"Esperanza?"
Classes were over and Leizcio was laying his head on the desk dozing off and didn't hear the bell. Sero was standing next to his desk as he was about to leave but noticed the speedster unmoved. Taking a bit of tape out of his elbow, he rips it into two small strips, taping Leizcio's eyelids up so his eyes are opened.
Leizcio suddenly sees a bunch of light, adjusting to it, he tries to blink but to no avail. Sero holds in his laughter as Leizcio begins to take off the tape on his eyelids. Finally getting them off, Leizcio looks around him and sees practically everyone has left class except for one certain tape dispenser.
"Sero why?" Leizcio groaned as he gets up and puts on his backpack.
"You've been sleeping since class was dismissed and I came back because I forgot my pencil bag and you were still here!" Sero explained as he put his pencil bag into his backpack.
"Right, thanks for waking me then." Leizcio yawned as he walked along with Sero out of the class.
"Hey Esperanza, can I ask you something?"
"Sure Sero, what's your question?"
"You okay man? You know you're starting to get eye bags right? You're going to have them deep like soon!" Sero points out noticing that Leizcio has indeed been developing them. Leizcio quickly takes his phone and looks at himself, noticing that they seem to be bagging. He just sighs and puts his phone away.
"Yeah, just haven't been getting as much sleep as I'd like. But I'll be fine, probably just need to fix my sleep schedule." Leizcio lies, hiding the truth that he doesn't let himself sleep as much as the late-night patrols have been the only thing to help him 'destress'.
"Oh I see! Yeah, staying up late really messes up your schedule huh?" Sero says as he falls for the lie as Leizcio nods in response.
"Really does, well, just a few more days and we got internships." Leizcio brings up as they approach the gates of UA.
"Oh yeah! Man, I can't wait for that! I- oh crap the train! I gotta go Esperanza! See you tomorrow!" Sero says as he waves off to Leizcio hoping to get to his train in time. Leizcio waves back as he sees Sero barely make it in time.
'Great, I might need to get some makeup to cover up these eyebags' Leizcio thinks to himself as he walks over to the alley he tends to change into his vigilante outfit. But he figured that he might need a small break to eat something. He quickly bolts off into the city, stopping in a random alleyway to prevent any detection. Well, that at least that's what he thought.
"Hey! Hey Blur! Over here!" A voice whispers out, causing Leizcio to instantly raise his guard upon hearing it. He looks around and notices what seems to be a street vendor calling to him, but there was something a bit familiar about him.
"How do you know I'm Blur?" Leizcio whispers as he approaches the man cautiously.
"Kid I was there when you went against those three thieves! I was going shopping that night!" The vendor brings up recalling Leizcio's first act of vigilantism. Leizcio suddenly started to see the similarities, a tall man with spiky silver hair and a goatee to match.
"Oh yeah, I remember you now!"
"Hah! Glad you remember kid! Now come here, foods on the house here!" The man said inviting him over to his shop.
Leizcio follows and enters the shop. It was warm and the aroma of broths cooking filled the place as there were a few people enjoying large bowls of steaming ramen. Leizcio was starting to get hungry, he hasn't been eating much since leaving home, his bars mostly used up except a few, and the food at school was barely enough to fill him. He could feel his mouth begin to water just from the thought of a warm bowl of ramen.
"Here kid, sit down here, I'll go cook you up some ramen!" The man said as he left into the kitchen leaving Leizcio to sit down and put his backpack down next to him. As he waits, Leizcio gets bored and takes out his phone to look at some of the old photos he took back during in the earlier part of being a vigilante. Most of them seemed to be just him on top of buildings that he ran up. But there was also the occasional random photo, some with pech being the cat he is, and even stumbled upon a selfie that him and Ochaco took on their first day at UA. It brings him a small smile seeing them achieving their dreams now. As he's about to look through more, the man has come back with multiple bowls of ramen and quickly set them down on the table.
"Here we go! Five bowls for you!" The man says admiring the ramen he made. Leizcio looks in awe beginning to drool a small bit at the food before him.
"Sir, are you sure this is okay sir? This is quite a lot." Leizcio questions, while grateful for the food, it must not be cheap.
"Course kid! I owe you for getting rid of those thieves, plus, you gotta eat a lot with all that running!" The man boasts, thankful for Leizcio's service as a vigilante.
"Wait, what is your name sir?"
"I'm Atsushi Kitokito, nice to meet you Bl- I mean Esperanza!" Kitokito stuttered as he extends his hand towards Leizcio for a handshake. Leizcio accepts and is taken aback by the strength of Kitokito's handshake.
"Now eat up kid! I've gotta go and serve my other customers!" Kitokito says as he leaves Leizcio to eat by his own. Leizcio clasps his hands together, thankful for the meal. He first grabs his spoon, letting a small bit of the broth fall into it so he can get a taste. With one sip, he was hooked onto the broth. It was rich in its pork flavor but suddenly hits with spice hot enough to make Leizcio sweat. He quickly take some noodles and he began to chew. He could feel how soft and savory they were as if they were sponges absorbing the broth. Barely able to handle himself, he quickly grabs a piece of the pork and puts it in his mouth. it was so tender that it melted like butter and its already fatty flavor was enhanced by the spicy and rich broth. He mixed some of the noodles and pork and ate them together. He feels a warmness envelop him and felt light. He had to hold himself from finishing all the ramen in seconds he had as he wanted to savor each second of flavor exploding in his mouth. Even if it was spicy enough to rival the heat of Todoroki's fire, Leizcio couldn't help but go back for more, loving every second of the heat. He downs the last bowl full of broth, taking a sigh, A bit sad that he finished his meal, but grateful for experiencing wonderful ramen like this. Not even Lunch Rush could hope to make something as delicious as the miracle Kitokito has created.
"I think I just had an epiphany." Leizcio muttered to himself. Seeing as he finished, he cleans up the table he was at and waved bye to Kitokito as he leaves the shop. Since he left home, Leizcio hasn't been able to eat the special bars for his quirk. But the ramen he ate left him full and energized. As he slowly starts to walk around finding a spot to change into his vigilante suit, he felt a presence stalking him.
He has a feeling who it is but he continues to walk. He knew that small amount of good wasn't going to last that long. He does his best to not look behind him as he acts like he doesn't know what's happening.
Leizcio quickly looks at a random shop and notices the silhouette behind him, and sees that it's about to shoot something. His perception quickly accelerates and allowed him to see the world around him slow down. As he turns to look, it was Tamashi attempting to shoot a dart at him. He walks over to it, observing what was supposed to be the thing that would tranquilize him. He's not sure how she managed to find him, but he was already starting to feel his residual anger beginning to rise back up. He simply grabs the dart from the air and smashes it with his foot, looking down at it with disgust. Things quickly go back to normal speed and Leizcio stands there angered and disappointed.
"Really Tamashi? That's how low you're going to stoop? Wasn't making me slower not enough for you?" Leizcio says as he glares her down.
"Look Leizcio, me and Lavania made some mistakes, and I know you're not going to forgive us easily. But look at yourself, you're running from place to place and with no home. Other than school, that place was the only real food you've eaten in days. You don't see it but you're hurting yourself." Tamashi pleads, trying to get some sense into Leizcio.
"At least I feel safe though." Leizcio said with his anger beginning to build up. Before long, he decides to run off, leaving Tamashi behind and himself to his worries.
Leizcio finally returns back to his warehouse and its cold breeze welcomes him to his safe spot. He throws down his backpack in a small fit and decides to sit down on one of the crates. He could feel that rage starting to brew and Leizcio just puts his hands on his forehead, trying to calm down.
'You know that they're trying to help you right?' Leizcio's consciousness begins to try and speak against his actions.
'Yes but I have every right to be mad don't I?'
'But going so far as to run away? Tamashi was right, your only actual meal to fill you up today was from Kitokito. Where would you have been if we didn't see him? Probably not eating anything like the past nights!'
'But at least I'm safe! Why should I have to go back and live with someone I don't trust?'
'She admitted what she did was wrong and so did Tamashi! They care about you but they realized their mistakes!'
'If they cared about me, they would've supported me in the first place don't you think?'
'Look you're right, but you're destroying yourself! Even if you don't want to go back home yet, at least don't be the blur!'
'Don't you see people need me?! You see how many people we save from villains each night?!'
'Yeah but I also see the injuries piling up! Even with your healing, they're taking longer to go away!'
'Who cares?! So long as people are safe it's fine!' Leizcio tells himself one last time.
Ending the debacle in his mind, he digs into his backpack and takes out the vigilante costume out. A few seconds pass as he just looks at it, his heart desperately telling him to stop. The sweater is littered with burn marks, dirt, and holes. Shaking away the thoughts, he puts it on, ready to head back into the night.
Blur runs out into the city fuelled by the anger within him blinding his soul.
Chapter 27
End
