Perhaps a Better Place [A Dadzawa Story]

Unsteady: Chapter 22

     I knock on the door of my apartment but no one opens it, even after I wait for several minutes. I open the door myself, slowly, assuming no one is home.

    I walk through, checking the living room and the small kitchen. The scent of alcohol is strong and my stomach churns uncomfortably at the sight of countless tipped over and shattered alcohol bottles covering the table and spilling over onto the floor. I shudder and continue down the hall. 

     There’s no one in the living room. The bathroom is empty. My parents’ bedroom door is closed so I don’t even bother.

    I walk into my room and toss my bag on the floor. I change into a pair of jeans with a tank top, then partially zip a jacket up over it. I shove my hands into the pockets and take a deep breath.

    It’s colder here. It always is. Every hair stands on end and I feel cold right to my soul. It’s grey, empty, dying, or maybe it’s already dead. Maybe it has been for years. It’s quiet, and even when it’s not, it’s deafeningly loud. It smells like alcohol and cigarette smoke and I hate it. I don’t want to be here anymore. I want to go back.

    I never realized a house was supposed to feel like somewhere you belong. Like something that belongs to you, and you feel safe there, and that it’s not normal to knock on your own door and check every single room for things that shouldn’t be there.

    Aizawa and Present Mic’s house is so warm. There was always pleasant noise, like Present Mic’s voice, or the radio, or Aizawa having fake arguments with the cats. Those are funny.

    I smile and open my closet door, grabbing a second backpack. I fill it with my most treasured possessions and things I’ve bought with my own money. I don’t have much. I’ve never needed much.

    I grab the remainder of my hero merch and shove it into the backpack as well.

    I stand and close the closet, sighing quietly to myself. I sit on my bed and pull out my phone, finding Aizawa’s number and hitting ‘call’. It picks up on the third ring.

    “Are you on your way back?” he asks.

    “Hello to you, too.”

    He sighs. “Hello. Are you on your way back?”

    “I’m almost done here. I haven’t seen either of them so I think they’re out.”

    “Okay, that’s good. But be careful. If you do run into trouble, you know what to do. One click for my help, two for any licensed hero within two miles, and three for all that, plus the police if it’s a real emergency.”

    “I got it. I’ll be leaving in a few minutes, so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”

     “Alright. Be safe, please,” he says. I smile to myself.

    “Safe is my middle name. I’ve never made a single poor decision in my life.”

    “This is serious,” he scolds.

    “And so am I. Trust me, Aizawa-sensei, I got this.”

    He sighs, “Okay, okay. I’ll be in the teachers’ lounge when you get here.”

    “Got it. See you soon.”

    “Yeah,” he responds finally and I hang up after a second.

    I make sure I have everything I need before opening the bedroom door. I walk into the hallway and a terrible smell makes my eyes water before I make it two steps.