The moment Kaede stepped outside of the bar, she felt the whole world spin underneath her feet.
Cursing under her breath. the 20-year old redhead stumbled in her steps, raising a hand to massage her temple in order to dissipate the tell-tale signs of an incoming migraine.
Sighing, Kaede begins to walk, her eyes taking in her surroundings in an attempt to refocus. Bright lights from specialty shops blinked, signboards displaying the products they sold in hopes of attracting new customers. In the distance, off-key singing and raucous, drunken laughter echo from the patrons of surrounding karaoke bars. People brush by her as she walked-an exhausted salaryman hustling to catch the last train home, pretty girls decked in party outfits on the way to nightclubs, a pair of foreigners discussing something about eating at the nearest izakaya, a male high school student on the way to grab something to eat after cram school lessons.
An upward glance at the flashing billboards hanging from twenty-storey buildings showed a grinning, stocky blonde man decked in a tight-fitting hero costume; an advert for a new kind of deodorant, Kaede reckons.
"All Might, the Symbol of Peace." Kaede murmurs under her breath. "...a hero, huh."
Born Quirkless, Nagare Kaede never understood the allure of the hero profession. To her, the fast-paced, adrenaline-pumped lifestyle that pro-heroes go through everyday was not something that attractive for her. Kaede preferred the relaxed, tranquil life of being an ordinary civilian. While her peers grew up trying to rein control over their Quirks, Kaede became invested with the arts. Others figure out how to keep everything around them float or prevent things from exploding; she tinkered with the controls of her father's old camera. While everyone else was applying for specialized schools dedicated to hero-training, Kaede applied for a degree in the Arts, majoring in Film at a local university that catered to both Quirkless and to those with Quirks.
The pursuit of villains, rescue operations, and securing the peace and order of town seemed like something from another world to Kaede, a world seemed to be out of the yellowed pages of the vintage comic books her father used to collect. She preferred to go on weekend trips to the country or to sightsee around the city, filming tidbits of life that she could use for her next project. On other days, she holes up inside her favorite coffee shop near the dorms for hours, hunched over her sketchbook, coming up with storyboards or scripts while sipping her Espresso.
Her train of thought halts when her footsteps bring her to a small convenience store at the heart of this district. The store was named Niko-Niko, and true to its name, Kaede crooks a smile at the cute smiley face etched on the brightly-lit signboard. A quick glance inside showed the store almost empty of customers and a handful of clerks assigned on the night shift.
Another bout of alcohol-induced migraines wreck her head, and this time, she was forced to hunch over to the little side alley next to the konbini, bile rising up to her throat, inciting her to empty the contents of her stomach.
"Should've held back on the tequila, damn it..." Kaede groans, sinking to a sitting position with her back to the wall. "I feel like shit." Holding up a palm to her mouth, she closes her eyes as she evens out her breathing, suppressing the urge to hurl, at least up until she arrives back at the dorms.
She isn't the type to go out and drink often, but today was a celebration that warranted a few drinks-their group got their 20-minute documentary about the local street art scene approved after 3 rejections on the earlier versions they had presented to their professor. Her groupmates dragged her out to grab some drinks even though Kaede refused, just wanting to catch up on sleep after staying up late for 3 consecutive days while editing said documentary, but the group members insisted, even going as far as to treat her to a meal. Kaede had agreed, but upon entering the bar, the guys challenged each other to a drinking contest. She had participated and ended up downing 4 bottles of tequila before she excused herself after feeling the drink's effects.
Kaede was now regretting that decision at the moment. Right now, she was feeling like she had been spinning on an endless loop while riding a roller coaster, her head close to bursting.
"I need to go home, I just want to sleep." She grumbles, propping herself against the nearby wall to support herself. "I'm not going out like this again, I swear-"
"Are you alright?"
Kaede stops her mumbling when a voice calls out to her. Blinking to re-orient her vision at the sudden interruption, she feels her world stop at the sight of the figure who called out to her.
It was a guy, with mismatched white and maroon hair, eye colour undiscernible to Kaede due to the dim lighting offered by the street lights. He was decked in a plain white tee and a pair of dark-coloured jogging pants, carrying a plastic bag from Niko Niko Konbini in his right hand.
Whoa, Kaede mulls in her head. An attractive person...!
"Uhm, are you alright?" The guy asks again, something akin to confusion settling on his features when Kaede failed to answer his question first time. "You seemed like you were in pain."
"Ah, I'm sorry." Warmth seeped into Kaede's face, partly due to alcohol influence, partly due to embarrassment. "I'm okay-"
And just before she could reassure him she was perfectly fine, her body had decided it was a perfectly opportune time for her to disgrace herself.
Clasping a hand to her mouth, Kaede crouches down to the pavement, heaving the contents of her stomach into a nearby garbage dump.
When he exited the convenience store, Todoroki Shouto picked up the sounds of someone groaning in pain.
He halts in his steps, the plastic bag containing a bottle of oolong tea and two onigiris rustling with his movement. His gaze darts back to the store's premises, catching sight of Iida Tenya holding two packs of fruit tea, obviously stuck deciding whether he should get the mango or apple-flavoured one.
The groans continued, so with one last look at his classmate, Todoroki walks towards the source of sounds. His footsteps take him to the nearby alley next to the konibini, and while he got closer, the sounds suddenly stop, now shifting to a series of muffled mumbling.
His hero instincts kick in, senses heightened in case it was an injured person or a villain on the loose. Approaching the alley carefully, his guard drops at the sight of a lady.
Leaning against the wall was a dark-haired woman in a pencil skirt and a grey long-sleeved blouse. Her eyes were closed, brows furrowed in what Todoroki assumed was discomfort.
Without a second thought, he calls out to her.
"Are you alright?"
At the sound of his voice, he observes as the woman blinks her eyes open, brows furrowed as she tried to make sense of the person who called out to her. Her eyes met his and Todoroki blinked in confusion as she seemed to have blanked out at his appearance.
"Uhm, are you alright?" He repeats his question again, when she didn't answer him first time. "You seemed like you were in pain."
She made a face with what seemed like getting a realization before mumbling an apology. She seemed to reassure him that she was okay, but before the words came out of her mouth, she had sprinted to the nearby garbage dump and vomited.
Surprised at the sudden action, Todoroki only watches, clueless as to what he could do to help. As the girl continued to hurl the contents of her stomach, he hesitates before moving towards her and crouching to her level.
Reaching out, Todoroki places his hand to her back, moving in soothing circles as she continued to vomit. In events like these, he's reminded of his mother, of her warmth and her soft touch against his back while he suffered similar bouts of vomiting after the harsh training sessions he had endured with his father as a child.
The girl flinches slightly under his touch, and upon instinct, Todoroki withdraws.
"Ah, I'm sorry." He apologizes, scooching away from her as she tried to stand up.
"I-it's alright. You have nothing to apologize for." The girl murmurs, drawing out a handkerchief from her skirt's pockets to cover her mouth. "It's my fault for being too carried away at drinking earlier."
Her voice sounds muffled behind the piece of fabric covering her mouth, and her gaze was pinned at somewhere in the distance, purposely avoiding eye contact with him.
Ah, of course. She'd be embarrassed. Anybody would.
"Oh. I see." Todoroki mumbles instead. The woman merely shuffles in her steps, eyes darting all over her surroundings before refocusing on his gaze, as if she wants to say something.
"Erm, actually-" She starts, and Todoroki stands still, patiently waiting for her to finish what she was saying.
"TODOROKI! Where are you? We need to go!"
Iida Tenya's voice resounds throughout the area, and Todoroki glances behind him to see their bespectacled class rep running in place, carrying a plastic bag from the convenience store.
"We will be penalized if we go back to the dorms past curfew-"
"Ah, yep. I got it. I'll be right behind you."
"So you say, then!"
Todoroki watches as the other boy sprints towards the direction of the UA High Dorms before returning his attention to the lady in front of him.
"Would you be fine-"
"Yes, I will be! No worries!"
She interrupts him before he could offer to at least walk her to the nearest bus station. Todoroki blinks.
He wanted to ask if she'll be fine, but seeing the resolute face she was making, decided not to question her further.
"Vomiting helped me sober up a bit." She reassures, glancing past behind him and making a sweeping gesture with her arm. "You should probably go? Missing curfew is a bad thing."
That was true. Aizawa-sensei does not tolerate rule-breakers after all.
Todoroi nods at her, but before he could walk back into the streets, he pulls out the bottle of oolong tea from his plastic bag and extending it to the woman. She blinks in confusion at the offered drink.
"Ah, this could help with your hangover." He explains, straightening up to his full height. He exchanges glances with the woman once again enough to catch a ghost of a smile on her face.
"Thank you." She mutters, bowing slightly. "Then, in exchange for this bottle of tea, please take this."
She hands out a rectangular piece of card stock, and Todoroki accepts, bewilderment clouding his expression at the piece of paper she gave to him.
"My contact details are in there. Please contact me whenever." She remarks. "As thanks, for what you did today."
Todoroki merely nods at her suggestion, before bowing slightly and turning his back to her. He takes one last look at the woman in the alley, then turns to the peach-colored business card, before pocketing it in the back pocket of his jogging pants and heading back to the dorms.
As the boy left, Kaede heaved a deep sigh.
The bottled oolong tea was still cool to the touch, and carefully, she twists the bottle cap open before downing a huge amount in one gulp. The refreshing flavor of the tea down her throat sobers her up and she makes her way out into the streets and into the bus stops in time for the last trip of the evening.
As she leans against the windows, seated at the back seats of the vehicle, Kaede closes her eyes.
Soon her thoughts drift. She thinks of the kind boy with the mismatched hair and gentle hands, and wondered if by chance, she could see him again.