Six O'Clock Shadow

Chapter Two

Kaminari stared at his ceiling. The sound of a clicking camera was following him. He jumped and looked around, but found no one. Timidly, he lay back down, suddenly on edge. At this point, he was positive that someone was taking photos of him, but why? He wasn't anyone special. He only had a social media presence because Mina had made fun of him for not, and even then the accounts were dead.

It was nearly three in the morning, and he knew that he should sleep, but these questions were plaguing his mind, and sleep wouldn't come. Kaminari had tried counting sheep, meditated, walked around the house to get his blood flowing, finished a crossword, and read a lot of the book he was reading (which wasn't all that interesting). But his bed was growing uncomfortable and his throat and mouth were becoming dry.

Getting out of bed, he decided he was done just laying around and counting the cracks in the ceiling. Kaminari threw on a random shirt that had been on his floor. He had probably tossed it there the day before, and without turning on any lights, he left his apartment.

Kaminari walked down the now quiet street. He hoped that walking around a little would get rid of the pervasive thoughts. During the day, the sound of cars and horns being blared could be exhausting, but in the dead of the morning, it was silent. If he had been getting more sleep, it would have been odd, but the thought never crossed Kaminari's mind.

He walked to the public park, and after some wandering he found a spot that had a clear view of the sky. It was full of stars, and he could faintly see the Milky Way.

Kaminari stared at the sky for a long time. He wasn't thinking about anything. The twinkling stars held his attention for a long time. Which was unusual for him, his attention usually flitted from one thing to another. This only ever happened when he was tired, which Kaminari definitely was.

Kaminari heard a bird chirping, which broke him out of his trance. He tried to turn his head to look in the direction, but the sky held his gaze as there was a spell, or quirk, at play.

He heard a twig break behind him, so he looked to see who else was in the park at such a late hour.

There was nothing there.

A breeze fluttered by, teasing his hair. It smelled fresh, and a blissful feeling bloomed in his chest.

Kaminari tried to stand up, but he couldn't move his body.

He tried moving again, to no avail. It was like his limbs were glued to the ground. A feeling of apprehension was taking over him, and he was starting to sweat.

Kaminari tried moving, but again, he couldn't. A feeling of dread took over the one of apprehension as he heard someone walking towards him. Kaminari wanted to run, scream, fight - anything! But, he couldn't. He was terrified, even more so when the person put their hand on his shoulder. It was cold, it felt like ice.

Kaminari shot up, sweat dripping off his brow and panting. It was a dream. It was over. He stood up, and opened his curtains. It was still dark out, with only the faintest hint at the morning light in the sky.

The sounds of traffic pierced his ears when he opened the window. They were always there, he could only wish for the quiet of the countryside.

Kaminari would start getting ready for his day, but he didn't feel like it. There was no reason to go in, anyway. He lay back down on his bed instead.

It didn't take long for his alarm to go off. Groaning, he sat up.

He needed coffee. Sooner, rather than later.

The walk to the cafe was thankfully uneventful, and after unlocking the door to the Bronze Door (who's door wasn't actually bronze) he almost immediately started a pot of coffee. The Bronze Door was average looking. It didn't have any extravagant signs or garish drinks, just teas, coffees, and pastries. If one were to describe the cafe, it would be cozy.

Kaminari stepped behind the counter, and started an inventory of pastries. He had to make more every few days, that way the treats were always fresh. He took any stale ones home.

They needed more croissants. Kaminari didn't want to make croissants, or anything for that matter. He had made a huge batch of cookies yesterday.

So, instead of baking, Kaminari stood behind the counter. Staring at the empty spots that he was supposed to fill with fresh croissants. Apparently, he stood there a long while, because by the time he looked up, Krishima was in for his shift. The lack of sleep was getting to him.

Kirishima was a morning person, and after getting his apron on, the 'uniform' for the Bronze Door, he started chatting at Kaminari.

From what he could gather, Kaminari supposed that Kirishima had a villain encounter on the way over. The villain was 'a super unmanly dude!' and had stolen someone's purse. Further than that, Kaminari started spacing out again.

"Then, the hero was like ka-POW and..." He started trailing off, "Kaminari? Are you listening to me?" Kirishima snapped his fingers, and Kaminari looked up.

"You were saying something?" Kaminari asked.

"Yeah, dude! You weren't ignoring me, were you?" Kirishima realized, looking a little hurt.

"Uhh...." Kaminari gave a little laugh. He didn't have a good answer for his friend.

"Whatever man. Oh, hey! First customer of the day is here!" Kirishima said, right before the bell rang. Kaminari was glad that his friend got distracted so easily. "I'll take your order," he said to the person.

"Thanks, I'll have Earl Grey tea, with a sugarcube. No cream, please." They didn't look at the menu or anything, so they had probably been here before, Kaminari thought.

They look vaguely familiar. They had lavender hair that was thrown up into a messy bun, and a heavy dusting of freckles that covered their face. They also had an eye patch covering their left eye. Now that Kaminari was looking closer, they looked really familiar.

He shrugged it off though, and told them that they could take a seat. They were standing there a little awkwardly.

"Thanks," they said. They sounded even more tired than how Kaminari felt.

"Hey dude, take this over to them?" Kirishima asked. The tea hadn't taken long to boil, and the person looked happy about that. Kaminari didn't blame them. If he had gone to a cafe before seven, he'd want his caffeine quickly too.

After setting the teacup in front of the person, Kaminari went back behind the desk. He was going to have a long day, he could already tell.

~~Word Count 1126~~