cherry blossom

02

"Oh, Cherry Blossom" My head snaps to the sound, locking eyes with the culprit.

"What are you stalking me? Got your feelings hurt?" I ask with a sly grin on my face. Bakugo scoffs and shakes his head.

"I asked that half and half where I could find you, and he told me here." I roll my eyes, of course Shoto told him where I work. I'm surprised he didn't give him our home address as well. "I asked Deku about you, he told me about all your pro work in America. Why do you work here and not at a pro agency?" I glance around the club and shrug my shoulders.

"The money." His jaw drops. "I've done the whole being a pro-hero, not my favorite thing in the world."

"YOU'D MAKE MORE MONEY AS A PRO!" He outbursts, making some of the customers look our way. My hand shoots out, dragging him up against the bar by his metal belt. "Hey, what the-" I shove my free hand against his face, covering his mouth.

"Do you know how to shut up? God, you're annoying. Do you really think I'm going to spill all my secrets the second time meeting you?" I release his belt and he stumbles back. "At least buy me dinner first." I mumble and hear him laugh.

"When do you get off?" Now it's my jaw that's on the floor. "What can I say? Something is intriguing about you, I gotta know." He scratches the back of his head like he's nervous.

What the hell, I've got nothing to lose I guess. I let the girl on the other side of the bar know what's going on and she smiles at me, telling me to have fun.

"Let's go." I throw my towel down and jump over the bar. I skip ahead of him and step out onto the dark street. He grabs my hand tightly and pulls me away from the road.

"Don't step onto the street with oncoming traffic!!" He screams.

"You worry too much. Now where is the number two hero's car? I can't wait to see what it is." He rolls his eyes and points his key at an all-black American muscle car. "Of course." I step towards the car but he pulls me back again, stepping ahead of me. He steps down onto the street and opens the passenger side door for me. A smile creeps onto my face and I thank him as I hop in. He gets into the driver's side and pulls out into the busy streets of Tokyo.

"So where to?" He looks over at me and I shrug my shoulders. "Women..." He mumbles. I laugh and roll my eyes. He makes a left-hand turn and continues down the street before pulling into a parking lot. I look at the restaurant and it's a cute little sushi place. "I've been here a couple of times, it's pretty good." He gets out of the car and runs over to my side, opening the door for me. I step out of the car and we work our way into the restaurant.

They gave us a small table in the back, trying to draw less attention to us which is appreciated. I'm sure Bakugo doesn't want to be photographed with a random girl. Wouldn't be good for business. The server quickly takes our order and leaves us be.

"So how do you know Icy Hot?" I tilt my head to the side and look at Bakugo.

"Hey, that's my nickname for him!" I exclaim. "We've known each other since we were kids, always been super close. When I moved back from America, you guys were graduating. We moved in together and he's my best friend." A sigh escapes my lips, and my finger circles my glass rim. "I felt so bad because I was away and Shoto had to go through all that bullshit by himself. He obviously didn't have his dad to lean on for support, and the time zone is so different that we could never get in touch." Bakugo nods his head along as he listens. "So what about you?" I lock eyes with him and a shiver runs down my spine, it's like he's staring into my soul.

"You just said yourself I graduated school with him. And I've beat him for the number two spot, although I don't think he's putting himself really out there which REALLY PISSES ME OFF!" I roll my eyes and laugh.

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A soft knock on the door jolts me out of my sleep. I rub my eyes and look at the clock next to me. "0450" Shoto must be home from work. A sigh escapes my lips as I push myself out of my bed. I swing open the door and Shoto stands in the doorway, tears escaping his eyes. I pull him into my arms and he crumbles into me. I run my hands through his hair and shush him.

"What happened Shoto?" I whisper. He pulls back from our embrace and slides to the floor. I pull my shirt over my knees and do the same, putting my head on his shoulder.

"I just had a rough day at work. A building collapsed and we lost so many people. The villain... He looked like Dabi, and I know it wasn't him but it brought back so much." My arm wraps around his head.

So much had happened while I was away in America, if I had been home I could've helped Shoto get through this. "Bakugo and Izuku were there, and they watched me freeze. I couldn't move. What if there were more people we could've saved, but couldn't because I froze. Bakugo yelled for me and snapped me out of it." He shakes his head and more tears fall out. I shush him once more and fully embrace him.

"Shoto, you did the best you could out there. You couldn't help the fact that your emotions came over you. If the building collapsed there wasn't much you could do anyways with your quirk, so your freezing couldn't have made the problem worse." I can feel him shake his head against my chest. I cusp his face into my hands, and make him look into my eyes. "You are one of the best heroes there is Shoto. No one is going to hold this against you, so you need to stop blaming yourself for freezing for a second." My hand removes a stray tear that escaped his eyes. He nods his head and falls back into me. I can feel him relax against my body and I lay my head on top of his, closing my eyes.