The way I wrote this chapter was so weird. Like, it took me two weeks to get Aizawa and Shirakumo across the street? Then I got in my head and was like, "Nothing fits together, and I need to change everything." And then I opened the doc Wednesday night and thought, What if I just… didn't change anything? Which is what I wound up doing. Sometimes you just have to go against what your anxiety tells you, y'know?

Content warnings: Aizawa experiences an abrupt flashback a little past the halfway point of the chapter. It begins with a line in italics ("Her arms around his waist") and ends with a horizontal line break. The flashback includes depictions of emotional abuse and victim blaming. Just to be clear, since it's kind of vague, there's no sexual assault, only a complete lack of boundaries.


"Hey, Mom. Sup?"

"Hi, sweetheart! I'm just running across the street to grab some coffee while I'm on a break, and I thought I'd call real quick and see how you were doing. Your throat is sounding a little better."

"Doesn't feel better, though," Yamada whined. Through the phone, he could hear the hustle and bustle of the city—something he'd missed out on by staying home that day. The hubbub and chatter of crowds always made him feel at ease, reminding him he wasn't all alone in the world. "It still feels like I swallowed a bunch of rocks."

His mom—Marie—hummed sympathetically. "Sorry, hon. I still think you'll be better by this evening, but if you feel like you're getting worse, I'll do my best to leave early."

"What about Mama? When's she coming home?"

"Mm, not sure. Depends on when the concert ends and how difficult the band is about their equipment. God, some of those musicians, I tell you what. If I were her, I would've sabotaged so many shows by now."

Despite himself, Yamada barked out a laugh, which unfortunately turned into a coughing fit that left his throat burning and his stomach aching.

"You okay?" Marie asked once his breathing returned to normal.

Yamada groaned in response.

"Poor kiddo. Have you tried drinking some yuzu-cha?"

"We're out."

"Ah, shoot. I'll try to pick some up on my way home. In the meantime, we should still have chamomile tea, if you want to drink that with some honey."

"M'kay."

"I'll let you rest your voice now. Again, call us if you need anything, 'kay, Hizashi?"

"Mhm. Talk to you later, Mom."

While ending the call, Yamada saw a text from an unknown number pop up on the screen.

Hey Yamada! It's Shirakumo Oboro from school. :D Heard u were sick and wanted to know if it'd be cool for me n Aizawa to stop by?

Yamada tapped a finger against his cheek, thinking. Aizawa was the gloomy kid he enjoyed teasing (Yamada was on a mission to get a smile out of him by the end of the first term), but which one was Shirakumo again?Oh, right—that guy with the cloud quirk, which he'd used to put out the fire Mushimori started in home ec last Saturday. How had he wrangled their grumpy classmate into hanging out, and would he be willing to share his Aizawa-taming tips?

As Yamada pondered these questions, he got another message. He swiped his thumb across the screen, and there appeared a picture of Aizawa fast asleep on the train, resting his head on his backpack, which he held in his lap. His hair fell like a curtain around his face, obscuring it from view, as if he were trying to hide from Shirakumo's camera.

He looked downright adorable.

He's totally out lol, wrote Shirakumo. Hopefully I can wake him up so we can come see u! (If that's okay)

And if not no rotors

*worries

Wtf lol

That's some autocorrect, wrote Yamada. Yeah, you and Sleeping Beauty (so cute, omg) can come. Do you know where I live or do I need to stand on my balcony and scream?

The response was almost instantaneous: Nonono don't scream! Rest ur voice :) We got ur address, just give us like twenty min

Yamada sent a thumbs-up emoji and, grinning from ear to ear, set down his phone. God, he could use some company. As much as he liked curling up on the couch with a good playlist, he was getting awfully bored on his own. Not to mention lonely. He hoped Shirakumo and Aizawa would have some good stories from the day's classes.

With that thought, he dragged himself to his feet and went searching for a comb to run through his messy hair.


A broad hand on his shoulder roused Aizawa from his nap.

"Aizawa? Hey, Aizawa, this's our stop."

"Hmm?" Aizawa blinked and looked around. His mouth was dry and his head felt full of cotton.

What was he doing here again?

"You're pretty out of it, aren'tcha?" Shirakumo chuckled. He leaned slightly in his seat as the train screeched to a halt. "C'mon, lemme help you."

He wrapped his arm around Aizawa's shoulders and led him through the train doors, down the steps, and onto the platform. Aizawa, still disoriented, made no move to resist Shirakumo, settling instead for rubbing his bleary eyes and stifling a yawn. Behind them, the train kicked up a gust of wind as it continued down the tracks, and Aizawa had to brush his tangled hair away from his face with his fingers to keep it from getting in his eyes.

"Let's see… pretty sure the street we want to take is that way," said Shirakumo, pointing to the left.

"Did you look at the map?"

"No, there's a sign right there on the wall."

Huh. So there was.

"You good to start walking, or do you need a sec to wake up?"

"'M fine," Aizawa grumbled. The lingering fog of sleep was beginning to dissipate in earnest now, and he shifted his shoulders, hoping Shirakumo would get the hint. Sure enough, Shirakumo let his arm fall back to his side without protest and slid his hands into his pockets as the two of them walked up the stairs and out of the station.

Yamada, it seemed, lived in a crowded, up-and-coming part of the city. Cars were parked bumper to bumper along both sides of the street, and there was hardly an empty table outside the many cafes and restaurants that lined the sidewalk. Two artists were painting a mural on the side of a music supply store, laughing and waving to passersby as they worked. In the middle of it all was a complex knot of intersections, where several streets became entangled, with a few small refuge islands here and there.

Frankly, it was all a little too much for Aizawa, who had spent his whole life in the same quiet, slightly rundown neighborhood. Still, he was amused by how perfectly this place suited Yamada. It, too, was offbeat and loud, with a big heart worn on its sleeve.

Speaking of Yamada…

"You did let him know we were coming, right?" asked Aizawa as they squeezed their way onto one of the crowded islands in the middle of the street.

"Yep! He's super excited to see us. Probably kinda stir-crazy from being stuck at home all day."

Aizawa made a noncommittal noise, which was really the only response he could give at the moment. Standing so close to this many people was making his skin crawl with phantom sensations—an elbow in his side, a hand knocking loosely against his hip

Her arms curling around his waist

A spark of anxiety crackled up Aizawa's spine.

Her forehead pressed into his shoulder

He shivered. He couldn't breathe, couldn't make any noise. Not with all these people around.

Her body too warm and sharp at his side

"Sweetheart," she had whispered in his ear as she slid into bed beside him, "sweetheart, I'm so worried about you."

She had a knack for lacing loving words with acid, turning them into threats.

"Please, Shouta. I'm sorry to have to do this, but I can't take it anymore. I'm not letting you go until you promise me you'll stop making people hurt you."

But even when he bowed his head in reluctant agreement, she continued to wind herself around him, digging her fingertips into his skin, reciting apologies like a rosary.


"—sit down for a sec?"

For the second time that afternoon, Shirakumo's voice brought Aizawa back to conscious awareness.

"What?" Aizawa managed to ask, hopefully without too much of an awkward pause. God, why was he like this?

Nothing happened, he told himself. Nothing happened, so why do I feel so—

"You mind if we sit down for a sec? I have a thing in my shoe."

"Oh." Then, remembering Shirakumo had asked a question, Aizawa added, "Okay," and sat down on one of the benches along the tree-lined street. The noise had died down some, and after glancing around (surreptitiously, so Shirakumo wouldn't notice), Aizawa realized they must have entered a residential area. A few kids were playfully wrestling in the small yard of a house on the other side of the street, and an older woman was walking her dog, but otherwise they were alone.

"So," Shirakumo said after a moment. He twirled his shoelaces in his fingers, apparently not in any hurry to undo them. "You have a favorite kind of cat?"

Though he didn't understand why Shirakumo was asking, Aizawa was grateful to have a distraction while he wrestled his mind back under control.

"No," he said. "They're all good."

"Mm, true. I've always wanted a Maine Coon, though. You know, one of those really big cats?" Shirakumo held up his arms in illustration. "They look so cuddly. I bet you could curl up with them and take a nap and they'd keep you super cozy. You must do that a lot, right? Since you like cats and taking naps so much?"

"I don't have a cat. Apartment rules."

"Aww. That sucks. At least you'll have that to look forward to when you graduate and start working and living on your own."

"You too."

"Hm?"

Aizawa looked up, brushing a lock of hair out of his face. "You can get a cat when you graduate too. If you aren't living with your siblings anymore."

Shirakumo's face brightened. "You're right! We'll have to go get cats together. That can be our thing."

Our thing.

Aizawa's heart skipped a suspicions continued to simmer, but mostly, he was full of wonder at this weird, boisterous dude who treated him with a kindness he didn't deserve, who went out of his way to visit a sick classmate he barely knew.

Why was he doing all this?

Aizawa opened his mouth, but at the last second, he changed his mind.

"Did you get the thing out of your shoe?" he asked.

Shirakumo frowned, confused, but then his eyes went wide as a light bulb seemed to go off in his head.

"Oh, right!" He bent down and yanked off his shoe, not bothering to untie the laces. "I was so busy daydreaming about cats that I totally forgot."

"Shirakumo?"

"Yep?"

"You don't have anything in your shoe, do you."

"Huh? No, I totally do, see?" He made a big show of shaking out his shoe, to the point that he almost lost his grip and threw it into the street.

"I don't see anything."

"Really? Huh, guess you musta missed it."

Shirakumo's eyes were sparkling with mischief, but as he slid his foot back into his shoe, his face took on a more serious look. He paused for a moment, then asked, gently, "For real, though, are you okay? I didn't want to say anything, but… you looked scared. Like, really."

Aizawa briefly met Shirakumo's concerned gaze before looking away.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said. Which was a lie—deep down, he did want to talk about it, but how? He couldn't even find the words to explain what was wrong.

"That's cool. Like I said before, you don't have to tell me anything! But if you did, I'd listen, y'know?"

Maybe, thought Aizawa, but what would you do once I told you everything?

Instead of responding, he got to his feet and picked up his backpack, ready to resume their weird little adventure.

"Hey, hey, hold up!"

Aizawa turned around to find Shirakumo perched on one of his clouds, looking very pleased with himself.

"That thing in my shoe reaaaally hurt my foot, you know. I don't think I can walk all the way to Yamada's house. Wanna hop on the cloud with me? It's super fun, and I promise I won't let you fall off or anything."

"That's illegal." Aizawa folded his arms and gave Shirakumo a disapproving look, though it was mostly just for show.

"I mean, okay, maybe technically, but who's gonna stop us? Besides, I'm injured here, buddy!" He put a hand over his heart dramatically. "The pain… it's just too much…"

Aizawa rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. Just don't come crying to me when you get in trouble."

Laughing, Shirakumo reached out to help him up, and this time, after a moment's hesitation, Aizawa took his hand.


I hope you enjoyed reading this! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be done—I'm in the midst of moving and (hopefully) starting a new job soon—but I'll try to have it up within a month.

In the meantime, I occasionally post excerpts, updates, and various rambles on tumblr (where I go by fullmetalmaple).