𝚆𝚎 𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝙱𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚎𝚜 | 𝙼𝚢 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚘 𝙰𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚊 - 𝙾𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜

- 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝙾𝚗 𝙼𝚎 -

Even so, a small part of her mind hopes that maybe someday Aizawa would notice her and see her as more than just a hero, to see Emi for her. But for now, Emi would be content with just being near him.

With her heart flipping at the sight of him, Emi skipped towards him and her sea-green hair bounced against her shoulders.

"Aizawa!" Emi called, and Aizawa stopped in place at the sound of her voice.

'Oh god, any day but today...' Aizawa internally groaned and turned to see Emi Fukukado coming in his direction.

He was quite surprised to see her in casual clothes no less but wanted to run and hide. Because today of all days, Aizawa didn't have the energy to entertain her.

Emi stopped a few meters away from Shota as a smile formed across her lips.

"Joke." Aizawa greeted, with much less enthusiasm.

Emi giggled and held a hand to her face. "Aww, future husband, no need to be so formal! After all, I'm not on hero duty at the moment."

"I can see that," Aizawa responded curtly, one of his eyes twitching slightly.

"Anyway, what brings you to this part of town? Have you finally decided to claim me as your wife?" Emi asked, with a hint of teasing.

Aizawa was about to bash himself over the head for not getting into the car back with Mic. He just wanted some time to himself and now he probably had to deal with her for the rest of the evening.

Don't get him wrong, Aizawa thought Emi was a great hero when she was actually being serious. But her jokes were a huge turnoff for him, because why the hell would someone joke about things like dating and marriage? Aizawa honestly couldn't understand it.

Aizawa blinked when he realized he hadn't replied to Emi, who had been staring at him with her mouth open wide in confusion.

'Usually, he would've said no by now.' Emi thought as Aizawa would always be quick to retort.

Aizawa shook her head. "I-No, that's not why I'm here. I just needed some time alone." He said honestly.

Emi blinked. Aizawa had never hesitated in responding to her jokes before. There was something off and the gut feeling was practically screaming at Emi.

Aizawa's eyes met Emi's as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Now if you excuse me, I would like to spend the rest of the evening enjoying the quiet."

Aizawa then walked past Emi but was caught off guard when he felt a hand touch his arm. He tried to recoil out of her grip, but Emi remained persistent as she gave him a concerned look.

"Joke, what the hell?!" Aizawa exclaimed, the contact making him uncomfortable.

Emi's eyebrows crinkled in concern. "What's going on with you? You never hesitate when I do that joke."

Aizawa exhaled in irritation and tried to shake her hand off. "It's none of your business. I just want to be alone."

"It is my business if one of my closest friends is hurting inside." Emi persisted, tightening her grip on Aizawa's hand.

Aizawa warily scratched his cheek and brushed her off, "You're being ridiculous."

"Please Shota, just tell me what's wrong..." Emi said tentatively, and Aizawa's heart skipped a beat hearing his name from her mouth.

Once again Aizawa tried to pull away from Emi and still she wouldn't budge. Instead, Emi's hand traveled to his hand and they intertwined fingers.

While her touch felt foreign to Aizawa at first, it became strangely nice. It reminded him how Shirakumo used to wrap a comforting arm around his shoulder and smile at him, like nothing in the world could bring him down.