Chapter 2
Hitoshi Shinsou
He looks down at the two boxes in his hands, frowning at them. He weighs his options, which one to pick. He specifically remembers his classmates wanting one of these but he doesn't remember which one. They were too busy screaming at him for things to buy and he got overwhelmed.
So which one of these is the right one?
"You doing good over there?" he hears a gruff voice coming from behind him. He lowers the items and turns his head to look at his teacher.
"I don't know which one to take," he answers, holding up the items in his hands towards the teacher.
"Just put them both in the cart," Mr. Aizawa answers, waving a hand dismissively. He finds himself snorts at the answer, somewhat not surprised by it either. If you can't decide between the two then just put them both in.
He puts said items into the cart Mr. Aizawa leaning on, full of supplies for the dorms. They were running low, so Mr. Aizawa went out for a refill and he volunteered to help his teacher. Mr. Aizawa had told them with a dark tone that no, he will only buy what is important and not buy them junk foods. Everyone deflated and pouted.
But, he did spy a number of snacks and drinks deep inside the cart.
He pretends not seeing them, but he does pull his scarf up to hide the smile that is threatening to break through his lips.
"Is there anything else we're missing?" he asks his teacher. Mr. Aizawa hums as he takes out his phone and pulls up the notepad app. He squints at the screen (if he remembers correctly, Mr. Aizawa wears spectacles for reading) before putting it back in his pocket.
"We've got everything. It's time to go home."
He finds himself releasing a sigh of relief. While he did volunteer to help Mr. Aizawa, he didn't expect it would last this long. He expected it to be just a quick grocery run, but there is a lot more stuff he didn't expect. The sun had already set a while ago; it's practically nighttime now.
They head over to the counter for the checkout, which takes so long because they bought so many things. Then they head out the supermarket, each of them carrying two bags in each hand. True enough, it is nighttime already.
Urgh.
He's starting to regret joining Mr. Aizawa. He can't wait to get home, which is where they are now heading, thankfully.
The journey is quiet just as it was when they were heading to the market. Mr. Aizawa is not the talking type, but then again so is he. So the silence is welcoming.
He wonders if Mr. Aizawa will cook tonight. He doesn't do it often but his cooking is pretty good, he has to say. Though, he thinks Eri is the reason Mr. Aizawa started cooking because only after Eri came to his life when he is often seen in the kitchen.
"E-Excuse… Excuse me!" he hears a voice coming from behind them. He notices Mr. Aizawa stops, so he stops as well and turns around to see who is calling them. A young looking girl is approaching them fast, wearing an oversized sweater that makes her look smaller than she really is when he knows in fact she could be taller than Ashido. Her most prominent feature is her antlers on her head.
"Is there something you need?" he hears Mr. Aizawa asks once the girl is close enough. She bends forward slightly, panting from out of breath. Now that she is closer, he can see she is holding a small book close to her chest.
"U-Uhm…" the girl hesitantly starts as she straightens up. He notices she is looking up at Mr. Aizawa intently and her hold on the book tightens. "Are you… Eraserhead?"
He stiffens. Mr. Aizawa is too. His teacher nods his head slowly. Immediately, the girl brightens judging by the wide smile that blooms from her lips and… are her antlers vibrating?
"I am a big fan!" she proclaims, getting brighter by the second. "You may not remember me but you saved me when I was five years old. I was lost and scared but you saved me and brought me home. And when I tried to look you up on the internet I couldn't find anything about you. I was so convinced you are my guardian angel!"
Well, he could relate to that. The first time he heard about Mr. Aizawa, or more specifically Eraserhead, was from a bedmate in the orphanage when he was seven years old. A Hero who came and went without any notice? He didn't believe it at first… until he saw a man standing on a rooftop outside his window, perfectly matched with what his bedmate had described.
Since then, he had been gazing out the window every night, hoping, wishing to see the same man, the Hero, to appear again. He didn't appear every night, and even if he did he appeared for a few seconds before swinging away with some sort of a strand.
The first time he met Eraserhead was after a bad night. The Hero found him in an alleyway and was being extremely patient with him. And when Eraserhead picked up and held him in his arms, he had never felt so safe.
"So u-uhm…" the girl starts, returning back to her hesitant self. She suddenly thrusts her book forward towards Mr. Aizawa, who looks down at it in confusion. "May I… have your autograph?"
He finds himself feeling cold.
Then it quickly changes to hot.
He finds himself glares at the book. He hears rustling coming from beside him. He tears his eyes away from the book and to his teacher, who is putting down the grocery bags to grab the offered book. The girl immediately brightens when he plucks the book from her hand. When Mr. Aizawa opens the book, he glares even harder.
The first page contains a number of newspapers, cut out and glued onto the page. All of them are about Eraserhead, or at least hints or glimpses of him. The only article that ever mentioned his name was his debut but after that, he is barely ever mentioned.
"Please sign on the inside of the cover page," the girl adds as she hands Mr. Aizawa a marker pen. He notices Mr. Aizawa hesitates when he's about to write. This is probably his first time giving an autograph.
He grits his teeth hard.
When Mr. Aizawa does write, he only writes his Hero name in simple font, all capitalized and that's it. But when he hands the book and pen back to the girl she looks like she almost cried when she looks down at the autograph. She then slowly closes the book as if it would break if she moves too fast, and then she bows low from the waist.
"Thank you, Mr. Eraserhead," she says with a thick voice.
"It's fine, it's fine," Mr. Aizawa replies quickly, showing his discomfort at the show of graditude reinforcing that this is his first time.
"I'm sorry for taking your time, I should go now," the girl says as she straightens up. She offers Mr. Aizawa another smile, smaller but much more meaningful than any one before. "Thank you again, Mr. Eraserhead!" She bows once more before turning around and runs away; her hold on the book never loosens. He watches her go until she disappears around the corner.
"That's my first time meeting a fan," he hears Mr. Aizawa comments.
He clenches his fists.
"Let's get going," he hears Mr. Aizawa says, followed by a sound of rustling. Looking back at him, Mr. Aizawa has picked up the grocery bags. "We're already late enough."
They continue their way to UA. The silence returns, but this time, he is feeling a completely different emotion. The ember in his chest shines very hot and he knows he is currently feeling.
He's jealous.
He could've been the first person to ask Mr. Aizawa, Pro Hero Eraserhead, for his autograph. He is his biggest fan for the longest time, striving to become the greatest against all odds, and trying to meet his expectations when Mr. Aizawa suddenly plucked him from the Sports Festival.
"Something on your mind?" Mr. Aizawa's voice startles him. He feels his eyes on him but he doesn't look up to connect the eye contact, merely shrugs his shoulders. He hears Mr. Aizawa hums, displeased; he knows that something is wrong but thankfully does not pressure him.
He continues to fume though. The ember in his chest refuses to dim down. It should've been him to be the first one to ask for Mr. Aizawa's autograph. He is his protégé, a proud one of that too.
But he was hesitating, too shy to approach his Hero turn teacher for an autograph. In fact, he had believed that he actually shouldn't because Mr. Aizawa is an Underground Hero, one who strives on secrecy and anonymity. He leaves little to no traces behind, and that includes autographs.
He didn't realize that Mr. Aizawa would readily give autographs when asked.
He's not only jealous. He's also pissed, mainly at himself for his cowardice.
It should've been him.
He could still feel Mr. Aizawa's gaze on him. He continues to ignore him.
They arrive at UA much quicker than he initially anticipated. It's probably because he had been lost in his thoughts the whole way, feeding into his jealousy.
As soon as they enter the common area, he rushes into the kitchen, leaving Mr. Aizawa behind, to drop all the items on the counter. He sprints past Mr. Aizawa, ignoring his confused look and to the staircase, because it's much faster to use the stairs than the elevator.
He arrives on his floor and dashes to his room, slamming the door without care of disturbing his classmates. He turns his room upside down, searching for that one particular drawing pad and one particular black marker that he had been saving for only one particular thing. Once he finds them, he doesn't bother to hold them up in triumphant and quickly runs out his room, down the stairs and back to the common area.
When he enters the kitchen, Mr. Aizawa is just pulling out all the items from the grocery bags and onto the counter. His teacher looks up at him when he approaches him.
"Shinsou, where were y-"
He cuts off his teacher by pushing the pad into his chest, earning him a grunt. He steps back as Mr. Aizawa grabs the drawing pad and marker. He looks down at them with utter confusion. When his teacher looks up at him with a questioning look, he shyly looks away. One of his hands rises up and scratches the back of his neck.
"Can I have your autograph?" he timidly mumbles out, quiet but loud enough for Mr. Aizawa to hear, blushing.
He doesn't hear any reply. He finds himself tensing up by each passing second. He is starting to regret asking and shame is slowly blooming in his chest.
Then, he hears Mr. Aizawa huffs. He takes a risk to glance up at his teacher.
He watches with wide eyes as Mr. Aizawa flips open the drawing pad to the first page. He uncaps the permanent marker and starts writing onto the page. From his angle, he can't see what Mr. Aizawa is writing, and it is much longer than the one he did with the girl earlier.
Then, Mr. Aizawa hands the pad back to him with the marker capped. He takes it from his hand and looks down at the page.
It's a little more stylized, less blocky despite the tip size of the marker. It's also bigger, probably to accommodate the page and marker tip sizes. Right next to the name is a simple doodle of a cat's head: a simple outline and a few whiskers.
Right below the name is a message, underlined:
"Do your best, Hitoshi Shinsou"
He feels his lips stretch out into a giant smile. He reaches up to grab his scarf to hide his smile before realizing he hadn't been wearing it since he went out. So he slaps his hand on his mouth and looks away.
"I can still see it."
"Shut up."
He is extremely happy. Words couldn't describe what he is feeling.
"Now stop smiling and help me with this stuff."
"Yes, sir."