MANIA - Katsuki Bakugou

━ sweet

chapter 58

PRESENT
JULY 15th
3 Days After Hero Meeting

The white haired hero looped her arm through her companion's, leaning into his shoulder as they walked along the cemented sidewalk. The dark night was illuminated by the neon shop signs and the bright lights of the office buildings littered throughout the large city. It was the capital city of the Nagano Prefecture in the Chubu Region, of course. People crowded around the streets and sidewalks, walking from shop to shop or heading to whatever destination they had in mind. There was a magnificent restaurant just ahead of them, modeled like the ancient temples of Japan with curved roofs and pointed edges.

The nightlights of Nagano City made everything just seem that much more beautiful. The couple were surrounded by people, but they couldn't help but feel alone with each other in the crowd. They weren't in their hero costumes so no one would recognize or disturb them, thankfully. All they had to worry about was getting approached by some sort of desperate salesperson on the street.

Bakugou squeezed Shimamura's hand, just to make sure she was still there. She squeezed back. Their fingers were interlaced and she held snuggly onto his arm as they walked alongside each other. His crimson eyes glanced down at her happy expression as they walked through the night streets.

He took a deep breath of the cold air and sighed. It was as if he was floating on the clouds. He couldn't remember the last time he was so relaxed or calm. Having the ginormous agency took a lot out of him and made him stress more than he anticipated he would. He's a talented hero, but the business part of things when managing an agency wasn't something he admired. It wasn't exactly part of the contract of being a hero—well, actually it was. He just didn't want it to be.

He felt Shimamura's head move from his shoulder as she picked her head up to look at something as it passed them by. He looked to his left where Shimamura's gaze had shifted to. Sure enough, a small street stand was selling honey toasts in plastic packages, ready to serve and eat on the go.

The sweet smell of the dessert wafted into Bakugou's nose as soon as he laid eyes on it, and he could tell why it caught Shimamura's attention. The smell of the freshly baked milk bread and bittersweet fruits mixed into an immeasurable decadent scent. It tickled his nose and made him hungry just smelling it.

Shimamura's head turned away from it, biting the inside of her cheek. She hoped he didn't notice her longing gaze on the dessert. She hated having him pay for things for her, surprisingly.

However, Bakugou definitely noticed. He stopped and pulled her with him to the street stand. Shimamura yelped a bit at his sudden turn around, but she wasn't shocked to see where he was headed to.

"Kats, you don't have to get it if you don't want it!" she remarked, instantly feeling bad.

He clicked his tongue. "We're sharing," he asserted abruptly.

Shimamura's lips turned upwards and she laughed. The pair stood in line for a minute before making it to the front of the honey toast stand. The elderly man tending to the stand grinned with a crooked set of teeth at them. He squinted so much from smiling they thought his eyes were closed, but he definitely saw them.

Bakugou held onto Shimamura's hand the entire time, as if he was afraid she'd disappear if he let go.

"What can I get for you?" the man asked.

"Two honey toasts," Bakugou requested.

"Please," Shimamura added, just to be polite since she knew Bakugou was practically incapable of it.