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As she flew over the gates of UA, a sea of memories flooded her mind. It had already been many years since her graduation, but coming here every time still made her feel like she was a student simply going to school. She noticed a familiar mess of hair and dove down into the trees, shifting into a cat. With a loud meow she jumped down and walked out in front of him. Seemed he was teaching some first years. Right, he was a proper teacher now. He crouched down in front of her and petted her head.
“You don’t really think you can fool me, do you?” His eyes flared red and his hair shot up and before she knew it she was sitting on the ground in her human form, his hand still on her head. A few surprised gasps from the students made her get up and pat the dust off her legs.
“I know I can’t fool you, Shota.” She said with a smile. She turned and waved at the students as he slowly stood up again behind her.
“Hello, young ones! Don’t mind me.”
“Indeed, don’t mind her. Keep on training.” With a short last look every one of the students went back to their training exercises. He turned back to her with a raised brow.
“Been a while since you were here.” He remarked. She nodded, watching the students with great interest.
“Yeah, I was busy for quite a while. Coming back to report now.” She gestured up at the main building. He already knew about her position here. He knew pretty much everything about her. Hard not to after almost 25 years, of course. Though she still found it frustrating that she knew less about him than vice versa.
“We should get a drink after school. Catch up.” She suggested as she stretched her arms and legs. The simple huff he let out was enough to let her know he was in. She flashed him a smile before jumping and shifting back into a small bird.
“I’ll wait at the gates!” She said as she flew off to the principal’s office.
She tapped her beak on the window and flew inside when it was opened, shifting back to her normal form and landing gracefully.
“Alice, welcome. Please, have some tea.” The principal gestured at the tea that he’d already prepared.
“Thank you.” She sat down and poured herself a cup, letting out a content sigh when she smelled the lovely fragrance.
“I read your report. Sorry to keep you there so long.” The principal climbed up on the sofa and looked at her with a slight frown. “I trust it was no trouble?”
“Of course. This much is nothing. I’m just sorry I wasn’t able to get the information more quickly.” She’d been spying on a small villain group for a few months, gathering quirk and location info. It was only a few days ago that she decided she had enough information. They were apprehended without incident the same day.
“Nonsense! You did great! I’m glad that we can work together with the police like this.” He waved his hands as he spoke. She couldn’t help but to look at the squishy pads on them. No matter what animal she changed into, she could never fully satisfy her craving to squish them. A knock at the door made her jump slightly. Her eyes darted to the principal, who simply smiled at her.
“Come on in.”
“Excuse me.” The voice from the other side was rather heavy, which was quite difficult to match with the skeletal man that came in. The man froze as soon as he saw her and his eyes were fixed on the principal, who just started laughing.
“You should see both your faces! Almost identical.” He wiped away a tiny tear and gestured at the man to come closer.
“This is Alice, one of the covert ops I told you about.” The principal explained as he gestured at her. She put down her tea and stood, bowing her head.
“Pleasure to meet you.”
“Alice, this is All Might.” As the principal spoke she raised her head and she nodded.
“I am aware.” She smiled at the man.
“As expected of a covert op!” The principal said as he clapped his hands.
“Indeed. Pleasure to meet you, young Alice.” All Might seemed rather uncomfortable. Understandable, she thought.
“I don’t wish to intrude, principal, if you read the report then I don’t know if there is much else I can tell you.” She still wasn’t quite sure why he’d called her to his office instead of just sending an email with new orders like he usually did.
“Ah, just a second longer, Alice, if you don’t mind of course.” The principal stood and moved over to the window. “I wanted to give you your next task in person.” He let out a deep sigh.
“I would like you to take a break.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve been working non-stop for so long and this last job just ended, so take a break!” The principal seemed happy, but she couldn’t quite wrap her head around what he was asking.
“So you want me to do nothing?” She tilted her head.
“If you can’t sit still you can help around the school.” The principal shrugged. “But do try to take it easy.”
“I.. Okay. Thank you, sir. If you’ll excuse me.” She moved to the window and jumped out, again opting for a small bird and heading to the nearest tree. She had to reflect on this.
She yawned loudly, unwittingly letting out a meow. Lounging in trees was best done as a cat, she thought. If she did fall, she would at least land on her paws.
‘Rest, huh.’ She looked at the small animals scuttering by on the ground below. ‘It’s been a while, that’s for sure.’ After graduation she had almost immediately been hired by Nezu, and she really hadn’t stopped working since then. Moving from case to case had become the norm for her. She didn’t really feel like she needed the rest, but perhaps she could use this chance to learn some things and improve here and there. She stood and stretched, jumping down from the tree and moving over to the front gate. It was almost time for her meeting.
“How cute!” She lifted her head to look at the group of students approaching her. She sat up on the bench she’d been lying on and yawned.
“Oh you’re from class 1-A aren’t you?” The students recoiled slightly.
“You’re the lady from this afternoon?” One of the boys asked. His hair was messy and he looked scrawny, but she figured if Shota hadn’t expelled him yet he had some potential at least.
“Indeed! I’m Alice. Sorry for not introducing myself before.”
“That’s alright! We were in the middle of class after all!” The one with glasses seemed like the serious type. Probably the class rep, she guessed.
“So you can change into a cat?” The girl that was with them seemed bubbly and kind.
“And more!” She demonstrated by jumping off the bench and shifting into a cute puppy. It was always fun to watch people’s reactions. She loved to wow them with her abilities. After all, that was one of the few things she was actually capable of. She showed off a few more: a bird, a hedgehog, a mouse. Then she went back to cat and caught her breath.
“Any animal I know about.” She said proudly. “I’m Shifter.” The chorus of ‘wow’ made her glow.
“Stop stroking her ego.” A familiar voice came from behind them and before she knew it, she’d been forced back to her normal form.
“Aw, come on Shota, I’m just showing off a little.” She said as she stood.
“Stop it.” He simply walked by her, not even waiting.
“Ah, hey, wait!” She turned back to the students. “Sorry about that, see you around!” She shifted into a bird and quickly chased after him.
“You know you can just be you, right?” Shota said as he noticed her catching up. With a shrug she shifted back to her human form and walked alongside him.
“The more time I spend in animal form the more I start to dislike this one.” She said, shame clear in her voice. She wasn’t pretty by any standard. Unruly hair, too short, weird eyes. Bullying from her younger years had left their scars, some that would never heal. Something bumped her head and she looked up, finding his fist there.
“You’re fine.” He sounded grumpy, but she knew he meant it. They’d known each other since they were 5 and he’d never said anything to hurt or belittle her. He’d always stick up for her like a real hero.
“So, have you found a better place than the usual one?” She changed the subject.
“I still don’t go out often, so no.”
“The usual place it is then.” They’d already been heading that way, unconsciously or not, so it only took a few more minutes before they arrived. They sat at their usual spot at the bar and ordered their usual drinks and food. Like nothing had changed.
“So, how’s life?” She asked. “Found a hot teacher girlfriend yet?” She closed her eyes and smacked herself internally. He just stared at her.
“Why are you like this all of a sudden.” It wasn’t a question as much as it was a statement. She sighed.
“I don’t know. Nezu told me to take a break and I’m staring into the void right now because I don’t know what to do when I’m not working.” She blurted it all out.
“That’s more like it.” The faintest smile crossed his lips. “But isn’t that good? Finally some time to do nothing.”
“But how do I do nothing?” She looked at him in despair.
“If you hate it that much you can probably help out at school. There are students who’d benefit from learning to be stealthier.”
“Really?” She shifted uncomfortably. She’d never been a very good hero, always barely passing tests and exams. Honestly, she considered it a miracle she even got her license.
“Really. I’ll help you.” He drank his beer and stared at the bottles lined up at the bar, probably oblivious to her growing smile. Oh how much she loved him.
So they agreed that she would help out with a new stealth training exercise. She took a few days to map out the basics, adjusting it to different types of quirks and environments before presenting it.
“Maybe I should adjust it some more or think of more scenarios-”
“Seems good.” He said as he scanned the pages.
“You’re always so curt, Shota! Give me some more feedback!” She pouted at him. He rolled his eyes at her.
“You thought of pretty much everything already. If anything, I’d say you did too much.”
“Oh.. Well, too much is better than too little.” She raised her shoulders with a smile.
“Indeed, this’ll do fine.” He looked at the clock on the wall. “Ready for the first one?”
“Already?!”
“Then you won’t have the chance to back out.” He grabbed her arm before she could react and dragged her out of the teacher’s room to 1-A’s classroom.
“To your seats!” He said as soon as he entered. The students scrambled to their seats, all eagerly watching the front of the class. All eagerly watching her.
“As I mentioned before, some of you could stand to be stealthier. Shifter here will give a few classes on how to apply stealth better. I’ll be in the corner.” He whipped out a yellow sleeping bag and zipped himself up before depositing himself in the corner.
“Are you for real, Shota?” She asked calmly.
“For real. I’m tired.” He said as he closed his eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she sighed, but then directed her attention to the class.
“So, as Eraser explained, I’ll be giving ‘stealth classes’. I’ll start with some basic theory and then we’ll move on to practice.”
When the bell rang, she’d just barely finished her basic theory. A sigh of relief escaped her.
“So, that’s it for now, next time we’ll move on to practice in a few buildings in ground Beta. Be sure to review your notes before that lesson. Dismissed.” The students nodded and started packing up, some eagerly discussing what they’d just learned while others simply rushed out to the cafeteria.
“Like a real teacher.” Shota’s voice made her jump.
“I’d forgotten you were there.” She held a hand over her heart.
“How awful of you.” He unzipped his sleeping bag and put it away under the teacher’s desk. “Let’s go have lunch.” She followed him out of the room and to the cafeteria. There was a table where many of the teachers were seated. She got her favorite kamatama udon and joined the table together with Shota.
“Oh, Mic, it’s been a while.” She said as she recognized the flashy hair.
“Alice?!” Mic’s voice resounded loudly. She smiled as she rubbed her ears.
“More than a while! Months!” She saw his eyes go from her to Shota and back, and she instantly shot him a subtle death glare. Judging from his reaction, he received the message. More often than not, he’d tried to be a wingman for her, but always in rather clumsy and obvious ways. She did appreciate his efforts though, Mic was a good guy.
“I’ve been busy, but I’m giving some lessons here now.” She explained.
“Hmm, INTERESTING.” He nodded with a broad smile. “You’ll do great!”
“Thanks, I hope so.”
“Pff, she’s weird she can’t do anything.” The young voice rung in her head.
“I bet she’s quirkless!” Another joined.
“Must be with those looks.” And another.
She didn’t respond. She didn’t know how to respond. Maybe she did look weird. Maybe she couldn’t do anything. Maybe she was quirkless. Maybe she should just.. disappear.
“Go away!” A different voice now.
“Oh it’s Aizawa, run before he erases you!” The kids quickly ran off, laughing like nothing had happened.
“Are you okay?” The boy held out a hand to her. She nodded and took it, allowing him to pull her up.
“Thank you.” She wiped some tears from her eyes and forced a smile. “I’m Alice.”
“Shota.”
She opened her eyes, staring up at the ceiling of her apartment. It all started coming back now, from her earliest memories onwards. Despite having been away for months, it’d been about 2 years since she’d last seen Shota or Mic. She’d always actively avoided going back to the school. It’s not like she had many bad memories there, especially compared to the rest. There were just too many feelings she’d buried there. But as soon as she’d crossed the boundary, those feelings shot right up out of the ground and hit her again.
She let her head fall to the side, staring out the window at the night sky. At some point she’d hated how dependent she’d become of Shota. Those thoughts are what eventually willed her into becoming a hero, so she could show that she was capable by herself.
‘It’ll be fine. I’ll just.. keep going like I always have.’ She thought, ignoring the doubts gnawing at her.
The next morning, she decided to do some proper shopping, cleaning, and washing. It’d been too long since she’d thoroughly cleaned her apartment. She’d hardly ever spent time there the past few months. She was often up at night, sleeping only a few hours here and there before continuing her work.
It was already past noon when she was done cleaning. She’d just hung the first batch of laundry out to dry on her balcony and started gathering her things to go shopping. She locked the door, turned, took in a deep breath and set out.
Despite never having the time, she did love walking around the store, finding bargains and interesting new snacks to try. This reminded her of how long it’d actually been since she’d been able to calmly look at things at the store.
‘It’s nice to take your mind off things for a little.’ She mused as she added a bag of chips to her basket.
“Oh, it’s Alice!” Mic’s voice reached her ears and she whipped around, seeing him and Shota standing a little further away. Mic was waving abundantly while Shota was staring at a rack to the side.
“W-what a coincidence.” She said as she smiled, realizing that today was Saturday.
“Totally!” She saw something flash in his eyes and squinted at him.
“How about we get together tonight and PARTY??” He suggested, finger gunning at both Shota and Alice.
“No.” Shota’s answer was resolute.
“Awwww, COME ON, it’ll be fun with just the three of us!” The finger gunning intensified.
“I don’t mind.” She eventually said. She truly didn’t. She liked the company. But she felt there was more to this.
“Well then I guess I’ll have to go TOGETHER with Alice.” Mic quickly switched sides and was now standing beside her.
“Fine.” Shota gave in as well, much to Mic’s delight.
“Let’s go shopping!!” He said as he bounded away. With a shrug, she followed after him.
“Where should we go for the party?” She asked once they’d left the store.
“How about your place Alice?” Mic suggested. She shrugged.
“Sure. I just cleaned, so it’s presentable right now.” She laughed.
“It’s decided! To Alice’s place!” Again, Mic started leading the way. Everyone had been there at least once before, so there was no need to be difficult about it. She looked at Shota over her shoulder and caught him staring at her. She quickly turned back, her eyes drilling into Mic’s back. Shota was never very talkative, but this time he’d been exceptionally quiet. Maybe he’s actually really inconvenienced by everything? Maybe he doesn’t want to hang out with her? Maybe he was looking forward to just doing something fun with Mic and she’s butting in? She clenched her jaw. No, don’t panic. She had to keep some semblance of control.
“H-hey, Mic!” She ran up to him and walked beside him. “How’ve you been? I forgot to ask last time.”
“GOOD! Teaching isn’t as exciting as doing hero work, but doing a bit of both is a good combination.” He’d always been so happy and optimistic, smiling constantly. She envied him in that regard. He moved his eyes to point to Shota in the back, then winked at her. She sighed and flashed him a tired smile.
When they finally arrived at her place, she was fumbling for the keys when Mic’s phone rang. He answered in his usual manner, but quickly turned more serious.
“It looks like the principal wants to go over something with me.” He said.
“On Saturday?” Shota’s response was skeptical, and she couldn’t blame him.
“It sounded VERY important, so I have no choice!” He pouted. “I really wanted to have an awesome party with you guys too!”
“We can do it tomorrow maybe?” Alice suggested.
“No! Don’t let my absence spoil the fun! Party on my behalf!!” With that, he turned and ran off.
“I knew it.” She heard Shota murmur.
“It’s alright if you don’t want to-”
“Hurry and open the door.” He said as he came up the steps. “I’m hungry.” She turned back to her bag and finally fished out her keys, quickly unlocking the door and heading inside.
The awkward silences she feared for didn’t happen. There was a relaxed conversation going, ranging from the past to the future. Politics to economics. Really normal conversational topics. They grilled some meat and vegetables and had some beers, enjoying the feeling that not much had changed since their school years.
“Ah, I’m glad I visited UA again. Remembering everything is a lot of fun.” She said as she eyed the grill, finding it rather empty.
“Let’s grill some more meat!” She rolled up her sleeves and grabbed the tongs, picking up a few pieces of meat and putting them on the grill. Looking back at Shota, she saw his eyes focused on something. She followed them to her wrist and quickly covered it with a half-smile.
“I suppose we’ve all had our good and bad memories.” He said as he took another swig of his beer. She gave a nod.
“It’s getting a bit hot in here don’t you think? I’ll open up the balcony door a bit.” She said as she stood up and moved over to the balcony door, sliding it open a little. The cold air made her shiver, but it was a pleasant feeling. She stood there for a little bit before turning around. She held her breath when she saw Shota right in front of her, barely an inch away from touching. He planted his hands to her sides, one on the wall and one on the glass.
“Alice.” He breathed her name, the smell of beer very clear in it. She looked down at her feet, seeing how his were surrounding hers. He muttered something she couldn’t quite catch and when she looked back up he was basically sleeping like that. Impressive, she thought. Then she evaluated her situation and gently tried to guide him to the bed, only for him to collapse into her arms. She’d neglected her strength training, so she had to give her utmost just to keep him up, but she eventually managed to get him onto the bed. Then the smell of burning reached her nostrils and she hurried over to the meat to salvage it.
She sat down, shoving the remaining pieces of grilled meat in her mouth. The heat from him being so close and saying her name like that was still subsiding, but every time her mind went there again it came right back. And now he was just lying there, sleeping soundly. She looked to her wrist, rubbing over the scars again. He’d always been there at school, but when she was alone with her thoughts they often took a turn for the worse. It was strange, thinking back on it now. It had seemed so very important back then, but now she just found it silly. Perhaps she’d one day look back on this and think the same thing, but right now this seemed like one of the simultaneously best and worst scenarios ever.
“I need a shower.” She concluded as she turned off the grill, put everything at a safe distance, and headed off to the bathroom.
After a nice, long shower, she draped a towel over her head and went back out, finding her apartment as clean as she’d left it that morning, with no sign that anyone had set foot in it. And now that she looked, she noticed that Shota had left as well. On the table was a note with a squiggly ‘sorry’ on it. His house was quite far from here and she worried about him getting there okay in his current state. It’d be quite a situation if he were to just fall asleep again like that. She rubbed the towel over her head a few times and grabbed her keys before heading out.
She knew the way to his house and before long she found him a few blocks from her apartment.
“Shota!” She called out to him. He stopped so suddenly he nearly fell over. She caught up to him and let out a deep breath.
“At least let me walk you home.” She smiled at him, ignoring his annoyed expression.
“No need.”
“Then I’ll just do it for me and my conscience.” She raised her shoulders. He huffed and continued walking. She eagerly took in the night air. It was cold, and her hair hadn’t dried quite yet, so she was pretty sure she’d end up with a cold, but that was alright. She could allow herself this once.
“Thanks for cleaning up, by the way. I’m surprised you managed it so quickly.”
“Hmph.” There weren’t a lot of people out on the streets anymore, and the quiet felt both refreshing and crushing at the same time. She did notice that he became a little soberer when they were about halfway. She hadn’t had that much, but she noticed the same for herself. The cold night air truly worked wonders. They walked the rest of the way in silence as well and eventually arrived at his front door. He took his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, pausing before opening it.
“You really gonna go all the way back?” He didn’t look at her as he spoke.
“It’s not that far if I fly, and I may not look it, but I’m a hero too.” She jokingly flexed her arm muscles. Sadly, there was little to see.
“Ahh, this is really hard, Alice.” He turned around to her and she could see a pained expression in his eyes. She unconsciously moved closer.
“A-are you hurt? Should I-”
“No.” He sighed. “I want you to come inside.” She blinked a few times, then nodded quietly. He went inside, and she followed suit. As soon as the door fell closed, he grabbed her and pushed her against the wall, roughly pressing his lips onto hers. After what felt like eternity, but still not as long as she’d like, he broke away.
“I can’t hold back anymore, Alice. I need.. you.”
“Anymore? You mean?” Her voice was tiny, and for a moment she was unsure if he’d even heard her. He rested his head on her shoulder, then moved to her neck, his warm breath on her cold skin made bolts of electricity shoot through her body.
“For so long I was convinced I wasn’t what you needed. An unsociable, grumpy bastard like me. But I can’t do it anymore. Sorry.” The slight tremble in his voice surprised her. Despite knowing him for so long, he’d never shown her any kind of vulnerability. She willed her arms to listen to her again and grabbed his face in both her hands. In her fit, she even threw her head forward, headbutting him. He stumbled backwards to the wall on the other side.
“You stupid, stupid idiot!” She said as she flicked on the light. “Who are you to decide what I need?” She realized her outburst when she saw the surprise on his face, and calmed herself down a little.
“I mean, I often don’t even know what’s good for me, and I don’t always make the best decisions, but maybe I just can’t help but love this unsociable, grumpy bastard!” Tears burned in her eyes as she finished her tirade and punched the door for good measure. She yelped as she pulled her hand back, the knuckles painfully red. Then, he just burst out laughing. Earnest, exuberant laughing like he’d only done a few times before.
“We unconsciously made it hard on each other, didn’t we?” He took her hand into his and rested his forehead on hers. She nodded.
“Sorry.”
“So, you want to stay over now?” She looked at him to find a mischievous smile playing around his lips.
“I’m a little cold, and you still smell like the grill, so how about a shower first?” She suggested, trying to sound confident.
“Ohoho, how naughty.” He smirked, pecking her lips. “I like it.”