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Eri isn't happy. Well, that's a little bit of a lie, because she's at home, and Tank is purring next to her, and Ai-tou braided her hair this morning and gave her a kiss on the head before he left for a meeting earlier, and Deku-nii is here to look after her whilst Ai-tou's gone for a few hours.
But all of that doesn't change how Deku-nii is all frowny, creases in his forehead like what Ai-tou gets when one of his hellions have been really, really silly, and that makes her heart do the tight thing. She's worried.
Deku-nii should be all big smiles and round laughs, or little words and quick thoughts, except when she's sleepy or upset because then he goes quiet-understanding and his always-soft hands become even more gentle so that she knows she's safe. And right now he isn't any of those things. No, he's hunched over their coffee table, with one of Ai-tou's big mugs next to all of his books and pens and notes, and he's concentrating super hard, Eri can tell. Which is fine! She's happy drawing next to him, because they're together and he's still humming and leaning against her whenever she goes too still, and it keeps them both grounded and present like they're meant to be, except he's also not looking after himself. And she knows that's bad, because Ai-tou told her so! So Heroine Unicorn is on the mission! Wait, are those the right words? Isn't there something about a case, or maybe having something...
Oh well, she's thought it now. Her first plan, as Heroine Unicorn, is to try getting Deku-nii to drink water. Ai-tou always gives her water if she's crying, and it helps her calm down, plus it's good for hydro- hydration, which everyone says is important, especially if they do a lot of movement things, which baby heroes do! And adult heroes too, but Deku-nii's a baby hero because he's still training, even though he's much bigger than her, and he's drinking coffee now which Ai-tou always tells her is a bad habit to get into and he should know. She's not sure she knows why he should know... Maybe because he drinks lots and lots of coffee?
That doesn't matter right now, she reminds herself, and gets to her feet, already planning whether she can reach one of the glasses without breaking the kitchen rules or if she'll need to get Deku-nii one of her cups. But then he startles slightly from beside her, head coming up from his work and oh, she hadn't noticed how his eyebags look like Ai-tou's. That isn't good, is it?
"Eri-chan, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Deku-nii!" If he notices her unintentional emphasis on the "I" then he doesn't act on it, only looking at her with that look that's halfway between critical and concerned. It's the one he gets when he's checking on her, and it makes her chest feel all tight and warm in the good ways. Even when he's tired her Deku-nii looks after her.
"Do you want anything?" It's good for heroes to work together, Eri knows, but she's going on a solo mission today and she's going to get full marks! Wait, do heroes get grades for- No, she needs to concentrate now!
"Mm, water. I can do it though!"
"Okay. Let me know if you need anything though darling, kay?"
"Yes, Deku-nii," she replies, unable to help how she's smiling. He reaches up to ruffle her hair then, avoiding her horn because he knows that she doesn't like people touching it, and his hand is big and warm and scarred, and makes her feel as happy as sunlight or Ai-tou's hugs.
She quickly realises that she can't get him a glass without breaking the kitchen rules, and heroes have to follow the laws which are like big, extra-important rules, so she decides that Deku-nii will have to be ad-apt-able and drink out of one of her pretty cups with the cats on. Ai-tou sometimes deliberately uses one of her cups if he's having a bad day because the cats make him feel better just like they do for her, so maybe it will actually help Deku-nii even more?
She nudges her step stool towards the sink, and pulls her cups out of the cupboard that's especially all for her, and takes the two of them up to the sink. She can only just reach the taps, and she fills the first up halfway because it's only for her and she isn't the one that needs the help, and then she very, very carefully fills Deku-nii's up most of the way because he definitely needs the water to keep him happy, and she puts it down on the counter before stepping to the floor super carefully, and then she picks it up again, walking over to Deku-nii with it in between both of her hands, treading as delicately as she can to make sure she doesn't spill any. She gets back to the table and sets it down on a coaster, then oh-so carefully moves the coasters around so that the water cup is where Deku-nii's coffee had been before, and the coffee is probably just out of his reach. Obviously she knows he could get it if he tried, but hopefully he won't even realise?
She's glad that, by the time she goes to get her cup and puts it next to her part of the coffee table and floor, Deku-nii has drunk some of the water and left the coffee alone. Hopefully he'll feel better if he drinks the whole glass!
It doesn't really seem to work though. Eri waits and waits and is as patient as she can be which is really patient because she learnt how to wait for things a long time ago, when things were still bad and white, but even when Deku-nii has emptied his cup entirely, he just seems sleepier. There are less crinkles in his forehead though, and even if she only notices now because it's stopped, his hands aren't trembling and shaky anymore. That's probably a good thing.
But he still doesn't look happy, and he helped her smile so she wants to do the same for him, and one thing that always helps make her happy is Tank. He's purring against her leg right now, so Eri scoops him up and twists in place to plop the big cat in Deku-nii's lap, sneaking under his arm to do so.
He jumps a bit, but a teensy-weensy little smile pops up amongst the pretty dots- amongst his freckles, and Eri smiles too, even though his smile doesn't stay for very long. A little bit is better than none, isn't it?
It doesn't feel as good eight minutes and twelve seconds later, when he's grumbling at something despite the purring ball of fluff in his lap. Eri doesn't like that he's still upset and un-smiley. Deku-nii is kind and lovely and deserves to be smiling! Like Ai-tou and Lemi-nii and Deku-nii always make sure Eri knows that she is allowed to be happy, they have to be happy too!
What else makes her happy? Music does, but Deku-nii seems tired, not like he wants to dance, and Ai-tou isn't here to read Deku-nii stories. Oh, hugs are almost-always good. And Deku-nii always likes her hugs, he told her so, even on his bad days (his bad days are different to hers - Deku-nii goes very quiet and very still, and apologises for lots of things even if it's silly, and instead of flinching he just goes scary-still, like he's stone, and it's different to how Eri shakes inside-out and her skin goes all itchy, like she needs to wash her hands constantly, but both of them are scared, and Eri likes knowing she isn't the only one who's been hurt, who's a little broken inside-) so giving him a hug should maybe-probably help?
Eri moves around on her floor pillow until instead of her back against his side, she's turned right around and wraps her arms around his, burying her face in his shoulder.
"Eri-chan?" Tank is still purring, and she makes sure her murmur isn't any louder, but it doesn't sound bad enough to make him panic. She doesn't want to make him feel worse, even more if he calls Ai-tou out of his big teacher meeting, so she just holds on tight.
"I can't really work like this, darling, and I'm happy to hug you but could you maybe sit on my other side?"
Trying not to get too frantic, Eri just squeezes his arm briefly, pouting against his shirt. And Deku-nii, because he's kind and soft and perfect, doesn't even sigh. No, he just relaxes into it, his other hand coming up to brush through her hair and then he's slumping back against the sofa behind them, pen dropped on the table and Tank still being loud and rumbly and warm in his lap.
It's exactly what she wanted! Eri has to try and keep her smile away, because Deku-nii would probably be able to feel it and right now he's getting all soft and plu- pliant, kind of floppy, and when Eri peeks up from his shoulder, she can see that his eyes are all heavy and dark. Not bad, but kind of sleepy looking. A bit like Ai-tou. And there's something soft to his face, like a blanket that's just been dumped on the floor rather than being pulled tight around her, then his arm relaxes as well, scarred fingers buried in Tank's dark fluff, and Eri thinks he looks happier now. Not smiling, but the other good one... content. The one that Ai-tou is a lot.
Oh, now he's snoring. It's quiet but Deku-nii must be asleep. Hm, when she starts to fall asleep somewhere, Ai-tou will either pick her up and put her in bed, or he'll put a blanket over her and make sure it's all tucked in, and Eri doesn't think she could carry Deku-nii a single step, let alone to their spare room that's his like the empty place in the shoe rack is his, just for his red shoes and nobody else's!
So she can't carry him, but she can get the blanket off of the back of the sofa without moving too much, so Eri stretches her arm as far as she can without moving her body, not wanting to wake her hero up like Ai-tou does if things move around him, and her fingertips just brush it, then she can grab the fabric properly, tug it down, and then she has a blanket next to them both. Oh no, this probably won't be quite as easy.
Telling herself that being determined is more important than most things, because heroes have to never give up and that includes Heroine Unicorn, Eri starts nudging and pushing one end of the blanket away from her, towards Deku-nii's other shoulder. It's a bit twisted and turned, but it's mostly okay, and then she can see some of the yellow fluffy fabric over his chest so it should be tucked around his other shoulder.
From there, she can pull the rest of it towards her, and around herself too, and then they're just a little cocoon of warmth and blankets and sleepiness together.
At some point, Eri falls asleep too. Aizawa comes back from his faculty meeting to find quiet snores and purrs filling the flat, and when he rounds his sofa, he finds his daughter and Problem Child both asleep. The coffee table is a mess of papers, a few with drawings on but most of them maths or biology or Literature, and there's a half-drunk mug of coffee on the opposite side of the table, along with two of Eri's plastic cups. The hero's favourite blanket, yellow and fluffy, is rather messily tucked around Izuku's shoulders, draped down one side and then pulled around Eri on the other. Tank opens his one green eye to peer up at the hero then. He doesn't stop purring though, and the hero reaches down to scritch his cat's head for a few moments, pushing the purring up a few notches. The kid has seemed stressed out the last few days, moreso than most of the class despite all of them having the same exams and Izuku being consistently in the top three students this year, but well. Sometimes that makes things worse rather than better, pressure-wise.
Considering all of this, Aizawa is glad that both of his kids are sleeping. Maybe he'll even join them.