Something was off. Or, correction, something had been of for awhile now. You had just been ignoring it for as long as possible so you could pretend everything was fine and wouldn't have to actually do something. But the situation had just gone on for too long to just be ignored.
You're not a messy person, your parents had worked tirelessly to make sure they got that habit through your thick skull, and you didn't tend to misplace things. However, for some reason various items around your apartment have wound up in a pile on the floor while others have just gone missing all together.
It had started with a pair of socks. You had overlooked it at first, thinking perhaps it had fallen into the third dimension that seemed to exist in your laundry machine solely for the purpose of misplacing your socks or that they may even be in the hamper of laundry that needed to be folded. However, as time went on more socks went missing - most days your socks were some odd mismatched combination because it had gotten to the point where you didn't really own a pair anymore. Along with the socks some hair ties, a shirt, and various miscellaneous things of little to no value had also disappeared or ended up somewhere they shouldn't be.
You also started to notice that when you came home your apartment was never exactly as you had left it. You had thought you were just being paranoid, it was your first time living without roommates or family after all, but after coming home so many times to a lamp knocked over or a blanket dragged into the living room you weren't just nervous living alone - someone was going through your apartment when you weren't home.
How they were able to get in was beyond a mystery to you. The only things really worth value were your laptop and phone and your phone stayed on you damn near constantly. Not to mention you lived on the ninth floor and with your front door always locked that meant someone had repeatedly climbed the fire escape to get to your balcony door and get into your apartment just for some socks. There were some weird people in the world but surely that was a bit much?
Then again with your hero work some odd people were bound to come out of the woodworks, you've had to lay down boundaries before with some...over excited civilians. There was the off chance it was a villain doing this to mess with you and make you feel unsafe in your own home. But you were just a rescue and recovery hero, the moments you actually interacted with a villain in any capacity were few and far between so you couldn't even begin to think of what villain could possibly have that big of an issue with you to do something as mundane as stealing your clothes or moving your things around.
Well whoever it was, you were fed up with their little games. You couldn't just keep going out and buying new socks - it was starting to get expensive to keep replacing them. With the decision made you called of work the next day to see if you could catch the little thief in the act. It hadn't felt right to neglect your duties but the person could only be getting in when you were home and that only really occured when you left for work.
Sleeping in had been a blessing you hadn't known you needed. Since becoming a hero and becoming a part of the agency you were currently working for you had become used to early mornings and later nights, falling into bed to get up a few hours later to do it all over again. Instead of waking up to the blaring of the numerous alarms you had set it was the sun peaking through your curtains that roused you from the deepest sleep you had had in months.
With a soft hum and a stretch of your joints you got to work preparing for the potential confrontation you had planned for the day. You still weren't exactly sure what you were going to say or do once you saw whoever it was that had been taking your things. 'Hey that's not cool' or 'I would appreciate it if you stopped doing that' didn't really seem to be the way to go but it wasn't like you wanted to terrify the person either. Sure you could threaten legal action, they had been breaking in and stealing after all, but it hadn't felt like that big of a deal with you.
As you sat in the living room racking your brain to think of how you wanted this whole thing to play out you heard a soft thud on your small balcony. Your head whipped up at the sound and your whole body tensed as you waited to see what they would do next. Only when you heard the handle on your balcony door being moved did you remember how the lock on the door had broke a few weeks ago. You had put in a maintenance request but as you heard the creaking of the door being pushed open it appeared that the apartment manager had never gotten that resolved. Making a mental note to get on the manager's ass about that you let out a soft sigh as you stood from your spot on the couch to finally see just who it was that had been raiding your sock drawer for the past two weeks.
Turning around you're greeted by the sight of a little black cat languidly moving about the apartment as if it paid rent.
Seeing the little thing have no reservations about jumping onto your kitchen table and inspecting the papers and documents from work you had laying about only further proved to you that it was more than familiar with your apartment.
The sound of your footsteps finally made the creature notice its host and it gave a small questioning chirp as you approached.
"So, you're who's been causing me so much trouble these past few weeks?" you questioned it softly as you held your hand out for it to inspect. The cat wasted no time rubbing its body up against your offered hand and the loud purring as you scratched the underside of it's chin brought a small smile to your face.
"Oh, so now that you're caught you wanna be sweet?"
It didn't take you long to notice the tags on the cat's collar and while you wanted nothing more than to spend more time with your surprise visitor, you figured that their owner was probably worried sick about them. Looking over the tags for the owner's information you felt your eyes widen as you read the name and address listed.
"Small world…." You had worked with Aizawa on a case a time or two in the past and frequently crossed paths with him during the early hours of the morning as you made your way home and he was out patrolling the city. The two of you had had a few conversations here and there during these encounters and somewhere along the way you developed what you insisted was a miniscule little crush.
A heat rose to your cheeks as you though of how embarrassing it was that he could have you acting like some school girl all stuttering and flushed cheeks when you talked to him. You nearly groaned as you wondered if he had noticed your behavior for what it was, it would be hard not to and he was smart enough man to put two and two together. He probably thought you were some weirdo, how embarrassing...
He had been the one to recommend the apartment complex you were currently staying at, though. So he couldn't think too badly of you, right? At least that's what you could tell yourself to make you feel better at any rate. He had been a blessing with the recommendation though. It had been during one of your late night encounters when you had mentioned to him that you were in the market for a new place since your current situation wasn't working out very well anymore due to you coming home so late and leaving so early. He had mentioned the management apparently was used to heroes which was always a blessing to find considering most places charged a large insurance fee due to the off chance a heroes work comes home with them. He hadn't told you he was practically your neighbor with him being just a few units down the hall, though.
You had never seen him coming and going before but with him working at U.A. and his patrols you figured it was kind of to be expected. Even with your odd hours you would still get back before him and leave before he did.
You were brought back to the present by the petulant meow of the cat as it rubbed against your stilled hand demanding more attention. Now you had to debate if you would call it's owner or not. It was the middle of a weekday after all, surely Aizawa would be busy teaching. You could probably hold off on the call until the evening when school let out.
Then again, if it was your cat you would want the person who found them to let you know straight away. That would be the considerate thing to do….it was just the thought of talking to Aizawa had your heart racing and you would much rather hold off on sounding like an idiot for as long as possible.
In the end, common decency won out against your better judgment.
Picking up your phone you punched in the numbers and waited patiently as it rang. You had been expecting it to go straight to voicemail given the time of day but when the rough bass of his voice sounded from the speaker you felt an embarrassing flush creep up your cheeks. By some miracle you were able to stubbornly beat it down as you explained the situation.
"Hey, Aizawa, sorry for calling during a school day but I have a cat burglar to report," you wanted to kick yourself for such a bad opening, "Suspect is about 3.1 kg, 25cm tall, black fur, green eyes - "
You heard a deep sigh from him as he pieced together just what you were trying to say and had to fight back a smile.
"Burglar, you say?" he questioned.
"Fond of socks and small items, nothing value," you reassured.
"Oh, well I suppose we can make a trade then. I've been finding their stash around my place for a while now," he began as you heard shuffling on his end of the call, "I can be over in thirty minutes -"
"Oh, no, no you don't have to leave work," you stammered,"he's not causing any trouble. I don't have a problem watching him til' you get off."
There was a pause from him for a moment as he considered your idea.
"You're sure? It's not fair to expect you to look after someone else's pet…"
"It's not problem, besides, I've been thinking about getting a cat recently. This could just help me make up my mind," you reassured. After living with roommates for so long it felt odd to come home to silence so maybe a cat could make the apartment not feel so big and empty. You'd have to work out your schedule at work to allow for more free time so you could give it enough attention but that wouldn't be so hard to do, you were already taking way more hours than needed already.
"Alright, I get off of work in a few hours. I can meet you then," he finally relented.
After you told him your room number, said your goodbyes and hung up you let out a breath of relief.
"Well, looks like we avoided that potential disaster, huh?" you questioned the cat. It just blinked it's eyes and flicked it's tail lazily as it considered you for a moment before returning to chewing on the papers it had been playing with during your call. You gave a soft snort at the indifference as you considered just what you were supposed to do now. You had a few hours to kill and a cat to look after. There was some paperwork from the agency you could get a head start on...
As it turned out the cat would be deciding what you did that day. For a while he had been content to run about the apartment and bat at this or that but eventually it seemed he grew bored of the inanimate objects. He'd demand your attention with meows and whines until you relented and put the work to the side and played with him. When he wasn't playing or complaining he was sleeping. It seemed he couldn't think of a better spot to sleep than your lap either.
You couldn't really complain though, you appreciated the company and the playing made sure you didn't overwork yourself. However, you began to wonder how Aizawa would handle such a needy cat. He seemed like a fairly disciplined man and the thought of him spoiling the little feline in your lap had laughter bubbling up in your stomach. The mental image of him waiting on a house cat hand and foot was just too ridiculous.
When it was time to give the little heathen back to it's owner you found yourself actually feeling a little sad.
Aizawa had sent you a text saying he was on his way and you made sure to mentally prepare yourself a few moments before so you wouldn't make a complete fool of yourself.
Pacing your apartment you found yourself asking the cat for advice.
"Ok, so when he get's here what should I say? Should I make a joke like I did on the phone or just keep it casual?" The cat seemed to watch you in silent judgment for the ridiculous questions and you couldn't really blame him, "...casual it is."
The sudden knock on your door startled you and you had to take a moment to steady your racing heart. Taking a moment to brush off some nonexistent dust from your clothes you gave a steadying breath and opened the door.
Aizawa looked as worn out as he always did, not really a surprise there, but he seemed a bit more...disheveled than he normally was.
"Thanks again for looking after him," he said, a hand rubbing the back of his neck.
"No need, just doing my part as a concerned citizen and all," you replied as you led him into your apartment to find the little monster that had made itself at home.
The cat had been nestled up in some blankets, that you could've sworn hadn't been there a few moments ago, on your couch and only bothered to open it's eyes when the two of you approached it.
"He certainly made himself at home," Aizawa noted as he went to pick up the cat and it gave a few whines for being moved from its spot.
"Apparently he has been for awhile," you laughed watching the scene unfold.
"Sorry about that too," he said as he got the cat to finally settle in his arms, "I hadn't known he'd been leaving until I found a stash he has while I was cleaning. I still have the clothes he took, I'll have them washed and get them back to you tomorrow."
"Oh you don't have to do all that" a blush rose to your cheeks as you remembered just what all it was that had gone missing recently.
"It's not a big deal," he insisted, "besides you've been putting up with this brat for a few hours." The brat in question was purring loudly as Aizawa rubbed the space between it's ears.
"Oh, he really wasn't that bad," you insisted with a soft smile as you brought your own hand up to pet the feline. You had actually appreciated the company, normally a day in your apartment would have you going stir crazy due to the deafening silence but with the cat to keep you company it had been a pretty good day.
"Well good deeds shouldn't go unrewarded," Aizawa said after observing you for a moment, "How about I treat you to coffee or lunch sometime?"
"Oh, you don't have to do that!," you squeaked out as a flush rose to your cheeks, "Looking after him wasn't a chore or anything after all!" You had jumped back a little and your hands moved wildly trying to emphasize your words.
"It's the least I could do," a small smile had rose to his cheeks as he watched you practically stutter and trip over yourself at his proposal. You found your breath catching at the sight of it.
"Well, if you say so..." you murmured as you glanced away from him to try and hide your flush.
With a promise on your end to text him your availability and few small words of goodbye to both Aizawa and the cat you soon found yourself alone in your apartment again.
You counted a few seconds after the door closed and when you determined enough time had passed you found yourself shoving your face into one of the pillows on the couch and having to refrain from squealing.
Aizawa couldn't think you were all that weird if he asked you to get coffee with him
Right?