DAYBREAK ᵇⁿʰᵃ

¹¹ PHANTOM

───CHAPTER 11───
( warning ! gore )

The flashing of headlights glared over his face, the boy lifting his gauntlet to cast a shadow over his eyes. His teeth lifted over his lip, a snarl rumbling in his throat as he glared at the car in return. The streets of the city were busier than usual tonight, limousines and fancy cars crowding the narrow streets downtown, nightclubs and neon signs emitting a dusty-luminist glow. It was an entirely different lifestyle in the West, the nightlife crawling with boisterous voices and drunken bodies running into oncoming traffic for a laugh.

"Watch where you step," the hero warns, leading him away from a suspicious puddle. "Don't want to scrap off dog shit from your boots after your shift."

He scowls, his gaze sharpening on the man next to him. "This is fuckin' ridiculous— Why are we stuck on patrol when we could be kicking some villain's ass."

The man looked down at the boy, his spiky blonde hair and red eyes staring back at him through his mask. When the hero had learned that he was to patrol with a U.A. student, he refused. Emmanuel didn't have the tolerance to mentor anybody anymore, but his agency didn't care about his history, not when an opportunity like this arrived.

"Listen. . . You were the one who asked for an extra shift tonight." He ran his hand through his maroon hair, sighing when he caught sight of a drunken argument. "Unfortunately for you, my colleagues don't like me much. . . and they don't really like you either," the hero told him.

"So we're stuck with each other for tonight."

Sparks flew in his palm. "It's not my fault they're a bunch of assholes."

The hero scoffed, nonetheless impressed with his honesty.

Bakugo watched the hero jog towards the disagreement, the man's face stern and calm as he talked back at the two men who could barely stand straight. When Bakugo had asked for more shifts, he was hoping to take on the bigger cases.

He was already interning at one of the top agencies in America. In the daylight, he was flying over the streets catching criminals and petty thieves, sometimes even going into a full-fledged fight with villains who had the balls to defend themselves. In the heat of the moment, Bakugo would set off his dazzling explosions and turn the tide, helping the agency capture the villains. It filled him with pride to win in an entirely different league, yet they never actually credited the Japanese hero for his efforts forthrightly.

Back home they praised him for his skill. While in this city, he seemed to be ostracized for it.

Between a few of his classmates talking about the opportunity to intern overseas, there was a rumour going around about the program they were hosting. Bakugo heard from Jiro and Midoriya that his teachers were planning something with the school they were visiting. Rosemont, he recalled, and it was all everyone could've talked about.