Chapter Text
When Shinsou yawned and walked into his apartment, he didn't expect to hear such a concerned voice. Usually, there was a jovial conversation happening between Eri and the babysitter, but all he heard was the babysitter talking quietly.
"No I'll... I'll get there as soon as I can. I'm sure he'll understand. Do you know of anyone who could cover for me? Right uh, yeah. Guess that makes sense. Oh, his son is home. Yeah, I'll just... I'll just explain it to him. Okay. Yeah, I love you too mom. Bye."
Midoriya ended his call and gave a pathetic smile to Shinsou. Eri was curled up fast asleep in his lap and the tv was on mute. "You are going to hate me," Midoriya said softly.
Shinsou sat down next to him. "How so? Is everything alright?" Shinsou asked.
"Uh, it's my dad," Midoriya muttered. "He works abroad and he went into cardiac arrest. My mom and I are going to go to Korea and see him, make sure it's nothing serious."
Shinsou nodded his head. "That's perfectly understandable. Uh, how long do you think you'll be gone?"
"If all's well, probably two nights," Midoriya said. Shinsou pulled out his wallet and handed Midoriya his hard-earned money for watching over Eri. Midoriya set the money next to his phone as he shifted Eri over to Shinsou. The tired teenager gently shook her awake. Her tired eyes slowly opened as she gathered her surroundings. Eri hugged Shinsou and welcomed him home.
"Say goodbye to Midoriya. He's going on vacation for a couple of days," Shinsou said. Eri hugged Midoriya goodbye before finding a comfy spot in Shinsou's lap. Midoriya waved and closed the door behind him. "What did you do while I was gone?"
"When I woke up, Mr. Deku helped me cut an apple. He told me he ate peanut butter with his apples and he let me try. It was really good," she said. "We watched Doraemon and then I fell asleep."
"You fell asleep again? Did you not sleep well last night?" Shinsou asked. Eri shook her head.
"I had a bad nightmare," she said. "About my real dad. He cut me with a knife again."
"Oh Eri," Shinsou said. He hugged Eri tight. "Did you tell Midoriya?"
"It was three in the morning. He was asleep," she said.
"That's why he's there, Eri. To help you when we can't. He's okay with being woken up to help you. You're not burdening him," Shinsou said softly. Eri nodded her head with a looming sadness in her eyes. "You know you can wake anyone up if you're feeling scared or sad, right?"
Eri nodded her head as she clung to Shinsou. "Are you still feeling tired?" Shinsou asked. She nodded her head once more. "Me too, do you wanna take a nap with me?"
"Yes please," she whispered. Shinsou kissed her forehead and carried her to her room. He tucked her in and stood up.
"I'll be right back. I need to change and call Dad, alright?" Shinsou said. Eri hummed as she pulled her teddy bear closer to her chest.
Shinsou tossed his jeans and shirt into the hamper and put on a different shirt and sweatpants. He quickly dialed Aizawa's number and let the phone ring.
"What's up kiddo?" Aizawa asked.
"Hey Dad, we have a bit of an issue. Midoriya had a family emergency and he's not going to be able to watch Eri for the next two nights at least," Shinsou muttered. He heard Hizashi's voice over the end of the line as well as the two of them talked.
"Okay, uh, yeah. That's definitely a problem," Aizawa muttered. The two of them talked for a little more, trying to come up with a solution. "You might not be a fan of this, but you might just have to bring her to the shop."
"Are you sure? She won't get any sleep," Shinsou said.
"It's better than risking every worst-case scenario that comes with leaving a six-year-old alone for nine hours," Aizawa muttered. Shinsou sighed.
"I guess so. I can't think of anyone off the top of my head to cover. Not like I have any friends to ask either," Shinsou muttered.
"Hey, don't put yourself down like that Hitoshi," Aizawa said. "The amount of friends you have doesn't define your character. You're a good person, Hitoshi. Anyone can see that."
"Thanks, Dad," Shinsou muttered, not fully believing his words. "I have to go. I need to make sure Eri sleeps. Love you, have fun."
"I love you too kiddo. Get some rest," Aizawa said. Shinsou ended the call and headed back to Eri's room. Eri smiled as Shinsou closed the door and headed over to the bed. He got settled in and Eri clung to him as he closed his eyes.
"Toshi?" Eri asked.
"Yeah?"
"Why are some people mean?"
Shinsou's pondered the question. He knew exactly what she was talking about, but he wasn't exactly sure how to explain how drug addiction and mental illness can lead to child abuse. "Some people aren't as good as expressing their emotions as you. If they're sad or frustrated, they can only express it by being mean. That doesn't make it okay, that just means they have to learn."
"Sometimes people at school are mean too," Eri muttered. "They make fun of my birthmark or scars."
"They probably have things they don't like about themselves," Shinsou reasoned. "A lot of kids don't many scars or birthmarks on their foreheads. You're different. Sometimes people don't like things that are different because it confuses them. But one day, they'll see that your scars are stories. Stories about how you survived. They'll know that you're the toughest girl around."
"Do you think so?"
"I know so."
Eri clung to Shinsou tighter in lieu of a response. Shinsou smiled as he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.
Eri messed with the little keychain on her backpack as the airport bus hummed along. Her eyes were half-lidded as she yawned and leaned against the back of the bus seat.
As the bus came to a halt, Shinsou squeezed Eri's hand and walked her into the airport. She looked at the high ceilings and the people who walked along. She yawned as Shinsou led her by the hand to the shop.
Kaminari was talking to nobody in particular as the four employees around him pretended like he didn't exist. His eyes lit up as he made eye contact with Shinsou. The four employees printed the shift summary and immediately got packed up. Kaminari said bye to all of them only to not get a single response in return. Shinsou could've sworn he saw his smile falter, but it was immediately replaced with an even bigger smile as Shinsou walked in with Eri.
"Hey, Hitoshi!" He said. Eri slightly shifted behind Shinsou as she looked up at the energetic employee. "Oh, hi! My name is Denki. What's your name?"
"Eri," she mumbled. Shinsou ushered her forward.
"It's okay, he's nice," Shinsou said. Kaminari got down on one knee to meet her at eye level.
"Is that a birthmark?" Kaminari asked. Eri nodded her head, looking ashamed. "That's so cool! I have a birthmark too!"
Kaminari lifted his shirt to reveal an organically shaped birthmark on his waist. Eri looked at it for a bit before nodding her head.
"The babysitter had to cancel for a couple of nights, so she has to come here. All I ask is that you let her sleep and make sure she doesn't get hurt. I'll be watching over her too but it's nice to have an extra set of eyes."
Kaminari gave a thumbs up. "You can count on me!" He cheered. Shinsou pulled an inflatable mattress out of his bag and brought it to the back room. He inflated it and Eri pulled a pillow and her teddy bear out of her bag. Shinsou pulled out a blanket and tucked her in.
"Do you need anything?" Shinsou asked. Eri shook her head. "Alright. Kaminari and I will be out here. If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to come and get me, alright?"
Eri stuck out her arms. Shinsou hugged her tight and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Eri."
"I love you too, Toshi. Goodnight," she replied.
Shinsou walked back out into the main area where Kaminari was wiping down counters. Kaminari smiled as he wiped circles in the spotless countertops. "Is she your little sister? She is the cutest thing. She doesn't look like you or Aizawa, but like, she's probably adopted too. I mean that's what I figured at least. Oh, here's your coffee! Man, there was quite the wave earlier, like a lot of people. The earlier shift was not too happy and they were all snappy and all 'get out of the way Kaminari. Shut up Kaminari. Make yourself useful and wipe down the counters or something. You don't know what you're doing so just stay out of my way.' The rush did not serve them well, they were stressed."
Shinsou paused and stared at Kaminari, who spoke so casually. "Do they actually talk to you like that?" Shinsou asked. Kaminari nodded his head.
"Yeah. At first, it kinda hurt my feelings. Actually, it really hurt my feelings. It still does hurt my feelings but I'm used to it. People are just like that sometimes, y'know? Not really much I can do except be a better coworker. I mean, I get it, not exactly the brightest, but I try. I try to learn but it's a little difficult when they throw a rag my way and completely ignore me when I ask questions. That's why I like you. You actually taught me things. Everyone else in the morning shift just kinda told me to shut up and clean the counters. It's the only thing I feel like I know how to do. They don't get mad at me when I clean counters, but they'd always yell at me or call my stupid when I'd try to help with anything else. They all told me that I was supposed to know those things and they weren't going to teach me when I should've already learned."
Shinsou stood there, dumbstruck by Kaminari's casual tone while talking about being berated at work. No wonder Kaminari knew absolutely nothing, everyone had been avidly ignoring him and belittling him whenever he tried to learn. "That's horrible, Kaminari. That shouldn't be happening," Shinsou said.
"Eh, maybe not, but that's just how people are," Kaminari said. "They just like to be mean."
"Kaminari, this is a serious issue," Shinsou stressed. "Workplace bullying is not okay. You need to tell Aizawa about this."
Kaminari's eyes widened as he shook his head. "No," he said. Shinsou tilted his head. "A lot of it was I didn't know how to do things. If he knew that I didn't know for so long, I'd get fired. Everyone said I'd get fired."
Shinsou scrunched his nose. "Kaminari, that's all part of on the job training. They were supposed to teach you. My dad knew you didn't know a lot, that's why he put you on this shift with me, so I could help you and figure out why you weren't learning."
Kaminari stood a little dumbstruck. He leaned against the counter and seemed to recite Shinsou's words in his head. "He... isn't mad?" Kaminari asked. Shinsou shook his head.
"He never was. More concerned than anything," Shinsou said. Kaminari groaned as he leaned against the counter. He laughed as he rubbed his face and looked down at his shoes.
"Oh my god, that's a huge relief," Kaminari laughed. "Man, I really thought I was gonna get fired soon."
"Not unless you do something really stupid like launder money," Shinsou said.
"Wait, how do I know if I accidentally did that? I mean, I don't think I did but how do I make sure?" Kaminari asked in a panic.
"Do you know what money laundering is?" Shinsou asked. Kaminari vigorously shook his head. "It's not something you can do on accident. Don't worry."
"Thank God," he laughed.
"Oh, you said something about a rush earlier," Shinsou said. "When did that happen?"
"I first noticed it at 9:22," Kaminari said. "That's when the line started building up and everyone started getting angry."
Kaminari, who worked the 11-7 shift with Shinsou, was at the shop at 9:22. "Why were you here an hour and a half early?"
"Oh, right. Uh, you remember how I was late on the first day and I said it was because of traffic?" Kaminari asked. Shinsou hesitantly nodded his head and waited for Kaminari to continue. "Well, it wasn't because of traffic."
Shinsou stared at Kaminari. He bit his tongue and pushed down the desire to clarify that no, he never thought it was because of traffic. Kaminari cleared his throat. "Well, I got distracted by a game I was playing—I know, really shitty thing. But I was rushing and I was too embarrassed to admit it so... I lied. And the last couple of days I was so afraid of being late again I showed up early."
Shinsou began to feel bad for even being upset that he was late on the first day. "Oh, uh, well it's okay. I mean, we all mess up," Shinsou replied. Kaminari awkwardly laughed as he rubbed his neck.
"Yeah, but I mess up a lot," Kaminari said. "I feel terrible. I don't mean to be a burden on you or Aizawa, but I—"
"Hold on," Shinsou said. Kaminari surprisingly didn't try to continue. He fidgeted with his fingers but he stared at Shinsou with intent. "You have never been a burden on me or my dad. Never. Sure, you may make mistakes or not know some things. A few months ago, I didn't know shit either. The point is, you're trying, Kaminari. You're trying so damn hard and I can see that. I deeply appreciate you and your will to learn. Please, don't think that you've made my life harder or worse in any way. I'm happy my dad put us on the same shift. I like that you're able to talk to me. I'm glad you're learning. I..."
Shinsou felt a foreign feeling drop in his stomach as his cheeks burned ever so slightly. Kaminari stared at him, close to tears. He held a hand over his mouth as he stood straight up and stared at Shinsou with those bright, golden eyes.
"I like being around you," Shinsou finally said. Kaminari stayed planted right where he was, staring with what seemed to be deep appreciation with a little bit of disbelief. Shinsou hated how close to tears Kaminari looked. That was the only reason he held out his arms for a hug. Or at least that's what he told himself. Kaminari walked over and pulled Shinsou in for a tight hug. Shinsou wrapped his arms around Kaminari in return. Kaminari's body shuddered as he let out a shaky breath into Shinsou's neck. Shinsou patted and rubbed his back, not fully sure what to do.
"Thank you so much, Hitoshi," Kaminari whispered. Shinsou sighed and relaxed into the hug a little more.
"No problem, Kaminari. I mean it," he said softly. Their hug finally broke as a family of four walked into the coffee shop. As they broke away from the embrace, he noticed a couple of tears had fallen from Kaminari's eyes. He wiped at his eyes and laughed.
"Sorry," he chuckled. "It's just... I guess I'm not used to people caring about me or thinking of me in a positive light."
Shinsou's heart broke a little at his statement. Before he could say anything, Kaminari had turned to the register and given the customers his signature 1,000-watt smile. Shinsou kept the comment in mind as he listened to their order. He got the four cups out and ready and grabbed two cupcakes out from the display case.
Kaminari got started on the two hot chocolates while Shinsou got the two coffee's under control and got them in and out. More people started filing in as the two worked harmoniously to get people their orders. He watched Kaminari almost walk away from the customers without giving them change, but laugh and give them their money last second. Shinsou smiled to himself as he toasted a bagel and got the coffee made. Shinsou finished up orders and set little paw print cookies next to each drink.
At three in the morning, the place was empty like always. Shinsou made his own coffee while Kaminari cleaned off the espresso machine with a cappuccino next to him.
The backroom door shifted a little, causing the two teens to stare. The door slowly opened as little sniffles could be heard. Eri squeezed out from being the door, tears streaming down her face, clutching her teddy bear.
"Eri, what's wrong?" Shinsou asked. He kneeled to the ground and Eri walked over to hug him. Eri cried into his apron and held onto him with everything she had.
"I ha-ad a bad dream," she sobbed. Shinsou stroked her hair and held onto her with all the love he possibly could.
"It's okay Eri," Shinsou whispered. "It was only a dream. Nobody is going to hurt anyone."
Eri's response wasn't quite coherent. He continued to hug her tight as she cried into his chest. As she sobbed, Shinsou tried to hold back from flinching as the buzz of the blender went off. Shinsou looked up to see Kaminari drizzling chocolate sauce on the side of a cup that had a couple of slices of strawberries on it. Once the blender stopped, he poured the pink blended drink in the cup. After putting whipped cream and chocolate sauce on the top, he put a lid on with a straw. He walked towards the two on the ground and crouched down.
"Hey Eri," Kaminari said softly. Eri sniffled turned to Kaminari. He held out the kid's sized artic drink for Eri. "I saw you eyeing those strawberries earlier. I think you'll like this."
Eri wiped her eyes and grabbed the drink. She handed her teddy bear off to Shinsou as she sipped the pink treat with two hands. Her eyes lit up at the taste. She continued to sip on it until it was a third gone. She smiled at Kaminari. "It tastes like a chocolate-covered strawberry," she giggled. Kaminari softly giggled in return. Shinsou quickly noted how cute Kaminari's soft giggle was before tuning back into Earth.
"I'm glad you like it," he said softly. Eri sat down in Shinsou's lap and dipped on the drink as Kaminari glanced to Shinsou. The purple-haired teen couldn't help but smile at Kaminari's sweet and kind nature no matter who it came to. Eri leaned against Shinsou's chest as Kaminari's eyes glanced between Shinsou and the little girl.
A tired yawn near the front of the shop caught their attention. Kaminari looked up and turned back to Shinsou. "I got this," he whispered with a smile. He got up and walked over to the register all smiles. He took the order as Eri set her drink down and closed her eyes.
"Are you ready to go back to bed?" Shinsou asked.
"It's dark back there," she whimpered.
"We can leave a light on, it's no problem," Shinsou insisted. Eri pondered her options before nodding her head. Shinsou picked her up and brought her to the back room. He tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead. He turned off all the lights except one before walking back out to the shop. By the time he made it back out, Kaminari was cleaning the milk steaming cup while humming something to himself.
"Thanks," Shinsou said, grabbing his coffee. He sipped on it a little before finishing his thoughts. "For helping with Eri."
"Oh, it's no problem," Kaminari smiled. "I've been told I have the mind of a child. So I just thought. 'What do I want when I'm sad?' and hoped for the best."
"Well, it means a lot. It can be stressful at times," Shinsou admitted. "I'm not gonna go into detail, but she's dealt with things that kids her age shouldn't ever go through. I mean, I never dealt with those things so I'm never sure how to help a lot of the time. And uh, I don't exactly have anyone I can confide in. I mean, my dads are going through the same thing. They don't if they're doing the right thing either. And I don't really have anyone close to me I can confide in. I mean, the last person who texted me was asking about a group project and that's not exactly the type of person to dump my problems onto. I don't know what to do a lot of the time. I can help take her mind off of it but I can't help any way beyond that and... I feel... like I'm not doing good enough."
Shinsou stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't remember much of what he said, but he knew it was a lot. He couldn't remember the last time he talked that much about how he was truly feeling. He looked up to Kaminari who had a comforting smile on his face. Not pity, not really sympathy, but comfort. Kaminari set down his drink, somehow making the distance between them close without moving.
"That's awesome," Kaminari said. Shinsou tilted his head, not sure if he heard Shinsou correctly. "It's cool to see you trying your hardest and not giving up even though you're not sure if you're doing the right thing. And yeah, it can be hard, I'm sure of it. But look at you, she came to you for help. She saw you as someone she could lean on and you kept true to that. I'm sure you know this, but no amount of love or help you could give her could ever fully take away her fears or trauma. But you've given her a support system. I know you're doubting yourself, but she's able to reach out for help even if it's a nightmare. If she can reach out to you for help and be able to go back to bed, you must be doing something right."
Shinsou took the time to process Kaminari's words. He glanced at the mostly drank strawberry drink on the floor behind the counter. Shinsou smiled and glanced back at Kaminari.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."