This Time

Chapter 10

It was extremely disorienting when I woke up, and for a moment had no clue where I was. I sat up on a sofa, displacing a nest of blankets and pillows as I did so, and stared around the strange living room a moment before I remembered.

I was at All Might's house.

Sunlight was trickling weakly through the blinds, and I cast a quick glance at my watch to check the time. It was almost seven am. I grabbed my phone and the first notification was an automated message from Yūei, informing the students that the school had been closed for the day. With a sigh, I relaxed marginally when I realized I wasn't going to be late for class at least.

The apartment was quiet, and I wondered if Yagi was still asleep. Honestly, I rather hoped he was since the man really needed the rest, but I also wondered awkwardly what I should do. Would it be rude of me to just leave? Would it be weird for me to stay? Silently I slipped off the couch and padded down the hallway, trying to guess which door might be the bathroom. All the doors looked the same though, and I grimaced, not wanting to accidentally invade the man's privacy any more than I already had.

"Second door to your right," a voice said behind me, and I involuntarily yelped at the unexpected sound. I spun around to see Yagi - Yagi in pajamas and with sleep tousled hair - leaning against the door frame to what I could only assume was his bedroom and looking at me in amusement. The strangest part was that his sleep clothes weren't over-sized like the clothes he normally wore, and to see him in clothing that actually fit his body was somehow not computing with my still sleepy brain. He looked good, if I was being honest, and it was funny that his already messy hair could get even more ruffled.

I grinned awkwardly, and with sleep still clouding my judgment, I couldn't stop my traitorous mouth from saying, "Your hair looks cute like that."

All Might jumped and his face turned bright red. With horror I realized what I'd just said, and I clamped my hand over my mouth, wide-eyed and definitely more awake now. Spinning around, I bolted into the room he'd indicated, never more gratefully to see a bathroom in my entire life. With my back pressed against the door for a moment, I held my breath in the silence. Suddenly, Yagi roared with laughter, and I would have been more annoyed that he found my mortification so hilarious if I wasn't so busy being glad I hadn't offended him.

When I re-emerged several minutes later, face washed, bladder relieved, but sorely missing a toothbrush, I found Yagi in the kitchen dressed in his normal clothes but amusingly (probably a joke meant towards me) hair still unbrushed.

"Did you sleep okay?" he asked, looking up from the stove when I entered and smiling.

"Yeah, actually," I said, sitting down on one of the stools pulled up to the center island. "Like the dead. Sorry about last night, I don't even remember falling asleep," I apologized sheepishly.

He looked back at the pot he was stirring, which from here looked to contain congee. "Don't even worry about it. It was an eventful day yesterday, so I can understand being tired. I thought about waking you, but I figured it might just be better to let you sleep."

"How are you feeling by the way?" I asked. He was carrying himself like all was well, but he had to be super sore and stiff I was sure, and if he was already awake when I got up then he probably hadn't gotten very much sleep.

The hero shrugged, still giving his attention to breakfast. "Oh, I'm fine. Got a full four hours of sleep, so I'm basically a new man," he said jokingly, grabbing a couple of bowls down from the cabinet and dividing a portion of the rice porridge into each dish before turning and setting one before me.

He handed me a mug of coffee as well, and I raised an eyebrow. "Thanks. Never realized you were so domestic, All Might," I teased.

He scoffed, pulling out another stool at the kitchen island and taking a seat with his breakfast. "I've been a bachelor my whole life - had to learn how to cook at some point, you know."