𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐙𝐀𝐖𝐀

2

Once the day was over Shouta felt like he was grumpier than he had ever been. He wasn't sure what exactly was getting on his nerves so much, but it had to be something that kept insistently increasing over the course of the day. Maybe it was his annoyance at having to go back to the damn police station because of that villain that had already ruined his day yesterday.

Especially when all he wanted was to go to sleep. Preferably somewhere nice and warm, because he had been somewhat cold all damn day and he had no idea why that was. Maybe it was the lack of sleep making him feel cold. He wasn't so sure about that and frankly he also didn't really care what exactly it was that made him feel cold. All he cared about was that he was cold and that he wanted to change that. Hopefully by having a nap in his nice warm bed.

But first he had to get this whole police station dilemma over with. He just hoped that Y/N would be on time. He honestly couldn't remember whether she was one of the students that was usually on time or if she was one of those chronic latecomers. It didn't even matter, because his day was already ruined. She might as well be late and make this the worst possible day ever.

But she wasn't late and even that kind of pissed Shouta off. Why did she have to overthrow his low expectations and actually be there before him? Was she trying to show him up or something? No. No, no, no. Shouta took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. What the hell was wrong with him? If Nemuri had been here, she would have asked him if he was getting his period.

It was fairly normal for Shouta to get pretty moody, but this much? That was a lot, even for him. And there was absolutely no reason for him to be this grumpy. Hopefully this would pass with a bit of sleep. And hopefully he'd keep things under control enough to not snap at his old student.

"Hi, Mr. Aizawa!" she greeted him, waving at him a little, a big smile on her face. Why the hell was she so happy? And what was wrong with her hair? Her (h/c) hair was tied up into two very messy buns. VERY messy. Why did she look so messy in general? It was annoying Shouta.

"Hi, Y/N. Did you just wake up or...?" he asked. God, he didn't want to say that out loud. What the hell was wrong with him? Y/N didn't seem to mind too much, though. Thankfully. Maybe she was used to this because she used to be his student or something. Which wasn't really a much nicer thought either.

"No, but I've had the morning off and I've just been taking a walk through town and it was super windy. Kinda messed up my hair and all." she replied with an apologetic laugh. Shouta raised his eyebrow.

"Did that also put the coffee stains on your shirt? And did you crawl through some mud to get here or something?" he asked her as he mustered the rest of her outfit, instantly regretting what he had said. He needed sleep. He really did. Or a day off. Or rather a whole week off. A year, maybe.

"No, I just haven't had time to do my laundry in ages. So I just threw on the clothes that were the best, comparably and threw the rest in the washing machine. And the coffee stains... I mean, I did spill coffee on myself earlier, that's on me, I guess. You seem pretty tired." she commented.

"Yeah, no shit." he muttered. So it was that noticeable? Great. Just great. He was surprised that no one had commented on it at work. Maybe they were that used to him being insufferable that they didn't even bother saying anything anymore. If he continued thinking about this, he'd get a midlife crisis.

"Right, so what have you been up to all day?" Y/N wanted to know. How she wasn't taken aback by his grumpiness yet was absolutely beyond him. Shouta just shrugged and grumbled something, before getting himself together and actually giving her a proper answer.

"Teaching. I've been teaching all day."

"Oh right. So I assume they've all been little shits or something?" she wanted to know with a grin.

"No, no, they've actually been pretty good. Can't complain about them, really. I just didn't really get enough sleep, I guess." Shouta finally admitted. Y/N let out a long sigh and leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, I can imagine. You work way too much, man." she commented with a slight smile. Shouta glanced over at her. She seemed really tired, too. But she should have gotten more sleep, right? She went home earlier after all. And that was the sole reason he had stayed up so late.

But he knew how being tired just piled up and once he got the chance to rest it all just came crashing down on him. Maybe the same thing had happened to her. No reason to assume she just stayed up late anyway for no reason. Sometimes he really couldn't help but assume the worst of people.

"Yeah, I guess so. But someone's got to do the work, I guess." he mumbled, kind of annoyed that he was that person.

"Who says it's got to be you? I mean did you ever think of just... taking some time off or something? You know, like a normal person?" Y/N replied. Shouta looked at her, not sure whether to be offended or whether to agree with her. The thing was that he just wished more people were his kind of normal, so everyone would put in a little more work which meant he wouldn't have to pick up all the slack.

Then again, no one told him that he was the one that had to do it, he just did it, because... well, not even because he was such a good person. Mostly so he could complain about other people not doing as much as they should be doing and that he had to do all the work then. Which wasn't really fair and he was aware of that, but he still liked doing it. It just made him feel better about himself.

"I mean, I guess you're right, but still... I don't know. Anyway, we're not here to discuss my life choices. Where the hell is Tsukauchi? I wanna go home and sleep already." Shouta told her.

"I don't know, haven't seen him around yet. Are you telling me you've given up sleeping during class? Never thought I'd see the day." Y/N answered with a chuckle. Shouta shot her a glare. Of course she had to rub salt in the wound, didn't she? It wasn't like he wasn't trying to get some damn sleep...

"No, I just didn't find any opportunity today. Like, throughout the entire day. Which is why I'm desperate to just get home and have a chance for a nap before my patrol tonight." he admitted.

"Oh, I see, I see. Well, unfortunately I really haven't seen Tsukauchi around since I got here and that was a while ago. So we can only hope that he's really busy and almost done with what he is doing right now. Otherwise we might be here for a while." Y/N replied with a lopsided smile. Shouta groaned in frustration at this. Of course it would go like this. He wasn't even surprised anymore.

"Why is today like this?" he muttered, more to himself than to anyone else. He kind of was hoping that Y/N didn't hear it, because he had been grumpy enough around her, but he also hoped that she would hear it, because him having a shitty day would explain at least some of his grumpiness.

"I don't know. Hopefully getting some sleep is going to make things a bit better for you." Y/N said.

"Yeah, I hope I actually get the chance to get some sleep..." Shouta grumbled. Y/N gave him an empathetic look.

"I mean you could just take a nap now or something... until Tsukauchi shows up." she suggested.

Shouta was kind of pissed off that he hadn't thought of that first. Of course he could take a nap right here. Why hadn't he done so right away? Now he would probably settle in for some sleep and then Tsukauchi would show up out of nowhere and everything would be even worse. But at this point, Shouta almost wanted this day to get even worse. Just so he would be able to complain more.

"You know what? Maybe I should..." he replied, but - as expected - there was some noise from the other end of the hallway and as he looked over, there was Detective Tsukauchi coming towards them. He looked just as stressed as Shouta felt, so that didn't annoy the pro-hero too much.

"Well, this is unfortunate..." Y/N muttered.