| Running Out Of Time | 172732014

Here's To The Good Ones | Action

With a thud, Sero landed atop a building overlooking downtown Musatafu. He had been patrolling more frequently over the past couple of months ever since you had been making your appearances more noticeable to the public. It felt odd to him though. After a few run-ins, chance encounters, and the occasional chase, you had never been one to waltz around in broad daylight. In fact, as soon as you frequented yourself in public, Sero now hadn't seen you in weeks. At first he brushed it off as your strange behaviour and your choice of timing, but he almost missed you.

Something just felt off. It was no surprise coming from you, but Sero felt in his gut that you were almost self-destructive over a month ago. One week of pure adrenaline-filled chases around the city, but it was over the smallest of crimes, petty ones. Just that alone made Sero question your motives. If he knew one thing, he knew you weren't petty.

He sighed in exasperation. It was another dull day of patrolling and if anything his shift was ending. He turned to make the quick trip back towards his agency when something familiar caught the corner of his eye. In the evening light, he spotted a familiar fur trim round the corner of the building across the street by foot.

Immediately jumping from the building, Sero swung himself towards the corner, landing gracefully before he took a glimpse at your retreating form into an alleyway. It wasn't until his third glimpse of you that you turned around to spot him on the chase.

"Hey stop!" he yelled from across the alleyway.

You exited from the opposite side, almost colliding into a few bystanders before you grabbed the shoulders of a stranger and pushed him into the alleyway. The man cried in surprise as he hurtled towards Sero, only prompting the Pro Hero to shoot tape above to avoid any collision.

"Sorry," apologized Sero after the clang of trash cans left the man dazed.

Sero continued the chase, spotting that you still ran by foot, climbing up the next building with ease. He watched you scurry into a fire escape, leaping between stairs to quicken your pace. All Sero could do was shoot tape towards the rooftop, hoping that he would gain more ground and speed until he landed on the rooftop.

You were nowhere to be seen until a flash of light caught his eye, the small ball bursting into fractals until a card floated in front of him. He immediately grabbed it, finding it's one of your calling cards again, flipping it over.

Let's play a game, Bucky. You've got five minutes. Catch me.

Sero quickly scanned the rooftops spotting you a few buildings away, casually waving at him before you continued the chase. For a moment, he thought you were actually waiting for him, watching him from afar. Thinking otherwise, Sero quickly made his way across the rooftops, utilizing his tape to cover more ground, but also spotting you teleporting every once in a while, almost playfully.

"Stop!" he called. "Wait!"

Leaving a trail of tape in his wake, Sero was inching closer on your trail. A few times he had catapulted himself in an attempt to snatch you, only to embrace the fleeting warmth of light from your person. This went on for the next few minutes across a multitude of rooftops.

Was he being led astray? He wasn't sure, but he felt that you were taunting him. At the very least after the third attempt to grab you, he felt a smirk creep on his lips. Whatever you were like before, you've come back from it now.

One minute left. The one thing he learnt was how prompt you were with your timing, but throughout this particular chase, he began to notice a pattern in your movements. You had kept to the rooftops for a while now, refusing to take strategic escapes or exits. This was going on for far too long in his mind, eyeing a streetlight ahead on the corner of an intersection.

He quickly shot towards the lamp and made a leap of faith, jumping off from the rooftops to swing his body around to cut you off. With the momentum of the swing propelling him in the air, he descended upon you, spotting your feet stopping in their tracks. In the heat of the moment, Sero saw a string of emotions cross your face - surprise, glee, then happiness as you opened your arms out to him.

He couldn't help but open his arms to grab you, not to capture you, but to embrace you as both of your bodies crashed into each other. The both of you rolled across the rooftop in each other's arms while a giggle escaped your throat before the momentum of Sero's personal slingshot slowed, leaving Sero laying on top of you.

Both of your breaths intermingled with each other, full of exhaustion while Sero lifted his head to peer down at you. A smile was plastered on your face while you chuckled, peeking up at Sero with tears in your eyes, staining the eye makeup that lined your face. He opened the visor of his helmet, his eyes meeting yours.

"What was that all about?" asked Sero through his heavy breaths, still laying his weight on top of you.

"I needed that," you replied with glee. "I just needed to feel normal again."

"That was normal?"

Sero was only met with a grin from you, laying underneath him with no intention to struggle or flee. Your arms wrapped around his neck as you held him close, pulling your body up to meet his, now sitting with each other. You tightened your embrace, holding onto the Hero with all the strength you had.

"You missed it too, haven't you?" you asked in his ear, relaxing into his frame.

For a brief moment, Sero felt elated before his arms encircled your body, holding onto you. He still didn't know what your intentions were, and what you had been doing over the past month of going dark, but while you relaxed into his chest, he felt the need to try something new.

"Yeah I did," he answered reluctantly. "Mio Caro."

He felt your body stiffen a little from the name, only briefly before a chuckle escaped your throat, continuing to hug into him. Thanks to Aoyama somewhat, Sero took a slight interest in Italian.