Chapter 12

She looks at the UA gate before her, standing here at an odd time. It's probably the oddest hour.

It's about 2 hours before she usually ends her patrol, after all. She decided to end it early today (being an independent Hero does have its benefits and this is one of them). She wants to spend the rest of the hours around UA because it has been many years since she was here.

There is not much change, or at least that's what she thinks. She left very quickly and never looked back. Everything is just the same but upgraded. She had heard that when Principal Nedzu got the seat he did a bunch of changes that are invisible to the naked eyes, whatever that means.

She is very thankful of the Principal though, for giving her free access to the school ground. She can roam wherever she wants, whenever she wants, with zero restrictions.

Well not really whenever. Even if she is an adult she still has a curfew to follow as long as she stands on UA ground and a man like Eraser to enforce it.

'Now then, where should I go?' she thinks to herself as she enters the main building and sees no one is in the hallway. She wants to go to the class she first entered when she was a student but that won't be a good idea as class is still running. The first thing that catches her eyes is the stairs. With no particular direction, she starts climbing it.

Has she ever climbed the stairs before? She doesn't remember but it's mostly never because she never bothers.

She doesn't know how long she climbs but when she reaches a door, she realizes she is at the rooftop. She twists the doorknob, finding it unlocked. She bets a bunch of students get up here. She swings the door open. Gush of wind blows into her face, causing her hair to billow.

She is greeted by the spacious rooftop, surrounded by fences.

She's never been here before. She was too busy aiming for high grades and going around against the law by becoming a Vigilante to spend time leisurely. It's her first time here.

She walks over to the fence and takes in the scene. From the position of the building, it gives her the perfect view of the entire UA ground. Everything is within sight.

It's pretty serene.

The breeze here also feels nice that she takes off her gloves to cool off her hands. Her palms are drenched in sweat but she's gotten used to it.

"I used to go up here back when I was a student."

"GAH!" She spins around towards the door she had just emerged from to see Eraser standing there, hands deep in his pockets and chin buried in his scarf. "Stop sneaking up on me, dumbass," she says sharply as she relaxes. Has he been following her or is this just a mere coincidence?

He doesn't give any verbal answer, only offers the usual hum in response. He walks over with those annoying silent footsteps of his ('what is he, a cat with padded feet?') until he's standing right next to her. He doesn't look at her, instead gazing towards the distance beyond the fence in front of them. She raises an eyebrow at him, wondering why he is here and not saying anything.

What's up with him?

"You come here often since then?" she asks, starting the conversation.

"No," he answers. The eyebrow doesn't lower and her patient is slowly running thin.

"What changed?" she asks another question, getting a little more intrigued.

He doesn't answer immediately. In fact, it takes him a surprisingly long time to answer. Part of her feels awkward as the silence stretches on but mostly her curiosity only piques.

It's very unusual of him to take this long to answer.

"One of us didn't graduate," he finally answers with a much quieter voice and… quite thick even. If it wasn't for her sensitive hearing she would've missed it. The answer perplexes her a little bit. Didn't graduate? What does he mean by that? Someone didn't graduate? His friend, maybe? Did they fail?

Then she sees his faraway look.

She remembers the long silence before his answer.

She remembers just how quiet his voice was.

Shr remembers there was a bit more emotion behind his voice.

And she connects the dots together.

She sucks in a breath of realization.

'Oh.'

That's what he meant.

Suddenly, she feels uncomfortable.

She never had anyone become vulnerable to her. Even Hawks, that overworked birdbrain, never told her anything beyond "it's rough" and a tight smile.

She's uncomfortable because she doesn't know how to comfort, especially with a man like Eraser.

How does one comfort a hard man like Eraser?

The discomfort causes her to drop her eyesight. She quickly realizes that one of his hands, the one closer to her, is not in the pocket like she expected it to be, much like his other hand. Instead, it's hanging out by his side limply. She looks down at her hand closest to his and sees that she had taken off the gloves earlier. Said gloves had dropped onto the ground when she got startled earlier.

She bites her lower lip.

Slowly, hesitantly, she reaches out towards it. She lets the tip of her finger touch the back of his hand, a silent permission.

He doesn't pull away or show any reaction.

Gaining courage, and permission, she reaches around until their palms touch. Then, she wraps her fingers around his hand.

She squeezes gently.

He squeezes back, just as gently.

.

"Aghm fine, Mr. Aijawa."

"You are most definitely not."

Those are the first thing she hears as soon as the elevator doors slide open. She enters the common area after a fresh bath, taking note of the hush commotion and a good number of the students huddling around one of the couches, with Eraser in the middle looking down. She walks over to them, curious what it's all about.

Peeking through the students, she sees one of his female students lying down on the couch. She thinks her name is Hagakure, the invisible one. By the looks of it- er, by what she had just heard, the girl ain't too good.

"I'm making soup," Eraser suddenly announces, breaking off from the little crowd and heads for the kitchen area. This brings the students closer to Hagakure, dotting on her.

"Can someone turn down the TV volume? It's making my head pound," she hears Hagakure ask meekly. Almost immediately, one of the students dashes for the remote control.

"Don't turn it off though! We don't want to miss the show!" another student interrupts. First student turns down the volume just enough that it's merely background noise now. She's curious about what is the show they're so eager to watch though.

Suddenly, a waft of familiar smell invades her nose. It causes her to pause for a second out of pure disbelief. Then, she snaps around towards the source.

She sees Eraser carrying a bowl full of steaming soup to the group. Before he can arrive, she rushes over to him, stopping him in place, almost causing him to spill said soup. She ignores his narrowed look and steals a spoonful of the liquid, which earns her an even narrower look from him.

It… tastes very familiar.

She snaps her head up at the man, eye wide as saucer plates. His glare has not eased up even the slightest bit.

"Have you… been to my home before?" she asks in a quiet voice, enough for him to hear. His glare finally relents and she sees him about to answer. "Don't answer that," she quickly adds before he can say any words. She turns away and moves away, letting him through to his kid. He gives her a raised eyebrow but no word is said as he walks past her.

So does that mean it wasn't a dream?!

The things that she did in that "dream"…

The absolute fucking embarrassment.

Holy shit she was-

"Mr. Aizawa?" The confusion in the voice of his kid suddenly pulls her away from her inner turmoil and gains her attention. She turns around and sees Eraser frozen on the spot, with the bowl of soup already handed to one of his kids. He seems to be staring at the television screen. She can't see the expression on his face but she notices how the students' expression changes from confusion to worry.

Then, out of nowhere, Eraser suddenly dashes to the windows, pushes one open and leaps out, causing a good number of his kids to shriek out in horror. She quickly runs over to the window. She peers through it and only manages to catch a glimpse of his black form before he suddenly disappears after jumping over the UA gate.

She turns back to the television, wanting to see what made him react like that. It's the news playing on the screen. It is broadcasting a replay, showing a pair of Heroes rushing into the back of ambulances.

Even though she can barely see them, she recognizes those Heroes as Present Mic and Midnight.

"Stay here, I'm going after him," she commands the students before she follows Eraser's example. She lands safely and quickly makes her way to and out of UA gate.

He's most definitely bolting to the hospital right now. He might have just arrived there judging by his speed earlier.

.

She arrives at the hospital at record time, though not out of breath from the non stop running. Then again, it's not that far away. She enters the building and notices the rush from all the docs and nurses around. She heads over to the reception counter, about to ask the receptionist about a homeless looking man barging in before she finds said homeless man sitting in one of those benches that can only be found in hospitals.

He has his head hanging and posture slouches. His hair is obscuring his face from view.

She approaches him, leaving the confused receptionist behind. He doesn't look up when she is standing right in front of him, but she knows he is aware of her presence.

"You made your kids worried," she starts. He releases a sigh and shifts his body very slightly, but he doesn't give any verbal answer and keeps his eyes on the floor. "Any news?"

"Critical. In surgery," he answers curtly, eyes still locked on the floor. She quietly releases a breath. Then, she sits right next to him.

Instead of leaning forward like her companion, she leans back and crosses a leg over the other. She watches as doctors and nurses walk speedily from one place to another as occasional stretchers popping in and out.

"They're your friends? You wouldn't just jump out of a five storey window for anyone."

"…Hm."

She leans forward, almost matching his posture but not as low. Then, she pushes her shoulder against his, at least just making contact.

"What's up with the broadcast thingy earlier? Was that what your kids wanted to see?" She remembers hearing them about it earlier.

"There was supposed to be live coverage of a Villain takedown. Reports said the Villain is not dangerous and they are well prepared. There should have been nothing to worry about."

His posture doesn't improve. He is still emitting gloomy emotions.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," she says with a reassuring voice, leaning a bit more into him. His head lowers even more.

"I already lost one and thought he was fine. I'm not risking losing the other two."

This time, she doesn't hesitate to reach out and squeezes his hand.

It's the least she can do now.

She feels him squeezing back.

.

The sun was rising when they received the news that the surgery was a success.

She can literally see him deflating in relief, slumping towards her, leaning hard into her shoulder.

Once they get permission to visit his friends once they are awake, she waits outside to give them privacy.

Once Eraser leaves the room, he looks significantly better despite not sleeping and worrying for many hours.

"Thank you," he says quietly to her, on their way back to UA, touching shoulders along the way.

She feels herself smiling.

"All good."