The days seemed to quickly blend together. The routine of getting up in the morning, cleaning the house, cooking dinner and then attempting to get some sleep made it hard to remember what day of the week it was. Depression had started to dig its claws into her. Mid day naps on the couch while watching the news had not helped with her piss poor night time sleep schedule. Though she barely had a healthy sleep schedule even before all this with Izuku entered her life.
Still she could feel her body always growing more tired, if she was awake when Izuku headed to work it was due to her not yet falling asleep that night. It was not like she chose to stay up all night. At first she had no cell phone. And even after Izuku had come home one day with a new cell phone, with a handful of numbers already programmed in. She barely used it. She spent way too many long hours during the night just staring at the ceiling.
On bad nights she would find herself curled up in the corner. Like a scared child. That was usually when she would wake up quickly after a nightmare. If it wasn't her brain refusing to calm down then it was the nightmares that kept her awake.
The bags under her eyes were heavy and dark. Aoi had never had such bad eye bags before. And she did not even have makeup to try and hide them. And she could tell Izuku was worried. When he was home he hovered like a helicopter parent. He regularly asked her how she was doing. She always lied. And they both knew she was lying. And yet Izuku never called her out.
So imagine her surprise when she was napping on the couch in the living room when she heard a cell phone go off. The ringer loud. She jumped as she was disturbed from her light slumber. Her body moved instinctively as she ran to her bedroom where the device was still going off.
She never even looked at the number or name on the screen. Who else would be calling her. She completely assumed it was Izuku. Because well it's not like she had a long list of friends who would be calling her. Izuku didn't typically call her while he was at work. She would get pictures from time to time. And a regular text that thanked her for the lunch she would make him each day.
"Hello?" It was more of a panicked question than an actual greeting. Though the giggle on the other phone had her brain play a dial tone as she struggled to process that this was not Izuku who had called her.
"Sugahara. Hey sorry to be bothering you right now," it should not have taken as long as it did for Aoi to recognize the voice.
"Oh Ms. Iida," she finally greeted the woman once she could remember what her last name was.
"Please call me Ochako," the bubbly voice told her. Aoi felt hesitant to use someone's first name after only meeting them once.
"What can I do for you?" Aoi asked, wanting to get this phone call over and done with. If it was not Izuku she did not want to talk to anyone.
"Oh yeah. I have the afternoon off and Izuku said you needed to do some shopping. He wanted to take you, but he's been struggling to get out of work early enough. So he asked if it was possible that I take you out. I thought it sounded like a great idea. A girl's shopping trip sounded like so much fun to me," Aoi was starting to think Izuku may not be the only one in his friend group who muttered at the way the brunette had been going on and on.
Now comes the hard part. Does she agree or turn her down? On one hand there were indeed things Aoi needed to buy. Some of which she did not want Izuku, or any man, with her for. She was also low on things like her shampoo. Yet she could have bought those things online. Then there was also the fact this was her chance to get out of this damn apartment building. She had not done that since she arrived at this stupid place. How long had she been locked away for? Has it been a week? A month? She honestly had no idea. Aoi's sense of time was shot. She had no idea what day or even what month it was without looking at the calendar on her phone.
But agreeing to this also meant she was going to be stuck with the bubbly brunette woman till whenever their shopping trip ended. Was Aoi able to do that? She could not deny the thought of spending time with a hero who was not Deku sounded like a horrible idea. Also she was tired. Her body wanted to return to napping lightly on the couch. She had no energy to go galivanting around the city.
She must have been taking too long to answer as she was pulled out of her head by Ochako's voice calling out to her. Ugh she had a strong feeling she was going to regret the next words out of her mouth.
"What time did you have planned?" Aoi said as she caved in to the brunette woman.
"How soon could you be ready?" Was the following question and Aoi had to bite back the urge to groan in annoyance.
"I need about forty-five minutes," she said after a moment of thought. That should give her enough time for a quick shower to wash her greasy hair. Then she could throw on some clean clothes and she would be ready to go.
"Perfect then I will see you in forty-five," came the reply before the line went dead.
Once she knew the phone call had ended Aoi let out the groan she had been holding in. She had no desire at all to do this. Hanging out with a hero did not sound fun. Sure the woman seemed nice enough when they had met. But they barely knew each other. She had a feeling that Izuku was behind this. Whether is was his way of trying to encourage her to make new friends, help her get out of the house or what. But it did not matter, it was annoying.
Dragging her feet towards the bathroom she jumped into the shower. Quickly washing her hair and body before she jumped out of the shower. In just a towel she walked to her bedroom where she hunted down some clean clothes. She kept it simple, a plain t-shirt and some jeans she had that had the knees worn out. At least the shirt did not have any holes in it so she deemed it good enough. She was brushing her damp hair still when she heard the knock at the door.
For a second she froze up. She knew who it was. But still it took a second knock before Aoi moved quietly to the door and looked through the peak hole to see the brunette woman before she finally opened up the door.
"Hey," Ochako greeted her as Aoi tried to force a small smile as she returned the greeting.
"Am I early? Are you good to go?" She asked as she stood at the doorway to the apartment.
"No, your timing is fine. Let me put my hair brush back and put on my shoes and we can go," she said before she turned and walked back to her bedroom where she just tossed her hair brush on the night stand as she grabbed her cell phone and returned to the waiting woman as she grabbed her shoes and was slipping on the old worn runners.
"Uhm I don't have any money though," she said as she hesitated after putting her shoes on.
"Don't worry Deku gave me a card for you to use," Ochako said before pulling a golden coloured Mastercard from her back pocket.
So he had not been lying. He honestly was going to pay for all the stuff she needed. Though she still felt bad using his money like this. She felt like a mooch, he fed her, housed her and now was buying everything else she needed. Still, what else could she do? She had no money.
Sure stealing was always an option. But she had not been forced to stoop that low in a long time. And now that she was kind of tied to Deku the risk of getting arrested was not worth it. No stealing was not currently an option until she could break her tie to Deku.
"Okay then let's go," she said as she stepped out of the apartment and locked the door behind her.
The decision was quickly made to hit up a mall that was not very far by foot. Aoi didn't argue with the decision. She did not care, and the closer it was the least time she had to spend with the bubbly woman who did not shut up the entire walk over.
In some ways Ochako was like Izuku. Ask her about her day or work in particular and she was off going on and on. In some ways it was annoying, Aoi wished for silence. But Ochako made it clear before they even left the apartment that she planned to try and get to know Aoi better. And well Aoi hated being questioned about herself.
So in the end, encouraging Ochako to talk about herself was easier. That way Aoi could simply nod her head or mumble simple single words to encourage Ochako to continue talking. It was easier than risking Ochako wanting to talk about her. Aoi did not enjoy talking about herself and the thought of sharing her life with a hero did not sound appealing. It was bad enough that Izuku knew what he did. She had no desire to tell this other hero how she was accustomed to stealing, or what foods the human body could consume without dying of food poisoning due to how spoiled it was. Yeah she was already an outcast among Izuku's friends, she did not have to add salt to the wound.
The arrival at the mall was quick. Aoi was glancing around taking in the shops, and not just them but the people as well. Being quirkless she had learned that anyone and everyone could be a threat and even as she was walking beside a hero that concern lingered in her mind. She was also looking for the stores that would have what she needed. Bath stuff was a must. Her shampoo was almost more water than shampoo at this rate, and then she could use a new razer. She really needed a few new clothes.
The thought of listing off all of the things she needed made her feel guilty for spending so much money. Money that was not hers and that money that she may never be able to pay back. She hated that thought. It made her skin crawl thinking she could owe someone and be unable to pay him back. It was bad enough he saved her and she owed him for that. She did not like that her debt was growing by the day.
"Where should we go next?" the gentle voice beside her drew her from her worried mind.
"Does not matter to me. I need some new shampoo. And some new clothes then we can leave," Aoi says simply as she is under the impression that this would be a very quick shopping trip.
"Oh I know a place with some really good bath and body products," Ochako said before she had reached out to grab Aoi's hand before the strong woman started to nearly drag the poor woman through the mall.
Her complaints and protests at being dragged along seemed to go through one ear and out the other as the two women made their way through the still busy mall even as it was the middle of the day. Then again that reminded Aoi that she had no idea if it was a weekday or weekend. She knew she could not use Deku's work schedule as a way to gauge the day of the week. Izuku worked every day as a hero and some days for much longer than others. He was up early in the morning and if he was lucky he was home in time for dinner. But she knew on more than one occasion where Izuku returned home when most people were asleep and in bed.
No matter what day it was, the mall was still packed with more people than Aoi would have liked. Keeping her attention on everyone that got too close was hard. Ochako being a distraction did not help, nor did it help that she felt rusty. She had been hiding away in the apartment for weeks now and it was easy for her to feel out of practice in watching people around her. It did not help that she had no quirk to lean in to in order to help her. It did not matter if the woman walking beside her was more than capable to keep them both safe. It made her feel incredibly uneasy. Aoi stepped closer towards the hero beside her.
If Ochako noticed Aoi's unease she kept quiet about it, which Aoi was rather thankful for. The brunette was quick to lead the way towards the apparent store that had come to her mind when Aoi had said she needed bathroom stuff. It quickly became clear that Ochako was not leading the way to a Thousand Yen store. No as they walked into the little store Aoi's nose was hit with an array of smells. Body washes, creams, shampoos, bath salts, and all sorts of head spinning products sat in the store. And it did not take Aoi more than a second to assume that the things in this little store were going to be more money then she probably spent on shampoo for an entire year.
"Ochako this seems a little extreme. I don't need such expensive products," Aoi whispered over to the brunette woman who was already looking at some sweet smelling body wash.
"Don't worry about it. Izuku told me you are allowed to buy anything you want and need," The brunette said before sniffing a bottle and then nearly shoving it into Aoi's face telling her she should smell the lovely scent of some sort of flower.
Aoi was still a little reluctant to be freely spending someone else's money. She also felt like all of the heavy smells in the small space was giving her a headache. She listened to Ochako rambling off about different smells she liked, different soaps or brands she liked better than others. Aoi was not a picky person. She was quick to scan her eyes over the products. She looked for the cheapest options that did not have incredibly heavy smells.
A lavender body wash grabbed her attention as it was on sale. Leaving Ochako to follow her, she moved onto looking for shampoo and conditioner. All the while she looked at the price tags and was mentally doing the math on what the price all was adding up to. A habit she had been doing for a number of years now since she had started working and was forced to budget. Though as her arms got full she happily handed off the three bottles to Ochako who offered to carry them. Pulling out her cell phone she had opened a calculator app and had started typing in the amounts. She never did trust her mental ability to properly add things correctly. The flaw with never making it to high school she guessed.
Quickly glancing over she spotted Ochako giving her a soft and gentle smile. Aoi tried not to frown and snap at the woman. All she could see was pity. Shoving her phone back into the small pocket of her jeans she quickly started to walk towards the till wanting nothing more than to pay for this stuff, get to the next store and try to get home as fast as she could.
"Oh don't you want to get some body lotion or some creams, maybe some new face wash?" Ochako asked not wanting Aoi to feel like she had to rush things.
"No it's okay," Aoi said simply as she headed to the counter with the worker so that they could pay and leave. She had never been one to use body lotions. And since she was not working she did not wear makeup any more and as such had no reason to buy harsh makeup removers and face washes. A little acne would not kill her anyway.
Ochako followed her and placed the three bottles on the counter before telling the lady working behind it they were not done yet. Aoi was about to open her mouth to tell Ochako she was wrong but when she turned to correct the other woman she was already gone.
"Izuku told me cost is not an issue. He makes more than enough money and he barely spends it. And I know that it will make him happy that you are able to treat yourself and buy things you need. So don't feel bad about it. He does not expect anything either. So let's get you some skin care products," Ochako said as she was already starting to scoop up handfuls of cleansers, creams and masks while ignoring Aoi's attempts to tell her that she did not need such products. The brunette was set on buying these products whether Aoi liked it or not.
"Oh we should buy some wine and do a girls night, we can give each other facials. I bet Mina and Momo would love that too," Ochako was rambling off ideas now as she filled her hands before she was walking towards the counter again with a pouting Aoi trailing when she realized this hero was not going to back down. And Aoi did not want to make a scene within the mall for all to see and risk them recognizing the hero she would be yelling at. With a heavy sigh Aoi gave up any hope of this trip being fast and her only getting a few things.
Leaving the first shop Ochako already had a full bag with products Aoi was not even sure how to use. With that they were on to the next shop. Next, a clothing shop where Ochako was throwing tops and pants at Aoi before pushing her into a change room and told to try on the clothes and to take all the ones that fit. From there another clothing shop. It did not take long till both women were carrying bags and of course as soon as Ochako had seen the undergarment store she was heading for it.
Aoi was already exhausted as she dragged her feet behind Ochako who was still full of way too much energy for Aoi's liking. Then again her afternoon nap had been interrupted and her sleep lately had not been great. Did not help that the hero in front of her was in much better shape than she was. Aoi could only hope this would be their last stop as the bags in her hands were starting to feel heavy.
"Oh these are cute," Ochako said as she was looking at a bra and panty set that were sitting on a mannequin for display. Aoi slowly walked to stand beside her. The outfit was pink which did not surprise Aoi.
"It almost looks like the same shade as your hero costume," Aoi pointed out, which had the hero beside her giggling.
"Yeah it does. Maybe I'll get some for myself," She mused as she started to look for them in her size. Aoi was not a fan of the colour pink. Instead she shifted down the wall of bras that sat before her to choose from. She was looking for something that would be comfortable and hopefully well built. Avoiding lace, anything that looks like it may be uncomfortable. She already had a simple black bra in hand before the brunette was beside her once again with her own pink set in hand.
"Oh you should get this set," She had suddenly said which had Aoi turn to look at her about to ask her what set she was talking to but no words ended up coming out of her mouth.
Ochako was standing there holding a dark green bra and panty set. The bra was more lace than bra, there was no way that it would hide anything. Her nipples would clearly be visible while wearing them and she could not imagine in any way that it would be comfortable to wear for more than five minutes. Then again looking at them it was clear that was the extent of how long they were meant to be worn for. And the panties were no different, all lace, and a thong to boot. There was no way those were meant to hold jack shit in place while a person walks.
The amount of different faces that Aoi made at Ochako in the next thirty seconds was hilarious to the brunette and she struggled to bite her tongue and not laugh. The first look was surprise as if Aoi had never seen lacy underwear before, then the look of disgust that crossed her face as if the thought of wearing them was not a pleasant one then proceeded to flush a deep red over her cheeks as she realized the reason that Ochako was holding them and the smirk that tugged at said woman's lips for the unspoken implication that they were in Deku's colour and that Aoi should get them for him.
"We aren't sleeping together," were the instant words that she blurted out a little louder than she had meant to. Which only made her embarrassment grow more and the smirk on Ochako's lips grow too.
"Soooo," The brunette dragged out the single word as if to taunt her a little.
"It would be a waste to buy them and not use them. They clearly are not designed to actually be used daily," Aoi said as if she had to explain herself.
"Well you never know when you may need something really cute to wear," Ochako said, smirking playfully as she nearly pushed the matching set into Aoi's hands while she was still flustered. This was not how Aoi expected the shopping trip to go today.