Chapter Text
Toshinori Yagi stood outside the small cafe. He was trying to find any reason not to be there. He felt foolish- a man his age had no business being flustered over something so trivial.
He wiped his hand on the sides of his pants, doing nothing for the damp that had clung to them for the last hour.
It’s just to talk about classes... He knew he could use the help keeping up with grading. When Aizawa offered to meet him for some early coffee and they could discuss teaching and time management tactics he was... a hot mess.
On top of falling behind with grading, his health had been keeping him from staying focused. The last few weeks had been one giant drain.
His coworker had come into the staff lounge two days before. He found him nodding off over a giant stack of quizzes he hadn’t even started grading.
----
“Have you been sleeping?” The dark-haired man looked across the table. The uncharacteristic question caught Yagi off guard into giving an honest answer.
“Not really,” He replied. He took a gulp of lukewarm herbal tea. Swallowing quickly, he started a wracking cough the lasted several long uncomfortable seconds. When they subsided, the normally aloof Aizawa had a strange look on his face.
Not sure entirely why, a flush spread over his face and left him uncomfortably rubbing the back of his neck.
“I’ve had this cold, and it’s taken a lot of outs of me...” He offered.
The other man poured a cup of coffee and slumped into an empty chair.
“Not sleeping while your this sick will not help you keep up with your classes. It’s not logical to work yourself into such a state.” His eyes locked on Yagi’s and he felt like he wanted nothing more than to disappear into the floor.
“I know. I’ve just been so far behind on grading that I’ve-”
“You’ve just been making it worse on yourself and doing no favors to the students.”
This was too much. Not only was he sick and exhausted, but he felt he was being interrogated. He knew he was letting his health drag down his teaching abilities.
“That’s why,” Aizawa moved a stack of papers off to the side moved to lazily lean on his free hand. “You’re going to go home and get sleep.”
It surprised Yagi, the change in Aizawa’s direction.
“What? I’m already behind on this. If I can make a dent in it tonight-”
“You’ll what? Still be behind tomorrow and even more exhausted...” He took a heavy drink of hot coffee and set down an almost half-empty mug. “Go home and sleep. Try to make it through one more weekday not looking like you’re about to pass out. Saturday we can meet and power through some mutual grading. You’re not the only one behind on grading?”
The offer was so bare and reasonable. Yagi leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes with long slender hands. The idea was so appealing on levels that he didn’t want to acknowledge.
The younger man continued to lean over the table. His staring, tired face seemed to wait. As if Yagi was to accept the reason for the proposition with an inevitability.
Wanting to find a reason to turn down the offer, he couldn’t find a good reason to. He was right. He had this cold for the better part of two weeks. His deteriorating energy levels were not doing anyone any favors. Especially not the students or his exhausted self.
“All right, all right. You’re right.” There was a look of smug victory that Yagi could not understand from Aizawa. It made him feel like he lost something integral in a negotiation. It made him nervous in a way he could not pin down. “W-where would you like to meet up?”
Aizawa picked up his emptied mug and got up to put it in the staff dishwasher. Over his shoulder, he replied, “There’s this coffee shop I go to sometimes. That should work well.”
----
Yagi caught his reflection in the glass door. His rumpled clothes and did nothing for his scarecrow shape. He wished he had said no to this meet up. He felt foolish for feeling so skittish of the younger teacher.
Unsure of the source of the other man’s sudden concern, Yagi couldn’t fault his reasoning. He had gone home and slept like the dead, running late for class the next morning. Yet, it was the first night of full sleep he had gotten in over a week.
He realized he had been standing outside for several minutes. Yagi thought he probably looked more than a little strange to anyone nearby. He looked behind him to see if he was being observed acting like a buffoon and started.
Aizawa was standing about five feet away. The shorter man was carrying a case loaded with papers and a wryly curious expression.
“I was running a little late,” he said. “I guess I didn’t need to worry that you had been waiting for me.”
Yagi struggled to catch his breath and slow the staccato of his startled heart.
He answered with a weak, “I- I just arrived.”
“Good, we can get seats in the back and get to work.”
Even this early in the day, the other teacher exuded exhaustion. His hair almost covered his sleepy eyes. How is he this tired, so early?
Yagi fumbled with the latch and stepped inside the small cafe. It was better to focus on the work ahead and not wonder about what kept his co-worker up at night.
“What kind of coffee do you drink? If you grab the seats I can order,” Aizawa asked. He stuffed the folio under one arm, freeing up his hands for the drinks.
“Oh, only tea for me. Jasmine. Also, I can take that and take it over to a table,” Yagi said pointing to Aizawa’s case of papers.
Aizawa shrugged, handing him the case and said, “As you like.”
It would be a long, long day.