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Denji sat there, leaning against his backpack as he stared at the flowers. Reze would be coming any minute now, right? She wouldn't back out on him. He knows she wouldn't. She would never. He knows she wouldn’t. She loves him, like he loves her. He watched as another petal fell, landing on the table. A heavy sigh from him blew it away, floating through the air before falling over the edge, vanishing onto the floor like the last few petals. Maybe he should just head home, come back tomorrow. She’s probably just caught up with something. They did cause a bit of dam-
He perked up as the bell to the cafe rang, the ding echo-ing through the room as the man behind the counter sat up, going to speak, only to be interrupted by a rough voice, like someone who smoked half a pack of cigarettes for fun every day. “I’m not here for your shit food, old man. I’ll stop at McDonalds or some shit on the way home.” Nevermind, that wasn’t her. Probably someone waiting for a yakuza meeting or something. Back to waiting.
“Hey. Dumbass.”
Man, she sure is taking awhile. The train is probably running late. Or maybe she’s caught in traffic. Doesn’t she have to cross a few roads to get here?
“Are you fucking deaf? I’m talking to you.”
God, is this guy arguing with someone over the phone? What’s his pro-
He was interrupted in his musing by a pair of leather covered gloves grabbing his chin, yanking his gaze away from the corner to the view of a… surprisingly young man, for that voice. He looked about the same age as Denji himself. Except… different in every other way. Ridiculously spikey hair, and jeez, what’s with that getup? He looked like some loser in a halloween costume. Denji smacked the man’s hands away from his chin, huffing and going back to his musing, only to be interrupted again. “Hey, moron! Can you fucking listen to me for a minute?”
Denji stretched a bit, finally giving the man a bit of attention. “What do you want, man, I’m waiting for someone, jeez.” He cracked his neck, realizing how stiff he got from laying against her his backpack for so long. “Can’t you go bother someone else to be your date for comic-con? I’m not into dudes, so don’t try and convince me.”
The man took a second to stare, before pinching the bridge of his nose. “Shut. The fuck up. For… Five? Minutes.” Denji opened his mouth to retort, only for the man to reach forwards and push his chin shut as the smell of burnt caramel filled his nostrils. Jeez. The hell kinda body wash does this guy use? Werther original? Eugh. He pulled his face out of the man’s hands, grimacing as he gestured for him to talk. “Fine, jeez. Talk about whatever, I don’t give a shit.”
The man leaned back in his chair, front two legs lifting off the ground as he took a moment to think, before starting. “Quit. Being. A. Little. Bitch. You’re like if someone blended together the worst of Deku and the best of the purple shithead. All you fucking do is define yourself by the women you try to pick up. Knock it the fuck off.” Denji went to retort, only for him to hold up a hand. “I’ve seen you fight. I wasn’t able to make it here in time to help in that big storm bullshit, but you aren’t weak. I saw you kicking ass. And yeah, you wanted to hook back up with your girlfriend. I assume that’s who you’re waiting for?”
Denji grit his teeth, but nodded. The man continued. “Cool. Forget her. If you’re still here waiting after… What, 5, 6 hours and she hasn’t shown? She’s either dead, skipped town, or dating someone else. Either way, you need to move on. Find something else to do with your life. Pick up painting or cooking or find a damn sparring buddy or something. Just knock it off with this ‘woe is me, the girl i find hot vanished.’ bullshit.” A jabbed finger at his chest. “I refuse to let some knock-off tape face with chainsaws be so pathetic. Grow up. Knock off this b-tier schoolboy drama bullshit. You have a kickass power but refuse to be able to do anything with it because you’re too busy moping over some chick.”
Denji had had enough. “Oh fuck off with that! I doubt you know what it’s like! I never had anything growing up! Not my fault I’m finally enjoying the high life with cute girls and good food! And then a second cute girl shows up! I won the lottery! She takes me to school, teaches me, gives me a kiss at the festival, only for it to turn out she’s like me, and wants to take my heart! But she still loves me! I know she does! So I’ve gotta wait here, until she comes back, because I refuse to abandon her!”
The man glares. Well, Glares more. It seemed glaring was his natural state. “Oh, boo hoo. You grew up without things. You finally got something! You got the bare fucking minimum! You got to interact with people! You got to eat things! Are you seriously happy with that? You’re even fucking stupider than I thought if you’re seriously, completely happy with that! You managed to get your foot on the first step and think you climbed to the top! News flash, jackass, you’ve got a whole damn mountain ahead of you, and you’ll never climb it if you settle for just the first rock.”
Good fuck, could this guy stop yelling? “Oh yeah?! You want to talk about the mountain, what the hell is your mountain, huh? What could you possibly strive for besides girls and food?” The man grinned, as if waiting for that question. He dropped his chair back onto the legs, standing up and stomping a foot on the table. “You want to know about what my mountain is? You want to know what I want? I want to be the damn number one hero! I want to make all the villains shit themselves every time they hear me on the scene! I’m the Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight! I’m Katsuki Bakugo! And I’m GOING to be the strongest hero there is!”
Denji… could not react. The only thing that leapt to mind was ‘God damn it, this guy is a lunatic. Someone call the asylum.’ He sat there, staring at the man as the owner behind the bar jumped at the sudden yelling, throwing a wet rag at the back of… Bakugo’s head. “Hey, asshole! Get your damn feet off the tables before I call the cops!”
Bakugo visibly grit his teeth, stepping down from the table. “Tell you what. If you’re really such a chump that you’re happy on the first step, forget it. If you can muster up the energy to keep climbing, forget I was ever here. Go back to your bare minimum. But if you want to keep climbing, if you want to reach the top of that mountain?” He pulled out a small, black card from his pockets, holding it out. “There’s an alleyway about a mile away. Should be one of those weird ones where it’s blocked off. Give that card to the second door on the right. Come find me at Yuuei. I’ll make you reach that top.”
Denji took the card with a strange feeling in his chest. It definitely wasn’t how he felt around Miss Makima, or Reze… it was almost more like how he felt when a devil showed up. That sense of challenge, of awaiting reward, but… less aggressive. Hm. Maybe he should just throw the card away… but what did he say about the mice? He’s a city mouse. If he threw the card away, he’d be no better than the country mouse. Avoiding taking risks so he can get the better things. Isn’t anything worth it for better food? Any risk worth it?... He’ll have to check it out on one of his days off. By the time he looked up, the man was gone, with only the muddy footprint on the table and the card in his pocket as proof that it ever existed.
Oh, and the annoying old man yelling at him about the footprint. “Gah, shut up already. I don’t work here, clean it off yourself!” He stood up, grabbing his backpack, before looking at the flowers on the table… “If Reze comes around, tell her those flowers are from me.” Before turning to step out the door, and not looking back.