Of course the big idiot did not have any requests. But at least that would make deciding what to cook easier. She started pulling ingredients from her fridge as she started to contemplate what to cook. Maybe an omelet would be the best, easy enough and with a little fried rice it would offer a decent meal. Seemed easy enough, required little ingredients and offered a good meal.
Thinking about a good meal, when was the last time she had eaten three full meals a day? It was not often she ate breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yet with the company of the hero she was actually forced to cook and eat regular meals at regular hours. None of the typical skipping meals like she usually did. Breakfast had always been the hardest meal for her to remember to eat. It was easier to just skip the meal and meant it was one less meal she had to try and find the money to afford. Days she worked she could get something cheap from the restaurant so she only had to feed herself one meal, those days. And yet eating once a day felt so normal now. Waking up hungry and ignoring it had grown to become so natural.
Even as she cooked she did not feel overly hungry till the kitchen started to fill with the delicious smell of her food. Deku had tried to keep the room from being completely silent with a little talking but more often he ended up in some sort of ramble about something, often about his hero work or hero work in general. Once he got on about All Might she had just let him go wild with stories of his younger days training under the formal number one and last symbol of peace.
Sure she really did not care about what it was like training under the man. But watching the idiot smile wildly and seem so happy she couldn't bring herself to make a snide comment about the former hero or hero's in general. So she bit her tongue and simply kept quiet as she watched the man as she cooked.
A question started to float around her mind when she glanced over at the young man sitting at her table. His hands moved around him energetically as he seemed so happy and ecstatic about whatever story he was in the middle of telling her. It was clear his body was not hurting like it had been, moving now was easy for him. His shoulders no longer tense worried a movement would send jolts of pain through his body, so then why was he sitting at her table talking to her if he was healed? He no longer had to stick to her for help. He was free to leave, to disappear as if the last three days had been nothing but a dream. So why was he still sitting at her kitchen table talking to her?
She was still trying to comprehend what was going on as he eyes glanced up from the inlet she was in the middle of trying not to fuck up. She should have been more worried about her cooking. But her mind refused to focus, the stress and uncertainty getting to her. Why was he still in her home? Why was he still being so nice? He was healed there was no reason he had to force himself to stick around. She was well aware at times she was not an easy person to get along with, and hero's were a touchy subject. Yet this man did not seem to care about her dislike for his personal profession. And sure hearing him talk about some story about how he took down some villain was interesting, mostly the fact that he looked so happy and seemed so animated in his storytelling. She had to force herself not to think about the fact that she could have known the villain arrested. Though she tried to keep her ties to those kind of people rare she would be stupid to try and deny that she knew a few people who had or were willing to attach heroes and even innocent people. Though the second kind of people were even people she tried to avoid. Someone who did not care about the innocent and their fellow lower class especially were scary and dangerous especially for someone like her.
She was so up in her own head that she struggled to not destroy her omurice omelet, and of course when she did damage the first attempt she couldn't help the slew of soft cures words that escaped her. Well she would have to eat that one then. The sound of a deep chuckle nearly against her ear had her jump and nearly drop the plate of rice and eggs. He head snapped over to glare at the figure standing beside her. She had grown accustomed to him being stationary that now that he was free to move he had completely surprised her when he was suddenly standing beside her.
"Fuck don't just pop up like that," She huffed slipping the plate onto the counter as she quickly started to try again to make a successful omurice omelet. The boyish grin only seemed to grow wider even as she swore and scolded him.
"Not my fault you were not paying attention. I called your name a few times and you never glanced over at me," He pointed out as he moved to lean against the counter and reached out to grab the plate of rice and broken omelet. She wanted to stop him but if he really did not care she messed up she was not about to point it out. Moreover she now had the sudden itch to attach a bell to the idiot so she may perhaps hear him coming the next time. But then she quickly reminded herself there would be no next time. Which once again filled her mouth with a sour taste and started her mind on that grim thought once again. And yet why did she care? He was a hero, be it a rather nice looking one, but still a hero. He may make it seem like they are similar even having compared her reaction to that of his own friends when he had talked about why he lived on this side of town. But they were two very different people even if they shared one or two similarities. She would never truly understand him and she could not imagine he would understand her either. They came from different worlds.
"Cooking requires a little bit of attention unless you enjoy burnt food," She pointed out though she knew cooking was not what had her so stuck in her head forgetting her guest was no longer stuck in one stop without her help.
"I'm sure even if you burnt it, it would still taste really good," Izuku said smiling warmly at him as he made a point to stick a mouthful of egg and rice into his mouth as she glanced over at him.
"Yeah no my cooking is not that good," She mumbled with a soft shake of her head, being well aware she barely had enough ingredients to make her take on anything simple. She also knew her cooking was far from anything good.
Of course hearing the woman hold her own skill in such low regard had him frown softly around his mouthful of food that he thought tasted pretty good. And seeing how she was using just simple ingredients from some cheap grocery store he was even more curious how good her cooking may be if she actually had some three star ingredients to work with. Still her cooking skills seemed better than his. Don't get him wrong, Izuku could cook when he wanted to but he was far from any amazing chef. Bakugou loved to remind him of that fact any time he would try and offer to cook back when they lived in the dorms of UA. Then again Kacchan had loved to rip apart almost everyone's cooking back when they all lived together in the dorms.
"Well I'll have to cook for you some time. It's only far after all you've been cooking for me for the last couple of days," He said flashing her a wide innocent smile that showed off those pearly white teeth of his. Aoi quickly glanced away hoping the flush on her cheeks would not be noticeable. He wanted to cook for her? It was a flattering thought but she was well aware that becoming friendly with the hero could find herself in trouble. She was not stupid, the man standing beside her had enemies, as did any hero. But still she was defenseless if she got dragged into his work she could find herself in trouble. And anyways the tabloids would have a hay day if they saw the two together outside of the apartment. If he did not want his face on the news for going to the hospital in an ambulance she could only assume he would not enjoy his face posted up with hers for people to question why he would pick a quirkless reject. No it was best for them both if they went their separate ways after this.
"You do not have to worry about paying me back. I helped because I wanted to," She said simply as she finished up her own omelet which had indeed come out in one piece this attempt.
"Huh? No, I need to pay you back. I ate your food and stole your bed. The least my agency could do is pay you for your time and food," Izuku said quickly, very much so wanting to pay the woman for her time and aid.
"You own your agency don't you? You do, I know you do. So that means it would be you paying me. I do not want your money Midoriya," She said simply as she grabbed her chopsticks and headed for the table with a wide eyed man quickly on her heels to sit across from her. His food now momentarily forgotten as he was about to argue with the woman.
"But it's not my money. And anyways it does not hurt me or my agency to pay you what you deserve for being my own personal nurse," He said quickly even as she glared up at him from over her plate of food.
She wanted to say something like how it wouldn't hurt him but it would hurt her. She did not want a hand out from him. Nor did she want to feel like a tool that he had used. No she would not and he could not force her to take any money.
"I will not take your money. It does not matter what you do or try," she said, though silently added that she refused to feel cheap and used. And taking his money would make her feel cheap. And of course watching the woman glare at him and down right refuse him, had the large man pouting like a kid as he realized that the woman was stubborn. With a sigh he gave in this time as he realized she would not back down. So he bit his tongue and continued to eat his food. But that did not stop his bottom lip from sticking out as he ate his food.
Aoi was not stupid, or at least she liked to think she wasn't, she knew in this world nothing was ever truly free. People rarely ever helped one another out simply because they wanted to. Strings were attached to everything. And she felt it in her gut that any money she accepted from this hero or his agency would surely come with their own strings and issues. So she knew she would not accept his offer even if he seemed a bit upset that she wouldn't. Usually she would have been more than happy to have an IOU especially from someone with as much stature and power as a hero. But Midoriya was a league she did not dare try to approach. He could bring her a lot more issues than he was worth. And she knew people in this area would be out for her just for keeping him alive. No it was safer for her to part ways with him and pretend the two never met or that she has the number one hero living next door.
Izuku could tell with the dirty glare that the woman shot at him that apparently discussing paying her was no longer something she wanted to discuss. So he bit his tongue instead, turning his attention to his food, happy to enjoy the nice home cooked meal. Still it meant he was going to have to try and be a little more creative when it came to paying back the woman who had pretty much saved his life. Had Izuku gotten home like he had planned he was now all too aware that he could have bled out on the floor of his own bedroom had he crawled through his window and not hers. He owed the woman a lot more than she was clearly aware of. Yet why was she so against accepting his gift? Izuku really struggled to understand the woman who sat across from him eating her own meal.
It seemed all too soon and both plates were empty, Aoi stood and reached over to grab at Izuku's empty plate only to barely miss it as the man grabbed his own plate and had jumped to his feet.
"Here let me do the dishes. You cooked so it's only fair that I clean up. And you also cooked and cleaned up after me the last few days," Izuku said, quickly scooping up the plate from her and walking over to her sink where he quickly got to work filling her sink with hot soapy water.
Aoi paused standing just two steps away, surprised that the man had beaten her to washing the dishes. He did not have to. He could have left the task to her and just walked out and headed home. So why did he stay? Was he just being a nice person? Of course she was suspicious, it was incredibly hard to believe that people just did such simple tasks. It was also oddly satisfying watching such a big strong man standing at the sink doing dishes. Such a mundane task, and yet why was it so sexy to watch? His large scared hands seemed so delicate as he worked carefully to scrub the food off of whatever dish was in his hand. Those same hands could just as easily kill her if he wanted to. Yet those hands had only ever saved lives.
It was mesmerizing as she took in the sight of his scars. They littered his knuckles, a sign he punched a lot of things and had more than likely on multiple occasions broken bones in both hands. Small faint scars even covered his wrists and softly ran up his arms. Some scars were so faint it was not till she stepped closed that she could slightly see them. It quickly reminded her of the one incredibly large scar that ran up almost his entire arm. What the hell had happened to him to get such a big and bad scar? Surely the man had nearly lost his arm to whatever injury had caused such damage.
"Pretty disgusting aren't they?" He asked softly which had the woman jump. She had not even noticed she had walked up to stand beside him leaning in and inspecting the scars that she could see on his arms and hands.
"Not at all, we all have scars, some just more noticeable than others," she answered softly before her face grew red realizing what she had just said before she stepped back and turned away from him.
"Uhm would you like some tea? Cause I'm gonna make myself some tea," she rambled softly, instantly changing the conversation the best she could as she turned her back to the man and started to pull two coffee mugs from her cupboard.
"Oh sure," he said as he paused with a plate in his hand to stare wide eyed at the woman. That answer she just gave him spoke volumes. It tugged at his heart in a few ways. He was well aware the scars that littered his hands and arms were far from nice to look at. Of course he never regretted them but he could not deny he found himself wearing a lot of long sleeves out in public. Usually civilians did not understand the scars, what they meant or what they stood for. The lives he had saved in exchange. And yet this woman clearly understood his scars were not just some disgusting marks. She may not have fully understood what he had all sacrificed or for who but she did not find his scars disgusting like others sometimes did. But the other realization he had was that she had made the comment that not all scars are noticeable. Did that mean she had her own? Were her scars just hidden under her clothes or were hers hidden under her skin? Now he was curious what was it that she had hidden? The dark haired woman was only growing more and more interesting the more time he spent with her.
Aoi tried to busy herself with making the two of them tea all of the sudden. As if that would somehow save her from her own embarrassment. She should have just shoved her foot into her mouth to keep herself from saying something like that. She should have just said no and left it at that. But now she could feel his eyes glancing over at her as she kept her back to him trying to calm her racing heart and the heat in her cheeks as her hands worked to prepare the two cups of tea as slowly as she could before she slowly grabbed each cup in a hand and slowly turned around to find the man standing still at her sink but this time his back was turned to the sink as he leaned against the counter. The space between them seemed far too small for her liking as she struggled to take a calming breath before she turned quickly and headed to the table to sit down so she could enjoy her tea.
"You work this afternoon right?" Izuku asked as he tailed her to the table more than happy to take a seat in what he was already starting to think of as his spot even though it was only his because there was no other chair.
"Yes. Typically I work week evenings and weekends during the day. My days off vary. I got yesterday off but now I lose my Saturday I have originally been given off. But that is fine," She said softly as she took a careful sip of her tea trying to not burn her tongue on the hot cup of tea. It was a cheap tea, and really was not much more than hot leaf water but still it was soothing to hold the warm cup in her hands and the tea gave her something to look at instead of the man sitting across from her.
"I can walk you to and from work if you want. My agency does not yet know I'm healed up. But I am sure I can get the time to walk with you. Maybe I should add this area onto my patrol route then I could walk you ever time our schedules lined up," It seemed genuinely kind and the smile he flashed her told her that the offer was genuine and not at all meant to do her any harm and yet that did not stop her from her incredibly blunt answer.
"No. Do not worry about it," She said sternly before taking a long sip of her tea. She watched his smile falter and she tried not to sigh. She knew he was just being nice and worried about her, but he also was stupid in the sense he did not know or understand that being seen with him would be incredibly dangerous for her. She was currently a fellow shadow among the street, currently. But he would draw attention, eyes that would otherwise not see her as a target would then see her as a very easy target with a big payout if it drew the attention of the pro hero.
"But you said it yourself to Eri that the streets are dangerous in this area," Izuku tried to use her own words against her and typically it would work but in this instance she refused to back down.
"It's dangerous for the likes of you. Someone with money, statues, and especially a hero will draw attention and not in a good way. You're a walking beacon that will draw attention from all the wrong people. Alone I am another shadow among the streets sidewalk. No one would bother to pick on me," She said simply as she glanced up over her cup at the man as she watched his shoulders sag with a heavy exhale. He knew she was right but still he did not like hearing it nor did he like the idea that it got in the way of being able to have such a simple time with her. Still, why did seeing him look so down make her feel bad?
"But if we run into each other from time to time in the middle of the night after a closing shift I am sure it would just look like some hero was walking a poor quirkless woman home," She said simply as her eyes quickly darted away as she struggled to control her blushing cheeks. She did not need to turn her head to know that the man was smiling widely like an idiot at her.
