Shota Aizawa

Aizawa stepped into Ren's house and she led him into the kitchen. The stark gray cabinets and white solid surface countertops were broken up with splashes of bright-colored pottery, an attempt to brighten the room. She motioned to an orange leather stool at the end of the counter. He stood there awkwardly, uncomfortable and embarrassed. "I missed the last bus and left my phone at Recovery Girl's office. Oh…I'm…" He was dripping everywhere.

"I'll get you some dry clothes." Ren left for about a minute and came back with heather grey sweat pants and a purple and yellow striped t-shirt. Aizawa felt even more terribly awkward. He knew whose clothes those were.

"Oh, the bathroom is down the hall," Ren said as she pointed to an archway off the kitchen. "I'll put some tea on."

Aizawa stood in the small bathroom shaking from the combination of soaking wet clothes and cold, cold A/C blowing. He saw himself in the bathroom mirror and realized he appeared more haggard than usual which was saying something. He looked down at the clothes he was holding… These are Timeswapper's clothes….. Aizawa thought guiltily. He felt nauseated then realized he had not eaten since noon that day. He could leave. He could tell Ren, "Thanks, but I think I can make it in this weather, sorry to bother you." And hand her these clothes back. These clothes that had not been worn by Timeswapper in 5 years. Clothes Ren had kept, had not been able to throw away. He heard the rain on the roof become even louder and then heard thunderclaps. "Dammit," he cursed under his breath. He reluctantly changed. The clothes were loose but would do. He glanced at himself again. His deep-set, heavy-lidded eyes looked more swollen than usual. The incident in the classroom with Ren's quirk had really done a number on him. He looked like he was hungover. He wrung out his clothes and draped them on some hooks in the shower to dry.

Aizawa joined Ren back in the kitchen. She was standing at the stove waiting on the tea and gave him a small, sleepy smile. She wore her long strawberry blonde curls in a loose bun on top of her head and was wearing peach-colored striped pajamas. Her face was freshly washed and free of makeup. She had several brown freckles on the tip of her nose that he had never noticed before having always been hidden by makeup. She watched him as he sat down, then she returned her attention to the kettle. They stayed that way in silence for several minutes until the water boiled and the tea was ready. Aizawa felt less awkward now, the silence was reassuring. Aizawa liked silence. It was something he completely understood. Peace and quiet. "Cream or sugar?" Ren asked.

"No thanks." Aizawa sipped at his tea.

"Hungry?" Ren asked.

"No." As Aizawa answered his stomach betrayed him by giving an audibly angry gurgle. Ren raised an eyebrow at him as she retrieved a tin of biscuits from the pantry. After eating half the biscuits in the tin Aizawa felt rejuvenated. "So Monday, I was thinking maybe we could change things up with the study. We could-"

"Nope. I'm not doing these experiments, this "study." I'm not participating anymore," Ren interrupted.

"Kimura, you realize if we could make this work, you could heal people at the school and in the community? That's invaluable," Aizawa reasoned.

"Yes, but only if you're there most likely. I think you'll learn to separate my two quirks long before I can control Pain. Really, at the rate things are going I can't ever really see myself being able to do it on my own. I don't want my future tied up with you being my sidekick in order for me to be the most helpful hero I can be." Aizawa snorted. "What?" Ren continued, "Oh sorry, I don't want to have to be YOUR sidekick. Better?"

Aizawa set his tea down. "That's not true. You never need to be tied down to anyone. You're one of the most capable heroes I've known. And if we can make it that far where I can pinpoint the difference in your quirks, I'm sure we could get you to the point where you could do the same and control Pain completely on your own. Then you wouldn't need me." Aizawa sighed. "A break then. Give me time to meet with Watabe and see if we can come at this from another angle."

"Fine. I'm heading to bed. I have blankets on the couch for you." Ren started walking away.

"Wait, I can't spend the night," Aizawa said plainly.

"Worried about my reputation? I think it's protected considering my quirk," Ren smiled. Aizawa still felt like a cad.

"Thanks," Aizawa replied, not knowing what else to say.

"Your welcome Aizawa. And thank you," Ren said.

"For what?"

"For saving my hide 10 years ago on that rocky precipice. I don't remember if I ever said it to you then. And now I find out you actually canceled Laertes' quirk so you were even more involved in saving all our lives," Ren commented thoughtfully.

Aizawa nodded. She had said it to him afterward on that day when they were checking on injured heroes and villains. She was so earnest when she said it. It really meant something coming from her, such a good example of the many positive qualities heroes could possess. Ren started walking away but suddenly stopped abruptly in the doorway and turned towards him. "You came into the agency office early the next day even though you hadn't been called in. Before anyone else got there." Aizawa knew what she was talking about, she didn't have to explain. "You were nervous and wanted to tell me something. But you didn't. You asked how I was and then sat down, but I knew you were holding something back. Is that what you were talking about earlier today?"

Aizawa nodded, eyes locked with Ren.

"You wanted my power to be different with you, didn't you? You wanted to share your revelation about your reaction to my quirk, with just the two of us alone that morning. You wanted to have something special with me." Ren looked sad.

Aizawa looked down at his empty teacup, his face expressionless.

"Yes. I….. I had a bit of a crush on you then. Not the most logical choice I've ever made. Was it that obvious?" Aizawa looked back at Ren.

Ren smiled ruefully. "Kinda."

Aizawa flinched. "Today has been a strange day. I thought you would still be mad at me from earlier. Really you have a lot of reasons to be mad at me. I've been kind of a jerk to you ever since you came back to teaching at UA. I've been impatient and short with you and you didn't deserve that."

"Well, you're kinda a jerk to everyone so I didn't take it personally. I WAS mad about your stunt today though. But you looked pretty pathetic standing there drenched in the rain." At that moment an orange tabby cat jumped up on the counter next to Aizawa.

"Hey there, cat," Aizawa said at the feline and started to pet it. "What's his name?" Aizawa asked, his tone very different from his normal monotone. Ren's mouth gaped open, a bit in shock.

"Um…. That's Mr. Socks," Ren said still dumbfounded. Aizawa smiled a little.

"Hi, Mr. Socks." Aizawa scratched the cat gently on the neck. It purred contentedly.

"This is a side of you seldom seen I bet," Ren laughed softly. "Well, good night boys," Ren smiled and disappeared through the doorway. The logical side of Aizawa's brain seemed to be on hiatus today he thought. He had made brazen and rash decisions based on pure emotion. Frustration he thought was the only culprit, but after the conversation he just had with Ren he realized it was much more complicated than that.

"Mr. Socks, I'm in trouble." He scratched the cat on top of its head and it rubbed against his arm and shoulder. "So much trouble." Aizawa realized why the day had been so strange. So many of his memories from when he was a fresh new hero, just having graduated from UA, had been recovered and made to feel like new. He had buried all those feelings for Ren after he left Golden Time Agency and moved on to a new city to make a fresh start. It had become his way after that; he never stayed at one place very long. He had fallen in love with her that year. Unrequited, but love just the same. It was typical for hormonal teen boys to daydream about the top female (or male depending on their preference) heroes, but Aizawa's longing was different.

They had worked side by side as heroes for almost a year. He ended up being on the field with the Kimuras more than their own sidekicks and other Golden Time heroes. Timeswapper would often laugh about this and tried every tactic to sign Aizawa on. Aizawa knew he wanted to be a solo, underground hero. Being fresh out of school and still learning how best to find leads and developing a report with the local police force, however, would take time. He knew he still needed to learn a lot and that process could be expedited by teaming up with an agency when he had down time. And early on Aizawa had a lot of downtime in his novice status. He could only find so much work on his patrols of the city; he had not developed the skill to find trouble. Years down the line he would be second to none at canvassing for criminal activity in whatever city he was tending to. But at 18, it was a fresh new skill to train. When he teamed up with Golden Time he noticed how well his quirk worked naturally with the Kimuras' quirks, especially Timeswapper's Time Jump. The two of them could quickly incapacitate a large group in no time. They both had speed on their side and didn't have to apply a lot of brute force to get things done. Which meant less injury to villains, other heroes, and civilians and less damage to property. In a short time, he had learned so much from the Kimuras and the other heroes who worked there. They had all developed a trust in each other, had seen each other at their best and worst. Aizawa at first thought it was just admiration he had for Ren Kimura, but his feelings started to deepen into what he felt was love. It was torture at the time because she could never be his. She was married and in love with someone else. Someone who he admired and looked up to as well. So he suppressed those feelings for Ren Kimura and when it became too much and he felt he had learned enough to make it on his own with no strings attached to any agencies, he did just that. He became a solo hero for many years, every now and then he would briefly team up with an agency if there was a great need in a certain community, but only for a few weeks tops.

Aizawa sighed, his mind going back to the study procedure earlier in the day. And thinking of Ren. Her overly expressive face, large hazel eyes that never hid anything. When he was working with Timeswapper's agency he had thought she was amazing, intelligent, powerful, kind, and beautiful. She was still amazing, intelligent, powerful, kind, and beautiful. And had a sense of humor, too, he had learned the last couple of days. Aizawa had two relationships during his solo hero days that had been semi-serious, but they didn't pan out. And a few flings over the years as well. Hero life was not conducive to long term romantic relationships. The ones that lasted were rare due to the strain of hero life. And there were widows and widowers as well, that unfortunately wasn't a rarity in these violent times. Ren became a widow so young and it drove her into a reclusive life for almost 5 years. He realized his actions earlier in the day back in his classroom were not driven by just wanting the study to be a success and his frustration of not making more headway.

He wanted this study to work as much as Ren did, but his hastiness earlier was for another reason altogether. He wanted to recreate that moment on Cliffside. He wanted to somehow be able to bypass or lessen her pain ability when it was active without Erasure. He wanted there to be this organic connection. That would be something very special to him. That would give meaning, give reason and logic, to the feelings he had in his youth. There was something bigger than both of them there. Aizawa picked up Mr. Socks and carried him to the living room. The couch was already "made" for him. He laid down still listening to the loud pattering of the rain on the metal roof. He turned on his side and realized the pillow had a familiar smell. It smelled like Ren's hair. Her shampoo or conditioner he figured. Floral and citrusy. He noticed it during their testing of Erasure/Pain today in the classroom. Mr. Socks made a space to sleep behind Aizawa's knees. Aizawa fell into a deep dreamless sleep a minute later. It had been a long day.

Ren Kimura

Ren couldn't sleep. Normally Mr. Socks slept with her, curled up next to her chest. She assumed he was sleeping with Aizawa. Traitor she thought laughing to herself. It was strange thinking that Shota Aizawa was sleeping on her couch. The last several hours had changed her view of him. She felt she had learned more about him in those short hours than the whole year he worked with Golden Time Agency. He had always kept to himself although he was productive. He had many good ideas and perspectives to share when it came to a mission and voiced them. But he never offered more than strategy and sometimes encouragement. No one at the agency knew where he lived, what he did when he wasn't collaborating with them, what his favorite movie was, the music he liked, the food he enjoyed. He was a mystery. Yet here he was talking about past events in her kitchen, almost reminiscing? And admitting his boyhood crush. Ren suspected it that day in the office after Cliffside. She suddenly felt strange, slightly nauseated. She reached for a decorative sham she had pushed on the other side of the bed and wrapped her arms around it. She thought maybe eating something would ease her stomach but before she willed herself to move she heard snoring coming from the living room through the open door of her bedroom. She grinned. Wow, that didn't take long she thought. Aizawa was never one to have issues falling asleep. The last few weeks she had caught him in the library and the teacher's lounge napping in a chair during his planning period or lunch. She decided to stay in bed so as not to wake him. He was probably exhausted after the day he had.

She lay there for almost an hour, mind jumping from thought to thought. She thought of the test she was giving on Monday, then she thought about what she needed to buy at the market the next day. She thought about Mr. Socks, then thought about Goro, like she did every night when the busyness of the day wore off and left her with time to just think. Blonde wavy hair, light blue eyes. Quick to grin with eyes that crinkled in that joy. His arm around her on the couch, his lips whispering in her ear, very carefully. She buried her face in her pillow. Tears came, like they did from time to time in these lonely, late-night hours. In the dark and quiet, she felt so small and lost. Exhaustion began to spread throughout her body and she hoped sleep would take her soon. As she started to drift into that much-wanted respite, she thought of Aizawa. His black hair a phantom crown floating hauntingly above him. His eyes red and hard and unrelenting. He reached out to her and tried to take her hand. She recoiled and drew into herself.

She was awoken by Mr. Socks kneading his paws on her arm. Light spilled in from her window, it was mid-morning. She walked into the living room and saw the blankets folded and a note sitting on top. She opened it and could barely decipher the tiny scrawl.

"Thanks for the dry accommodations, the biscuits, and tea. I owe you one.

A"

She saw the clothes folded neatly on the couch as well. Ren smiled.

The Warehouse

Deep in the woods at the center of Aichi prefecture was an abandoned warehouse. A few windows had been smashed over the last couple of decades by kids who lived in the nearby neighborhood so that they could gain access. It had served them as a pro hero base, villains' lair, haunted house, realm of the elves, and secret android hideout. It was beloved in a way that only 8-year-olds could understand, despite its worn down and disheveled appearance. Perhaps due to the growing popularity of video games, however, the warehouse had not had small imaginative denizens make believe inside its broken husk in many years. However, over the last week, it had housed guests of a different variety.

The man was short, chubby, and wore thick glasses. His mannerisms were erratic and he would at times talk to himself feverishly. He only occupied a corner of the sprawling warehouse. He didn't need much room to accomplish what he was working towards. He mostly worked alone, but at times would be joined by a strange, nightmarish figure. It had two long smoky yellow slits for eyes and its body was all purple vaporous plumes stuffed in a sharply tailored suit. He joined him this evening with news the chubby man did not want to hear. The purple figure's voice rang out deep and echoed through the warehouse giving an additional air of ominousness to his countenance.

"We have to leave tonight. Our location has been compromised, Doctor."

The doctor gave an irritated sigh. "If I keep having these interruptions, I'll never finish this experiment!" He stood over 3 hospital beds, writing notes excitably, his handwriting indecipherable. There were several machines surrounding the beds, beeping and blinking. One of the occupants of a hospital bed gave out a pitiful moan. "Fine!" the doctor snapped. "I'll grab the generators. Do we have a new location?"

"Yessss," the shadowy figure shuttered.

"It will take me several hours to set up electricity again and to get these machines at baseline!"

"Our Master is sorry about this inconvenience. But in time, once we can take what we so desperately need, these small sacrifices will be worth it." The shadow figure said in reverent, deep tones.

"Yes, Kurogiri. You are right…. I will ready our subjects so you can warp them."

"That would be most appreciated, Garaki-sensei."

Shota Aizawa

Ren spread a layer on the same thickness Watabe had instructed. She shivered.

"You cold? I'll turn the AC off. It's freezing in here anyhow." Aizawa walked over to the thermostat and set it to 75. He removed his binding cloth from his neck and placed it on a nearby desk. He rolled up his sleeves and then thought better of it and rolled them back down.

"Great… I think I put too much on, hold on, let me get this the right thickness," Ren said as she wiped away some of the gel with a paper towel. Aizawa realized he was suddenly nervous which was a new sensation for him. It had been three days since Saturday and their last study attempt. And the "Sleepover." He had left Ren's house as soon as the sun rose. When he got to his place he found Yamada banging on his door. "Wonderful," thought Aizawa. How was he going to explain this?

"WHHHAAAAATT?!" Yamada bellowed. "The walk of shame? Seriously? Who? Please tell me it wasn't Joke?" Aizawa realized he forgot that he and Yamada had planned to meet for breakfast at their usual bakery and head up to the school to work on the PA system for the upcoming sports festival. The system had been upgraded at the start of the school year but Yamada wanted to alter it a bit so it worked better with his own quirk. It wasn't like him to forget important appointments. Luckily he was able to evade Yamada's questions at least for the time being and they headed out for breakfast.

"Ready?" Ren asked.

"Yeah," Aizawa replied plainly. They walked to the middle of the room where mats from the gym had been placed and the desks moved to the side. Recovery Girl had insisted on mats after Saturday's incident. Aizawa activated Erasure and took a step towards Ren. She closed her eyes. He watched the large analog clock on the desk and kept track of the seconds. Right at about 30 seconds, she opened her eyes. Aizawa slowly grabbed her forearm with his hand. She smirked. He knew she thought he was being either forgetful or just not thinking of his actions clearly but he always purposefully grabbed her whole arm with his hand initially. He wanted to have that clear affirmation that yes, Erasure was fully blocking Pain. That seemed a more solid assurance than the pad of his fingertip. He slid his fingers off her forearm just leaving the pad of his forefinger on her arm. The gel was cold and sticky. He started counting off an additional 30 seconds. Ren's eyes were open but she was looking past him, staring off into space concentrating he thought. After 30 seconds he changed his footing to even out his weight to each leg and released Erasure.

"Aizawa? Hey, wake up. You okay?" His head was throbbing and his whole body was tingling. He was lying flat on his back and Ren was holding on to his arm with her gloved hand.

"That was much worse. The gel is more of a conductor, I think." As he spoke he heard his words slightly slurred; it was a strange sensation. He looked at Ren and her expression suddenly changed from worry to fear. He tried to sit up.

"Do. Not. Move. Your speech is slurred and your face is paralyzed on one side. Like a stroke. Don't you dare get up." Ren's voice broke a bit. She pulled out her phone and leaned over him, pressing him down with her gloved hand quite forcefully. "Yes, Shuzenji? Yes, I think Aizawa had a stroke or TIA or something working on the study." Aizawa closed his eyes and kept still. He wouldn't fight her to sit up although he really felt fine. Ren was pretty upset and he knew if he pushed back so to speak she would become more distraught. Recovery Girl came in with a gurney minutes later. They had an MRI machine on campus (UA had everything a level 1 trauma hospital had) Ren and Recovery Girl lifted him carefully onto the gurney and he was off to the MRI machine. He hoped none of his students would see him like this. It would make him seem more human and that was the last thing he needed with his current batch of first years. They were an arrogant and immature bunch, if they no longer feared him, they would have a hard time learning anything that semester.

The MRI was administered by Recovery Girl and it showed no lesions or abnormalities of his brain. After the MRI, roughly an hour after the event occurred, he no longer spoke with slurred speech and the paralysis of the left side of his face was no longer evident except when he smiled. His smile wasn't symmetrical; his mouth still was drooping on the left side. "That's just how I smile," he muttered. "I don't do it often so you don't have anything to compare it to." Ren glared at him.

Recovery Girl grinned. "Well, it should be back to normal shortly or stay crooked if that's how it's always been. I take it the gel seemed to have made things worse?" Recovery Girl asked. Ren and Aizawa both nodded.

"It was more like a conductor than a protectant," Ren replied.

"I will talk to Watabe. No more testing for a week to ensure there are no lasting effects. You're free to go Aizawa but only if Ren accompanies you home and stays with you for the next few hours." Recovery Girl stated.

"I have class…" Aizawa started to protest.

"Thirteen is covering your last class, Aizawa. Kimura, Nezu is covering your classes. I don't want to see either of you until tomorrow. Now I have to go, apparently Mirio Togata got himself stuck partially in a wall and hurt one of his arms quite badly, I have to be on my way. That second-year class is keeping me busy today! Tamaki Amajiki got himself poisoned earlier, too, trying some strange type of fish I have never heard of…." She quickly scurried out of the room.

"We are done with this Aizawa," Ren's voice was shaking.

"I'm fine. Really. I feel fine. Let's not make any rash decisions right now. We can look at this more logically tomorrow." Aizawa sat up and sighed. Recovery Girl had diagnosed him with Todd's Paralysis which was just temporary, on his left side. This had been caused by a seizure that Ren had witnessed him having after their failed attempt in the classroom. He didn't remember having the seizure. It was very brief only lasting about 10 seconds Ren had described. Ren could not hide her concern and mortification for what had happened to him. She kept telling him she was sorry, but he told her there was nothing to be sorry about. These were expected parameters in the study and he knew and agreed to them. It was a sacrifice worth making to create a safer environment for the city and the school.

"I'm not changing my mind," Ren said as she stood up and walked out of the room.

Ren Kimura

The walk to the bus stop was a quiet one. On the bus Ren sat across from Aizawa. "Aizawa. Smile," Ren asked curtly.

Aizawa looked at her and cocked an eyebrow. "Smile," Ren repeated, her voice serious.

Aizawa smiled. It didn't reach his eyes; it was forced. But his smile was symmetrical now. Ren let out a deep breath. "Not crooked anymore, thank goodness." She looked out the bus window watching the houses, shops, cars, and trees flash by. She leaned back against her seat. "How long does it take to get to your house?" Ren asked not making eye contact with Aizawa.

"Apartment. It's downtown so about 20 minutes." Ren sighed. Her heart was heavy with guilt and worry. Usually, she would deal with these feelings head-on, own them and carry on. But the last 5 years she noticed she seemed to go into flight mode first over fight mode. She wanted to leave the bus, go home, jump in bed, and stay there for weeks. After Goro, that was how she dealt with things that caused her anxiety and grief. But those feelings luckily were not as strong as the responsibility she felt for Aizawa. She wanted to make sure he was okay. Not just because of Shuzenji's orders, but because she was worried about him herself. The motion of the bus started to make her sleepy and she closed her eyes. Just a little rest, she thought to herself so drained from what happened today.

Ren kept backing up, a dark figure was coming towards her, she couldn't tell what it was at first. It towered over her ominous and radiating unbelievable strength. She kept backing up almost tripping over her own feet. She slammed against a wall behind her, completely trapped. The dark figure kept advancing and she could no longer retreat. The midnight figure kept slowly walking towards her. Within the black wisps of the creature she could make out its eyes blazing scarlet. Black tar-like plumes rose above its head eerily like a separate creature from the first. "No!" Ren screamed. She reached her bare arms out defensively. The dark being reached out its long slender arm and sliced the air with inky black claws. The claws clamped down on her exposed skin. She screamed in pain, her body convulsing in absolute agony.

"Kimura?" She shuddered awake. Aizawa was standing above her his hand lightly tapped her on the shoulder. "We're at my stop. Listen, you can ride the bus back to your house, it only goes a few blocks further and then goes back to your neighborhood. You don't have to babysit me anymore. See you on campus tomorrow." Aizawa nodded at her and walked off the bus. Ren jumped up and followed him.

"No way, Aizawa! I'll walk you home and make sure you're settled. I'm not going to have Recovery Girl mad at me because I didn't attend to her patient adequately." Aizawa muttered something under his breath Ren didn't catch.

"Fine," he said not turning to break his stride.