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Eventually, Hitoshi and Eli continued to put her things away talking as they did about a number of things. They talked about school, what kind of hero Hitoshi wanted to be, the books Eli really liked, Hitoshi's unhealthy caffeine addiction, their sleeping issues, their preference for weather, and even what they like to wear.
"I think you'd look good in a turtleneck," she told him, sitting on a rolling chair at a desk below her bed.
The room was quite unique, and it'd be a lie to say that Eli didn't kind of love it. On the floor was a desk where she put her notebooks and new pens, along with a cute frog lamp that Nemuri thought she'd like and a mirror. The walls of the room were dark grey, and she had a pretty window right by her bed.
There were two wide brown dressers on the other side of the room near the door, which was now filled with her clothes. Now, she had jeans, ripped and normal, leggings, stocking, a couple of skirts, pajamas, and all kinds of shirts.
Next to the desk was a small flight of stairs that led to a ledge where the bed was, and it was much bigger than her bed back home so she was very happy about that. The bed had pretty white sheets and a big brown comforter on it that looked like it could swallow Eli whole. On the side of the other side of the small staircase were 2 black racks with hangers that had things like hoodies and some jackets, with the shoes lined up neatly underneath.
On the left side of the room was another window with a window seat that had a small white and grey blanket, and on the right was a door that led to the bathroom she'd be sharing with Hitoshi, which she hadn't looked at yet.
"Nah, I don't think so," Hitoshi said with a shrug, from his position on a nearby beanbag he dragged in from his own room because he thought the floor looked too barren.
"But everybody looks good in a turtleneck," she told him.
"Really, even you?" he joked making her glare at him.
"Yes asshole, even me," she said rolling her eyes making him laugh at her remark.
Scratching was heard on the other of the door leading to the bathroom making Eli look over at it with a quirked eyebrow.
"Oh," Hitoshi said, getting up from the beanbag, and going over to the door, and opening it revealing 3 cats that walked right past Hitoshi, staring at Eli with curious eyes.
"You asked me if I had pets before right? Well, this is Cinnamon, Fog, and Espresso," he said pointing to the cats.
Espresso was a brownish-black Maine Coon that looked rather plump with pretty green eyes, Fog was a white, Siberian cat with blue eyes and her tail had a fluffy gray tail that mixed with the rest of her white hair, and Cinnamon was a tiger-striped tabby cat with ginger fur and dark yellowish-brown eyes.
"Oh, hello," she said with a grin on her face as she kneeled down from the chair she sat in and put her hand out.
With careful sniffs, Espresso came to her hand first, sniffing it a bit, raising a paw to touch her hand, which made Eli giggle as she let the cat come to her before she gave it a small scratch on its head. Seeing that, the others went next, carefully examining the girl, but she just smiled as she watched them take their time before they allowed her to scratch their heads.
Eli beamed so brightly when Cinnamon came to settle itself on her lap, making Hitoshi laugh a bit at her before sitting beside her, Espresso instantly jumping his lap while Fog sat next to Eli with both of her paws on her thigh.
"They're so fucking cute, my gods," she said softly as she gently pets them both.
"I wonder if Mr.Aizawa would let me get a fish," she mumbled making Hitoshi laugh a bit.
"I don't think he would care, it is just a fish. Plus, I think we have an old fish tank up in the attic," he told her making her grin widely, his eyes widening at her expression.
"Really?! Luckily, I'm sure Lou will be fine, my best friend comes over basically every day, so I trust that he'll feed him," she said softly, smiling gently at the thought of her fish.
"Oh, best friend?" Hitoshi questioned suggestively making her roll her eyes as she shook her head.
"Please, I love him, but I could never date him. I feel like I know too much," she said with a shiver before she looked over at him.
"Plus, he leans towards guys," she said with a shrug.
"Do you?" he asked curiously.
"Eh, sometimes, it really depends on the day," she said in a joking manner, making him chuckle before he nodded.
"Yeah, same I don't think I've ever had a preference," he said with a shrug, lightly petting Espresso's head as she purred.
"I feel that. It's hard to when your standards are quite literally in hell," she said with a snort, making Hitoshi laugh loudly before a voice called out.
"Dinner!" the loud voice of Hizashi called.
From that word alone, Eli grew nervous again. She'd calmed down during her time with Hitoshi, probably because they were closer in age so she didn't feel intimidated by him, and she definitely didn't, now that she'd had a conversation with him. He was funny, and he understood her tragic ways of humor, and she understood his.
They took comfort in each other, and it was clear to see that with time they'd be quite close friends.
Hitoshi sighed when he saw her hands begin to fidget, something he quickly noticed about her when she got nervous. This along with her pressing her fingers into her palms that almost seemed like she was trying not to do something.
Eli still didn't know how to act around them. She didn't want to irritate them, and she already felt like a bit of a burden. So, hastily, she got up, Cinnamon still mewling in her arms making her smile down at her.
"I told you, they're nice. You don't have to worry so much," Hitoshi said with a small pat on her shoulder. Putting on a brave face and a humorous smile, she looked up at him.
"Well, it's not like I'm trying to worry," she said as she walked beside him with a small laugh, him copying her actions as they left the room and walked down the hall together towards the smell of food.
"I don't think anyone tries to worry," he retorted.
"Except Jeffrey Bezos," she said.
"Okay, who the hell is Jeffrey Bezos?" he asked.
"The guy who killed Barnes & Noble," she said with a huff, making him chuckle at her, even though he didn't quite understand what she was talking about.
When they got to the table the food smell hit her full force, looking over to see 2 boxes of pizza sitting on the table making her smile.
"Aw, too bad you couldn't show off your chopstick skills," Hitoshi said with a playful smile.
"I told you that story in confidence! How about we talk about your issue with having a rug huh?" she retorted, making him glare at her.
"Rugs hide things, it's just science," he grumbled.
"It's not," she said blandly.
Watching the interaction with wide eyes from the safety of the kitchen, Aizawa and his husband Hizashi's eyes widened. It was no secret that their son wasn't too good with people and that he even tended to avoid them altogether. Even though the banter was small, they both were quite sure it meant that when they were talking, and a lot at that.
"Look, Shou~, they're bonding!" Hizashi whispered excitedly in his ear, and Aizawa couldn't stop himself from smiling a bit at their interactions. Moving from their hiding position, they walked towards the table.
"Oh, hey Dad, Pops," Hitoshi greeted them from the table making Eli jump and turn to them, her nervous nature returning.
"Oh, h-hello," Eli said with a small wave, her fingers fidgeting with themself near her chest.
"HEY LISTENER!" Hizashi screeched, without the use of his Quirk. Eli's eyes widened, but she tried to conceal the small smile coming onto her face at his behavior.
"Hope you're okay with pizza, cooking felt like a death sentence," Aizawa said with a sigh, sitting on the other side of the table beside Hizashi.
"Don't wo-" she tried to say, but the growl of her stomach cut her off making her freeze.
'Welp, looks like I'm killing myself tonight,' her mind spoke out.
"When was the last time you ate exactly?" Hitoshi asked her, a bit concerned at how loud her stomach had been. Snapping out of her embarrassed state she looked at him with a shrug.
"Uhm, hmm," she went to answer, but she actually couldn't answer, her nervous state dwindling as her face turned thoughtful, clearly thinking hard about the question.
"Are you serious?" Hitoshi deadpanned.
"Sometimes I just forget," she grumbled as Hizashi handed her plate, which she took with a timid smile.
As they ate, an awkward air filled the room. Eli felt it, but she didn't want to say anything. She thought that with the way Hitoshi was, and how loud Mr.Hizashi was they would be talking, or at least he'd be talking but that was absolutely not the case.
So, with a cough, Hitoshi broke the silence.
"Eli wants a goldfish," he said.
Eli instantly began choking on the pizza in her mouth, actually hacking so much she had to lean away from the table and cover her mouth with her arm.
"I thought we were friends," she sputtered out through her coughs, her lungs and throat aching as she tried to clear her throat.
"LITTLE LISTENER, WE ARE GETTING YOU THAT GOLDFISH!" Hizashi said loudly, making her look at him with wide eyes, panic clear in them as she cleared her throat aggressively.
"Mr.Aizaw- Hizashi, sir um you don't have to do that," she stuttered, still confused at what to call them both.
"Soo, what will you be naming your fish?" Hitoshi asked her, looking over at him just to see him sporting a smug smile.
"Hitoshi, I'm begging you to stop talking," she said, still coughing a bit into her arm as she looked at him with a small glare.
"You need anything else?" Aizawa asked plainly, taking a bite into his pizza.
"Glasses," Hitoshi answered for her making Eli's eyes widen even further.
"N-no, really it's fine," she told them, waving her hands frantically.
"Well it's not like you can type on that laptop they're going to get you without glasses," Hitoshi continued on smugly.
"Hitoshi!" she screeched a bit, looking at him with wide eyes.
"Anything else?" Aizawa asked, a bit too nonchalant for Eli to be comfortable, especially since she was clearly panicking.
"No! I'm fine, it's really fine-" she tried to say but she was cut off.
"Do we have any hot chocolate, Eli says she loves it?" Hitoshi interrupted yet again.
"DON'T WORRY LITTLE LISTENER, WE WILL GET YOU ANYTHING YOU NEED!" Hizashi said loudly, doing wild gestures with his arms.
Eli had to stop herself from banging her head on the table in front of her, contemplating how hard she would have to hit her head to knock herself out.
"3 to 1, I think we win," Hitoshi said nonchalantly, peering over to look at her clearly in distress.
"Don't hesitate to ask for small things like that. You'll be here for a while, so you should be comfortable," Aizawa told her plainly making her look at him with wide eyes before they averted down to her lap, her hands beginning to rub her thighs harshly.
It made her feel... warm. Even though it was obvious that these were small gestures to them, they were huge to her. Reigning in a sigh, Eli then chose not to argue.
"O-okay," she answered.
"You know, you never answered my question about the goldfish," Hitoshi said smugly making her turn to him with a dead look in her eye.
"Why must you treat me this way?" she asked.
"Well, according to my research this is what foster buds do," he said patting her back. Eli sighed, going back to her pizza, grumbling incoherent words as she took another bite.
Hizashi laughed a bit at her sunken state, finding the girl rather adorable, especially with the numerous faces he found her making with every emotion.
The conversation drifted away from her, and eventually, Eli found herself becoming less anxious as she talked to Hizashi and Aizawa more, feeling comfortable enough to even give them real smiles.
"Antimetropia?" Hizashi asked her, the pizza gone, still sitting at the table talking to the girl.
"Yea, my left eye is farsighted, and my right is nearsighted. So I have to be really careful with my glasses because they were like 100 bucks. Well, had," she said with a sigh as she shrugged.
"So, what, were you just running into things until you were 5?" Hitoshi asked making her have to stifle a chuckle.
"Basically, unfortunately upon being born my body automatically decided it was against me in more ways than one," she joked a bit. Aizawa found himself chuckling softly at that.
"That's unfortunate," Hitoshi told her sarcastically.
"Oh, really?" she asked, matching his tone.
"We'll go to the eye doctor this tomorrow," Aizawa told her with a sigh.
"And we can stop by the pet shop tomorrow and get your fish," Hitoshi said with a smirk, making her glare at him playfully.
"Oh, and maybe along the way I can get you a rug since you love those so much," she shot back.
"I hate you," he deadpanned making her fake a pout.
"Thanks, I hate me too,"
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2354 words.
yee yee