Something Like a Star (B. Katsuki)

Seven: Knowing Fear

Warning: this chapter contains mature themes pertaining to sexual assault. Please read at your own risk

Also sorry I didn't post yesterday I was very sick.
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     It wasn't uncommon for Nadoka to wake before the sun had risen. She had to some days, chose to others. She worked two jobs, and while one was simple and could easily be expected of a high school teen, the other didn't exactly suit the stereotypical teenager at all.

     Often she would wake at ungodly hours in the morning to serve early-working men and women at a local coffee shop. It was hell to get up so early to open the shop, but the pay was generous, her boss was kind, and being up at 4:00 AM meant there was virtually no chance that a classmate would come in for coffee and find her out. That was something she just couldn't afford.

     It soon became second nature for Nadoka to wake up early, and she often found herself waking up even on days she didn't have to work at the coffee shop. For a long time she had no idea what to do with this extra time, being unable to get herself back to sleep, and would simply sit and wait until it was time for her to go to school. But time wasting was not Nadoka's forte, and she inevitably found herself itching for something productive to do during her spare time.

     She ended up working out, going on runs or lifting weights or doing something. She was a girl who ate healthy and worked hard to keep her body in top notch physique, she had to lest she ever want to be a hero. These early hours when she couldn't sleep were the perfect time to take a jog through a dead neighborhood or lift some weights in a virtually empty gym.

     However, on this particular morning, a week or two after she'd made up with Kirishima, Bakugou, and the rest of her friends, Nadoka did have to work.

     And so she was up, taking a warm shower and slipping into her work uniform before the sun even had the chance to begin rising. She often left the house before the sky had begun to gray, just as she did that day. She took precautions before she left, setting up Haru's chair and leaving breakfast sitting out where he would inevitably find it. Upon first getting the job, she had obvious doubts, wondering if her father would be okay if she left before he woke and didn't come back all day, but she knew it was no different than her being there when he woke up. Either way, he did the same thing; simply rolled his way into his wheelchair and scooted to the kitchen, looking for food. Once he got it, he settled in with his plants and didn't come back to reality until Nadoka arrived home that afternoon.

     Nadoka slipped outside and bundled her long coat closer to her frame, locking her door behind her. She slid her key ring around one of her belt loops and adjusted her bag on her arm. Her school backpack hung on her back, but she unfortunately had to bring a second bag as well, in which she stored her school uniform, which she changed into before she left work, and traveled straight from the shop to the train.

     The walk to the coffee shop every morning gave her plenty of solitary, quiet time to think, as the roads were always all but empty, and the route to work was so ingrained in her mind she was able to easily retreat into her thoughts and her feet would walk on their own. Usually, her thoughts were dutifully filled with her father, or chores she needed to do, or test materials, but on that particular day, they were surprisingly filled with something, or rather someone, else.

     She tried multiple times to shake his spiky blond hair and beautiful red eyes from her mind, but they stayed burned in each time. Why am I thinking about him so much? What is this? I don't understand. She refused to consider the option that maybe he was on her mind because she liked him more than she should. She refused to consider the option that she wanted to be around him, all the time.