A Flower's Affection (KiriBaku Flower Shop AU)

Eraserhead

        Eraserhead hated news networks.

        This would be obvious to anyone that knew him, but some of those people that did--his very best friend at that--often tried to force him out of the shadows and into the spotlight, which never ended well. Since he always worked the midnight hours, he needed a long nap after work to give him the energy to do his patrols, but his rambunxious friend seemed quite insistent on not letting him sleep.

        He was lucky that the air-time had been cut short so he could get to work, but his lack of sleep would limit his activity tonight. Running along rooftops and jumping into alleyways took a lot out of a hero. 

        Especially a hero with two jobs. Along with his usual duties--keeping the city safe, and what-not--the professors at UA had reached out to him for a favor. For whatever reason, they needed him to find the nighttime hero, Red Riot. He was also to report if he thought the hero was worth it. In their school full of quirks, Eraserhead could only imagine what the College President wanted with such a very specific potential student. It hadn't been the first time he was asked to chase down heroes for the school, and the last one turned out to be... not that intelligent, and very dangerous.

        He arrived on-scene late, later than the media even (crews, of which, were setting up behind the police barrier). His usual response time was within minutes, but traveling from across town to this failing jewelry store had taken nearly half an hour. When he finally showed up, the police had yet to go inside, which Eraserhead found strange. They seemed jittery, more nervous than usual, and he took that as a bad sign. He recognized the officer-in-charge and dropped down next to him.

        "Hey, Kitty-Cop, what have we got?"

        The officer jumped, more irritated than usual. The nickname came from his young, but slightly scruffy, cat-like face, and skittish reflexes, and had been with him since he joined the force. "Oh, nothing much, Eraserhead," he grumbled, clearly upset about something. "Quirkless villain motivated by quirk-related unemployment, robbery-gone-wrong, armed with at least one gun, six hostages, three entrances, and an amateur on the inside. Think I'm fired, yet?" He had a running bet with the pro-hero on how many stupid calls he could make to give heroes a great reputation before the precinct fired him.

        "Excuse me, you have a what on the inside?" The hero hissed.

        "Amateur Hero, Red Riot," the cop replied. "He managed to get inside from the ceiling without getting himself or the hostages blown-to-bits. We think he's talking with the villain."

        "Did you just say 'you think?'" Eraserhead questioned. "Is he not relaying to his comms?"

        "Doesn't have any," Tamakawa grunted. "Whoever he is, he's managed to go this long without any police assistance what-so-ever. He doesn't even listen to the scanners. Whatever intel we've managed to get from inside is from my officers listening to their conversation through the crack in the door."

        Eraserhead growled. "Is there anything we can do about this terrible visual?"

        "We've tried; the glass is speckled on purpose and distorts anything we do manage to make out. We haven't even properly seen the hostages." The officer gestured to two faint blobs that appeared to be sitting on the floor. "One of those is our hero, the other is the villain."

        "Sitting?" The pro-hero reiterated. "On the floor? Talking? Is the man insane?"

        "We're entrusting our lives to a nineteen-year-old boy?! You call yourself a hero, yet you haven't even called in the police!" The loud screech came from inside, startling the police force.