NO idea what I'm doing. Just going with the flow ;)
ALSO - this is not a poly fic, just wanted to clarify!
I do not own BNHA.
TRIGGER WARNINGS: smoking, alcohol use.
Wind burned her cheeks as they rode through the winding freeway, six lanes of asphalt that pierced the heart of Kamino city. The street lights flashed across the motorcycle, white fluorescence snapping at black metal. It was a good thing she decided to wear her leather jacket today, since Kaito seemed particularly on edge. Whenever she tightened her grip around his waist, his grip on the throttles did likewise, engines revving hard and the sudden bursts of speed made her squeeze even harder, and the cycle continued.
She pressed the side of her face to the black denim of his back. They were on a bridge now, and the view of the ocean appeared in the offbeat of her blink. He was quiet when they were on the road. A mutual understanding of some sorts, though she'd been told that hardly anything could be considered mutual at all when it came to her. Moonlight sparkled along the water, shimmering and shivering in the waves.
"Where are we going this time?" she asked him after almost a whole half hour of silence.
"Somewhere dope," he yelled, as though he was hoping that the wind would sweep the words over his shoulders to her.
"It's always dope," she said.
"We're getting groceries." Meiko could hear his smirk. She chuckled, and the view of the ocean whipped behind the dark of trees and cityscape.
It was well past midnight when they arrived at the store. Save for a few other motorcycles and a jacked-up muscle car, the parking lot was barren. They came to a stop by the entrance, parking by a vivid red motorcycle that matched Kaito's model. Dismounting from the bike, Kaito offered her a hand, which she took with a smile before sliding off the seat. They walked up towards the sliding doors to the massive supermarket, which were locked tight for the night. Meiko watched as Kaito approached it, cool and suave as he'd always been, knocking on the door in the pattern they both knew best. The dark blue of his hair moved in and out of the moonlight, flashing like sapphires as he paced.
The doors opened after about a minute or so, revealing a grinning Ryosuke. Meiko eyed him from head to toe, cringing slightly at the semi-crushed can of Capporo in his hand. "It's about time, slow-pokes," he said as he sat on his hip. "Hey, Meiko. Been a while. I'll drink to that," he lifted his beer in a wobbly toast.
"Is Takeru here?" Kaito asked, peering around his friend and into the store. Meiko watched as Ryosuke fished for a pack of Eight Stars in his pocket.
"Nah," he said, shoving a cigarette between his lips, rummaging through his jacket and jean pockets for a lighter. "He met up with a friend, had a job, or something, and—damn it!" he said, realizing he'd pulled all of his pockets empty.
"Did you not invite him?" Meiko said as she sidled up to him, regarding the way his cigarette hung precariously from between his lips. She reached into her pocket to give him a light, his honeyed eyes meeting the dusty roses of her own.
He was transfixed for a moment, unaware of the burning tobacco in his mouth. "No, not really." She flashed him a smile. Holding Ryosuke's gaze, she slipped her fingers into his cigarette pack, stealing one for herself. Of course, you didn't, she thought before lighting her own cigarette with the glowing embers on his. Meiko ignored Kaito's heavy gaze on her back. Stepping away, she looked the boy up and down—though she was secretly only looking at his messy apricot hair and the Capporo—and slipped back to Kaito's side before lending him a puff.
"Can we come in, then?" Kaito asked through a tense jaw.
Ryosuke shook his head to break his trance. "Oh, right, yeah," he said, gesturing them through the doors. Meiko didn't miss the way he forced his eyes away from her own.
The grocery store was dead. Meiko had been here plenty of times, but seeing it completely devoid of shoppers, buzzing fluorescent lights, and rows and rows of produce was oddly unnerving. A few voices echoed and laughed at the back of the store, Meiko recognizing maybe a handful of them. They were clustered around a plethora of hard liquor bottles and tipped beer cans. One by one, they glanced up at her as she approached. A boy she didn't know glanced a moment too long. A single face in particular struck a sinking feeling of indignation in her stomach.
"Hey, 'Ko!" the face exclaimed. Meiko hated that nickname. "I love your outfit! The hoodie and skirt is sporty and cute and simple—oh my God, I love those platform sneakers—the perfect level of hot and—"
"Shut up, Ayaka," one of the boys remarked.
"It's been a while," said another girl. "Thought you ditched us for a hot second, there. What would we do without you?" Meiko regarded her quietly through the cigarette smoke. She exhaled, her head buzzing, and sat down beside her and against the cool glass of the frozen section. Braided, mossy hair. Black eyes. Rosy skin. Yuna. Ryosuke and Kaito stepped into the circle as well, laying out unopened bottles of shozu and a new six-pack of Asahi. Open season, Meiko thought. Alcohol was expensive, so maybe this should become a regular thing. "Kaito keeps bringing you back, huh?"
Meiko couldn't help but crack a smile at that. Absently, automatically, she reached for a half-empty umeshu bottle and pressed the mouth to her lips, the all-too-familiar tang of bittersweet plum and forgotten one night stands staining her tongue as she drank.
"Takeru couldn't make it," said a boy whose pale, ashen hair was flattened by a studded black beanie covered in pins and embroidered patches of snakes in halos. Haru. "He texted me last night, something about a League of Myths, that one videogame."
"League of Villains, dumbass," Yuna retorted.
"Whatever."
Meiko ashed her cigarette, grinding the stub into the tile floor.
"He's always getting into some shit," Ryosuke said as he knocked down another beer with practiced ease. "Just 'cause he's got some connections with yakuza, he thinks he's invincible."
"He kinda is," said Kaito from behind his phone, most likely swiping through his socials. The screen's soft glow brightened his eyes. They shifted over to Meiko every now and again.
"That's like, way cool, though," Ayaka cooed, taking a sip of the lemon sour she made with the ingredients in the aisles. Meiko didn't need to taste it to know it had way too much sugar. "If you think about it, y'know?"
A strange silence settled among them, and all Meiko could think about was how lame her night was becoming.
"I'm hungry," Yuna blurted out while standing up with an exasperated sigh. "I'm gonna grab snacks. Who wants what?" She whipped out her phone to take down a list.
"Cookies." Rando.
"Mochi." Ayaka.
"Spicy chips, please." Haru.
"Shrimp." What the fuck.
"Ki-Chews." Rando.
"Tonkotsu ramen with pork belly and scallions and—"
"Fuck off, Ryosuke."
Yuna had winked at her, which was their secret code for 'let's talk,' though Meiko couldn't really recall when it had even become a thing. Yuna once told her that she was a special friend because of that, though they'd only known each other a few months. They wandered through the aisles, Meiko searching for the most expensive packet of spicy chips she could find. It was free, after all.
"How've you been?" Yuna finally asked her. "Kaito says you've been wasting your nights away with even bigger losers than us."
Meiko's lips twitched, the closest thing to a frown she could manage. "So what?"
"So, what gives? You should be hanging with us, your friends," Yuna emphasized the last bit. The plastic packet of mochi crunched between her fingers. "What, not crazy enough for you?"
Rolling her eyes, Meiko grabbed two chip packets she couldn't decide between. "Come on, Yuna," she sighed, offering her a pleading glance. The truth was that they had plenty of crazy, more than enough to spare. After meeting at a club one night, partying till six in the morning only to crash at Haru's apartment the next day, the group had slowly muddled together. Meiko didn't believe in fancy words like fate. Instead, it was a swirly cocktail of coincidence and chemistry and luck that glued them to each other. Over the past few months, their lives revolved around what became constant clubbing, drinking, joyriding, and jumping roofs like the Heroes did.
Meiko stared at the chips in her hand. I'm so bored.
"You're one greedy bitch, you know that?" Yuna snickered.
"Oh, so you know me now?" Meiko teased.
"You tell me," she playfully jabbed her elbow in Meiko's side.
"Hey!" a loud, gruff voice boomed through the halls.
"Security!"
Meiko and Yuna exchanged a frantic look of panic, the nostalgic sting of adrenaline setting in; like fire on a fuse. Fear crept down Meiko's spine, and then, just like that—
"Oh, shit! Go, go, go!" the panic in Ryosuke's voice from the other side of the store made Meiko burst into a fit of giggles. Yuna, laughing too, grabbed her arm and the mochi, chips, and beer dropped to the white speckled tiles. Head buzzing, the alcohol suddenly kicking in, Meiko's vision blurred and warped, the aisle twisting and doubling as they ran as fast as their feet could move. Her ears were ringing, but she could hear Yuna yelling at her to keep up amidst the sound of her own laughter. Heart thrumming in her chest, Meiko's knees quivered beneath her, unable to contain the surge of pure survival instinct that made a crazed grin stretch across her face.
"Move!" Kaito cried as they ran towards the front door, the others hot on his heels. "We're going to mine!"
"God, but your place is so tiny—"
"Shut up, Ayaka!"
Ryosuke darted up towards the sliding doors, flipping a switch that locked them from the inside out. "We don't have all night, people!" he exclaimed, making big sweeping motions with his arms as they barrelled through the slow-opening doors, arms scraping along the metal frames. Bursting into the open night air, Meiko tumbled towards Kaito, who snatched her arm and led her to his motorcycle, stepping on each other's toes. Kaito grabbed her by the waist, lifting her up and onto the seat, and even then, Meiko had to focus—"Stop laughing, stupid!"—to slide her foot over.
"Hey!" another voice from down the street called out to them. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Bakugo, let it go, the cops are already on 'em," said another, earnest but softer.
"Get back here!" the security guards bellowed as they ran out of the doors, but by then, Kaito and the others were already revving their engines, and in seconds, Meiko saw the world zoom by as they sped out of the parking lot. For a moment, she caught a glimpse of three boys on the sidewalk, one of them donning a startlingly angry scowl, another confusion, and another awe. A fleeting thought of—what's your problem?—crossed her mind, but it disappeared as soon as it manifested, and she returned her focus to Kaito, who drifted them out of the parking lot and onto the street, tires screeching before the bike snarled into full throttle.
"Yeah, you better fuckin' run!" the voice cried from behind them, disappearing into the night as Kaito sped up.
Meiko smiled into Kaito's back as he leaned left and right to swerve around Ryosuke's and the other bikes, dizzying and dangerously deft, sending shivers down her back. Haru rolled down his window from their right, pop rap blasting through his speakers, pulsing through the air and into Meiko's chest. He let out a few whoops of victory, Ryosuke and the other boys echoing the cry. Turning to her left, Meiko watched as her stone-blue hair whipped out around her, flashing like lightning across her vision. The roar of straight pipes echoed in her ears as Yuna drove up beside them, a tense Ayaka holding onto her rider's waist for dear life. Her braids flickered under her helmet, and she flashed Meiko a 'rock-on' hand movement, which the latter cackled at before feigning a gagging motion with her fingers to her mouth.
"Is this what you wanted?" Kaito cried out, and she could hear his voice bouncing around in the barrel of his chest.
Meiko looked up, neck arching towards the clear night sky. Her teeth gritted against the wind as she smiled.
Yeah, yeah, I know—I like never finish my stories. BUT there is hope for this one. Why? Because BNHA is an ongoing series, so, technically, I have to keep going...
at least that's what I'm telling myself.
(I just really wanna see what happens if something came between Bakugo and Kirishima oop)
ANYWHO a quick introduction to Meiko and her crazy shit. Always wanted to write this kind of character (been listening to way too much Tove Lo and Sia, watching wayyyy to much Skins and Euphoria...), so we'll see how it goes. Also, I love Bakugo way too much, and Kirishima is a sweetheart, so I need to do SOMETHING DAMMIT. I will most likely end up writing a crap ton of one-shots for BNHA because I love these kids. Be on the watch for that (since I'll probably be much better at writing short blurbs of cute/angst stuff without wrecking my brain for plot/character development).
Good luck with school y'all, I know some of you have exams and some of you have just started, so sending all my good vibes over to you.
~AVA