Can't Stay Away {EraserMight}

{20}

Aizawa was letting his personal life affect his professional life, ergo meaning that he was a lot more emotional with his students.

He was angrier and sadder, and the students couldn't tell which was worse. They had tried everything to cheer him up, but it had failed each time, and it wasn't until Aizawa slipped up when they found out what was wrong. They were trying to cheer him up again when it happened: he began coughing, and he excused himself before he ran out of the room, but a few flowers managed to escape him before he was out. It immediately brought everyone down.

"..So this is what happened." Mina commented.

"Didn't Mr. Aizawa cough up flowers earlier in the year, kero?" Tsuyu asked, recalling the teacher's slip up from way back (see Chapter 2). Everyone nodded as they remembered that incident.

"That's what he gets for fussin' about something so stupid." Bakugo said.

"Hey, Bakugo, that's not cool! Mr. Aizawa's going through something right now, and we've gotta be there for him!" Kirishima retaliated. Bakugo scoffed.

"Hey, do you think we could be, like, his wingman or something?" Kaminari suddenly piped up.

"What? No way man! That'd never work!" Sero said.

"We don't even know who he likes. Red, white, blue and yellow could be anyone." Tokoyami added. Kaminari was about to defend his idea when they heard it: Midoriya was muttering something.

"Midoriya! Now is not the time to be helplessly pondering about something! We must focus on our teacher!" Iida scolded. Midoriya looked up at his classmates in embarrassment.

"S-Sorry! But.. the colors got me thinking. Mr. Aizawa spends a lot of his time at the school, right? There's only one teacher here who is commonly associated with those colors. Maybe it's All Might?" Midoriya said.

"For him to like All Might.. that would imply that he's gay or bisexual, but we don't know if he is." Yaoyorozu spoke.

"And, although he does spend most of his time at school, that doesn't mean he spends all of his time here. Surely All Might couldn't be the only option." Todoroki said.

"As right as you may be, All Might is our best bet." Jiro replied. Suddenly, Aizawa reentered the classroom, startling all the students.

"Well, you lot are awfully energetic, aren't you? Class isn't over, you know." Aizawa boomed, crushing the flowers he left behind the first time as he walked up to the podium. Everyone quickly scrambled to their seats. "Alright, since you guys were just chatting it up, how about you all fill me in, hm?" Aizawa's eyes flashed red for a moment, intimidating everyone in the room.

"We were simply discussing a surprise we had planned for one of the members of this classroom, sir!" Iida responded, vaguely. Aizawa sighed. They were all obviously hiding something.

"The next time I see you all out of your seats, each of you will write me an essay explaining why you thought that was an appropriate thing to do in the middle of class, plus I'll make you work harder during the afternoon classes. I'll also force you all to sleep earlier, since you're doing all your socializing during school hours."

Jeez, he's really upset right now; this punishment is harsher than normal! The students comically thought in unison. Aizawa sighed.

"Alright, back to the lesson.."

Homeroom felt like it lasted hours, and Aizawa just wanted it to be over. He was tired.

When it finally ended, Yamada bursted through the door.

"Are you rrrrREADY FOR ENGLISH CLASS?!" He shouted, and all the students groaned. Aizawa brushed past him as he left the room. Yamada sadly looked back at him before shaking his head and smiling for the class.

Aizawa walked into the teacher's lounge, walking past the other teachers silently. He sat down at his computer and did the attendance. He was at it for a while, seeing as he kept getting distracted.

"I lost those feelings."

Your fault.

Your fault.

Your fault.

Aizawa began to cough up flowers.

It's all your fault.

Because of you, he's gone.

"I love you, Shota."

Tears spilled from Aizawa's eyes. He covered his mouth, trying desperately to stop his thoughts.

You drove him away.

You're unlovable.

Awful.

Horrid.

Eraserhead stood, unable to finish his assignment. He looked around, hoping to find an unoccupied exit. One exit was surrounded by Midnight, Nezu, and Ectoplasm, so he'd have to take the other. He ran towards the doors, and before he could grab the handle, it opened before him, revealing a tall, thin man.

It was All Might.

"Oh, Aizawa! I've been looking f-"

"Go away." Aizawa interrupted shakily. He shoved past Toshinori and rushed to the bathroom.

He was crying. Toshinori thought. I should go and.. He stood there. He felt empty. ..No, I don't have that privilege anymore. He wiped his tears away. He wasn't allowed to cry because this was his fault.

But, he didn't want this. He didn't want to break up with Aizawa.

He loved him.

What happened?