Infectious

ch. 42

Chapter Forty Two;;- Double Sided

Rain splattered the windows of the Yuuei teacher's room, the soft sound of the rain accompanied by the equally quiet sound of tapping keyboards and pencils scritching. There was forever plenty of work to be done as a teacher of such a humongous school, much to most of the teacher's dismay.

[name] finished marking a grade in the top corner of a paper with a red pen, dropping the pen onto the desk and leaning back in her chair with a sigh. "I thought the rainy season was over," She murmured out loud, though not really directing it at anyone.

Yamada directed his attention to the window too, releasing the pencil that he had been holding in his mouth. "It usually is by now." He shrugged, his gaze wandering around the room before landing back on the computer screen he was working at. "Probably won't be too big, since it wasn't predicted on the weather this morning."

"If the rain clears up, do you want to grab dinner as a group or something?" Kayama asked, picking at the polish of her nails that had begun to peel off.

"Sorry," [name] answered quietly, scratching the nape of her neck timidly. "Elijah is coming over again tonight."

"Phoo," Yamada exhaled from his mouth loudly. He frowned, eyebrows knitting together. "Again? How many times is it that you've bailed on us now?"

[name]'s eyebrows rose in shock, lips parting. She bowed the best she could from her seat without getting up. "I'm sorry! I don't mean to make it seem like I've been ditching you guys." She straightened up again, hiding her eyes behind her hair. "It's been such a long time since I've seen Elijah and we've got a lot to catch up on."

Aizawa, who was sitting the closest to Yamada, smacked his arm. "She's not bailing on us, iidot." He turned away from Yamada and looked to [name] instead. "You can hang out with people other than us. We're not offended."

Yamada nodded sheepishly. "Sorry... That joke came out ruder than I intended."

"Thanks," [name] smiled as she met their eyes again. "I feel like I missed out on so much of his life and to not be there for someone who I consider important for so long..." She shook her head, doing a mental reset. "As much as I love hanging out with you guys, I really enjoy his company, too! Let's do a rain check on the dinner, okay?"

. . .

Aizawa wasn't generally surprised to see Elijah leaving in the mornings anymore. It had only been two weeks since he and [name] had been reunited after their eleven years of separation, but Aizawa had probably spotted Elijah leaving [name]'s apartment at least four or five times.

Even though he had scolded Yamada for his "joke" earlier, Aizawa didn't actually like seeing [name] spend more time with Elijah than she did with the Yuuei teachers. He knew it wasn't his place to say so, but he missed her presence at their weekly outings and seeing her around the campus as well.

It felt selfish almost that Aizawa wanted [name] to be there. Kayama and Yamada were loud and outgoing, so [name]'s quieter personality seemed to bring more balance to their little group. She would smile and laugh along, but she never seemed to get as riled up as those two would.

But it still wasn't Aizawa's place to tell her who to spend her free time with. [name] was her own person and that meant she had her own decisions and her own life outside of Aizawa's eyesight. He wouldn't be as annoying as to insist she hung out with them if she wanted to spend more time with Elijah.

They had been apart for eleven years, after all. A lot happens between the ages of seventeen to twenty-eight. Of course they would have lots to talk about. [name] had even admitted that he was an important person to her. All the more reason that she should hang out with Elijah.

What was Aizawa doing, trying to convince himself that her choices were justified? He shook his head, swirling the pen in his fingers.

The rain had stopped but since [name] had declined, everyone just headed to their respective homes instead of going out together. The moment could very well be a moment for Aizawa to take a rest, but instead he decided to get a head start on the next day's work. He scribbled a number on the top corner of someone's paper, underlining and circling it. As he finished, his pen trailed off the paper and his mind inevitably turned to the conversation that he had partaken in earlier in the day.

Aizawa wasn't sure why Elijah made him uneasy. Was it his sudden appearance, or his "temporary work contract," or the way the [name] spoke about him, or... He was sure that it was stupid to feel so doubtful of her long term friend. Obviously she would trust someone that she had been friends with for a long time. Aizawa trusted Yamada and Kayama in the same way. Why was his gut instinct to urge [name] not to speak to Elijah?

With a sigh, he let his head fall to the table with a soft thump, his eyes falling shut. God, he was tired. Would tomorrow's workload be too much for him if he decided to go to sleep? It was only nine o'clock, but sleep beckoned him.

The sound of a door slamming in the hallway startled the sleep from his mind. Stomping footsteps followed, then, a voice shouted... [name]'s voice? Was it her door that had slammed?

As Aizawa stood and made his way to his front door, the shouting got louder. It was indeed [name]'s voice, largely laced with anger and something lying under the surface... It sounded sad. Dread filled his stomach as Aizawa wondered the possibility of his instincts being right. For [name]'s sake, he hoped not.

When he opened the door, the dread multiplied tenfold. Elijah and [name] were standing outside [name]'s apartment door. [name]'s eyebrows were twisted downwards in fury as she shouted something in English that Aizawa couldn't understand. Elijah's eyebrows knitted together, but he didn't look angry. Instead, Elijah looked guilty, almost. He made wide hand gestures as he shot rapid fire English right back at [name].

"[name]..?" Aizawa barely managed to get, confusion clearly shown on his face.

If she heard him, she showed no sign of it. She said something else in English but her voice had grown quieter and directly after she said it, Elijah fell silent himself. [name] walked backwards a few steps before finally turning and coming face-to-face with Aizawa. The rage on her face dissipated and she smiled sheepishly, opening her mouth to say something.

Before she could get it out, Elijah closed the gap with a few long strides and reached out for [name]'s hand. [name]'s mouth snapped shut and she smacked Elijah's hand away, shaking her head as he cradled his already-bruising hand to his chest. "Don't touch me." She had said it in Japanese. Why, Aizawa wasn't sure.

Following her example, Elijah spoke again, now in Japanese. "Come on, [name]..." His hand was shaking, but he reached out to touch [name]'s shoulder.s

Aizawa stepped forward, knocking Elijah's hand back as he wrapped an arm around [name]'s shoulders. She was trembling when he touched her but she still leaned into his hold. "I think you should leave," He said firmly, not leaving any room for Elijah to object. Without listening for Elijah's answer, Aizawa guided [name] into his own apartment.

He let his arm fall back to his side after he gestured vaguely to his sofa. They both sat down on the love-seat, Aizawa glancing over and watching [name] fold and unfold her hands again and again.

"Am I allowed to ask what happened?" Aizawa murmured, wishing he hadn't taken off his scarf so that he could tuck his chin into it.

[name] nodded slowly. "Yeah. I think..." She stopped, hitting the back of her head against the back of the couch and sighing. "Yeah, I'll tell you everything, but it might take a little bit."

"Okay," Aizawa stated simply. He met her eyes and to his surprise, they were moist. "Start whenever you want to."

a/n: hehe

(ALT TITLE: chapter forty two;;- the meaning of the life, the universe, and everything) <- if u get that reference ily