Insomnia [Shota Aizawa x Reader] (Rewritten Version)

Chapter 38

Shota awoke once he felt the bus stop at the destination. When he did, a small weight on his shoulder confused him, and he looked over to see your head resting on it.

You were asleep, eyes closed and lips slightly parted. You must have fallen asleep only a few minutes ago, Shota assumed, considering you weren't having nightmares.

He slightly nudged you over, attempting to wake you before those nightmares started. "[L/N]," he called gently, not making the same mistakes the first time he tried to wake you.

You blinked your eyes open, lifting your head and still looking as tired as before. "We're here?"

Shota nodded, then stood and motioned for the students to exit.

As they filed out, still chattering and expecting some fun activities, he glanced back at you. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah. I didn't get much sleep from that, did I?" You sighed, standing up as well, stretching and letting the sound of joints cracking fill the silence as the students all filed out.

"Hm. I think it was only a few minutes because you weren't having a nightmare."

You shrugged. "Maybe."

You said nothing more as you made your way out of the bus, with Shota following behind.

The students were looking around, confused at the lack of a lodge or any other building around. A few moments later, the expected heroes appeared and had a short introduction to who they were and what kind of training the students would be experiencing in just a few moments. They threw the students off the cliff, and the training camp began.

As the students started their first activity, Shota spotted you and the Pussycats starting up a conversation. Not wanting to interrupt, or be included for that matter, he started off on an easier path to the lodge destination. However, to his dismay, one of them walked up to him anyway and greeted him.

"Hey Eraser! Didn't expect you to bring a newbie along to this training camp." Pixie-Bob nodded towards you at the back with a smile. "Looks just like you, though."

Shota huffed, not exactly up for a chat. He could hear you and Mandalay talking about your job at UA and the students, then saw the two of you and the kid with a hat Shota had spotted earlier walk ahead.

"Are you looking forward to this trip?" Pixie-Bob continued, looking off to the forest, possibly checking in with her Earth Flow quirk and creating more beasts for the students to fight and slow their progress. "This group is younger than the ones we usually train."

"Yeah," Shota agreed. "There's been a lot of villain attacks recently and we want to get them prepared for the worst."

"That's not a bad idea!" She smiled at him. "You seem a lot more attached to these kids than your previous ones. Is this favoritism I sense?"

"No."

"Mhm." She laughed. "I know you love 'em. You're a big softie underneath. I'm sure even the newbie figured it out. [L/N]''s the name right? How are they?"

"Alright. They teach the students well." Shota and Pixie-Bob walked as they chatted—though it was mainly Pixie-bob who was chatting.

"Getting along pretty well, huh? You two seem like a perfect match. Both in appearance and personality. But that's just my first impression and instincts."

Shota shrugged again, back hunched even more than usual from annoyance. "I get that a lot from the students."

The two heroes remained silent for a while, until Pixie-Bob threw him a sly look that reminded Shota of Max's expression when he knocks down something from the counter and knew Shota wouldn't do anything about it because he's a cat. "Is there something going on between you two?"

"No." Shota didn't like where this was going. "You should know by now that I don't do relationships."

She laughed again. "C'mon Eraser, live a little. What are you, 30? And haven't found someone?"

"You're pretty much the same age."

"I'm 18 at heart!" she exclaimed, shooting him a completely different look of annoyance and anger, though slightly less aggravated than the one she gave Midoriya.

Shota shrugged, watched as the 18-at-heart hero ran up to you and Mandalay. You seemed to be getting along well with the other hero, seeing as you were laughing and smiling with her. Your tiredness seemed to be fading away as well somehow. He caught your eyes, and you raised an eyebrow at him. Just shaking his head, he averted his gaze.

Technically, there was something going on between the two of you, Shota knew. Tension. Not a romantic tension, but rather something more... complicated.

Shota trusted you. Your relationship with the villains wasn't one out of fear, obligation, or desire for power. It was one out of care and love. Just like the relationship with the students.

And yet, Shota didn't trust you. Not regarding the villains, but rather your own choices. He didn't know if you knew you were making the right choice by staying here and getting involved. But he had to trust you to make the right decision for yourself. He sighed.

The students were another thing. If they ever find out about your history with those villains, it would take a lot of explaining and time for them to trust you again, if ever.

"What's with the long face?"

You had snuck up next to him as he was thinking, a questioning look on your face.

"Thinking about things." Shota said shortly.

"Care to share? Is it about the students or me?"

"...Both."

"Hm." You sighed. "Figured. We can talk about it, y'know."

"Maybe later." He could see that Mandalay and Pixie-Bob weren't too far ahead and who knew if they were listening.

"Let me know when." You shrugged, a small smile on your face. You sped up your walk to catch up with the other two heroes and talk with them.

Maybe there was something more, Shota thought as he watched you.