AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH the holidays always make writing/drawing hard! My time gets cut down so much! That aside, I'm chipping away at everything right now, and I know I should focus on my other fandoms, but the MHA bug has latched on strong and I'm exhausted so we're just gonna go with what I finish when I finish it lol
Enjoy!
Chapter 11: Dirt and Concrete
Nemuri hadn't stopped humming happily the entire walk to the school. Aizawa had allowed Yaoyorozu to pack him a bento to have before classes and Nemuri had poured him a coffee for the walk. Said coffee was in one hand with his food in the other, and Nemuri hooked around his arm, humming her tune. She was almost skipping. She would be, he was sure, if that wouldn't be risking his coffee. She was a woman who followed whims, yes, but she was also smart and had a level of self-preservation.
Once they'd walked into the teacher's lounge, Nemuri grabbed the food and left to stow it in the fridge. Aizawa flopped down on the couch, relishing in the coffee. A body fell down beside him, and an arm draped over his shoulders. He was too deep into enjoying the aroma of the coffee, however, to really care who it was. It was Snipe's voice that broke through the haze of caffine.
"Did you pick that blindfold, partner, or did Nem?" Snipe asks. Aizawa paused in his sipping and lowered the mug enough to sigh.
"It's the flowers, isn't it?"
"Chibi cats, actually," Nemuri says, kissing the top of his head and ruffling his hair. "I thought it was cute!"
Aizawa reached a hand up to slip it off. Nemuri smacked his hand away harshly, pouting.
"No! Bad Shou!"
"Mate, do you really want to spend the day squeezing your eyes shut?" Snipe asks.
"You all just want me to suffer," he mumbled. Nemuri snorted, pecking
"I hear good times~!" Yamada sang, sliding into the lounge. Nemuri shot him a glance and cocked her hip, looking him over.
"You didn't sleep a wink, did you?" she asks. Yamada gasped, dramatically, ready to retort when Aizawa raised his mug.
"He did not," he declared.
"I didn't even get to answer!" Yamada shouted over Snipe's laughter.
"Your gasp was a level of overly dramatic that rivaled your theatre kid days. Which means that you're entering sleep deprivation. Which means you need to take a nap," Aizawa rationalized.
"I have classes," Yamada said, strutting to his desk. Kan finally glanced up from his own desk, raising a doubtful brow at the blonde. Yamada pouted at him, falling into his seat. "I'll be fine, coffee exists."
"Bless the blend," Aizawa mumbled. Nemuri snorted, collapsing onto the back of the couch. She shakily took his cup to refill.
"Shou, you're going to kill me," she snickered.
Aizawa shrugged, sinking further into the couch. A few more pairs of feet came into the lounge, but he could only really pin down Ishiyama among them. Kan confirmed his presence with a sigh of relief at the smell of brewing coffee. Yamada beat him to the coffee machine, snatching up the largest mug to fill to the brim.
"Oh, fuck you," Kan grumbled.
"You have a machine at home!" Yamada laughed. He looked at Kan's hands. "And you're already drinking one. You're turning into a caffeine addict. Welcome to the club~!"
"That's not a club I want to be in," Kan says, trying to ignore Yamada's snickering behind him as he marched to his desk. Aizawa clicked his tongue at him, holding up his mug.
"Praise the blend, Kan," he says.
"…Is he sleep deprived?" Kan asks.
"I think this is the most sleep he's gotten since high school, actually," Nemuri sighs.
"Dear Kami, it has the reverse effects," Snipe whispered dramatically. Aizawa smacked his thigh. "Ow."
"Aizawa, how many hours do you usually sleep?" Yagi asks. Aizawa hummed, almost downing the entire mug. He wasn't sure if Yagi really wanted to know the answer or not. He could see in his own mind the concerned look Yagi was no doubt shooting his way.
"In a row at any point?" Aizawa asks.
"It scares me that you have to ask a clarification like that, but no, total."
"Not sure," he admitted. "Four?"
"A day?"
"Roughly."
"Aizawa…" Yagi sighed.
"It's okay, Yagi. I'm helping him out tonight at the dorms," Snipe called over, shooting Yagi a finger gun. Aizawa grumbled beside him. Snipe turned to him, pouting. "Well, I'm excited about it."
"I hope you're prepared for Ashido to corner you," Aizawa says, almost sounding threatening. Snipe huffed, leaning back into the couch.
"That doesn't scare me. I'll deny and deflect until curfew," Snipe says. It was the weakest plan to that scenario that Aizawa could ever conceivably think of, short of Snipe planning to hover around him all evening.
"I don't need babysitters," Aizawa stressed instead.
"But isn't the bed so nice and warm with us there?" Nemuri cooed. Aizawa reached out to swat at her, missing since she leaned away with a snicker.
"You made innuendos, didn't you?" Yamada asks.
"Not as many as I wanted to," Nemuri admitted. She poked Aizawa on the head. "He wouldn't let me."
"Smart man," was a chorus of voices that responded. Nemuri 'tsk'ed loudly at them all, grabbing her whip from her desk.
She waved them away as she stepped out. "I'll see you at lunch!"
Snipe turned back to Aizawa once Nemuri was gone, ruffling his hair a little. "Your kids are so energetic, it's fun to be there!"
"Hm. Don't let Ashido or Hagakure drag you away if you value your hair in its current state."
"…They know that… there's not a lot to do with it… right?" Snipe ventured. Aizawa hummed, pursing his lips. "Right?"
"It's quite clear that you don't know what it's like to be surrounded by teenage girls who are on a hair styling spree."
"And you have?" Snipe asks with a snort.
"I knew Nem in high school."
"Ah.." Snipe sank into his cushion, muttering to himself. "What could they even do with dreads?"
"You'd be surprised and impressed!" Yamada declared. He hooked his arm around Aizawa's, helping to life him up from the couch and towards the door. "C'mon, soldier, we're going to be late!"
"Just leave me to sleep."
Yamada dragged Aizawa down the hall, intent on beating the starting bell. "You've slept more in the last week or so than I think you have in the last ten years. That said, I think you've slept a bit too much. And I didn't think that was even possible."
"Excuse you."
"Oh, are you sassing me?" Yamada asks dramatically. "In the hall? Goodness, you're about as close to a buzz in your brain as I am, which is weird, since you've actually been getting sleep lately. Your body must be rejecting the healthier lifestyle."
"My body is rejecting a lack of work."
"Shou, that's the saddest thing you could have said," Yamada sighed. He stopped at the class door, latching his shoe on the bottom. "BUT NO TIME FOR THAT!"
He practically kicked the door open, swinging both of them inside. The only thing that saved Aizawa from face planting right out of Yamada's grip were his reflexes and balance. "GOOD MORNING, LISTENERS!" Yamada cheerfully shouted, rattling the windows.
Amongst the chorus of greetings, Aizawa could pick out Jirou's "sup"—from the wrong side of the room. But, with no scramble to get into their desks, that meant she probably wasn't visiting a classmate's desk. Aizawa slipped from Yamada's grasp, making way for his desk chair.
"Get back to your assigned seats," he announced. A pair of hands slammed on to a desk, with Ashido screaming from the back. Bakugou blasted whatever poor classmate's desk he had—based on the heavy sigh it was Ojirou—and Kaminari was howling with laughter. Iida was giving him profuse apologies. But, through all of that, he could still hear Ashido's utter disbelief at his own audacity to call them all out in one fell swoop.
"How did you know?!" she screeched.
Aizawa simply snapped, motioning to the room at large, or more accurately the desks, without a word. With some heavy sighs, some giggling, and some grateful mutters, the class was back in order within a few moments. He didn't trust, however, that everyone was really in their rightful place. Aizawa propped his heels up on his desk, weighing his chances of being right. But he knew his class. He knew there was only a 50/50 chance that Yamada was snickering because of the previous display, not because they hadn't actually returned to their assigned seats. He knew that even if he was wrong, he could just claim a simple "can you blame me for checking" because, as stated, he knew this class.
"I said assigned seats," Aizawa says flatly.
"Oh, come on!" Ashido wailed.
"HA! I win, bitch!"
"Sensei, whyyyyy…" Ashido whined. She grabbed her bag, dragging it back to her proper desk, alongside half the class. The swapping of seats took another few minutes before everyone had settled down. Aizawa tapped his finger on the rim of his mug.
"Yamada—"
"No, they're back to normal," Yamada giggled. "But, that was amazing."
"Un-fucking-believable," Ashido muttered. "Fifty right down the drain…"
"Should have bet ten," Aizawa says. Ashido's head hit her desk.
Frankly, he had expected, on some level, to endure shenanigans like this. It had taken longer than he'd anticipated; but he'd been somewhat prepared. He hadn't really expected the military-like formations, or the barely hidden protectiveness, though. He'd seen how they all act when one of them is injured, so he really should have. They were all teenagers, with a wide variety of Quirks, some of which had some undebatable hilarity to their combinations, and they were free of the usual eagle-eyed watch he had over them. Of course, they were going to try something like this eventually.
He should be thankful he hadn't tried to make a bet with Nemuri about it. Classes went well, overall. There hadn't been any practical courses planned for the day—just theoretical lectures—so there were no surprises, no fights, and no injuries. Except for Bakugou getting into a screaming match over a class-wide debate in Heroics. The single casualty was the desk.
He wasn't sure when it had happened, but he'd become accustomed to the routine at this point. He was stuck hearing the class; and trying his best to interpret what was going on, in case he had to intervene. The other teachers had at this point learned how to avoid his interceptions during lecture, at least. It didn't help alleviate the amount of paperwork he was imagining to be sitting at his desk when this was over, though. He would have to down enough coffee to stop an elephant's heart to get through it all in any timely fashion. That was, of course, if no one else had tried to do it for him. A nice gesture, but one that would just lead to him re-grading everything regardless.
He was still trying to think of a plan of action when a finger poked at his still propped up shin. Aizawa jerked his head to the side.
"Aizawa-sensei, you weren't responding when we called your name," Aoyama says. "Are you alright?"
"It's not a secondary effect of the Quirk, is it?" Yaoyorozu asks. Aizawa shook his head.
"Lost thinking about paperwork," he admits.
"Partner, you'll kill yourself worrying over that before you can even get that started. Keep yourself above the snakes for our sake, hm?" Snipe jokes, tapping his shoulder. Aizawa pushed off from the desk, grabbing for his cane before he left the chair. Luckily for him, no one had tried to move it. "If it weren't for that blindfold, I'd've seen your scowl from the doorway."
"Would you be looking forward to that much grading?" Aizawa asks.
"Can't the other teachers help with that, sensei?" Aoyama asks. "You need the beauty sleep, you should let them help!"
"Over my corpse."
"WE'RE NOT THAT BAD!" Snipe shouted. He draped his arm over Aizawa's shoulders, guiding him out the door. "Criminy, it's like you don't trust us!"
"I don't trust you to be unbiased."
"Now that's just insulting," Snipe sighs. "I admit I wouldn't have any kind of hog-killin' time with it—"
"A what…?" Yaoyorozu whispered to Aoyama. The boy could only shrug back.
"—but I firmly believe that we'd be excellent at grading your kids."
"Not my kids," Aizawa mumbled back, trying to shoot Snipe a completely ineffective glare.
"A fun bunch of them, though. You lucked out."
Aoyama and Yaoyorozu went ahead of them, opening the door to the main building so that neither man had to pause in their step. They did so again when they all hit the dorms. Aizawa wasn't positive they'd arrived until he heard the click of the door handle and felt the air conditioning on his skin. Snipe didn't release him until they'd entered, either.
"Hey, partners!" Snipe greeted the room. Aizawa left him to it, retreating to the stairs.
"Hello, sensei!" was a chorus of a greeting.
Aizawa took his sweet time showering and getting into his pajamas. Far as he was concerned, by the time he'd gotten back downstairs, he could ignore whatever antics were playing out around him. He was positive he didn't have to babysit a grown man when it came to a class of teens, Quirks or no Quirks, especially since he had already warned him about the hair. He hadn't expected to deduce that Snipe was playing cards with Sero and Hagakure, sharing his old training day stories with them.
"And that's another round, HA!" Snipe cheered as Aizawa sussed out if the couch was available. He wasn't sure whose hand grabbed his wrist and guided him down, but he thanked them nonetheless. The lack of an answer had him wondering if it was Kouda. Snipe high-fived Sero, who was laughing. And Hagakure was whining loudly at her loss. She had to move both her and Sero's drinks to lay out on the table.
"This is so unfair," she grumbled. "How are you so good at this game?!"
"What are you playing?" Kirishima called from the kitchen.
"Buta no shippo!" Hagakure called back. She turned to Snipe as he reshuffled the deck. "You have inhuman reflexes, sensei."
"No, Shou has inhuman reflexes. I just tried to keep up with him," Snipe says.
"Sensei, you play cards?" Uraraka asks.
"Want to try another game?" Sero offers. "We can try Tycoon."
"Snipe is the best player with a card deck," Aizawa warned them. "I wouldn't bet on winning too often."
"Says the man who can beat anyone at half the games I know," Snipe said with a chuckle. Aizawa shrugged. As Sero set up the game, Snipe's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, answering with a hum. After a moment he tapped Aizawa's knee, fitting the phone in Aizawa's palm. "It's for you, partner."
Aizawa lifted the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
"Shou!"
"Kami, you don't trust me for one night, do you?" Aizawa asks. Kouda choked on his drink beside him.
"Hey, I didn't bother you either of the other nights!"
"The first night was because nothing had happened yet," Aizawa says, raising fingers as he spoke. "The second was because it was Nemuri."
"I'M CONCERNED," Yamada says loudly over the line, loud enough that Aizawa as sure he had used a bit of his Quirk in there as well.
Snipe snickered at his place at the table while Aizawa sassed Yamada. Ashido saddled up beside him, a sly smile on her face—one that vehemently reminded him of Nemuri. In a "danger, danger, danger" kind of way. That was a smile of devious mischief.
"So, Snipe-sensei," Ashido began as Aizawa groaned into the phone. "Can I style your hair?"
Snipe paused, staring at her a moment, before turning slowly to Aizawa, suddenly regretful that he'd relinquished the phone.
"Look at it this way, Shou, the kids are loving all the extra attention you're giving them!" Yamada said cheerily.
"Thin ice," Aizawa snapped.
"Why am I on thin ice?! I speak the truth!" Yamada wailed.
"Mic-sensei, we can hear you!" Hagakure giggled, calling towards the phone. Yamada fell silent.
"Well, at least they know I'm genuine," he says. Aizawa sighed, pinching his brow. He pushed himself off the couch, headed for the stairs.
"Uh—Aizawa!" Snipe called, almost desperate.
"I'll return it," Aizawa assured him. As a last thought, he turned back before he disappeared completely. "I warned you."
This bitch, Snipe thought bitterly as Ashido's smile only grew. He sighed, turning to her. "Partner, what could you even do with this mop of dreads?"
"I can braid some of them?" she offered. "Style them into a bun?"
"Oh, can we use my hair pins?!" Hagakure asks.
"Get 'em, girl!" Ashido cheered. Hagakure jumped up, giggling as she raced up the stairs.
"Momo, I'm grabbing yours, too!" Hagakure called down.
Yaoyorozu sighed fondly, returning to tutoring some of the class. It took Hagakure moments before she was back downstairs, hair accessories in hand. More than just hair pins. Truly, Snipe had underestimated their imagination when it came to dreads. He situated himself comfortably at the couch, letting Ashido and Hagakure settle behind him.
"So, sensei," Ashido hummed, separating his dreads apart as she tried to figure out what to do.
"Yeah, partner?" Snipe asks, trying to take a sip of his water nonchalantly.
"You and Aizawa-sensei looked close in the hallway," Ashido says.
Snipe almost spat out his water, choking it back. Bakugou started laughing from the kitchen, with Kirishima scolding him shortly after. Midoriya had flushed brighter than a tomato, alongside Uraraka, at Ashido's brazen question. Ashido gripped Snipe's hair tighter. He should have listened to Aizawa. He'd walked into the lion's den. He was foolish for thinking that he could deflect so easily. If she'd been vague he may have had a shot to play dumb. But no, of course she had to take after Nemuri in more than one aspect.
"Slow your roll right there, partner," Snipe finally manages, raising a hand.
"How can you just go in for the kill like that?" Jirou asks from the back, unjacking her ear from her phone. "You're merciless."
"I'm curious, is all!" Ashido claimed, rolling the dreads into a bun.
Aizawa pressed the phone to his ear, ignoring the conversations that continued down the stairway. He moved a few floors up while focusing on each step between conversation with Yamada.
"You know, Zashi, you don't have to worry unless a villain attacks. And even then, there's an entire staff that's on call for just that," Aizawa says. Yamada was silent except for a surprisingly quiet whine.
"I know…" he says.
"So why be so attentive, hm? Paranoid?"
"Hey, it's not just my paranoia!"
"Oh? Does this secondary reason have to do with why neither you nor Nemuri have thought to take me back to the apartment for just one night?" Aizawa asks.
"Well… okay, so hear me out," Yamada says.
"I knew it."
"Look, listen! The kids practically begged me to keep you safe at the dorms until this Quirk effect is gone!" Yamada admitted.
"Are you kidding me?"
"They're worried!"
"I'm a pro hero and they're all teenagers, Yamada."
"You're a recently blinded pro hero, thank you very much, and they're your worried children—"
"They are not my kids."
"Denial should be fleeting, kitten," Yamada teased. Aizawa groaned. Yamada chuckled on the other end. "Besides they made good arguments!"
"You mean Midoriya made good—"
"The dorms are closer and therefore safer," Yamada cut in. "And you're within running distance of Recovery Girl or any other Pro on staff. Plus, if any new developments arise, you don't have to try and navigate the streets or subway to get to Recovery Girl or the school. Aaaaand you can keep an eye on the kids, which I know you were going to be more worried about because you know."
Aizawa could almost imagine Yamada making a waving motion in front of his own face. He chewed his inner cheek. He hated to admit it, but Yamada—meaning Midoriya—was making some good points.
"So, like, if anything were going to happen with a sub there, it might not actually happen if you're there!"
"They almost burned down the dorm immediately."
"That's just a regular Tuesday."
"Hizashi."
"Like I'm wrong?" Yamada laughed. Aizawa couldn't help but smile at that. Because, well, he was right. And also just too endearing.
"No, you're right. I'll have Snipe give you an update tomorrow, how about that?"
"Deal! And I swear I will take a nap," Yamada promised.
"You'd better."
Aizawa let Yamada laugh him off and end the call. He turned and started to just as carefully make his way back downstairs. By the time he'd almost reached the bottom he could smell dinner on the horizon and also hear Ashido almost growling her words.
"It's a simple question, sensei. Just explain what I saw!"
Snipe bent his head back to look Ashido better in the eyes. "Don't know what you mean, partner."
Ashido narrowed her eyes at him. If there was one thing she'd learned in her time at the dorms it was to be stern. And ruthlessly so. She clasped the bun of dreadlocks she'd crafted in her palms, gaze unwavering and determined against Snipe.
"Your hair or the truth, sensei."
Snipe paused. If he really thought about it, he could lose his hair. It'd only be for about six months before it grew long enough to start resembling his old style again. But the anger, no, the disappointment he'd get from Aizawa, that'd last for longer. Maybe even a year. He steeled his resolve.
"Bet."
Ashido puffed up her cheeks, staring down at him, making an odd, aggravated whine of a growl. She squished his bun angrily. "IT'S A SIMPLE QUESTION!"
"Mate, you were seeing things!"
"I know what I saw, damn it!"
"Does this count as assault?" Midoriya warily whispers to Uraraka. She pursed her lips.
"Does it count if the teacher is challenging them?"
"What the hell did I walk into?" Aizawa asks, pinching his brow. Snipe screeched, jumping up at his sudden question. "…aside from Snipe screeching like a toddler."
"OI!"
"Nothing, sensei~!" Ashido says in a sing-song voice that eerily reminded him of Nemuri.
"Aside from, I am presuming, literally holding Snipe's hair hostage?" Aizawa asks. Ashido choked on the couch, leaping up.
"I just asked a question!"
"Ashido, do I really need to reprimand you for threatening to acidify someone's hair?" Aizawa asks. He threw the phone in Snipe's direction. He tragically missed the comical way Snipe had to bend to the side to catch it successfully. "I'm getting too old for this."
"Sensei, how old are you?"
"How would you like to clean up after dinner for the week?"
Ashido did not give in to her interrogation attempts the remainder of the night, much to Snipe's dismay. She'd roped Hagakure, Kaminari, and Todoroki into it as well, after dinner. When Snipe had resolved to just remain silent and not speak at all, almost getting a laugh out of Aizawa in the process, they brought in Shinsou. Somehow, that was worse. It was like being tag-teamed by not only very determined teens but a teenage Aizawa. Snipe was more resolute in his silent defense once they'd dragged Shinsou away from his nap spot by Midoriya.
"I gotta respect the tenacity in this," Shinsou said at one point, drumming his finger on his cheek, smiling smugly. "But you're only fueling the fire."
Snipe shot him a half-hearted glare. He wasn't a part of the class's usual training routine, outside their exams or specified target practices, but he'd be damned if he would give any of them any ammo to use against him on the few occasions that he did co-teach their courses as the year progressed.
"Maybe I should see if the hospital has security footage," Ashido grumbled.
"Fat luck they'll give you anything," Bakugou shouted at her from the couch.
"Hey, I'm charming as hell!" Ashido snapped.
"You're seein' things," Snipe quipped quickly. Ashido whirled on him, her face comically angry.
"Lights out in ten," Aizawa announced. Ashido narrowed her eyes at Snipe, raising a finger to point at him.
"I'll prove it," she whispered ominously. She backed away from him, backwards, until she hit the stairs leading to the girls' side of the dorm and stomped upstairs. Snipe waited until she was past the first flight to sigh out a breath he was holding.
"You made an enemy," Shinsou said, patting his back.
Kami, don't remind me… Snipe thought warily.
The next morning, Snipe was sweating. He wasn't sweating at his brow, thankfully, but he was certain that his shirt was going to start betraying him before long. All the more reason to wear his poncho in class today.
He'd spent that night on the couch, unwilling to fuel Ashido's claims any more by spending it in the same bed as Aizawa. He had hated sequestering himself to the couch, he'd rather be snuggling up to Aizawa, but he'd be damned if someone came to their door, and he had no way of explaining it. At the least the others could just say it was buddies sharing a bed due to laziness preparing another room for a single night's stay. Nemuri didn't have a shit. And Yamada was Yamada, he doubted that any of the students either knew Yamada shared Aizawa's bed or cared. He did know that they knew the two had spent their high school years together, so their closeness was easy enough to pass off. Damn him for not checking the hospital halls. He could have stayed with Aizawa.
He couldn't leave the dorms fast enough that morning, practically carrying Aizawa out the door so they could beat the kids downstairs, swearing to be his coffee mule the rest of the morning. They'd barely beat Bakugou getting back from his morning run. Ishiyama was sipping his coffee across from him in the teacher's lounge, at present. The man looked far too calm about his shift of being Aizawa's guard tonight.
"I'm warning you, Ishi. They're intimidating."
"How have you been a teacher this long if you're intimidated by children?" Kan asks dryly.
"These kids are not normal!" Snipe snaps.
"Of course, they're not. They're being raised by Shou," Kan teased. Aizawa, for his credit, was just drinking his coffee at his desk, feet propped, without a care for the conversation. Yamada was passed out at the feet of his chair, rolled up in Aizawa's sleeping bag.
"Kan, you wouldn't last the night, either," Snipe says.
"Kan didn't get intimate with me in a hallway without checking his surroundings to make sure there wasn't a witness," Aizawa snapped. "Reap what you sow."
"You didn't even try to help me!"
"Consider it my revenge," Aizawa says. He raised his mug. Snipe sighed, taking it to refill. He was still trying to figure out how he would explain his anxiety to his third-year students if they noticed. However, simply saying 'I was on dorm duty for class 1A' might actually do the job. He didn't doubt it.
Ishiyama was giving a content hum, bringing his mug to the sink to clean. "I think I will be fine."
Snipe set a hand on his shoulder, in comradery. "I wish you luck, partner. Especially with Ashido and Todoroki."
"They aren't… they're that bad, aren't they?"
"Absolutely," Aizawa says. He reached out for the mug with a grabby hand.
Ishiyama would be lying if he said he hadn't taken Snipe's warnings lightly. He should know better. Snipe was far from a fool, or a moron. Walking up to the dorm, however, it was deceptively non-threatening.
The students had broken up into their pods before dinner was started, for the better part of almost two hours. Studying, doing homework, or just relaxing. Aizawa had settled at the couch, immediately picking up a 3D puzzle to work on. Yaoyorozu was beaming proudly from where she was setting up a tutoring session at the dining tables.
Ishiyama opted to help her and Bakugou set up their areas for tutoring to pass some of his time before he got started on grading assignments. When they were through, Yaoyorozu stopped him from leaving, holding up a notebook with some sketches filling the two pages spread out before him. He looked at them curiously, immediately pegging them as 3D puzzle designs if the lines randomly assorted over their surfaces were any indications.
"Sensei," Yaoyorozu began, lowering her voice, "Which puzzle do you think Aizawa-sensei would like next?"
Ishiyama held the notebook, looking over the designs. He smiled and pointed at a drawing of a family of cats. Then to one of a hilly landscape, and finally a shark. "He would enjoy the challenges of these," he whispered back. "And perhaps a textured Rubik's Cube."
"A Rubik's Cube?"
"Yes. But one with textures, perhaps small shapes offset from the surface. So that he can feel out the sides to match them."
"Oh. That's an excellent idea, sensei, thank you," Yaoyorozu beamed. She circled the designs and made a note about the cubes.
Ishiyama did a walk around the dorm, asking if anyone needed anything. He grabbed blankets for a few students who looked like they were a little cold, as well. Shinsou, who had once again come to hang out, took his blanket and immediately laid against a blushing Midoriya as the green-haired boy tried to focus on his homework. Uraraka took the other, snuggling up in it, laying her back against Iida as the taller boy tried to do the same and focus on his own work. He took notice, right before Bakugou and Tokoyami broke off to make dinner, that Kaminari was getting agitated.
Or more accurately he was getting restless. Ishiyama pondered it for only a moment before he cast a glance around the room again. He'd noticed something when he was making his rounds earlier. On a bookshelf by the dining tables was a box, filled with different fidget toys. He scooped up a few of the toys, silently and gently laying them down on the table beside Kaminari's textbook. Kaminari took one with a sigh of relief, getting right to work with it.
"Thanks, sensei."
"You're welcome, Kaminari."
When it came to dinner being made, Ishiyama hovered at the entry of the kitchen, making sure the meal was properly balanced. Aizawa had quipped at him at one point that he was just as ridiculous as Lunch Rush in this regard. Dinner itself wasn't that eventful. Mostly just the class enjoying conversation. Until Ashido had decided to switch seats with Asui to sit next to Ishiyama.
"So, sensei…" she began. "I was wondering if you could answer a question I had?"
"Yes?" He asks. Aizawa patted his shoulder once before he got up from the table to retreat back to the couch. Ishiyama felt his stomach start to sink. Ashido hopped her chair closer.
"Is there any romance in the office?" Ashido asks. "You can't all be single, right?"
Ishiyama stared at her a moment. Hagakure inched her chair closer as well, no doubt leaning eagerly forward to hear his answer just as Ashido was. Ishiyama smiled gently at them. He grabbed his plate and stood.
"No, we are not all single," he says. Ashido gave a little squeak, and Ishiyama bowed, quickly making an exit. "Excuse me."
"Wh-wait! Who's dating?!"
"That is not my business to disclose," Ishiyama says over his shoulder.
"Smart answer," Aizawa says, smirking. Shinsou looked up from his phone, snorting. Ashido slapped her palms on the table.
"Sensei!"
"Ashido, I do believe it would be a good exercise for you to figure it out yourself," Ishiyama says. Aizawa stopped his work on the 3D puzzle. He turned to Ishiyama.
"Idiot," Aizawa says. Ashido barked a laugh, covering her mouth and turning back to Ishiyama.
"You think so, sensei?" she asks slyly. Ishiyama tried to hide his discomfort at Aizawa's remark.
"Yes, I do," he admitted, getting started on the dishes.
Frankly, if they were going to get found out, he'd rather he wasn't the one to just blatantly admit it. Nothing would likely happen to any of the staff, Nedzu didn't seem to care about their poly so long as it didn't impede their work, but Ishiyama was not unaware of how others might see it. It would be easier if they just had their own building on the school's property. Or at least nearby. He could build a portion of it himself, even. He really wanted to make Majima his own rock garden. Maybe make a large patio area in the back for nice days.
Ishiyama was pulled from his wandering plans by one of the teens pulling at his arm. Ojiro was pulling him away from the sink where he'd started to doze. He hadn't realized he'd almost finished the dishes. Ojiro didn't stop until they were in the common room, with some of the students trying to pick out a movie. Aizawa waved his hand idly from the couch. Ojiro guided Ishiyama to it until he had sat down beside Aizawa, with Shoji taking up the third cushion.
"Sensei, would you like to suggest a movie?" Ojiro offered. Ashido turned to them, holding up over a dozen DVDs.
"We have every genre!"
"Hm… do you have Chronicle?" Ishiyama asks. The students at the TV stand scrambled to look at the DVDs. Ishiyama bent to the side to whisper to Aizawa. "How many DVDs are there?"
"They have more in their dorms," he said. Ishiyama nodded, accepting that if they somehow didn't have a movie named, they'd certainly find something to watch.
"FOUND IT!" Kaminari announced loudly, jumping up and holding the DVD like a prize.
Throughout the night Ishiyama took note of a few things. Most notably, the kids had no problems piling over one another on the floor in their nest of blankets and pillows. It reminded him of the movie nights that he and the others would partake in on Saturday nights when most, if not all, of them could get together. Once all the kids had started to branch off to their rooms, Ishiyama got to work cleaning up the common room with the handful who had stayed to do so themselves. He took time to show them how to roll the blankets to fit more in the baskets, as well.
Once it appeared everyone had turned in for the night, he did the dorm check as Aizawa got ready for bed. Checking each room, if the light was on, he knocked. If it were off, he cracked open the door to check the occupant. Particularly, when he stopped at Tokoyami's room, he glanced at the nightlight, ensuring it was still in the wall. The shadow of the desk had its sensor flick it on.
"Sensei?" Tokoyami asked. Ishiyama looked back up at him.
"Hm?"
"Does every member of staff know about the night light?" Tokoyami asks. "You always check it's working when you all do the rounds."
"Ah, yes. Aizawa has a binder in the teacher's lounge, full of necessary information for caring for this dorm when he's unable to take the shift," Ishiyama explained. Tokoyami blinked at him.
"He made that?"
"Yes. It's very thorough. I do believe in it is a rule that if anyone has disappeared from their room, not to panic, until we've checked every room, as someone may have simply switched rooms."
"Ah… I wasn't aware he had a routine for that…" Tokoyami admitted sheepishly. Ishiyama chuckled, clasping the handle of the door, stepping halfway out before he paused and turned back.
"Of anyone at the school, Tokoyami, we staff understand why you do so best," Ishiyama assured him. Tokoyami paused a moment before nodding, not meeting Ishiyama's eyes.
Ishiyama found everyone was in their beds when he finished his check. He was more than ready to sleep by the time he'd finally made it up to the apartment. Aizawa was already in the bed, a different 3D puzzle in hand. A Rubik's Cube. Ishiyama chuckled at the sight. Aizawa raised his brow at him.
"What?"
"Yaoyorozu works fast," Ishiyama says, getting ready for bed. "It's quite nice."
"Oh, so you helped her with this?" Aizawa asks, holding up the Rubik's Cube. Ishiyama plucked it out of his hands, sliding under the covers, and examining it.
"Yes. It's quite well made. Wooden?"
"It'll degrade faster than plastic," Aizawa says. He pawed around for Ishiyama's arm until he finally found it. He looped one arm around his and then plucked the Rubik's Cube from his grasp. Ishiyama settled down, listening to Aizawa fiddling with the Rubik's Cube until he drifted asleep.