After work, I had to take Aizawa back to his apartment, but since I was staying to look after him for a little bit, I decided to stop by my place to grab a few extra things. I was in the middle of grabbing more clothes from my closet when I saw a box sitting on the highest shelf in the back of my closet. Note, it's been a couple of months since I moved in, so there were still a few boxes left here and there that were still packed, but I didn't remember putting anything on the highest shelf of the closet. Mainly because I couldn't reach it. I stretched up to grab it; I ended up having to levitate a little to fully grasp the box. It was a little dusty but aside from that it was in good condition. I sat myself down with the box in front of me. It was probably one of the boxes I packed up but couldn't bring to the U.S. I'm surprised it was still here.
I decided to open it. I was automatically met with old memories of my days at U.A. There were goggles, an old polaroid camera, a photo album, video camera, and some old remnants of my old hero suit, amongst some other old stuff. I looked at the box and saw my handwriting, "The Rooftop Gang." I sighed. I remember now why this was left here. Some part of me wanted to look more into the box and visit memory lane, but I was hesitant about it. I didn't want to rehash old memories right now. But despite my mind telling me not to, my heart took the best of me and went straight to the scrapbook.
The first picture was the first picture I ever had taken when I was a teen. I was just sitting on the school rooftop next to Aizawa; we looked like we were talking about something that made little Mai excited and happy, which was a hard thing to come by at the time. Aizawa himself looked at peace, and there was a slight glow of joy in his eyes while he intently listened to me. I was so mad at Oboro for taking the picture.
"Hey, you said no digital documentation of you because of your family. This is a polaroid picture for just us to enjoy." The tall sky blue-haired boy lifted the camera above our heads as I tried my best to reach for it.
"That's not the point! I don't like taking pictures! And neither does Shota!" I helplessly climbed up his shoulder.
Hizashi ran up behind me, "Calm down, M&M! Your skirt is lifting, and we have to protect yours and Aizawa's innocence!" I can sense Aizawa glaring at the blond while he struggled to meet my movements and laughed, "Just because you think she's cute doesn't give you a right to see her so intimately. CONSENT IS IMPORTANT."
Oboro couldn't help but burst into a big fit of laughter, hugging his camera and the picture to his chest. "Aizawa being pervy is when pigs fly." He hunched over and wiped the tears from his eyes, "Alright, alright, I'm sorry for taking the picture, but you guys looked cute and candid pictures are honestly the best type of pictures." He gave me the photo and gave his signature grin, "See, you guys look so happy. I couldn't help myself."
I pouted as I glanced at the photo. I saw what he was talking about candid photos being the best. A golden light cascaded on us, giving a new shade to Aizawa's usual grey eyes that were like pools of what looked like a light blue-grey cloud. And I couldn't deny the warmness of the photo and the honey color in my eyes, emphasizing the giddy feeling that was showing in my smile as I spoke with him. I refused to let myself look happy with the photo, though, so as soon as I felt a small tug on my lips, I brought them back down. "I'll let it slide this once because it's a nice picture." I shoved him a little and huffed at his laugh, moving back to sit next to a blushing Aizawa. It was the first picture, and it quickly became my favorite one.
I smiled and teared up a little, remembering the picture's events, and flipped the page over to see what other candid photos Oboro continued to create. Eventually, I met with messing pages with pictures and news clippings or letters and notes that were not pasted into the book just yet. I found a news clipping of Oboro, Aizawa, Kayama, and I with the rest of the Purple Revolution Agency from our work-study. We looked so bright and proud; even Aizawa was able to give an awkwardly, nervous smile. I saw a tear fall on the book, and that was my cue to close it and go back to my original task. Who would've thought it would all go downhill after that? Certainly not me. I started packing up the book into the box and neatly packed the other stuff that was in it. Maybe I should keep the polaroid camera and video camera for future uses? I gave a little extra care to the old suit that hasn't been worn in over a decade. Why does this look like Aizawa's suit only tighter and with a cape? Why did no one tell me that I was practically dressing the same as him? My current suit was more fitting for me, anyway. I kept the cape look, but I switched the dark grey for white, and the black suit to a navy blue with gold accents in the belt and my armbands, which worked like a lasso if I wanted them to. It fit more my aesthetic as a bright and hopeful hero. I mainly took inspiration from All Might and his mentor Nana. However, looking at the old suit did feel oddly nostalgic. I wonder if I never left, would I have changed my suit still or would I have still looked like All Might and Aizawa had a lovechild? I let out a small chuckle. Probably not; I only changed it for my safety from All For One.
I heard a curt knock and the door opening, "Are you dead?" It was Aizawa; I was probably taking too long.
"Sadly, no. You should be lying down on my couch while I wrap things up." I said while picking up the box, leaving the polaroid and Mic's old video camera out.
"What's that?"
I lifted the box and moved it back to its place in the closet, "Nothing, just a box of some old things from our days at UA. I got distracted and was looking through it." I wiped my hands on my jeans from any dust and then wiped the tear stains off my face. I grabbed the stack of clothes and toiletries and quickly stuffed them into a duffle bag.
"What was in it?"
"Old pictures, my old suit, those cameras, and some other stuff I didn't get into." He stared at me, concerned. "What?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I am fine. Just felt nostalgic, that's all." I moved the strap over my shoulder and walked to the door, "Now, let's go, you have your pain meds to take soon, and you already took the last two pills I gave you five hours ago." He trotted along behind me slowly.
"You could've brought the box with you. Maybe I wanted to see some of the stuff." He muttered.
"It's too heavy to carry, and you don't have working arms right now." Plus, I know it was a lie. Mic's always mentioned that he avoids talking about high school or even most of his twenties because he doesn't like reliving the past. He probably only said that because he feels bad that I had to stop looking because of him.
"Okay, noted." He managed to slightly catch up to me and that's when I noticed I should've probably slowed down my pace. "Still though, I wouldn't mind looking at all of that stuff."
"Well, maybe I'll have the group come over once I'm fully settled in, and we all can look over the box." I looked up at him as we walked out of campus.
"I guess that sounds fine." He gave a slight shrug.
I took the time to look at him. He was still wearing his hero costume, except he had his hair pulled back in a low ponytail. His bandages were covering everything but left a small slit for his eyes for him to see. I was too busy analyzing him that I tripped over a crack in the road. Dropping my bag and scraping my knee.
"You're staring at me when you should be focusing on what's in front of you."
I grabbed ahold of my bag and patted the dirt and dust off of me while I got up, "Thanks for the advice, Eraser."
"Why were you even staring at me?" He leaned forward to give me a stable place to set my hand on while I got up.
"I was thinking about how you look like a mummy, and a ninja had a baby." I said, sarcastically avoiding embarrassment.
He gave me his signature blank stare. "I am done with you for the rest of the day. I'm going to take my meds and pass out when we get home." He let out an exasperated sigh as he let his head fall back. I don't know why there was a small skip in my heartbeat when he said 'when we get home.' I hugged my sweater closer to my body as the cold air snuck in and bit my cheek as I felt awkward walking next to him now.
Once we got to the apartment, I quickly made some dinner, so Aizawa had something to eat before taking his pain medication. He honestly hated how he had me wait on him, but I could care less. He needed someone to look after him, and I didn't really trust Mic to do a good job at it. He's a lovable person, but the boy doesn't even know how to take care of himself most of the time. After taking care of Aizawa, he kept his promise and went to sleep, avoiding me for the rest of the night. Since I had some downtime, I decided to clean up a little while calling Kayama to come over. When I got done sprucing up the place, I sat down on the couch and pulled up my laptop to watch some anime while I snacked on a sandwich and chips. I looked over to the couch's side to Aizawa's work bag filled with all the students' assignments that needed to be graded. So I decided to be nice, grab it and start grading them for him since I knew his whole curriculum.
By the time Kayama came by and knocked on the door, my mind was numb, looking at Kaminari's quiz. Did this kid fry his brain right before the quiz? I can't read this! I got up from the couch with a pen in my mouth and my glasses sitting comfortably with my messy bun.
Kayama smiled at me and then a quick look of worry, "You look beat. What happened?"
Letting her pass through the door, I hung my head low, "I decided to grade papers. Now, I remember why I switched from being a teacher to a counselor when I had the chance." She simply laughed and set down her bag next to the couch and held up a bag with ice cream cartons. "There better be a variety of different flavors and not just vanilla and chocolate." I said tiredly.
"You sounded like Aizawa just now. Don't worry; I got vanilla, cookies and cream, mint chocolate, rocky road, and this peanut butter cup chocolate swirl one that I thought sounded good." She set them down on the coffee table as I moved all the papers away and then grabbed bowls and spoons from the kitchen.
Walking in back to the living room, "The quiz was about hero history. So far, I can tell that most of the students are fine or excelling with this subject. Mineta is surprisingly intelligent, which kind of scares me..."
"Because he's a perv that harasses his female students." Kayama said matter of factly while digging into the ice cream.
"Yeah, exactly. I'm sorry about all the reports the counselors and I have made about him. I'm sure there are hundreds at this point." I grabbed a little bit of everything, hoping not to regret it when it all melts together. "But anyways, Kaminari and Aoyama concern me. They sit at the lowest places in the class, and after seeing their assignments, I can see why." I took a bite of my ice cream, "I'm wondering how they even got into the hero course... but that just means I have to talk to them at school about it. Now, onto you." I gave her my full attention pushing back my quick concerns about my students.
"I like someone. But I don't know if they like me. Mainly because he doesn't really flirt back or anything whenever we talk, you know? Normally it's easy for me to be flirty and talk to men. But with him, it's hard. And he even gets me flustered." She looked at me with pleading eyes.
I nodded and teased her. "That's a rare thing to happen."
"Exactly! Like how dare he do this to me!" She flailed her arms, almost spilling her ice cream.
I hurriedly went to grab her arms and shushed, "Just because Aizawa is the heaviest sleeper to exist doesn't mean you should be yelling. Calm down, woman!"
"Sorry..." She gave me an embarrassed smile.
I gave her a look. "How long have you liked this person?"
She just blinked at me, "Six months..." I shook my head.
"You can't judge me. You didn't think Aizawa liked you for a whole year."
"I didn't flirt with her for most of that year." We both turned to see Aizawa walk out of his room.
"Did you need something?" I rose off the couch.
"No, I just needed some water. I got really thirsty while I eavesdropped." He motioned for me to sit back down while he insisted on getting his own drink. "Who is this guy, anyway? Is he from work?"
"I prefer not to say." Kayama sunk into the couch while Aizawa walked back in with his water and a bowl and spoon.
I raised my eyebrow and smirk, "Is someone inviting himself into our ice cream hangout?"
He grunted, "It's my apartment. Plus, you're not the only one who can give advice here. Now, please pass me the rocky road." He reached out while sitting next to me on the couch. I made more room on the coffee table and moved a pillow under his leg for it to rest.
Kayama then started again, "He does work with us; that's all I'm saying." Both nodded and munched on the ice cream. "I'm not going to tell you guys until I get the courage to do something about it."
"Well, that makes us helping you rather hard..." I pointed out.
"Yeah, how are we supposed to help you get the guy if we don't know who it is and how they're like." Aizawa agreed.
"Let me keep it a mystery! It's far more intriguing having you guys not know." Kayama smiled mischievously while both Aizawa and I looked at her with full judgment.
"At least give us some information about his personality." I grabbed my laptop and put up a new document to start typing notes. Aizawa looked at me like I was a child. I just ignored him. "I'm a counselor; I think better with notes." He just shook his head.
"My advice is just to suck it up and tell him you like him. He probably does too and doesn't act on it because of your flirtatious and perverted nature." Aizawa gently said to Kayama. "But if you want to waste time trying to make a game plan with Mai."
"Are you trying to say that I'm not the best person to ask for advice?" I didn't mean to sound as hurt as I did, but I did, and I just stared at Aizawa offended.
"I was just saying you haven't been around enough to give the best advice. Plus, I don't think you can give advice based on experience." He said with no apologetic tone.
"Excuse me. I have experience! Just say I'm useless while you're at it." I dropped an irritated tone and glared.
"I didn't mean it like that. You're taking it out of context."
"Whatever. I was going to say the same thing you did anyways. Just ask him out on a date and see what happens." I decided to delete my mostly blank document and close my laptop. "But I don't know; maybe you shouldn't take my advice."
Aizawa sighed, "I didn't mean to offend you."
Kayama interjected, "I think you guys are both right. I should just ask and see what happens." She then leaned in to hug me. "Don't let Aizawa make you feel bad; I did come to you."
"Giving advice is what I do for a living. You don't hear me critiquing his teaching skills." I hugged her back but not without playfully glaring at Aizawa.
"That's exactly what you do." He had his arms slightly folded, and he looked down at me.
I smiled, "I know; it's my favorite part of my job." Which caused Kayama to laugh. "Oh, that reminds me, I was grading the assignments for you. And I noticed a few of the kids haven't really shown improvement academically. If you want, since you're awake, we could talk about the kids."
"Yeah, that's fine. By the way, Mic wanted me to ask you if you wanted to commentate the Sports Festival with him and me. I told him you'd probably say no since you didn't support the festival."
"I don't mind it. It will be better to see it from the booth than from the stands. I probably won't say much, though. How did he convince you to do it?" I scrunch my eyebrows.
"He wouldn't stop asking, and I got annoyed." I just oh'ed and nodded.
"What are you going to be doing during the Sports Festival?" I looked over at Kayama.
"I'll be moderating and hosting the games."
"Sounds fun." I grabbed another scoop of mint chocolate chip.
"Yep. I think I'm gonna go home before the last train leaves." Kayama started to get up and grab her purse. "You guys can keep the ice cream." She tied her raven hair back to a ponytail as she walked to the door with me following her.
"You want me to walk you to the station?" I asked her.
"No, I'm fine. Thanks, though." She gave Aizawa a small squeeze on the shoulder and then hugged me once we got to the door. "Have a good night. I'll see you guys at work."
"Good night!" Aizawa and I said in unison before I shut the door. I turned around and made my way back to the couch. "I'm beat."
Aizawa kept eating his ice cream silently. I decided to lay down and get back to looking at the assignments.
"Kaminari concerns me." I mentioned.
"Me too."
"Bakugo needs to learn not to give himself so much stress about being the best too. But the grenade doesn't want to talk to me."
"Yeah, I know."
"I feel like the Sports Festival might challenge them, but definitely give them a huge mental load. We should be prepared for that."
"Midoriya asked to talk about his quirk with you; why?" Aizawa put down his bowl and then rested my feet on his lap.
"He asked Toshinori about my quirk and saw it worked similar to his, so he wanted to know if I could help him have better control of his quirk." I said, not looking away from the paper I was reviewing. "I hope that it doesn't offend you."
"Why would it offend me? I'm surprised he didn't ask sooner." He admitted. "All Might took a liking to him. Did he choose Midoriya to take over for him when he has to stop being a hero?"
"Someone's nosey." I pointed.
"I'm observant."
"Yeah, that's it."
"Weren't you supposedly going to take over for All Might?" Why was he bringing that up?
"Are you indulging in the press' rumors and assumptions? No. I was not going to take over for him. Or at least that wasn't my plan. Toshinori always told me it was an option, but then my last mission with him during my internship happened and I decided it was best to just not be in his shadow." I was practically burning holes into the paper trying to avoid the man looking at me.
"What did ever happen in that mission? Because what I recall was after that mission, you decided to study abroad and go back to the U.S. Not even Mic knew why the sudden change of mind." I really didn't want to talk about this.
"Mic knows why. It was because I remembered what Oboro told me to. It was to better my relationship with the states." Keep telling yourself that, Mai.
"Yeah, it definitely did wonders to your mental health." His voice was laced with sarcasm.
I sat up and moved my knees closer to my chest, "What's the sudden interest in my reasons for going to the U.S.?"
Aizawa slightly looked taken aback, "No reason, just having a conversation."
My eyebrows furrowed together, slightly defensive and agitated, "Well, I don't want to bring it up. I already know leaving was probably the dumbest thing I ever did. I don't need to be reminded of it."
"I didn't mean to get you upset. I thought you were okay to talk about it." He tries to reach for me as I got up and started to walk away from the couch into his office and guest room.
"Well, you thought wrong. I'm not okay to talk about it. I have an early session with Todoroki tomorrow; I'm going to bed. Have a good night, Aizawa. Don't bother me unless it involves your injuries." I'll admit, I was acting immature. And I hated it, truly, I did. It was just... It felt like he was interrogating me even though I knew he wasn't. I wasn't fully lying about me doing it because Oboro told me to. I just don't want to talk about the other main reason why I left. I wasn't ready for it. That one stupid mission impacted me more than one way, and because of it, I had to leave and then endure everything I did in the U.S. And knowing that it didn't just leave me with no other choices, it left my mentor, the closest thing to a father I ever had, beaten and sick. That mission is one of my biggest regrets, and I am ashamed of it. So forgive me if I am still a little defensive about it.