A Strange Guy

A burger, some fries, and a glass of coke as his breakfast.

So far, his first day as Akatani Mikumo was going alright. The only thing he could do without was this strange guy called Shisei following him around everywhere like a lost puppy.

Having spoken to people other than his father for the first time in more than five years, it unnerved him how chatty Shisei was, unable to keep his mouth shut for longer than five minutes.

Somehow the man reminded him of Katsuki back when his life was still alright and his dad had yet to lock him at home, using the excuse of homeschooling due to him acquiring social anxiety after his mother's death.

From time to time, he'd end up thinking about the days when he'd watch All Might reruns with his mom when he got home from school during the weekdays and play pretend heroes with Katsuki during the weekends.

But when he'd wake up from his silly daydreams, he'd end up feeling as though those carefree days were a past life that he was never a part of instead of just some years ago.

"Oh, by the way! What was that all about earlier on, Kumo-chan?" Shisei poked at Mikumo's cheek.

"What?" The boy asked after he swallowed his food.

"You know, when you went all scary and intimidating on Shin-chan!" Shisei clarified. "Oh, Shin-chan is what I call Dreamcloud."

"I..." The boy gave Shisei a sidelong glance before refocusing on his food. "I don't want to live knowing I owed someone my life."

Carefully chewing and swallowing the last bit of his burger, Mikumo wiped the grease off of his fingers with a napkin. "I was thinking of granting one wish of his before we head on our separate ways."

"Oh, then you don't have to worry much about that!" Shisei patted the boy's back jovially. "Shin-chan likes picking up lost kids out of his own goodwill! He's the type to not really expect getting anything back from it."

"But, still-"

"By the way! Shouldn't you be with your parents?" Shisei blurted out before he could stop himself, belatedly realizing that the topic might be a bit too sensitive.

Fortunately for him, Mikumo only blinked at him slowly and went back to munching on his fries. "They're dead."

"So um-" Shisei muttered after a momentary pause. "Do you have any place to go? Like relatives or something?"

"No." Mikumo said indifferently. "Atleast, I don't think so."

Shisei leaned back on his chair, having it tilted at a precarious angle before suddenly snapping his fingers in realization.

"Hey. Wanna stay at my place?!" He yelled out, making Mikumo raise a confused eyebrow at him. "I was half serious when I asked you to work for me earlier."

"What was the other half?" Mikumo tilted his head, a stray fry dangling from his lips.

"That was my fallback plan in case you refused!" Shisei grinned slyly. "In any case, I can offer you a mostly stable job at this really sketchy bar that's dangerously close to yakuza territory which I happened to own."

For a moment, Mikumo forgot to swallow his food, opting to stare at Shisei with a strange expression in silence. "I'm guessing your really sketchy bar isn't lacking in employees?"

"Oh, no. We're actually in dire need right now." Shisei said with a complicated smile. "A brawl between two gangs happened to kill a few of our staff last week, you see."

"Okay." Mikumo shrugged, clearing up his plate of fries before chugging down his coke.

"Okay what?" Shisei tilted his head as he watched the boy begin to wash the dishes in the sink.

"I'll take the job." Mikumo said monotonously.

"You're not asking why we didn't get the police involved?" Shisei asked in earnest confusion, only to get a pair of judgemental eyes sent his way.

"We're in an illegal drug den and you seem plenty chummy with a possible drug lord. I'm not stupid enough to not connect two and two together." Mikumo snorted as he continued washing the dishes clean.

"..." Shisei was taken aback.

"So, um... How old are you again?"

"None of your business."

...

"Boss, the third notice came again earlier this morning-"

"I know." Dreamcloud rubbed his face, already feeling tired before he even got to working for real. "Shie Hassaikai, right?"

"Uh, y-yes."

"How many times do I have to tell them that I want no part in whatever revolution they're planning?! Jeez!" Dreamcloud massaged the bridge of his nose.

"Hey!" Suddenly, out of nowhere, Shisei came crashing through his laboratory's door, making him look up from his papers, startled.

"I'm just here to tell you chibi-chan is working for me now! I'll be taking him with me to the bar tonight. That's all! Bye!"

"Wha-" Slowly, his confusion melted into one of anger as he processed Shisei's words. "Wait! Come back here and explain, you bastard!"

Quickly running forward, Dreamcloud grabbed Shisei by the collar of his shirt, nearly strangling the man midrun. "What do you mean work for you? In your bar?! You're making a minor work at your bar?! Are you serious, Shisei?!"

"In my defense, I did it with consent, your honor!" Shisei said with his hand raised in surrender.

"That's not the fucking problem and you know it!" Dreamcloud yelled angrily. "If you really wanted to keep the kid, why couldn't you just offered to let him stay at your place, no strings attached, like a normal person?!"

"I mean, I would've but-" Shisei mumbled with a wry smile. "You saw how he reacted to you earlier, right? I doubt he'd accept any help without paying back."

"I-"

Suddenly, Shisei's body began to grow transparent, turning into smoke. "So, yeah! With that said, I'll be going with the kid now!"

At the end of the hallway, Shisei reappeared, waving at Dreamcloud as he ran away.

"That sneaky fucker!"