Counting Down

-taoism-

Making his way downtown, walking fast as if to avoid as many people as possible, Midoriya was beginning to sweat. Not from overexertion but rather from nervousness. He was running a bit late and, in turn, didn't have time to wrap his wounds sufficiently. Not to mention, he had officially run out of the burn cream plus it was on backorder for quite some time. It also cost quite a pretty penny, he thought bitterly.

The burn cream designated for quirk-caused, third-degree burns was almost 18000 yen and nearly half his rent. He truly couldn't afford it but he also couldn't allow himself to get sick from infections either. The godly cream was made to heal even the worst of burns in less than a week as it was made by a wealthy private company.

But he needed that mineral-infused cream.

God, he wished he had never tried it before. Because after managing to get his dirty hands on a whole bottle, life had been so much easier and so much more simple. But no, that was a fluke, plus he didn't want to annoy anyone to get the cream in his hands again, besides he knew what she would say to him if he asked her for more medical supplies. It didn't matter that her family ran a warehouse and sponsored most companies as they engineered medicinal products. No, she would lay into him for managing to get so banged up.

And he was unwilling to sit through that lecture again.

So instead, Midoriya had spent the morning writhing in pain as he disinfected, scrubbed, and wrapped his burns and scrapes. And since that had taken so long, he was late for work.

It hurt to run, gosh it hurt so bad, but Midoriya found himself unable to stop his legs. His mind was at constant odds with his body in that respect. By the time he turned the corner to the Heroz cafe, his quads were downright burning with lactic acid. The teenager stumbled towards the cafe windows and peered inside.

It was a small establishment, run by the mother of one of the workers who seemed to have a crapload of family recipes. If Midoriya remembered correctly, the cafe was established after the death of their grandmother who had snagged a bunch of family recipes that had been in the line for generations upon generations. And she wanted to share the goodies with the public. Whatever the case was, the food here was godly.

There were, ironically, already a couple of heroes inside the cafe, sipping on their favorite drinks with sour faces.

Aw man, Midoriya thought, a sense of foreboding overcoming his mind, they must have already found out I was gone.

Midoriya was in charge of making drinks as he was considered the resident barista. He had previously been told on multiple occasions that his ability to concoct any type of drink at will was astounding. Especially so when they comment about how tasty his coffees are specifically. He felt as if they were simply appeasing him and wanting to make him feel needed in the cafe, but no matter. Work was work and he felt the nagging sensation of being watched.

Taking in a deep breath, Midoriya pulled air into his lungs and stood up straight. Might as well face the music now.

He opened the door, not even attempting to be silent as the door had bells to alert customers and staff of an incoming consumer. Still, the clanging of metal musical instruments made him flinch lightly. At the moment, he was not incredibly thankful for the warning bells as they felt more like fanfare to his suffering.

Not even a second later, his blonde co-worker spoke up from his spot behind the counter. Midoriya felt as if the blonde had been intentionally hiding behind it until the right opportunity arose so he could pop up and scare the shit out of someone. It seemed like something Monoma would plan.

"You're late." He spoke up, voice flat yet with a small, amused lilt.

"And you're..." Midoriya spoke up, mind working overtime to think of a retort that would keep him from getting further in trouble but also relay his nervous annoyance in this conversation, "A jerk." Almost immediately as the words left his mouth, Midoriya cringed at how lame it sounded.