Energy (D.P./M.H.A.)

. 2 6 .

"I'm telling you it's nothing serious!" Tucker exclaimed to his friends, his arms flailing around to further stress his frustration. "She's just bad with social cues and personal space!"

Danny and Sam shared a smirk as Tucker rambled on, going from 'she's just really intense with things' to 'you walked in on exactly the wrong moment honestly guys it's your fault' to 'she's amazing with machines' in point two seconds. "Looks like you're really looking up to this 'Hatsume' person," Danny said, trying to get Tucker to stop screaming in the middle of the dimly lit street. "If you're impressed by her skills and knowledge of some tech..."

"It's not just knowing! It's understanding, getting the core, foundations, and necessities," Tucker cut Danny off, pressing his index finger and thumb together. "She doesn't even use machines! She makes them! From nearly scratch! You should see what she's already come up with. I'm sure she would be able to alter costumes when she's had enough practice!"

"Introduce me," Sam deadpanned. "I made huge mistakes in my design." At their blank looks, she waved them off and ducked into the store. The two boys shrugged at each other before following her into the vegetable section. "Padding, boys. Padding. Knees, elbows, hands. Flat shoes. I don't even know why there are heels. The same goes for Uraraka. Tsuyu has flat shoes. Oh also—" she turned to them, a glint of mischief in her eyes— "sports. Period."

"No arguing there," Danny agreed swiftly without a problem as he took some apples and put them in a plastic bag, leaving Tucker red-faced. "Tuck, close your mouth. Flies, man, flies." He tied the bag and placed it in Sam's crate. "How about you, Sam? Any friends?"

"Tokoyami's pretty cool," she said carefully as she picked out the best-looking bananas.

"Oh yeah, you teamed up with him last training, right?" Danny asked as he tied the plastic bag with the apples and weighed them. "You two seem...compatible, in some way."

Sam nodded. "He's into dark stuff like me, so that's something we have in common. Jirou is kinda 'retro' and into rock and plays a killer guitar solo, she showed me a video the other day. Honestly, you should hear it sometime." She turned to Danny after sending Tucker for some rice. "And you? Besides Midoriya?"

"Not really," he sighed. "Busy training and thinking. Releasing stress, trying new things out. 'Energy' might sound cool, but it's a big restriction for me."

Sam's gaze softened a bit as she took his hand and gave it a small squeeze. "If you need ideas or help, you know where to find me, alright?"

He squeezed her hand back and gave her a little smile back. "I will."

Tucker fake-gagged.

They moved through the store with practiced ease, each covering their own sections and things before Sam and Tucker ran off to the butcher's section of the store to get different kinds of meat and replaceable for it, leaving Danny with their yet-to-pay-for groceries in the crate.

He decided it'd be best he waited for them near the check-out, so he lingered around the magazine stands near the exit, browsing through them as if he were interested. He found the background music playing over the speakers of the store pleasant. The deafening silence of no customers —it was late at night already— and the only employee in the store behind the counter playing on her phone with one earplug in lingered in his brain, as if creating static. Sam and Tucker were on the other side of the store, behind an aisle or four, arguing. He found it strangely reassuring.

The door opening caught his attention, and he glanced at the person entering. The man avoided his gaze and ducked into the nearest aisle, avoiding both a greeting from Danny and getting noticed by the employee. Danny went back to his magazines, suddenly interested as he saw an article on the latest Hero Rankings. Curious, he opened it and went to the right page.

All Might's beaming face stared back at him from the top of the page, and Danny cringed. He still had to talk to the man about the conference drama. Endeavor —Todoroki's dad, he'd found out— was on number two, but he didn't seem all that happy. Number three was a fairly young man, tinted glasses on his nose and an excited smile on his face. Danny decided he liked him, Hawks. Number four was...a pair of jeans, eyes and a ridiculous haircut. The amount of gel that had to be in the—

"—and hurry it up a bit."

Danny's eyes widened.

If the tone of the person wasn't demanding enough, the whimpers of the employee and the rustling of the money after the register was opened were a dead give-away.

Danny panicked a bit in realization before slowly breathing out, closing the magazine and quietly putting it back on the stand. The new customer stood nine feet, maybe more, away from him, his back towards him, facing the employee, who was clearly freaking out. Danny didn't have eyes on the back of his head, but he didn't need to know exactly what was going on.

"I'll shoot if you don't hurry," he whispered.

Danny slowly turned, internally getting ready for whatever was going to be happening. Multiple scenarios played through his head like flowcharts, and he was trying to go down every single option, trying to find the one that didn't end up in the gun going off. The employee was opening the register, quietly pleading not to be shot. Her eyes widened at seeing Danny turn around, but didn't alert the robber.

Good.

Sam and Tucker were still occupied with their argument, which Danny was extremely grateful for. He didn't need them to be here right now. Tucker would panic and Sam would straight-up tell them to kindly piss off. That would go horribly wrong either way. Just the three, Danny could manage.

"Money in the bag, now! Hurry it up!"

"Hey, buddy. The aisle for shitty people was way back. I think you missed your stop."

The robber turned around by moving in a circle, keeping the employee in his vision as he looked at the teen. "You don't wanna be part of this, kid," he said hurriedly, motioning at the employee to keep putting money in the bag. "Just— don't move and nothing's gonna happen."

"Alright."

Danny couldn't hear Sam and Tucker anymore and hoped they wouldn't come back anytime soon. Maybe they saw what was going on and called the police. U.A. maybe. Someone. Anyone. In that case, they needed time. A lot of it.

"I know I'm supposed to raise my hand before asking a question," Danny softly began, "but you told me not to move."

"Getting snarky now, huh?" the man scoffed, hand clenching around the gun. "One wrong word and I'll shoot her," he threatened, emphasizing his aim on the employee.

"Please don't," Danny said, though his tone wasn't pleading. "Why don't you point it at me instead? I'm an actual threat. No offense."

She shook her head swiftly and kept her eyes trained on the floor. What was this kid thinking!? Offering to be held at gunpoint? Was he crazy? She turned her eyes to the opened register. There wasn't much left in there— a few loose bills from her haste and two slots filled with different amounts. How was she supposed to stretch their time when she had only these things?

"Point it at you? I don't even know you. For all I know you could be Quirkless and this lady here is a Pro."

"Or it's the other way around and I'm giving you the last chance to leave the civilian out of it."

That set him on edge.

He slowly moved the barrel towards Danny, sending the woman a wave of relief as the immediate danger of losing her dear life was avoided. "Pro? Don't make me laugh," he taunted, though his voice nearly cracked at the end. His knuckles were nearing white wrong his tight grip on the gun, his index finger shaking from stress as it rested against the trigger. Only a small push away from being fired, the gun settled in the direction of Danny's chest.