Aoi never knew shopping could be so exhausting, or maybe it was the bubbly brunette woman that was the reason she was exhausted? And the lack of proper sleep was really not helping either. The bags in her arms felt like they were full of bricks. Her feet were dragging and she was now very much regretting that they had walked to the mall.
It had been just as mentally exhausting as it had been physically. Even though it was not her money she had spent she still knows roughly how much she had spent. She had done as much mental math as she could at each shop they visited. The bath and body shop where Ochako ensured all sorts of stupid creams and washes were bought. Face masks as well that she insisted that they had to buy so they could have some sort of girls night. Honestly Aoi didn't get why, but she didn't wish to ask about it. The thought of hanging out with a bunch of strangers that were Ochako's friends did not sit well with her.
With her hands as filled as they could be she dragged her feet as she followed after the brunette woman that still seemed to be filled with energy. Meanwhile Aoi could not wait to get home and crash for a nap. Maybe all the physical and mental exhaustion would allow her to have a dreamless sleep? She doubted it.
She gave a soft hum as the brunette woman was rambling about something. Honestly Aoi had been blocking out most of her words. It's not like she really cared about what the hero had to say. Aoi just found her annoying. She was just too bubbly and happy for her liking. Maybe if she could mentally be healthier she would find the brunette nicer company. After all, she was clearly trying to be friendly. But all Aoi's mind could think was that she was annoying.
Aoi had no desire to share anything personal. Her mind also had her paranoid. She doubted the brunette would just suddenly betray her. But she had always kept people away. It was for the best. People could not hurt you mentally if you didn't get attached. And when they did betray her that way she was not mentally hurt by it. Because everyone betrayed her eventually.
Oh how her bed was calling her name once she got home. She did not even plan to unbag her stuff. She just wanted to curl under her blanket and hope for sleep. Her body felt so heavy, and it felt like it was only growing more heavy with each step as they walked down the street.
To Aoi's dismay the walk back to the apartment could not be uneventful. Though she was lucky enough that she was not the target. But she saw the events unfold. Not far ahead of them a man walking towards them roughly collided with a woman who was walking the same direction as the hero and herself. She watched the villain aim for the woman. She knew what was going to happen before it did.
The villain hit the poor woman hard enough she fell back onto her butt. His hands though held onto the woman's purse. He was ripping the thing off the woman so fast he probably broke the strap. She stopped paying attention as she noticed the hero beside her had already jumped into action. With a thud, the bags that the hero had been holding dropped to the ground where she had been standing.
Aoi sighed, how annoying. Couldn't the woman have left the purse snatcher for an on duty hero? Surely such a busy and popular area had one. Even if it was some no name hero wannabe. But she should have known the rescue hero would still act like this. Aoi paid the unfolding scene no attention even as the people on the street stopped to gawke.
See now this would be a good time to pick pockets or steal a wallet. People were stupid. Watching a hero take down a purse snatching villain was like watching some sports event. They were mindlessly invested in the show before them. Just standing around like zombies. Clapping and cheering only once the hero had the supposed bad guy tackled to the ground and caught.
Aoi made sure to gather up what had fallen out of the bags that hit the ground. It didn't matter to her that anything fell out. Though she only had to pick up an item or two. One of the makeup containers had tried to roll away but she stopped it with her foot before she had to chase the stupid thing across the sidewalk. She could hear the fighting going on. And it didn't take her looking over to know Ochako was winning. The people cheering on the hero were enough to inform her of what was going on before the applause even started.
With her own bags placed down she turned to watch Ochako smiling at the crowd. Her hands were full with the slumped body of the wannabe criminal who did not even get halfway across the block from the woman who he had hit and run. Aoi just stood back happy there was a little space from the crowd. The hero would smile and talk with her fans as they waited for an on duty hero to show up.
By the time one did show up the cops were not far behind. Finally after what felt like an hour of waiting the idiot was in handcuffs, Ochako was smiling and chatting with the hero Aoi did not recognize and some cops. Eventually the brunette was bowing to them and was turning to scan the crowd before her large round eyes landed on Aoi and the cluster of bags that sat at her feet that she had grown tired of holding.
"Sorry that took so long," the brunette was quick to apologize as she approached Aoi. And Aoi tried hard and desperately to not look like she was pissed as the brunette approached her.
"It's fine. If anything it was a nice break," she said as she leaned down to once again fill her hands with bags of stuff. And in a way it was not a lie, she was thankful that she had been able to rest her arms a little. Though her muscles were quick to start to complain again.
Ochako was quick to gather up the bags she had been carrying. Soon the pair were back on their way walking down the street heading back towards Izuku's apartment. How odd she still struggled to think of the place as her own. Was it due to the fact that she knew she would never in her life be able to afford such a nice and large apartment? Or was it due to the fact that she still saw the apartment as a cage? After all she seemed no better than a collared pet. Only being allowed out when she was accompanied by a guard who could tug on her leash if she tried to take off.
No, she knew this spiraling mindset was not good. Izuku did not force her to stay at the apartment, she could leave. But she knew how risky that would be and Izuku would try to stop her. But could she really blame him? He was a hero, the need to save people was a strong drive for him. And in this case Aoi needed saving from herself just as much as she did from Arakawa Shinta or anyone else that would like to use her to hurt Izuku. She had always known this would happen. Though she had always assumed she would have been killed the second anyone learned of her connection to the number one hero Deku. She had not expected she would have lived and been stuck on house arrest in order to remain safe. Was this how family members of hero's lived?
Now she was curious. Did Izuku's mother have to live life like this? Was that woman stuck within her home, guarded all day every day for fear of what could happen to her if someone found her and got their hands on her like they had Aoi? With that thought she was happy it had been her who had been grabbed that night. Surely a little old lady would never of survived the torture. Phantom pains shoot through her ribs, she could still remember the feeling of every punch. Her leg also throbbed at the memory of where the knife had been plunged into her flesh. She would never forget those day's, even if she wished she could. Though the taunting and words Arakawa had spoken to her made her heart clench.
Quickly her eyes were darting around while her head remained aimed forwards. Fear gripped at her heart as she felt her breath quicken. She was never going to be safe again, Arakawa had promised. And even if he himself was not the direct threat she knew he would have told the entire underworld about her. She would be branded as Deku's whore. Or maybe just a whore for all hero's after how she had stood up for Todoroki after Arakawa had not stopped calling the young man Endeavour's son.
Sure she felt like she barely knew the man, if anything she learned the most she knew about him when they were both teens. After watching Dabi's video and her own search into his family in the months after, she knew even back then that the kid was nothing like his father or his brother. Todoroki Shoto was his own man, his own hero. And it had pissed her off to hear Arakawa talk about the man like he had. Though of course that only made his beating harder, and of course he was more than happy to jump to the conclusion that she was sleeping with both men if she felt the need to defend a hero.
After all, someone like her should hate heroes and in a way she did. She hated heroes, she hated the way society worshiped them, how easily the normal person turned a blind eye to evil. After all, if it was really bad a hero would deal with it. That was what everyone thought. Why should they help when a hero would step in if things are really that bad? But what people do not realize is heroes rarely step in. If it will not bring them fame, why would they help someone? Izuku may have tried to tell her that it was not a popularity contest, but he was wrong. When you treat people like celebrities, and most importantly you put a price on how well liked they are then it becomes a contest. People are naturally greedy creatures. Fame, money, recognition, status, and power was all related to how well they did on the hero charts.
That bred a type of industry where helping the poor was overlooked. No one cared about a domestic abuse victim crying for help, or someone struggling with homelessness, or someone who needed help to just get back on their feet, and it also bred a society of discrimination. Is your quirk strong? Great, then you are treated as a king or queen. But is your quirk too strong? Too scary? Too dangerous? Or do you just lack perfect control? If so then you are instantly branded a villain. You do not even have to do anything bad and people will fear you anyways. Or like her one could be quirkless and then you are deemed as low as dirt. This superpowered society had no need for someone who could not do anything. Someone who was useless. Jobs didn't want to hire a quirkless person. Most were bullied out of school before ever finishing high school. And those who lived to see into adulthood were left to struggle.
Heroes did not actually care about the innocent or weak. Otherwise things would not be the way they were. Her fear was quickly turning to anger as her mind refused to stop spiraling, to stop thinking, she wished she could just shut it off.
"Is everything alright?" The bubbly voice pulled Aoi from her mind for a moment. Those big brown eyes were looking at her full of concern.
"Yes. Everything is fine," She said back quickly as she struggled not to snap at the woman. It was not her fault Aoi was in a bad mood, or that her brain refused to think of things that did not upset her in some way. And clearly the brunette did not seem to believe her.
"Are you sure? You're breathing kinda heavy and you keep looking around. It's alright no one is going to hurt you while I am around," The brunette tried to reassure her as she assumed Aoi was scared. A few minutes ago her assumption would have been correct. Aoi had been scared. But now she was just pissed off again. Stupid heroes and stupid villains who made her life a living hell.
"Yeah I am just a little out of shape. I haven't walked this far carrying anything since before I met Midoriya," She said, simply deciding to blame her heavy breathing on her out of shape body. It was not a complete lie. The bags were heavy, and she truly had not walked so far in one day since before she was kidnapped. She was indeed out of shape.
Still Ochako looked skeptical, though maybe that was due to the fact that Aoi had chosen not to comment on her looking around a lot. She was and it was solely due to the fact that she did not trust the hero beside her. Sure she knew the woman would not just stand back and let anything happen to her while out in the open. Still that did not mean she trusted that the hero would keep her safe. She knew better than to voice those thoughts of hers though. She had no desire to offend Deku's friend.
For once the two fell into a silence as they walked. Aoi was thankful for it in a way, and yet she also hated it. It meant the woman beside her was now focused on her and was well aware that something was wrong with her. And Aoi did not wish to talk about her feelings with the woman, or anyone, ever, for that matter. And worse yet there was a chance that Izuku would ask how their outing went and especially how she was. It would not be her he would ask either, it would be Ochako.
Aoi had to bite back the urge to groan out loud. This was going to be so annoying. The only saving grace she had in the moment was the fact that she could see the apartment building come into view just a block over. That meant she was almost free from this crappy situation. She may have started to walk a little faster, and the bags in her arms were no longer feeling like they were slowing her down any more. She got her second wind when the apartment came into view. Luckily the hero did not have any issues keeping up with Aoi as she kept up. Then again Aoi was pretty sure the brunette had been purposefully slowing herself down so Aoi did not struggle to keep up since they had left the apartment earlier in the day.
With Ochako's help, the bags of stuff were carried into the living room. Ochako had offered to carry the stuff to her room and help her sort through them. But Aoi had no desire to let the woman into her room. Oddly the thought of the brunette in her bedroom just didn't sit well with her. Even Izuku had only ever been in her bedroom when she had a bad enough nightmare that she woke up screaming and would scare the poor guy. Other than that even Izuku did not enter her bedroom and suddenly she was thankful that he did not enter her room any other time.
The two unloaded their bags of stuff on the floor in front of the couch. She was kind of hoping she could just shoo away the brunette now. She was back in her cage, there was no reason she needed to stay. But it became clear when the brunette made herself at home and started making some tea that she was not leaving. Once again Aoi had to bite back a groan. How annoying even once home she was not free from the hell that was having to socialize with a hero. Still Aoi tried to remain kind and civil.
She thanked Ochako for the cup of hot tea she was offered and she happily took it. She would like to think sitting on the couch sipping the hot liquid helped loosen her tense shoulders. Not wanting to talk with the brunette just yet, Aoi had been quick to reach for the tv remote and turn it on. Still that did not seem to deter the woman for long.
"Wow I didn't realize we had bought so much stuff," Ochako said lightly with a giggle as she eyed up all the bags that had covered the living room floor.
"I'm surprised we were able to carry it all back," Aoi said honestly. And it was true. The bags had felt so heavy. Her wrists were still aching from the weight. And maybe part of why her shoulders were so stiff was thanks to that heavy weight she had been stuck carrying.
"Yeah. Next time we will have to take a car so we don't have to carry it all home," The brunette laughed lightly while Aoi tried not to flinch. Oh gods she hoped they did not do this again any time soon. Aoi knew next time to try and find a way out of a shopping trip with any of Izuku's friends. It did not matter if she desperately needed new underwear or bra's. She was never doing this again. Ochako was nice enough but Aoi did not think she could survive spending hours with the woman again. And shopping was its own hell on a good day. Being dragged around stores she did not want to enter and buying things she did not need had been a waste of time and money. Aoi eyed up the bags in front of her. She wondered how many had the receipt inside of them and how many things she could return to the store?
Ochako was more than happy to keep up the basic chit chat. Meanwhile Aoi was wishing the brunette would just go home already. She really badly wanted to just curl up in her bed and attempt to sleep. She was feeling exhausted, both physically and mentally. And she still had to sort through the bags of stuff. After all, there was one bag in particular that Izuku was not allowed to see inside of it. After all, the man did not need to know that she had very easily caved and bought the matching bra and panties that were in his hero suit green colour. She was not so much ashamed of buying it, but she was unsure how the man would react to seeing both women's undergarments and also the fact that they were in his colour. Ochako had seemed so sure that Izuku would love it, after he got over the shock of seeing a woman's bra and panties. But that did not mean that Aoi was not still unsure of how the man would take it.
But before she could go looking for the bag and its contents to hide away in her bedroom, she needed to regain the ability to move her arms without them shaking. Even just holding her tea cup was hard and she just wanted to melt into the couch until her body stopped hurting. Her feet even hurt. She had once worked on her feet for hours at a time and had little issues. But now her feet hurt just from a few hours of walking and shopping. Yeah she was growing too out of shape. Maybe she should dare to walk on the treadmill some, without Izuku around that is, so she didn't risk hurting herself again.