The Aizawa Effect - (Aizawa X OC)

Longing Begets Heartache

Frankly, the thought of me saying those words made me feel even more guilty since it felt like the same excuse I gave everyone around me recently. I told Mia, Mom, and Jay that it was temporary, and now I was telling Shota the same thing. It wasn't fair to any of them. I wanted so much out of life but something had to give. Maybe I could come back for a longer contract at UA in a few months after the investor pressure calms down - something, anything to get back to Shota.

It wouldn't be easy getting through this rough patch, but I was willing to move mountains to make sure we made it. I wasn't trying to chase something I couldn't handle, and while I respected his reservations, the time we spent together had to mean something to him. I refused to believe that he was as cold and objective as everyone makes him out to be.

I walked back inside after some time and heard a soft knock. My body quickly moved through my dimly lit living room and opened the door to find Aizawa standing in front of me with his goggles resting on his head, his scarf wrapped haphazardly around his neck, and his eyes more red than usual. My hands reached up and cupped his face, and my tears began falling. His face seemed warmer than usual, and his cheeks felt very slightly wet.

He sniffled lightly and blamed the cold night air.

"What about your eyes?" My throat could barely squeeze out the question.

He nestled his head in my hands and quickly blamed his quirk. "I used it more than I should have tonight."

It was an obvious lie, but my body began heaving as the tears poured. I threw my arms around him. He wrapped me in his and pulled me close.

"Please don't cry, please," he begged quietly, causing me to sob harder into his chest.

He picked my head off his chest and kissed my cheek lightly, then moved to my lips. I kissed him back and ran my fingers through his hair delicately before we pulled away.

"So it's final? You're leaving?"

I nodded my head and pulled off his goggles, placing them on the table near us. "I don't think Justice negotiated the contract correctly and right now the investors have set expectations. I don't want us to get blackballed by other investors because of this so if I can go back and renegotiate, I should be able to come back soon."

Aizawa stayed silent.

I looked at him and rubbed my finger on his chest. "I want to apologize first for the argument we had yesterday after dinner. Things got extremely tense and they shouldn't have."

He nodded and intertwined our fingers together as he rubbed the top of my hand with his thumb. "I'm sorry too. I was being a bit intense with trying to get you to see things my way. I should have taken a different approach."

A small smile formed, and I said a few thank you's before continuing, "I also wanted to apologize for telling you about my decision the way I did. I invited Justice over, and we ended up venting about a lot of issues that our friendship has been going through. From there, I went straight to work understanding the contract. I chatted with my South Korean contact, Ari Cheon, to figure out if my approach was accurate given the fact that I had very little information on what these investors were like. When you came by the door earlier this evening, I wasn't expecting you to be there, but I also wasn't even ready to tell you yet. Then Justice spoke and you asked, and I just blurted it out without even inviting you inside and that was not okay."

Aizawa shook his head. "No, no. I get it, you don't need to apologize for that."

"I have to. You mean so much to me and the way this all happened didn't show my dedication to you or to us. I seriously want to do better and will do better in the future."