So like. This has become a whole thing now, with at least one and up to three more chapters to come. I thought about just making this a long one-shot, but among other things, I wanted to build up a bit of suspense regarding Aizawa's relationship with his mom.
Speaking of which! This chapter and the next contain depictions of emotional abuse and unhealthy parent-child relationships.
Once both he and Shirakumo had changed their shoes and gathered their things from the lockers, Aizawa asked, "So how long of a walk is it?"
"Huh?" Shirakumo tilted his head.
"To Yamada's house. How far is it?"
"I, uh." Shirakumo ran his callused knuckles along the underside of his tie, which he'd been removing before Aizawa spoke up. "I guess I was thinking you would have his address? Or at least his phone number? Though now that I think about it, if you aren't friends after all…"
Aizawa sighed and wondered, yet again, what the hell he was getting himself into.
"Hey, it's all good." Shirakumo shoved a hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. It was enclosed in a blue cloud-patterned case and had a small crack in the top right corner of the screen. "Someone has to know where he lives, right? We just gotta ask around! Between the two of us, we should have numbers for most everyone in class."
"I don't have anyone's number," said Aizawa flatly, trying to convince himself he wasn't embarrassed.
Shirakumo gave him another of his brilliant smiles and said, "No worries, man, it's only been a few weeks since school started. I don't have that many numbers either, you know. Oh, why don't I give you mine? C'mon, don't look at me like that. 'S not like I'm gonna call you in the middle of the night. Well, not unless you want me to. In that case, I'll definitely call you in the middle of the night!"
Okay, this whole thing was officially moving much faster than Aizawa was used to. But for some reason, he didn't want it to stop. Shirakumo was just so… earnest. And friendly. Again, Aizawa found himself wanting to open up, though he wasn't sure how to go about doing so.
At least he could try.
"Fine," he said, taking out his phone. A tiny cat charm with black and orange beads dangled from one side. Wide-eyed, Shirakumo reached out and took it into his palm.
"I love this. I'm guessing you like cats?"
Aizawa nodded eagerly.
"Me too," said Shirakumo. "I've always wanted to have one as a pet, but like half my siblings are allergic to them, so." He finished his sentence with a shrug.
Something about the way Shirakumo referred to his siblings caught Aizawa's attention.
"How many brothers and sisters do you have?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
He was completely unprepared for Shirakumo's response.
"I'm the oldest of seven!" Shirakumo held up five fingers on his left hand and two on his right.
Aizawa's eyes widened. Sure, big families had become more common since the emergence of quirks (especially in the early generations, when quirklessness was more common and parents occasionally needed to have multiple children before successfully passing down their quirks), but Aizawa had never actually met someone with so many siblings.
"And?" asked Shirakumo. "How 'bout you?"
"Oh." Aizawa ran his fingers through his hair, feeling a little self-conscious. "It's just me and my parents."
And really, it was for the best that Aizawa was an only child. His mom told him once that siblings often had opposite personalities. Where Aizawa was callous and abrasive, she reasoned, his sister or brother would be sensitive and loving.
"You would just bully them, Shouta," she concluded, and he accepted her words at face value. After all, she knew him best. She knew everything about him, and still her love didn't waver. She would always love him more than anyone else could, because he was her precious little boy.
"You ready for me to give you my number yet?"
Shirakumo's question startled Aizawa back into the present. He nodded, and with that, he had four contacts: his mom, his dad, his next-door neighbor, and Shirakumo.
"Can you send me a text real quick so I have your number too?" asked Shirakumo. "While you do that, I can start texting around to see if anyone has Yamada's address."
Leaning against the lockers, Aizawa opened his contacts, selected Shirakumo's name, and hit the "message" button. For a moment, he wondered what to write. What did people normally do? Just say, "Hey, this is so-and-so"? Or would that be weird?
In the end, Aizawa sent a cat emoji, which must have been okay, judging by the smiley face he got in response. Satisfied, he sat down and watched cat videos until Shirakumo pumped his fist in the air triumphantly and said, "Here we go! Fujimi comin' in clutch."
"So? How far is it?"
"Hang on a sec and I'll find out."
As Shirakumo looked up directions to Yamada's address, he remarked, "I'm kinda surprised. Everyone else I talked to said they didn't have any of Yamada's contact info. I thought he was way more popular than that. I mean, he's so cool, you know?"
Aizawa decided not to answer.
"Directions, directions," Shirakumo muttered at his phone, rocking back on his heels. "C'mon, load the direc—oh, here we go. Looks like we gotta take the train for a few stops, but from there, it's only a ten minute walk to Yamada's. Sound good? Let's go!"
"Hang on." Aizawa frowned. "Do you have a mask?"
"A mask? You mean like as part of my costume? They look cool, but that's not really my thing. I like being able to show my adorable face."
He lifted a hand to his chin and smiled proudly.
Aizawa resisted the urge to smack his forehead. "No, I mean a medical mask. You don't want to catch Yamada's germs."
"Ohh." Shirakumo dropped his hand. "Nope, I don't have one of those on me right now."
"You're lucky I have an extra. What about vitamin C supplements?"
Shirakumo rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, which Aizawa took as a no. Sighing, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a plastic bottle of gummies. He tipped one into his hand and held it out to Shirakumo.
"It'll help you not to get sick," he said, shaking out another gummy for himself. "You should take some after we leave too."
"Thanks, man. You really think of everything, don't you? And you didn't even know about Yamada when you packed all that stuff in your bag!"
Heat prickled beneath Aizawa's collar. He tried not to let his shame show on his face. He already knewhe was weird; he didn't need this guy, or anyone for that matter, to tell him that.
"It's really impressive."
Wait, what?
"I mean, think about it," Shirakumo continued. "Heroes are always faced with unpredictable situations. If they're not prepared, they might not be able to fight as effectively or save as many people. But you? You'll have, I don't know, burn cream for people being attacked by a villain with a fire quirk, or a flashlight if you need to go rescue someone trapped somewhere dark."
"You think so?"
"Of course I do! I'm really excited that we get to become heroes together."
Aizawa didn't quite believe him, but when Shirakumo turned his back to pick up his bag, his lips quirked into a small, shy smile.
Was Shirakumo just flattering him? Almost certainly.
Did something squeeze Aizawa's heart when Shirakumo spoke? Strangely, yes. For a moment, he almost felt good about himself.
But it didn't last. As they walked outside into the sunshine, Shirakumo holding the door open for him with his elbow, Aizawa's phone vibrated. A text from his mom appeared on the screen.
Hey sweetheart! Hope you had a good day at school. Love you so much!
He was about to return his phone to his pocket when another text appeared.
Can I just ask you something? You're not staying late because you don't want to see Dad and me, are you? Not that I think you are, but as a mom, I have to ask. You know how much I love you. Don't forget what you promised me, okay?
And there it was, like a punch to the stomach: the guilt he'd been trying to smother all day long. His heart sank. An image flashed through his mind: a snake curling around his body in a gentle caress, smooth scales against his skin, only to squeeze him until he couldn't breathe.
He couldn't push her away.
"Aizawa?" Shirakumo turned to look at him. "Something wrong? You coming?"
"'S nothing." Holding down the power button until his thumbnail turned white, Aizawa shut off his phone. "Let's get this over with," he said, jaw clenched tight.
The rest of the short walk to the station, Aizawa could barely listen to Shirakumo, so focused was he on trying to figure out when the other shoe would drop.
He didn't know what this guy was up to, but he wasn't going to let himself be caught off-guard.
Before you ask, yes, I'm working on a fic in which Shirakumo and his six siblings take in Aizawa as one of their own.
I'm about a thousand words into the next chapter, but I keep adding stuff and rearranging scenes, so not sure when it'll be up. (Also, my life is crazy right now asdjisdliflij pray for me.) All I can tell you is it features Yamada's moms, Shirakumo snapping pics of Aizawa sleeping on the train, some long conversations, and maybe a cute baby.
Please let me know what you think!
