Chapter 17 - Day 2
The smell of hot coffee being brewed roused me from my sleep far too early for my liking. Cracking open an eye I could see that it was still dark outside. Day had not come yet, so why was I even awake? Sounds coming from below the floorboards told me that someone was in the kitchen making a racket and being none too kind about the amount of noise they were making.
"Eraserhead must be back." I thought with a grumble.
I pushed myself off the futon a little but just enough to see out the blinds in the window of the room. The sky was beginning to take on a rosy tinge to it, chasing away the dark navy of the night. So dawn was practically here, which meant that I had to get up too.
With a stretch and a groan I got to my feet and slunk out the room and down the stairs while wiping what drool had gathered in the corners of my mouth before I entered the kitchen. Aizawa sat in his hero costume at the small table in the center, a cup of coffee nestled between his palms as he turned his eyes to gaze at me. He took in the sight of my messy hair, the dark bags under my eyes, and his wrinkled clothes hanging off one of my shoulders. A beauty queen I clearly was not.
"Sleep well?" He asked, bringing the coffee to his lips as he took a sip.
I blinked wearily at him, still waking up from the fog in my brain as I processed his words. Shortly I gave him a nod and focused in on the coffee he brought to his lips. It smelled divine, but I was in need of something else.
"Do you have any tea?" I asked, looking about the small kitchen as if it would magically appear before me and bless this dark morning.
His eyes studied me for a moment more before turning away back to the tablet on the table. "No." He replied, taking another sip.
This was the worst thing I could consider happening to me in the morning. Me without my morning 'leaf-juice', as Ivan called it, is not going to be a me that is fully functioning. I needed my tea. I had gone without it at the prison, but there again I didn't have to wake up at obscene enough hours to require it. And this was certainly an ungodly enough hour for me.
"None?" I asked again hesitantly.
"None."
I buried my face into my hands and gave a deep dejected sigh before bringing my fingers down to cover the lower half of my face.
"There's coffee still in the pot." Aizawa offered, taking in the full measure of my anguished spirit as I stood there with my hands pulling at my face.
I glanced up over my hands at his suggestion, and saw the bemused look in his eyes as he swirled the coffee around in his cup. He found this whole thing funny somehow, but I currently did not possess the cognitive functions to wonder as to why.
"No, thank you." I lowered my hands from my face, and looked forlornly over into the living room beyond. Present Mic was missing. He had gone home sometime during the night and I hadn't even noticed when Aizawa had returned. I must have been dead as a doornail last night to not hear the front door opening and closing.
"When did you get back in?" I mumbled.
"A few hours ago."
The screech of a chair as it was slid back resounded throughout the kitchen, making me grimace at the sharp noise. Aizawa stood and placed the finished coffee mug into the sink with a clink.
"How are you even functioning?" I glared at him enviously. If I had only a few hours of sleep in me I would be crawling along the floor barely alive. And yet, Aizawa was fully awake - exhausted, sure, but awake nonetheless.
Eraserhead picked up a bag from off the counter, dropping it into my hands as he passed me and out into the hallway. Looking down I read the contents of the bag - one-hundred percent Columbian black coffee, extra strength. So his secret was caffeine, lots of it.
"How has your heart not exploded?" I grumbled as I looked between him and the coffee bag.
"Years of drinking it and building up a tolerance." He replied, idly massaging his neck. He paused and looked over at the clock on the stove before turning back to me.
"Hurry up and get changed. You're going to make me late."
My stomach had decided to wake up at that moment, announcing its hunger to the world. I clamped a hand over it as soon as I heard the sound. "What about breakfast?" I gave out a whine, my eyes looking back to the now empty pizza box on the counter.
Aizawa sighed exasperatedly, rubbing his eyelids with a hand. "There will be food for us in the teachers' lounge at the school. You might be able to find some tea there too. Nezu usually has a pot going."
I instantly perked up at this. If there was tea to be had, I would seek it out relentlessly. Eraserhead had seen the shift in my alertness, and hid the smile from his face with the cloth straps around his neck.
"Thought that might interest you. Now get going. You're wasting all of our time. There might not be anything left by the time we get there." He warned.
I shoved the coffee grinds back into his hands and vaulted up the stairs, taking two at a time before arriving on the second floor. My cleaned clothes were just outside my door off to the side - I had not noticed them before when I had emerged. They were neatly folded with an attentive care that I didn't not expect. I didn't have time to think on this as I gathered the garments into my arms and dashed into the bathroom to dress. When I emerged a few minutes later, I was wearing my own clothes again, my hair tied up in a high ponytail while I unceremoniously tossed Aizawa's loaned clothes onto the futon in my room. I slammed the door shut to hide the state of the mess and launched myself back down the stairs to stop in front of Eraserhead.
"That was rather impressive." He remarked, looking down at me slightly with a smirk in his eyes. "Nice to see that you can get ready efficiently."
"Yah, yah." I waved my hand at him and moved towards the door. "You said something about tea and food, so let's go already. I'm in desperate need of both, and I will not be denied."
Without waiting for him, I opened the front door and skipped out and down the steps. I gave a slight shiver in the cool morning air, clutching myself tightly as I looked behind me to watch Eraserhead follow me out and shut the door behind him. He proceeded down the steps at a leisurely pace, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he hunched slightly forward in a slouch. He was moving awfully too slow for me.
"Can you move faster?" I shivered in the air, hopping from one foot to the other in an effort to stay warm.
He absentmindedly scratched at his eye, not bothering to look at me as he passed by. "If I'm moving too slow for you, you can go on ahead."
It was true. I didn't have to wait for him. Technically we were still on school grounds and I could go where I pleased as long as I stayed within the boundary. The teachers' had been provided individual houses cordoned off from the main campus where they could live in relative privacy, but still close enough to campus to make the daily commute negligible. Even from here I could see the school building above the trees.
I clutched myself tighter and fell in step by his side. "That would be rude of me." I replied with a frown.
Eraserhead glanced down at me, a thought forming behind his eyes. Another shiver flowed through me and caused the hairs on my arms to stand on end. How I longed to get back indoors, which was another reason why I wanted Eraserhead to pick up the pace.
"Are you cold?" He asked, coming to a full stop.
"What do you think?" I hunched forward, burying my hands further into my armpits.
"Hmm." Aizawa studied me for a moment and glanced towards the main school building, a sly grin forming on his face that made my hairs stand even straighter. It was the same smirk from yesterday when he lied to the kids about sending one of them home - only this time it was directed at me. Out of the expressions he had given me in our short time together, I cared for this one the least.
Without warning Aizawa raced forward and shot out his cloth bindings, taking to the treetops with a speed I had never thought possible.
"Try to keep up if you can." He shouted back at me, leaving me to stand dumbly in the street.
"What now?" I thought bewilderly, still rooted firmly to the pavement.
I watched as he swung from tree to tree, disappearing into the distance and was out of sight. My legs started to move on their own until I was in a full on sprint to race after him. No matter how hard I ran through the trees I never caught a glimpse of Eraserhead. He had left me behind, but I knew where he was heading. The main school building was fast approaching and with it promises of warmth, tea, and food were to be had. Screw that cranky caterpillar. I was running towards creature comforts, not him.
When I finally arrived inside the building, I struggled to gain my bearings on where I was. The place was massive and I had yet to decipher the layout with it only being my second day there, but thankfully that morning my nose knew exactly where to go. Delicious smells of freshly baked pastries, coffee, and most importantly tea led me straight to the teachers' lounge where I could hear the voices of several people already inside. Pushing open the door, I stepped inside the brightly lit space and was greeted by the stares of the U.A. faculty. I tuned their stares out and honed in on Eraserhead. He was slouching off to the side against the wall, not looking the least bit like he had just dashed through the dark woods.
"You're finally here." He muttered over a fresh coffee mug as he stood watching me heave my lungs out.
"What -" I inhaled heavily, "- was that all about?" I finished still panting while leaning over to clutch my knees as I struggled to get my breathing under control.
"You were cold, and you said that I was moving too slow. So I fixed both situations."
"By a morning sprint through the woods?!" I huffed out angrily.
A few of the faculty had stopped their conversations to watch our little interaction with amused expressions. Aizawa stared at me over his coffee mug as I straightened back up, my face still beet red and my hair a wild mess from the exertion.
"It was a logical course to take. It also allowed me to gauge your physical abilities. Based on the time it took you to get here, we'll need to work on improving your body."
"Just let me use my quirk and I'll show you what I can do." I growled threateningly.
"There'll be time for that later today." He took a swig and turned away, ending our conversation.
Oh, but I wasn't done with him. Not by a long shot. But my stomach gave out a loud growl, now in full battle mode since my body had settled down from the uncalled for morning exercise. I would have to feed the beast before I could think of an appropriate response to throw back.
Angrily, I whipped around and zeroed in on the table filled with various breakfast dishes and stomped towards it. I ignored the other heroes and grabbed a bagel, piling on the cream cheese before filling up a mug with hot water from the dispenser. Glancing over the tea selection I selected the one that would provide me the most caffeine to deliver me through the day - English Breakfast. My creature comforts finally acquired, I sat down at one of the furthest couches and dug in with a ravenous hunger. I was in a foul mood and I didn't want to talk to anyone until I had calmed down.
"It should be illegal to require anyone to be up this early." I thought with a growl, venting out my frustrations on the bagel in front of me.
Apparently the message to leave me alone wasn't being received by the others.
A pair of slender white clad arms snaked their way over my shoulders and down my chest as a pair of breasts pressed against the back of my head. I froze mid-bite at the unexpected embrace.
"He got you all hot and bothered this morning, didn't he?" Midnight spoke into my ear with a slight laugh.
I craned my head to the side to look at the newcomer and finished the bite in my mouth while small shivers ran along my skin where Midnight was touching me. I had met her briefly the day before when I had gone to find Aizawa after the kids had left.
I swallowed before replying. "That's one way of putting it." I growled, flashing a glare towards Aizawa who was now conversing with Present Mic.
Midnight unwrapped her arms from around my neck, and took the seat next to me. "I see you're wearing the same clothes as yesterday," She tapped her whip to her lips as she watched me take a sip of tea to wash down the bagel. "Tell me, is this your walk of shame? Interpersonal faculty relationships just turn me on!" She wrapped her arms around her torso, a look of pure ecstasy crossing over her face as she squirmed.
I nearly spat out my tea, but inhaled it instead. Honestly, where were these people getting these ideas from? First it was Present Mic, and now it was Midnight.
"No!" I managed to choke out between breaths. "It most certainly is not. This is just all I have right now."
"If that's the case, I could lend you some of mine. I think we're pretty close in body shape. I would love to dress you up." She cooed, her eyes peering dangerously over the rim of her glasses.
A chill went down my spine. As tempting as it was to have some different clothes other than the ones I had on, anything that Midnight had would undoubtedly be of the more scandalous variety. It would attract attention - attention that I did not want under any circumstances.
"N-no, thank you." I stammered. "I think I'll ask Principal Nezu if he can reach out to the police to release some of my belongings back to me."
"I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment." Nezu spoke up from the coffee table in front of us, taking a long sip from his traditional Japanese mug as I jumped slightly at his sudden presence. "The police are still combing through everything and your belongings are currently tied up in evidence. I'm sorry."
I ran a hand down my face. "Great." I groaned. Already I could see many laundry nights in my future just to keep my current clothes clean and I would have to continue wearing Aizawa's loaned clothes to bed. It was not optimal.
"The offer still stands." Midnight waved her whip at me, smiling deliciously.
I peered over at her, my mind reconsidering the offer. She had to have normal civilian clothes, right? She would have to go out in public sometime and she couldn't wear…that every time she went out. It would be public indecency, right? But was it a gamble I was willing to take?
"Yes, please." I finally said to her, a small smile turning up the corners of my lips.
Midnight gave out a loud squeal of delight, catching the attention of the room as she smothered me into her chest. "I've always wanted to play dress up with another woman!" She rubbed her face against the top of my head while I struggled to breathe against the tight embrace.
"Can't wait." I stated with a muffled fake eagerness into her chest.
Midnight released me from her hold and stood, cracking her flogger whip over her palm while she peered down at me on the couch. With a flourish she pointed the whip at my face, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "It's decided! I'll come and collect you tonight for our date! We're going to have so much delicious fun together!"
"What have I done?" I was slightly horrified at the thought of my near future. There was no way to back out of the deal as Midnight walked away and out of the lounge, waving at me with her hand.
"See you tonight!" She grinned from the doorway before disappearing.
"I'm glad that problem could be resolved for now." Nezu spoke up, jumping back down the floor.
I stared after him. Did he not know what Midnight was implying? What wicked plans she had in store for me later? I was sure that I would not survive with my pride intact. I buried my face in my hands, resigning myself to the fate that I had allowed to come to pass.
"Eve."
My head whipped up at the mention of my name. Aizawa stood by the doorway watching me. The room had emptied out and we were the only ones left.
"Time to get to class." He tilted his head towards the hallway, shoving his hands in his pockets and resuming his perpetual slouch.
My eyes glanced at the clock on the wall. It read 8:15. With travel time to the classroom, I estimated we would still be early, but considering how early the students had arrived yesterday we would have to be as well. Who knew what kind of shenanigans they could get up to if Eraserhead wasn't there?
With a sigh, I rose from the couch and followed Aizawa out. I hung behind him, crossing my arms over my chest protectively as I withdrew inward. I was already wrung out and it was only morning. Tea had not been able to resolve my sour mood, and I could already tell it was going to be one of those days where nothing was going to go right. Ultimately I was dreading what other misfortune awaited for me around the corner.
"What did Midnight want with you tonight?" Eraserhead spoke out in front of me, not turning to glance back as we both walked through the hall.
"She's letting me borrow some of her clothes." I replied. My tone was enough to relay my lack of excitement for the planned date. I was grateful, yes, to have some more clothes, but the method I was going to receive them in frightened me. I didn't know Midnight well enough on whether or not I would be safe in her presence. Honestly, I was like that with everyone until I could get a firm judge on their character. It took a lot out of me to just be around people, and people with her larger-than-life personalities were the ones I tended to make an effort to avoid.
"Nemuri means well." Aizawa stated into the air. "Just say no and she'll back off. It may take several times for it to get through that head of hers, but she'll respect your wishes."
My eyes fell onto Aizawa's back as my mind turned over what he just said. No, it wasn't what he said, but how he said it. He had picked up on my anxiety and was trying to reassure me. A small warmth spread out from my core and I remembered Mic's and All Might's words. Maybe under that grim exterior and all those layers I was finally catching a glimpse of the kind soul that rested there. "A kind soul that made me run for my breakfast that morning." I reminded myself, but maybe there was something there after all.
I gave a small smile and nodded, knowing he couldn't see either. He had managed to calm my nerves slightly.
We stopped in front of the giant door of the class 1-A. Inside I could hear the loud ruckus of the students as they milled about. They had way too much energy for this time in the morning. A heavy sigh escaped from Eraserhead and I tilted my head towards him. He looked absolutely haggard with his eyes half hooded under his eyelids as he too heard the loud noises coming from the other side. We locked eyes for a moment and I knew we were both feeling the same thing.
My lips twitched upwards. "Just say the word and I'll scare the living daylights out of them."
That earned me a dark laugh. A first for me.
"No need." He said. In one swift movement he flung open the door, letting it slam loudly against the door frame before sauntering over to the podium. "Class has started. Get to your seats." He said sternly.
Eraserhead gave out the command and the students scrambled over themselves to get back to their desks. As a bystander who didn't have to respond to the order, seeing the effect he had over them was humorous to witness. In no fewer than three seconds the students were back in their seats at full attention. I had to hide the snicker as I closed the massive door behind me and stood by in the front corner of the room. There was nowhere else for me to go, so I would wait there.
Aizawa went over the class schedule for the day, not bothering to take roll call or begin with morning pleasantries. They were needless time wasters ultimately. Eraserhead was close to finishing going over the day's lesson plans when the door opened to my side without warning and Present Mic stepped inside unannounced.
"Who's ready for English?" Mic shouted excitedly into the air.
Aizawa released an exasperated sigh at his friend's energetic energy. "First period will be English with Present Mic." Aizawa explained to the class before leaving the podium and trading positions with Mic.
"See you later, Ghosty!" Mic waved at me as he took his spot at the front of the class.
I gave a slight frown at this, wondering where exactly I was going. Aizawa shuffled by me, meeting my confused expression.
"Come with me." He murmured and proceeded out into the hall. I walked out after him, not really paying attention to where we were going until he led me into an empty classroom. Instantly my senses were on full alert. "Sit." He ordered, pointing to one of the front row desks.
Hesitantly I did as he commanded, taking one of the desks and sitting down in it. It was an entirely new vantage point sitting there. I felt myself shrink inwards as the weight of the empty room pressed in around me. Now I really did feel like a newbie student sitting behind that desk - and Aizawa was my grim-faced teacher. I didn't like this sinking feeling.
Eraserhead approached the podium and crouched down, searching for something before straightening back up. I eyed the thing in his hand suspiciously.
"While the other students are taking their morning courses, we'll use this time to assess where you are in your general knowledge and abilities. The other faculty members have put together a test in each of their subjects to gauge what you know and what you don't. Once you finish we'll move onto your quirk assessment test." He said as he stalked towards me.
It was an exam. They wanted me to take an exam this early in the morning. "Sweet mother Hubbard." I internally cursed. "Could this day get any worse?"
I had tempted the fates by thinking that, and soon found out just how much worse it could get as Eraserhead let a stack of papers fall down in front of me. It wasn't just a few sheets of paper, but a mountain at least an inch thick. I could feel my eyes grow wide as I took in the enormity of the task laid before me. This was going to be one hell of a day.
I glanced up at Eraserhead, hoping that this was some sort of joke. An evil glint was behind those eyes as he spoke. "You may begin."
Oh, boy. Just when we thought Eraserhead was starting to ease up, but nope. He's got a wicked side to him that I find fascinating as a character so I wanted to incorporate that in. Plus, I'm a sucker for using him to torment Eve. It adds a little spice to their relationship and keeps things interesting. And it's only day 2. We've got a ways to go ;)
I want to thank those who have followed and/or favorited this story. I honestly didn't know how this story was going to be received, and seeing those made me smile knowing that you were enjoying what I writing enough to hit that "Follow/Fav" button. So thank you from the bottom of my heart and for sticking with me this far.
I'm approaching close to the end of what I've already prewritten, so updates may not be as quick as time goes on. But you can be assured that I will continue to post when I'm able to. I've got scenes in my head that I need to get out so they can stop distracting me.
See you in the next chapter!