Infectious

ch. 11

Chapter Eleven;;- Nighttime Patrol

The moon shone brightly down on the abandoned streets, lighting [name]'s path where the dim streetlights didn't. The stars were twinkling mischievously down on her, the cool night air only further amplifying the beauty of the dark night sky. How cliche... she thought to herself, gazing up at the stars.

Although [name] had developed insomnia in her early high school days, she had experienced sleeping problems for a long time as a child. She spent plenty of time tossing and turning in her bed at night, and later on, filling her sleepless nights with activities and hobbies, but she would be lying if she ever said she felt a connection to nighttime. She was naturally a night owl (as her body so forcefully told her) but passed the average person's appreciation of the stars, [name] didn't think they were all that special.

Sometimes the sunrise could capture her breath when it looked just right, but other than that, [name] remained completely neutral about the way the sky looked. It felt abnormal, to not be fascinated by the way the stars glittered or whatever other poetic things people said about the sky, but if [name] was anything, it would be abnormal.

If there was something [name] liked about the night, it was the quiet. Sleepless nights often resulted in painful headaches and migraines the next day, and there was nothing better for a headache (other than Excedrin, talk about a lifesaving over-the-counter drug) than a quiet street and clear night air. A street free of people bustling to and fro their busy lives and students taking time off and pets and street vendors loudly advertising their stuff... it felt peaceful, almost uncannily so.

A dog barked in the distance and a subsequent voice was heard, probably telling it to shut up, but it was too far away for [name] to make out the words. Cicadas screamed their songs, the crickets joining in on the crescendos. All the ambient noises that were the song of the night, never going to be played the exact same way again. The next night, the noises would differ slightly, and it would be a whole new song. It was noise, yet it was silence. It reminded her of summer nights back in America, listening to music with the window open[1].

[name] shoved her hands into the deep pockets of her hero costume, strolling along the street casually. Patrolling was always simple for her. Some heroes liked to swing around on rooftops or fly over the city or whatever, but [name] just liked to walk around. It was less flashy, but flashy was never her thing anyway. That was a habit she wasn't able to break after her time spent hiding her identity in America as an underground hero.

Being so lost in her thoughts, [name] didn't notice a young woman walking toward her, pulling on a leash. At the end of the leash was a shiba inu, panting and it pulled on the leash to get to [name].

"G-Gosh, I'm so sorry, Miki really likes to meet new people and--" The woman was practically panting as well, struggling to contain the dog.

[name] smiled at the dog, bending down to scratch the top of its head affectionately. Bebus was gonna be mad at her later. "You're fine. I love to meet new dogs too, Miki."

The woman paused, puzzling out [name]'s familiar voice and face. "Are you... Pathogen?" She asked tentatively. When [name] nodded, the woman gasped under her breath. "Wow! I never thought I'd meet you in person! Your accent is less obvious than on TV."

This sort of reaction was normal. In fact, this was one of the tamer reactions, especially if this woman was a fan. [name] gave her best hero smile. "It's always nice meeting a fan," [name] said genuinely. She was honestly so touched by how many people she had touched just by doing her own thing.

"C-Can we take a picture?"

They moved to under a streetlight for better lighting and the two women crouched down so that they could get Miki in the shot, too. It was a cute picture. [name] told the woman to tag her if she uploaded the picture on any social medias and the woman and Miki left again.

Almost immediately after the woman was out of sight, a loud 'hey!' startled [name] directly out of her skin.

She jumped and turned around swiftly, fists ready to attack. A massive sigh of relief passed her lips when she saw Yamada standing in front of her. "Jesus Christ, Mic, you just about scared the shit out of me."

He grinned and laughed boisterously. "Sorry 'bout that [surname]!" Yamada apologized, but the amused lilt in his laughter didn't sound all that apologetic. "I didn't know you patrolled around here."

"Yeah, it's the outskirts of my area. I don't come around her too often." [name]'s hands returned to her pockets and she leaned against the streetlight. "I didn't know you patrolled at night at all."

"Huh?" Mic seemed genuinely confused for a second, then when it clicked, he waved his hands in front of his face. "No, I'm not patrolling! I'm on my way home from the radio station. My spoken segment is over for the night, so it's just going to be music until tomorrow now."

[name] nodded, taking in the new information despite it probably not being useful to her at all. "Three jobs, huh?"

He shrugged, grin widening. "Sure, it's a lot to handle sometimes, but you know that they say! If you work a job you love, you never work a day in your life." In the moment, despite his loud personality, he seemed to grow somewhat quieter. The smile on his face told [name] that he was truly passionate about what he did. It was endearing, really. "It's what I love doing and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

She digested his words carefully. "That's admirable." [name] spoke with sincerity. She pushed herself away from the light post, standing straight. "Well, you probably want to get home and I gotta get back to patrolling. It was nice seeing you, Yamada."

Yamada nodded and said his own farewells, going off in the direction that [name] assumed was his house.

As [name] turned in her own direction to resume her patrol, she thought about how casually she had spoken to him. It felt like not long ago that she wasn't sure that she would ever fit in among the other teachers, but now she could talk to Yamada like it was nothing. She wasn't one to get close to people easily, but Yamada was easily sliding his way into her short list of friends.

[1]- for majority of my life, i lived in midwestern america. i never plan on specifying what part of america that the reader is from, but i know that having your window open in the summer in a lot of places probably would be unbearable. where i'm from, it would have been pleasant, but idk about other places. if you'd prefer to omit the part about the window being open, you're free to lol

a/n: you'll probably notice that the reader and aizawa aren't very close yet! well, both the reader and aizawa are people that i think don't open up to others right away. the reader and aizawa's relationship will be very gradual at first until reader is better friends with midnight and mic than she is with aizawa. sorry, but don't expect a whole lot of aizawa/reader for another couple chapters!

alSO HOLY SHIT i wanna write an epistolary story so fucken bad except i have no ideas or time,,,,,, why is being a writer so hard. someone write an epistolary story and somehow link our souls so it feels like i'm writing it. please.