Eraserhead and Scribe V

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Aizawa entered the classroom still distracted. Scribe wasn't telling him something, and he was afraid it had to do with Shigaraki. Rewinding her should have taken care of that. Whatever bond they shared shouldn't be there anymore.

But he couldn't help remembering the look on Shigaraki's face when he offered to rewind him, too. The rejection of the idea had actually surprised him, even as he was relieved not to have to ask Eri to do it. Why would he not want to let his feelings for Scribe go?

But he thought he knew why. Shigaraki didn't really believe he was alone in his love for Scribe. Somehow, he believed Scribe loved him, too.

Maybe she does.

He gritted his teeth. Scribe had cared about Tomura Shigaraki for some time. She'd admitted it to him after their first hero mission. She'd been as surprised by her feelings as he had. He didn't think she'd loved him, though. Not until the doctor got involved, anyway. His interference, capturing Scribe's consciousness and putting it into an alternate reality with a softened version of Tomura Shigaraki as her only protector, had undeniably changed the dynamic. Scribe had emerged from that begging him in tears to contact Shigaraki. And only after they met in her hospital room had she been able to return to some semblance of normalcy.

But even a semblance of normalcy hadn't been enough, had it? Scribe and Shigaraki's history together was nearly as complex a tapestry as his own with her. Maybe more so. And I hoped to unravel the whole damn thing just by having Eri rewind her.

He rejected the thought as quickly as it came into his mind. Rewinding Scribe had been the only way to bring her back after the stray girl from the mind quirked family had unleashed her quirk on Scribe. A very powerful quirk that evidently erased a mind of all memories, the experience had thrown Scribe back into the alternate reality with Shigaraki.

The one where she loved him.

Aizawa groaned and stood from his desk. He pulled out the diagram Kamui Woods had given him of the obstacle course and drew it on the board. Just as he finished it, All Might stuck his head in. "Aizawa."

He turned. "Toshinori. My wife was looking for you."

"I'm aware." Toshinori Yagi, the retired All Might, entered, his tall, lanky form somehow nearly as imposing as his long-gone hero self. "I think I should take over your class. I called Tsukauchi. He has information about the girl."

Aizawa straightened. "That's good, isn't it?"

"Maybe." All Might looked cautious. "But she'll have to meet Tsukauchi to get the information. I thought maybe you would prefer to accompany her on this particular mission. I can easily take care of this." He gestured at the board, then turned back to Aizawa. "Tsukauchi said the information comes from someone who's familiar with Shigaraki."

Aizawa nodded. He understood All Might's concern. Any contact with Shigaraki, even a sideways or diagonal one, felt dangerous, especially for Scribe. But he did trust his wife's love for him. Didn't he?

He thought of how tired and haunted her eyes were, and he realized whether he trusted her or not didn't matter. Scribe needed him, and right now she didn't need him to have faith in her. She needed him to stand beside her. He handed All Might the marker he'd just been using on the board. "I think I should go help my wife."

All Might nodded approval. "That's what I was thinking, too."

***

Scribe looked up when he entered their apartment. He could tell she was getting ready to go to the police department. She wore her hero uniform, something she only did on official occasions. She looked puzzled. "Shota? I thought you had class?"

"All Might is taking the class this afternoon." He put his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. "I'm sorry. I've been trying to show you how much I trust you but that doesn't matter, really, does it? I'm just...I'm here, love."

He felt her tremble and realized how hard she must have worked to keep him from knowing how much she needed him. But her arms went around him, and she leaned against his chest with a small sigh. He thought of the night after Shigaraki came to the bookstore, when she'd been wracked by self-doubt, the first time she'd considered whether or not she'd unknowingly done something to the villain with her quirk...something that had made him love her.

He called it poison, Shota. Maybe he's right. Maybe I am poison. How do we know I didn't do that to him? How do we know I didn't do it to you?

But he'd known then as he did now, that her quirk had nothing to do with the way he felt about her. That night, the only way he'd been able to reassure her was to erase her. Now he doubted her quirk was even erasable. He couldn't undo anything she did, not really. She'd rewritten fate itself to save both All Might and himself. Somehow she'd rewritten Shigaraki's quirk so he couldn't harm her and in the process had healed something in the man himself so he was capable of more than hate. In battle, she was quick and decisive, using her quirk to protect more often than to attack others. Best Jeanist adored her, Endeavor held her in high regard, even Ms. Joke admitted Scribe was an asset to an operation. But Kamui Woods, who had dealt with the backlash after Scribe's first injury during the capture of Murder Hornet, was the one who had voiced what had worried Aizawa recently: Strong as Scribe was, could they be certain she was actually suited to hero work?

Holding her right then, he wondered. But he also felt certain that finding this girl who had been responsible for Scribe's second serious injury was important. Somehow, she was the key, but whether it was to open a door to the future or to lock a door to the past, Aizawa was not certain.

He just knew he'd help Scribe through this in the hopes she would find whatever it was she needed.