Villainous

Chapter Nineteen - Distractions

"Sorry." She sighed. "I didn't mean to say all of that. I'm gonna wait in the car." She reached forward and grabbed the keys from Ochako's pocket before heading out the door.

"..what...?"

Ochako stood there, back still against the cold pillar as she watched Toga walk away. Her eyes fell to the ground, and the blonde's words echoed around her head. Had she really acted that way? No. She was clear about her feelings, that she only wanted to be her friend.

Had Toga misunderstood her? Ignored the blatant attempts at friendship and opted to project romantic feelings onto them? But, Ochako had wanted to kiss her.. Maybe it wasn't black and white, but shades of gray they were stuck in. With the world so dull, no wonder it was hard to see the truth.

The hero sighed and slid to the floor, resting her head on the pillar. She was ready to leave, but felt like they both needed a little space to let the air clear. Forget arguments, just sitting there in the car together would be awkward after that. Could they work it out? Make it better? Maybe..

It might be a good time to figure out what she was feeling for the blonde anyways. The pull towards her, like a magnet attached to her heart. The comfort that she got from holding her hand, and warmth that came from leaning on her shoulder. And how she longed for that warmth now. That, worded so openly and forward, didn't seem merely platonic. She couldn't begin to unpack why she wanted to kiss the blonde..

Well, it wasn't much a stretch to envision why.

Toga, on the other hand, sat listlessly in the car. She'd developed a habit from a rather young age, perhaps due to her less than ideal upbringing, to simply stop caring. But she cared about the hero, far more than she ever wanted to especially after the first betrayal. Wasn't this a form of betrayal too?

She got out the car, slamming the door a little harder than she intended to, and walked off towards the busy streets. Pedestrians were scattered about, talking to others as they made their ways across the sidewalks and through the roads via crosswalks. Few cars came by, the ones that did were slow, almost lethargic in their crawl through the populated area.

It was almost 6:00pm, and most people were headed home this evening. They'd return to their families or pets, their children or lovers. Then they'd go to work the following day and repeat the cycle until they died. Toga mused the idea of such a boring life, the repetition probably taking it's toll on the people. She couldn't see herself ever working an actual job, or a legal one. Especially not desk work.

"Heya girly." Said a voice as Toga strolled past the alley. The purpose of this walk was to kill time, and any feelings for the hero if possible, not to talk to strange men who catcalled from alleys outside of the dimming sun's light. The average girl would've sped up and left, but could one consider Toga average? No.

"What?"

"Why don'tcha come'ere and-"

"Weirdo." Toga said under her breath as she entered the alley. She saw a man reach for her shoulder and grabbed his wrist, twisting it around and forcing him to spin with it. With his arm tucked tightly behind his back, and possibly almost dislocated, Toga pushed him deeper into the alley.

He was dispatched quicker than he could comprehend, his body dumped beside a dumpster for the rats and cats who lingered there. Toga wiped the blood from her knife onto his shirt and tucked it away again, feeling a little better now. Maybe this was the cure-all.

She stepped back into the light of the sunset, which was set to start fading off into a black sky soon. The street had cleared miraculously quick. The stragglers left behind seemed to be window-shopping or dragging their feet as they spoke to friends. With a slowly drawn in breath and smile that only Toga could make work, she began approaching the nearest citizens.