"If things go badly, we'll go get some ice cream," she replies with a shrug. "But it won't go badly...on the contrary!" She stands up. "Now let's go, otherwise they'll think we're lost."
You nod and walk toward the others.
From afar, you see the fighting class approaching. Your idiot half-brother, Ryota, walks toward you as if he were marching into the center of a wrestling arena: shoulders broad, head held high, an unbearable grin on his face. Behind him walk a few guys you only know by sight: Goro Sakamoto, Iron Charge quirk, tall as a refrigerator, with a stay away from me, I have little patience look etched into his face. He's clearly the kind of guy who goes straight for brawling, no holds barred.
Riku Tanezaki, quirk Flash Step , you know he's incredibly fast, but his level of arrogance is similar (very similar) to Ryota's. Acid to the core.
Minato Ueda, quirk Thunder Nerves , handsome in your opinion, very calm... but when he gets angry, he becomes a monstrous troublemaker, even violent.
Kaede Taneshiro, quirk Steel Maiden, the classic bespectacled nerd who looks like a loser but is anything but.
"Here's the 'Band-Aids' section," Ryota announces with a grin. "She's my clueless little sister, Eri."
Reina takes a step forward, pointing her index finger at him. "Excuse me? We're not here to save your lives, so don't be a pain in the ass."
"You're just good at causing disasters," Kaito replies, visibly excited.
"Disasters? Me? Never," Ryota replies, placing a hand on his chest. "Save the perfect nurse tone," he snorts. "I'm here to work, not to make cheap chit-chat."
His gaze shifts to you.
"It's strange. You're not being a nuisance for once while I'm talking," he says, with that smirk you hate.
"Good morning, Ryota." You reply, turning away, using a neutral, very professional tone.
Ryota gritted his teeth. What's wrong, little brother? You can't stand it when I don't react to your provocations, huh? I'm like a brick wall to you: I never change my expression, I don't give in to your nonsense.
Kaito immediately strides toward him, his eyes blazing with anger. "Do you want to start a fight? What's wrong with you?"
"Your face, for starters."
"Ryota," Goro mutters behind him. "We're on a mission, so keep a cool head."
"Don't piss me off, asshole."
"I'm trying to help…"
"I don't need your help."
You sigh. It really makes you feel sorry for him. The mission hasn't even started yet, and you already want to turn around and go home.
Aizawa-sensei and Present Mic arrive at your location, inside a black car. Tess jumps on the spot as soon as she sees Hizashi, and he greets her with his usual wink, without getting too close and without letting anyone know. You, on the other hand, needless to say, what happens as soon as you see Aizawa-sensei.
He gets out of the car and walks slowly toward you. You lower your eyes, too shy to meet his. Tess nudges you with her elbow, smiling.
"Look at the way he's looking at you!" she whispers, grinning.
"Shut up!" you hiss through gritted teeth.
"Today you'll be patrolling in mixed pairs. One fighter and one medic. The goal is to monitor the area and intervene in case of civilian injuries or accidents."
Oh God, his voice...you bite your lip.
Ryota snorts.
"I don't need to work with a doctor."
"It's an order, Bakugo," Aizawa replies, his tone serious and dry.
Present Mic opens a folder, presumably containing the names of the pairs, and fate can be cruel at times.
"Bakugo Ryota, paired with Togata Eri."
An icy silence fills the room.
You roll your eyes, snorting. Reina, on the other hand, stifles a laugh. You glare at her. Tess pats you on the shoulder, and you see Kaito bite the inside of his cheek.
Ryota follows you with his gaze as you approach him, and crosses his arms. "What a terrible day…"
You give a small, polite bow. "I'll do my best."
"Don't do that," he replies, frowning. "I don't need your help anyway."
Tess happens upon Minato, and he seems slightly intimidated by her enthusiasm. She smiles at everyone, hops around, and takes his arm... and he blushes a few times, his expression visibly embarrassed.
Reina lands with Goro, and you can tell he already knows in his heart that it'll be hard to keep up with a cold, detached volcano like her.
Kaito, meanwhile, ends up with Riku. Just by looking at them, you can tell it's going to be the disaster everyone predicted.
"Don't stand so close to me, idiot!" Kaito exclaims.
"I won't stand for it, it's your quirk that makes you look clingy!"
"WHAT QUIRK?"
"Oh right…you don't have a clingy one."
Ren Iida, on the other hand, happens to be with Kaede. They don't even look at each other.
Meanwhile, you spread your wings, still feeling Aizawa-sensei's gaze on you. You try not to meet his eyes, but you can't, you are too embarrassed by what happened at the party. With a small hop, you take flight, keeping your eyes averted. Ryota starts running after you, darting back and forth as if in an imaginary race.
"If you keep this up," you say, "first, you risk getting tired sooner. And second, you risk separating yourself from the group."
"Much better, thank you. I don't want to get mixed up with losers like you."
"Ryota," you sigh, "It's a mission. Not a competition."
"For me, it's always a competition."
You sigh again, slowly turning your gaze to look straight ahead. For half an hour, you patrol the western side of the city, stopping here and there to assess the situation, but everything seems relatively calm by any measure. There are no signs of violence of any kind, no fights, nothing at all.
But then, around mid-morning, Ryota stops on a rooftop and ducks to hide. You see him scanning the city with narrowed eyes and a serious look. You approach him, bending your knees.
"What's going on? Did you detect something…?"
"I'm bored."
Before you can stop him, Ryota grabs a metal railing and wrenches his arm at an unnatural angle, deliberately injuring himself. A deep cut splits the skin, and blood immediately starts to spill down his arm.
Your eyes widen in disbelief. What is this idiot doing? Is he hurting himself on purpose?
"RYOTA!" you shout, standing up.
He shrugs, smiling. "At least you doctors show how useless you are. And they call you heroes?" He bursts out laughing.
The rest of the group, just as you expected, notices an anomaly in your quirk caused by your agitation. As always when you're on a mission alone, they immediately rush to catch up. Tess is the first, landing next to you, hands clasped together to counteract her Zero Gravity quirk.
"What happened?" she asks, running toward you, her eyes frightened and her face pale. Reina, from the bottom of the building, climbs to the top floor and in less than ten seconds, she's standing in front of Ryota. She looks him up and down.
"I think this guy wants his ass kicked by Recovery Girl."
Kaito, nearby, shouts. "I'll kick his ass now, damn it!"
Ryota is about to respond with his usual useless grin and cocky arrogance, when you approach him and place a feather on his wound, healing it quickly and without looking him in the eye.
"What the fuck are you doing?" he thunders, standing up.
"Oh, and shut up! I'm not doing this for you, but for the mission!" you reply, visibly upset.
He remains silent. Everyone remains silent.
You snort.
Slightly angered by your brother's selfish behavior, scared of what might happen, you spread your wings and took flight, leaving all your companions on the ground, including Alpha Squad.
"This is unbearable," you mutter, clenching your fists. "He's just wasting my time. I'll continue the mission alone. Aizawa-sensei will understand."
***
After the mission...
You pace back and forth in the infirmary corridor, your steps firm but not overly so. It's quiet, almost too quiet, and you're about to report to Aizawa-sensei, which makes you nervous, even though, deep down, you're eager to see him. Your wings are still a little tense from exhaustion. That idiot brother of yours left without saying goodbye, only to return immediately afterward. Tess stands in front of you, also waiting her turn to report.
"Come on, calm down, it'll be fine," she says, smiling under her breath.
You don't answer her. You actually hope to see him again. You haven't seen him since that night at the party, since the almost-kiss, since the almost-everything. You haven't spoken since, unfortunately.
Ren Iida comes out of the infirmary, along with his mission partner Kaede, and smiles at you.
"Now it's your turn, right?" he asks, sitting in your chair. You nod.
After a few seconds, you cross the threshold and, as soon as you see him, a terrible pang shoots through your chest. Your breath catches. Ryota follows you, closing the door behind him.
Aizawa Shouta-sensei is there. Standing, arms crossed, handsome as day, looking over the mission reports. You swallow, your eyes lingering on his face as he's distracted by the documents. His scarf is wrapped around his neck, his hair slightly messy...more so than usual.
Something tightens your throat.
"Welcome back." He says, placing the papers on the desk, looking at you with a stern, cold gaze. He used a neutral tone of voice. Too neutral. Very cold.
You give a small, courteous bow. "Thank you, sensei."
Silence. Aizawa-sensei says nothing else.
He doesn't ask you how the mission went, he doesn't make jokes about your first day on a mixed mission, he doesn't look at you at all like that night at the party... that is, with that strange, restrained sweetness, as if he wanted to touch your face but couldn't for some strange reason.
You look away from him and begin to bite the inside of your cheek rapidly. Why does it hurt so much?
Your hands are shaking slightly.
"So," Sensei says suddenly, his tone seemingly softening, "did you run into any problems during the mission, Togata?"
You shake your head, meeting his gaze. "No, Sensei. Everything was under control… though towards the end, I drifted off a bit."
Ryota huffs, taking a step forward, as if making his entrance on a stage.
"What a drag, really… Do you have bandages? I need to cover the…"
Aizawa-sensei looks up and fixes his icy gaze on him.
"Bakugo. Come here and sit down."
Ryota stiffens. Even he fears Aizawa-sensei.
"I read the report," Sensei continues. "It seems you were injured in a…unclear way."
Ryota sighs. "It's none of your business…"
"It is my business," Aizawa interrupts sharply. "Especially when you jeopardize a mission with reckless behavior."
Ryota looks away. You turn toward him, and for the first time, he almost seems embarrassed.
You step aside, trying not to draw attention, but Aizawa-sensei looks at you. For just a moment, you notice. A quick, subtle glance... he seems worried.
"Is it true," asks the sensei, "that he deliberately created that wound, Togata-san?"
You hesitate. Ryota stares at you with his usual open-mouth-and-you're-dead grin. Personally, you don't care, so you keep your tone professional and answer.
"Yes. That's exactly what happened."
Ryota snorts, sniffling. Then he shakes his head, looking at you both. "I didn't need her intervention, okay?"
Aizawa-sensei sighs, running a hand over his face. He clenches his jaw and looks at him.
"Your sister did what she had to do. If you're assigned to a mission with a doctor, you respect the doctor. Period."
You flinch slightly at being defended like this… by Aizawa-sensei of all people. Ryota growls through gritted teeth but says nothing.
Sensei's gaze immediately returns to you.
"Togata," he says, his voice lower, almost gentle. "You did well."
Your heart leaps and somersaults. No one knows how happy you are right now, hearing these words from your mentor.
Then he becomes cold and distant again. "Keep it up," he adds, turning to leave the infirmary, without a smile, without another word. You remain frozen for a few seconds, watching the door close behind him. You don't know why, but it stings that he won't call you aside to talk…
And, slowly, your chest feels heavy. Aching. Why the coldness? Why did it end like this after the party?
Ryota crosses his arms. "What, are you disappointed? Didn't your favorite sensei cuddle you?"
You don't answer. You can't... if you were to speak, your voice would tremble. And Ryota, perceptive, would notice immediately.
Ryota makes a sound with his tongue as he turns and heads for the door. "Tsk. You guys are truly pathetic."
As he walks down the corridor to return to his Alpha Class, Ryota glances at Aizawa-sensei. He sees him. He sees him standing still, leaning against the wall, his eyes closed.
Almost as if he's trying to calm down.
Ryota frowns and turns back to you.
"What...?"
***
Later...
"Go talk to Aizawa-sensei, tell him I'm throwing another party this evening and that I've invited him too. Don't forget."
You hear Tess's shrill voice ringing in your ears. This morning, she only mentioned her new party, claiming that she and Hizashi would step aside and handle their mischief elsewhere, without disturbing you. You'd love to believe her, but you know her too well...and you know things probably won't go the way she plans.
Lost in these nauseating thoughts, you climb the stairs to Sensei's office. You feel a mix of agitation and calm. At the top floor, he stands in front of the classroom door, his usual cup of coffee in hand and his sleeping bag rolled up under one arm. He looks exhausted, utterly drained. But as he catches sight of you from the corner of his eye, his gaze sharpens, more alert than before. (Perhaps you're already starting to play mental movies?)
You stop about a meter away from him, clutching a folder in your hand.
"A-Aizawa-sensei... can I... speak to you?"
The professor raises an eyebrow, almost amused. But he nods. "Of course."
You take a deep breath, gather some courage, and blurt out the sentence…in bits and pieces.
"Well… I wanted to ask you if… if this evening… you'd come again… to Tess's party."
And there you have it, the moment of silence that embarrasses you, the one that makes you feel out of place and sadly awkward. You might even add, insecure.
Sensei looks at you as if he's analyzing every word you say, every gesture you make. You blush, as usual, and take another deep breath.
"I-I mean... you don't have to feel obligated! I just... I was thinking that... maybe... we could talk about that. Calmly. If... if you'd like."
He looks away for just a second, a rare signal from him. Then he turns back to you.
"Eri..."
He says softly. It reminds you of that 'Eri' he whispered softly, before he... tried to kiss you. You feel a strange heat between your legs. You hold your breath.
"If it makes you feel better: I'll be there."
Your eyes widen in surprise.
"R-Really…?"
"Yes."
Sensei runs a hand through his hair, his gaze visibly tired but sincere.
"So... it seems like someone has to stop Hizashi from blowing up Midoriya's house."
A small smile escapes your lips. You put your hand over your mouth to cover it, when Aizawa-sensei looks at you for a moment... maybe a second too long.
"And… to talk," he adds, as if forced to admit it, "the party is fine. If that's where you want to talk to me."
"It… yes! That's what I wanted…" you murmur, your cheeks red and your breath short.
Sensei takes a step closer to you. He doesn't touch you, he doesn't brush against you, but he stops close enough to avoid raising his voice and being overheard.
"...I have things to tell you too."
Your heart skips a beat. You can't take it...he's still staring at your mouth, damn it!
He brushes his fingers against your cheek and moves away, moving closer to his office door.
"Don't be late," he says, without turning around. But the tips of his ears are red. Too red. You want to hug and cuddle him all day.
You watch him disappear from behind the door, motionless, your wings trembling with happiness. He said he has... things to tell you. And he's coming. He's really coming to Tess party again.