Ant King In MHA

__________ POV Beru__________

"Wait, so you actually want to get engaged?!" Nao asked with visible confusion on his face.

I guess he's known me for a while now, so this is a bit hard to believe for him.

"Yep~ I kinda want to get your two-cent on it too~ What do you think?~" I decided to speak to Nao a bit before going ring shopping with Nemuri.

I mean, it's better to get advice from someone that's already done this before. Toshi and Nezu would be next to useless in these matters.

I won't even begin to talk about Yori, that guy has likely never even kissed a woman in his life. Not that he wouldn't be able to, he's just a bit too driven to waste time pursuing relationships.

I may have sounded resolute when speaking to Yori previously, about searching for rings. But only afterwards did the implications of such an action manage to set in for me.

"I would usually tell you that your actions are thoughtless and extremely sudden... But you and Nemuri have been together for a bit over three years at this point."

"Yeah~ That's also my opinion~ I'm not used to this whole 'commitment' thing, getting advice from someone with a bit of know-how seems like a good idea to me~"

Nao looks at me with an odd, analytical gaze. Maybe he's judging whether or not this is a good idea for someone like me to actually marry someone.

He kept on that gaze for a few dozen seconds before eventually shaking his head a bit.

"I think you should think about this properly before jumping into a real commitment. I don't know, the fact that you're here means that you're not all that sure of yourself either."

"... Maybe this was just a roundabout way of telling you that I'm getting engaged?~" Yeah, this is also a decent explanation, but I somehow doubt that Nao is buying it.

"If that was the case then you wouldn't have been so serious. I know you, Beru. I know when you're joking and when you're not."

"Ok, Beru. Let's do a bit of a mental exercise. Imagine yourself, waking up in the morning. One random day, and looking to your side, you can no longer see her. You call her, she doesn't answer.

You search for her, but she's nowhere to be found. To put it simply, would you be the same if she suddenly disappeared from your life?"

... This. This mental exercise. I wasn't expecting something like this to appear. I don't even know how to answer it...

But, at the same time, I feel like I know exactly what the answer is...

__________ POV Narration__________

"... I'll be honest with you Nao..." Beru's voice came out with an almost chilling serenity.

They immediately caught Nao by surprise. He knew that Beru was about to say something completely serious, the insectoid's tone was completely devoid of any amusement or playfulness.

"I'm- I've never felt this way about someone before. Sure, I've had flings, I've had heartburns, plenty of dramas and plenty of stories to tell."

Beru spoke while looking at the table in between him and Nao.

The insectoid made a clear reference to his previous life. He didn't have part of much romance in his current life, Nemuri being the only notable one, but his last life was something else entirely.

"But this is the first time... This is the first time I actually feel hopeful about a relationship. The first time I can actually somehow see things working out in the future if you get what I'm trying to say..."

In the past, any 'lover' or woman that he was interested in, he distanced himself from. It was all in order to not intertwine them with the brutal world of organized crime.

It was as if he was trapped in a constant struggle, unable of making relations with those outside of it out of fear of getting them harmed in the process.

Worst of all, he was the one that consciously chose to become one with that place.

He, from a young age, embraced that struggle with all of his being, thriving in it, standing above the rest of the thugs that shivered at the very mention of his name.

He only rose above it later in his life, but never truly managed to start any relationship, out of fear that his former life would eventually catch up to him.

And maybe it would've, had it not been for that strange storm that had him thrown into an entirely new world.

To this day, Beru was afraid that one day, he would just wake up in a hospital. That he would just return to his previous life, to continue living like a bird in a bloodied cage.

The existence of Nemuri and Toga was what made him think that there was no way this was all fake.

Friendship and comradery were not something he lacked in his past life. Although he grew disgusted with them by the end, he had a lot of people that he considered friends and a lot of people that likely cared about him.

True love on the other hand... It was a foreign concept to him. And to have felt it on two separate occasions in two different forms...

Nemuri was, to put it simply, the first woman that Beru truly fell in love with. Maybe not the first that he became romantically interested in, and the first one that he followed through with.

Toga was also the first person to make Beru feel familial love. The type of care and warmth that he didn't even think himself capable of providing others.

Beru really doubted that his mind could make all of that up. All of the emotion, the concern, the care.

They were things that he had felt in this new life of his, things that he shouldn't have any idea of.

If something were to happen to either Nemuri or Toga... Beru would most likely go completely mad.

No reason to talk about killing the perpetrator, the entire world would be in danger.

Beru was no hero, as much as he played the part. He, like in his past life, didn't value the lives of people he didn't know as much as a true hero would.

The silence stretched a bit, as the room

"... So I guess you've actually made up your mind then..." Nao said with a sigh.

He had no way of knowing what was going through Beru's mind, but just the intensity in the insectoid's gaze was enough to make the middle-aged man take a step back.

"Yeah... I thought it was all clear to me. I guess I just needed a little advice from an old friend~"

Uncertainty was always a harmful entity to Beru. Talking to Nao at least managed to calm him down a bit, to help strengthen his mind.

Nao smiled a bit at the words of the young man in front of him.

"I'm glad I was able to help..." A heavy sigh left his lips as Beru also seemed a bit embarrassed to have put his friend on edge like that.

"Welp~ You're obviously going to be among the best men.~" Beru did eventually lighten the mood a bit.

"That didn't even need to be said! I was going to be one even if you didn't want me to." Nao smiled as a glint appeared in his eyes.

"I've already prepared my speech too! But we should likely not jump that many steps. Engagement first, wedding later." Nao coughed in the end, realising that he was a bit too enthusiastic about the whole thing.

"Yep~ Time to take Nemuri out on a date~ Thanks mate~ I'll be telling you the results later!"

And so, Beru left Nao's house with a warm feeling in his heart.

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