catharsis for a hero

Fragments

Izuku Midoriya had walked into work with his mind lost in thought, pondering this world's reality. His mind quickly refocused as soon as he stepped into the building because of the atmosphere.

"Good day, Mr. Midoriya!" He cheered, wiping down a table.

"G-Good morning, Mr. Gentle." Midoriya had a sweatdrop. 'He's always so energetic.'

"It really is a good morning! My, I believe La Brava should have finished the tea, care to join us before we open shop?"

"A-Ah, thanks but no, I should head up with Yui, she was pretty upset last time I was late." Izuku declined, beginning to head up one of the spiral staircases that led to the second floor.

"Ah, yes I can fondly recall your lover's spat."

"G-Gentle! N-No, it's not-, we're not like that!" He groaned out at the end. "Whatever." He began to drag his feet up the steps.

He worked in a hybrid two-story store, with stairs and a walkway to reach the second-floor entrance. The first floor was a café and the second floor was a bookstore. During shop hours the café would be booming with businesses while the bookstore had slow traffic, but people would occasionally come up to relax and hang out, usually to read while they enjoy their brew.

Izuku reached the second floor, his eyes scanning around the room looking for her. There was a window wall facing the city and streets, a register on the opposite end. On the farthest wall was a massive bookshelf that reached the ceiling. There were tables sprinkled around the center. There were a few more bookshelves lined up in columns around the tables in a U-shape giving it a cozy feeling, along with the wooden floorboards, completing the look.

His eyes landed on her. She was on her tiptoes, putting a book up on the wall, with her back turned to him. She was in work clothes too, except she wore a long black skirt with her shirt tucked in. The gray sky had an absent shine through the window wall and it reflected off her, both sharing the emptiness.

He was captured by her presence for a moment. Until Gentle's words smacked his thoughts. His cheeks heated up and he quickly averted his eyes. He finished his steps up the stairs, walking into the area, particularly to the register. "Hey, Yui."

She didn't say anything as she finished her task. She continued to prep for the workday. He let out a lazy sigh, putting his elbows on the platform next to the register. 'Yui runs the book store while Mr. Gentle handles the Café and La Brava is always in the kitchen. I'm just a work hand, to be honest.'

A book appeared in front of him with slender fingers holding it. He followed them up to her eyes. He replied to her unspoken words. "Hm, I don't know, the plot is okay but hard to follow sometimes because of the flashbacks and how vague the story tends to be and the characters are so fickle its frustrating and the main character, oh God, he's so angst."

She actually let out one giggle. "Like you."

"Ha, like you're one to talk. But it's not a bad read if you're trying to kill an afternoon."

She pulled the book back to her face, staring at it for a few more seconds. "Thank you." She went back to her work.

They had opened shopped and as usual, the first floor was busy with the second floor mild. He was standing in the same area he had been earlier but this time he was with his notebook, tapping his pen on it, creating absent dots next to his notes.

"Ne, you can totally help me out, right?"

A preppy voice brought him back to reality. "H-Huh?" He lifted his eyes to the girl standing across the register from him. Her eyes traveled down to his wide-open notebook.