Chapter 07
When she feels wetness suddenly touches her nose, she flinches. Then, she starts silently praying that it is not what it is. When she feels more wetness suddenly touches more of her nose, she curses. Then, she starts finding a shelter to get out of the rain. When she finally gets a roof on top of her, the sky begins to open wider and wider. Then, it starts pouring.
She releases a sigh of dismay. She is safe right now but how will she get home? Sure, she's fast enough to hop her way home, but doesn't like getting wet in the rain.
Guh… She might just need to run home…
"Tough day?"
Her heart jumps to her throat.
She snaps her head to the side, to the source of the familiar voice.
Eraserhead is looking down at her, with that blank look of his that she is starting to get familiar with.
"E-Eraser," she says, surprised by his presence. "I didn't realize you're here."
She hears him hum through the pitter-patter of the rain before he turns his attention away from her and to what's before them. She realizes he is standing right next to her, so close that their elbows are almost touched. There is quite a huge space under this roof they are in…
Did he sneak up on her again?
"So uh… What are you doing out under the sun?" she breaks the ice, a little too awkward, she will admit.
"Grocery," he simply answers. When she looks down, she sees the bag he has in his hand, confirming his words. Then, she quickly spies in the bag a pack of crayons and an art block. Grocery run her left buttcheek.
She knows it's for Eri.
…Well, she guesses that's the end of their conversation. She doesn't have anything to talk about to her crush, and she has the funny feeling that he's not the one for idle talks.
She puts her hand in one of her hidden pockets on her uniform, making sure that her house key is in it.
She freezes.
Then, she takes a deep breath.
"…I lost my house key," she says over the rain.
"You got anywhere to stay?" she hears Eraserhead ask. She doesn't look at him as she shakes her head.
"I can't stay with Hawks because that birdbrain is a free spirit type of guy. Not to mention, the only home he has isn't what you would call a home, and it is in complete shambles."
And she does not want to stay with Mt. Lady. That woman is a walking wrecking ball both as a civilian and a Hero. Living under the same roof with her might not be fun. She also hears a rumor that Mt. Lady is a loud snorer. She's not willing to find out about that theory.
"If you are willing, you should stay with me at UA." She turns her head and stares at him with wide eyes. "The dorms in UA have enough rooms. I'm sure Principal Nedzu wouldn't mind lending a hand in the matter."
She swallows thickly. She takes a slow, deep breath and releases a long huff.
"Sure, why not?" she begrudgingly agrees as she shrugs her shoulders.
Eraserhead hums. Then, he takes out an umbrella, which he has been holding on his other hand. He has an umbrella this whole time?
"We're going now?" she asks when he opens the umbrella.
"Yes. So if you don't want to get wet, better share it with me."
Sharing an umbrella, on the way to his home.
She swallows.
She steps closer to him. He switches his items in his hand, now holding the umbrella between them.
She can already feel the heat rising up her neck.
"Let's go," she says curtly, trying to mask her fluster.
So, they get off from the shelter they are in and into the rain. The sound of pitter-patter hitting the umbrella fills her ears as her padded feets are now soaked.
She hopes that people are too busy escaping from the rain to pay attention to her, the number five Hero, is sharing an umbrella with an unknown man. They might get the wrong idea and it'll be all over the news.
"You know if people see, you will be all over the news," she can't help but point it out to him.
"I don't care," she hears him say through the rain.
For some reason, that eases her a little bit.
The rain starts getting a little heavier, judging by the sound it's hitting on the umbrella above her. The civilians around her start scrambling for shelter, or anything to get off from the rain (more reason to keep attention away from her).
That brings her the attention that the umbrella is closer to her, sheltering her more from the rain. Looking to the side at the owner she quickly sees that his shoulder is getting drenched.
"Courtesy much?"
"I have no idea what you are saying." He doesn't look her in the eyes as he says that. She narrows her eyes at him.
Then, she wraps an arm around his, one that is holding onto the umbrella, and pulls him until she is pressed against his side. With this, the umbrella is covering them both fairly together.
She can feel his eyes on top of her head.
"Don't take this the wrong way. I don't want to see Eri getting sad that her gifts are now all wet."
Even though said gifts are safely wrapped in plastics, preventing them from getting wet.
He doesn't say anything.
They continue their way to UA, arms linked.
…She sincerely hopes no one notices, so she can be here longer.
.
"Before we get to your room, it's needed to let the students know you're here," Eraserhead starts when they enter the elevator and the doors close behind them. "It will be rowdy in the dorm, even more so now that you will be living with them for a while," he adds as they wait silently until they arrive at the correct floor.
"Ok," she can only say, after spending a considerable amount of quiet time, arm in arm, with him. Her heart is still thumping, not as much as before, but still thumping.
It is also soaring.
Then, she hears a ding and the doors before them slide open. Immediately, her hearing picks up the chatters and clatters from within. She follows Eraserhead when he exits the elevator. She enters what seems to be a large living room with a connected kitchen and dining room. Scattered around are the 1-A students doing their own business, Eraserhead's kids.
"Quiet down," he groans out and instantly all the noises stop. Heads are turned and all eyes are on them. Then, they notice her presence. Immediately after, wide smiles and glittering eyes are seen.
"Miruko!"
"It's Pro Hero Miruko!"
"What is Miruko doing here?!"
Most of the students are up on their feet and asking questions all at once. It's only when Eraserhead holds up a hand when it's quiet again.
"Miruko will be staying with us for a little while," he answers one of the questions. "The reason for that is she had lost her key and had nowhere to go." The students cheer, seemingly excited that she is staying at the dorm with them. "I'll be showing her her room now. Treat our guest respectfully, am I clear?"
"Yes sir, Mr. Aizawa, sir!"
Seemingly satisfied he turns back around towards the elevator. She gives his kids one last salute before quickly following him behind. Apparently the elevator is seemingly waiting for them this whole time. Even the doors are still open.
"I already got a room booked?" she couldn't help but ask. "Shouldn't you inform the Principal or something?"
"Knowing him, he already knows as soon as you enter UA ground," Eraserhead answers as the elevator goes down to a lower floor. "And I don't need to ask him for anything."
She raises an eyebrow at him.
"You can?"
"Yes."
"Can anyone?"
"No."
"You saying you have special permission?"
"I am not obligated to answer that question."
The other eyebrow quickly shoots up.
What's all that about?
Before she could ask another question, the elevator dings and the doors open. They both step out at the same time but she slows down a bit so she could follow behind Eraserhead. They're walking past numerous doors on both sides of the wall, until he stops at one.
"This will be your room," he says as he takes out a closed fist from his pocket. He holds it out towards her, with the palm facing down. When she holds out her own hand, he drops something onto her open palm.
It's a door key.
She looks up at Eraserhead, giving him an inquisitive look. He doesn't show any visible reaction nor give any verbal answer, though the frowner brows show his slowly thinning patience. So she turns towards the door and puts the key into place, unlocking it. Then, she pushes the door open and enters.
'Room, he says? This is a fucking mini apartment!'
She initially thought that it would be like a single room with its own bathroom. What she got has its own little living room and a kitchenette. There are two doors she sees, so they're probably the bedroom with a separate bathroom. Or, is it another bedroom?
This must be for the teachers.
"Get accustomed to your room. I'm grabbing some spare clothes for you," she hears Eraserhead say by the door. By the time she turns around to look, he's already gone. She suppresses a shudder.
She is still not used to his dead silent footsteps.
She turns back to her dor- apartment. It's nowhere near the size of her house, let alone a single room. Hell, one of her bathrooms is bigger than this whole apartment. But she can't complain.
She had gotten into this herself.
She approaches one of the two doors that are down the short hallway that is leading to the small living room. She opens the door and looks inside.
Just as she guessed, it is a bedroom, but there is another door on the wall inside. Is that the bathroom? Then…
She turns around and walks over to the other door, directly opposite to the first door. She opens it and looks inside and…
It's another bedroom.
The teachers get an extra bedroom?
A knock on the front door gains her attention. She turns her head towards the entrance and sees Eraserhead has returned. Now, he has something under his right armpit. That must be the spare clothes.
"The apartment has two bedrooms?" she asks out of curiosity. He seems to take that as an invitation to enter because he starts walking towards her.
"In case one doesn't want to live alone," he answers. "I would've invited you to take the other bedroom in my apartment."
Her heart skips a beat.
"But Eri has taken it."
"Ah."
She doesn't even feel a single bit of disappointment at that.
"Here." He hands her the items under his arm. When she grabs it, she realizes that it a black shirt with a pair of pink sweatpants. Who would wear these at the same time? "They're mine."
Her grip on them tightens.
"If you need anything, my apartment is right next door."
She swallows.
"Alright, thanks. Anything else I should know?" she asks a little too quickly, she quickly realizes. Eraserhead doesn't seem to notice, or more correctly, doesn't bother or mind about it.
"Dinner at eight, bed by nine, lights out by ten, unless it is the weekend. Always attend dinner no matter how stuffed you are. But most importantly, don't cause trouble."
"Don't have much faith in me?"
"You are here."
"Ouch."
"See you during dinner."
And with that, he turns around and walks out her apartment, closing the front door behind him.
She doesn't give much thought to his quick departure. She doesn't waste any time and rushes to one of the two bedrooms, entering it. She slams the door behind her and presses her back against it.
Then, she holds the article of clothing at arms length.
Eraserhead's clothes…
He wears these.
Without thinking twice, she strips in record time. Then, she takes her time putting his clothes on, basking in the feeling against her bare skin.
When she puts on the top, it is extremely baggy, even by his standards. It's drooping on her frame that it completely covers her curves, and the hem is long enough to reach her upper thighs. The black shirt has long sleeves and she couldn't poke her entire arms through them completely. She can barely see the tips of her middle fingers at the sleeve hems.
It is also incredibly comfortable. Is this the reason why he wears it?
Then, with a thumping heart and a pair of red cheeks, she lifts her arms up and holds the sleeves to her nose.
She takes a big whiff.
Her bobtail wags.
She releases a deep sigh of content.
Fuck…
This… This is heaven.
His shirt is hers now. It is her pajamas from now on.
She will never give this back.
She wants to spend the rest of her days in nothing but his shirt.
But he said she must attend dinner later, and it's about an hour from now.
With a disheartened heart and a deep sigh of dismay, she starts putting on his pink sweatpants. Thank goodness it has a drawstring, or else she can't even put it on. Much like the shirt, it is extremely baggy and is forced to fold the hems up or else she might trip on them.
Then, she bounces over to the full body mirror that is hanging on the wall. She checks herself, taking in the sight of her wearing his clothes.
Her tail is still wagging.
She also has a goofy smile on her face.
What would his kids think when they saw her?
She'll cross that bridge when she gets there. For now, she needs to clean up the mess she had made.
Her uniform is lying on the floor after being thrown haphazardly. She spies a basket near the bathroom door, concluding that it might be for the dirty clothes. She walks over to her uniform and picks it up.
Something falls off from her uniform, pausing her action.
She looks down at the item long and hard.
She quietly picks it up and discreetly hides it away from sight and pretends she never saw it in the first place…
Or felt it in her pocket.
It's all according to plan.