Eraserhead and Scribe V

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Scribe sat on her favorite hill beneath her favorite tree on the UA grounds watching Eri playing in the grass. From here, she should be able to see the bus return with Class 1-A. The spring weather was absolutely perfect and she let herself relax a little, feeling the sun's rays soaking into her skin. Eri plucked a dandelion and blew its white fuzz over the green hill. Then she hopped up and started chasing the little spinning seeds, trying to catch them all. Scribe laughed, but it felt forced. Her energy was low. She leaned back against the tree she still thought of as hers and Aizawa's.

"Everything I do is for our love, pretty."

She started and looked to her left. Tomura Shigaraki looked back at her. "Am I dreaming?"

"Do you dream about me, pretty?" He leaned toward her. "Because I dream about you."

Horror filled her, but she knew it wasn't revulsion at his presence. It was horror at her own acceptance of it. Too late, she rejected him. "You're not here." She moved away from him.

"Probably not. How many of me are there anyway?" He leered at her, moving closer, crawling toward her until his body covered hers and he blocked the sun. He tilted his head, and the shadow that covered his face looked like a hand. He leaned closer, his voice a hoarse whisper. "I love you. But which one of me is it, do you think?"

She gasped and jerked herself awake, leaping to her feet. She looked back at the spot where she'd just leaned against the tree. Another nightmare. I didn't even know I was asleep. My God, what's happening to me?

"Scribe-san, they're here!" Eri grabbed her hand. She seemed completely oblivious to Scribe's agitation, and Scribe quickly squelched it.

"Oh good." She smiled down at the little girl then followed her gaze toward the main gate. Her heart already felt lighter with the return of the people she loved most. "Let's go meet them, what do you say?"

The students filed off the bus, gathering their bags as they did. They looked tired but stopped to say hello to her and to get a quick hug. Eri made a beeline for Midoriya, and he scooped her up in a hug. Scribe watched the two fondly, distracted from everything else that was going on around her.

You miss me at all?

She turned to find Aizawa standing next to her, his expression bemused but she could see the love in his eyes. She smiled. You have no idea. She put her arms around him and he pulled her close, kissing her. When they parted, she looked up at him. I hope you don't have to do that again any time soon.

Me too. He stroked her hair back from her face, his touch very gentle.

Bakugo walked past. "You guys are being creepy again."

Scribe laughed but Aizawa barely looked at him. "Just get your stuff back to the dorm, Bakugo. I'll see you in class in fifteen."

"Oh, you're rough. You're making them go to class after a field trip?" Scribe leaned against him as they walked back onto the campus.

He snorted. "You think that's rough? You should've seen the obstacle course Kamui Woods devised for them. They did well, though. This morning, anyway. Their first run was pretty dicey."

"Of course they did well. They're well trained." Scribe slid her arm around his waist. She wanted to keep up with him, but she felt sluggish. When she yawned, he looked down at her, his concern plain.

"You're not sleeping enough." He studied her face. She knew he was noting the dark circles under her eyes, the pallor that even the spring sun had not alleviated.

"I know." She sighed.

"Nightmares?" He paused, turning her to face him.

...pretty...

She couldn't answer for a moment, stricken silent by her alarm. The word had sounded so clearly in her head she felt certain he'd heard it, too. When she realized he hadn't, a shudder ran over her. Is he in my head again? Resolving to work on her guards that evening, she smiled reassuringly at Aizawa. "Yes, but, I've been thinking maybe I can control them. I need to get back to meditating on a regular basis. Tonight."

He nodded but the concern didn't leave his eyes. "Come with me to class, why don't you? We're going to go over their individual strategies on the obstacle course. I'd love to have your opinions."

She hesitated. "I think...if it's okay, I wanted to find Toshinori and get him to give Tsukauchi a call. He was looking into the disappearance of the girl. Hina. I want to see if he's got any leads."

His lips tightened a little but he nodded. "I know you're still worried about her." He glanced at her. "I guess it would have helped if Shigaraki had been a little more definitive about what he said."

"Yeah." As he resumed walking toward the school, she fell into step with him again, wishing there was something she could say that would reassure him. "It's sort of weird, you know. That all he said was I took care of it. Like that would be enough."

"At the time, maybe he thought it would be." Aizawa glanced at her. "He'd just spent an entire day with you thinking you were in love with him."

She winced, but it was more pain for him than at the vague memories she still couldn't totally work into her reality. "I don't think that day will ever feel real to me."

I love you.

Was it a memory or an intrusion? Was it an emotion or the memory of one? If I can't stop this from happening, I'll go insane.

And maybe that was why she wanted to find the girl so badly. If she could close that chapter in her life, surely she could move on, finally, from Tomura Shigaraki. Maybe she could get rid of the nightmares along with the connection to him.

What about your dreams, pretty? Will you throw me out of those, too?

With a renewed determination, Scribe kissed Aizawagoodbye at the door to the classroom building and went to find All Might