This Thing A Quiet Madness Made

Chapter 37

"I don't think so, no."

"Oh, that's ok! They put the decorations away already, but they'll put them up again next year!"

"That's nice."

A pleasant silence settled as Eri combed through the penguin's short fur, gently dragging her fingertips across the plush fabric. After she was satisfied with her work, she smiled, hugging it tightly before setting it beside her, turning her attention to a round frog plush next.

"Hey, Eri," Unknown spoke up after a long moment, drawing the girl's curious eyes up to her, "...are you supposed to be talking to me?"

"What do you mean?" Eri tilted her head.

"Well, you know I'm dangerous, right?"

The girl blinked, her hands stilling to rest atop the frog's head. She seemed to consider something for a moment, her gaze lowering a fraction before she resumed her gentle strokes across the stuffed animal. "My quirk is dangerous too. That's why Mr. Aizawa has to take care of me here," she started, her smile momentarily slipping before it quickly returned, even brighter than before. "If you're not scared of me, then I'm not scared of you either!"

Unknown was about to open her mouth to explain how that really wasn't how it worked, but upon seeing the childish joy beaming from the little girl, the kind of joy she couldn't quite recall feeling at her age, she opted instead to simply return the smile, albeit a bit more muted.

"Ok, I just don't want you to get in any trouble."

Eri remained cheerfully distracted for a few more hours, in the process managing to rope a very confused Unknown into playing house with her, before a quiet buzz sounded from behind them, catching both their attentions. The older girl excused herself for a moment as she set down the plush that had been sitting on her lap, standing up and moving to check on the phone laying atop her desk.

"Are you ok?" Eri asked curiously, peeping up from her spot on the floor.

"Yea, I'm fine. Eraserhead just asked if you were here. I think he's looking for you," she mused, tapping out a reply as she made her way back towards the girl. She sat down and set the plush onto her lap once more, placing her phone aside. "He says he's coming by in a minute."

Eri let out a quiet "oh" before returning her gaze to the penguin in her hands. She resumed playing with the plush, although for some reason, she seemed a bit uneasy.

Not five minutes later, a knock sounded at the door, prompting Unknown to rise from her spot once again.

"Eraser," she greeted as she stepped aside to give him view of Eri, whose attention was already turned to the pair.

"Eri, didn't I tell you to wait until I was back to come visit?" Aizawa sighed, appearing tired as always.

"Sorry..." the girl uttered softly, climbing to her feet and shuffling over to the two, still hugging the penguin to her chest. Her big red eyes stared up at him apologetically. "I got excited... please don't be mad at Naoko," she urged, gently grabbing onto his sleeve.

Aizawa sighed, using his free hand to softly ruffle her hair. "It's alright, just go back to your room for now. You can visit again when I come back from work, alright?"

Eri nodded eagerly, her nervousness all but melting away as she turned back to Unknown. She hugged the penguin one last time, smiling down at it softly before holding it out to her.

"You can keep it," Unknown offered, though she wasn't expecting the girl to practically light up at her words, eyes widening and shimmering with wonder as they blinked up at her.