Chapter 6: Actions

"Come on Garou, come with me! I don't want to go without you," Maria pleaded. The two were sitting on the floor of his room with their books spawned out. She never let him go a day without making sure that he completed his homework. But their argument wasn't about school, it was about her new friends. He hated them. Lately, it was becoming clear that Maria would rather keep herself busy keeping that group of friends happy over their dreams of becoming monsters the world would fear. It no longer felt like a team up against the world. There was only frustration as he could do nothing but watch Maria's back as she began to fall into

"Then don't go!"

"Stop being an asshole and come!" She wanted the white-haired teen to come with her on a little trip to J-City where they would spend the weekend at the beach. He didn't understand why she would want to go waste time with a bunch of classmates.

"You can't even swim and why does it matter if I go or not? Go have fun with your new friends."

"Because-" Maria paused and blinked as if finally dawned on her that Garou was jealous of Naomi, "Are you jealous?"

Garou's cheeks turned red and he gave her an annoyed glare, "No, I'm annoyed yer befriending the enemy.

She was sitting in a seiza position facing him. She had a mixture of hurt and determination in her eyes, "Forget Naomi, I don't want to go because of her or the others. I thought it'd be something we could do together."

He raised a brow and looked over at her from where he sat. He let out an annoyed tch.

The day could not get any sourer for Garou. This was the third time Maria told him to go home without him. Naomi had been asking her for after school help and Maria never having another female friend couldn't help but comply in hopes of keeping her around. Ever since he told her he would be dropping out, that damn girl has been purposely trying to widen the gap between the two. Maybe out of spite he would go just to ruin their fun.

That was actually a good idea.

"Are ya gonna let me in?"

Maria stared at the white-haired man from the frame of her door. Was she dreaming? Was Garou really at her door? She pinched her arm. Ow. Okay, she was awake. This wasn't a dream. Garou was in fact, standing right before her; dressed in a black skin tight shirt that outlined each of his perfectly toned muscle, and a pair of loose white pants. In his hand there was a plastic bag full of what smelled like food.

"Let me think about it."

"Yeesh, are you going to make me beg?"

"That'd be a good start."

When she didn't budge the white-haired man gave her a shrug and slowly turned, "Alright, if ya don't want me around I guess I'll just take my leave."

Instinctively Maria grabbed at his shirt. What a freaking jerk, she fumed to herself. How did he still have complete control of the situation when she was the one that was upset? When he turned back to face her she was engulfed in dangerous aura, almost daring him to leave.

"Come back here you jerk!"

She shifted her body to the side allowing him to walk past her and into her tiny little home. Her eyes following him like a hawk. While one part of her was ready to embody the petty girlfriend persona in dire need of attention, there was another part of her that was still in disbelief that Garou was in her apartment. She wondered, had she hit her head too hard against the wall? She reached out and grabbed his arm, and shockingly enough her, hand didn't go right through him. What a relief to know her brain didn't receive extensive damage.

"What? What're ya doin'?"

"Making sure you're actually here."

"Why is it that shockin' to ya that I'm here? "

Maria's eyes narrowed, now that the surprise was beginning to ware off and responded sarcastically, " Well, I don't know Garou, maybe the fact that you've been MIA for the past five months!"

"MIA? Wha-? I told you I was going away for trainin.'"

"Goin' away for trainin' doesn't mean ya don't respond to my texts and ignore my phone calls," she imitated his speech pattern in an almost mocking way and folded her arms against her chest, "-which by the way, what the hell? I called you during the tournament and you declined my phone call!"

Garou rubbed the back of his neck, somehow calm despite Maria snapping at him, "Oi, I didn't want ya to find out it was me."

"Did you think I wouldn't find out the moment I saw you fight?"

"I guess that was just hopeful thinkin'. Besides why are you still angry? I don't remember you holdin' back in the fight. I still feel sore where ya hit me."

Maria's cheeks turned red when he acknowledged that her hits hurt. Her eyes widened and momentarily gave in to a childish excitement, after all, Garou rarely acknowledged her strength, "What? Really? I hurt you?"

"Why do ya sound so happy?"

"Because, that means I got stronger," there were stars in her eyes. She felt one step closer to him.

"Sadist."

Maria blinked at him. Wait a minute…was he changing the subject? Her smile fell back into a frown, "You ruined my chances at winning the price money!"

"No," he corrected, "I was gonna let you win but you ran yourself off the platfor-"

"Gahhh! Don't remind me!" she cried cutting him off by childishly hitting him, her face again beat red. She should not have removed the weights. Had she went in with a clear mind she would have approached the fight with a proper strategy. It was because she had known it was Garou and he always made her thoughts irrational.

"Why're ya hittin' me for!" he reacted but let the hits land knowing full well they didn't pack any serious punch.

"Because! If you answered my call and actually talked to me I would've known that! Why have you been so distant with me?!"

"Look I was there for a reason today and I didn't want any distractions."

His words felt like a slap in the face. Involuntarily she bit at her lower lip. Distraction? Her eyes were watering. Her presence had been a distraction. Her messages and calls were a distraction. Her care for him was just a distraction.

"No-I didn't mean it like that- Maria," his words were jumbled as he tried to explain himself. In the midst of it all he stopped himself and allowed himself a second to collect his thoughts. He then let out a heavy sigh, "You know I told ya before that I need to do this trainin', I was there today just so I could fight -."

"And I was doing it for the money! I needed that check so I could figure out what the hell to do with my life. Do you know how hard it's been to even find a job Garou?"

"I-"

"No. You don't because you never tried to. I'm going to lose this apartment by the end of this month and I'll have to go back to the dojo."

"Stop talkin' for one second," Garou responded with exasperation. He dug into his back pocket and pulled out a narrow envelope, "Take this."

Maria's eyes widened and her jaw almost dropped, Garou had money? She opened the little pack and counted nearly a million yen, "Is this from the-"

"Nah, I couldn't actually cash the check because it was under Wolfman's name buuttt, before I tied 'em up I got my hands on this-" he pulled out a sleek looking card, a debit card. There it was, his sly smirk finally plastered across his narrow lips. He even let out a snicker; proud of such degenerate actions of pit-pocketing a hero and stealing his identity.

"You're really high on the morality scale there Garou," she couldn't help but comment.

"If ya aren't happy about how I got it you can give it here," He raised his hand as if waiting for her to return it, "Feelin' bad for a damn hero who's already swimming in money he doesn't deserve. You really have gone soft."

Maria would rather bite off a hand than give the money back. She hugged the envelope to her chest and shook her head frantically, "I'm not judging, I looted a water fountain."

"…what?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures- man this can cover another three months rent. It'll give me enough time to find a job. I need to find a job, but what can I work as with my skill set? I really don't want to be a bodyguard and I don't have the moral code to be a police officer. Ugh, maybe I should concentrate on my fire abilities and learn not burn food. God I wish I could go to college for something.." Maria went off on a tangent, Garou momentarily wiped from existence as she tried to calculate her life for the next few months.

Only then was it that Garou realized how long they had been apart. There was a sense of guilt that followed, this was the longest time they went without each other all their lives. He listened to her calculating tone, how fast she was talking only gave him a glimmer of how quick her thoughts were going. It was similar to her survival mode when she was in a fight…did she feel like she had to survive her circumstances now? Oi, oi, all this time he always said Maria was the selfish one.

"Sorry."

Maria who had moved on to counting the bills in the envelope glanced up as the apology left his lips. Her cheeks still flushed red every time there was about to be any kind of affectionate moment. His heart tightened as it did when she had such undeniably cute expressions.

"Oh-well, you're still not forgiven," she responded bluntly pulling him out of his trance. She turned her back to him and went to sit at the table, "You think money will win me over? You were gone for months."

"Woman, I told you ahead of time that I'd be gone for a while! I needed to train to become a hero hunter and become the strongest mons-"

'Not this again,' the black-haired woman was overwhelmed with a sense of worry. While both had a skewed moral-code, the recent years had proved that they had drastically different ideas on where their lines were, and she feared that Garou's loose sense of right and wrong would end up getting him killed or worse; she feared he might well be on his way into turning into an actual physical monster. She recalled how bad their last argument ended over the matter and decided that she rather change the subject.

"What did you bring?"

"I brought yer favorite," he dropped to the floor and began to empty out the plastic bag full of containers. Maria leaned against the table, "Hamburger steak?"

"What? Yer favorite is hamburger steak?" he blurted in surprise only to take it back with a bashful laugh when she threw him a glare, "I'm kiddin' yeesh yer so winded up."

"And for good reason. Another smart-ass comment like that and I'll kick you out," she threatened and opened her container. She was instantly greeted with the warm inviting smell of a hot meal. The bag had the logo of her favorite restaurant printed on it. The little things made her heart race, "Thanks for the measles!" both said in unison. Both blinked up at each other, making eye contact before letting a small snicker under their breaths.

It felt like a dream having him back. Though her senses were telling her she was awake, Maria couldn't believe Garou was sitting there in her living room. He sat there chomping away at his meal, making himself right at home. It was what she had always wanted. When they finished eating, he laid himself on the floor pleased with the amount of food he had inhaled, "Phew! I hadn't eaten like that in weeks!" he exclaimed.

Maria raised a brow as she got up to clean up, "Haven't?"

"You can only dine and dash so many times before people catch on."

Then it hit Maria, where has been Garou staying if not with her, "Garou...Where have you been staying?"

He sat up and gave her a shrug, "Nowhere particular, I change places frequen-"

"You're homeless," she gave him the short answer. He waved his hand as if trying to make light of the reveal, "I choose to train in the fores-"

"You've been fucking homeless for 5 months?" her blood was hot with anger again but she tried to look passed it, "Just let it go Maria, let it go."

Just then the ugly orange cat finally decided to crawl out from under the couch and hopped onto the square table. It pressed its nose against Garou's empty container and gave it a couple licks. He raised a brow, surprised by the unexpected third party, "You have a cat?"

"Eh, I wouldn't say I have a cat. The little fucker keeps finding his way back into my apartment-careful he scratches strangers-" Maria's jaw dropped as the hostile cat purred loudly as Garou gave it a pat on his head. What the actual…fuck. The little asshole even hopped into his lap. The cat made direct eye contact with Maria as if it were trying to say something.

He got to his feet and sloppily pushed the trash into the bag. As he approached Maria in the kitchen she took the bag from his hand, "When was the last time you showered?"

That took an unexpected turn. He gave her a smirk, what was she insinuating? Was this how she wanted him to say he was sorry? He took a step closer to her, trapping her against the counter. While they were close to the same height, his frame and muscular build made him feel much taller as she shrank before him in comparison, "Why do ya wanna know?" She responded by putting a hand against his chest, her touch electric. His stomach suddenly felt tight with excitement. He definitely missed this.

"You smell like the outdoor and sweat. You can use my shower."

And in a blink of an eye she pushed him off her and slipped out of his hold. Damn, he felt that more than any of her strongest punches, "Ouch. Okay maybe I did deserve that." He made sure she wasn't looking before taking a quick sniff at himself. He did need a shower.

Maria could hear the shower running from her room. After reaching a point where she thought this apartment would never be shared with anyone else, it was almost weird to her that it was happening. There was a tight feeling in chest, and the butterflies in her stomach had come to life. It had been a long while since they…she shook off the thoughts. What kind of girl would she be if she forgave such behavior? Every time she thought about how easy it was for him to live without her.

She shook her head and took off her wool cardigan to examine her left arm. It was a ritual done before bed. First, she would take a couple of lit candles and let her fingers trace through the dancing flames, then her arm. Sometimes it felt like a pleasant tickle, sometimes she felt nothing at all. The blistered and torn skin that once decorated her arm were now smoother yet held a very pigmented red color in comparison to a normally healed burn. Five minutes in, the palms of her hands had a faint glow, leaving herself completely entranced until it faded away.

"Looks like you haven't out grown old habits, eh?"

The young woman still captivated, slowly turned her head over toward Garou who watched her from the frame of the door. He wore nothing but a towel around his waist allowing her to see every muscle glisten in the light. There were still trickles of water trailing down his skin. Had he somehow got even bigger than before? She blushed, turned back to her dresser to put out the flames with her fingers, and tried to not make her physical attraction to him so obvious, "Go put some clothes on."

"Why? It's not like we haven't seen each other naked before," He answered back in a chilled manner. He made his way to her until he was right behind her. His eyes caught hers in the mirror and he gave her a devious smirk until he caught sight of all the bandages around her torso. He took her by the arm and pull her to face him.

"Those weren't from today."

Maria shook her head and instinctively tried to fold her arms over them only to have Garou, pull her arms apart and bring her closer to him. She caught sight of the red marks she'd left on his arms.

"Training? There's no way the Old Man would do this."

"I needed to see if I can handle an A-class hero so I beat a demon level monster."

Garou's eyes lit up, impressed by her accomplishment. He gave her a smirk, "Demon level?! Ya might give me a run for my money soon," Fighting to get strong enough to fight a hero was a weird thing to make him excited, but then again, he knew himself well enough to know that it made perfect sense. He let go of her arms, and instead wrapped his around her waist. Whatever space left between them was gone. Her hands traced up his forearms hesitantly, her fingers tracing over his perfectly toned muscles until she finally wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Baka, I already am."

He could feel her breath against his. Her grey eyes stared into his amber ones. Her cheeks flushed a deep red as if this were her first time about to kiss him. He must have hit his head hard at some point in training because he could not find a good enough reason to justify being apart from her for so long.

In attempt to rid himself of the guilt he leaned over and swept her lips into a deeply passionate kiss.

Chapter End

Author's Note: I really really hope I didn't screw up Garou's personality in this chapter! I had to reread and rewatch his scenes multiple times to try to get it right. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and character interactions. Anyways, I wasn't really sure how much smut would be allowed in a T rating. Should I go full rated M next chapter? Should I keep it light? What do you guys think? I'll try to get the next chapter next week or the one after! I'll be working on my BNHA fanfic in the meantime. Give me a review on what you think and what you want to see next!