Archive of Our Own

Shouta Aizawa needed a babysitter for Eri.

It was the summer of class A’s senior year, which meant classes were not in session, though that did not mean the job as a pro-hero had stopped.

If he could, he would have had Mic, or the girls of class A or B watch her for a few hours while he took on the takedown of some villains that were on the loose. However, nobody was available. Mic and the other teachers decided to take a much-needed vacation and the hero classes were either on vacation or focused on their work study.

“Damn it,” he mumbled under his breath.

“Is something wrong, Mr. Aizawa,” said Eri as she paused from coloring on the floor of the common space area of the dorms and looked up at him.

“It’s nothing, Eri,” he sighed as he pushed his long raven hair back.

“Okay,” Eri responded, then went back to her coloring.

He didn’t want to back out from the takedown, because he was needed for his quirk, but not having a babysitter made it tough for him to choose.

He leaned back on the couch and sighed again, wondering who he can ask to watch Eri. He even thought about the big three, but they weren’t available either. All Might was even out of the question.

“Mr. Aizawa, look!” Eri said excitedly and she lifted her coloring book to show him. “I colored the clown! Do you like it?”

Aizawa gave her a soft smile and nodded at the young girl. “Yes, it’s very-” he said before he cut himself off.

“Mr. Aizawa?” Eri said, tilting her head slightly.

Aizawa wanted to kick himself for thinking about a certain pro-hero to babysit Eri for him, but he needed one fast.

“It’s very nice, Eri,” he told her quickly before he took his phone out of his pocket. “Stay here, I’m going to make a phone call really quick, okay?”

Eri grinned and nodded, “okay!”

Aizawa patted the girls head, then got up the couch to walk away towards the kitchen area, but still stood close enough to still have her in his view. He scrolled through his contacts to find the person he was thinking about, then huffed at the view of the name.

“I hope I don’t need to regret this,” he murmured under his breath before he pressed the contact.

He heard the phone ring only twice, then heard the voice that made him sigh.

“ERASER! Well to think my future husband would call me out of the blue!” he heard the voice laugh.

“Joke,” he grumbled.

“What! I can’t be excited to hear my future husband’s voice?” laughed Ms. Joke.

Ms. Joke and Aizawa kept in touch for the past few months. They did some joint training together before her previous students graduated, as well as some sessions with her new hero class. Also, after things started to get better throughout Japan, all the hero schools came together once a month to discuss the change in the hero course and society, so he often saw Ms. Joke.

“I’m not your future husband,” he groaned.

“Haha! Not yet! But soon!” she laughed first, then allowed it to die down, “what do I owe the pleasure, Eraser?”

“Are you busy this afternoon?” he asked.

“Are you asking me on a date!? I’ll free my whole schedule!”

“No! I’m not asking you on a date,” he groaned louder than sighed, “I need a favor if you are free.”

“Alright, alright mister scowl face. What do you need, Eraser?” she asked.

“I… I need a babysitter… for Eri,” he started, “I have a job to do tonight, and I have no one else to ask. Also, it might be overnight depending on the outcome…”

“Oh,” she responded. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

Aizawa was in slight shock because of her response to his favor. He didn’t think she would respond so quickly.

“W-Wait, you will?” he questioned her.

“Yeah! I love that kid and she laughs at my jokes unlike someone I know,” she softly laughs. “I don’t see a problem with it.”

“O-Oh, well, great… Thank you, Joke,” he told her.

“No problem, Eraser. I’m on my way home from grocery shopping, so just let me know when you’re coming by to drop her off. I’ll send you my address,” she told him.

Aizawa nodded, “Okay, thank you again… Joke.”

“You’re welcome,” he heard her softly laugh. “See you later, Eraser.”

“Yeah, see you later, Joke,” Aizawa said before he heard her hang up.

He put the phone back into his pocket, then walked back to the common area where Eri was busy coloring. He kneeled in front of Eri, who realized he was there and looked up at him with a grin on her face.

“Mr. Aizawa! I colored a fish! Do you like it?” she asked him as she put the crayons to the side and brought up her coloring book to show him.

“I like it a lot, Eri,” he smiled softly at her and patted her head. “Hey, Eri, I called someone you might like to see.”

“Who?” she asked, tilting her head.

“I called Ms. Joke just now.”

“Really!?” Eri said, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

Eri met Ms. Joke when she came by U.A. a lot more. She took a liking to the pro-hero because of her jokes and how sweet Joke was towards her. When they first met, she was scared to meet someone she never met before, but of course in Ms. Joke fashion, Joke told Eri a joke that Eri couldn’t help but laugh. Ever since their first encounter, Aizawa made sure to make joint training on days Eri was able to come along, so that Eri got the chance to see Joke. He could not deny Joke was good with Eri. When it came to the monthly meetings between the hero schools, Aizawa would bring Eri along sometimes if he needed to, which Eri enjoyed when she got to see Joke at the end of the meeting just for a few minutes.

“Yeah,” he softly smiled at Eri. “I asked her if she can watch you while I work and she agreed, so I’m going to take you to see in a few hours.”

“Really! I can’t wait!” Eri got up and jumped of joy.

“Alright, Eri, settle down” Aizawa told her, “You have to promise to be on your best behavior. Ms. Joke has never watched you for a few hours before, so I don’t know how it will be.”

“I promise I will be really good, Mr. Aizawa! I promise this much!” she told him, spreading her arms out to show him how good she would be.

“Good then,” he said, “depending on how long I need to work, you might have to stay overnight, so let’s go back a bag for you in case, okay?”

Eri nodded in excitement, “Okay!”

Aizawa patted the girl’s head one more time before he got up from his position. “Alright, let’s go get that bag packed for you.”

Aizawa and Eri stood hand in hand outside of Emi’s apartment that afternoon. He sighed loudly before he rang the bell to her apartment, then looked down at Eri, who was fidgeting and humming in excitement. He smiled down at the little girl, since he was glad to see her happy. Her life was better than it was before, so just these small moments of her being happy made Aizawa happy.

When he heard the door of Emi’s apartment unlock, Aizawa looked up again, facing the door. After a few seconds, he saw the door opened and spotted the seafoam green haired pro-hero.

“Eri! Future husband!” Emi grinned widely at the duo, “You’re here!”

“I’m not your future husband,” Aizawa groaned.

“Ms. Joke!” Eri jumped of joy as she saw the pro-hero.

Emi crouched down and put her arms out so that Eri could run into them, pulling the young girl into a hug. “I missed you, Sunshine!”

“I missed you, too, Ms. Joke,” Eri giggled, then broke the hug between her and Emi.

Emi smiled at the young girl then ruffled her hair before she got back up and faced her long-time crush. “And I missed you, future husband!” she laughed.

Aizawa groaned, but he knew she was pushing it because he needed her to babysit. “Enough, Joke.”

“Okay, okay,” she told him, letting her laugh die down. When she looked at him, he looked more gloomy than usual, wondering if something was wrong with it and in Ms. Joke fashion again, she asked. “Are you okay, Eraser? You seem out of tune.”

“I’m fine,” he sighed.

“Sure, you are,” her brows furrowed. “You can talk to me if you wanna; I’m all ears.”

“No,” he told her, “I have to get going anyways.” He saw Emi pout, but ignored it and instead, removed the small child backpack he held that had Eri’s things in it. He grabbed the bag as he let it fall from his shoulder, then handed it to Emi. “Here, these are her things. I packed extra clothes in case this takes longer than planned.”

Emi nodded and grabbed the bag from him, “you know, if you’re too tired to come pick her up, just leave her here and come in the morning. It’s fine.”

“I rather not burden you further,” he told her.

“It’s not a burden, Eraser. I would take care of Eri anytime,” she responded back to him. “If you come past midnight, just go home. I’ll bring her back if anything.”

“Joke, why can you not take no for an answer?” he sighed heavily.

“Because I can’t,” she said. “Besides, Eri and I are gonna have a ton of fun, so by the time you get back, she would probably be asleep from all the fun we will have. You shouldn’t wake her up in the middle of the night. Just go home and she’ll be back in the morning. I promise.”

Aizawa sighed again. “I’ll think about it.”

“I won’t answer the door, Eraser.”

“Yes, you will, Joke.”

Emi scoffed then shook her head, then looked down at Eri, “Sunshine, say bye to Mr. Aizawa. He needs to go be a pro-hero and save the people.”

Eri nodded, then ran into Aizawa’s legs, hugging them. “Bye, Mr. Aizawa. Good luck!”

Aizawa softly smiled and patted the girl’s head. “Thank you, Eri. I’ll be back soon.”

Eri pulled away from Aizawa and looked up at him once more before she turned to Ms. Joke, who smiled softly at her.

“Eri, go on ahead inside. I want to speak to Mr. Aizawa for a sec. I’ll be right there!” Emi told her.

Eri nodded, then looked at Aizawa again, waving at him and said one last goodbye before she made her way into Emi’s apartment.

Emi looked back to see that Eri was out of her view before she turned back to Aizawa, who was obviously not happy that she was holding him there a little longer than he planned.

“Eraser, you’re obviously not okay. If you need someone to talk to, I’m here. No jokes or anything,” she said to him as she put her hands on her hips. “And get some rest after your mission; you need it. The bags under your eyes are darker than usual.”

“I’m fine, Joke. I don’t need lectures from you,” he groaned.

Emi sighed, then let her hands drop from her hips, “I’m not lecturing you. I’m just worried. You been overworking yourself. Take a break for once after this, okay?”

“Whatever,” he brushed her off.

Emi obviously knew he was pushing himself. With taking care of Eri and with all the changes that happened in the past year, Aizawa barely had a break. It was draining him. “Well then, good luck and stay safe out there, Shouta,” she said, using his first name.

“I will,” he sighed, “thanks again… Emi.”

Emi gave him a soft smile, then poked him in the chest, causing him to groan again. “Anytime. See you later.”

“Yeah, see you later.”

Emi waved goodbye to him before she closed her door, then walked into her apartment to see Eri fidgeting on the couch in excitement.

“Hey, Sunshine! I have a lot of things planned for us tonight!” Emi grinned widely at the girl.

“Like what!?” Eri asked, jumping off from the couch.

“Well, first, we need to know what we are having for dinner tonight and then, we can make a cake! I just bought ingredients for my mom’s famous sponge cake. Are you up for the challenge?” Emi said, patting Eri’s head.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Eri replied.

“Great! After, I was thinking a movie, what do you think?”

Eri nodded repeatedly, “I think that’s a good idea!”

Emi giggled at the girl’s reaction. She knew Eri was stuck inside of U.A. for so long that she was overly excited to be in a new environment when she got the chance.

“Okay, let’s order some food, then we’re making cake!”

Aizawa finished the villain takedown and luckily, it wasn’t too bad, but he did end up with a wound on his arm.

One of the villains cut Aizawa with a katana while they were trying to make a run for it. But luckily, that was all Aizawa had compared to the villain after Aizawa fought back, capturing them at the end.

Aizawa watched as the doctor at the hospital he was taken to stitched up the wound on his arm. He was used to injuries like this, so it didn’t bother him much, though he still hated it.

“All done, Eraserhead,” the doctor said as they finished snitching up the wound. “Make sure you keep it clean. If you need painkillers, over the counter ones would work just fine. You’re lucky it wasn’t too deep.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Aizawa said as he pulled his sleeve down. “Thanks, doctor.”

“You’re welcome, Eraserhead. Keep up the good work,” the doctor smiled at him as they stood up. “Go home and get some rest. Have a good night.”

Aizawa nodded. “Thanks, doctor, you as well.”

The doctor said his last goodbye to Aizawa before he made his way out of the room. Aizawa sighed heavily, then reached into his pockets to see the time, since he did not even know that. He turned his phone on and saw that it was already a little past one in the morning, causing him to sigh heavily again. He was hoping it was before midnight, but with his luck, it wasn’t.

He saw that he had several text messages from Present Mic that had pictures of him during his vacation in Hawaii and a few messages of Emi about how Eri was doing, as well as some pictures of them.

Joke: Hey Eraser! Eri and I are having so much fun! I don’t mean to bother but I couldn’t help but send these pics to you! And some with me of course! You can make it you phone screen if you want ;)

Joke: Eri and I made some sponge cake! It’s delicious! Eri and I made sure to save you a piece!

Joke: Eri fell asleep. She looks like an angel! You should get home and get rest when you’re done. I’ll make sure to bring her back in the morning. Don’t fight me on this, Eraser! GET REST! I will not let you take her >_<.

Aizawa sighed at the messages but did enjoy the images of Eri having fun with Emi. He was glad to see her smile so much, since now that class A was extremely busy with school and hero duties, she barely was able to spend time with them.

He thought about what Emi said to him before he left, when she asked him if everything was okay, but to be honest, it wasn’t.

He was worried about the takedown. It was his first one since the year before, when Shigaraki was taken out. He knew in the end, everything would be alright, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel worried about it. Ever since he was injured in battle, he felt insecure about his ability to be a hero sometimes. As much as he tried to forget about it, it always popped up in his head, which he hated so much.

Aizawa pressed down on Emi’s number then brought the phone up to his ear, hoping that she would pick up, even though it was late. The phone rang a few times and it made Aizawa think she was asleep herself, so he pulled the phone away from his ear. However, just as he was about to hang up the phone and just leave, he heard her voice.

“You better not be outside my door, Eraser,” Emi said in an obvious sleepy voice. “I’m not waking up Eri.”

“I’m not outside your door, Joke,” Aizawa said into the phone. “I’m at the hospital.”

“Are you okay?” she said, now with a more concerning voice. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay. Just a cut,” he told her. “I just got a few stitches, so I’m being discharged now.”

“Stupid villains,” she said. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”

Aizawa sighed, “I’m not going to be taken out that easily.”

“I know you’re not. You’re the greatest hero I know,” Emi softly laughed.

Aizawa could not help but feel a little more relaxed when he was on the phone with Emi. He would usually be annoyed by their conversations, since she would always make jokes, however when Emi was more serious, they had decent conversations.

“Before… Before you asked me if I’m okay…” he told her, though paused for a moment before he continued. “But I wasn’t.”

“You want to talk about it?” she asked.

“Yeah…” he told her. He was fighting with his pride, but at the same time, he did not want to keep it to himself. He did not have Mic around at the moment, which he would be the first person he could confide in. Though, he knew Emi for years and she knew about the life of a hero, so he did not mind speaking with her. “Can… can we talk about it? If that is okay with you…”

“Sure. Come over,” she said quickly.

“W-Wait, really? You’re not tired?” he said in surprise. He thought a quick phone conversation would have helped, but he didn’t expect her to invite him over.

“I’m okay,” she told him. “Eri and I fell asleep around eleven, so I slept at least for two hours. I can manage. I mean we use to live like that a lot in our early days.”

“Are you sure? I can just come by tomorrow morning instead when I come pick up Eri.”

“I said it’s okay, Shouta,” she said, using his first name like she did a few hours before. “Just come over, okay?”

Aizawa paused for a second, then nodded with the phone in his hand, “o-okay…”

“Great. Just text me when you’re here. I rather not have you ring the bell while Eri is asleep.”

“Okay, see you in a few,” Aizawa said.

He hung up the phone and brushed his fingers through his hair, sighing as he did. He then put the phone back into his pocket, then made his way out of the hospital room.

Aizawa made his way to Emi’s and arrived a little before two in the morning.

He stood outside Emi’s apartment, though a part of him was wondering if he should really bother this late at night and just go home; telling himself he would text her saying he decided to go home. But another part of him felt like he needed someone to talk to.

He sighed like usual, the pulled his phone out to text Emi. Not even a minute later, he heard Emi unlock her door, pulling it open to spot the erasure hero.

“Hey,” she softly said, “come in.”

Aizawa didn’t say anything and instead nodded. He followed her inside, taking his shoes off by the door, then followed her into the apartment.

“Did you eat?” she asked him as they were in her living room. “We have some leftover pizza that I can just pop in the oven.”

“I’m fine,” he told her.

“In other words, you didn’t eat, huh?” she said, looking up at him now as she put her hands on her hips and furrowed one of her brows.

“I didn’t say that,” he told her.

“Eraser, every time you used to say, ‘I’m fine,’ when we had overnight patrols, that meant you didn’t eat,” she pouted at him. “I bet you haven’t eaten since before you dropped off Eri.”

“Joke, I’m not hungry,” he told her. “And it’s late.”

“That never stopped us from eating at four in the morning back then,” she told him. “I’m heating up the pizza. Sit on the couch. I’ll be right back.”

“Joke, I said n-” Aizawa groaned before he was cut off by Emi.

“I’m not listening to you, Eraser,” she brushed him off and walked away from him to head towards her kitchen.

Her kitchen was an open concept, so Aizawa was able to watch her go into the fridge and pull out the leftover pizza she was going to heat up for him. She read him like a book, since it was true that he did not eat anything since around noon. He wasn’t hungry much before he arrived at Emi’s apartment, but just hearing that she was going to warm up pizza for him made him hungry.

“So, how was the takedown?” Emi asked from the kitchen as she walked over to her oven to preheat it. “I know with some of the patrols I’ve been taking the past few months, some of these villains are getting out of hand because they have no one to look up to like they did Shigaraki and All for One.”

“Yeah, they are,” he sighed. He walked over to the kitchen so that he can speak lower in case their conversation woke up Eri.

“Well, at least you took some down tonight,” she softly smiled up at him after she put the pizza on a baking tray for him. “That’s a few less villains in the streets.”

“Yeah…” he said, then scratched the back of his head. “A few less villains…”

Emi put the baking tray into the oven and set a timer for the pizza. She then turned to Aizawa, and softly smiled at him again as she watched him stand in her kitchen.

“You did great, Eraser,” she told him. “You always do.”

Her words hit him.

It wasn’t like he needed validation but, to hear that helped him feel more at ease.

“Thanks, Joke…” he told her.

Emi walked closer to him, closing the large gap between them, though of course, giving Aizawa space. “What’s up, Eraser? What has you feeling down?”

Aizawa’s eyes met her glossy forest green eyes. “I...,” he started, then looked away from her, “I was worried… about the takedown…”

“But you did great,” she said, “I mean you got a few stitches but your still here and the villains were taken down.”

“Yes, but…” he paused again to clear his throat. “I… I keep hearing this voice in the back of my head telling me I’m not a great hero; that I’m weak in my state. I feel like I cannot protect those close to me nor anyone else.”

Emi’s eyes softened as he spoke. “So, you’re saying because of what happened last year, you aren’t capable of being a hero?”

Aizawa, who was still looking away, nodded. “I worry that I cannot protect my students still and of course, Eri. I know my students are strong, all of them, but I am still the one who should protect them before they graduate. And Eri...” he pauses to take a deep breath, “I am all that Eri has after class A graduates and are busy with work. Yeah, Mic is there, but I don’t want to burden him.”

“Shouta,” Emi says, putting her hand on his arm, “look at me.”

Aizawa turned his head slowly to face Emi, who gave him a sympathetic look.

“Shouta, you are one of the strongest heroes I know. You’ve done so much for your kiddos, your friends, and Eri. You cannot let what happen hold you back and it hasn’t. You still protect your kiddos and Eri, and I know if Mic needed you, you would be there for him right away. You know why they called you for the job tonight? Because you were the man they needed. You were the one to help them take down a bunch of criminals so that the people are safe. You just protected so many lives and you don’t even realize it.” Emi looked down at his arm that obviously was the one that was wounded, since his hero suit was ripped there. “You might have gotten this scar, but you did it to protect people. You did it in the state you are in, Shouta. That means it’s not holding you back; you cannot let it hold you back.”

Aizawa was taken aback by her words. His eyes widened as she spoke.

“You are strong, Shouta. You protected your kids’ multiple times and you helped save Eri from the horrible situation she was in. You’ve risked your life many times and yet you are still here.”

“But what happens if I’m not here?” he asked her. “Then what?”

“That’s not gonna happen,” she told him.

“And how do you know that?”

“Because I know Eri, class A, Mic, and everyone around you won’t let that happen. I won’t let that happen,” she said. “You’re not alone. You have so many people by your side. Don’t think that something bad will happen to you.”

“How can you be so optimistic?” he told her. “We do not know what the future holds. I don’t know if my body can even keep up.”

“It will,” she said. “Why do you think Eri was put brought into your life?”

“What do you mean?”

“Tonight, Eri told me she’s been getting stronger thanks to your training,” Emi said, looking away from him slightly now. “She told me that she wants to make sure you stay the strongest hero she knows. She said she wants to help you the same way you helped her. She wants to be a hero, just like you, Midoriya, and the rest of the U.A. students. She wants to protect all of you the same way you all protect her.”

Aizawa swallowed at Emi’s words now. He couldn’t believe Eri told her all that. She never really mentioned anything like that to anyone, not even him.

“She said that when she gets even stronger, she’s going to help you, Shouta. She’s going to be the one to keep you here and continue to protect the ones you love and care about,” Emi said, now looking back up at him.

“I… I cannot let her do that,” Aizawa told her.

“Why not?”

“Because it is my job to protect her, not the other way around.”

Emi let out a deep breath, “Shouta, you cannot change her mind. Eri is a smart girl and won’t back down. You might think you should be the one protecting her, but she will protect you too no matter what you say. You’re her dad. She even told me that.”

Aizawa’s eyes soften now when he heard how Eri thinks of him. She’s been with him for almost two years, but he didn’t think she would say such a thing. He just wanted to give her a better life.

“Shouta, you’re strong and you’re not alone. I won’t let you be alone. I’ll be by your side along with everyone else. You cannot let what happen stop you from being the hero I know you are. You cannot think that something bad will happen to you when you have Eri in your life. She wouldn’t want to hear that.”

Aizawa looked down now, his hair covering his face. Emi brought her hand to his own hand, then gently squeezed it.

“You’re amazing, Shouta. Don’t forget that. You’ve always been amazing to me, and I know everyone thinks the same, especially Eri. That little voice in your head, you need to tell it to shut the hell up because it doesn’t know what it’s talking about,” Emi said, softly smiling.

Aizawa scoffed, then looked at Emi again with glossy eyes, trying to hold back his tears. He felt like he was able to breathe for once after a long time of constant worry and insecurity. “Thank you, Emi.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said. She let go of his hand and opened her arms in front of her, smiling at him. “Come here, let me give you a hug.”

“No,” he responded to her.

“Oh, come on,” she said, “you need one and Eri is asleep, so you can’t be the one to give it to you. Don’t be shy; I don’t bite.”

Aizawa groaned, causing her to softly laugh. He took a step closer to her, then slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him. Emi closed her arms to embrace him, then patted his back gently as he hugged her back.

“See, my hugs aren’t so bad,” she laughed.

Aizawa couldn’t lie. Her hugs felt amazing. He felt comfortable when he hugged her and felt like he could feel at ease.

He tightened the hug between them, which caused Emi to let out a low gasp in surprise. He buried his face into her seafoam green hair and softly cried into it.

“I’m sorry,” he softly cried.

“Why are you sorry?” she asked him as she rubbed his back.

“For being an ass to you,” he told her. “You still comfort me when I’m an ass towards you.”

“Well to be fair, I am a pain in the ass,” she laughed. “Besides, I never took it personal. I know I ruin your peace for the sake of trying to make you laugh.”

“No… you don’t,” he said. “You don’t ruin my peace.”

Emi blushed as he spoke, feeling her face fluster, but smiled softly at his comment. “Well, that’s … that’s good to hear.”

Aizawa broke the hug between them, and pushed his hair back, and wiped his tears away. His nose sniffled and he took a deep breath in, feeling some relief. Emi, on the other hand, put her hand on his cheek and softly smiled at him.

“Go sit at the dining table, Shouta. I think the pizza should be done already so I’ll plate it and bring you something to drink,” she told him.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice a little raspy from his cries, “I can do it myself.”

“You’re in my house and are my guest,” she looked up at him, “I’ll do it. Wash your hands and go sit. I know you’re starving.”

Aizawa looked back at her, then nodded. Emi let her hand fall from her cheek, then rubbed his upper arm before she turned away from him to check on the pizza in the oven. Aizawa did as she told him and washed his hands in the sink first before made his way to the dining table.

Moments later, Emi brought him a plate with a pepperoni pizza and some iced tea to complement the food, then put her hand on his shoulder, smiling down at him.

“Bon appetite,” she told him.

Aizawa looked up at her. “Thank you, Emi,” he told her.

“You’re welcome, Shouta, anytime. I’m gonna check on Eri, so I’ll be back. Dig in.”

Aizawa nodded and watched her walk away before he began to eat. Though he hated to admit he was starving, he was glad Emi noticed for him because he was never gonna say it. He guessed she really knew him well enough after all. He never realized she noticed some small things about him, especially throughout over a decade that they’ve known each other, though he appreciated it.

“She’s still fast asleep,” Emi said from behind him moments later, causing Aizawa to turn back and face her. “I thought she would of woke up by now.”

“Good to hear we didn’t disturb her,” he responded as he reached over to grab his glass of iced tea.

“Yeah,” Emi said as she put both her elbows on the table and rested her head on her hand. “She couldn’t stop talking about you, you know. She kept saying that she wished you were here with us while we made the cake and watched a movie. She said since class A isn’t in the dorms right now for the summer, you’ve been watching a movie with her every night before bed and have been trying to cook with her.” Emi giggled, then sighed, “That’s why she said you’re basically like her dad.”

“Well, she’s been used to being around class A, so she was sad that they are spending their last summer vacation elsewhere. I just wanted to make her happy and feel better. I need to prepare her for class A’s graduation,” he said after taking a bite of his pizza.

“Oh right, that’s soon…” Emi said, feeling down a bit. “Are… are you prepared?”

Aizawa closed his eyes and sighed after he swallowed his pizza. “They trained well and went through a lot. They are meant to graduate and become pro-heroes.”

“Yeah, but aren’t you sad just a little? I mean when my kiddos graduated, I was a wreck,” she told him. “I can imagine you with your relationship with class A.”

“I’ll be okay,” he told her. “Like I said, they are meant to graduate. Me feeling down about it won’t change anything.”

“Well, if you end up feeling down about it, I’m here for you,” she said and faintly smiled at him.

“Yeah, I know. Thanks, Emi,” he said before taking his last bite of pizza.

“Anytime,” she laughed softly. “Looks like you really were hungry. I knew you were. You can’t fool me, Eraser.”

“Shut up,” he groaned, causing Emi to laugh a little more.

“Don’t be such a grumpy pants,” she told him as reached over for his plate and glass, then got up from her seat. “You should stay the night. I have a futon in my closet. It’s already really late to be going back to U.A. and you’re obviously exhausted.”

Aizawa shook his head and got up from his seat. “That’s not necessary. I’ll just come by to get Eri tomorrow morning.”

“You love to no, Shouta,” she tsked.

“And you love to not take no as an answer,” he responded.

 “Yeah, you’re right. So, that means you’re staying the night,” she said before she walked away from him and headed towards the kitchen to wash the dishes.

“Emi,” Aizawa sighed.

“Shouta,” she replied back to him then giggled, causing Aizawa to groan. She turned on the faucet to her kitchen sink, then grabbed her sponge to wash the dishes.

Aizawa followed her to the kitchen and stood beside her, watching her wash the dishes. “I cannot stay here.”

“Why not? Eri would love to see you when she wakes up,” Emi said as she put the plate on her drying rack. “Besides, I don’t want you to be out late at night. It’s dangerous.”

Aizawa rolled his eyes, then scoffed. “I’ll be okay.”

“I know you will,” she said as she then put the glass on the drying rack as well, then turned her faucet off. “But as your good future wife, I will not let my future husband go out so late.” She began to laugh, causing Aizawa to scowl at her. “Sorry, I just had to.”

“Of course, you did,” he told her sarcastically.

She laughed and patted his arm, “just go sit on the couch. I’ll get the futon for you.”

Aizawa groaned but did not argue with her. He was extremely exhausted and really was ready to rest by now. Emi walked away to go get the futon for Aizawa while he did what she said and went to the living room to sit on her couch. While he was in the living room, he couldn’t help but look around. He saw pictures with her former classes, some other pro-heroes he assumed were probably also friends of hers, and of course some family photos. He expected a lot of different things to be in Emi’s apartment, such as prank toys, but he was obviously wrong about her.

He heard footsteps coming from behind him, causing him to look back and see Emi carrying a futon in her arms. He got up and walked up to her quickly, then took it from her, in which she smiled at him.

“Wow, such a gentleman,” she giggled.

Aizawa rolled his eyes again and turned away to walk over to the couch to place the futon on top of it.

“Can you move my coffee table to the side, please?” she asked. “So, we can get this futon down.”

“Okay,” Aizawa nodded before he walked over to the coffee table and lifted it to bring it to the side.

Emi, on the other hand, began to assemble the futon. She put the futon on the floor and spread it out on the floor. She then took the pillow to place it on the edge, then fixed the blanket on top of it before she got up from the floor.

“There we are,” she said, putting her hands on the side of her hips, “I have another futon I can put on top of it if you think it’s not comfortable enough.”

“No, that’s fine,” he told her.

“Great,” she softly smiled. “Well then, rest well, Shouta. I’ll turn off the light for you.”

Just as Emi was about to shut the light off, Aizawa felt an impulse building up inside of him. With all that Emi has done for him tonight and always, his heart began to feel differently. So, he went over to her and stopped her.

“Emi, wait.”

Emi’s eyes widen in surprised as he grabbed her hand. She looked up at him and looked into his dark black orbs and saw his brows were soften along with is facial expression. “W-What is it?” she stuttered, blushing.

“Emi…” he said softly. “Thank you… for tonight. I… I really appreciated it and… you.”

Emi’s face turned pink. “S-Shouta…”

The hand that grabbed hers squeezed it slightly, while Aizawa brought his other hand to her face, gently cupping it. Emi couldn’t help but breath heavily in nervousness, while blushing profusely at the same time.

Aizawa brought his face closer to hers slowly, in which Emi’s heart began to beat faster and faster as their faces were only centimeters apart. Slowly but surely, their lips were closer and closer to each other before Aizawa finally closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against hers.

Emi’s eyes widen in surprise at first but then, she closed her eyes as she gave into the kiss. She felt the hand that held her hand leave it, then made its way to her waist to pull her in closer to him.

The kiss felt magical. Especially for Emi.

However, the kiss was cut short by the sound of a door opening.

“Ms. Joke?” said a low, squeaky but tired sounding voice.

The two pro-heroes quickly pulled away from each other once they heard the voice. Aizawa cleared his throat, blushing behind his scarf while Emi fixed herself and pushed her hair behind her ears, face completely flushed, before they both looked at the direction of the voice.

“Hm?” the young child hummed while she was rubbing one eye. “Mr. Aizawa?”

“H-Hey, Eri,” Aizawa said as he bent down to be face to face with the young girl. “Did we wake you?”

Eri shook her head, then put her hand down from her eye. “No, Mr. Aizawa,” she softly said, obviously still tired. “Are we going home?”

Aizawa shook his head. “No, actually. Ms. Joke let me stay the night so we could go back to U.A. together in the morning.”

“Oh, okay,” Eri yawned.

“Why are you up, Sunshine? Bad dream?” Emi asked as she placed her hand on the girl’s head, brushing her hair back.

Eri shook her head again. “No, I need to use the bathroom.”

“Oh! Okay! Go ahead!” Emi told her and smiled. “After, we’ll go back to bed, okay?”

Eri nodded this time. “Okay.”

Eri made her way to the bathroom, leaving Aizawa and Emi alone again. The two pro-heroes began to think about what happened moments before, causing them to blush like high school students who had their first kiss with each other.

“W-Why d-did… why did you k-kiss m-me?” Emi stuttered.

“I-It was an impulse…” Aizawa responded, stuttering as well.

“An impulse!?” Emi almost shouted as she turned to face him, face still flustered. “What do you mean an impulse!” She wasn’t sure if she should be happy or mad that it was an impulse move.

“Keep it down!” Aizawa whispered loudly. “I had a feeling of wanting to kiss you, so I did.”

“S-So it didn’t mean anything?” she asked him, which caused Aizawa to panic.

“That’s not what I mean!” he whispered loudly again. “It did mean something!”

“What did it mean, Shouta?” she asked again, her lips now pouting at him.

“It means I like you, okay?!” he told her. “I don’t go and kiss just anybody!”

“Y-You l-like me?” Emi stuttered, blushing again.

“Yes, I-” Aizawa cut himself off by the sound of the bathroom door opening and a sleepy Eri walking out of the bathroom.

The two pro-heroes stopped in their tracks and Emi smiled nervously at the young girl, hoping she did not hear or see what happened.

“Everything okay, Sunshine?” Emi asked the girl.

Eri didn’t speak and instead, nodded.

“Great, let’s get you back to bed. Mr. Aizawa needs to get to bed, too,” Emi said as she walked to the girl and put her hand on her shoulder. “Say goodnight to Mr. Aizawa.”

“Good night, Mr. Aizawa,” Eri told him.

Aizawa brought his hand up and patted Eri’s head, softly smiling at her. “Good night, Eri.” Aizawa then looked back at Emi, who was still flushed from blushing so much. “Good night, Joke.”

“G-Good night, Eraser,” she stuttered. “Let’s get to bed, Eri.”

They went their separate ways, leaving Aizawa in the living room and Emi back in her room.

Eri went to back to sleep quicker than she thought, causing Emi to sigh in relief. Since she was on her bed, she began to feel tired, even though the kiss moments before gave her energy for a moment. She placed her fingers on her lips where Aizawa kissed her, then smiled like a schoolgirl in love. She couldn’t believe that her long-time crush kissed her and said he liked her. She wanted to hit herself to see if it was a dream.

As she began to replay the kiss repeatedly in her head, she saw the light to her phone screen light up in the dark. Curious to why it did, she reached over her nightstand and grabbed her phone, then opened it up to see she had a message from Aizawa.

Eraser AKA Future Husband: Sorry if I kissed you all of a sudden. But I’m serious… I like you, Emi.

Emi blushed at the message and wanted to squeal so badly, however, Eri was fast asleep, and she did not want to wake her. Instead, she responded back.

Emi: Don’t be sorry, Shouta. I… I like you, too.

Eraser AKA Future Husband: Yeah, I figured at this point when you call me your future husband.

Emi blushed even more, but half of the reason was because of Aizawa’s teasing.

Emi: S-Shut up! Don’t tease me! Since when does the grumpy Eraserhead have jokes up his sleeve?

Eraser AKA Future Husband: Since I kissed a certain pro-hero that likes them.

Aizawa was making Emi go crazy. ‘Is he flirting!’ Emi thought to herself. ‘Oh, my he actually is!’

Emi: Well, props to that pro-hero.

Eraser AKA Future Husband: Yeah, she’s great.

Emi smiled at the text message, then yawned, feeling herself become sleepy.

Emi: I’m glad you think so highly of me, Eraser. You should sleep though, so you can dream about our wedding and the amount of kids we are going to have after.

Eraser AKA Future Husband: Don’t push it, Joke.

Emi: Fine, fine, fine! Just dream about the wedding part!

Eraser AKA Future Husband: Joke.

Emi: Okay! I’ll do the dreaming then!

Aizawa, who was laying down on the futon while he held his cell phone over his face smiled at the messages between him and Emi. He couldn’t help but lightly laugh at them, which he knew she would kill to see him laugh.

Eraser AKA Future Husband: Good night, Emi.

Emi: Good night, Shouta.

The next morning, Aizawa and Eri prepared their departure.

They were able to have breakfast together, which Emi made them pancakes, then, it was Eri and Aizawa’s time to get back to U.A.

“You had a good time, Sunshine?” Emi asked the young girl as she patted her head.

“Hm! I did!” Eri grinned widely at the smile hero.

“I’m glad! We should have another sleepover sometime, what do you think?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Eri jumped of joy, then looked at Aizawa. “Mr. Aizawa, can I sleep over Ms. Joke’s house again! Please!” Eri begged Aizawa with her big, puppy dog eyes.

“If Ms. Joke is okay with it, I don’t see why not,” Aizawa smiled softly at the girl.

“Yes!” Eri jumped of joy again.

Emi smiled at Eri, then up at Aizawa, who smirked back at her.

Aizawa knelt by the young girl when she was done jumping of joy and placed his hand on her head like Emi did before. “Hey Eri, what do you think about Ms. Joke coming with us to the park tomorrow?”

“Really!?” Eri’s eyes glistened.

“Huh?” Emi gulped, blushing profusely. Was he kind of asking her on a date?

“Yeah,” Aizawa smirked, then looked up at Eri from the ground. “What do you think, Joke?”

“I-Uh…” Emi blushed and stumbled her words. “S-Sure!”

“YAY!” Eri shouted.

Emi laughed at the reaction of the child and felt her heart flutter.

Aizawa got up from his position, then looked at Emi, still smirking. “Glad you can come with us.”

“Of course,” Emi smiled back.

“Well then, we should get going. Eri, say by to Ms. Joke,” Aizawa told her.

“Bye Ms. Joke! See you tomorrow!” Eri said as she hugged Emi’s legs.

“See you tomorrow, Sunshine,” Emi laughed.

Eri pulled away from her and looked up at Aizawa, waiting for him. However, he had something up her sleeve.

“Shoot, Eri, I think I forgot my phone in Ms. Joke’s apartment,” he said as he patted his pockets, “Will you go find it for me. It probably came out my pocket around the couch.”

“I’ll get it!” Eri said and ran inside Emi’s apartment to look for the phone.

“Eraser, are you getting old and forgetting your thi-” Emi said before she was cut off by a kiss from Aizawa. Her eyes widen in surprise like last night and again, she gave in to the kiss.

She placed her hand on his chest while he grabbed her by the waist, bringing her closer to him. They then pulled away from each other, in which Emi softly giggled.

“You didn’t forget your phone, huh, Shouta?” she giggled.

“Of course not,” he laughed softly.

The two heard Eri’s footsteps, causing them to break away from each other to face the little girl who ran in their direction.

“Mr. Aizawa! I couldn’t find your phone!” Eri pouted.

“Really? Let me check my pockets again,” Aizawa said, then faked looking into his pockets. He grabbed his phone and pulled it out, then gave a fake embarrassed look on his face. “Oops, I didn’t even feel it in there. Sorry Eri.”

“Mr. Aizawa!” Eri whined. “You should check your pockets better!”

“I’m sorry, Eri,” Aizawa told her and patted her head. “I’ll make it up to you. How about later on, we watch our favorite movie together with some ice cream.”

Eri’s eyes sparkled at the mentioning of ice cream. “Okay! I forgive you!”

Emi shook her head and laughed at the interaction between pro-hero and young girl. She thought they were adorable.

“Great. We should really get going. We don’t want to take up Ms. Joke’s time,” Aizawa said.

“Please, I have all the time in the world for my two favorite people,” Emi laughed. “But go on and get going. I think you need a nap before you watch a movie. Don’t want you sleeping during it!”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “Thanks again, Emi.”

“You’re welcome, Shouta, anytime,” Emi smiled at him.

Eri looked at both the pro-heroes and in kid fashion, she just had to ask. “Mr. Aizawa, Ms. Joke, do you like each other?”

Emi and Aizawa blushed.

“Alright, let’s get going, Eri. No more questions,” Aizawa said, clearing his throat in embarrassment. “Bye, Joke.”

“Uh, yeah! Bye Eraser! Bye Eri!” Emi said blushing profusely.

They all waved each other goodbye and went their separate ways.

Aizawa couldn’t help but smile on his way home, thinking about Emi in a not so annoyed way while Emi squealed and danced around her place in joy of being kissed by her long-time crush.

Thanks to not having a babysitter, Aizawa and Emi were able to finally share a long awaited kiss.