Zero Hero || MHA ||

30. Polaris

When Corvade relayed Crimson Eclipse's plan to the authorities, there was a mass panic. The police force and the heroes did their best to prepare for the upcoming attack with what little time they had. They ordered inhabitants living in Musutafu's central ward to evacuate while everyone else were to stay in their homes. Of course, people went crazy and started buying out stores' entire supplies, my mom included. The police called heroes from other cities but with such a short notice, there were only so many heroes available.

It was a little after 6 pm when I left the house. I volunteered to grab extra groceries at the corner store while Mom prepared the house. She's a pretty carefree person so it was different seeing her getting jittery over this. She was even more on-edge since Dad wasn't gonna be there. As expected, he was on-duty. Mom practically bawled her eyes that he stay home, but it didn't matter; the city needed all the help it could get.

I walked out of the corner store holding plastic bags full of water bottles. I was surprised that it was even open since the attack was gonna happened in a few hours. The city streets were practically empty with only a few stranglers scurrying back home. The surrounding buildings were boarded up. The familiar car honking, motor engines revs, and the muffled chattering of pedestrians were gone. An unsettling feeling sunk into my stomach seeing how desolate it was. It was like the entire city died.

I haven't seen or spoken to the vigilantes since the blowout. Even if I did happen to run into them, I didn't want to talk to them. My chest burned whenever I thought about what they said especially what Corvade said. She was the last person I wanted to see in the world right now, and it made me want to punch a hole in the wall knowing that she's probably out there preparing to fight Crimson Eclipse without me. It was unfair that they left me. But most of it, it was unfair how right they were.

Holding an open palm, I stared at it. Corvade was right; I can't even use my Quirk on demand. How do I expect to fight Crimson Eclipse with no Quirk? I'd just be deadweight like I always am. If I wanted to help, I should listen to the authorities and lock myself at home.

I felt a small pinch in my heart. Ignoring it, I looked ahead to see a familiar alleyway come into view. I gazed through, the events of that day came flooding into my brain like a river. I could clearly remember what went down: Bakugo and his friends cornered me, the villain appeared and took him hostage, Midoriya tried to rescue him, then All Might came and saved the day. It's been nearly 5 months since Bakugo got held hostage by that sludge villain, 3 months since we burned down the school's tree, and a month since we got ambushed by Kiyoshi.

A shiver shot down my spine realizing all the trouble we got into together. I don't blame him if began to hate me more with each increasing inconvenience, especially the time I almost stabbed a syringe into his arm. And now that I think about it, I never apologized for it. I never apologized for beating him up, I never apologized for the nasty thing I said because despite how mean he could be, I saw the way his eyes winced when those words rolled off my tongue.

I heard shuffling from behind and spun around to see that angry tumbleweed. He stood there with his hands in his pockets, wearing a small frown. His scarlet eyes drifted from my face, to the grocery bag in my hand, and then back up again.

"Bakugo. What are you, uh, doing here? Didn't you get the memo? You're supposed to be indoors because there's gonna be a villain attack..." I stiffly said.

"And? What are you doin' here? Now's not the time to grab a snack, Coconut Head," he retorted.

I peered down at the bag. "Um, this? This is water," I informed.

I asked again why he was out. He told me it was none of my business. Then for a moment, it was silent. We just looked at each other. I had a feeling why he was here, and he probably knew that I knew too. After some more uncomfortable staring, he finally broke his gaze and rested his eyes.