A man was slowly walking across a busy street, one hand in his pocket while in his other hand was a can of coffee.
His black hair was messy and untamed, falling past his face, held back by a single red band that had seen better days.
Thump!
A woman bumped into him, causing the coffee to fall from his hands, rolling to the floor, the dark liquid spilling out.
"Ahh, I'm really sorry!" She hurriedly apologized, her mouth partly open as she watched the liquid drain away.
"Hello? Are you okay?"
The owner of the coffee did not respond, he simply stared at the can without taking a single step.
The stranger walked a little closer and reached for his shoulder, trying to gain his attention before he suddenly grabbed her arm, his reflexes impressively sharp.
"Ahh—!" The woman exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
She had expected the man to lash out at her, only to realise he had shifted his attention to something else.
"Who is that?" The man asked, his eyes locked on a large poster in front of a café.
"Ohh? That is Nejire-chan! She's a trainee hero, and the one next to her is Mountain Lady!"
The woman smiled brightly.
"Are they having an event? Aww, I have to get to work." She murmured.
But the man was no longer listening, he was staring at the poster, a look of animosity in his eyes.
"Tch—!"
•••
The customers were rolling into the café in unending waves, soon every single seat in sight was occupied.
"Coffee and two muffins over at table thirty!" Sakura announced, hurrying towards the kitchen with an empty tray in her hand.
The part timers were moving from place to place, attending to the multiple people, while Akiko worked in the kitchen.
Now that she was fully healed and was a vampire no less, she worked like a machine.
In the kitchen, it was almost like she was everywhere at the same time, the coffee and pastries being made at impressive speeds.
"Umm, are you okay? Why do you have that weird smile on your face?" Mountain Lady's voice came as she watched Kyle with concern.
"Oh…" Kyle cleared his throat. "I was just thinking about something."
"Alright then. By the way, is it really okay for me to just sit here? I feel more like I'm taking a break than doing work."
"Yup, you're doing perfectly okay. Since we have already done the photo shoot, all you have to do is spend the rest of the day here."
"Really? I don't think I've ever had such a relaxing job." She confessed.
"I loved the old café, but this one suits my taste a bit more." Nejire said while eating. "I never got this much free snacks there!"
"Nejire..." Mountain Lady frowned. "Finish eating before you speak."
Kyle laughed lightly.
When Nejire came, he noticed she was a lot more tame than usual, which was strange considering her personality.
But now, she was acting more like her usual self.
Kyle turned his attention to Mt. Lady.
"You must have been very busy though, thank you for taking your time to help us out."
Mountain Lady replied in a light-hearted tone. "I owe Nejire one, she was very helpful during her work experience program. Besides, I also have my reasons for coming."
She stared up at the ceiling, taking a moment to observe the room. "You have a nice thing going on here."
Her brows creased, creating little lines on her forehead as she relaxed a bit into the chair.
"I wish I could chill here from time to time, hero work is really stressful these days."
"Really?" Kyle asked, slyly probing her.
'There's a chance I'll get a little information about what they have been up to…'
"Is it because of that guy, what did they call him again… the midnight something…"
"Midnight Vigilante," Mt. Lady corrected him and sighed tiredly.
"Everyone is on high alert because of him, you know?" She frowned.
"Why did he have to go and attack the commission? All he did was create more work for us."
"Have you found out why though?" Nejire asked, cutting into their conversation.
She looked a little more serious now and actually dropped her food to pay full attention to Mt. Lady.
"He attacked the commission but he didn't steal anything or free any prisoners, did he? Why then did he attack in the first place?" Nejire asked.
Mountain Lady shrugged. "It's strange, isn't it? I honestly don't know much more than you, I guess we'll find out soon enough."
"He sounds like a troubling character." Kyle admitted and shook his head. "Good luck catching him, Mt. Lady!"
He gave her a thumbs up. "I'm rooting for you guys!"
Mountain Lady chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, I'll see what we can do about it."
Then after a few seconds, she frowned.
Nejire noticed the change in her mood and said, "Hmm? What is the problem? You look like you just suddenly got a stomach ache."
She shook her head. "I just remembered something troublesome. Never mind it though, UA is safe enough, and none of you are full heroes yet. This is something that bothers heroes more."
'An issue peculiar to heroes?' Kyle mused.
"If you say so." Nejire returned to her food, while Mt. Lady glanced at her cup before looking at Kyle.
"By the way… Nejire said you can do tricks?"
The three of them ended up talking for most of the day. Sometimes Kyle would go to attend to a few customers for some hours before coming back to join them.
And by evening, the café was finally closed.
"Would you guys like a ride home?" Kyle offered as they stepped out of the café. "I'm relatively free for the night."
Mountain shook her head and smiled. "That would have been great, but I have to start my patrol."
Then she gave Kyle a handshake. "Thank you for today, it's not every day I get to relax and still get paid."
After waving them goodbye, Mountain Lady left, leaving Kyle alone with Nejire.
Kyle pulled out his keys. "You took permission to be out, right? I can't let you go back alone, so don't refuse."
UA was a boarding school, so you needed permission to be out late.
"I wasn't planning to, who would give up on a free ride? I am not even going to UA today, my parents are out so they told me to look over the place."
Although Nejire said it in a cheery tone, Kyle noticed a little change in her expression at the end, it was so small that it was nearly imperceptible.
But he ignored it for now.
"Alright, let's go then."
While Kyle was driving, Nejire was humming along to the music being played by the car stereo, a smile on her face as they sped past multiple glittering street lights.
"How is Mirio doing?" Kyle asked, hoping to start up a conversation, but his question only seemed to dampen Nejire's mood.
'Are they having a fight or something?'
From what Kyle knew, Mirio's injury had only made the bond between the Big Three even tighter.
She smiled faintly. "Mirio is doing alright, he's already back to his old cheery self."
Kyle glanced at her before turning back to face the road. "Then why do you seem down? Did something else happen?"
Nejire rested her chin in her arms while staring through the window as the buildings blurred past them.
"It's just that…"
She paused as though contemplating whether to speak or not.
Then she sighed.
"Anytime I remember what happened… I feel empty inside."
"It was my fault that Mirio got in trouble, what would have happened if he died?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly at the end.
When Kyle saw her face, he knew almost instantly that she had bottled this up for quite some time.
'Has she been thinking about this since the sports festival?'
What could have been a minor issue had been left to grow, brewing with the insecurities in her heart till it became what it was today.
Her thoughts and self-blame had been eating away at her for so long, it was no surprise that the next time she turned to face him, her eyes were moist— she was on the verge of crying.
Kyle couldn't help but sigh.
To everyone, Nejire was a cheerful girl who was always ready to reach out to anyone in need.
She was the type of person others would bring their troubles to, and because of her nature, she was isolated even while surrounded by friends.
Nejire wouldn't want to worry anyone, and the closest people to her were directly involved with the issue, in one way or the other.
Now, it made sense why she was going home.
Her parents could have easily hired a housekeeper, but Nejire must have volunteered to do it herself.
To her, going back home was a means of escape while she cleared her head.
Kyle tapped her shoulder with his free hand.
"You have it all wrong, Nejire. Partners are only partners because they can risk their life to save yours."
He turned to look at her, her blue eyes were glazed with tears, and there was a pink blush on her cheeks as she fought to hold them back.
"Were you afraid of losing him when he was injured?"
Nejire nodded. "Mhmm…" she muttered, afraid that if she spoke, she would no longer be able to hold in her emotions.
"Then you should work harder, keep training until you are strong enough to return the favour."
"Mirio saved you once, be strong enough to be his support next time."
Nejire was in no way weak, she had just been paired with the worst possible match, but that didn't mean she could not grow stronger.
"Agonizing over this will only make Mirio feel bad. He saved you to preserve your smile, so smile."
When he finished speaking, Nejire's eyes widened slightly, and then a small smile appeared on her face as the tears finally rolled down her eyes.
"Mmnn…"
•••
"Good night, Nejire, thank you for your help today!" Kyle waved at her through his window.
"Good night!" Nejire smiled.
She pulled out her keys from her purse, then wiped off the tear marks on her face before inserting it into the lock.
But before she twisted the lock open, she saw a figure reflected on the glass part of the door.
Whoosh!
She quickly jumped to the side as a thin blade cut through the air, nearly taking her head off her shoulders.
"What is the—ack!"
Nejire glanced at her arm and frowned. She had been cut.
The man towered above her, a katana in hand and a red mask tied over his eyes. He brought the katana to his lips and licked the blood off it, causing Nejire to recoil in disgust.
"You creep! You messed with the wrong person!"
She tried to raise her hands to release a beam of energy, when her heart fell.
"Huh…? Why can't I move?"
..
A/N
Missed thr update time yestarday, so here is a long chapter ;)
Today's chapter will still come later (hopefully)