Prompt: Platonic Cyshero and 24?
It was the first day of high school and of course Hero had to do the anime thing and run into someone on her way to school. Her cat Draco had somehow undone the alarm on her clock, causing her to wake up a full forty-five minutes late, leaving her just barely enough time to shower and get dressed before she had to leave. At least she didn't have toast in her mouth—she didn't have time to get any. If she had, then her friends would never let her hear the end of it when she tried to explain why she was late that morning.
Hero rubbed the goose egg forming on her head with a grimace. Whoever it was that ran into her, she would give them a piece of her mind!
"Hey!", she shouted, "Why don't you watch where you're—"
Her eyes bulged out of their sockets.
Directly in front of her, sprawled out on the sidewalk, was a salaryman in a sharp pressed suit with a ratty green duffel bag around his arm. He had on a goofy tie and colorful mismatched socks that were surely against company policy, but that wasn't what had Hero so speechless.
This man had The Toast. Not only that, but he seemed to have brought along the entire toaster. Hero boggled at the appliance as it stubbornly refused to fall to the ground below, dangling along only by the piece of toast that the man held in his mouth. What in the world?
The man opened his mouth and the toaster fell to the ground with a plasticky clang, breaking Hero's trance.
"Whoopsidoodle! Sorry bout that, guess I wasn't looking where you were going. But, hey! If you did the toast thing that means you're probably the main character, so good for you!"
Hero gawked. "Wha….?"
The man picked up his toaster and stood up, patting dust off his suit with his other hand. He held it out to her and Hero grabbed it, realizing she'd never gotten up. Standing up, she noted how it was they'd run into each other; the man had his hair in his eyes.
"No harm done, huh?" the man said, "I just felt like running today, but you're probably in a real hurry. You heading to Celestia?" He gestured at her clothes. A white dress shirt, a pleated skirt, and a sweatervest with a shiny golden crest on the left side. The girls uniform for Celestia Lake High. She nodded.
The man stepped aside and pointed to one of the streets behind him. "See that street? Follow it until the first left turn, and cut through the kid's park. Should save you about five minutes on your way to class."
He smiled softly when Hero realized just how much time this encounter had cost her, and patted her shoulder. She gave a quick thank you and dashed off down the road, leaving him on the sidewalk waving goodbye.
He stayed that was for a good few minutes before turning and walking along the rest of his route. There really was nothing like a brisk trip around the city subdivision before work to get the day started. After a few minutes though, the man paused.
"Should I have told her that today was just the first day back for the teachers?" he said.
"…."
"Nah, I'll tell her when I see her in homeroom tomorrow."
NOTE: I forgot to upload this for several months.