of how Inko smiled more at his comment.
Handing back her phone, the two adults fell into a comfortable conversation, talking about some of their complaints with work and moving to lighter topics like their interests.
“Oh, you enjoy the aquarium?” Inko asked, leaning in as Kugo talked about how he had done some volunteer talks at the local aquarium.
“Yeah, I always enjoyed them when I was a kid. And I might as well with how I look.” He let out a bark of a laugh as he gestured to himself, earning a laugh from Inko. The two so relaxed they almost didn’t hear the chime to switch.
“Oh. I guess this is it.” Inko said, unable to keep from sighing as she stood up. “I really had a great time talking to you Kugo.”
“Likewise. This was the only conversation I can say I genuinely enjoyed having.” Kugo admitted, smiling as he saw Inko off. His smile still on his face before dimming a bit as the next woman sat down, immediately commenting on how his appearance fitted for a villain.
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“So, how did it go?”
Inko sighed a bit as she approached her friend Mitsuki. The loud blonde smiling before flinching as she saw the tired expression on her friends face. “That bad?”
“Oh, they were really polite… Until I mentioned Izuku. Then they comment on how brave I am to have a child alone.” Inko said as she leaned against her friend, thankful that not many of her dates had asked about if she had been married before or not as she wasn’t sure how to even deal with that.
“Shit, well fuck them. I know another place that will be a great place. I’m sure at least one guy wouldn’t be an ass.” Mitsuki tried to cheer her up, nudging her a bit.
“Thing is, there was one guy in there who wasn’t an ass. We had such a great conversation.” Inko admitted, putting her hands over her face as she sighed. “He was so great and even seemed to like Izuku when I showed him his photo.”
“Well hopefully, he’s not those guys,” Mitsuki said under her breath, laughing a bit as she got a playful slap on the shoulder from Inko. “I’m kidding. So did you ask for his details?”
“I just filled in with the planner. She said if he likes me and wants to know more about me she’ll later exchange our numbers.” Inko said. “Still, I’m not sure about this. I mean it’s only been a few months since Hisashi-”
“Inko. That bastard left you without a word. The only good thing he did was help make Izuku and leaving you money and those creepy assistants.” Mitsuki interrupted, not letting Inko get a word in about her ex-husband, especially since Mitsuki covered her bases with the good things he did for her. “Besides, you deserve to be happy. And if nothing else, maybe give Izuku a good father figure who doesn’t run off.”
“Mitsuki… fine. You’re right.” Inko admitted with a sigh. “Besides, it’ll only matter if he agrees. Otherwise, I’ll do what you say and try something else.”
“That’s the spirit, now come on. I’m sure our kids are giving Masaru a hard time.” Mitsuki said, smiling as the two women made their way to the train station to get back home.
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A few days after.
In his agency, Gang Orca sighed as he stretched his back. He had a busy day dealing with a few minor crimes that needed to be dealt with, thankfully without the need for his quirk, and a desk full of paperwork from the subsequent arrests.
Getting up for his break, the Killer Whale hero walked through the agency, pulling his smartphone from his pocket as he decided to look over the news in his brief period of rest. Starting the device, he couldn’t help but pause as he saw his email app lit with a notification, specifically the one for his personal email.
“Must be spam.” Gang Orca thought as he entered the kitchenette and grabbed one of the many water bottles on the table. Getting into a seat, he tapped to open the app, seeing the email was from the speed-dating agency. Sighing, he opened the email and prepared for the usual disappointment of being told no one was interested.
Only instead they had said how Inko Midoriya (so that was her family name) had also wanted to exchange contact information. He was so surprised he had crushed the bottle in his hands, earning a few glances from his interns. He stared at the number in his hand, more than happy to see he hadn't been rejected as he wondered when would be a good time to phone her.