Chapter 5: Fireworks
Introduction
V/O(Despair): Well aren't you a character? We just met and I can tell you already hate me.
V/O(Katsuki[clicks tongue]): Why are ya even in this introduction, extra!
V/O(Despair): Extra? I find it funny you think I'm an extra...
V/O(Katsuki): What's funny is ya think you're all that important, but you're nothing!
V/O(Despair): For now.
V/O(Katsuki): Tch.
V/O(Despair): I have some important things to do, so I'll leave you to your "introduction." [leaves]
V/O(Katsuki): Whatever, bastard…
V/O(Hikari[Enters, staring right into Katsuki's eyes]): Everything okay?
V/O(Katsuki[Staring back]): EVERYTHING'S FINE, CRYBABY! ALSO, STOP USING YOUR QUIRK ON ME!
V/O(Hikari[jumps, not breaking eye contact]):O-okay then!
V/O(Katsuki[also not breaking eye contact]): YOU DID IT AGAIN! GET A HOLD OF YOUR QUIRK ALREADY!
V/O(Hikari[flinches, looking away]): I'm sorry! I'll try harder...
V/O(Katsuki[sighs angrily, looking away]): You better...anyway, this introduction is over!
V/O(Hikari): Okay...
V/O(Katsuki and Hikari): Plus Ultra!
"Yo, Recorder! Where's the boss?" The sound of a man yelling practically assaulted Recorder: seated, curled up on a large lounger chair with her book, suddenly alert and more than a little annoyed at the abrupt withdrawal from her immersion in the narrative of Milton's Paradise Lost.
With a heavy sigh, she dog-eared her current page and placed the book down on a burgundy, well polished coffee table right in front of her, atop it a small assortment of candles, each a different height, each a different color, each lit and casting a faint, ambient flicker across Recorder's narrow, rectangular glasses. On the matching end table to her right held her glass of raspberry seltzer water, the can still partially full next to it, its level made apparent by the condensation clinging to its face. The room was dimly lit, as if all the light bulbs in the scattered fixtures around the room were on their last legs, ready to say goodnight and go out, truly necessitating the candles on the table. Despite the lighting, Recorder had no problem continuing to read her book. The intruding voice of a familiar man distracted her, and now sent her into a foul mood.
Recorder glared at the source of the voice out of the corner of her eye.
He was average height, his face covered in a series of stitches. One tattoo covered his right cheek; a tattoo much in the same fashion as Despair and Recorder, and seemed only to draw more attention to the scars it feebly attempted to conceal. He was very well dressed with a red shirt neatly tucked into black designer slacks and a glossy, black leather belt. His shoes were even shining black, as if they were just polished up, definitely matching the tables in the room.
Recorder sighed, calming herself.
"Hey, Uzer. The boss locked himself in his room, looking over the recordings I got for him," Recorder responded, going back to reading her book.
"Seriously? He called me over here and he isn't even ready to see us…" he huffed.
"He called me, too...I've put quite a dent in Paradise Lost, already…I thought he found something…" she sighed.
Just then, Despair burst through the door, cream puff in hand.
"Oh good, you're here…" he said, hesitating a moment out of an instinctive–if a little begrudging– sense of politeness, before popping the cream puff in his mouth.
"Boss man...please don't call us over until you're ready for us…it's a real pain dropping everything to have to wait on you," Uzer groaned, a look of dissatisfaction apparent.
"Yeah, yeah. You're late coming over anyway, so what's the harm?" Despair responded nonchalantly.
"I'm late because you're always doing this...You're taking up MY time for myself."
"Anyway, we have a change of plans. Where's Tranzmitter?" Despair looked around the room, ignoring Uzer's complaints, reasonable or otherwise.
"Probably still sleeping...he probably thought he had more time since our big boss is never actually ready for us when he calls" Uzer responded, petty.
"Ugh...Recorder…Go get…"
Just then, Tranzmitter arrived. He wore long sleeves that went past his fingertips and pants with cuffs that dragged on the floor.
"Sorry, Boss...I was having a good dream, " Tranzmitter yawned, putting a hand to his mouth revealing his tattoo on the outside of his hand.
"So, the plan?" Recorder asked, closing her book, again.
"As you are aware, my precious prize escaped because of my worthless henchmen, " Despair started.
"Boss...they were extras, so what did you expect?" Uzer sighed.
"They were supposed to be enough, but something happened to change all that…" Despair responded, a change of tone which sent a shiver up Uzer's spine.
"What happened?" Uzer asked, surprised. He had never seen Despair so serious before.
"I am still figuring that out. Anyway, be ready tomorrow evening. " Despair's hand twitched as he walked back to his room, slamming the door behind him. Uzer and Recorder sighed while Tranzmitter chuckled.
"As vague as always….why do we even have these meetings...he could just call us to go instead. We drop everything for him anyway," Uzer complained, slightly relieved the meeting ended. Despair was in a bad mood and he did not want to be on the receiving end of it.
"It's fine. Not like we have anything better to do…" Recorder sighed, opening her book again.
"That's our boss," Tranzmitter yawned. The three headed back to their own rooms, preparing themselves for what Despair had in store for tomorrow.
. . .
Katsuki entered his dorm, tossing the empty yogurt drink in the trash. He made his way to the balcony door and threw it open. Hikari jumped, a small yelp escaped her lips from the sudden appearance of Katsuki, who she had anticipated would be coming to rescue her from the balcony, but was still startled. Now here he was, and this was it; she felt her life flash before her.
"Get in here…" Katsuki used his voice, still raw and grating. His crimson eyes were full of irritation as he looked down at Hikari, who was looking back up at him, sapphire eyes full of fear and apology. She prepared herself to take whatever she had coming to her by Katsuki's hands, and she accepted this fate.
The forced footnotes of emotions in his head made it easy for Katsuki to read her like a book and it infuriated him. He knew it wasn't that big of a deal, but his mind was saying it was. How dare she invade his thoughts and feelings!? The nerve!
Katsuki's clenched fist thrusted into a point, indicating to her to stop sitting there like a deer in headlights and come in.
Hikari meekly got up and walked inside. Katsuki slammed the door shut, making her flinch.
"I-I'm sorry...I won't leave the room again...I really didn't mean to cause you trouble. If I had known the door locks I'd have never left..." Hikari stood, eyes glued to the ground. She rubbed her arm. As much as Katsuki wanted to start yelling at her, he couldn't. After all, she invaded his head again with all her feelings. She was honestly upset with herself, a bit scared still. It was clear to him she was not trying to make this situation worse or make things harder on him. This didn't stop him from being pissed off about it but he did find himself hesitating to lecture her. He sighed.
"Stop apologizing. It wasn't a bad plan to hide in the box till I got back…" Katsuki rubbed the back of his head. He glanced over to her and flinched. Her face was inches from his, eyes huge and brimming with excitement.
"I'll do my best to not cause you any more trouble...I'll get stronger." Hikari exclaimed, her eyes driven and full of readiness to take on the world. These feelings flooded into Katsuki himself; she invaded his head, again, and without skipping a beat, Katsuki hit the back of Hikari's head with an open hand.
"You needa get control over your quirk, crybaby! " he growled. It wasn't a bad feeling, in fact it was relieving that she could feel something positive. Katsuki just hated that he didn't choose to feel what she was feeling. Not to mention she just used her quirk twice(maybe three times?) on him in a matter of minutes and now he was feeling two completely different feelings at once. Fear and excitement were two feelings he didn't want to be feeling at the same time. It was weird and he wanted it gone.
"Sor-I mean, I'll try," Hikari responded. Her face scrunched up and Katsuki could only guess she was thinking about it.
Katsuki stared at her, as if all the answers of the universe would just come out if he kept staring. A fruitless action, really. His fingers started to feel twitchy and he couldn't keep still, as if he was hyped on caffeine–it was all Hikari's fault.
Katsuki shoved two bags at Hikari.
"I found some books that may be useful to better understand your quirk...and some sneakers." Hikari looked in wonder and her eyes sparkled.
"Thank you!" Hikari took her gifts from Katsuki and put them on the ground next to the weight stand. She started looking through the books.
Katsuki went over to the fridge and unloaded the yogurt drinks.
/These feelings are making me antsy…whatta pain.../
"Tch…" Katsuki moved the coffee table and leaned it against the door.
"Okay...come at me," Katsuki said, stretching out his legs, then his arms. If he was going to feel this uncomfortable, might as well start a fight.
Hikari looked at him stunned, dropping the books back in the bag. Katsuki's eyebrow twitched.
"You wanna be stronger, right!? Let's start by landing a punch." Katsuki took a ready position. He didn't plan to help Hikari tonight, but he really couldn't shake the annoying feelings he was enduring. It energized him and he felt he couldn't sit still and concentrate on his homework. These feelings slightly irritated him. He felt like he was under her control, like a puppet. He also knew it was far from her intentions to do that.
Hikari stood for a moment, like she was deciding whether attacking Katsuki was the right choice or not or how she would even attack. This was all pretty sudden.
"If you don't come at me then I'll come after you!" Katsuki barked.
Hikari twitched before finally getting her legs to move. She ran at Katsuki, aiming her clumsily clenched fist at his face. All of a sudden, the world around her flipped upside down and next thing she knew she was laying on the beanbag.
"Again." Katsuki took a few steps back and readied again. Hikari got up and tried again, this time aiming for his chest. Within seconds she was back on the beanbag. She got up.
"Idiot! No one punches like that...you're gonna break a finger…Curl your fingers tightly, your thumb should rest here...and ya want to hit with this part of your hand." Katsuki instructed, then backed up again and was ready. Hikari went at him multiple times, each time falling onto something soft, like the bed or the beanbag.
"This is hard!" Hikari whined, gripping the sheets beneath her.
"Givin' up? Thought you were determined," Katsuki taunted.
"I'm not giving up!" Hikari stood up quickly, the taunt doing its job properly; irritating her enough to continue. She stared at Katsuki, thinking of a way to land just one punch. Before she could think of anything, Katsuki was in her face. He pushed her and she fell back.
"No villain is gonna wait for you to think...you needa keep moving. Keep attacking 'til ya come up with somethin' or at least dodge."
Hikari got up and went for another punch.
"Too slow!" Katsuki tripped Hikari. Before she hit the ground he caught her, then with that momentum threw her. Hikari landed and all her frustration began bubbling up. She couldn't get that hit in.
"There's no way! You're way stronger and you're not going easy on me! Or holding back…" Hikari complained.
"Crybaby, why would I go easy on ya? Figure out your strengths and use them. Stop hesitating already," Katsuki said, picking Hikari up by the back of the shirt and chucking her across the room. She fell head first onto the pillow on the bed.
He stood ready.
Hikari realized what he was bullying her to do. She got up slowly, then ran toward Katsuki.
Katsuki took a step back and put his arms up. Just then she tripped and fell in front of him.
"Ouch!...I hate this…this is too hard…." Hikari whimpered, grabbing her ankle as tears started to form.
Katsuki sighed angrily and went over, taking a knee to check on Hikari. Her eyes directly locked with his and a sudden rush of exhaustion hit him, his whole body felt heavy.
As Hikari threw a punch at him, he grabbed the oncoming fist. He fell onto his back, pulling her forward and used his foot to kick her. She flew onto the beanbag.
Hikari's eyes widened as it took her a moment to realize where she was and what just happened. She started throwing a tantrum, kicking her legs and yelling into the beanbag. She felt so close. That was her best shot and she still failed.
Katsuki laid on the floor, watching the ceiling light fade in and out. He rubbed his eyes.
"You did fine...stop whining" Katsuki growled.
"What do you mean?! Even using my quirk I couldn't hit you!"
"You're not experienced, crybaby...honestly if you were more patient ya could have hit me. Instead you rushed it..."
Katsuki hated saying that out loud. It was at this moment, too, the mixture of fear and excitement was gone.
Hikari thought for a moment.
"I really could have?"
"I'M NOT SAYING IT AGAIN!" Katsuki struggled but managed to get up. He dragged himself to the fridge.
"Be helpful and get the coffee table...it should be light enough for ya to move." Hikari did what he asked. He placed a bento box and water on the table.
"You should stay hydrated and eat somethin'," he said, then taking a yogurt drink out for himself and sitting at his desk. Katsuki began typing up a homework assignment, dread in his eyes. He really just wanted to sleep after being hit with her quirk. He couldn't really be upset with her for using it. It was the only way she stood a chance and the more she uses it the more she can figure it out, he rationalized.
Hikari ate the food, and drank all the water. She sat at the edge of the beanbag, resting her elbows on the edge of the desk, watching what Katsuki was doing.
"You're really amazing...you didn't have to use your quirk at all! And you can still move and do homework after being super exhausted! I wouldn't want to be a villain fighting you."
"Yeah, whatever...I'm not gonna use my quirk in here, it would make a lot of noise." Katsuki responded. The words he was typing on the page kept blurring together, and the backlight from the computer began giving him a headache.
Hikari thought for a moment.
/That's why I kept falling on soft things….and he didn't let me hit the ground….which means if he didn't have to worry about being loud he probably wouldn't have cared where I landed.../
It was a harsh reality. He wasn't not hurting her to be nice, rather to keep them from getting caught. She sighed.
"What's your quirk anyway? " Hikari asked.
"Explosions. My palms produce a nitroglycerine-like sweat that I can ignite," Katsuki responded, creating sparks in his hand.
"Woah! Looks like fireworks!" Hikari looked in awe. The smell of fire mixed with burnt sugar faintly filled the air around them.
Katsuki didn't know how to respond to her comment. Fireworks are explosions but he wouldn't have made the comparison. He continued to type out answers to all the open ended questions he had to do for his hero protocol course and decided to just let her run her mouth. As much as he didn't care what she had to say, it was helping him stay awake.
"My dad is a huge fireworks fan. It became a family thing where we would go to every firework showing in the area and sometimes, we would go further to see fireworks that he heard were good. A lot were during festivals so my older brother would take me around to all the food and game stands while my father and mother looked for a place to watch the fireworks. I started really loving fireworks because of my father. He looks so happy when he watches them," Hikari responded, smiling widely.
"Sounds lame," Katsuki responded, continuing to type. Hikari pouted and laid her head in her arms on the desk.
"I'd be surprised if you had any friends…" Hikari murmured.
"I HAVE…." Katsuki scowled, slightly hurt by her comment, and turned to look at Hikari, who had already fallen asleep.
/Stupid crybaby...fireworks huh.../
Katsuki yawned to himself and rested his forehead on the edge of the desk for a moment, just a moment…