Chapter 08
He keeps to himself. That was the conclusion she got the first few times she was forced to work with him. He barely spoke, only did when needed to (or when she pushed his buttons a little too much).
He's always by himself. She realizes that after meeting him a bunch of times. Almost every time she sees him, she meets him, he is by himself. It's either alone leaning against the wall furthest from the crowd or on the floor in that horrendous yellow sleeping bag.
He doesn't hide the fact that he prefers to be alone. Almost everyone she witnessed meeting him would be greeted by a scornful scowl from him. He looks like he wants the person who is talking to him to vaporize on the spot. He wants to be left alone and by himself.
The top three people who he would look pissed at just by catching a glimpse of them are Present Mic, Ms. Joke and Mt. Lady.
She can't blame him for that.
He even works alone.
Well, it's not like she can say it, as she herself has a great distaste for working with a team. But it's a different level when it comes to Eraserhead.
Well, with that attitude, she can understand why he's quite the loner.
She stares up at the sky, frowning in confusion.
Specifically, she stares at the person flying high in the sky, circling just above her. It's hard to miss her draconic form. Usually she wouldn't mind the Dragon Hero flying around, but she had been up there for close to an hour now. To top it all off, she seems to always be above her.
What is Ryukyu up to?
"Miruko!"
She turns towards the source of the voice and sees none other than Fatgum approaching her, enthusiastically waving a hand at her.
"Fatgum. Fancy seeing you here," she greets once the big man is close enough.
"Jus' droppin' by t'visit a friend!" Fatgum replies with a huge smile. "Gotta ask ya sumthin'!" He suddenly leans closer to her (as close as his massive size allows him to) and cups his mouth with a hand. "Is it true tha' yer datin' Aizawa?" he whispers.
She reels back, surprised and taken off guard.
"How did ya know?" she asks, baffled.
She never told anyone about it. And knowing Era- Aizawa, he wouldn't go around advertising their relationships.
Fatgum lets out a hearty laugh.
"Aizawa's my friend!" he exclaims quite proudly. "He ain't sayin' nothin' but I know 'im good! He lookin' quite happy th' pas' few days 'n' ya been around 'im fer awhile. If ya know 'im enuf, ya can read 'im. So th' end's quite logical, as he would say!" He laughs at his own joke.
"I never knew ye're close friends with Era- Aizawa."
"Aizawa's a good friend," he says with a softer tone and a softer yet more genuine smile. "I like 'im. 'N' I'm thrilled he's got ya w' 'im."
Fatgum must've really treasure Aizawa a lot, by the sound of it.
"Thank ya."
"Gotta go back now. See ya, Miruko! Take care o' 'im, yeh?"
"I will, Fatgum."
His wide grin gets impossibly wider as he turns around and dashes away. Then, he quickly turns around and runs backwards.
"Oh yeh, b'for' I f'get! 'Zawa loves hugs!"
She lets out a quiet snort as she waves him goodbye.
Aizawa loves hugs, huh? She better remembers that info for later.
"Oh hey, Miruko~ Fancy seeing you here~"
She turns around in her spot to see a different Hero approaching her. She tries not to give her the nasty look because they had… quite the history.
"What do ya want, Midnight?" she asks, not masking her distaste of her presence. Midnight only waves her venom away nonchalantly as she stops right in front of her.
"Oh nothing~ Just got the news that my precious junior got himself a girlfriend recently."
"As if I care about that shit," she replies while rolling her eyes. Midnight chuckles behind her hand.
"Oh, sweetheart. If that's how you feel about it, you shouldn't be with him to begin with."
Now she openly scowls at the Somnambulist Hero. What the fuck does she mean by that? Why should she gives an ounce of fuck about her junior? And what the fuck does she mean by junior?
"I'm talking about Eraserhead, silly~"
"He's yer junior?" she asks, frowning at the older woman, feeling skeptical.
"Of course! I was in second year when he entered UA~"
"Wasn't that fifteen years ago?"
"No need for that, Miruko~ If you break up with Shouta, you won't wake up for the rest of your life~"
"Are ya fucking threatening me?"
"All for my baby junior~"
She releases a long sigh. She really doesn't want to deal with Midnight right now.
"I won't," she answers truthfully. "Got myself a hunk of a man, there ain't no way I can let go now."
Midnight gives her the usual smile, except she can detect the relief behind it.
"Good girl~ Take care of him, sweetie! Don't make him cry! Or we will know."
"Yeah, yeah, sure."
Midnight waves her goodbye before she walks away.
She's a little surprised that Midnight cares this much.
"YO MIRUKO!"
She twitches so hard she almost falls flat onto her face. She spins towards another Hero approaching her as she massages her ears.
"Present Mic, nice to see ya," she says through gritted teeth, voice dripping with sarcasm. Either Present Mic is too dense or expertly ignoring it, the smile on his face only shines brighter. "What do ya want from me?"
"Ain't nothin' much, man! Just heard from a pretty lil bird that you are dating my best friend."
"For someone who's very reclusive words about him sure spread fast."
Present Mic lets out a boisterous laugh before he throws an arm over her shoulders, jostling her.
"Eraserhead may have sources in spaces normal eyes can't see, but he has an entire system surrounding him without his knowledge."
What does that mean?
Then, the hair on the back of her neck rises.
What the fuck is that?
Her eyes are darting around. She tries to turn her head but with Present Mic's arm around over her shoulders it is limiting her movement.
"Feel that?" Present Mic murmurs right next to her ear. She glances at him and notices the mysterious smile on his lips. "Unknown presence, neither friends or foe, yet all have one thing in common. They're here just to let you know."
"Know what?"
"Make a mistake and you won't be found."
"…Is this the same reason why Ryukyu is up there?"
"Yup."
"Ya guys are crazy protective of Aizawa."
Present Mic chuckles as he lets her go.
The unknown presence that he mentioned and she felt has disappeared. A quick glance around tells her nothing is wrong.
"Who wouldn't want to protect a friend?"
"Not to this extent."
"Just showed you how worthy Eraser is."
"…Ya gonna tell me what those unknown guys are?"
"Oh don't worry! After this, they'll be the least of your concern!"
"What does that mean?"
"Gotta go! Take care of him, Miruko!"
Unlike the previous Hero, Present Mic dashes away.
She releases another sigh, feeling exhausted.
What had she gotten herself into?
She just wanted to go down on a hunk she's in love with.
She never thought that she had to deal with everyone. She just didn't realize just how many people care about Aizawa.
She still has so much to learn about her boyfriend.
She looks up at the sky.
Ryukyu is no longer there.
She guesses that means they have finally left her alone. They must've gotten the answer they're satisfied with. Knowing that fact, she heads home feeling a little lighter than before. It was where she was heading for before she was visited by the other Heroes. Thankfully she's right in front of it.
Still, as she enters her home, Present Mic's words are still present in her mind.
What does he mean that the presence is the least of her concern after that?
"Ah, Miruko! I have been waiting for you!"
Instantly, beads of sweat form on her forehead.
Right there, sitting on her couch with a cup and saucer in his hands, is none other than the notorious and infamous principal of UA.
She doesn't even want to question how he got into her home.
That… "kind" smile of his is sending unsettling shivers down her spine.
Ah.
Now she knows why the presence is the least of her concern.
She thinks she might be dead after this.
"A little bird had informed me that you are pursuing a relationship with one of my employees, the one I treasure the most as well."
She might be dead after this.
"Bye Mr. Aizawa!"
"Hm."
"Goodbye, Rumi!"
"See ya kids."
When Sho closes the door, she releases a huge sigh before she drops into the couch.
"Fucking why," she groans out loudly, head tilts back and closes her eyes. "Why the fuck are yer kids come visiting one after another? Why can't they just come here altogether?"
"They don't want to interrupt each other's time."
She lets out another loud groan.
"Aren't ya noticin' a pattern here?" she asks, opening her eyes and stares down her husband, who is standing behind the couch, essentially right behind her. "Yer ex-coworkers Ectoplasm and Thirteen from UA were here. Those fucking Vigilantes Crawler and Knuckleduster were here. Star and Stripe came all the way from the USA to visit ya for some reason. Laundry Hero Wash was here too and I can't find a reason why. Shouto's mother was here too. And then Endeavor was here too though on a separate time. Fucking Hawks was here too and he was here for ya. And he's my best friend!"
"What are you trying to say?"
"Everyone fuckin' drops by to visit ya! Not me, YOU! And I'm even excluding yer kids! And yer kids' kids!"
"It's not that bad."
"Himiko Toga dropped by two days ago."
"…It was only one time."
"Lady Nagant was here a week ago."
"…I'll admit it's quite bad."
"It feels like a fuckin' gag at this point. Who's gonna visit next? Someone from a completely different series?"
*KNOCK KNOCK!*
She rolls her eyes as Sho heads to the front door and opens it. She doesn't even bother to see who it is at the door right now. She doesn't even care anymore.
"No."
"What? Can't I visit my Japanese cousin for once?"
"Whatever you are trying to say, the answer will be no, Hwajin Na."
"I haven't said anything yet!"
"Bye."
"Wait! Aizaw-"
He closes the door with a slam. Then, he releases a tired sigh.
"See? Your distant relative from Korea came by to visit you!"
"I doubt he was here for me."
"Some deity out there is makin' fun of us, especially me. I can feel him cackling at my misery right now, thinking this gag is funny."
"I'm surprised you're quite upset about this, Ru."
"It's because we can't fuck as much when everyone is constantly visitin'."
"I'm sure they didn't mean to interrupt our time," she hears Sho try to reason. That doesn't stop her from groaning out loud in frustration.
"Look, I get it. Ye're quite the precious one to have so many fucking connections. Hell, I know it intimately well. But I don't like it because they wouldn't leave us the fuck alone! And ye're so anal about keepin' it PG13 whenever someone else is under the roof. And you love anal, you love fuckin' my ass! I want to fuck you as much as I fucking want without interruptions! And I've been fuckin' horny for the last two hours! I am fuckin' starvin' for your cu-"
*Ding! Dong!*
She throws her arms in the air and slumps into the couch as Sho opens the door.
This only further proves her point.
But, much to her surprise, she doesn't hear another person's voice. Instead, she hears Sho close the door. Curious, she looks over and sees that there is no other asshole with him.
She notices he is carrying something in his hand as he walks over to her.
"I know it would come to this," he says, walking around the couch and towards the table in front of her. "So I ordered this just for you." He sets down said item and carefully opens it.
Instantly, she bolts upwards when she sees the content.
"Is that Kakka's Carrot Cake?"
"All the way from Nur'elle SuperSand."
"What are you, insane?!"
"Yes. For you."
She pins him down into the couch.
"I don't care anymore. You're goin' to be balls deep in my ass as you feed me my cake. And if anyone else comin', I'm fuckin' you in front of them."
"Don't you dare."
*Knock knock!*
"Don't you fucking dare."