A Flower's Affection (KiriBaku Flower Shop AU)

Eijiro Kirishima

        It was a Thursday, a Thursday afternoon at that, a day that Eijiro Kirishima could only consider to be the worst out of the week. Hump-day had come and gone, Friday and the weekend were far into the future, and all hope of this week being swell had vanished. Even with the help of his hairband, the humidity had caused his flashy red hair to lie flat, leaving him slightly miserable, unusual for his normally bubbly persona.

        The flower shop also hated Thursdays. Most customers came in on the weekend, or even Monday, so business was slow, and Kirishima found himself with nothing to do except wipe down the counters for the fifth time that hour. He'd had one customer all day, to the point he told his one incredibly shy employee to go ahead and go home for the day. 

        Kirishima sighed. He considered closing early and simply heading home since he wasn't making any money, but the flower shop technically didn't belong to him. His father had owned the store, a gift for his mother years ago, and Kirishima was allowed to run the store in order to pay for college. At last, that's what he told himself. Besides, closing early wouldn't be very manly.

        College, Kirishima groaned internally. He'd be expected to maintain his position at the store, as well as his classes, and his... Nightly activities. But college was his dream. This particular college, UA, was the most prestigious in all of Japan, super manly, and very exclusive. Just attending could make you a prime candidate for any job in the country. Graduating with honors would allow enough fame and fortune to do anything.

        Almost all the graduates joined high tier business corporations near the school. Some, like Hizashi Yamada, became television celebrities, radio hosts, or models-- though Kirishima wondered why you had to go to an expensive college to do that. As far as he could tell, all the students had one thing in common: every single one of them had a quirk. A quirk was a special ability, a superpower of sorts, and about ten percent of the population had one. Actually, people speculated that that number was much higher, since most people didn't register or boast their quirks, and most of the ones that did wore masks.

        And no one ever agreed how expensive the school was. They gave out scholarships all the time, seemingly at random, and an application wouldn't even be considered without a recommendation from a "qualified former student." Kirishima had no idea what that meant. But, he could settle for the community college on the other side of town.

        A news report running on the television caught his attention with its bright explosions, and he turned up the volume, knowing instantly what this would be about. A fight had broken out hours ago downtown, and three heroes had appeared on the scene shortly after. Heroes were an everyday part of life in the world, just as much as quirks, and though the police had no idea the identities behind the masks, they'd learned to work alongside them. The police weren't allowed to use their quirks against "villains," but the anonymous heroes could, and didn't hesitate, despite the danger they put themselves in by doing so. It was why Kirishima liked them so much. He thought they were very manly, even the women.

        Ground Zero had been the first one on the scene, making an explosive entrance right into the villain's stomach with a strong right hook and a crazed grin. Granted, the villain was easily twenty-six feet tall, but he still lost his lunch all over poor Grape Juice. Personally, Kirishima didn't care for Grape Juice too much--he could stand to have a bit more chivalry. Shoto had been helpful, though, freezing the villain still while Ground Zero pounded him until he deactivated his quirk and shrank back to a much more manageable size. 

        When the fight was over, Shoto seemed to say something to Ground Zero that ticked him off, and the cameras promptly shut off. The media tried to paint heroes in as good a light as possible, and Ground Zero had an explosive temperamental personality that matched his quirk. He had a tendency to scream extremely creative profanities at reporters and fellow heroes.