It had been five years since Mina graduated from UA and her life is exactly where she imagined it to be. At the moment, Mina felt pretty fulfilled. She felt like she is exactly where she is supposed to be. Mina lived in a decent sized apartment in Yokohama not too far from central Tokyo which made it easier for her to get to work.
A lot of her classmates, especially Bakuso and Kirishima, have cared far too much about hero rankings. She never cared much for hero rankings, but felt a lot of pride and joy knowing her friends have made it! Everyone in 1-A, last time she spoke to them, have accomplished their dreams of becoming pro heroes, including herself.
Bakugo, Todoroki, and Deku reached the top ten ranks even though they are in their mid twenties.
Mina let out a happy sigh from her lips as she cheerfully thought about her friends not only being pro heroes, but actually living out their dreams. She was more than certain someone was going to get married in the next two years.
Things were going well in her life. She felt content. Just as Mina was in her thoughts her phone gave a lively buzz.
Mina dug her hands into her coat pocket to fish out the small device. Her black eyes glanced at her phone's glassy screen as she read the contents of the text message
A smile danced across her lips, on top of her professional life going well and let's just say her love life wasn't looking too bad either.
"Awww, he is such a dork." Mina accidentally said aloud. She truly felt lucky, just when Mina was about to give up on love all it took was for one night to change everything.
One night out with her UA girls, she met an amazing guy. Takuto Yamauchi. Just thinking about him made Mina's stomach bubble with excitement and this wasn't her quirk.
She remembers that night like it was yesterday when in fact, this eventful night took place eight months ago.
8 months ago
"Hell yeah! Shots on me ladies!" Mina shouted at her girlfriends.
After multiple invitations on a weekly basis, she finally managed to successfully get Ochako, Tsu, and Momo to come out for a girl's night.
Jirou and Toru made some lame excuse to not come out as Mina explained to Ochako.
If it wasn't for Mina, god only knows when would be the next time she would reconnect with the other women from Class 1-A.
Mina makes it her job to arrange plans for all the girls once a month or every two months. Ideally, she would love to catch up with her girlfriends every week. But life being life and their lives as adults, let alone heroes, allowed for that to happen.
Although the old gang wasn't all back together Mina knew she would take her blessings where she could get them.
"Okay, so here is my plan for tonight. Let's hang out at this bar and if things don't pick up we can hit another bar. Is that cool?" she asked the other girls with a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. She was absolutely thrilled to be with these girls again.
"No one is obligated to stay the whole night, butttttt" Mina stated in a sing-song voice, "At least stay for two or three hours. Pretty pleassseeee!"
"I can do two hours the most. I do want to head into the office tomorrow morning just to finish up on some paperwork I left unfinished" Momo hesitated telling her friends these words knowing they would call her workaholic,
"You have work tomorrow?" Tsu inquired while making her way to the table her friends picked out. "But it is the weekend, Momo-chan."
"I know I know, but I just want to get out of the way," the dark haired woman replied looking over the drinking menu.
"Besides, I hope to move up the rankings by staying committed to my work."
"Sheesh, Momo. It's called the weekend for a reason. What's the point of having the weekend to unwind if you are going to use that time to do work?" Mina admired Momo's work ethic. Even during their time at UA together, Mina spent most of her time at UA envying Momo's perfect scores. God knows she definitely struggled to keep her grades up and she almost didn't make it because of it.
"Ahh, Momo, I hate to be on their side, but you should take a break." Ochako hesitantly gave her opinion. Last thing Ochako wanted was for Momo to feel guilty for trying to be responsible. Even though Ochako wondered if Momo set boundaries and blurred the thing between being responsible and overworking.
Mina noticed Momo huffing out in defeat.
"Okay," Momo said before taking a deep breath, "Okay...okay I will think about it, but I can't promise anything."
Upon hearing these words Mina cheered loudly to the point that the occupants of the next table glared at her.
"WHOOHOO! By the way, I totally meant what I said earlier ! Who wants to take some shots?!" Mina felt alive having her friends around her. The lord knows she needed her girls. Mina recently joined a new agency different from her previous one just to gain valuable experience. Even though she has only been working there for a month either way it was still taking her some time to get used to. Yeah there were a few folks Mina got along with just fine, but nothing replaces her UA gang.
Ochako, Momo, and Tsu giggled and agreed to take Mina on her offer.
The girls' night went on smoothly. The girls just spent their time catching up, drinking, and occasionally going out to the dance floor. Mina's energy could be best described as a burning light. A light that burns and that attracts everyone. That night Mina attracted the attention of one hero who was there that night with his friends.
ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ
"Oh my god, I love this song!" The song blasted through the speakers and the alcohol in her system did nothing to calm her down. Two shots and two vodka tonics in and Mina was on a high far too high for her to come down.
She wants my hundred bills,
She don't want love,
She wants my hundred bills,
She don't want love
"We have to dance. Let's go and dance. Plleasseee! We have to dance to this song. It's my favorite!"
Her excitement came from the fact that this night was going so well. It was 3am and Momo was still here, drinking, hanging out with everyone, and enjoying herself. Ochako and Tsu were here too. Mina wouldn't call her current state drunk, but more along the lines of tipsy. Yeah, definitely tipsy.
However, way more tipsy than the rest of her friends. If Mina was being frank, the alcohol was just an addition to the true high that already existed from being around the people she loved. All the good energy amplified her drunken state.
As Mina's favorite song blasted through the speakers, the pink girl's excitement heightened while the other girl's energy went down.
"Ehhh, another song?" Ochako softly complained while rubbing her sore feet. She made sure to remind herself to wear shorter heels when going out with Mina. That girl can dance forever, Ochako briefly thought, and on that same train of thought it hit. Mina is a dancer, no wonder, haha, Ochako reminded herself. "I think I'll skip this one." Ochako motioned towards her feet.
"Me too," Momo softly whined. "Go ahead and have fun, we will be here. I think I might have to call it a night soon and before you say anything my original plan was to leave four hours ago."
Mina's smile widened upon hearing this. She was so grateful that Momo stayed out for this long, she was truly grateful Momo stuck it out. She nodded and accepted the fact Momo was out. Her glistening black eyes shifted towards Tsu.
"Tsu?"
The young woman issued an apology and said, "I will sit this one out too. Sorry, Mina-chan."
"Okay, but none of you better not leave before saying goodbye to me." Mina fake glared at her friends as she walked away to the dance floor. She carefully maneuvered through the crowd to get closer to the center of the dance floor.
Dancing alone was nothing new to her, but fuck, did she really like this song. It reminded her of her time at UA. Being carefree, only attending classes, taking exams, and not having to pay bills.
Shit, things were definitely different back then. More relaxed, more free., Mina thought.
Mina shook her head and decided to focus on the music and man, did she love this song. Her love for breakdancing introduced her to a wide range of music. Most of the music she discovered came from outside of Japan.
Her heart was about to burst knowing that this song, this specific song by this one artist was playing now.
She's a hurricane
Feel the earth shake
If the devil was asleep
she'd knock him wide awake
Tonight.
And if you were her, you never know
I think you'd do it too
But if it takes one to know one
You must not have a clue
With all of her friends.
Thank you, Mina wasn't thanking anyone in particular. The feeling of gratitude flowed throughout her body. As she moved her hips to the music. Each beat guided her body to perfect rhythm. Mina was an amazing dancer. She knew exactly how to have a good time.
As Mina moved her body to the music and her mind was occupied by her own thoughts. She failed to notice a hand slowly making its way to her hips.
But Mina was no ordinary girl trying to enjoy her time at the club….yeah, she was a girl trying to enjoy herself at the club, but she was also a superhero who attended UA and was in the top class. Any guy sneaking up would be making a grave mistake. Out of reflex, Mina threw back her elbow with full force in an attempt to hit the target and the stranger was smart enough to jump back.
"Whoa! Whoa! No need to get physical," the deep voice came from a tall man with short black hair and sharp green eyes. The stranger standing in front of Mina was undoubtedly handsome, but he could be anyone. "I was just trying to dance with you."
Mina's pink brows came together to form a deep frown. Yes, she was well aware she was the life of the party, but did that give men the right to come up to her and just touch her. Hell no. That was her biggest pet peeve. Ugh, men are soo gross, she thought.
This thought displayed itself clearly on Mina's face, the disgust and disapproval reflected as bright as the moon on a clear night sky.
"What gives you the right to touch me, asshole?" Mina shouted over the loud music, but loud enough for the stranger to hear. Some bystanders overheard the conversation and looked on; a potential fight between two people. Nice.
"I am sincerely sorry." Mina looked at the stranger suspiciously, but she was taken aback by his apology. It sounded sincere. And wait...was he blushing? Oh now he is acting shy? Mina scuffed at his sudden change in behavior.
"I didn't mean to offend you. I am really sorry for not asking before. I don't really go out and I took my stupid friends advice." He stammered and seemed nervous, like he knew he greatly fucked up. "I took their dumbass advice and I am so sorry to offend you."
Mina sighed while still keeping her distance from the stranger.
"MINA!" Ochako walked towards Mina and the stranger with murder in her eyes. That's rare considering Ochako rarely looks scary or intimidating. Momo and Tsu followed close behind Ochako. "Are you okay? We noticed you looked a little angry and we wanted to make sure everything is okay."
Gosh, my friends are fucking amazing, Mina thought while warmly smiling at her friends. "I am okay, just teaching this guy not to touch women without their permission."
"You are totally right, I will never do that again." The green-eyed fellow definitely looked a little shaken, even though Mina did not lay a finger on him.
Mina's squad collectively let out a sigh of relief.
"I think that's our hint to go, shall we get out of here Mina?" Momo's energy was running out, but this definitely put the icing on the cake Last thing she wants was for her friends to be harassed and forced to use her quirk outside of work. In a way, Momo saw this incident as her way out she wasn't much of a club or bar person.
"Are you sure it's okay?" Tsu inspected the stranger and for lack of a better word, she thought the guy was lackluster...and basic. She also had a strange feeling about him.
"Yeah I can handle myself, girlies." Mina continued smiling at her friends, "I think I will head out with you guys. This whole interaction definitely killed my vibe. Let's get out of here."
"Wait !" the stranger finally spoke up, "Can I at least buy you a drink? As an apology for killing your vibe. No more funny stuff. I promise. You're Mina Ashido, right? I know what you can do so I will definitely try anything with you" He nervously laughed and looked a bit nervous waiting for Mina's answer. On top of that, Mina's friends were giving him looks and glaring at him. Needless to say, the man was very brave to be standing there holding his ground and waiting for Mina.
Mina thought it over and glanced at the stranger and then glanced at her friends. It was only 2am and the night was still young. The trains in Tokyo stopped running. Mina had enough energy in her body to last another two hours before taking the first train back home. Her friends were ready to go, but she wasn't.
She wanted to keep dancing, but not with this stranger. One drink wouldn't hurt, she carefully pondered.
"Girls, I will have one drink and head home." Mina's response did not sit well with her friends.
"Are you absolutely sure?" Ochako felt hesitant to leave one of her friends alone.
"Positive," Mina winked, "I can take care of myself. I promise.
After reassuring her friends that she was more than fine and kissing them goodbye, Mina turned around to face the stranger.
"So about that drink," she asked, "You know my name, but I don't know yours. What's your name?"
"My name…" the stranger gave a devilish smirk and surprisingly, this stranger was turning Mina on. "Takuto Yamauchi, pleasure to meet you."
A small encounter is like a small wave that leads to an ocean of changes. Mina followed Takuto to the bar as her favorite song continued to play in the background.
Go and say what you want,
You're just a stranger,
Watching from the bleacher cause you can't take the danger.
Authors Note:
Fuck, I totally forgot what a pain in the ass it is to upload a story to this website ! I am committing to a challenge. That challenge is for me to write a multi-chapter story. My first one ever ! Last time I submitted a story was literal years ago. I have always admired the art of fanfic writing...just the art of writing. So here I am trying it out, guys. Be gentle.
For now I am thinking of writing 9 chapters. All the chapters will be based on awesome songs made by the amazing Kali Uchis. I highly recommend all of you to listen to the songs after reading each chapter ! Hell, listen to it while reading.