ayyyyy 4/20 blaze it
But seriously, welcome back, and I hope you are all staying safe. This chapter was shamelessly written because I wanted to publish on 4/20 to make a good ol' weed joke in my Author's Note. A very kind thank you as always to M for their feedback and support!
Chapter Ten: Koharu's Big Morning
"Mi piace, è beeEEE—-ello, beeello~!"
The dulcet tones of Hizashi's very best attempt at opera, recorded at Koharu's thirteenth birthday party and cherished since, was silenced by a particularly grumpy Aizawa. "I'm up," she grumbled to the ringing silence of her room.
With the sun already peeking through her blinds, Koharu left the lights off as she stumbled about getting ready. She would go for a jog around the neighbourhood, as she always did, and then make it home for a quick shower and breakfast-prep before she had to leave to meet Midoriya. She stifled a yawn just thinking about it— why had she offered to meet Midoriya early again?
Koharu passed a mirror, and did a double-take at the state of her eyes. Right, she thought as she brushed her messy hair from her face to peer at the red veins polluting white. She pulled down her lower eye-lid and made a face to her reflection. Because I'm a big ol' idiot who forgot how tiresome her dumb Quirk is. She heaved a sigh as she began to tie her hair up into a bun— it was messy, as her hair always was, but at least it would keep her thick hair out of her face while running. Her eye-drops were on her nightstand, left out after her repetitive use the night before, which she was swift to grab and reapply.
After blinking away the excess moisture and scrubbing at her face with her sleeves to dry her damp lashes, Koharu swept up her athletic gear to change into. Her sneakers, an abused shade of pink and sporting enough scuff marks to beg a cleaning, were shoved onto her feet with little care before she raced out the door.
When she had first started training, Hizashi had been eager to fill her phone with what he referred to as "Soul-Electrifying, Pumped-Up Hits" for her to run to, but Koharu had never listened to more than two songs. Her training had started with Shouta, and Shouta never wore earphones. It was all a part of hero-work, he said, and so Koharu would listen to the world around her: the cars on the street, her feet on the pavement, and the birds welcoming the day with her. The people she would meet on the street were few and far between, heading to work or trudging their feet as they were walked by their dogs.
Disaster isn't planned. Heroes are always vigilant. Your hearing ability is the difference between life, and being crushed to death by a falling building. Always be ready.
Koharu's feet hit the sidewalk rhymically. One, two. One, two. Tap, tap. Tap, tap. A bird chirped in the tree as she ran past it, chirping louder and then softer as she paced by. Chirp, tap, tap.
Down the street, a dog barked every few seconds, excited anew by a fresh scent. A single car sped down the road.
Tap, tap. Bark. One, two. One, two. Chirp, tap, tap. Bark. Someone shouting. A howl.
Someone shouting?
Koharu looked up as the new sound registered. Across the road, a young beagle ran after a squirrel at full speed, baying loudly. In hot pursuit was a silver-haired girl in flip-flops, her arms waving over her head as she shouted after either the dog or squirrel, a frayed leash in her grip.
"Pesu!" The girl was shouting, her voice loud and panicked. The dog only seemed to run faster at the sound of her voice, propelled forward at a speed flip-flops could never accomplish. "Pesu, come back!"
Was this what Shouta meant? Koharu's heart, already pounding from exertion, began pumping with adrenaline. She looked both ways before darting across the road to the side of action. Probably not. But Pesu still needs a hero!
And like a true hero would, Koharu came onto the scene with a shout of, "Hey, fucker! Get back here!"
The girl was still yelling behind her as Koharu took chase after the small animal. "Pesu! Come! Come here! Pesu please!"
The dog veered sharply between two buildings, Koharu skidding behind it. "Pesu!" She called as he led her down the alley, turning right onto another sidewalk. Koharu huffed and pushed herself to go faster— was the dog headed towards the busier streets on purpose? "Shit!"
Breaking onto the sidewalk, Koharu saw another jogger staring at the running Pesu in bewilderment. Incredulous, Koharu shouted, "Grab the dog!" Receiving only a dumb stare in return, Koharu let out a loud groan and rushed past the useless civilian. She heard Pesu's owner flip-flop out of the alleyway, still breathlessly hollering after them.
Still, Pesu ran. Koharu chased him for blocks, breathing evenly as her feet hit the pavement of the road. It was simply more training than she had planned, aimless in direction but purposeful in stride. They lost the owner quickly as they weaved closer in the direction of Koharu's school.
Pesu turned sharply again, and Koharu nearly tripped in her haste to course-correct. However, Pesu had finally stopped, having found a particularly interesting garbage can that had spilled over in the night. Koharu was quick to pounce, and grabbed Pesu by his bright red collar.
"Haha!" She cheered, momentarily forgetting to pull the household pet from the literal garbage in her joy of capture. He chewed happily on a used napkin. "Oh! Stop eating that, puppy!"
Beagles, as it turned out, were goddamn crazy. Pesu was eager to get back to his run, and had no interest in listening to Koharu. It took picking up the small dog and cradling him in her arms for Pesu to finally stop his escape attempts, and her ears would never recover from the sound of his whining.
Koharu let out a small sigh as she began to retrace her steps back to where she had last seen Pesu's owner, the dog relaxed in her arms with his head lolling. He yawned cutely. "Oh, stop that," Koharu scolded the sleepy dog. "I know you're a monster. You can't fool me."
Pesu's owner spotted them first, and smacked her way over with tears glistening on her cheeks. She took Pesu from Koharu's arms quickly and held him closely to her own chest. The girl was nearly wailing as she stuttered out her appreciation for Koharu's efforts. "We— we only got him a few months ago, and he never listens to me… this is the third time he's escaped!"
"If I could make a recommendation," Koharu trailed off as her gaze floated pointedly down to the girl's footwear. Her eyebrow was raised as they met eyes again, and the girl's face flushed with embarrassment. Koharu smiled. "You might need a stronger leash. Pesu's a toughie— small but mighty. That's totally my style."
Koharu hadn't noticed what a peculiarly bright blue her eyes were until the girl's tears began to clear. She had a funny look on her face, Koharu thought, and her stomach dropped as she recognized it. She hadn't seen that look aimed at herself before, but she knew it well enough. All she had done was save a dumb dog, but this girl was looking at Koharu like she was a hero.
Koharu felt distinctly uncomfortable.
The girl lowered in an awkward bow as Pesu wriggled in her arms. "My name's Aoi Nakanishi! Please let me repay you for saving Pesu!"
"That's really not necessary!" Koharu responded, her head shaking wildly. The bits of hair that came loose from her bun stuck grossly to her glistening forehead. "Anyone else would have helped in this situation!"
Aoi straightened her back and tried to meet Koharu's eyes again. "That's not true! You saw how many people we passed, and no one else tried to help."
"Well, I guess that's true…" Koharu reluctantly assented as she remembered the dumbstruck looks on people's faces when she had shouted for them to grab Pesu. "Still, I don't need a reward or anything."
"My family owns a cafe," Aoi quickly replied. Using the arm tucked under Pesu's belly, she pointed a finger down the road. "Do you like sweets? I can give you anything you want!" Her lips began to pull into a smile, the first that Koharu had seen. She had dimples, to Koharu's jealousy and delight. "I work there every day! You should come after school!"
Koharu chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip. She wasn't sure how Shouta would feel about the whole thing. That said— "I do like sweets…"
Aoi's eyes closed with the force of her smile. "Then you have to come! We're called Amanogawa!" When her eyes opened again, Aoi leaned closer to Koharu. Her eyes were more imploring than Koharu had realized. "I'll see you there, right?"
Could she really say no?
Koharu sighed as she relented. "I would love to visit your cafe, Nakanishi."
Squealing in delight, Aoi held Pesu closer to her chest and smiled brightly at Koharu. "Yes! You won't regret it," she vowed. Aoi trotted in place, too excited to be contained. "Of course, you don't have to come today, but you'll come soon, won't you?"
"Of course."
"Wonderful!" Aoi beamed, and bowed to Koharu once more. Koharu awkwardly returned the gesture, the movement jerky and half-aborted. "I hope to see you soon— " she snapped up, her face flushing again. "I didn't ask your name! I'm so sorry!"
"Don't worry about it," Koharu mumbled, waving the apology away. "It's Koharu Aizawa."
"Koharu Aizawa," she repeated. Koharu stubbornly rejected the reverence in her voice. "I'll be looking forward to seeing you again, Aizawa."
"Yeah," Koharu replied with a small, awkward cough to clear her throat. "You too, Nakanishi…" Koharu's attention dropped down, and she reached out to pat Pesu on the head. "And you too, Pesu." Aoi's answering laugh was delighted, and she shook Pesu in her arms to make his little arms flop in a wave.
The girls left in opposite directions, Aoi slap-slap-slapping away as Koharu took off running to find her way home. She spared a glance down to the fitness band around her wrist, and swore when she realized just how much time she had lost chasing after that devious dog. There would hardly be enough time for a shower, let alone time for breakfast.
Sorry, Midoriya, she thought as she hurried down the sidewalk. She was forced to jog in place at a stop-walk. I hope you like yogurt tubes, 'cause that's all I've got. She would still make it if she rushed, but the longer the light went on, the more Koharu's heart raced...
Bark, bark!
Down the road, Koharu watched an Akita bound over a fence, a leash flung loosely in their wake and chased shortly by a sleepy-eyed man. "Come back, Chiyo! Chiyo!"
After glancing once more at the time, Koharu sighed. Her feet still tapped listlessly under her. The crosswalk changed to green.
"Chiyo! Come!"
"This is why I prefer cats," Koharu grumbled. She heaved another sigh and covered the time on her wrist. "Sorry, Midoriya…" She turned on her heel.
"Hey, fucker!"