Deep Red

70

"How was little Eri's day?" Thirteen asked, as I opened my can of beer. I hadn't really thought that Shouta would be up for the afterparty in the teacher's lounge, but he didn't even flinch when Hizashi asked.

"I think she had fun. With Midoriya and Togata around, she was able to relax." Shouta said. There was general relief in the teacher's lounge, which started a discussion on where Eri would be living since the plans for her coming to U.A. were basically being finalized at this stage.

"Well, we gotta set good examples for the girl when she comes to live with us." Hound Dog commented.

"I'll do my best to teach her which men to fall for and which to avoid like the plague." Midnight said with a chuckle. Cementoss shook his head in disbelief.

"I think you're failing the role model litmus test already, Midnight."

"Joking! Obviously. But for real, we'll need to buy a whole wardrobe for Eri... Oh. Right." she muttered. We all flinched, as we thought back to the terrible clothes Shouta had bought for Eri. I wasn't even able to stop him, he already had them when I got back home. I had no idea what he was thinking.

"Those wide-eyed kitties!" Hizashi then burst out laughing, which broke the silence and sent everyone into hysterics.

"Ugh, why did you have to remind us?" Nemuri muttered and shook her head. I chuckled a little and gave Shouta a sympathetic look.

"I thought my choice was just as cute..." he mumbled.

"Hang on, maybe the guy who couldn't care less about food, fashion and living spaces shouldn't be the one taking care of a little girl. You've been dressed in all black since as far back as I can remember, bud! What're you supposed to be, anyway? Crow-Man?" Hizashi chimed in. I chuckled a little. God, my friends (and I, unfortunately) used to make fun of Shouta for wearing nothing but black all the time. I felt bad laughing about it now, but I couldn't help it.

"But high fashion is supposed to be the kinda stuff you can't really wear while walking around in public. In that sense, Aizawa's choices are cutting edge." Allmight tried to defend him. I nodded.

"Black is very classy." I just commented before going back to nursing my beer. Nemuri shook her head.

"That doesn't amount to much of a defense." she commented.

"Who cares what the clothes look like as long as they're wearable?" Shouta pouted before sipping on his beer again.

"Anyhow, I heard that class A's performance was out of this world!" Thirteen chimed in, trying to change the topic. It helped as Shouta's expression softened.

"Yeah, they tried their best for sure." he said with a slight smile.

"Whoa, whoa, whoah, Mr Humble over here! They raised the damn roof! I was planning to just pop in for a peek, but I ended up boogying 'til the very end!" Mic exclaimed.

"Weren't you supposed to be patrolling?" Nemuri asked.

"Patrolling the dance floor, sure!"

"I wish I could have attended. They say the music itself was amazing and the lead vocalist, in particular, was incredible." Ectoplasm said.

"A sexy, husky, cute voice, as the kids put it!" Hizashi commented. I almost choked on my beer.

"Woah, way to make it weird, Zashi!"

"Ah, if only I could've heard that." Ectoplasm said sadly.

"The girl comes from a musical family, yeah?" Hizashi asked.

"Uh-huh."

"When a kid's allowed to practice what they like, and when the parents encourage it, that's how you get polished talent like that. And you could tell, with the whole performance, that they didn't want us in the audience getting bored for even a second. With the band up there rocking the house and the crowd dancing their pants off, I was ready to run up on stage and join 'em. Might've too, if Eraser here hadn't stopped me!"