A/N: Thanks for reading so far - hope the sex scene and incest implications didn't scare all y'all off! Trust me, there are so much worse out there! XD

Anyway, it's finals' season, so I'll just release the Kraken and say nothing more. Keep staying safe out there, guys. 2021 has to be better!

Please keep R&R and F&F! It's all much appreciated!

Chapter 17 Spared

She saw his shoulders sag when the cashier shook his head no. She knew him well enough to know he would thank the man anyway for even acknowledging him. Aizawa was like that: polite, more polite than anyone would think or than he let on. Eri knew something else about that politeness… It also indicated how much stress he was under, how little sleep he was getting, and that all caused him not to care about showing himself to others, about breaking that 'broody Eraserhead' facade to just be 'Shota.'

Aizawa left the store, walked toward her. She tensed up and eased back into the bush's shadow, draping his plaid shirt over her white hair. She heard him sigh and leaned against a streetlight's post. He lit up a cigarette and answered his phone at the same time. Panic, and nicotine smoke, stung her eyes and made her hold her breath tight. She gripped his hands into fists, collecting mud into her nails. But he never looked down at her bush. Just shoved a hand into his pocket for the car keys and walked off. He passed to the next street, away from where Eri hid.

She heard him say into his phone, "No… No, it's fine…" He sighed quickly. "Mama. I search better on my own, anyway. …I promise. I'm fine." When he turned the corner and got into his car—"And don't even use that against me. I was a stupid eighteen-year-old; Eri's five! She needs to be with me…"—Eri let out a breath to calm her broken heart. There had been the beginnings of water in his voice. As the car started up, and his call emerged from the car's speakers, she heard him say, dejected, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

The car spun around and sped off down another street, leaving a trail of cigarette smoke. Eri could see it long after he left.

She missed him. Honest to God, she did. She ached just thinking of him, which she always did. Against her will, her heart always pulled toward the direction of the thought of him. His warm eyes that seemed lonely until he saw her, his rare smile that was bound by the walls of their safe home, the little pauses and repeats he made when talking, the whispering rasp of his voice when he sang that soothed her to sleep at night, the way he hummed while cooking. His hugs and soft kisses, how he lifted her in the air and monster-chased her in the living room. The top-down fast drives they took sometimes along the coast when she would watch him tinker the stick-shift or chill in automatic, depending on the day.

He promised to take her to the beach once the weather warmed up. It would be next month. Summer, he said it was called.

But his promises meant he had to give something up to make her smile. She wouldn't fall for that trap again, or his warm smiles that hid his own suffering too well.

Her stomach roared and twisted into a painful knot.

His cooking, and the love in every ingredient. How he'd sometimes sing while making food. How he'd criticize his own flawless cooking. How every dish filled her stomach with warmth and her mouth with a symphony of flavors that roamed her dreams. How her father's hair would catch each aroma, to his oblivion. The songs that played in the background while he did the chore, or graded, or cleaned. She especially liked the one that went, "I'm ready to love you forever. Hey lover, come love me forever more." He danced with her on his hip once, bouncing her to the beat, singing to her as he held her close.

She knew he was. He told her a thousand times how much he loved her, showed her a thousand times more.

Lied a thousand times, twice. She would never be that naïve again. She would never let him hurt himself again. Her existence meant suicide. She wasn't good for him. But he didn't know it, so she had to be the parent now. She had to control him, save him from himself. From her.

Eri stood from the brush, looking both ways three times over to make sure he wouldn't come back, or anyone from U.A. Some streets down, she saw Bird Hero—red wings, dressed in yellow. Aizawa always said that hero—was his name Hawk? Or Hulks?—always said that that hero was arrogant, but a good man. Eri kept the plaid shirt over her head and darted to the nearest alley, checking first if anyone else was in there. Overhead in one of the windows, she heard a girl arguing with her parents. She must have been twice Eri's age.

"You okay?"

Eri nodded before acknowledging the policewoman before her. An aging woman with a stern look, an even sterner bun behind her head, and a kind voice.

"How old are you, kid?"

Eri pondered for a bit. "I'm…ten."

The officer squinted and then nodded. "Okay. What's your name?"

Panic rose in Eri's chest. Her…once-father always said he could pick her out of a crowd of ten thousand, even just by a whisper or a hand. The officer rose an eyebrow at her hesitation, so she said, "Sherry." The look the officer gave her made her uneasy. But she stood her ground. "I'm Sherry."

"Officer Saito," the officer said, kneeling down. She smiled, revealing a pair of crow's feet by her eyes that only made the blue color pop. Eri thought she was beautiful. "It seems I always find people hanging around in this alley—" Her eyes caught the faded plaid shirt. For a moment, she stared at it. Eri thought she had to sneeze or burp or something, instinctively pulling the shirt closer to herself. "Huh." The officer looked back at Eri. "Sorry, hon. Got lost in memory. Another kid was here years ago with a shirt that looked like that one. Heck of a singer."

Eri blinked.

"So, Sherry," Saito said, sitting back on her heels. "Where're your parents? Do they know you're here?" Eri nodded, hoping it was convincing. "Are they nearby?"

"I'm big enough to walk around alone. I'm okay."

"Are they nearby?"

"…Yeah." Eri tucked the sleeve of the flannel to her chest. "But I'm not supposed to talk to anyone, or go with anyone until they come back."

"Smart girl." Saito smirked. "But you know, I've been a cop for a long time. You pick up a lot of skills on the job, like if someone's lying." Eri tensed. But the officer put a clapping hand on her shoulder. "I know you're not ten-years-old. How about you come with me, I'll get you breakfast, and we can find your parents."

Eri shook her head. "No, my parents said to stay here."

"Eri?"

Both Eri and Saito turned to the entrance of the alley.

There stood a woman in striped, baggy shorts, green hair, and an orange tie on her head. She was pretty, and Eri recognized her from…somewhere. She and Daddy argued a lot—or more like Daddy argued with her while she laughed the whole time. "Eri, right?"

Eri's mind raced in zigzags before she ran to the woman with green hair and threw her arms around her. "Auntie!" she announced for Saito to hear.

Luckily, the woman with green hair hugged her back, petting her hair, and laughed. "Aw… Aren't you sweet!"

Eri clutched her shirt enough to meet her eyes. "Please."

The nice lady understood and declared for the officer, "I've been looking everywhere for you! Your daddy's so worried!"

Saito stood up. "You know her, Ms. Joke?"

"Hell yeah!" Ms. Joke exclaimed. "Thank God you found her!" A brief back-and-forth carried on between the two adults, and frankly, Ms. Joke played the part almost too well. So well that Eri remembered how much she dreaded getting stuck at the store whenever Aizawa would run into someone he knew—and actually liked. After the officer left, Ms. Joke, still with laughter in her voice, asked Eri, "So, what's going on, kiddo? Where's Eraser?"

"He's coming back," Eri said, noting how automatic her voice sounded. "He had to run to the store real quick."

Ms. Joke's smile sagged a bit in confusion. "Wait, why didn't he just take you with him? It's just to the market."

Eri's heart leaped. "Uh, it's a grown-up store…?"

After a pause, the pro-hero burst into laughter. "I never knew Eraser to be such a kink-master—he's so stiff! Hah! See what I did there?! I'm so using this against him!"

Eri understood none of that, so she simply stared at the woman. "He said he would be back soon. I wanted to be outside, anyway. It's nice." She pointed at the rising sun. "Warm."

"Huh," Joke said, finally composed. "I can stay with you until he gets back. I wouldn't want you to be alone here on the street."

"No, it's fine. You're busy."

"It's okay! My class is on a field trip downtown for a history assignment, so I had today off!"

"Maybe Daddy'll want to see you…?"

"He does?!" Ms. Joke's face turned a bit pink. "I knew my husband would come around!"

Eri pointed ambiguously to the left. "He's in one of those stores." Snapping out of her romantic trance, the hero watched Eri closely. So, with her best Aizawa impersonation, Eri said, "He said to stay right here and don't cause any trouble."

Ms. Joke laughed, putting her hands on her hips. "Sure sounds like him. Well, I'll go in there and say hi real quick. So, you stay right there and do as your daddy says." With a wink, the hero was gone.

Eri sighed in relief. Seeing a thin line of escape, she sprinted down the street and did not stop until she found a park with tons of bushes. When she got there, though, her head spun a thousand miles per hour. The air made her nauseous, her heartbeat ached her entire body, and her head weighed as much as the jungle gym equipment. She collapsed on the ground behind screens of bushes, placing the flannel over her head for warmth in a sudden frigid world.