章 6: 6. Vacation
A few weeks after his little fight with the Metropolis heroes, Toji's face began popping up on the news more often. Wanted posters were stuck on walls along with other known villains like Poison Ivy, Deathstroke and Joker. So, Toji decides to lie low for a little bit. It's not good having to take more heat than what was necessary. The mercenary manages to find a decent spot in the Metropolis sewers to hide himself. Because of what he did the past few weeks, cops are now on high alert and all the borders leaving the city are currently guarded. Toji will most likely be stuck in Metropolis for the next few more weeks. Might as well go look at the scenery, he thinks to himself.
He manages to steal some things he need to help himself blend in including new clothes and a make up kit. He ties his hair back, covers the scar on his mouth with said make up and puts on some large round eyeglasses. Add in a layer of thick clothes and some small change to his posture and he's practically a different person already.
It's early morning when he finally gets out of his little hideout. He looks around and sees that Metropolis is a much more vibrant place, or at the very least, much better than Gotham's dreary atmosphere. He walks around for a while and realizes that he eventually walked towards the street where he had fought Supergirl. He was expecting the place to be littered with rubble but, instead, the broken roads and buildings were already halfway through renovation. On a display TV, the news is playing a footage of his battle with the superheroes and their eventual discovery of Louis Lane along with the dead Intergang members. On the newspapers, he sees his face printed on the first page along with the headline 'Vigilante or Villain' which was written by none other than the reporter he kidnapped. Toji chuckles at that.
The mercenary walks around the street some more before finally stopping in front of a coffee shop. With nothing else to do, Toji decides to go in and have a break. He goes to the corner seat and asks the lady for a cup of coffee. He then pulls out a book he had bought earlier and begins reading, relaxing for the first time in a very long time.
Suddenly, Toji loses focus on his book when he feels someone sit in front of him. He looks at the time and realizes it's already midday. He looks in front and finds a blondie with thick glasses and mess of hair tied in a bun who was to busy with her phone to realize she had just invaded someone's personal space. She looks haggard, busily clicking on her phone. The girl tries to put her cup on the table but barely misses the mark, making it fall on the floor instead. She yelps, realizing what she's done. She quickly takes a napkin from the table and tries to wipe the spilled coffee before realizing Toji who was sitting in front of him.
'I'm really sorry', she said, trying to wipe the mess.
'It's fine', he says. 'Just make sure to watch what you're doing next time'.
Toji tries to leave but the girl immediately stops her. 'I'm really, really sorry. Just let me make to you. How about I buy you cake or something?'
'Or something', he says, hoping the girl will take the hint and leave him alone.
Instead, the girl smile. 'Cool. How about some strawberry cake then? Oh no, that's also cake. Then, how about some cookies? Or wait, what about the pie then? I go to this place on the weekends and they make the best custard pie'.
She looks at him with sparkling eyes making Toji sigh in defeat.
---
The two of them sit together waiting for the waitress to bring them some pie. The girl meekly sits in front of Toji, glancing at him before looking back at her hand. Toji groans at the growing tension. 'Why were you so flustered a while ago?' he finally asks.
That makes the girl look at him. 'Ohh, that. Well-'. The girl mumbles for a little bit before continuing. 'Yeah, well. My boss is really mad at me because I didn't find a good story for her magazine'.
He looks at her with a raised eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.
'See, I'm interning for Cat Grant. You know, CatCo? The magazine. I was supposed to submit this the hero's weekly today but I've been so busy lately. And my friend needed some help. And then there was-' The girl continues her yapping and Toji zones out for a bit until the waitress comes with their pies. They both thank her before each grabbing a fork and trying it.
Toji takes a bite. Too sweet, he thinks to himself. The girl, on the other hand takes a mouthful and smiles as she munches on her food. 'It's great, right?' she tells him with a grin.
The man just give a slow nod, wanting for the whole thing to end quickly. the girl, however, seems to be enjoying every moment of it. 'You're not from around here, are you? No offence but no self respecting person from Metropolis would ever wear an 'Metropolis, my love' shirt in public'. She looks at him with those gleaming eyes again.
'Gotham', he says without giving it much thought. 'Also, don't you have to go back to your job soon?'
'Ha. Knew it', she says with a wide grin. 'Also, no. Miss Grant gave me the rest of the day off. She said she didn't want to see me until Friday. Anyway, back to the point. I've got some friends who grew up in Gotham and you all kinda have that gloomy vibe to you'll. Like the world's about to end or something'.
'It's just how it is', he replies, having already given up on his plans for a peaceful day.
The two of them continued chatting with the girl doing most of the talking while Toji answers with a sigh, a groan and as few words as he can muster.
By the time, they end their conversation, the sun is already about to set. They leave the coffee shop and Toji looks at the darkening sky. 'How long ate you gonna be in staying here', asks the girl.
'A couple of weeks'.
'Cool. Wanna meet again sometime?'
Toji just looks at her, not saying a word.
'I'll take that as a yes', she says with a grin. 'You never told me your name, by the way'.
'Toji', answers the man.
'I'm Kara'. She raises her hand which Toji grabs with a handshake.
'Cool. I'll be seeing you, Toji'. The girl then walks away, eventually disappearing into the crowd.
Kara. Interesting. So that's Supergirl's real name, he thinks to himself before walking in the opposite direction.
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