Overpowering Encounters

Good-bye

Waking up, Emi found herself in Shota's arms. It felt nice to have someone embrace her as he did. Out of the five love languages, touch was one of her top two. The other one was quality time. Words of affirmation felt nice, but people could say anything that they didn't even mean. There was a saying, 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' That was a lie — a big, fat one. Words fucking hurt and Emi couldn't deal with the idea of putting her trust into a relationship that meant nothing to the other person. From what she could tell, it sounded like Shota was sincere when they last spoke. Plus why did he come back here to embrace her in his arms? It was difficult for her to imagine that even though Shota said all of those things, he had his doubts.

"You're awake. I wanted to be awake myself for when you woke up, but you saw how that turned out." Giving a light chuckle, he caressed Emi's cheek. "I'm sorry that you had a rough morning. I promise that I won't ever do that to you again. I will be one hundred percent real with you even though that will be extremely difficult for me. I want you in my life, Emi."

Tears started to form in Emi's eyes. Boy, did she cry too much especially around Shota.

Trying to make light of what just happened, Shota gave a short laugh. "Emi, we'll have to make sure that you won't be crying after we figure out how to help you cope with your depression. All I want for you is to be happy. Which I'm sure you want for yourself as well. Please, Emi. I need you in my life."

Processing everything through, she tried to decide whether or not this was best for her. She would hate to hurt Shota or Eri, but would that even happen if everything went well?

FIVE MONTHS LATER

Recently, Emi had left her job at Ketsubustu Academy. She wanted to finish another year out with her students; Shota and Emi determined that it would be best for her to focus on herself before she started helping other people with their problems. When she broke the news to her students were devastated to see her leave, but they were all very understanding. No one knew that she was struggling with her mental health at Ketsubustu except for her principal, but the staff and workers were all super supportive.

In March, she had moved in with Shota after the school year had finished. Which meant she had to give up her apartment. It was a hard day to say goodbye to the school and the place she had been living during her time teaching there. That day, Shota, Hizashi, and Nezumi all came to help her move into Shota's apartment. Eri wanted to help, but there wasn't much she could do except take care of the cat. It was bizarre to think that Shota didn't have a cat especially knowing he was a hardcore cat person. Emi solved that problem since Shota agreed to let her cat stay with them.

A month later, she was doing better mentally since she didn't have anything to worry about except for hero duties specifically. She made it clear to everyone that she had to do something with her time now that she wasn't teaching. Otherwise, she spent most of her free time working out, hanging out with Shota and Eri mostly, Hizashi, or Nezumi. She tried dabbling in writing, knitting, and sewing, but it didn't help her cope with her stress like it uses to back when she was teaching. Emi made it clear to everyone that if they wanted to go out and try something new or there was a specific thing they enjoyed doing, she wanted to come and try it out. She was desperate to find any way to help her cope with her emotions.

Never having a serious relationship, it was challenging for Shota to make himself so vulnerable for Emi. Of course, she vulnerable for him as well, but the only people he had allowed himself to be open with was Hizashi, his brother, Seiji, or his parents. It was painful to watch his brother and himself drift apart because they lived utterly different lifestyles from each other. Seiji worked for the Japanese government as a lawyer which meant very long hours. After graduating from UA, Shota didn't spend a great deal of time with his parents. Instead, he wanted to become independent than being dependent on his parents. Occasionally, his parents or brother would message him to check up on how he was doing especially since Shota was horrible at contacting people.
When Hizashi and Shota moved in together after a few years of living the hero life, Shota's family was thrilled. They approved of Hizashi the day they met him and to have him now in their son's life made life easier for them. It meant that Shouta would have to contact his family more often. Otherwise, he would be hearing about how Hizashi was apart of the family more than he was.