"This is me.
I am the eye of the storm and my heart is a little broken.
But if you want me, I'm yours."
Courtney Peppernell, "Pillow Thoughts"
Two days later Shota shuffled back onto his couch under arduous efforts and the sharp and disapproving gaze of Recovery Girl. All of his colleagues had been concerned and had tried to get the underground hero to stay in the infirmary a little longer.
They knew what him leaving his sick bed meant, Shota was going back to work tomorrow.
Much too early without a doubt. The underground hero could barely move, bandaged from head to toe, his limbs in casts… He was hardly presenting a picture of excellent health. Nope, far from it.
But the USJ incident had been a disaster for the reputation of the school but more importantly it had put Shota's students in mortal danger. Students, who were his to protect and care for, had been forced to defend themselves… and even worse they had been forced to try and protect him!
This felt inexcusable!
That besides Shota, only Midoriya and All Might had been sustained significant injuries and that everyone had escaped with their lives intact… Fuck, that could be only attributed to pure dumb luck.
Had the villains just planed the attack a bit better…
Had they known more about the students' quirks…
Shit, had the rest of the teachers just arrived a bit later…
There would have been causalities, certainly.
A thought that had Shota shivering in cold sweat. He hadn't become a teacher to see his students die, damn it!
Of course, hero work was dangerous and getting hurt or dying was possible.
Sure, Shota was a strict teacher.
Yes, he expelled those that lacked potential or seriousness, so they could experience the feeling of 'death' once.
But he would reinstate and 'revive' those that learned their lesson and who wanted to work hard.
This was different though…
The League had dared to threaten 20 untrained children – most of them still 15 – and despite that his brats hadn't done too badly.
They had fought and they had endured.
They had protected each other and had protected - to Shota's and Thirteen's shame - even their incapacitated teachers.
It didn't matter that all of his bones still ached terribly, Shota wanted… no, needed to see his students tomorrow. He needed to assure himself that they were still alive and kicking.
Problem children the whole lot of them!
And just maybe he wanted them to see him, too. So, they knew that although he had been beaten badly, that he wouldn't stay down. And that he would be alright.
Sighing tiredly Shota leaned his head back, wincing a little when the movement pulled on one or the other injury.
Until an hour ago Yamada had fluttered around him in a clumsy and too loud display of care. Mic had fluffed up pillows, made tea… and had nearly burned Shota's kitchen down in his attempt to cook rice.
Shota would have thrown Yamada out of the window if he'd been able to… as it was, he was pretty much helpless with his heavily bandaged body – having already earned himself the nick name Mummizawa from Kayama – But every time he was about to open his mouth to coolly dismiss Yamada, he had found that he couldn't.
Because whenever Shota looked more closely, he could see Mic's boisterous mask cracking and breaking away.
It wasn't much. A slight hunch in his tense shoulders. The tiniest flinch whenever he had looked too closely at Shota's bandages. The lively sparkle that usually belonged into Yamada's eyes, missing. The too loud and too excited way, he had bounced around the flat.
The underground hero knew what this was about. What all those little cracks revealed…
He knew because it would have been the same for him.
The sight of Shota' broken body lying on the ground, had scared his friend.
And so, Shota had closed his tried and dry eyes and had indulged Yamada. Letting the man's odd way of coddling wash over him. Contending himself with rolling his eyes only one or two times at Mic's silliness. He had drawn the line though when Yamada tried to tug him in for the night.
"Yamada." He had deadpanned, staring unblinkingly at his friend until the other had blushed a bright tomato red.
"Uhmm… yeah, sorry! I… uhmm… just…" Yamada had stuttered.
"I'm going to be alright." Shota had replied stoically.
A shaky smile had twisted the loud hero's lips, before he nodded with a wet sounding sigh.
"Alright."
Yamada had left after that.
Finally, alone Shota had tried to sleep, failing miserably. Even an hour later his head refused to calm down.
Pictures of the attack.
His students' screams…
Villains everywhere…
Shigaraki trying to disintegrate his fucking elbow…
An overwhelmingly strong monster crushing him to pieces…
Everything in Shota itched to get back to work, to prove to his students and himself that he was standing again.
The sound of his doorbell ripped Shota forcefully out of his dark thoughts. Blearily the underground hero blinked, had Yamada come back?
Painfully slow he scuffled to the door, opening it grumbling.
"I told yo…" Shota's brain stopped working.
While the man on the other was indeed green-eyed… it certainly wasn't his loud friend.
There in his door way stood Harry.
Dressed in casual clothes, looking incredibly nervous as his eyes roamed with rapid speed over Shota's pitiful mummy-like form. The Omega looked incredibly pale under the harsh hall light. A deep frown caused his forehead to scrunch up and lush lips were pressed into a thin line.
"Fuck…fuck! " Harry breathed out, sounding almost choked up. "So, you did get hurt that much…"
"Yeah… " Shota felt somewhat numb, their last conversation still fresh in mind.
How he had lashed out in jealousy… and how he had hurt the other man in the process. He had wanted to talk things over with Harry after the USJ training… but he had forgotten about it in the aftermath.
And now, Shota felt hollow looking at the smaller Omega… Harry had made it crystal clear from the beginning what he wanted from their arrangement.
Nothing, but sex.
And Shota could either take the deal or leave it.
Whatever the underground hero felt for the green-eyed Brit was one-sided. So why had he come? He had told Shota to go home and think, but after what happened there was a high chance Harry had already reached to a conclusion on his own.
"Can I come in?" Harry's accent was even more pronounced than usual, while muttered so softly.
Dread was spreading through Shota. He couldn't deal with this right now.
He had just come to terms with the fact that he liked Harry. A lot.
It would be hard enough to have the Omega breaking things off between them on any other day but tonight…
Bruised and battered as he was in body and heart, he simply lacked the energy to do this now.
"Uhm, sorry Harry. I don't think I'm in any shape to…" Shota mumbled bitterly, about to close the door to end this damn conversation before it even started.
"Wait!" Harry quickly pushed his foot in the way, stopping the older man from shutting him out. "That's not… I… I'm not here for that…"
"Okay? Why are you here then?" Shota glared darkly at the floor, certain that either option of continuing their old arrangement of casual sex or breaking it off would crush his heart.
"I couldn't reach you. I wanted to talk… and… Your phone… it all went to the mailbox" Harry spoke fast, stumbling over his own sentences.
Ah yes, Shota blinked. His phone had been destroyed in the fight. Harry wouldn't have been able to get his calls or messages through.
"And then there was the report of the attack. They didn't say anything specific, just that two teachers had been injured really, really badly…" The Omega smelled sour of distress.
Staring dumfounded at the green eyed man, Shota couldn't quite comprehend were this was going…
Harry looked so different.
His hair seemed to be more tousled than ever and he kept running his hand through it in a nervous habit.
Oh. That's why he looks different. Shota thought.
Until now, he had seen the Omega being sexy, being self-assured and cool. He had seen him laughing and angry… but Shota had never seen Harry so… open and vulnerable.
Big green eyes were staring back at him unguarded for once and imploring…
For what?
"I couldn't reach you." Harry repeated, sounding desperate.
"My phone broke during the fight."
"All I could think about was our fight… And that… you were such an ass…" Shota inhaled sharply, but Harry rambled on. "I brushed you off, because you made me so angry… that you thought… I hadn't even told you…" Tears had started to pool in the Omega's eyes, causing the younger man to furiously whip his face.
"Harry!" The underground hero sounded a bit snappish even to his own ears.
But Shota's head ached and his heart was pounding under the onslaught of Harry's distraught scent and his faint sniffles.
"Harry, I'm really sorry for the other night, believe me, but why are you here?" He asked, forcing his voice to sound a little softer.
Flat, black eyes observed how slender hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly.
"I didn't like that I didn't know if you were hurt… That you might be dying! I was worried…" The words sounded hesitant and were only spoken with great difficulty.
And then Harry lapsed into silence, shivering like a leaf in the wind.
"Okay…" Shota frowned, feeling numb and confused as hell.
Silence stretched on.
This was getting nowhere. Shota was an idiot for hoping for something Harry clearly couldn't give and pressuring the other would harm both of them in the end.
"If that's all… I really need to rest." Shota sighed tiredly, exhaustion and pain demanding their tribute.
Feeling resigned and defeated the injured teacher was about to close the door again when the Omega suddenly wrenched his body in the door way.
"Wait! Please!" Harry was quivering madly.
"I am not seeing anybody else! And I don't want to, either!" He blurted out, breathing quickly.
Shota blinked. That wasn't what he had been expected.
"Okay, come in." The hero grabbed the upset Omega and pulled him inside the flat, partly so that the injured pro could fall back onto his couch.
Once in the living room Harry started to pace, looking even more agitated than before.
"My father was a hero." The green-eyed burst out without preamble.
What?!
Wide-eyed the underground hero gaped at the young business man. This was a completely unexpected development…
"Well, he and his friend, my godfather, wanted to open their own agency. My mum was on her way to become a support engineer for them… But my parents both died before they reached that goal though."
Ah… Shota closed his eyes in grief. That sounded eerily familiar.
"They were only twenty one, when we were caught in a villain attack." Harry's voice sounded hollow and detached. "Dad tried to protect mom and me but… He wasn't even on duty."
Twenty one. Barely out of training then. Probably just fledging sidekicks, about to really start as Pros. But Shota knew the kind. Boisterous, young heroes full of dreams and ambitions. Bright flames with great potential snuffed out too early.
"Isn't that funny…? Although my dad was a trained hero, he died as a civilian. They, both, were killed. I only survived because mom shielded me with her body." Harry chuckled darkly, eyes burning bright with pain.
"How old were you?" Shota asked softly.
"15 months."
The underground hero felt his breath catch in his throat.
A baby still. Harry had been robbed of his parents at such a young age.
"Shit. Is that why you grew up with your aunt and uncle?" Shota exhaled shakily.
"Yeah… they never liked mom or dad. They disliked everything too much out of the norm. But I think that my aunt was jealous. People told me that my mom had a brilliant analytical quirk and she had been married to a hero, really early. They were high school sweethearts." Harry sniffed.
"So, it was never really…good… living with my aunt and uncle… and then the thing with my quirk…" Harry dragged his hand though his hair in a wide, wild gesture.
"To them I was a waste of space. And after people discovered that I was quirkless everyone else I met, thought so too."
With that sentence all the nervous energy seemed to be drained from the Omega and he slumped down on the couch.
"My uncle threw me out of the house after I turned 13." Harry admitted softly.
Ice spread through Shota's veins. The extent of rejection and humiliation the quirkless Omega must have endured…
"He did what?! Was it because you presented as an Omega?"
The age would fit, most children presented around 12 or 13 and after their bodies slowly adjusted, they started their heats and ruts about two years later.
"No. I… I presented late. I was already 15 when that happened…"
The admission hung between them with a certain heaviness.
Late presentation was possible in Omegas. Scientists thought that it was a protective mechanism the Omegas' bodies used if their living environment didn't feel safe enough. It was almost always a sign of child abuse.
Anger and sadness for this young Harry was rumbling through Shota's chest.
"I see" He settled on saying, through clenched teeth. "What did you do after he threw you out?"
"I… knew that I had a godfather even if we were not in contact back then. He was still a hero,
successful as well. Sirius Black, pro hero Grim. I went looking for him in London and surprisingly, he took me in." Harry laughed, voice still coloured in disbelieve.
Shota started to understand.
Pro hero father. Dead.
Pro hero godfather.
Black. KURO labs.
The firm Harry inherited.
"I… it was better for some time… but heroics is a dangerous line of work. It didn't work out in the end. There are no fairy-tale endings in real life." Harry sounded incredible bitter.
"He died shortly before I turned 16… after that I came to Japan."
"I see." Shota mumbled and he did.
From that point on, the young Omega had probably stopped hoping that others were willing or able to look out and care for him. Because the adults in his life had either despised and shunned him or they had died.
Leaving him to fend for himself.
The underground hero doubted that the reaction of his peers had been all that different.
Shit!
Yeah, Shota could see how a sixteen year old teen would shut himself off form future hurts. Guarding his heart with the biggest caution, throwing himself into work and a countless number of reckless sexual encounters instead.
"Harry…"
Before Shota could say anything more, the Omega was shaking his head.
"I'm a control freak and cynic. I'm stubborn to a fault and I will protect my independence to my last breath. I'm really bad with feelings because they make me vulnerable and I can't be vulnerable. People exploit weaknesses and I already have so many." The Omega had started to rattle down, barely taking time to breathe and only looking at the clenched fists in his lap. "I'm a mess. I'll argue about the most stupid stuff. I… I tend to leave the light on when I go to work. I forget to screw the cap back on the toothpaste. My neighbours always hate me. Fuck, all kind of people hate my existence. And I have monstrous, huge trust issues and… the fact that you're a hero…"
"Harry." Shota spoke gently. "Why are you telling me all those things?"
Something every close to hope blooming in his chest, like a small tentative flower.
But with the way Harry was still shaking, curled in on himself, as if he could lessen the emotional pain and fight of his fears if he made himself as small as possible, it was hard to hope.
Shota really wanted to pull the green eyed man into his arms. To sooth his agitation and his pain, at least a bit.
But neither his own beaten-up physical state nor Harry's fragile emotions would allow that right now. The Omega was like an injured and cornered animal, one wrong move and he would either lash out or bold.
So, Shota took a deep breath and waited, heart pounding against his bruised and broken ribs.
"Because… " Harry was breathing hard, obviously struggling not to fall into a panic attack.
Was it strange that despite being worried about Harry that Shota felt a tiny bit giddy about the way the other man fought with himself to talk things through?
"Yeah?" He softly urged the Omega to continue.
Green eyes full of insecurity and hesitance flicked to Shota's face, a pink tongue wetting chewed on lips nervously.
"Because if you really want something committed… with me…" Harry swallowed.
"Hmmhmm?" The pro hero hummed encouragingly, trying ignore the butterflies fluttering in his belly and to be patient now.
"Then you should know what you're getting into." Harry finished lamely.
No means no…
Keep things casual…
Don't talk about work…
No bullshit…
Looking at the picture of nervous misery sitting curled up on his couch, all those rules made so much sense.
They completed all the ways Harry had tried to protect his fragile heart.
"So, there's none else?" Shota clarified carefully.
Frantically the Omega shook his head, causing dark locks to bounce adorably.
"No, I stopped the multiple lover thing when I was 19. The man you saw is Adachi-san. He's my main corporate lawyer. He's working for me for almost ten years by now and he's happily mated to a pretty Omega of his own. In fact, it was his wife, Mika-san, who introduced me to him. She was my student counsellor when I first came to Japan with little knowledge of the language or anything for that matter. For a long time, she was my only real connection I made in Japan… I finished my schooling exclusively online. They still make a point to invite me for dinner every now and then." Harry rambled, as he glanced hesitantly at Shota. "I trust them both and I don't have many people I feel that comfortable with."
Ah, that's why they were so familiar with each other and why Harry had smelled like the other man. He must have been at the pairs home… he must have allowed them close. Omegas were normally nurturing and social creatures, they flourished in groups and sex alone couldn't compensate for that.
Fuck, and didn't that make Shota feel even more like an ass about the trouble he'd given Harry because the other Alpha had brought him home… and for being friendly…
"They have done so much for me that I would never dare to… I could never… What they have is so incredible, I'd never sully that. That's the reason why I got so angry with you. And I... I made myself a rule only to see one guy at a time and no married or bonded men, either."
Shota raised an eyebrow.
Harry grimaced.
"You remember when I said that I got more careful after my promiscuous behaviour got someone else hurt?"
Shota nodded.
"I had an affair with a married man for a few months… At first, I didn't know, didn't care enough about him or myself to even ask for his name… But I got attached, I started to care and when I learned about his marriage, I was going to break up with him but… he told me his wife knew about the liaison, that she didn't mind. And I stayed."
Shota raised both eyebrows.
Dropping his head into his hands, Harry groaned in self-deprecation.
"Yeah, yeah I know… it was total bullshit. I was young, reckless and lonely. And I liked him and I simply wanted to believe him. But of course, that was a big fat lie and when it came out… Well, none of it was pretty. After that I decided that I had to make more of an effort. He was the one who lied but I hadn't cared enough to really question it either."
"I see." Shota sighed in understanding.
Another man on the list of people who had hurt Harry.
"Yes. The rules I made for myself and my lovers helped me to keep control. I like sex but the emotional commitment scares me. It's easier to keep everyone at arm's length."
"I guess it is." Shota agreed tiredly. "I did the same for a long time. Throwing myself into work, barely keeping in touch with the people who cared about me. When I was in my second school year one of my friends died during a work study. I was with him. Shirakumo Oboro." Shota glanced at Harry, who was listening intendedly.
Solemn, green eyes drinking his words in and so Shota continued, talking about things he barely talked to Yamada about.
"He was bright, caring and he never hesitated… He was amazing. He believed so much in me, when everybody else still thought that I couldn't make it as a pro hero with a quirk like mine. He was the one who kept pushing me forward… Without him…" Shota choked.
"You loved him." Harry stated calmly, causing the hero to blink.
His head carefully blank for a moment.
That…
They had been so young. Becoming a hero had been the only thing on Shota's mind back then. Nemuri had once insulated something similar back in the day, when they all had still met on the school roof for lunch break. The four of them…
Shota had dismissed her at the time. And after Oboro's death neither she or Mic would have brought that up again…
"I… " Shota stopped himself from denying it too quickly.
"Maybe." He conceded. "If we've had had more time. Then maybe, I might have fallen in love with him for real." Shota admitted, a lone tear escaping his left eye.
"Together with a classmate we wanted to open our own agency after graduation. After his death, I went off on my own. Leaving my friend behind because I couldn't stand the hollowness in my chest." He heard the small hitch in Harry's breathing. "It took years before I felt stable and whole enough to move on. That's when I became a teacher at U.A. and reunited with my friends."
"You are an astonishing and admirable man, Aizawa Shota." Harry chuckled breathlessly, eyes gleaming with tears, causing Shota to blush brightly under his bandages. "I don't think, you understand just how amazing this makes you. I wish… he'd…" Harry suddenly shook his head, as if to clear his head. A forlorn smile tugging at his lips.
"It doesn't matter…" Sad green eyes settled on Shota. "You are the first in a long, long time to draw me in and throw me off balance like this."
For the nth time today, Shota cursed all those bandages and casts that kept hiding his expressions, restricted his movements and prevented him from caressing Harry's pretty face.
His only chance to expressive himself was to talk.
Not his strongest suit.
Well, here goes nothing. He thought hoping dearly, that he wouldn't put his foot into his mouth, again.
"Harry, that night… I was an idiot and an ass. I'm so sorry, please believe me! I…"
Shota voice broke a little in embarrassment.
Harry let out a wet chuckle. "Oh, yes you were. You made me so angry… even more so because I couldn't stay indifferent. I couldn't smile them away anymore. Your words hurt me. And you were not supposed to be able to touch me like this."
Shota swallowed heavily at the implication, so it weren't just his own defences that had been weakened in those weeks together. He really wanted to hug Harry, damn it!
Instead, he had to settle for talking again, sounding still a little choked.
"I can never apologize enough for being a jealous jackass. What I nearly said… I… But I'm incredibly glad that there's nobody else. Fuck, it damn obvious but I'm also not the best when it comes to feelings, I guess we just have to figure things out together."
Brilliant green eyes grew wide in surprise and hope. "So, you still…" A delicate smile was tugging on the Omega's lips.
"Yes, I meant what said, I still want a real relationship with you. I like you, Potter Harry."
Relief and happiness lit the younger man's face up from within, as worry, nervousness and past pain bleed slowly from him.
Fuck, Harry was really beautiful, wasn't he?
With hesitant and incredible careful a slender hand stroked over the bandages on Shota's cheek.
"I'm so glad you're alive." The young man mumbled, British accent tick with emotion, before he pressed the lightest and softest kiss against covered lips.
After that Harry had ushered the mummy into his bedroom. The omega had been firm about Shota needing to rest, even though the man's previous exhaustion had been replaced by giddy excitement.
Shota had been heart-broken when the green eyed man had sent him away after their fight… and if the hero was totally honest, he hadn't just been upset about their last argument and his own stupidity.
The pain of rejection had followed him since… long before. Since their first talk in the hospital, Shota had wanted more. He had been just all too eager to find Harry again and had seized the chance to go after the other man over a missing morning-after-pill.
Everything after had just caused his fascination with the successful, quirkless Omega to grow. He had found reason after reason to go back, like an addict.
Without realizing it himself he had started to fall for the green-eyed man since the moment he had thrown himself in the way of a feral Alpha to prevent Shota from raping a school girl and saving both of them by that.
His Alpha had known since their forced mating that he wanted Harry but the rational underground hero had very effectively refused to listen, fruitlessly clinging to the idea that he could keep things cool and casual.
Instead, it had taken, Shota making an ass out of himself and nearly dying in a villain attack for them to fess up.
"You are going back to work soon, aren't you?" Harry asked suddenly.
There was something shaky and insecure in his voice, that startle Shota for a second. But of course,…
"My father was a hero."
"Well, he and his friend, my godfather, wanted to open their own agency."
"I… it was better for some time… but heroics is a dangerous line of work."
"He died shortly before I turned 16… after that I came to Japan."
"… the fact that you're a hero…"
The fact that Shota was a hero, also meant the possibility of dying just as suddenly as Harry's parents and godfather had… The though brought a heavy feeling to Shota's chest. The Omega would need a lot of courage to brave through a relationship like theirs and the harsh memories it would unearth without a doubt.
"Yes. Tomorrow, I'll go back to class. The kids went through a lot during the attack… I want them to know I'm still standing." Shota stated calmly.
Green eyes alight with anxiousness and something softer, closed for a moment as Harry swallowed heavily, nodding.
Acknowledging the silent struggle, the underground hero grasped a slender hand and gave it a small squeeze.
"It'll be some time, a few weeks at least, until I'll be recovered enough to go back on patrol. Our nurse was very frank with me on that point. And with my quirk working like it does I need to be physical fit to work. It wouldn't be pragmatic to rush things."
Harry sighed, forcefully loosening his tense shoulders.
"Okay."
"You don't need to worry. We're having the annual Sports Festival in two weeks and Present Mic roped me into commenting. So, the most strenuous I'll be doing is keeping myself from strangling my loud, best friend and preparing for the event."
"The school is still going to do the Sports Festival?" Harry asked looking aghast.
About to explain Shota had opened his mouth only to snap it shut again when young business man held his hand up, shaking his head.
"This is about demonstrating strength, right? Proving to the public and the press that the top school for heroes isn't backing down." There was a cynic twist to Harry's words.
"Yes. It's only logical to provide this kind of reassurance to the outside and the inside. Our students need it too."
"If it was about KURO labs, I'd probably do the same. Fuck, I did the same a few times. Admitting weakness can be a deathblow… but being reckless or ignorant could also lead to that." The green-eyed Brit agreed grimly.
"We're being cautious. There will be a lot more heroes and police present than ever before. We'll need to show Japan that we're able to protect our values and our students."
"Still, feels like a ballsy move to make. But as far as I understand the festival has always been that anyway."
Shota raised an eyebrow in question.
"A national broadcasted tournament showing of your students' abilities? With friends and foes watching… giving them all that time to prepare that's risky and it means you're forcing your students to evolve rather quickly."
Damn, observing how Harry's sharp mind worked, was exciting. Shota would feel his face hurting from the way his lips and cheeks strained in their attempt to accommodate a huge grin.
"As soon as they go public, people and the press won't stop analysing their skills and quirks. One-trick-ponies unable to adjust, don't make the cut in the real world of heroics." The underground hero said flatly, causing Harry to send him a wry smile.
Curiosity spurned on by their discussion, Shota asked. "You seem to know a lot about the Festival? Are you a fan?"
The beautiful Omega threw his head back barking out a laugh.
"Of high schoolers showing of their flashy quirks and beating each other up without a real need? Fuck no! If I'm lucky I can avoid watching that circus. But my secretary is a big fan and she gets super unfocused when she tries to watch it behind my back on her phone. So, I allowed her to watch it on the tv at the office."
Harry's harsh dismissal told Shota a lot about the resentment and distaste he held for the quirk-based, hero society they were living in. Shota understood. After all the things he learned today, he really did but he also felt a personal obligation to defend the Sports Festival.
"It's more than circus, Harry. When I went to U.A. I didn't manage to get into the hero course because the entrance exam favours flashy quirks… I won the Sports Festival in my first year proving my worth as a hero candidate. My whole career was built on the opportunity I received there."
"You worked really hard to become a hero, didn't you?" Harry sighed, green eyes softer than a minute before.
Acknowledging Shota's struggle was offered as an unspoken apology between them and the pro hero took it. They both had sound reasons to feel about heroics like they did.
"Yes, I did and I'm proud of my work."
"I can see that. I guess I just hope…" The younger man mumbled softly, a faraway look in his eyes when he suddenly stopped the sentence.
"Harry?"
But the Omega was shaking his head again, a tiny smile on his lips that did little to hide how troubled he seemed to be.
"Forget what I said, Aizawa. I'm just being silly."
There was something so delicate and sad in Harry's expression that Shota reacted on impulse, pulling the slight man into his arms, biting back a wince when the action aggravated his wounds.
"I won't make empty promises about the future. But right now, I'm here." He whispered into the other man's ear, feeling the tiny shivers running through the shorter Brit.
Concerningly slow tension drained from the body in Shota's arms, as Harry allowed himself to lay on the hero's bed as well.
For a moment they just held onto each other in silence.
"You feeling better now?" Shota asked after a while, when the tremors running through Harry lessened and his breathing sounded a bit more even and relaxed.
"Yes, thank you." Harry hummed.
"Any time. You're going to stay?" Shota mumbled into his pillow, feeling despite his flat tone a bit like a little kid.
"I would love to… but I'm kind of scared to roll against you in my sleep. There doesn't seem to an inch of you that's not banged up." Harry winced, hands hovering uncertainly over Shota's arms.
"I can handle that." Shota replied with a deadpan seriousness that caused the younger man's lip to twitch.
The underground hero felt stubborn. Harry had just agreed to a committed relationship… he wasn't quite ready to see him go just yet after that.
"Such a demanding and grumpy man." Harry chuckled clearly amused by Shota's childish behaviour.
With incredible careful hands he stroked through Shota's messy long hair, humming a soft tune under his breath, causing the hero's eyes to drop.
"Rest, hero. I'll watch over you until you sleep."
Omake
"How did you even get in here?" Shota asked already on the verge of falling asleep.
"Uhm… When I couldn't reach you after the press announcement of the USJ incident, I called the school. They wouldn't tell me anything, and you were still radio silent… so I decided to come here. When I came to the gate everything was locked up but there was this small mouse, dog… bear-thing (?) in a suit. He said he was the principal."
"Nedzu!"
"He already knew my name…"
Shota growled.
"Just stay away from him."
"Alright…?"
"Say Shota?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you really working for a smoking mouse?"