"...And I swear, that my tears are now a thing of the past. For your sake, I would gladly give you all I have..."
Bakugo stood waiting in between a men's fashion boutique and a hair salon, his back against the pale yellow wall of the shopping complex. As the newest overrated pop song blasted from the speakers overhead, he distracted himself with watching the noisy crowds flocking in and out of shops, stopping only to scowl at the occasional kid who liked to stare a bit too much, and to glance over at the front entrance of the mall every few minutes.
It wasn't long until he spotted the familiar mane of green hair entering through the glass doors. Shiozaki had deviated from her usual plain, unassuming look in favour of a cute blue dress over a zebra-striped shirt, and a bright red leaf-shaped hairpin which tucked her vines behind her right ear.
Bakugo found himself staring at her outfit for far longer than necessary. He quickly looked away and started watching a group of college students laughing together near the fountain.
Shiozaki stopped and looked around, and when she saw Bakugo her face lit up. She ran across the lobby to reach him, half-skipping across the brightly polished floor.
"Hi," she chirped. "I hope you didn't wait long?"
"Wasn't checking," Bakugo said, hoping his face wasn't visibly red. "Can we get going now?"
"Sure, lead the way."
Bakugo got up from the wall and turned left down the hallway. Shiozaki followed closely behind him, trying not to lose sight of him as they weaved through the dense crowd.
"Where are we headed?" she asked after a minute, noticing that Bakugo had been quite tight-lipped since they had started walking.
He shot her a glance over his shoulder. "Are you just going to follow me the whole day?"
"Probably."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm going to the sports store first, I need a new shirt. Then I'm getting one of those military water flasks and some other crap from the surplus store upstairs."
"Excellent, I need some new clothes too, specifically a good cap for the fifth day - and Kendo asked me to get her some equipment from the place upstairs too..."
"Speaking of clothes, why'd you come here all dolled up like that?" Bakugo asked, scanning her outfit up and down.
"Er...why, you don't like it?" Shiozaki asked, the smile falling from her face.
"I never said that."
"Oh, um..." Shiozaki found it hard to keep her eyes on him. "...I was in a good mood today?"
They reached the sportswear store at the end of the hallway, the synthetic scent of rubber and fabric strong in the air as they stepped inside. As they entered, Bakugo headed straight for the rack of running shirts, while Shiozaki went over to the other side of the shop to browse their collection of caps.
She spent a few minutes comparing designs until she had narrowed her choices down to two. One cap was plain white with a logo of a golden winged heart stitched above its brim. The other cap was sky blue with a chrome metal diamond attached to its side. They both looked pretty - she was hard-pressed to decide which one she liked better...
She grabbed both of them and went over to where Bakugo was standing. She tapped him on the shoulder, and when he turned around she lifted up the caps.
"Bakugo, which of these should I get?"
His eyes narrowed critically. "Why ask me? Buy whatever you want, I'm not here to police your fashion taste."
"I like them both, but I only want one, so I need your input."
Bakugo's mouth twitched. "You're asking the wrong guy. I know nothing about fashion."
"Doesn't matter," she said with a smile, though she frankly thought he had a point, since he was wearing his red grenade shirt at a rather high-end shopping mall. "I trust your taste."
Bakugo rolled his eyes. "Fine, give them here."
Shiozaki handed him the two caps. The second they reached Bakugo's hands, a frown passed over his face.
"The hell are these made of?" he asked, knocking the two caps together to produce a loud, dull thud. "They're hard as rocks."
"Reinforced fabric, specially made for people with mutations that affect the head area," she explained. "They have metal fibers woven inside to make them less susceptible to breakage, which can be removed to cut holes for things like horns."
"Don't these get uncomfortable?"
"Yes, and they're quite expensive," Shiozaki said cheerlessly. "But it's an inconvenience I have to live with."
Bakugo looked at the pair of caps for a moment.
"You know what? Don't bother with these," he said, swiftly tossing the caps over his shoulder into a basket labelled 'unwanted items'. "Since you'll be wearing the cap the whole day, you shouldn't get something uncomfortable."
"Oh, but the guide said-"
"The guide said we should have a cap for the fifth day because we'll be trekking somewhere sunny. If that's the issue, you can still wear shades. You got any at home?"
"No..."
"There's a truckload back here, come and take your pick."
Bakugo turned away, and Shiozaki followed him two aisles over to a shelf stocked full with uniquely designed sunglasses. A small mirror stood on one side of the shelf.
Bakugo gave the display a fleeting glance before grabbing a pair of pink sunglasses near the top and tossing them over to Shiozaki. Startled, she caught them a little clumsily in both hands.
"Here," he said. "You girls like this kind of look, right?"
Shiozaki turned the shades over in her hand, inspecting their shiny surface and curiously circular frame. She supposed the design was meant to look cute. If that was the case, it didn't really work for her. It looked more like something Setsuna Tokage would wear.
"Don't like it?" Bakugo said, seeing her indifferent reaction.
"No," she replied, walking over to replace the sunglasses on the shelf. "They're not really 'me'."
Bakugo snorted. "The hell does that mean? Either it looks good or it doesn't - whatever, what about this one? Looks pretty badass."
He grabbed another pair of sunglasses and passed them to her. She considered them closely. This pair was midnight black and more square than the other two. On each of its hinges was a large white spider with bony legs and a lightning bolt going down its back.
Shiozaki put on the shades and looked at the mirror. Her reflection gazed back at her with a strangely hostile aura. She couldn't help but let out a small laugh - the rough, rebellious look was absolutely the furthest thing from her usual style - but then again, she didn't seem to mind that look so much these days.
"Alright. I'll take these," she said as she took off the glasses. Eager to repay Bakugo for his assistance, she asked, "Need help finding a shirt?"
"I've already found one I like, I'm just going to check the size."
Shiozaki waited for Bakugo at a seat near the changing rooms, pointlessly texting Reiko Yanagi to kill the time. Just as she was about to check how long he had been gone, one of the changing room doors burst open loudly.
"Oi, Vines."
She looked up. Bakugo was standing next to her, wearing a dark maroon shirt with a logo of a dozen white bones arranged into the shape of a medal.
"Does this look a little tight to you?" he asked with a frown. "The size is definitely mine, but - why are you laughing?"
Shiozaki's gaze was flying up and down his figure, her entire body quaking with silent laughter and her hands clutched tightly over her mouth, failing to hide her massive grin.
"B-Bakugo..." she choked. "...are you...wearing a ladies' shirt?"
"Huh?"
Bakugo looked down, and with a jolt of dread, noticed the oddly low and narrow collar of his shirt. His face started to burn a brilliant red as Shiozaki's snickering grew louder.
"This...I...you...fuck!" he spluttered. Seizing his collar, he glared at Shiozaki and yelled, "Guys' shirts have v-necks too, you know!"
Shiozaki gasped through her laughter, "Wh-what's the brand...?!"
Bakugo roughly unfurled the tag near the bottom of the shirt.
"Gentle Athena," he read out loud. "God damn it."
"I'm...I'm sorry...for this..."
Shiozaki raised up her cell phone and pointed it at Bakugo. The snap of a shutter was heard.
"Oi!"
He instinctively gripped his fist and took a step forward, but he satisfied himself with glaring down at Shiozaki until he no longer felt like breaking her neck.
"Don't you fucking dare send that to anyone," he snapped, before turning tail and scuttling back into the changing room.
Bakugo didn't speak a word to Shiozaki after they left the store. Even when they had gotten the rest of their items from the surplus shop upstairs, he was still resolutely answering her with no more than one-word sentences.
"I think I've got everything. You?"
"Mm."
"We're not coming back here again, maybe you should check-"
"No."
He turned his irritated face out of her sight.
Shiozaki stared at him wordlessly for a moment. She then gave a resigned sigh, and hit him lightly on his shoulder with a vine.
"Alright, I'm sorry," she conceded. "Would you feel better if I bought you a drink? There's a cafe downstairs that's really popluar."
Bakugo immediately looked back at her with his full attention.
"You're serious?"
Shiozaki raised a hand solemnly. "I am willing to do whatever it takes to atone for my earlier sin."
"Good, because I've got a better idea," he said as he grinned evilly. He turned to face her and jabbed his pointer finger at her neck. "You're going to buy a drink of my choice, and you're going to drink it."
"Oh, is that all?" Shiozaki said with relief. "In that case, I accept - how bad can it be?"
Shiozaki sat waiting at a table in a corner of the cafe for a few minutes. Then, she saw Bakugo walking over with two drinks in his hand, wearing a sinister leer on his face.
He took his seat opposite Shiozaki, and slammed down one of the drinks in front of her. She peered down curiously at the contents of the glass. The liquid was reddish-purple, topped with ice cubes and a single slice of lemon.
"You know what this thing's named on the menu?" Bakugo said, as he leaned back and raised his cup of coffee to his lips delicately.
"Do tell."
"Devilsnake's Acid," he said, his grin widening. "Bottoms up."
Shiozaki suddenly felt nervous. That name was setting off all sorts of warning signals in her head - or was Bakugo just trying to mess with her...?
She reached out for the glass slowly, her fingers instinctively curling up as she got close.
Oh, better to get it over with.
She boldly grabbed the drink and took a massive gulp. At that moment, she saw Bakugo lean forth with an exhilarated smile on his face, and she immediately knew she had made a mistake.
Everything was burning - the roof of her mouth, her tongue, her throat...unable to speak for having that unholy concoction in her mouth, she let out a muffled "Mmmph!" and lurched forwards uncontrollably, slamming her arm onto the table to support herself.
Holding her breath, she forced herself to slowly gulp down the ridiculously sour drink. Once the last drop had been washed down, she sat upright and started gasping for breath. She looked across the table and saw Bakugo holding his coffee to his mouth and snickering like mad.
Well...she deserved this.
Pushing the drink away from her, she groaned, "Bakugo...what on earth...was that...?"
"Grapefruit, pineapple, lemon, and just a tiny-ass drop of kiwi," he said in a satisfied tone.
"You're evil."
"Be thankful I didn't get the Desert's Whisper. It's not sour but it's supposed to taste fucking rancid. That said, I wanted to get it, but it's an alcoholic drink and the guy at the counter asked me for ID so I scrammed."
Shiozaki shook her head. "I think I would rather have drank that. This purple stuff is a nightmare - not that I approve of underage drinking, but it'd be nowhere near as bad."
Bakugo raised an eyebrow as he sipped his coffee. "How would you know?"
Shiozaki nearly jumped up in her seat. "What? I - ahh..."
She stared around wildly as though looking for an escape route. With nowhere to go, she glanced back at Bakugo, and she resigned herself to her fate.
"I, er..."
Fixing her gaze on her drink, she started fidgeting with her straw.
"...I've drank alcohol before."
This time, it was Bakugo's turn to choke.
"Kaff - what? Kaff - gack - huh? Wait, are you fucking serious?"
"I - I was curious, okay?" Shiozaki groaned, pressing a hand to her very red face. "Sai was having a party with his university friends at our place, and I saw that they had some wine out in the living room..."
She visibly winced at the memory.
"...I suddenly wanted to try it, so I went into the kitchen and waited for them to go outside to clear the trash...then I ran out with a little plastic cup and poured myself some of it."
Bakugo slammed his fist down violently, doubled over in laughter.
"Gahahah - seriously?! I - hah - I mean...this shit really isn't funny, but you?! Gahaaah-"
She was hiding her face with both hands now. "I was in fourth grade, okay? I didn't know better."
"Fourth grade?!"
Bakugo continued to laugh until he started coughing. He hit his chest loudly and cleared his throat.
Looking up with a tear in his eye, he said, "Well? What's it like?"
"Excuse me?"
"Wine. Because unlike the little bandit I'm talking to right now, I haven't had anything with alcohol yet."
"Um...it was bitter? And warm?" Shiozaki said lamely.
Bakugo gave her a questioning look.
"Okay, look - trying to be sneaky about it really distracted me from enjoying the actual taste - which is why I kind of regret doing it now. They say your first taste is supposed to be magical, so perhaps I should have saved it till I was older..."
"Are we still talking about alcohol?"
"What?"
"Nothing. Got anything else you need to buy?"
"Nope."
"Good. Let's go," Bakugo said as he got up from his seat. "Just give me a moment - bathroom."
After Bakugo left the restrooms, he headed back to the main hallway where he had left Shiozaki with all of their shopping bags - but when he stepped into the corridor, he found that she had vanished without a trace.
Just as he was about to curse her for running off with all their items, she emerged from somewhere to the left of the hallway, bags in tow as she hurried over to him.
"Sorry, sorry!" she said breathlessly as she handed him his bags. "You were taking a really long time, so I went somewhere else..."
"There was a queue," he said as he reached for his bags. "Where the hell did you go?"
As he took the bags, he looked down and saw three small plushie keychains held in her fist which he had not seen on her person earlier that day. Each keychain was modelled after a different pro hero - Best Jeanist, Kamui Woods, and Hawks.
"Seriously? Where did you even get-?"
He answered his own question as he looked over at the area Shiozaki had run out from. The lights of a dozen claw machines were flashing in the distance.
"You know those things are rigged, right?"
She shrugged. "I guess I got lucky. Anyway, shall we get going?"
They left the mall and headed down to the train station. Under the orange glow of the sunset, the whole place felt remarkably warm and peaceful. Bakugo stood leaning against a pillar with his arms folded over his chest, staring out over the tracks, while Shiozaki rested on a bench next to him, looking down at her new keychains and absent-mindedly flicking their stubby little arms.
"Do you think it's going to be tough?" she asked.
Bakugo glanced at her. "Huh?"
"The training camp. I mean - I'm not expecting it to be a breeze, but we weren't even told what we signed up for - and one week is a pretty long time..."
"You can't seriously be having second thoughts now - whatever, it's nothing we can't handle, right?"
Shiozaki nodded. "I suppose so. And I guess it's necessary too - if we want to grow as heroes."
"Damn right." Bakugo went back to staring at the tracks and muttered, "I'm going to break all my records there and leave that nerd and Half-and-Half and in the dust...got to do that to reach the top..."
He seemed to be talking to himself more than anyone now. Shiozaki let out a slight laugh and went back to fiddling with her keychains. But her smile vanished as quickly as it had come - there was one aspect of Bakugo's words that cut open an old wound within her.
The reason she joined the hero course...when was the last time she spoke about it to anyone...?
The low rumbling of an approaching train pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw the train speeding into the station in a white blur before it came to a gradual stop. Bakugo picked up his bags from the floor beside him and started walking to the nearest door.
"Bye," he said curtly.
"Hey - wait."
Shiozaki suddenly stood up and ran over to him. Before he could say anything, she grabbed his hand and placed one of her keychains in his grasp.
Bakugo stared down at the tiny figure for a moment. Then, he glanced up and gave Shiozaki a critical look.
"What's this about?"
"You've done a lot for me over the past few months - I want to start paying you back. Even if it starts off as simple as this, I do intend to return all of my favours eventually."
Bakugo didn't say anything. He merely lowered his gaze to the keychain again with a slightly furrowed brow. Shiozaki stared at him puzzledly, unsure as to what thoughts or emotions his reaction was indicating.
Then, she felt a slight punch to the guy when she saw that she had given him the Best Jeanist keychain.
"O-oh, right - you don't like him..." she said abashedly. "I've got two more, so - which one do you pref-?"
"I'll take it."
Bakugo took the keychain and placed it carefully into one of his bags. Without another glance at Shiozaki, he turned away and started walking towards the train.
Behind him, a radiant smile formed on Shiozaki's lips.
"See you at the summer camp," she called out.
"Can't wait."
"What was that?"
"I said goodbye, damn it!"
I hope you enjoyed their little 'date', because I want to try my hand at some heavier stuff soon. Also, four more musical references in this chapter, I wonder if anyone spotted them. Hint: they're all in the clothing designs again.
Lastly, sorry for the long wait. I would've gotten this chapter out earlier, but I was busy with real life (yawn) for a long while, and even ignoring that I haven't been writing much, because Genshin Impact is too damn funnnnn! I love this accursed time-sink so much. Exploration and combat never gets boring and the characters are precious. Noelle, Fischl, Xiao and Qiqi are my favourites so far. Baizhu and Ganyu are close seconds. (Fifths?)
Anyway loves, thanks for reading and stay safe. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bludgeon some monsters with my adorable white-haired claymore maid.
Musical references:
Golden winged heart: Bon Jovi - Greatest Hits.
Metal diamond on a sky blue background: Set It Off - Duality.
Spider with a lightning bolt: My Chemical Romance - Danger Days.
Medal of bones: Twisted Sister.