Aizawa had expected her to sleep the entire day, but was surprised to find her extremely lively when he showed up at her apartment. The female hero greeted him with a big smile, even as smoke billowed from the stovetop in her kitchen. He looked past her, raising an eyebrow as a fire came into view. "Are you trying to burn your building down?"

"What? Oh shit!" She seemed to have suddenly remembered whatever she had been doing and nearly tripped over her own feet on her way to put out the blaze. As she hustled to try to smother the flames with a damp rag, her guest let himself into the apartment.

His eyes shifted around the main room, taking in the tidy appearance of it. He could tell that she had been cleaning. The previous night he had noticed some dust on the coffee table and now it was spotless. Feeling somewhat amused by the idea of her cleaning to try to impress him, the man settled on the couch to watch her finish putting out the fire.

"How was work?" she awkwardly called over her shoulder.

She sounds like a newlywed, he thought with a smirk. Attempting, and failing, to relax on her couch, he finally gave up and walked into the kitchen to join her. "Yamada wouldn't shut up about you being gone."

The woman pushed a loose lock of crimson hair behind her ear and half-grinned. "Yeah? He misses me that much?" she teased. "Did the principal say anything about when I can come back?"

Aizawa's mouth fell to a frown and he leaned against the kitchen counter beside her. "He didn't say anything. If he talks to anyone about it, it should be you. It's your job," he pointed out.

"Ah. Yeah, I guess you're right." Akari's look of contentment began to fade away into disappointment and concern.

"What did you do today? You didn't sleep, did you?"

A coy smirk tugged at her lips. "After last night, I didn't need any more sleep. I got plenty of rest." There was a slightly flirtatious tone to her voice as she said this and when she looked over her shoulder at him, there was a faint warmth to her complexion.

He would never admit it to anyone, but he had thought about her a lot that day while they were separated. The previous night had been great. Sleeping next to her gave him plenty of rest, but sleeping next to her after their certain "mature" activities gave him a feeling that nothing else could. He felt rested. Just energized enough without feeling hyper. It put him in a good mood.

When she turned back to the meal she was working on, he quietly crossed the space between them. Hands rested on her hips, his face moving to the sensitive skin between her neck and shoulder. "You liked last night?"

Akari tensed in his hold and leaned her head to the side when he traced the tip of his nose over her pale skin. "Shouta…"

Catching the slight hint of a whimper in her voice, he smirked and slid a hand inward from her hip. Fingertips trailed over the tight, dark fabric of her pants and gripped her belt buckle. "Answer the question."

"Nn. Of course I liked last night," she muttered, eyes sliding closed.

Shift P.O.V

The romantic dinner was ruined. She had nearly set the apartment on fire. She had been suspended from her part time job. Yet somehow, beyond all reason, this man still wanted to be around her. Akari had no idea what he could possibly see in her, but as she looked over at the man, she could not help the smile that grew on her face. "How is it?"

"Crunchy." Aizawa glared down at the charred pieces of meat, but still lifted one with his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth. He had his hair pulled back from his face, the V-neck of his shirt exposing his neck and collarbone.

Sitting beside him on her bed, she felt her gaze drawn to his exposed skin and her heart skipped a beat. Warmth rushed to her face as she let her gaze lazily skim over his collarbone and she bit her lower lip. He was attractive to her when he wore his hero costume, but in casual clothes, he ignited a deeper attraction within her. She loved seeing him in a normal outfit, even if he was frowning and glaring.

Like a grumpy cat, she thought to herself. Crunching on a particularly overcooked piece of meat, the woman's attention was drawn back to the failed meal. To make matters worse, they were having to eat in her bed rather than on the couch because the couch was so uncomfortable.

"Sorry about the food."

"It's fine."

"No…it's horrible. You can say it."

Aizawa set down the chopsticks, releasing a heavy sigh. "This is terrible."

Akari snickered and nodded. "I know. I don't usually cook stuff like this. I wanted to impress you, but this is just awful, right?"

He looked to her from the corner of his eye and saw the disappointment in her face. She had tried to hide it, but he could still tell how she felt. Without a word, he grabbed her bowl from her and took it into the kitchen with his.

She followed him, curious about what he was doing. "Shouta?"

"We'll just go pick something up."

"What? Wait, but-" Akari went silent when he narrowed his eyes on her and frowned, toying with a stray lock of hair. "I mean…I'll pay, okay? I wanted to do something for you since you had work."

Aizawa was clearly tired now. Too tired to bother arguing with her. "Fine."

Despite the colossal failure that was dinner, she was just glad to be doing something. Her morning had been extraordinarily boring. Her afternoon had been interesting at the very least. She had made a new friend and, although he was a little awkward, he was nice.

"What did you do today?"

They were walking down the sidewalk together now and she turned to see what sort of expression he was wearing. Aizawa was rubbing the back of his neck in a way that made her knees feel weak. Too cute. She bit her lower lip and looked away quickly when he glanced at her. "I didn't do much. I cleaned, I went shopping, I got some lunch, I hung out with a friend for a while, and then I almost burned my building down."

"You have friends?"

"Kind of mean. I'm friends with Hizashi, aren't I?"

"He's friends with everyone."

Her shoulders drooped a bit and she threaded her fingers into her thick, crimson locks. "Well…we're friends, right?"

"We're not friends."

"Oh. Uh. Okay. I guess I thought…wrong then. Huh." Akari sighed and pushed her hands into her pockets. How are we not friends? We've slept together twice now! He really doesn't consider us friends? She kicked a pebble down the sidewalk ahead of her, suddenly feeling like all of her energy had been sapped.

Aizawa saw the crestfallen look on her face and scowled. "We're dating," he stated in a growl. "So…?"

Heat bloomed in her cheeks as she looked toward him. "So we're…?"

"Are you serious?"

"What?" She tilted her head, a loose strand of hair falling over her pale face. The woman's eyes widened slightly when he grabbed her upper arm and pulled her close to him. "Shouta?"

"We're dating so we're not friends. What are we, Akari?"

The man's stare felt as though it was burning through her. Akari's stomach seemed to do flips as he leaned down closer. "I'm not your friend…I'm your girlfriend." When she saw him smile, her pulse sped up significantly. "What?"

Without a word, he let go of her arm and kept walking. Aizawa got to the corner before he looked at her over his shoulder and smirked. "Are you coming?"

Damn that smile. Damn that cocky attitude. He wasn't that confident when we were teenagers, but I love this side of him. Suddenly sweating a little from nervousness, she jogged to catch up to him. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

A hand reached over for hers, but he did not acknowledge it. Her hand felt warm against his and he could feel her fingers lace with his own. "The sooner we get our food, the sooner we can eat and the sooner we can get to bed." Aizawa tensed as he felt gauze brush against his knuckles. Looking down, he saw that the fingertips of her left hand were all bandaged.

While they waited for their food, he frowned and lifted her hand to look at her fingertips. "What happened?"

She averted her gaze and tried to pull her hand away from his, but his grip tightened. "I had to use my quirk yesterday."

"What happened?" he repeated, his tone stern.

"I've been…doing some hero work when I can't sleep. Yesterday morning, there was a guy that I had to incapacitate so I used my quirk to make his limbs go numb," she explained. Finally, he let go of her hand and Akari shoved her hands into her pockets.

His eyes narrowed further. "Is that why you passed out on the bathroom floor?" the man demanded.

"I was doing my job-!"

"You're a backup teacher, too. If you push yourself too hard, you're going to lose that job." Aizawa was about to say more, but their food was ready.

The walk back to her apartment was silent. Akari was quietly hating herself for not hiding her injury better. Aizawa was quietly seething about her hiding the injury from him. By the time they were back in her apartment, she was feeling worn out. "Look. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, okay? I should have. I know I should have. I just didn't want you to say that I'm like-"

"You're pushing yourself the same way that he does."

She winced. "I know that! Damn it. I know that what I'm doing is stupid, okay? But if I'm awake anyway, why shouldn't I put my time to good use?" Akari turned away from where she was setting the takeout boxes down on the kitchen counter and found the man right behind her.

Aizawa planted a hand on the counter to either side of her, caging her in place, and leaned down so his face was inches from hers. "Do I need to sleep here every night? Is that what you're saying?"

Flushing as red as her hair, she felt his hips press forward against hers and pin her back against the counter's edge. "Are you…offering?"

He grinned a bit wickedly. "Maybe in the near future."