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She stretches her arms on her way to UA. From the clock she sees somewhere, it is just entering lunchtime. Today’s patrol had been a laidback one. Just catching a few thugs; easy-peasy and nothing to sweat about. Now it is time to see her favorite man. It turns out she doesn’t need to do much work in her search. Just as she sees the UA gate, the person she is looking for is exiting it, much to her giddiness.
It is starting to become an everyday routine. Wake up, do some shit involving morning stretches, bath and breakfast, be the shining Hero, go to Eraser, continue be the Hero, if there is enough time then go to Eraser again, go home, clean up, sleep, repeat. It does mean that her patrol had cut down quite an amount, but it is a sacrifice she is willing to take.
“Yo, Eraser!” she shouts, waving a hand high to gain his attention. The eternally tired teacher stops and turns towards her.
“Miruko,” he greets her as soon as she is close enough.
“You’re going somewhere?”
“I ran out of jelly pouches,” he answers. That would explain the exhaustion dripping from his voice and a lot more hunching posture. Even the large bags under his eyes are bigger than usual. She wonders how he can still be standing despite looking so very exhausted.
“Can’t you buy some later?”
“And deal my class and coworkers without it? No,” he says firmly with a grimace. Well, she doesn’t know how much shenanigans he had endured from the other teachers, but she knows enough to say that his class is giving him hell.
“Don’t you have like, secret stashes or something?” she asks, jutting her hip to the side and places a fist on it.
“I just finished the entire thing this morning.”
“That bad?”
“Today’s not my day,” he sighs, closing his eyes as if he is in pain.
She could feel her lips twitching. They can hold conversations now, though over half of the time she is the one who does all the talking. Eraser is a quiet person by nature; that is actually a pretty early deduction. It seems the thing they have between them is progressed, if there is a thing there. But she pretends there is.
“Need a company? I’m sure you’ll be lonely on the way there,” she gives her usual tease. She admits that teasing him can be a bit fun bec-
“Sure.”
Her thought grinds to a halt.
“Eh?”
“A little company wouldn’t hurt,” he adds, already turning and walks away. She blinks at his back in mild disbelief. She is taken by surprise that she is lost for words. “Unless you don’t want to then you can go inside and see my students’ progress like how you always said which I know is untrue.”
So he knew the entire time. He knew that his kids were never her intention. But then again, she had been making lazy and stupid excuses that she doesn’t know how she had gotten away with it. At least, with everyone else.
And then there was that day when she reveals she had sought him out.
She quickly snaps out from her stupor when she realizes she had been quiet for a little too long and Eraser is getting away. She jogs to his side before slowing down to his walking pace.
“You’re just bullshitting.”
“Then accompany me.”
“Sheesh, assertive much?”
“More like tired of bulls.”
“Alright, alright. Let’s go then.” She’s about turn to the right at the crossroad when Eraser suddenly turns left, earning a confused frown from her. “Where are we going? I thought the store is that way?” She jabs her thumb at the direction even though Eraser wouldn’t see it as his back is facing her.
“We’re using the backroads,” he answers over his shoulder towards her. “I don’t want to be swarmed by the media and your fans.”
“You really hate attention that much?” she asks as she returns back to his side. He gives an affirmative hum. Well, it is to be expected. He is an Underground Hero so it makes sense for him to keep away from the lenses as much as possible. And he himself as a person doesn’t like attention at all.
True to his words, the roads they are using is a little longer but much quieter than the main roads. It’s quite serene, miniscule sounds like rustling trees and running water sound loud to her ears. There are no bustling crowds and zooming vehicles, it’s peaceful. She’s starting to get used to this.
And there is only the two of them side by side by themselves.
“E-Excuse me!”
She sees him sighs and closes his eyes as if it pains him physically. So much for being away from fans.
“Go and handle your fan,” he says with a groan and an annoyed look on his face, to which she returns with a mocking smirk. He sighs again with a roll of his eyes before walking away to get away from attention while she stops. She snorts to herself, finding it amusing at how he dislikes attention a lot.
She then turns around towards the quickly approaching fan, a practiced easy grin already formed on her lips.
“What can I get ya-”
The fan rushes past her without even giving her a second glance.
“Mr. E-Eraserhead!”
‘…What?’
She turns around to give the fan a shocked look while Eraser immediately freezes. The fan stops right in front of him just as he slowly turns around, a similar shocked look on his face.
“Y-You’re Eraserhead, right?” the fan asks him timidly, gripping onto the drawing pad in her hands tighter. He shares a look with her for a brief moment before looking back down at the fan before him. He can only nod his head mutely. The shellshock look firmly stays on his face.
The fan, a middle school girl judging from her uniform, starts to vibrate on her spot. She stutters out incoherent words, seemingly lost for words before she stops and squares her shoulders with a deep breath.
“I’m your biggest fan,” she says shyly. She would’ve thought Eraser couldn’t get any more shocked than before but she is proven wrong. This is probably the first time she had ever seen the aloof, stoic man lost his composure, and to a middle schooler nonetheless.
It’s kind of cute.
“I-I know you don’t have many fans and you barely ever show up on any media a-and there’s very little information about you on the internet b-but there’s a forum, a whole secret forum, dedicated to you, stories about your glimpses, your presences, your rescues, your heroic deeds a-and you’re just so cool and amazing a-and I just… I j-just…”
The girl stops, seemingly to catch her breath. Then, she grips onto the drawing pad in her hands even tighter.
“You made me believe that I can be a Hero too.”
She could see it; Eraser slowly straightens up as he looks down at the girl. Shock slides off his face before it instantly replaced by pride.
“C-Could you please sign my notepad?” she thrusts the said drawing pad towards him, holding it out with both hands. “I-I want to take photos with you b-but I don’t think that is a good idea because you’re an Underground Hero and you need to be anonymous and secretive because that is the kind of a Hero you are so-”
Her rambling gets cut off when Eraser plucks the notepad from her hands. He takes the marker pen attached to it and opens the pad. Just as he uncaps the pen, he suddenly freezes. At first she is confused but then a cackling grin slowly forms on her lips.
Poor little Underground Hero doesn’t know what to do; it hammers in that this is the first time he has ever gets a fan asking for his autograph. That is so fucking hilarious.
He recovers very quickly and scribbles something onto the drawing pad. She’s too far away and he’s holding it at an angle that unable her from seeing. Then, he hands the pad and pen back to the girl who takes it gratefully.
“Thank you!” the cute little Eraser fan shouts, bowing low from the waist as she holds the drawing pad to her chest. “It means a lot to me.” Eraser gives his usual hum as she straightens up. It seems he has recomposed.
“Don’t you have school?” he asks, causing the girl to twitches.
“I-I uhh… I ran out when I saw you…” she meekly answers.
“Do you want us to accompany you back to school?”
“Y-You don’t have to.”
“We’re offering, kid.”
“We?”
And that is her cue.
“I’m right here,” she announces her presence, walking up to the pair. The girl turns around with a confused look before it morphs into surprise.
“M-Miruko!”
“Hey, kid! Finally noticed me?” she teases the little girl, who blushes in embarrassment.
“Come on then, we’ll have the conversation on the way there,” Eraser cuts in before either of them could say any words. They give him a nod before the three of them go back to where they come from.
“Eraser, huh?” The blush returns but this time with a happy smile on her lips.
“Yes! He’s so cool!”
Beside the girl, Eraser barely reacts.
‘Damn,’ she thinks to herself. So once he is recomposed, he won’t lose it the second time. She is impressed. He recovers very quickly.
“How did you find out about this yarn ball over here?” she asks, bending down just slightly (she’s short and the girl is quite tall) to be on her level. She’s curious how the girl found out about Eraser, and why.
“He saved me six years ago,” the middle schooler starts timidly. “He saved me from a group of villains and then he brought me home and when I tried to look him up on the internet there was nothing and I was fascinated because what kind of a Hero that just doesn’t exist so I spent the last six years researching and researching, grabbing articles and asking around in tons and tons of forums if they know about him and, and, and-”
The girl starts talking faster and faster, getting more and more excited and rambles on. When she glances at Eraser for a second she doesn’t notice any difference, or are his eyes less sharp than before? She's not sure; she doesn’t know Eraser enough to notice all of his nuances yet.
“Did you know that some people theorized Eraserhead was a cryptid at first?”
Now that certainly piques her interest.
“Oh really?” she asks, now smirking at the man in question. Once more, he doesn’t show any visible reaction.
“Yes!” The girl brightens. She seems excited to share information with someone. She thinks that none of the girl’s classmates could understand her fascination with an unknown Hero. Now that someone knows about Eraser, she just dumps a whole load onto her. “Oh there aren’t a lot, but there are a few interesting one! One theory said he’s a local ghost whose spirit so strong he continues to be a Hero after his passing. One theory said he is a sentient Quirk that is a manifestation of the unfortunates who were too late to be saved. One said he is a living shadow.”
She never heard of all these when she first did her research on Eraser. Maybe she didn’t do hard enough research. And, then again, the girl had six years of researching so she was bound to come across some crazy things along the way.
“Is this it?” she hears Eraser asks. She pulls her attention away from the girl and looks up at where Eraser is looking at.
“Yeah, this is my school,” the girl answers.
‘Yeah no shit this like the only middle school nearby,’ Miruko thinks to herself just as the girl turns towards them and bows.
“Thank you, Mr. Eraserhead, Miruko.” She straightens up and has a happy blush on her cheeks. “I am happy to finally get to see you.” Eraser gives his usual hum as a reply, which seems good enough judging the smile on the girl’s smile.
“See ya later, kid,” she bids, giving the girl her usual smirk. The girl beams back. They watch as the middle schooler rushes back inside to her school. She looks up at Eraser, who doesn’t look any different but she thinks his feature is a little more relaxed, less frowning.
“Did big boy gets his first autograph for a fan?” she asks in a sweet teasing voice, jabbing his side with her elbow. He gives her a glare for a second before looking back forward. “She must’ve been quite the fan. She didn’t even ask for my autograph.”
“Hm.”
She looks at Eraser once more, now with her eyebrows raise.
“You okay, dude? You seem a little stunned,” she says while slapping his back, causing him to grunt at her strength. He gives her a harder glare.
“I’m fine. Just… surprised.”
“Yeah, no shit.”
“Come on then.”
“Eh? We’re going to the store?”
“We already wasted enough time. Class is starting soon.”
“There’s like thirty minu-”
“Let’s go, Miruko.”
“Just admit it, she gave you enough boost to keep going forward.”
“I have no idea you are implying.”
This could be the first time she ever stepped inside the teacher’s lounge. There are a bunch of other teachers and Pro Heroes here, surrounded by stacks of papers. She recognizes some of them, one being-
“YO! ERASER!” she flinches at the loud volume. Yes, Present Mic the Voice Hero. He was the narrator for the Sports Festival a while back, with Eraser accompanying him. His Quirk will not do well with her sensitive hearing.
“Pipe down, Mic,” Eraser grumbles as he sits down at, what she presumes his table.
“Hey, Miruko!” Present Mic greets her loudly, but thankfully not as loud as before. “Nice to see you here! Were you with Eraser?”
“Yep. Big boy here was well behaved during the outing,” she replies. Mic laughs loudly, causing her to flinch at the volume before it suddenly disappears.
“Shut up, Mic,” she hears Eraser hisses. She thinks he erases Mic’s Quirk. The Voice Hero seems unaffected, merely keeping on smiling before it suddenly disappears.
“You look a little different today, Eraser.”
‘Huh?’ she gives Mic a confused look before turning her attention to Eraser with a frown on her face. ‘What does he mean different?’ she thinks to herself. She sees nothing different about Eraser, maybe a little quieter than normal but there are times where he does that and this is not anything usual, as far as she knows. And there are times where she thinks he is less frowning but nothing big deals to fuss about.
Does Present Mic know him more intimately, enough to see his miniscule nuances with just a single glance?
“Did something happen earlier, Miruko?” she hears someone asks. Looking at the speaker, it is Midnight, the R-Rated Hero. She’s leaning into the arm of her swivel chair, propping her chin with a hand. She has a similar curious look as Mic’s.
So Midnight as well?
“Nothing happened,” Eraser answers a little too quickly. She looks back at Eraser and notices him glaring daggers at her. Slowly, a smirk grows on her lips fully showing her teeth. “Do not-”
“Eraser had his first autograph earlier.”
“NO WAY!”
“Snitch.”
“It was a middle schooler. It was pretty cute at how proud he was when she said she can be a Hero thanks to him.”
“Miruko, shut up.”
“AWWWWWW!”
A movement catches her eyes. It’s the floaty girl, standing by the door. She has a shocked look on her face, for whatever the reason she couldn’t tell. Then, suddenly, her face morphs into a serious expression that looks quite familiar. Then, she sprints away until the echoes of her footsteps disappear.
She has no idea what was all that about.
She then turns her attention back to Eraser, who now glaring at her as Mic pokes his cheek while Midnight squishes his face with her hands, both cooing at him. Despite looking close to murder, he doesn’t push them off of him. She returns the look with her usual smirk but with softer edges.
Then, she hears thunderous footsteps approaching. The lounge door slams open so hard she thinks it breaks. Eraser’s kids suddenly pour in, piling on top of one another while simultaneously trying to push each other away, with the purple haired kid at the very front. All of them are looking frantic and out of breath.
“Mr. Aizawa-” one of them loudly starts before a hand slaps onto her face.
“Can I have your autograph!?”
“Back off, I came here first!”
“Could you stop pulling my hair!?”
“Sign my notepad, Mr. Aizawa!”
“Me first!”
“Let go of my tail!”
“My leg!”
“Mr. Aizawa! Autograph!”
Her ears are assaulted by multitude of noises. One ear is picking up the shouts of Eraser’s kids, yelling at each other to let go while also demanding for his autograph. The other ear is picking up the mirthful laughter of Eraser’s friends, teasing at the man at how much his kids care for him.
Eraser himself looks like he wishes to be erased (heh) from existence, eye twitching and teeth gritted.
His social life is a lot livelier than she expects, but it could probably because his friends and his kids wouldn’t leave him be. And he is too kind to push them away. Well sign her up to the party as well.
She wants to be a part of his life from now on.
“You should hear that people thought he’s a cryptid.”
“WHAT?!”
“NO. FREAKING. WAY!”
“Miruko!”