Short Stories and Random One-shots

Leon×Akiko: First Encounter

"Atta boy!" The Hero stroked the purring kitten before handing it over to his grateful owner. It was as if he had the power to compel cats no matter how independent these creatures were.

"But... How?"

"Hmm?" The Hero looked up at Akiko and she realised she had said her thoughts out loud. This amused the Hero and he laughed before putting a finger on his lips.

"That's a secret! Do you need help getting out of there?"

"Oh, no need! I'll be fine!" Akiko immediately made her way down just to prove her point. In the haste to climb down, she missed a branch and lost her footing. She closed her eyes, bracing for the impact. Instead, what she felt herself land on something warm and the weird sensation of being lifted in the air.

"Huh?" Opening her eyes, Akiko found herself looking straight into the Hero's warm, brown eyes. She wasn't just face to face with him, the Hero was also carrying her in a bridal style.

"Are you alright? Your face's a little red..." Oblivious to Akiko's increasing awkwardness, the Hero leaned in closer to inspect it.

Too close!
Akiko hid her face with her hands, feeling extremely shy for no apparent reason.

"Umm... I'm fine. So can you put me down now?"

"O-oh, right! Sorry!" The young Hero gently let Akiko down and helped to her feet.
An awkward silence was saved between the two when Akiko's friends surrounded her, hugging and nagging her for being so careless. Somehow, talking to him with a super awkward and weird tension there was out of the question. They were really friendly just now and why did it became this hard to talk to an older boy?

Fortunately, she was saved when another Hero with wild, dark hair approached the group. Yawning, he adjusted the white lab goggles over his eyes before raising an eyebrow at the tension between Akiko and his buddy. "Huh, look what we have here... Flirting on the first day of internship? You really have courage, I'll give you that."

The blond boy recognised this newcomer and was flustered by the sudden teasing. "No, no, you're wrong Sharp-Fire! I'm just not sure how to warn them about the photo... Urgh, those incidents happening, you know? Help me a bit here!"

"Hehh, so Mr. Brave guy has things he's embarrassed about huh? No way, do it on your own, it's too troublesome for me to care for your debut too." Chuckling, the Hero, Sharp-Fire, grinned a carefree smile and introduced himself.
"Marksman Hero, Sharp-Fire. Pleased to meet you."

"Courageous Hero, Lionheart, at your service!"

So, the first Hero was called Lionheart. It was a perfect fit for someone with a heart as beautiful as him. Akiko then realised that this may be the reason why Lionheart had been able to communicate with the kitten. The mighty lion was supposed to be the king of cats, so it made perfect sense why the little grey cat would obey him.

The two new Heroes were on an assignment to catch a prankster as part of their debut. This prankster had been reported for taking indecent pictures under women's skirts with his quirk, so they kept a lookout for him.

"Eww... That's awful!"

"We'll be careful." Akiko nodded in agreement at her best friend's words. She recalled something suspicious before and hastily spoke out. "I think I remember someone wearing a black mask and holding a camera near a weird cosplayer just now. Is that him?"

"That's right!" Lionheart brightened and nodded happily, grabbing hold of Akiko's hand. "Where did you last see them?"

"... Weird cosplayer... I don't suppose it's that guy over there?" Sharp-Fire pointed over to a man dressed in flashy, wizard-like robes a few streets away. He seemed to have attracted quite a few kids around him who were interested in his clothes, tugging at them much to the man's displeasure.

"That's him alright! Ah?!" As soon as Akiko pointed out the suspicous looking pervert with a camera, the man spotted them and fled from the scene quickly.

"Oh, look. He's running away..." Sharp-Fire stated the obvious with a deadpan delivery.

"I won't let you!" Yelling enthusiastically, Lionheart chased after the man immediately.

"Thanks for the help, miss. I'll be going the other way to corner him then."

"Thank you too and umm, please thank Lionheart for me!" Akiko noded and bowed politely to Sharp-Fire, thanking him. He shrugged, passing her a letter with an address written on it.

"Go thank him yourself, I'm not motivated enough to convey your message."

Looking at the disappearing figure, Akiko smiled and held the precious paper near her chest. Even with teasing from her friends, the girl kept beaming, mind giddy with happiness.

The sun was starting to set when Akiko heard light footsteps heading out from the Police Station building. She turned around, facing a blond shell-shocked teen who dropped the bag of snacks he was holding when he saw her. Akiko giggled, finding the way his brown eyes widen in surprise really endearing and the clumsy and vulnerable actions, very different from the super cool Hero he was a while ago.

"Hello, my name is Kurosawa Akiko. Thank you for saving me, may I know your name?"

*~*~*~*

"Been a while, Mercy."

In a dark corner of an alley, tucked away in the maze of concrete jungle, the "Hero", Sharp-Fire called out to the 'weird cosplayer' dressed in a fancy looking Inverness coat. Somehow, he managed to escape from the grasp of children without stirring much of a fuss and had been waiting for Sharp-Fire's arrival.

"Looks like the infiltration worked better than I assumed. How's life being a hero?"

"Mmm, so-so? It's troublesome following instructions but I suppose it's the same for this group too."

"Let's cut the small talk, shall we? The information?"

"Right here."

"Well done, as expected of our Sloth, Deadeye." Lips curled in a smile, the man known as Poison Mercy briefly glanced through the papers.

"Of course I can do that much. But please don't call me by that name in public, it would cause trouble for me."

"Alright, alright... Thank you for your generous contributions."

"U.A. High is switching to a boarding school soon. It'll be harder for communication, so send Wrath along if you wish to contact me personally."

"Hah! It'll be interesting to see that guy in a school uniform for the Heroes he hated so much. Knowing him, he'll rather dash past the cameras to avoid getting caught rather than to put it on... Even if it means wearing out his quirk."

"Heroes or Villains... They're all the same to me, it doesn't matter. I hope the organisation'll continue to treat me well for the time being, unless I change my stance or...

Till the time when I can finally earn my rest in peace."