"Secret Santa time!"

ngel couldn't help but smile when she heard Yumi enter the room hearing her lovely voice and seeing her never failing beauty! Despite Angel being engaged she couldn't deny that Yumi was one of the most beautiful women in school, and it was always a treat to get to spend even the smallest amount of time with her even though they were not the closest of friends. As Yumi said that she was lucky that she got Angel as a secret Santa Angel couldn't help but blush as she stood up from her chair grabbing the two large wrapped presents that Yumi had been eyeing. Angel just giggled and sat them down on the couch where Yumi could get to them.

"I'm honestly glad I got to be your secret Santa Yumi. I have been wanting an excuse to hang out with you again so that we could catch up ya know? By the way you look lovely as always! What do you think of my new style? You are the fashion guru around here after all!"

Angel giggled as she walked up to Yumi and spun slowly in a circle like a model wearing a new dress to show off her more rock and roll leather inspired outfit before holding a hand under the engagement ring around her neck before giving her a small but warm smile. She then lightly jabbed Yumi in the arm making sure not to use any of her super strength so that she wouldn't hurt her hope to be friend before rubbing the back of her head a tad nervously.

"I hope you like your gifts, and that you don't already have them. I remembered that you liked that type of thing so I had to be careful which ones I got you! Anyway what's new with you Yumi!? How is the whole modeling career going? I don't know if you heard, but New Oasis my orphanage and youth center recently opened up. We already have a ton of kids so I've been having to split my time between school, New Oasis, My fiance  Miyami and my hero work with Ultra Violet. Been keeping busy to say the least!"

Angel then grinned widely as she used the super strength in her arms to lift herself onto the back of the couch where she let her legs hang off so she could be comfortable as she watched the beautiful red head open her Christmas presents. As she watched she couldn't help, but want to voice one of the big questions in her head.

"So, not to pry or anything, but do you have anyone special right now? Not that I'm asking you out or anything!"

Angel blushed and nervously chuckled.

"Like I said, I'm happily taken. I'm just curious is all. We could totally swap significant other stories if ya like!"

ngel couldn't help but smile softly as Yumi admitted she was genuinely happy to have her as a secret santa because she knew that the winged girl would put a lot of thought into her presents that she gave the red headed bombshell. As Yumi admitted that she thought Angel's style suited her despite not liking to wear male close herself Angel had to look down at her now swinging feet to hide the bashful smile and bright pink blush that was now filling her face. Even with Yumi admitted she mostly wore what people told her too Angel looked up still smiling once the blushing had stopped as she gripped the couch gently doing her best to keep mental restraint over her super strength as to not rip the couch apart.

"That means the world to me to hear Yumi. Even if you wear what people tell you to wear you always look..fantastic! I wear more masculine clothing more out of necessity then anything else. You can't really fight in a skirt, or a frilly dress you know? Plus with me having super speed I decided to start wearing leather jackets, and stuff like leather boots for the friction resistance. I even when I wasn't on the job wanted to be combat ready in case something went down even if I didn't have my super suit."

As Yumi began to open up her presents Angel happily watched her expression of happiness as she listened to Yumi say that she'd seen FMA, but that Ouran was new to her. This made Angel's heart feel so much lighter because it meant that she had managed to give the manga lover something new that she had only heard about. Angel often prided herself in being quite the good judge of character in how she observed others and their interests so that she was happy that she had gotten it right this go around. As Yumi reached across the couch where they were both perched and wrapped an arm around her in a one armed hug Angel's face quickly turned a light red as she forced herself to look up toward the ceiling to fight the urge to look down toward Yumi's assets.

"I..I'm glad you like both sets Yumi. The guy at the Manga store said that Ouran is about this girl who has to masquerade herself as a male student to be part of this all boy's club thing. He said it's a reverse harem type thing. I..I thought you of all people would appreciate that.

What Yumi did next Angel could have no way been prepared for. Angel began to use that seductive tone of voice she liked to use to show her more..playful side as Angel watched her take a more suggestive pose on the couch even pushing out her chest which Angel had been straining to keep herself from looking down at. Angel was no stranger to the notion of "Gay Panic", but she more often then not thanks to her self discipline, practice with various kinds of restraint and general cool headedness often helped her keep her composure around most beautiful women she came across. When it came to Miyami Angel was the one causing the gay panic and not the other way around, then..there was Yumi. Out of anyone she had ever met Yumi was the one woman that caused the winged hero's brain to hit the "Gay panic" button. Angel did her best to continue to either look away or look Yumi in the eyes, but as she spoke about being so desirable that Angel had to make sure she was off the market Angel's physical desires and urges finally won out as she began to look Yumi over from head to toe, stopping at her chest more then once. This caused Angel's face to become blood red as she covered her face in panic as her wings unfurled themselves from their resting position flat against her back to their full length and width as they did when Angel was overly flustered or.. aroused.

"Oh crumbs!"

Due to her wings being unfurled, and Angel no longer being subconsciously focused on keeping her balance on the couch she made the mistake of leaning backwards causing her to clumsily fall off of the back of her with a small flail of her arms until she landed flat on her back where she once again covered her face in red faced flustered embarrassment. What she didn't realize was that her fall had caused the bottom of her own shirt to ride up a little just enough to show the still relatively fresh and pink X shaped surgical scar where she had to have her kidney removed on her left side due to three of her ribs being broken and puncturing it during combat.

"You so do not play fair!"

s Yumi asked Angel if she was okay, as well as apologized for causing the girl to fall over Angel just nodded from behind her hands. That was until she saw Yumi get down from the couch and begin to lean over her. This caused Angel to drop her hands so she had a full view of Yumi's beautiful form and face as her body went a bit loose and she bit her lip hard out of nervousness. This was only exacerbated as Angel's oh so soft and gentle hand placed itself upon her newest relatively fresh causing Angel to flinch and shiver not out of pain, but out how good Yumi's very touch felt. To show that she wasn't in pain Angel with a slightly shaking hand placed her hand over Yumi's as the red head asked out it happened. Angel gulped and took a deep breath before smiling at her softly doing her best to focus on Yumi's eyes and hair.

"Do you remember when the city got invaded by zombies? I was put on this task force type thing with Paw Might, three first years and the Principal to investigate a crashed helicopter that was supposed to contain the cure for the outbreak and could only be opened by the Principal's eye and hand scan. Well once we reached it, it turned out there were gunmen in the trees as well as a guy with an RPG as well as a makeshift Angel zombie. Well upon our arrival we came under fire, and to try to shoot me down I got an RPG round shot at me. I managed to use the Angel zombie as a buffer destroying it, but the force of the blast still managed to crack three ribs. You know me though, I kept fighting anyway. That is until the big bad himself capebreaker who was a vigilante and villian hunter grabbed me while I was trying to help the pilot of the helicopter. My thrashing to get free caused the three cracked ribs to outright break and puncture my left kidney, and despite the fact that we won the day without any loss of life I had to be rushed to the hospital to get my kidney removed and my ribs repaired. Apparently I almost died on the table from internal blood loss. When I woke up I found Miyami, my aunt and my mom there, and that's when I proposed to Miyami. Kind of a life is short thing."

Angel blushed, and to show Yumi that she trusted her completely despite how she liked to tease her with her sexuality she took Yumi's hand and placed it flat on the surgical scar to show she trusted her with her injury as she smiled softly.

"You jokingly asked me if you were so tempting that I had to know if you were off the market. Well to answer your question truthfully because you deserve the truth, if I wasn't with Miyami and you were indeed single..I would see myself wanting to give us an honest shot. Even as just friends Yumi despite our disagreements or differences I would gladly take a rocket all over again for you if need be."

Despite how flustered she had been, when she spoke this time to beautiful red head her voice was full of calm sincerity. Despite the two only being friends at best Angel would gladly take on any major hit so that Yumi didn't have to. Since they were having a moment of honestly Angel just did her best to lean forward from her back and give Yumi a gentle hug around the neck.

"I genuinely do enjoy the time we get to spend together. You are a good person and a great friend Yumi Tasukai"

s Yumi spoke with slight guilt in her voice and on her face as she lightly squeezes Angel's scar Angel didn't stop her, but let the red head speak giving her thoughtful smile as she listened respectfully. Once she was done talking about the event and sat up Angel did the same choosing to slide over next to Yumi and rest her own now relaxed wings and back flat against the couch, but crossed her legs instead of pulling them toward her. She then playfully bumped Yumi with her shoulder with a chuckle to try and also lighten the mood. Yumi may have been a hardcore flirt, but Angel knew from their rocky friendship that when she allowed herself to show a strong emotion it was genuine and heartfelt even if the emotion was negative one.

"No need to feel bad Yumi. It's part of the whole hero gig ya know? We all knew what we were signing up for, and the Principal even gave us the offer to back out. We all chose to stay even the first years. I'm just glad I took the hit so that they didn't have to ya know? On the upside I can't swim so I don't have to worry about bikini season! I've always counted my scars kinda like trophies even if I lost the fight I got them from."

Angel then lightly touched the scar under her right eye that she had gotten which seemed to have been a life time ago now with all that had happened to Angel, and how she had changed over the last three years since it happened. It even brought a genuine smile to her face.

"This one will always be my favorite, and not because I got it from fighting Jasmine. It's my favorite because afterward when I woke up in the infirmary I was told that my ultimate move even though it was the first time I had ever used it had actually almost knocked Jasmine out of the ring along with me, if I hadn't passed out from blood loss that is. I'll gladly take that loss with pride because for a shining moment I stood toe to toe with one of the best, and almost came out on top."

Speaking of Jasmine, Angel couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when Yumi informed her that the two had begun to date. It took Angel a moment to process this, but after that moment Angel just gave Yumi a light hug before moving back to her place so that Yumi had some space as the red head explained that monogamy was something she wasn't really comfortable with, but was willing to try for her partner's sake.

"That's the mark of a great partner in my eyes. Being willing to step out of one's comfort zone for your significant other even for just a little while to make them happy. Jasmine is lucky to have you, and I hope it works out truly. Going out in public with my Miyami can be a bit tricky for a couple reasons. The first being she is a reformed thief, and is afraid of being recognized by patrolling pros and me getting in trouble by association. The biggest problem though is her summon style quirk. She can't really control him. He's a skeleton that when he comes in physical contact with someone for a certain amount of time he robs you of your sight, hearing and speech. Luckily the loss of hearing effect doesn't effect me because I use machines to hear instead of ears though it makes Miyami afraid to go out in public for fear of her quirk activating. Her time as a thief by necessity has given her a rather pessimistic view of the world which I am trying to help her change."

As Yumi asked about the ring around her neck Angel nodded in response while pulling out her phone and pulling up a selfi of her and Miyami where Angel was giving her a big smooch on the cheek and the pale skinned goth was blushing bright pink on her extremely pale skin. Angel then would flip through her photos and stop on another of Miyami and herself showing off their rings, Miyami's being of a skull design with a red stone to match her goth esthetic. Once both pictures were shown Angel slipped her phone back into her pocket, and gently fiddled with her own ring between her fingers as lightly as she could.

"I promised her that I would never take it off unless I was doing something hero work related. I wear it around my neck because my primary form of combat aside from my quirk is hand to hand, and I didn't want it to get broken. Do you like it? Miyami due to her solitary life style isn't the most..monetarily secure, and yet she saved up to get me the nicest ring she could. It's my prized possession."

s Yumi seemed to put herself down as a hero while at the same time praising Angel's work in a way Angel turned her head, and gave the red head a compassionate look of concern. Did Yumi really think so little of herself? Angel without even thinking gently cupped Yumi's cheeks in her hands softly and pressed their forehead's together softly not in a romantic manner, but in a way to try to be comforting, and unlike all the other times she had touched Yumi there was not a single hint of nervousness or hesitation in it. Once she separated their foreheads Angel held Yumi's face with a smile.

"You listen to me Yumi Tasukai. You may not be constantly on the front lines like myself, Jasmine or Feng, but you are a hero. A hero does more then beat up the big bad guys or arrest petty thugs. to quote an old Disney movie the true measure of a hero isn't the size of their strength, but the strength of their heart. From what I've seen of your modeling page comments you inspire and are a hero to tons of young boys and girls who are body conscious, but have a passion for cosplay. You inspire them to take their first step into that world, and that's often the scariest step of all. You may not have saved the country from a zombie invasion, but you through the simple act of doing something you are passionate about are helping the next generation find their confidence to do the same, and that's something you should be proud of and you know what? I'd be proud to have you teach the occasional cosplay or costume design course at New Oasis. I'd even pay you. I'll even buy all the materials you need. Just nothing too risky since it's for children. I already know I have some young fans under that roof."

Angel then let go of Yumi's face to show that she wasn't going to go in for a kiss or make a move on her. As Yumi laughed and playfully scolded her for pushing herself in every fight she was in Angel couldn't help but lean her back against the couch as well and laugh along. Oh if she had a yen for all of the times her own mother had told her the exact same thing she'd be richer then she already was! Possibly the richest person in the world. As Yumi nudged her saying to stay alive for her own wedding Angel just lightly nudged her back in a playful fashion.

"You know it's funny, If you had told me that in our first year I would have just brushed you off. A lot can change in three years after all. It just seems like yesterday we started here. Before I opened New Oasis, and met Miyami I always thought and expected to go out in a blaze of glory. You know Butch & Sundance style saving possibly the entirely world just to show my father he was wrong about me being a monster. What I'm about to say doesn't leave this room, but in those early days of our careers I almost wanted to die as long as it was in the service of others. I thought that the only way to be the symbol of love was to die like a martyr saving the country and world. That all changed when I met people like you, Miyami, Yusaku, Jasmine, Ultra Violet, Feng and Red Horn. Despite all of your views and beliefs being different you showed me all the different things worth holding on for. In a way, you're part of the reason I'm still here. So I guess what I'm saying is thank you for changing my own view on the world."

Angel for just a moment looked down at her crossed legs as Yumi asked if there were any programs that Miyami could join to try and help her. To this Angel shook her head, and rested her head against the back of the couch.

"I doubt it, at least not this early into quirk society. That's part of the reason I started New Oasis. Miyami's quirk.. her summon has a mind of it's own. From the way Miyami explained it to me, it can't see, hear or speak unless he steals those abilities from its victims meaning it's complete at the mercy of where Miyami takes him. It's only thought or worry is on self preservation, and so it will pop out of the gem like birthmark on Miyami's head, grab who ever is closest which is often Miyami so it can see because it panics because it doesn't know where it is. The more people who are around the more damage he can do. We haven't worked out a way to communicate with him yet. If only we knew someone with a telepathy type quirk."

Angel then blushed slightly as she nudged Yumi's elbow.

"Speaking of my wedding you are totally invited! I was.."

Angel continued to blush as she cut herself off so she could figure out how to ask her next question.

"I was wondering if you could be the one to plan my bacholorette party?"

s Yumi removed Angel's hands from her cheeks Angel didn't stop her, but for some small reason they wished to have remained there. For just the briefest of moments Angel's heart falter as she heard Yumi tell her that while she saw the value in her work as a model and cosplayer, and how it helped people that she wished to be on the front lines with her classmates if another disaster were to happen. Yumi was willing to put her dreams and career aside, as well as put her life on the line to keep the world safe despite the great personal cost to herself. If that wasn't the mark of a hero's heart then Angel didn't know what was. It did raise a question in Angel's mind that she had always wondered about Yumi, but never had the courage to ask as Yumi declined her job offer in case U.A. wanted to hire her once she graduated. Angel just inhaled through her nose before nodding with a smile.

"The offer will always be there if you ever wish to take it Yumi. You have an eternal friend in me, I hope you believe that. I do have a question for you though, but it's a bit personal. What gave birth to Curved Lightning? Your heroic flame had to have been sparked by something right? Some desire, dream, goal, event or what have you. You already know mine. I dreamt of a truly free, kind and loving world. I wanted to be able to live freely, to love freely, to fly freely. I wanted to give the entire world that through my work as the Angel of Mercy. I dream of a world where bigotry of any kind no longer exists, and I won't stop fighting for it until my final breath. Even then I have made sure that even if Angelica Surami dies the Legacy and the name of the Angel of Mercy will live on. I just have to hope that I live long enough to see that that Legacy has a strong enough foundation to last through the ages not to that the name becomes famous or well known, but so that the ideals it carries with it live on long after the name has passed through history."

As Yumi said to try and come out of her fights unbroken Angel just looked down at the floor for a moment her smiling faltering only for just a moment as Angel's inner trauma and pain shined through before she shoved it back down deep, and she looked back at Yumi with a warm smile as she just nudged Yumi's shoulder with a chuckle.

"I'll do my best Yumi. I have children to care for now, and a future wife waiting for me to come home from said battles. In a way I guess I have achieved part of my dream. In a way I became a mother to many whom love me who I can teach to love in others in return. Here's a secret for you, and you alone Yumi. The night I met Miyami? She had been trying to rob me and my family. My aunt was debuting one of her new pieces at a local gallery where Miyami was scoping the place. She followed us home not knowing I was flying overhead until I landed at our front door. She waited until everyone was asleep before breaking in, but found me in my aunt's art studio trying my hand at drawing. The moment we looked at each other face to face.."

Angel just leaned her head back against the couch and sighed with contentment.

"It was as if the world fell away, and all that remained was us. My mom and aunt entered the scene, and that's when Miyami's quirk activated itself. That's when I saw it. That's when I saw that spark of good in her and yet at the same time the same look I had in my own eyes not but three years ago. She was a slave to a force she had no power over. She was trying to rob us not out of greed, but survival knowing it wasn't safe for her to be around people to make money the honest way. We worked together to dispatch her beastie, and got to talking. My aunt gave her the painting she so desperately wanted, my mom gave her the leftovers from our dinner that night and I gave her my number in case she was ever in danger and needed my help. In return for that kindness..for that mercy she kissed me for the first time. Over the next few weeks I would keep an eye on her from up above out of concern that either I had been tricked or she was in danger, but what i saw each and every time astounded me. Every place Miyami went she returned something she had stolen, or gave the money she had gotten for that stolen object to the person it belonged to. She never knew I was there, or at least I never made myself physically known to her. Though sometimes I would drop a black rose with one of my feathers attached to it in front of her whenever she looked sad or lonely. Finally I got up the courage to ask her out on our first date. I bought out an entire cafe for the afternoon just so she felt more at ease. It was one of the best afternoons of my life."

Angel smiled not realizing that a happy tear had escaped her right eye and was sliding down her scar. Once Yumi asked her why she didn't ask her aunt or someone closer to her to plan her bacholorette party Angel blushed as red as a strawberry dipped in blood.

"Well..I..umm.."

Angel blushed and just fiddled with her thumbs nervously as she tried to find the right words.

"I..I just really care for the idea of asking my family to provide..seductive entertainment. You are..stunning, and amazing and beautiful.. and you know more about the whole party scene then either of my close parental figures do so even if it doesn't include that kind of entertainment.. I'd rather it be you to plan such an event because I know the night would be in safe hands."