Chapter 2: Small Grievances

Aug 7th XX45, 12:07am

Izuku skids when he comes to a stop, not waiting to see Aizawa catch up, and dives through Granny's open window with a yelp, landing gracelessly on Granny's living room carpet. He lays there for fifteen minutes until he is sure he lost the man behind him.

He should have guessed he was Eraserhead sooner. The scarf REALLY should have tipped him off, but no, his brain had to wait until the last second to tell him that the scarf and the yellow goggles around his neck meant that the Oh Great Eraserhead had been following him for over a month.

Granny was already up and awake in the kitchen, putting a kettle on the stove, pulling coco and tea out of the cupboard.

"Haven't seen you all weekend." she moved to reach the cups, peering down at Izuku on the floor, "Are you still planning to come around Monday for more schooling?" Izuku nods, "Still planning on leading that Gargoyle of yours around all night? Still early enough, it's like midnight. you have all night, Bitty."

Izuku drops his head into the carpet with a groan, "Don't."

Granny smirks, crouching down to hand the boy his mug of coco, "Bitty Bunny, why are you here so early?" He wrapped his hands around the mug, his face still smothered in the carpet.

Granny joins him on the ground, settling next to him with a sigh, "Bun, what happened?"

He groaned, "Eraserhead happened,"

"How did Eraserhead 'happen'?" Granny rubbed circles in Izuku's back. A heavy, grounding motion that encouraged him to keep going, not that he particularly wanted to.

"News Flash: Identity of Masked Gargoyle Discovered," Izuku said, "Mr. Gargoyle A-K-A Eraserhead, is Pushy!"

Granny chuckled under her breath, she shifted to sit more comfortably on the carpet, running her fingers between his ears, "Bunny, your News title and News content aren't cohesive, what are you playing at? Hm? So, what your Mr. Gargoyle and the ever-watchful Eraserhead are the same bitch, Bitty, you know now, you have Hot Chocolate now, and you are safe now." She puffed up her chest, "Plus! Now you can say you outran the Eraserhead." her smile got impossibly wider, "That is pretty impressive, Bit."

Another grunt, "I guess," his small smile betraying his mood.

"Well, now that's settled, how about I pull out the extra tatami mat, and you sleep over, yeah? Forget all about your Mr. Gargoyle for the night, and get some early sleep?"

Izuku hums and nods his head, pushing himself up and going to the closet for the mat.

-o-

Aug 7th XX45,?:?

The next morning comes with the cry of birds, beautiful sunshine, and the loud noise of Granny Uchu fussing at a couple of druggies to get off her property. Or yelling of some kind, faint in the cheery gleam of a bright sun. Izuku huffed and rolled over on his futon, enjoying the almost peace and quiet—only for the front door to open with a slam, and Uchu-Yoshito to walk in.

Izuku lifts his head to say "hey," and immediately gets shot down with a glare, so instead Izuku sits up all the way and yells, "GRANNY! KAYA'S BEING RUDE!" and drops back on his futon in the hopes that sleep will claim him again. It didn't, but Kaya's eyeroll before they stomped off was almost as fulfilling. Almost. It would be better if Kaya was a bitch a little less often.

Why was kaya here anyway?

Uchu-Yoshito Kaya never went to Granny's house, Granny always went to Kagayaku-san's house to see Kaya. Was Kagayaku-san okay? Izuku rolled over and closed his eyes again.

Seconds passed and he puffed his bangs out of his eyes. His brain was functioning and now there wasn't a chance to even pretend to sleep. good job Izuku. Now you have to wake up.

The sigh he made was loud, a rumbling deep in his chest, a protest to waking up that was heard across the house by Granny. She responded, the angel, by turning on the kettle and walking over with a fresh cup of coffee. Izuku rolled off the futon, folded up his bedding-popping it in the cabinet-and accepted the heavenly bean juice.

Another sigh and a sip of coffee later, Izuku looked up at Granny, "Why is Kaya here, Granny?" another scalding gulp of coffee, "Don't they live in , like, upper Mustuafu? Kaya never comes to the more... exciting part of town." He slid behind Granny, staying on her trail as she moved around the kitchen,Granny's frown deepening on her youthful face.

"Kaya is temporarily at my house, Kagayaku is out of town, and, uh, Kagayaku had... issue with leaving her kid with Hase . Kaya is upset about it, hence the attitude- I assume."

She was still leading Izuku around the kitchen when she came to a full stop in front of the back door, "Izuku, Bunny, would you mind stopping by to give Hase a package? It's from Kagayaku, she said to get it to Hase as soon as I could, and," Granny shifted, " I need to stay home with Kaya. They are going to need a little more company than Kaga thought." Granny grimaced when she said it, like dirt got in her mouth and started turning to mud.

Izuku sighed and snatched the small package off the table, "The letter too, Granny?" he eyed the white envelope on the table, Granny looked up, "I suppose so, Bun," He grabbed the letter, curiosity peaked, and headed to the door, slipping off his slippers before heading out barefoot.

Here was the "fun" part of the day. Walking down dirty streets and past sun-bleached buildings, he tried to remember the path to Hase's—only made harder by his growing headache and the sun casting late summer light on all the cool shadows.

Izuku weaved through an alley and was deposited in a seedier part of the neighborhood—if that was possible. Was this the right direction? Doesn't matter, he would probably make it there before sundown, and that's all that mattered. Should he worry about Gargoyle snooping around? Likely, but Izuku was too tired to care now. Maybe a cat nap in the back room of Hase's bar would be a good idea. Toraburu bar had a comfy couch in the back last time he was there.

Izuku tilted his head, "I wonder if the couch is still there..." he spotted a small grey cat hop up a fire escape. He snooped forward, trying to spot where it had come that he couldn't follow it even if it looked like it would be a lot of fun. Something less stress inducing than being lost, at least.

A package for Hase, a letter for Hase and a job for Izuku. Sunday mornings were usually spent sleeping in the shrine attic, or eating breakfast at Granny's house, but an errand is fine too. If Izuku could stay on track for a solid fifteen minutes, he could finish his job and nap, but here he was.

Izuku paused his paced steps for a moment and looked at his surroundings, something occurring to him a moment too late. Had he ever seen that street before?

-o-

1:27pm

The stack of files on Aizawa's kitchen table was big, but nothing compared to the files he had stacked on his couch and coffee table. He had been sitting on the floor since he got back from patrol and had done nothing but looked through file upon file of quirk registration documents.

The sheer amount of transformative quirk files he has seen has left some terrible strain on his eyes, not even mentioning his body, that was only functioning on coffee and the memory of the steam bun. Thank Kami for that steam bun. It was damn good.

He shifted in his seat, avoiding laying on the cat wrapped around his back, the fat tabby's front paws slowly kneading his hip.

"What do you think, Saltine?" Aizawa put down the file he was reading, shifting so little paws could still knead. The cat let out a sigh and shifted, stretching to take up more room behind Aizawa.

"Yeah, I'm tired too." Standing up for the first time in a while, his hips popped and his shoulders cracked, joints adjusting to the new position.

Slipping into the kitchen was-in theory-an easy task, but was swiftly thwarted by Saltine clawing at the back of his legs, Yogurt bolting from the bathroom in front of his feet and nearly tripping him, and a finishing blow from Soap, who dropped from the top of the fridge onto his shoulders, spooking him and jarring his back. He was then temporarily blinded when the window curtain moved to reveal a midday sun, Ketchup basking in the warmth.

A solid string of curses were spit, curses on all four cats, curses on his forgetfulness to feed them earlier, and curses directed at the leftmost table leg for being in the way of his foot and making him stub his little toe.

Who needs tables anyway? Not Shota. Fuck tables.

He really should get a beer.

-o-

2:00pm

It doesn't often occur to someone that even if they knew a whole city by heart at night, all those secret shadowed landmarks they used at night are stolen by afternoon sun. Although that thought is a rare one in Izuku's mind, it has come to haunt him now.

He is really, very lost.

That dang bar had to be so far outside the slums. Now he had to deal with Heros and pedestrians that aren't selling drugs.

He cursed Granny for not doing it herself.

"'It would be a Nice Walk' she said,'there won't be many day patrolling heroes', she said,"

Izuku slipped through every alley he saw, climbing through and over fire escapes to avoid passerby's and the flashy heroes that were around every corner of the increasingly busy sidewalks. The day light made his lanky form stand out, and looking at his reflection in building windows was a shock when he remembered just how green his hair was. He ended up pausing to stare at his reflection.

The last time he actually saw himself in midday light had to have been months ago, same with his last haircut. His shaggy and surprisingly green hair hung around his face in frizzy curls.

"Guess I should get some hair bands?" he reached up and pulled his hair half up to see if it would hold, "huh, weird, I'll stop by a corner store then." Izuku tucked the package back under his arm and felt his pink hoodie pocket for the envelope. Both still there, check.

Bare feet skipped around the next corner and wide eyes kept a look out for a convenience store.

-o-

4:00pm

Aizawa is sure that at some point in his life he has felt worse than he does now-face down in his plain couch cushions- but it doesn't seem his brain can supply him with a time or date in the last five years he felt like this. He tried to move an hour or two ago when Saltine, Ketchup, Yogurt and Soap all crawled up on his back and started using him as a space heater of sorts. A fine development if you didn't want to crawl to a convenience store for a beer or two.

"Could you little shits bug off?" is what he tried to say but his voice was muffled in the couch and it came out like, "co-oob bu itt-l phit ugg oof?" which is a lot less intimidating, especially if you are a group of fat cats sitting on your owner's back. He wasn't intimidating until he sat up anyway, all the sleepy cats tumbled off his back with a hiss and a yowl.

Yogurt was especially pissed off, which she proved by an agile jump from the coffee table to the book shelf, where she deemed a safe spot to plot his murder.

Terrifying.

A pair of Crocs and a messy-bun later, the shaggy twenty-eight year old dragged himself out his door and locked it with a click. He went down two flights of stairs and out the apartment front gates before he thought to remember his wallet. He huffed a small "shit" and went all the way back to his apartment building, up the two flights of stairs and back into his apartment.

Only for his hand to brush his left pocket.

Already irritated and not really willing to put up with whatever schemes his wallet was planning, he grabbed some cash from said wallet, threw said wallet in his apartment, and jumped from the first balcony to the second and then rolled onto the concrete with a final "oof".

Beer.

Once he gets a beer he will be fine. One foot in front of the other, one step closer to the next convenience 's what he kept telling himself at least.

Outside the gates of the apartment complex, where the trimmed lawn slowly faded to unwatered grass, Aizawa could see his checkpoint down the block. The low sun placed a blinding glare in his eyes, but he didn't let that slow him down.

He didn't let nearly tripping on his pink crocs slow him either.

Cash in hand and the strong longing for an alcoholic beverage in his heart he picked up the pace.

The closer he stepped to the little building the faster his steps got, as if being too slow would whisk away his only chance of acquiring his beverage of choice.

Each echoing step seemed far too loud in the empty street-well, not empty, just sparse.

There it was; glory and holy blessings were not things he would apply to his regularly attended corner store and yet it seemed to shine like an oasis for tired, almost-thirty-year-old, homeless men.

The golden glory was soon snatched when he walked in the door. Once he entered with the chime of the bell and was not greeted by the usual young man at the counter, he knew something was up.

That and the agitated voices he heard further in the store.

"Please! I really just want to get this and leave!"

"Sir, the sign on the door says 'no shoes, no shirt, no service!"

Did he have to deal with annoying civilians too? yuck.

"I know, I know but it also happens to be the same rule in the last five stores and I really just need some hair bands!"

Slowly Aizawa steps from the front of the store to an isle on his left. He can clearly see the young cashier trying to politely escort the barefoot customer out-unsuccessfully.

The shoeless customer is clearly exasperated, the cashier is losing patience by the second and Aizawa still wants a beer. Only one thing to do-intervene.

Again, for the sake of consistency, yuck.

Aizawa straightens up and approaches the arguing pair, the big eyed cashier watching him as he approaches. In just a few quiet strides he is right behind the unwelcome customer, about a foot below him the hooded head of the customer freezes, shrinking down into their hoodie.

Stepping away from the shelf and to the side of the customer, Aizawa wraps his arm around the customer's shoulder and ignores the violent flinch they make away from Aizawa's side.

"That's enough, don't you think?" His flat tone breaks the silence and the cashier gives a curt nod before slipping out of the conflict. The kid (could he say that? The hooded stranger was almost as tall as him) under his arm is still curled in on himself like it might help him disappear. Slightly concerning to say the least.

Aizawa slowly lets go of his hold and the barefoot kid (definitely a kid) looks up through his hood.

Shining green eyes look up at him through a childlike brow before the thin kid turns and bolts out the door without a word.

Aizawa realizes three things as the kid exits the store with a chime:

He knows that kid

The Rabbit is younger than he thought (even still)

He needs more than a beer

Easily, the surprise slips off his face. He ignores whatever internal conflict is in his mind and reminds himself that he is off work right now and he needs beer.

Be logical, Aizawa, be logical.

Somehow, ignoring his problems didn't seem very logical.

As he slides his six-pack of beer forward on the register counter, he impulsively slides a pack of hairbands forward as well.

Aizawa reasons that he, himself, was almost running low on his own collection.

A second longer to ponder, and he comes to a conclusion:

Maybe he doesn't need to be logical right now. That might be ok.

He adds a candy bar with a small rabbit on the package.

Doesn't hurt to rest the logical mind. Probably.

As he checks out the cashier looks at him with wide eyes, Aizawa only spares him a glance before he accepts his bagged purchase. As he reaches the door the cashier finally speaks up, "Thank you, by the way," and Aizawa only gives a grunt and a lazy wave as he exits the store the way he came.

He walked home with his bag in hand and thoughts of a tall boy circling his mind.

-o-

4:15pm

Izuku finds himself quickly depositing his whole self in a nearby alley, for comfort-although the general cleanliness and prominent lack of urine is unexpected.

It seemed that no matter where he went, he was destined to be inconvenienced by Eraserhead.

A breath of polluted air in, a second to think… and it hit him.

Izuku, himself, was being INCONVENIENCED by the Eraserhead.

Of all the people in the whole of Mustuafu Izuku could have been inconvenienced by, it had to be the one underground hero renowned for doing his job with godly precision.

Why did he have to make Izuku shit his pants (metaphorically) every time they met? Aizawa-Izuku knew his NAME-Just loved making Izuku's life a living nightmare. Why would this whole grown-ass man, in any way, be this invested in Izuku's life (it's probably because of the law). Eraser didn't even know him! (again, the law)

What Eraser was attempting to do had only been done by Granny, and Izuku was NOT hyped to venture deeper in this current trend of prying adults.

Izuku slides a bare foot against the concrete and takes a step back.

Cool sharp scents of gasoline and summer evening pass him as he turns out of the alley, skirting his way up and over the convenience store building for a glimpse of the apartments down the block.

Izuku takes comfort in familiar movements of climbing and jumping from place to place, ignoring any jeopardizing train of thought in the back of his overactive mind.

-o-

4:45pm

Somehow it took Izuku getting to the address on the package for him to realize that it corresponded to Hase's home address and not his work address. Not that he particularly wanted to muscle through drunks to get to Hase, but the couch in the back room was very comfortable.

Alas the address didn't take him past the apartments, but to a specific apartment in Building C.

The address said Building C, Level 2, Apartment … something.

As Izuku went up the external stairs of the building he avoided crunched cans and black plastic bags outside each door.

He couldn't decipher the messy handwriting for the life of him. He stared at the package like it held all the answers for him in that indecipherable number.

Like, really, Uchu Kagayaku could not have made a 9 look more like a 4. Maybe it was a 4 that looked like a 9? Either way, it pissed him off.

Granny Uchu had beautiful handwriting, kind of a huge disappointment that Uchu Kagayaku-san's handwriting sucked.

Looking between the apartment numbers and the package in hand, he makes a wild guess and heads to door 4.

Door 4 was the cleanest of the doors and even had a doormat! Rare, it seems, on this particular level of apartments.

Izuku drew a breath, stilled the anxiety in his gut, and knocked three times.

As the seconds ticked by thought circled his head,

'Should I knock again? Did I knock loud enough? Is this even Hase's house? Gosh this is the worst, I hate waiting, does Hase want to see me? Is he even home?ohno!whatifHaseisn'teven HOME!'

And before Izuku could spiral even further, an extremely tired Hase opened the door.

-o-

They sit across from each other in Hase's Living room, Hase himself cradling a warm cup and Izuku perched on the opposite couch. Moments pass before Izuku slides the package and letter on the glass coffee table between them, avoiding the bowl sitting in the center on the table.

"You know," Hase starts, his red rimmed eyes blinking slowly, "I just wanted my kid."

Izuku tenses, anticipating the next conversation to go south. He runs his knuckles across the uneven fabric of the couch, hoping in some way, shape, or form it might distract him from the conversation he was about to have with a grown-ass man.

He takes a second to rearrange himself in the seat, his hood now down and feet now under him. The room around them darkened with the lowering sun.

Hase only sighs and takes a sip from his steaming mug, "Maybe I shouldn't mope about it to a kid…"

Izuku releases a breath he didn't know he was holding, and sinks further into the chair.

Any praises to kami Izuku might have been thinking, were quickly kept on the inside recesses of his mind.

The lower Izuku sunk into the couch, it seemed the more willing Hase was to move on to the next subject.

He lets time pass like that, talking back and forth on random topics, a little about the bar, wonderings about the odd pink-ish cat from next door, or why all the plants on the nextdoor balcony kept almost dying, only to be revived (barely) when they are finally watered.

By the time Izuku stood to stretch, the sun had made it just behind the distant trees and buildings, still peeking out from behind the breaks in the horizon.

"Thank you for the friendly company, Izuku," Hase lifts his head to look at the boy.

Izuku reads a lot of emotions in Hase's face, a melancholy air around him, something to do with Kaya? Kagayaku, maybe. It wasn't his place to pry.

Izuku shuffles a bit and nods his exit, slipping out the balcony glass door.

-o-

4:59pm

He stared at the clock, beer in hand, waiting patiently for the green electronic numbers of the oven to turn from 4 to 5. Ketchup curled around his ankles, paw pads schwiffing across the tile as the seconds ticked by for what felt like years.

His eyes were unblinking, slowly drying out and slightly unfocusing as time ticked by.

The millisecond the green numbers turned to 5:00pm the cap was off and the beverage was chugged at lightning speed.

Setting the bottle down with a hum, he turns out of the kitchen with another beer in hand, with the intention of sitting on the couch. Of course its only an intention because at that moment Yogurt decides that all 30 pounds of her wants outside.

If it wasn't for the fact that she had Aizawa wrapped around her tail, he might be mad.

A tired sigh and a questioning 'mrrow?' before he slid the balcony door open.

-o-

5:03pm

Izuku had to stifle his laughter when he saw Hase's neighboring balcony.

It looked as if someone in the neighbors life really liked plants-more accurately, someone in the neighbors life really really hated plants. Every single one of the half dead plants (and there were many) looked hours away from death.

Pretty in theory, but the owner clearly had no want or need for the potted plants on their balcony.

As Izuku leaned over the rail to look at the plants, the glass balcony door slid open and a large pinkish cat mrrowed and purred as it pranced to a corner of the balcony.

-o-

Of all the things Aizawa expected to see next to his balcony, it certainly wasn't this.

-o-

Of all the people Izuku expected to be Hase's neighbor, he certainly wasn't it.


(notes: Hello! I will slowly add the chapters from Ao3 to here for y'all to read, hopefully it's formatted right, if not, please let me know. leave reviews if you like it! follow/favorite if you wanna, and as always, be safe babes)