Nejire frowned up at Ryukyu as she walked along the pathway. They had both just finished up their midday shift, Miruko and Deku coming in to take over for the next few hours and patrol the area, and so Nejire's boss, and friend, had decided that she wanted to take her for a walk. To where, Nejire had asked but had received no answer. Well, no, that's a lie. She'd received an answer just in the form of a smirk from Ryukyu and a finger to her lips.
"Come oooonnnn!" Nejire huffed petulantly. "The suspense isn't funny anymore! Is it a place with food? Is the food good? Will we be able to eat? Can I eat good food at this place?" Nejire fired off quickly. Her mood shifted from childish to curious in a second. Ryukyu sighed good naturedly before answering.
"Aren't those all the same question?" Nejire blushed at the realisation. "But yes," she perked up happier. "You can eat food there, and it is good food. Just not filling food." Ryukyu answered, and then left her hanging on the cliff again as Nejire was once more left to imagine their esteemed location.
"That's. Not. Fair! That doesn't answer my question."
Ryukyu chuckled but refrained from answering, which only served to agitate Nejire more. But, and in spite of what some of her friend's might say, she could be patient.
Sort of.
Seeing as Ryukyu was going to be a spoilsport, she opted for her preferred method of distracting herself.
People watching.
People fascinated Nejire. For how many people there were in the world, it never ceased to amaze just how different everyone could be, and she wasn't referring to physical characteristics either. A person could tell a lot about someone from the way they carried themselves. The way they walked, the way they stood, the way they dressed or talked or interacted with other people. It was all just so different, and so fascinating. Every person was the main character of their own little story, and if there was one thing Nejire loved, it was a good story.
What kind of stories would the people around her tell? Would they be happy? Sad? Tales of love and loss, of trials and tribulations, of overcoming tremendous obstacles?
So many stories, and so little time in which to hear them all.
Her eyes tracked along the street, and watched as a young couple, perhaps in their mid-twenties, happily making their way down the street. The pair of young men were happily guiding a young girl down the street, one of her hands in each of their own. They swung her high up into the air, the little girl squealing in delight before she came back down to the concrete.
Up then down. Up then down. The men were laughing happily, watching the girl, who Nejire assumed was their daughter, squeal and giggle happily. The men shared a look with one another, a look of joy and adoration.
Nejire felt her own heart constrict somewhat at the sight.
It wasn't that she was necessarily lonely, she was a people person and was almost always hanging around with someone. But she was starting to reach her mid-twenties, and while she didn't necessarily prescribe herself to some of society's more traditional social norms, she was beginning to feel as though she were beginning to fall behind.
Not in her hero career of course, she'd cracked into the top forty this last year, she was trending well on that front. But on a more social level. Many of her friends or comrades had begun moving onto the next stage of their life. Her friends and colleagues were getting hitched left and right! It was beginning to feel as though every day she was receiving a new invitation for one wedding after another, or someone was having a baby, or something!
She wasn't one to judge her own life by the merits or accomplishments of someone else, but it was beginning to drag on her a little. More and more frequently, she found herself wishing for the kind of companionship she was seeing in so many of her peers. She wanted the kind of companionship and relationship she'd seen in others. She wanted to come home after a long day and to find someone waiting for her, to have some life in her otherwise all too empty apartment. To have someone to wake up to every morning, and fall asleep next to at night.
"Here we are."
Ryukyu's voice startled Nejire out of her thoughts. Looking up, she saw that Ryukyu was standing happily in front of a small shop in the middle of the market district. It was an unassuming shop for the most part, and at a glance one might have mistaken it for part of the scenery entirely. There was nothing overtly noteworthy about the shop itself, aside from the fact that it appeared to be a confectionery of some kind, if the displays in the window were anything to go by.
"Sally's?" She said the name aloud, the English words feeling foreign on her lips. English had never been one of her strongest subjects in school.
"Best sweet shop in the entire city," Ryukyu said happily, an excited gleam in her eye. "Fat Gum turned me onto this place about a month ago, I guess it's been around for a couple of years but it's still a bit of a hidden gem." Ryukyu paused and thought for a second. "To the public anyway. Now c'mon!" She bustled into the shop, leaving Nejire in her wake. Nejire had never seen the woman so excited in the entire time that she'd known her, but then again maybe it was too surprising. Sweets and chocolate were one of the woman's few vices.
Not that Nejire was going to throw stones from her own glass house.
Following her mentor into the small shop, Nejire was immediately overwhelmed by an all-encompassing sense of home and belonging.
It was like stepping into someone's house. The shop was decorated in soft and warm colors, faint blue curtains decorating the windows and matching the paint on the walls. The inside of the shop was spacious, and full without feeling cramped. There were rows upon rows of different candies, sweets, pastries, and any sort of delicious delicacies that a person could dare dream to believe in. Along the wall on the far side of the room, Nejire could see what she recognized as an ice-cream stand.
But as calm and welcoming as the interior was, it was nothing when compared to the aroma that was blessing Nejire's olfactory senses.
It was decadence. Pure and simple decadence.
Nejire didn't know how or why she had never heard of this place before now, but she was going to hurt someone for not telling her about this small slice of heaven.
Oddly enough, the shop seemed completely empty. Something that Nejire was having a hard time comprehending. How was it that someplace that could create such a delightful and happy smell not be filled to the brim with hungry and happy customers?
As Nejire wandered around in a small daze, her stomach growling in desire, her mentor approached the counter.
"Percy!" Ryukyu called out, ringing the small bell on the countertop.
Intrigued, Nejire wandered over to her mentor,
"You must come here often to be on such casual terms with the owner." She observed casually, unable to help herself from teasing the woman a little.
"He's American," Ryukyu waved her teasing aside, "He's not all that comfortable with using surnames."
Well, that certainly explained the name of the store, Nejire mused.
"Percy! Hey, Percy! You back there?" Ryukyu called out again,
"That you, Ryukyu?" A voice called back, it was decidedly male and rumbled out in a deep baritone.
"Yeah," Ryukyu called back, "Brought my sidekick in too."
"All right," The voice laughed, sending a tingle of something unidentifiable up Nejire's spine. "I'm coming, I'm coming, hold onto your horde already." For an American, his Japanese was surprisingly flawless.
Ryukyu smirked over at Nejire, and gave her a subtle wink, but before Nejire could respond, a form materialized on the other side of a pair of navy curtains behind the counter.
Percy was big. That was the first thing she noticed. Not like Endeavor or All Might big, but he was easily one of the tallest men that she'd ever met, likely over six feet if she was right. Even if Ryukyu hadn't told her that he was American, she would have been able to figure that much out for herself. He had distinctly fine anglican features. High cheek-bones, a chiseled jaw that was covered in a small smattering of stubble, and messy unkempt black hair that seemed to suit him perfectly. He was dressed in a simple t-shirt and blue jeans, and was wearing a simple navy apron that was smattered with white flour and flecks of dough, which covered a large and powerful looking frame. The middle of the apron was emblazoned by an insignia of a large, silver trident.
But it was his eyes that were the most promising feature of all. They were the deepest, and most vibrant shade of green that she'd ever seen in her entire life. They sparkled with a sense of life that just didn't seem to exist in others.
He smiled and Nejire felt her heart skip a little.
"Hey there Ryukyu," He greeted, smiling broadly at the pro before turning those vibrant eyes on her.
"And you must be Nejire-Chan," He reached out a large hand, and grasped her considerably small palm in his own. His rough and calloused fingers told a story of hard work and harder labor.
"It's a pleasure, Ryukyu has told me a lot about you." His smile broadened, and she was certain that her heart was going to stop.
"You're really big!" She blurted out suddenly.
Ryukyu groaned, and covered her face with her hands.
To his credit, Percy didn't seem fazed in the least as he retracted his hand from her own.
"Not the strangest way I've been greeted before," He observed, a casual and teasing smile on his face.
That opened the floodgates.
"Ryukyu says you're American, what're you doing in Japan? How can you speak Japanese so well? Why is this place called Sally's? Why does it smell so good here? Everything is so blue, is blue your favorite color? What's your favorite sweet? Why'd you open a sweet shop? Is that ice cream? What kind of ice cream do you have? Do you-"
"Nejire." Ryukyu groaned, and slapped a hand over her mouth. A usual occurrence with the pair of them.
"I'm sorry about her," She said to Percy, but he just laughed and waved aside the apology.
"It's fine." He chuckled, and looked back at her, "You're a little pixie, aren't ya?"
Nejire blushed a slight at the comment, nodding her head before taking another glance around the shop.
"In order I guess," He laughed, scratching at a point behind his ear, "I am American, was just kind of travelling around when I found myself here and more or less just fell in love with the country, I can't actually, but I do have this." He pointed to a small device behind his ears, that Nejire only just noticed. It was a thin piece of metal that looked similar to a hearing aid,
"And this guy," He lowered the collar of his shirt to reveal a small piece of technology wrapped around his neck, "Custom made, it translates pretty well."
He chuckled, again, and Nejire found that she rather enjoyed the sound.
"I call this place Sally's because it was my mom's name and she used to work at a sweet shop, used to bring home candy all the time when I was a kid." He sighed in nostalgic delight as he seemed momentarily lost in memory.
"That's so sweet," Nejire crooned. She meant it too, it was incredibly endearing that he would try and honor his mother like that, though it did raise some more questions, but she refrained from asking them since he was doing such a good job at answering her earlier questions.
"It smells so good because everything we sell here I make in-house," He gestured around at the litany of large tables and shelves that were positively crammed with assorted sweets and candies.
"Blue actually is my favorite color, and because who doesn't love candy?" He scratched absently at the back of his ear again,
"And I suppose that brings me to my regular spiel." Percy smiled brightly, a smile that was honest and sincere, unlike other shop attendees she'd met.
"Welcome to my sweet little shop," he winked at her. She snickered lightly. "We have delicate, delectable delights… and some ice cream. You can pick any one thing, and try it for free. Choose wisely, have fun!"
Nejire clapped jokingly after Percy finished, his face beaming with joy. Ryukyu watched the pair quietly off to the side.
"Oh, but you have to pay Ryukyu." Nejire choked out a laugh before covering her mouth.
"Gah! Damn it!"
Giggling, Nejire bounded around the store, an excited sense of glee surging through her. It all just looked so good! She didn't know what she wanted to try more! There were decadent fudges and macaroons, handmade chocolates that came in a variety of flavors and combinations that had her stomach growling. Even the generic candy was threateningly enticing!
But she knew what she really wanted to sample.
Darting over to the glass display of the ice cream stall, she pressed her face against the glass as she scanned over its contents. It was a hot summer, one of the hottest in decades, and the idea of homemade ice-cream was entirely too tempting an offer to pass up.
There were plenty of the old standbys; chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, neapolitan, but it was all of the strange combinations that she'd never seen before that really drew her in.
Colors she'd never seen associated with ice cream before were both alluring and intriguing. Green, purple, orange, violet. Every color of the rainbow and so much more.
Scooting along the glass, she finally came across what she decided she wanted to try.
"That one please!" She said excitedly, drawing Percy away from his conversation with Ryukyu, who had the largest candied apple Nejire had ever seen in her hand.
He walked over and examined what she was pointing at, before chuckling and nodding his head.
"Good choice." He said as he hopped over the glass smoothly, and drew on a pair of gloves. She watched in excitement as he grabbed a small cup from under the counter and scooped a very healthy serving. He handed over the ice cream, and Nejire's entire body felt like she was vibrating. She picked up the small serving spoon, and greedily dug into the frozen delicacy.
It was a veritable explosion of flavor. There was so much happening that she didn't even know exactly how to describe what it was she was tasting. She thought she could taste black cherry, and lemon, and hints of vanilla, but there was even a strange bubblegum kind of flavor that she couldn't place.
It was exquisite.
She couldn't contain the small squeal of delight that escaped as she shoved another mouthful of the delicious concoction as Percy just watched, mounting amusement evident in his expression.
"I'm going to assume that you like it then." He laughed happily,
"It's so good!" She squealed around a mouthful of the treat. "What even is this? I've never had anything like this before! It looks kind of like All Might, is it All Might ice cream?"
"Nope, it's something from back home. It's called Superman Ice Cream. I had it for the first time in Detroit, guess it was invented there or something." He shrugged noncommittally, "All I know is that it's good, and people like it." He shuffled around some more behind the counter, but Nejire wasn't paying much attention to it, enraptured as she was.
Entirely too soon though, she was shoving the last of her treat into her mouth, and she was left with the strangest feeling of loss.
Right up until she heard Percy chuckle behind the counter, and she saw something get shoved under nose.
"Wha-" She spluttered,
"I was lying earlier," He smiled at her, a charming and disarming expression that seemed natural on his handsome features, "You don't just get to try it, but you get a free sample. On the house."
Nejire looked between Percy, and the large container of ice cream, and then over to Ryukyu, who was smiling encouragingly at her.
Well if Ryukyu was for it, then who was Nejire to refuse more the decadent treat she'd very quickly fallen in love with.
"Thank you!" She squealed excitedly, snagging the carton out of Percy's hand excitedly, and clutching the container tight to her chest. Percy chuckled again, a deep and masculine sound, and Nejire shivered.
She blamed it on the ice cream.
"All right Nejire-Chan." Ryukyu said, "I think we've bothered Percy here long enough. And we have paperwork that needs to get done."
Nejire groaned petulantly, but nodded all the same. Honestly, U.A. hadn't been honest about how monotonous being a pro could be. Writing up witness statements for police and evidence records was annoying.
"All right," She sighed, before smiling brightly at Percy, "Thank you very much for the ice cream, it was so, so, so nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," He smiled at her, "Feel free to stop by anytime. Oh, and Ryukyu," He reached under the desk and tossed a small bag at the woman, she caught it deftly and looked inside. A broad grin stretched across her face, before she laughed.
"Thank you Percy,"
He just winked at her, before giving the pair a small wave as they exited the building.
"What did he give you?" Nejire asked curiously as they made their way down the street.
In response, Ryukyu just reached into the bag Percy had tossed her, and pulled out a gold-coin.
"Chocolate coins." The smile on her face threatened to split her face, "They're my favorite. He's rather thoughtful like that."
"Yeah…" Nejire smiled, "I think he is."
AN: So….here we go, this kind of just…happened. It had been an idea that was floating around in my head for a while, and then I decided to write it as a thank you for my beta Double, for all the hard work he puts in for me and for dealing with me being a spastic shit-head. So Double, thank you buddy! Now what's even more fun, is that Double actually helped me write this one, and we got so excited with it that we actually finished it. So for the next like two months, you get to enjoy this fun little wholesome jaunt! There's no real plot, and it's mostly fluffy drabbles that are loosely connected with one another, but it's fun and its cute and I think ya'll are gonna love it. As always shoutout to Double0Sxvxn for being an awesome Beta and dealing with my bullshit and as always if you enjoyed this but haven't checked out my other work, give them a try you never know you might find something else you like. I'm also on discord now, where I and a bunch of other writers hang out, chat and brainstorm ideas, you just have to copy the link that's in my profile bio if you want to come and hang out with us. Stay safe, stay healthy and have an awesome week.
All My Love and see you next week,
LilDB