Chapter 6

Aizawa Shouta was exhausted. Or more exhausted than usual, rather. The little girl he had been attempting to extract information from had been most uncooperative, leaving him frustrated for days since their conversation.

Kaori Kurotobi, he reminded himself. Her name was Kaori. Running back his short and unproductive conversation with her, he wondered belatedly if he had been too harsh on her. She had been through a lot in one day, so asking for information may have been insensitive on his end. Aizawa sighed and rubbed his temples tiredly. He had screwed up, it would seem. He still wasn't sure why he had been assigned to this case — he had made it abundantly clear that he wasn't great with young kids — but for one reason or another, the higher-ups seemed hell-bent on putting him on. Now he was stuck with a messy case with barely any evidence, and a witness who probably hated his guts by now.

He sighed again, feeling his shoulders sag. Where was his coffee, dammit. This was shaping up to be a long day.

"You called?" The familiar voice of Yamada called, snapping him out of his annoyance. His day was starting to look up a bit.

"I need your help," he said, trying his best to hide his desperation. "I have a case, with this kid —"

"Yes, yes. I've read up on it before coming." He grinned widely. "The great hero Eraser Head defeated by a small child! Who would've thought?"

"Shut up." Aizawa felt his headache return. "So? Are you going to help or not?"

"Course I will," he said, as if the idea of him denying the request was preposterous. "On one condition."

"Ugh," Aizawa grumbled. Of course there was a catch. "What is it?"

"Nothing much, just for you to promise me a favor in return when I ask for one."

"Fine, but you better be able to get through with her. She is the sole witness, you know."

The smile on Yamada's face wasn't reassuring to Aizawa at all, and he began to doubt the fairness of the deal.

"Yep, I remember. I've just finished reading up on it." His face turned serious. "Poor girl. To lose her parents like that, must've been terrifying."

Aizawa nodded in agreement, a sliver of guilt beginning to creep up on him. He was definitely too hard on her. He wondered if he should apologize.

"Do you have any idea where she's going to end up?"

"How should I know? I'm not her social worker."

"No, but aren't you concerned? She's only four."

"I can't be emotionally attached to all the victims I work with," Aizawa reminded him. "It would interfere with my work."

"Still, won't you at least look into it? I'm worried."

"The social worker did give me some info," Aizawa admitted reluctantly, knowing how he would react. "I think they did find extended family, but they weren't willing to take her in. She'll most likely end up in foster care."

"That's awful! Is there anything we can do at all?"

"Not really, unless you know someone who is looking to foster, I suppose."

Yamada looked thoughtful for a second, sending a jolt of fear through Aizawa. Nothing good ever came out of his schemes. "Oh well, let me go talk to her first. Where's her room?"

Kaori wondered how much longer she would have to stay at the hospital. The stark white walls and the lack of mind-numbing entertainment was slowly getting to her, and she could feel her grip on reality began to blur. The room was too barren, too quiet, allowing no reprieve for the loud intrusive thoughts in her head. She missed her cozy bedroom and the company her parents; it felt unsafe being by herself.

She hoped Aizawa would come by again, she felt ready to answer more questions now that the situation didn't feel as fresh as it did before. Despite his insensitivity, she'd still like to help him with the case; for her parents' sake, if nothing else. It also didn't feel great to have snapped at him, a character she liked and respected from the show. She thought she was at least somewhat justified for it, though.

A soft knock on the door roused her from her thoughts, and she looked up.

"Come in," she called, sitting up straight on her bed and trying to look at least a little presentable.

The door swung open, but to her surprise, it wasn't Aizawa. Instead, it was an eccentric-looking man with blond hair that stood straight up.

"Hi there!" His voice was cheery, and he had a large smile on his face. "I'm Pro Hero Present Mic. You can call me Yamada. Would it be alright if we had a quick chat?"

"Sure thing." Kaori regarded him curiously. Hadn't it been Aizawa who was on her case? Still, it was interesting to meet yet another hero, especially one from the show.

"How are you feeling Kaori-chan? I heard from the police officers you refused to talk to them," he said, pulling up a stool next to her bed to sit on. His voice was soft, and Kaori thought it was rather uncharacteristic for the hero with a voice-related quirk.

She stiffened. "What do you think?" She was sick of the question. What did people expect her to feel?

"Right, sorry," he said, looking vaguely apologetic. "If there's anything you need, feel free to tell me or anyone else around here. We're here to help."

"No, I'm good. Just get to it." She felt slightly bad for being curt, but this sort of talk had really gotten stale.

"If you're certain." He looked unsure and studied Kaori a little before pushing on. "We're currently investigating the explosion that had occurred. Is there anything specific that you can remember about it, anything that stood out?"

Kaori had been expecting this. She shut her eyes for a moment, instilling within herself the energy to remember the events of that day. The memory was still fresh, despite her best attempts to push it back in the recesses of her mind.

"There was a man," she said finally, unconsciously balling her palms into fists. "He was looking at me and my parents right before … before it happened. He was standing a fair distance from us."

"So you think that man was responsible for it?"

"Yeah. Well, I'm not sure, but he looked extremely sketchy." Kaori feared she was blaming an innocent man. However, the expression on the man's face had really stuck with her, and she couldn't help but think he had something to do with it; even if there was no concrete evidence.

"Sketchy? How so?" he prompted.

"His expression and how he dressed. It was really hot that day, but he was completely covered from head to toe. It gave me a bad feeling. And a few seconds before the … incident … he started walking away from us."

Yamada looked troubled. "And you said he looked at you?"

"Yeah." Kaori was rapidly losing interest. She was sick of repeating herself.

"Thank you Kaori-chan, that was very helpful. Would you mind telling a sketch artist what he looks like later?"

"Sure." She wondered how they were going to work on this case. Were her words the only lead they had?

"Now, If you don't mind, may I ask some more personal questions? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"It's fine. Go ahead." Kaori found that he liked Yamada, his friendly demeanor made him feel more approachable and easier to talk to; less blunt than Aizawa had been.

"Do you have any extended family members that you can stay with? Any family friends?"

Kaori felt a deep sadness well up again at the thought. She had been worrying about this during her short confinement at the hospital, and the fact that she hadn't been able to reach a conclusion on this only made her more upset.

"No," she mumbled. "It's just my parents and me." She crumbled her bedsheets under her fist, looking away.

Yamada paused for a moment. "Absolutely no one?"

She glared at him, unwilling to repeat what she had just said. He raised his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to make sure." He sighed. "Look, I know it's not ideal, but if it's alright with you, I'd like for you to come live with my husband and me for the time being. It would be safer for you as well, in case the villain ever decided to track you down. He knows what you look like, after all."

"Your husband?" Kaori's interest was piqued, despite the circumstances. This wasn't in the show!

"Yes, I believe you've met! He's the grouchy one wearing all black, Aizawa!" His sunny smile had returned, lifting the mood of their conversation ever so slightly.

Kaori's eyes widened for a split second. It was hard for her to imagine the two with such polar opposite personalities to be together, though she supposed there must be some truths to the saying opposites attract.

"Huh, I see," she said slowly, after a moment's pause. "You sure he's fine with me living with you guys?" Judging by the way Aizawa had talked to her the other day, it was hard to imagine him wanting her presence around. At least he hadn't been outright malicious toward her, which was something.

"He'll get over it," he said cheerily, almost too much so.

Kaori sighed. Tempting as the offer may be, she wasn't convinced just yet. At this point, she thought living in an orphanage might be easier; there was no one to be emotionally attached to, and she will be left to her own devices for the most part. But, it was Aizawa and Yamada they were talking about here. It would be a great chance for her to be involved in canon.

"Yeah, alright. Just make sure he's fine with it first," she said finally.

"Will do," he said. "You know, you've been awfully calm this entire time. You sure you're feeling alright?"

Kaori shrugged, not knowing how to respond.

"Well," he said, slapping his hand on his knee. "Let me just go talk with Shouta real quick. It was great talking with you!"

Kaori nodded, already feeling her exhaustion return.

"Again, I'm really sorry for your loss." His tone was sympathetic, the same pitying tone everyone else had used when talking to her. "And if you need anything, anything at all, just give me a call alright?"

"Yeah," she mumbled.

"So, did you get the information we need?" Aizawa asked Yamada, forgoing greetings.

"Yep, she was very cooperative." Yamada explained the situation to him, sparing no detail. "Also guess what Shouta?"

Aizawa shrugged impatiently, not in the mood.

"Guess!" Yamada insisted.

Aizawa sighed. "Fine. You're getting a promotion?"

"Wrong!" He made an x with his arms and a buzzing sound. "The kid is coming to live with us! Well, that is, if the child services allow it."

Aizawa almost spat out his coffee. He stared at Yamada incredulously, wondering if he had misheard him.

"Excuse me, what now?"

"We're going to be temporary guardians of Kaori-chan! After we do all the paperwork." Yamada beamed, ignoring the look on Aizawa's face. "Exciting news, right?"

"No, I don't remember agreeing to this. You can't just go off making these decisions on your own," he replied after calming down a little.

"It's going to be fine. It'll only be for a little while anyway, only until they find someone else more suitable."

"I doubt we have the mental capacity to take care of a four-year-old right now, not even for a little while. I mean you're practically a child yourself," he argued.

"Hey, I resent that! But think about it, it'll be good practice for when we do want kids."

"If we want kids," Aizawa corrected. "Besides, that doesn't matter right now. The fact is, we aren't ready right now, and won't become any more ready in the next few days."

"You never know. Is anyone truly prepared? There's a first for everything, and that includes child-rearing."

"She's clearly traumatized, we aren't fit to take care of someone like that."

"We'll figure it out, c'mon. What if the villain comes back for her?"

Aizawa groaned. It was a point that he had been worried about himself.

"Besides, we took care of my nephew just last month, remember? You admitted you didn't mind."

"You can't seriously be comparing fostering with babysitting for a weekend," Aizawa said. He took a large gulp of his scalding hot coffee; he desperately needed the energy.

"You enjoyed it. Just admit it," Yamada teased, giving him a poke. Aizawa scowled in return.

"I did mind. He spilled juice on the couch. The stain is still there."

Yamada rolled his eyes. "Really though, Kaori-chan seems like a lovely child. I'm sure it will be fine."

"Right…" he said skeptically.

"So? We're doing this right?"

Aizawa thought hard for a moment before making up his mind. "Ugh, alright. Fine." He glared at him half-heartedly. He always got talked into things by Yamada. "But only on a temp basis."

"All right! I'll count this as the favor from earlier, so you're welcome."

"Thanks," Aizawa said dryly.

This had got to be karma for the way he had talked to the girl that day. He was now starting to regret ever bringing Yamada on the case.

Reminding himself that it wasn't a permanent placement, he breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself down. How hard could taking care of a four-year-old be? Yamada and he had faced much worse — they'd be able to deal with a little girl.

He felt like he owed her a little, anyway. He just hoped she didn't hate his guts already.

A/N: Hopefully Kaori can get along well with them, but somehow I doubt it :P At least Aizawa feels somewhat bad. Also thanks for the review :D Next chapter will be up very soon. TBH I just forgot to upload this one, it has been done for ages lol.