Next To Me

Chapter 17: Beach Bois

~ Revised 30/01/24~

- Somewhere Downtown -

"Did you see this joke?" A shaky voice breathes, slapping a newspaper with the headline 'All Might Becomes U.A. Teacher! Closes Agency Temporarily' onto a bar surface. "It says he's a teacher now." The voice says, increasingly more agitated.

The owner of the voice, Tomura Shigaraki, placed his iced drink on top of the newspaper.

"Hey," He addressed his comrade, a tall man in a white and black suit, with a body made entirely of dark purple mist. He stood behind the dimly lit bar, drying a glass as the scraggly man sat on a bar stool.

"What do you think would happen when the mighty Symbol of Peace is finally killed by the villains?!" His voice was raspy and dripping with evil.

The man behind the bar said nothing, as it wasn't unusual for his co worker to get easily riled. After a few moments of silence between the two, Shigaraki slammed his fist down onto the table, making his drink jump up and topple over.

"We'd be on top! That what would happen! The villains could cause enough destruction to show the world how fragile their justice really is," His breaths came out shaky and uneven, his eyes wild with hate. "We just have to take out All Might, and it would all be ours! THEN, everyone will see!" The room fell silent.

"Tomura," the misty bartender finally spoke, but his words didn't reach the male as his rant of insanity continued.

"How can this scum think he's fit to be a teacher?! Just because the world praises him for being a so-called 'hero'?! God, All Might pisses me off. He really just PISSES ME OFF!" Tomura grabbed the newspaper in his fist and threw it to the ground below him.

Silence fell over the two once again. All that could be heard was Tomura's heavy, angry breathing.

"Shig-"

"I'm going for a walk," Tomura announced, his voice chillingly dull.

With that, the pale lanky male stood up from his seat and pulled off the hand over his face, revealing cracked, dull, wrinkly features. His lips were dry and uneven, as if he had been chewing on them. He gently placed the hand on top of the bar. Quickly pulling the black hood over his head, he shoved his hands into his pant pockets and opened the exit door.

Walking out into the cool air of the city and the warm glow of the setting sun.

-Bakugou Residence -

When [Y/n] arrived back to her place, after saying goodbye to Kirishima as he dropped her off, she was surprised to see that Katsuki wasn't home. Mitsuki greeted her in the kitchen.

"Hey! [Y/n]!" She called from the kitchen's island. "Katsuki isn't with you?" She asked.

[Y/n] felt a hot electric shiver run itself down her spine at his name. Especially from the lips of his own mother.

"Uh, no..," [Y/n] replied.

A thought suddenly struck her as she went to continue speaking. If Katsuki left before her, and yet he still wasn't home, he's more-than-likely avoiding his home. The thought made [Y/n]'s heart drop a little. But, if he's avoiding coming home, that also means avoiding his parents. I bet he's on one of his hikes. So, he probably doesn't want his parents to know he's sulking around in the woods by himself.

"He wanted to fit in some extra training after school," [Y/n] hoped the lie seemed realistic enough.

Mitsuki blinked at [Y/n]'s response but nodded, nonetheless believing it. She turned back around and picked up a bowl, stirring it rather aggressively.