Glowstick

Chapter Five

A few weeks had gone by since meeting the hero, to which he already forgot his name.He only remembered just today when Ashido Mina(yes, he finally remembered her name, but don't tell her that.)walked in the cafe after her first day of school wearing the U.A. uniform. Her hair was messier than it normally was, and her antenna horns were droopy.

"Ugh my teacher is literally the worst!"

"Oh yeah? What did he do? Give you a test on the first day?"

"Worse! It was that quirk test thingy! I haven't done one of those since the beginning of junior high!"

He ended up giving her a drink on the house because she somehow left her wallet at home, which he ended up starting a tab anyways as this was the 3 time this week. She took a big gulp, smacked her lips a few times, and sighed happily. "Thanks boo. I needed this."

"So." He got an order ready for a customer while Pinky finished her drink at the barstool behind the counter that she didn't even ask to sit on. "Who's your mean teacher? Some guy walked in here one night and said he worked there."

"Eraserhead of all people. He looks like a hobo so you wouldnt think that he would almost expel an entire class on the first day."

Akari hummed. Yeah, hobo fits the dude well. Having his hero name in his memories now, he could briefly remember the dude from when he was a little younger. The underground hero was barely on T.V. so the occasional headline "Fighting thugs: Eraserhead seen patrolling at night." Or something like that. He didn't care too much for his actual name but calling him Eraserhead would be better than nothing.

Mina had left after awhile as it was wash day for her hair, leaving him to actually do his job. It was mostly slow that day since breakfast and lunch are the busiest times, so he was trying to refill coffee pots and bake cookies while he could. Luckily he wasnt the only one who opened the cafe this morning as his uncle had to do inventory counts and run money the store made to the bank. Usually when this happened, Uncle would help out by taking orders and making drinks while Akari filled orders and stocked the desplay case.

But now it was 9:30pm. He was locking the doors to the building for the night when he heard footsteps get closer.

"Oh, shit. I forgot you closed at 9."

The voice was vaguely familiar. Akari looked towards the man rolling his eyes."Yup. Sucks to be you, old man." He put the keys in his bag before throwing it over his shoulder. "Looks like your patrol break is over before it started."

"Honestly? I was just in the area and thought I'd stop by. I like to switch if blocks every other night. But now I'll just go back to patroling."

"In that case, you can walk me home. There's been a few sketchy people the last few nights and i forgot my pepper spray."

Eraserhead shook his head at the boy who didn't even stop to see if he was following him. He didn't know why, but he fell into step beside Akari. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a glow. It was more noticeable now that it was dark outside. Only his hair, eyes and freckles seemed to light up the dark street with hardly any street loghts around.

"Kinda sucks glowing all the time." The said male spoke up, noticing the mans eyes. " It's never truly dark."

He was right. He could see a little better with the glowing boy. He wasn't lying when he said he was basically a glowstick.

The walk to Akari's apartment soon came to an end when they got to the front entrance to the building. Said male dug into his bag for his keys and a little paper bag. Writing something down on the paper, he pushed the bag into Eraserheads hands without a second thought."Here's some cookies. You know, incase you want a snack later on." He swiped his key card on the front entrance before turning to the man with a grin. " Thanks for walking me home. Even if i forced you to."

With that he was inside.

Had he always had that smirk hidden somewhere? He had only met the boy once but with his straight forward attitude and sarcastic responses, he didn't expect such an expression out of him. The way his eyes squinted as his cheeks lifted. The way he tilted his head a little to the left as his freckles glowed a little brighter.

He shook his head. What was wrong with him?

"Get it together , Sho." He tucked the cookies into his pocket. " You don't have time for that stuff."

"I'm home!"

Akari closed the door behind him after entering his apartment. He didn't bother taking off his shoes before tossing his bag on the arm of the couch. The thumping of paws echoed through the tiny living room before a very pudgy cat rubbed against his legs.

"Merow!"

"I know, you're probably hungry. I wasn't able to have a longer break today to come back home." He usually leaves food out all day anyways but he gives him wet food when he comes home because Dr.Pickles simply refuses to eat dry food while Akari is gone.The kitchen was where he kept the felines food. He popped open a can before sitting it not so gently on the ground. Dr.Pickles disrespectfully tripped his companion on his way to dinner.

"This is the thanks i get for feeding you."

He made his way to his bedroom to change into his lounge wear; running shorts, a hoodie and a pair of socks with pictures of turtles on them. The rest of his night was uneventful besides him watching YouTube on his phone while he began to get tired. Dr.Pickles had finished his dinner so he made himself comfortable  beside Akari.

Just a boy and his cat, what a wonderful life.