Chapter 1: Ophelia

"Order 17, the coffee with a side of coffee cake!"

I was rushing around my bakery, making sure things were in order for the morning rush of the day. Funny enough, today was a lot calmer than usual. As I studied all of the people seated in my shop, I was relieved to see only a few customers waiting for their orders. I cashed in my luck today, with only two employees showing up for their shift, I really didn't need a busy morning.

"Hey, boss!"

I look towards the shout, leaning away from the wall as Tiana waves me over. Walking towards her, I gaze at the customer standing behind the counter. He had long dark hair, black bruises under his eyes and a weird scarf around his neck. His eyes were barely held open as he stared back at me, the red in his eyes blinding compared to his all-black clothes. I turn my attention to Tiana when I reach the counter, still feeling the man's stare.

"What do you need?" With only two of my employees present today, I took to doing all of the baking and restocking, so I'm assuming that's what she wants. Though, even when we do have more hands-on-deck, I usually always help with the baking part as that's the whole reason I bought this bakery. Why bother to buy a building if I'm not going to put any work effort into it after I hire some people?

"Can you see if we have any more," Tiana paused for a moment, looking back at the man for him to fill in the blanks.

He was quiet for a moment before he said, "Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish." His voice was scratchy and tired, sounding dead as he spoke.

I furrowed my brow, thinking back on what I saw in the kitchen. "Unfortunately, I believe we ran out of those."

Tiana pursed her lips regretfully as she turned back to the man. "I'm sorry, is there anything else that would interest you?"

The man was silent, staring at the menu board before looking down at us. Seeing as he still wasn't answering, I finally decided to step in. "Or, if you're willing to wait, I can always whip up a new batch and you can have them fresh from the oven?" I suggested, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I'd like that," the man drawled, nodding his head.

I nodded back at him. "Alright, sounds like a plan Mr…."

"Aizawa," the man filled in.

I gave him a brief smile before moving towards the kitchen. I paused mid-step, turning to look at Tiana. "Have you seen Blake anywhere?"

"Well, I saw him disappear outback, why?"

Thinking over her answer, I heaved a sigh before I could answer Tiana. As much as I appreciated Blake's work at the bakery, we've been having some problems lately. Mostly dealing with him disappearing outback and then never showing up again. "Nothing, I'll start cooking those Danish's."

Before she could respond, I left for the kitchen and left her to work. I quickly got out all of the needed ingredients, expertly moving around the kitchen with ease. Within a few minutes, the batch is in the oven and I'm washing my hands. Once I'm done, I head towards the back door, pushing it open to see the dirty alleyway. No Blake in sight, that left one employee at work. Luckily, the morning rush is over and more workers should be showing up before the late day rush happens. Though it's not always a guarantee to happen, I'd rather be prepared for anything. I searched the alleyway once more before moving back inside. I check on the Danishes, half strawberry and the other half blueberries. They were only halfway done, so I left them to cook as I started cooking up some other food items that were running low.

By the time the Danishes were finished, there were already two racks of muffins and coffee cake cooking in the other ovens. I rushed over to the Danishes, checking them over before grabbing the oven mitts and taking them out. Turning off that stove until needed, I gathered the closest blueberry cream cheese danish, placed it on one of our many fancy plates, and walked out. Seeing Tiana busy with a few customers at the register, I took it upon myself to bring the dish to Mr. Aizawa. Searching the booths, I caught the man sitting in one of the booths furthest from the doors. Of course, he was staring out the large window that accompanied every booth. I walked towards him, dodging anyone that happens to be in my way before reaching his table. He looked up at me, his eyes lazy as I set the plate down in front of him.

"A freshly baked blueberry cream cheese danish," I announced, setting down a set of silverware beside him. "I trust that Tiana has the rest of your order?"

Mr. Aizawa nodded his head, dragging the plate closer to him. I nodded back, heading towards the kitchen once more. Right as I opened the counter, the tiny bell hung above the entrance sounded. I turned around, only to drop to the ground as a shot sounded within my small building. Looking up, I'm greeted with the shocking face of my trusty, missing colleague. My eyebrows glare as I watch his every move. There was something attached to his back, glowing through tubes that clung to Blake's arms. Someone read one too many comic books, Blake looked like a cheap version of Bane. By now, most of my customers were screaming as they ducked underneath the table booths. Scanning my surroundings, I noticed Mr. Aizawa standing by his booth and watching Blake.

"Don't worry, this'll be over quickly. I'm just here to pick up a friend," Blake yelled out, quieting everyone in the shop. His eyes searched my bakery, customers quivering away from his stare. However, Blake's eyes finally stopped when they reached the back of the shop. A sick grin grew on his lips as he started marching forward. I looked back, seeing Aizawa standing at the booth, legs part and ready to leap. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Of course, Blake is a villain and Aizawa happens to be a hero. He must be one of the underground heroes because only now had the idea even crossed my mind. As Blake neared closer to Aizawa, the hero's scarf suddenly burst to life as his hair flew up and surrounded him.

"Thought I would find you here, Eraserhead," Blake spoke, his usual loud voice echoing in the silence. A quiet, frustrated yell escaped my lips as I started army crawling towards the nearest people. Knowing heroes, these two are going to destroy my bakery and endanger the people. I don't need injuries or deaths surrounding my bakery's reputation.

Reaching the first people, I grab their hands and start pulling them towards the door. As soon as they were moving, I moved on to the next person. While a few people caught onto the movement, others were too busy recording the whole thing to understand the danger of staying. I ended up sliding quite a few phones across the floor and towards the door. Some people can be so irritating. With everyone out or moving, I quickly start crawling towards the counter. I'm not leaving this bakery in the hands of anyone that isn't me. I also needed to find Tiana. A sudden yell grabbed my attention, leading my eyes to Tiana dangling off the floor by about a foot by Bane 2.0. My fist punches the floor, moving faster towards the back. I didn't care if I was noticed, I'll kick Blake's ass if he hurts Tiana.

"Let the girl go," Aizawa's voice carries, loud and demanding.

"I think not. Your a hero, isn't it your job to swoop in and stop the villain? Or are you too chicken, just like you were two years ago?"

I shake my head, disappointed that this is all over a grudge from two years ago. Blake always did act like a child, it was just more playful before. There was silence in the room, Tiana's pleading whines growing more apparent as the time grew. I was so done with waiting for someone to make the first move, Tiana's gonna pass out by the time something's done. Grabbing the gun from underneath the counter, I quietly stand up and aim it at Blake. Firing a warning shot near his head, I watch as their attention whips towards me.

"Much as I want you guys to figure out all this bullshit alone, I'd like my college back." Silence followed, but I could see Aizawa sneaking closer to Blake. When Blake's eyes started to travel to that same movement, I decided to step in once more. "Both of my colleges, if at all possible."

Blake looked back to my stare, his eyes calculating as he watched my movements. His laugh filled the room, but not the joyful laugh that I had grown used to. It was hollow, bitter. Shivers ran up my spine, the gun visibly shaking as Blake finally dropped Tiana. She started coughing violently, her wheezes making me flinch as Blake grew closer. I didn't want to pull my attention away from Blake to check if Tiana was running out the door or not, so I decided to leave my trust in her and that hero while I'm occupied. My thoughts zeroed in on Blake as he reached right to the counter. His enlarged hand reached out and grabbed the barrel of my gun, holding it still before suddenly yanking it out of my grip. Weaponless, I went for the next best move.

"What happened to you?"

Blake temporarily froze as he stared at me. Silence surrounded us and I noticed the pitter-patter of Tiana's footsteps as the bell rang above the door. I forgot the bell was there, announcing every time one of the customers had fled out of the building. If Blake knew it was happening, why didn't he stop anyone from leaving? Did he honestly only have beef with Aizawa? But then, why would he grab Tiana?

Blake kissed his teeth, slowly nodding his head. "Well, you wouldn't know, would you?" His voice was menacing and I felt a confusion bubble from within me. "You never spent the time to get to know me, or anyone around you really. Is there a reason for that? A reason you never let anyone in long enough to become attached?" When I refused to answer, he laughed once more. "Don't ask questions with obvious answers."

I watched him turn away from me, deeming me unworthy as he marched towards Aizawa. As much as I don't want to get involved, this fight officially involves me, especially after that talk. As such, I leaped over the counter, following Blake.

"Obvious answers?" I yelled, losing my temper. Blake turned towards me, glaring. Aizawa was simply watching, waiting for someone to pose a threat. "You wanna hear what 'obvious answers' I've come up with? The reason you disappear outback every day is that you're off doing things that you don't want anyone else knowing about. You don't want to disappoint the people you care for, lose your job and your pay and yet you feel inclined to leave every day, at the exact time. Do you know how many times I could have fired you? How many times I could've docked your pay?"

Blake glared, turning his attention to me and me only. "You better shut up," Blake threatened, the tubes in his arms glowing as he clenched his hands.

"Oh, because you're going to use your stolen quirk to hit me? I've worked hard to help you, and whatever it is you are doing isn't going to change my mind. Why did you attack Tiana?" I paused, breathing heavily as Blake grew closer. I was beyond angry by now, clearly, it was a bad idea to skip out on taking my pills last night. "In this bakery, everyone is family. We help each other, that's what I've told you from the start. So what the hell was that?" I yelled, pointing out the door where Tiana had scampered out.

"Family? You think this shop will ever be my family? My family's gone and you won't replace them! If you cared about me so much then you would've tried to help me! Money doesn't solve everyone's problems! I needed a friend, all those times I was gone or missing and you never questioned me or went to check up on me! Don't claim to be my family when you were never with me when it counted."

I backed up, never losing eye contact with Blake. "Despite everything, those are some of the most obvious lies you've made."

I leaped sideways, grabbing one of my chairs as Blake went to grab me. I slammed the chair into his head, disorienting him and breaking my chair. I quickly spin out of his reach, going behind him and stabbing the broken chair leg into the tank on his back. The liquid started oozing out but Blake recovered fast enough to turn around before I could run. Right as I was about to regret everything, I felt a tight fabric grab my waist before I was pulled away from Blake. The material brought me right to Aizawa, who gently put me on the floor as he delivered the final blow to Blake's skull.

When all was said and done, I couldn't help the tears slowly pooling in my eyes. I controlled my stupid emotions, moving away from the door as Aizawa dragged him out and took him to the police, to be thrown in jail.

Weeks later, the bakery was back at work. I forced Tiana into vacation; her neck was still sore and the last thing she needed was work. Not to mention Tiana let it slip that if she talked too much at a time she could permanently lose her voice. Besides, she was barely loud enough to be heard in a silent room, much less a busy bakery. However, this also left only one person on the job - me.

No amount of 'For Hire' signs could interest the people, not to mention the number of customers had been dwindling since the fight. Apparently, someone had posted the whole thing on Facebook and labeled me as a nutter for saving their goddamn lives. Another groan escapes my lips, my head banging onto the counter. Thankfully, I moved into the backroom when only ten customers out of the usual thirty showed up.

Sadly, I had to go back to the main room when the familiar bell rang out.

With my head hanging low and my shoulders slouching, I walked to the register and waited for them to order something. I hadn't been able to sleep for days, and missing even one day makes me look like I had black eyes. It's been a while since I've had to use makeup, and I wasn't too sure I even put it on right.

"Ophelia?"

I lift my head, bored beyond my existence. However, my shoulders subconsciously straightened and my head was lifted as I met the eyes of a familiar stranger.

"Oh, hello Mrs. Mydoria."

My lips lifted in a strained smile as the woman laughed. Her grin was just as bright as usual, even though I know she's probably struggling through something. I heard her son learned he was quirkless a few days ago. I usually don't listen to gossip, but by the way Inko's shoulders were drooping, the amount of weight she was letting on, and how much sweets she buys I knew it was more than likely true.

"You and your american traditions, Ophelia-san," Inko laughed, her body shimmering with joy.

I've always been jealous of how easy she makes everything seem. She was raising a reckless boy by herself, handling all the bills, and she still manages to laugh. I mean, I can laugh, but I never know what I'm laughing for. Is it to fit in? To seem normal when people make a joke, or just to make people believe I'm ok? Doesn't matter, I suppose.

"The same as usual?"

Inko nodded with a cheery hum, moving away from the counter. Not that she was blocking the path, the cafe was basically dead. Moving into the back room, my shoulders sagged down again. I hung my head, hanging onto the counter for a minute. Two employees are gone, none coming in, business dead, next thing- I'm gonna go bankrupt. So much for knock-on-wood. I slammed my head on the counter before grabbing a dozen Dango; strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla evenly mixed. I always had one set aside on Sundays. Plastering a smile, I move out and deliver the sweets to Inko.

She thanked me with another grin, and I made sure to keep my smile in place. We talked for a bit, just about the usual stuff. She wanted to know how I was doing, and I would just keep the conversation up. By the time she left, my bakery was officially dead. The few customers had left without a word, and no more piled in. I sighed, slumping into the counter and placing my head in my hands.

Just peachy.