Continuation Shota Aizawa x Akemi Yuriemoto (Aizawa)

Chapter 361: "No matter our fears, we fight for our family."

Hizashi had a hard time getting to sleep not after waking up for the second time that night and sighing heavily.

He should be happy, ecstatic even but his brain had to be a epic downer on his happiness by reminding him of how much he hurt the woman he loved all those years ago. Memories he kept buried sixty feet down were clawing their way to the surface like zombies.

He sighed and ran a hand over his face and turned towards Kurenai's sleeping form. She was a heavy sleeper so he wasn't surprised when she snored softly. He stood up and headed down to the common room for some late night tea. He passed a clock 12:00 greatttt.

He stopped the moment he found Shota making tea for himself. Shota looked up and arched a brow. "Shouldn't you be asleep with Kurenai?"

"Kurenai's always been a heavy sleeper until the morning. She rises with the dawn. Unlike you, me, Akemi, and Hitoshi she doesn't suffer with insomnia."

Shota smirked. "No wonder she loves you, your her alarm clock!"

Hizashi scoffed. "I'm choosing to ignore that comment in exchange for some tea."

Shota noticed how Hizashi appeared in front of him with a guarded stance and sighed. "Okay I'm literally the worst at this, but...I'd be a lousy brother if I didn't say the words that have been told to me countless times."

He stared at Hizashi with the 'don't even try to say your fine when I know your not' look, and spoke. "So what's bothering you so much that you can't sleep Hizashi?"

Hizashi sighed heavily and sat down on the dining table chair as Shota handed him a cup of tea. "Everything feels like a dream...then—a nightmare...It's like this happiness I'm feeling will end and once again...I'll be alone."

Shota's hand immediately grabbed his hand in a strong hold. Hizashi looked into his brother's intense eyes. "Never again Zashi! We're brothers and I can't believe I've never noticed that you were hurting as badly as I was!" His voice wavered. "I-I was truly blind to you, and I'm sorry. But take it from me please, and stop living in the past of what if's and could have's? It's taken so much for me to open up to people and look at me now? I'm healing but only after I learned how much my actions hurt the people I cared about most. If—if I can change anything Zashi I would never have ignored you. You-My-Brother...You've always had my back, it's about time I had yours."

Hizashi sighed into a soft smile. "Knowing what we know now, I wonder what Shira thinks of us? If he's happy, and if he's fighting like we are to be better than we were...if he remembers us now?"

Shota smirked softly. "I'm sure he does, and that he's fighting. If he were here with us like how he was before I'm pretty sure he'd say we're a pair of idiots, but we're his idiots, and then he'd pull a prank on us by somehow spiking our tea when we weren't looking."

Hizashi snorted into a laugh. "Yep that sounds like him..."

"Yeah...that jokester..."

Hizashi shifted his gaze towards Shota. "You okay bro?"

"You really scared me Zashi...I don't wanna lose anyone else and yet...it feels like we're getting pulled closer and closer towards our deaths with every close call."

"Whoa man where's all this coming from? We're fine?"

"Yeah but for how long Zashi? For how long? The league's been so silent it's scaring the living hell out of me! Those are my kids we're sending out to fight, how long will it be before...before they end up like...I—I don't think I'll survive having to bury any of them six feet into the ground."