The snow gently descended from the sky, and touched the ground with elegance. It piled on top of itself until all the flakes formed a smooth white blanket across the land. The fields and forests of the countryside were peppered by the snow, and the concrete and metal skyscrapers of the city were no different. The snow fell and fell, one by one each flake met the same fate as the last. The snow grew higher every minute, and the pedestrians carried on regardless. In this small cafe, there was someone who looked at the snow as it drizzled onward with no rhyme and no reason, and he simply sipped his decaf, watching the flakes fly.
He sat at the bar, one polished to a perfect sheen, and observed everything around him: A young couple was giggling in their booth, each on their phones tapping away. An old woman was sitting on the other end of the bar drinking warm tea. The waitress behind the bar was taking a ticket from a pair of businessmen in premium suits, and the cook was working his magic on the main flat top grill. The atmosphere of this small diner was sublime and uninterrupted by the noise of the city.
This young man, whose jet black hair and red eyes shone against the light, simply sipped away once more at his coffee. He had his hair in a small bun tied in the back, and the rest of his hair was combed in a sleek manner. A strand of cyan contrasted the deep black, and his ruby eyes complemented his hair eloquently. He wore a thick jacket with fur lining the zipper, and black jeans.
He added two spoonfuls of sugar and a dash of half-and-half. He felt the beverage touch his lips, and he closed his eyes in delight from the flavor.
"Top ya off?" The waitress asked.
"Sure, thanks." The young man replied.
The woman refilled his cup and he raised it in appreciation. He took another drink and looked around once again at this small shop. Food was being served to all the patrons, and shortly after he was handed his meal. It was a plate of beef negimaki with a side of rice, and the man thanked the cook for the meal. He grabbed his chopsticks, blew on the beef, and started eating. He felt the flavors melt in his mouth and he smiled with pure joy, the tenderness of the beef combined with the teriyaki sauce and scallions was a delicacy.
The door opened and the bell chimed. Someone walked in and quickly took a seat merely two stools away from this young man. This person was rather young– a teenager – and had unkempt black hair reaching down to his neck. He wore a red winter jacket and thick black pants with boots. His eyes were as red as the one eating the negimaki, and then he stared at the countertop. He clicked his heels repeatedly, and the waitress approached him after handing a receipt to another customer.
"Heyyyy look who it is!" She said happily while she grabbed several cups.
"Hey mom." The young man greeted. The woman quickly poured fresh tea for him, and wrote another ticket. She handed it to the cook, and the cook did what he did best.
"You want the usual?"
"Yeah, I could really use some awesome food right now." The boy said happily.
"Alright lemme get that in." The woman said as she wrote down the man's request. "So, how'd it go?" She asked. The other man continued eating his negimaki. "I bet the line was pretty big right? I bet a bunch of people were being pretty obnoxious too."
"It wasn't that bad, I just stayed in line and waited until it was my turn. Though uh, there was this one guy that had a pretty cool looking Quirk."
"Oh yeah, what was it?" the waitress asked.
"Well I'm pretty sure this guy could use fire and ice whenever he wanted to. We had to demonstrate our Quirks before the applications went through."
"And how'd that go for you?"
The young man took a breath and didn't know how to respond. He shook his head and looked up at his mother.
"Well… what was I supposed to do? My Quirk isn't nearly as cool as the other ones I saw. You've got people who can transform into these awesome looking cyborgs and other guys who can shoot vines from their hands and stuff!"
The man eating the negimaki put his chopsticks down and drank his decaf. Then he sipped from a glass of water.
"The craziest one was this guy who could blow up everything with his hands. He really stood out compared to everyone else ya know?"
"Mmhmm, sounds like a real hothead. You know that reminds me of Mr. Kazaya down the street, you know how he gets about his damn cars. Always going on and on about how hard the parts are to find, and then he turns around and starts yellin' if you try to give him advice ."
"Yeah yeah, I know mom." The teen replied. "'You don't know what the hell yer talkin' about that part's a bunch of crap.'" He said in a snarky accent. His mother laughed as she served tea to another customer. The teen chuckled as well, but shortly after, he sighed."But… when it was my turn to sign up…"
Then, the man with the negimaki cleared his throat. The teen and the waitress glanced over at him as he fixed his rimless glasses, and then he turned his attention to them.
"I think I saw you in front of me, but you were pretty far ahead so I didn't get a good glimpse."
The young man and the waitress looked at each other, then looked back at the man.
"Uh… do I know you?" the teen asked.
"Oh uh, no, sorry about that!" The young man replied. "I also came in to apply, the uh… the people there were fascinating to say the least."
As he spoke, another customer in the room sounded off, and the waitress scoffed.
"Oh not this guy again, he's such a jerk…" She said, "Hold on, I'll be back."
She left the two boys to talk, and the boy with the blue streak shivered from a sudden chill. He drank his coffee again and wiped his mouth with his napkin.
"So yeah, I take it you're also shootin' for U.A.?"
"Yeah, I've thought about it for a while but I didn't know if I really wanted to go for it." The teen replied.
"Why? I heard it's the best Hero school in Japan." The boy said he drank his coffee again, and noticed the cup was half empty.
"Huh? You heard? You're not from around here are you?"
"Oh uh, nah, I'm Japanese if you think I'm some foreigner or something. Guess I've been livin' under a rock."
"Uh… huh…" The other teen remarked.
"Right…"
Together, they awkwardly sat at the bar and waited. The boy with the blue streak in his hair sipped his drink, and the other teen twiddled his thumbs while the TV played the news. There was footage of a city, one suddenly buried in snow. It cut to citizens packed in a variety of buildings, and police were scouring the streets looking for survivors.
"Damn, looks like Fukuoka got a snap blizzard." The teen said as he leaned on the counter. "Hope everyone's alright out there."
"Yeah, hope so. Hawks is out there though so I think they'll be just fine. He's so cool." The other teen replied. "Isn't there another Hero school out there? Uh, Mengistu?"
"Nah you're thinking of Shiketsu, they're considered the 'U.A. of the West.' They're pretty good, but they're not U.A., you know?"
The blue streaked teen finished his drink and spun his seat in the other person's direction.
"What do you mean?"
"Well… U.A. had some of the best heroes in the country go there! All Might, Endeavor, Best Jeanist, even Edgeshot! Those are the top five man, everyone wants to go because of that."
"Wait, you said top five but you only listed four people."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about Hawks, he's the Number Three Hero. Oh wait you already knew that, man I feel dumb." The teen explained. "Now that I think about it I don't think he went to U.A., I wonder if he went to Shiketsu."
"Beats me, I just hope I can get in." The blue streaked teen replied.
"You and me both."
The two teens sat and waited. The snow grew thicker outside and several guests left the diner. It felt like they were the only people in the world. As the first boy continued nibbling at his negimaki, he saw the other take out his phone and stare into the endless void of the screen. The teen glanced at him over and over, watching his posture. He could see the unmistakable flash of doubt in his ruby eyes. Something must have happened. He looked away for a moment and stared at his own hands. There was a small ring adorned on his middle finger, one that glowed a faint blue. Something awakened within him and he could feel it rising, he groaned and snapped his eyes shut. What was it?
"Hey, mind if I ask you something?" He said. The other teen turned his attention toward him in a small surprise.
"Oh, yeah go ahead." He replied awkwardly. The first teen felt his hair fall down in his face, and the other saw the sharp blue streak that parted the black in his hair. He brushed it out of the way, and his sanguine eyes met the other person's red ones.
"We both applied to U.A. and it sounds like we're both heading for that entrance exam in a few months. Uh, I'm not sure if we'll really see each other again until that point, but I wanted to know…"
"Why do you want to be a Hero?"
The other teen froze in place, something the blue streaked boy had noticed. He sipped his coffee once more while the other breathed slowly and clenched his fists.
"If it's personal then that's fine. To be honest I applied because I just want something new in my life."
The other teen didn't speak, and the first glanced over and noticed he was shaking.
"I come from a small country town so not much really goes on out there. Next thing I know I got an inheritance and here I am in the big city. My dad even got us an apartment so I don't have to commute every day." The teen spoke. "But now, seeing all the Heroes in action, helping out everyone who can't fight and stopping Villains, I get why so many wanna do it. So why not help out, yeah?"
The other teen grimaced his face and snapped his gaze toward the stranger.
"So you want to be a Hero because you're bored?" He asked angrily.
"Well, I know it's not the greatest reason out there but I know I can help too."
"Did you hear yourself the first time?! You just want excitement and that's it? What about saving people and taking villains down?
"Hey calm down-"
"I don't get that dude, I don't get how the hell you can just walk up and be a Hero just because you're bored! That's not manly at all! A real Hero faces any danger headstrong and doesn't back down! They don't let anything get in their way no matter what!"
In that moment the teen shot up from his arms suddenly hardened into stone. His arms were so strong and durable that they clanged against each other like metal.
"They're unbreakable ya know?!"
"Hey!" The waitress from earlier shouted, she arrived from the kitchen with a hot burger dish in her hands. "No Quirks Ei! You know the rules!"
The teen gasped, and his arms returned to normal instantly. He sat down with his head hung low and sighed.
"Yeah, sorry mom it won't happen again." He muttered.
The other diners slowly returned to eating their food and socializing. Some quickly ate their food and left money on the table, others kept peeking over at the counter again and again. As for the boy with the blue streak in his hair, he just watched as the other teen stared at his food.
"Sorry… I get worked up."
The teen said nothing, and simply drank his decaf. He set the cup down and just looked at the other teen, and then he leaned on the counter.
"I get worked up too believe it or not. Go on, it's alright."
The other teen could believe his ears, but nonetheless, he looked at the counter and his food.
"You asked about why I wanna be a Hero earlier. I want this because I want to be brave. I wanna stand on my own two feet and be respected. Helping people's a manly thing too and that means I need to give it my all."
He took a bite into his burger and his face lit up with joy. It must've been a delicious burger, since his mood improved swiftly.
"I just wish I wasn't so damn afraid," he said. "A few days ago there was this giant villain, he was like three stories tall. He was going after a bunch of girls and I really thought he was gonna kill one of them! So I tried to go after him, but when he turned around I saw his face, and-"
He squeezed his burger so hard that the patty nearly slipped out.
"I just froze and didn't do anything. I just sat there like a coward while Ashido was the real Hero back there."
"Ashido?"
"She's a girl I know, we go to the same school…" The boy muttered. "But she's more of a man than I'll ever be. She was brave enough to actually step up to that villain, and he took off after that. Why couldn't I be brave like her? I'm just too damn weak."
The teen ate more fries, and he stared at the back of the diner and into the kitchen.
"Not to sound rude but I honestly don't know why I'm even telling you this. I don't even know who you are."
There was a quick silence, until the blue streaked teen set his mug down so hard that it shook the other teen.
"Don't you ever say that again, got it?" He stated.
"Huh?"
He suddenly pulled his stool right next to the teen and looked him dead in the eye.
"Never tell yourself you're weak, keep your damn head high and you can accomplish whatever you want." He said angrily. "You froze and you chickened out, ain't nothin' will fix that."
"You think I don't already know that?" The teen asked irritably.
"No, but you wanna know something?"
"You may have copped out, but the fact that you had the balls to step up in the first place is what really matters."
The teen widened his eyes in shock, and the other sighed.
"You knew you had to do something and you had the idea to go right in. I get it, you were scared, I get scared too, everyone does. It's what makes us human." The blue streaked teen said. "But most people would just turn away, but you felt that you had to do something. That makes you manly, at least to me."
The teen then bumped his fist on the other one's shoulder and leaned backward. He let out a small yawn and continued his decaf. He glanced over at the black haired boy and noticed he was in shock. He picked at his fries for a moment, until he finally ate a small handful. Then, he gently pushed his basket toward the teen.
"Here." He said.
"Uh, sorry?" The blue streaked teen asked.
"Go ahead I mean it. Thanks for saying all of that man!"
"Oh, sure."
Together they ate the fries, and they both felt the elegant and crispy delight of the fries as they ate.
"Here, let me repay the favor."
The teen slid over his negimaki, and together, they finished the meal.
"Wow, that was great. Thanks for everything, really." The teen said.
"Anytime. Oh and about what you said earlier, about why you're telling me everything?"
"Yeah? Oh, sorry I hope I didn't insult you."
"Nah you're fine, I think it's because I'm just some guy, you know?" He said. "I'm not any of your friends so hey, no need to be embarrassed right?"
"Huh, maybe. I didn't really think about it like that." The other teen replied. "But you know what? You're right, I was brave in that moment and that's what counts, gotta celebrate the small victories! I just need to learn not to be so afraid all the time."
"Not really, I think the issue is different than that."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"A wise man once said, 'courage is not the absence of fear, it is the ability to act in the presence of fear.'" he spoke.
The black haired teen suddenly had a sparkle in his eye, and he smiled with a toothy grin.
"Yoooo you're quoting Bruce Lee? You've got awesome taste."
"He had a way with words, and uh, thanks." The other teen said with a smile.
He finished his decaf and clapped his hands.
"Gochisousama."
"Hey now that I think about it I don't even know your name!" The stranger said. "The name's Eijiro Kirishima, nice to meet you."
The teen with the blue streak in his hair burped, then blushed. He saw that Kirishima held a fist upward. The boy smiled, and bumped his fist.
"Haruki Mochizuki." He said. "Nice to meet you too, Kirishima."
The waitress came over and saw the empty plate and basket. She nodded and bit her lip.
"Well that's a sight for sore eyes, looks like you finally met my son, ain't he a cutie?"
"MOM!" Kirishima shouted, he blushed so much that his face turned red. Haruki laughed.
"Yeah, though the hair seems a little messy he should probably brush it or something."
"I think he'd look better if he cut it short." Mrs. Kirishima added.
"Aw come on not both of you!"
Haruki chuckled alongside Mrs. Kirishima, and the latter handed the young man his bill. He took out several bills of yen and handed it back to her.
"May I have a decaf to-go please?" Haruki asked.
"Sure thing, gonna have to brew a new pot though it should only take a minute."
Mrs. Kirishima grabbed the ground decaf beans and filled the coffee machine, and Haruki turned his attention to his new comrade. Kirishima was vigorously brushing his hair with his hands, and Haruki bumped him on the shoulder.
"Hey lighten up, I was only joking." He said in a friendly manner.
"Yeah, I know." Kirishima replied. "Let me guess you're gonna say I should get a fade or something? I mean look at you, you dyed your hair with that blue strand you got."
"Oh, actually this is natural, had it since birth."
"Oh, oh! Wow, I didn't-"
"It's okay, I get that all the time." Haruki replied. "Who knows, maybe when we see each other again you'll dye your hair red or something."
"Red huh?" Kirishima asked.
"Yeah, seems fitting. Who knows maybe it'll give you some flair. Well, I don't know I'm makin' this up as I go."
"Heh, fair." Kirishima joked.
Haruki snickered along with his new friend. Then, he grabbed a small bag and got up from the stool.
"Well it's time for me to head out, nice meeting you Kirishima."
"Alright, hey wait!"
As Haruki was leaving, he turned around and saw Kirishima approach him with his phone out.
"Wanna exchange phone numbers? I know we just met but hey, we're both going for U.A. so maybe it'd help to know each other!"
"Oh, yeah I'm fine with that." Haruki replied.
He reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. At first it appeared as an old flip-phone, but as Haruki opened the lid, a large screen appeared much like one on a typical smartphone. He unlocked it, but when he reached his home screen, he paused.
"Uh, sorry but you think you can help me out here?"
"Huh, it's not that hard is it?" Kirishima asked. Haruki blushed, and looked away."
"Well actually this is my first phone, my dad never let me have one growing up so… I'm a little lost on how to use one."
"Oh that's fine, this'll take two seconds. Here let me show you."
Haruki looked at Kirishima, who continued to show his toothy grin. Haruki felt a warm feeling inside, like a calm summer breeze had washed over him when Kirishima was close. He handed the young man his phone, and Kirishima walked him through. He opened the contacts app and pressed the 'add contact' button. Then Kirishima typed in his full name, followed by his phone number. He typed out a message and clicked send, and when he did, he felt his own device vibrate in his pocket.
"Alright there we go! I'll just add you right back and… there! We can talk whenever we want!"
"Sounds good." Haruki replied.
They bumped fists one more time.
"Well, seeya at the entrance exam!" Haruki cried.
"Hell yeah, here's hoping we both pass!" Kirishima shouted.
He returned to his seat, and Haruki left the diner. As he turned the corner and started walking down the snow ridden street he zipped up his jacket and huddled his shoulders. And yet, as he ventured home, he couldn't help but smile.
"Well, guess I made my first friend."