Chapter Text
It was a fairly normal day for Y/N L/N. She was patrolling as usual, wishing she had actually gotten that coffee earlier on, because she really could have used it now. Cursing the way she was always so stingy with everything. But no... she wasn't stingy. Y/N was living a frugal lifestyle.
After all she had just gone independent as a hero and she was young and she needed the money. She had bills to pay and she didn't yet make the kind of bank where she could be buying takeaway coffee every single night on patrol. Maybe sometimes, when she had some money left over. But definitely not every night. And lately, the special nights have gotten a little too much.
Y/N sighed and checked her phone. Nothing new. Except another message from that horrible Tinder date last week. This guy just wasn't getting the hint, was he? Annoying. Well, she could deal with that later, because right now she wasn't in the mood for that. Maybe she would be if she had gotten that coffee... no. No, she could be a confident and independent woman without coffee, damn it.
Sometimes Y/N wondered why her life was like this. She had done the whole thing of going to high school and doing the hero course. She had done well, even though her teacher had been the grumpiest person in the universe (and he hadn't even been that old at the time). She had worked at an agency, she had saved up money and she had gone independent. But it was nowhere near as glamorous as it was all made out to be. It was just so much damn work all the time.
Y/N sighed and was about to consider turning back to get to the coffee shop and get herself a little treat when she heard some screams and people shouting for heroes. Y/N grimaced. Heroes? That was her. That meant work. Fuck. She put her phone away and sprinted towards the direction the screams were coming from. Somehow Y/N really hoped that this was something that was already resolved, because the end of her shift was minutes away and she had already done so much overtime during the last few weeks. But it was her job, so she had to check it out at least.
She turned the corner and saw that there was apparently someone already engaging with the villain. Y/N took a moment to get a feel for the situation. Looked like a robbery. There was a guy in a dark overall and with some sort of scarf there already. He seemed to have a good handle on them, but it looked like he wouldn't be able to capture them all without any help.
With another sigh, Y/N activated her Quirk. She cringed a little as the sharp needles grew out of her skin and she fired them off towards one of the guys that was trying to get away. It seemed to throw him off enough for the other hero to capture him, but in the meantime someone else got away. Y/N had gotten there too late to stop him, but she could stop the other guy that was trying to get away.
He came running towards her and Y/N tackled him to the ground, holding him down. She wasn't even sure what was going on, but that other guy seemed to have his people wrapped up in his scarf, as he was brushing off some dust from his clothes. He looked strangely familiar to Y/N, as he came closer to her, the bound up villains wrapped up in his scarf trailing behind him.
"You okay?" he asked her. Y/N blinked a few times when she was starting to realize who this was.
"Mr. Aizawa?" she asked, pretty dumbfounded at seeing her teacher like this out in the wild. She knew that he was a pro hero of course and she knew that he had his scarf and the Erasure Quirk, but... she had never really expected to see him at his job after she had left school.
"Do I know you? Because normally it'd be Eraserhead for you." he replied. He seemed a little nervous and Y/N didn't exactly know why. Maybe he was just uncomfortable about forgetting who she was or something. Not that she minded. She knew that she wasn't the most memorable student back in high school.
"I was in your class at UA. Finished school five years ago. Don't tell me you don't remember. We were your very first class ever!" Y/N told him. He still seemed to be a little confused, trying to remember who was actually in that class. Y/N wasn't sure whether to give him some time or not, but after a while it just got uncomfortable.
"Y/N L/N. Sorry, I didn't wanna make this awkward, it's totally fine if you don't remember." she said. It seemed like something in his face lit up when he heard the name and he nodded slowly.
"No, no, yes, I remember. Y/N L/N. Your Quirk was that you could make needles come out of your skin and shoot them off at high velocities, wasn't it? Pretty versatile, if you were focussing on something, right? I remember you." Aizawa replied. Y/N wasn't sure if he really did, but she figured she'd take it, before making things more awkward. Because she was also noticing that actually her old teacher was pretty handsome. She hadn't really paid much attention back in high school, but damn... how did she not see this back in the day? Mr. Aizawa was a snack.
"Yeah, yeah, that was me. Good to meet you again, Sensei." she answered with a lopsided grin. Oh God, why did she have to notice that he was hot right now? It just made everything about a million times more awkward. But it was too late. She could feel herself blushing already.
"So you stuck with being a hero then?" Aizawa asked her. Y/N nodded quickly, hoping he wouldn't notice the blush on her face.
"Yeah, I actually went independent this year, so that's exciting. I've been working with an agency the last few years, saving up for this."
"Right, right. How do you like it?"
"It's... different. Honestly, it's pretty exhausting. It's tougher than I thought it would be, but I guess I'll just have to get through this for a while, before I start getting all the benefits that come with being independent." she answered with a sigh. There was something that resembled a smile on Aizawa's face.
"Yeah, it takes a while to actually get into it. But don't worry, if you keep at it, you'll get there. So you're all good?" he asked her. Y/N nodded and glanced down at the villain underneath her that was groaning. He didn't look like he was doing good, but the thing was that he didn't need to do well. They'd probably fix him up at the police station again or something. Y/N didn't really care.
"I'm all good. What about you? You looked a bit worried back there." Y/N said to him. Aizawa shrugged and sat down beside her, his legs crossed and the end of his scarf still tightly wrapped around his hands.
"It's probably nothing. I'm not sure, but I think I got hit by someone's quirk back there. But I'm not feeling any effects, so it's probably nothing. Maybe I'm just imagining things, who knows." he said with a shrug. Y/N nodded slowly. She hadn't really noticed anything, if she was honest, but she also wasn't the most observant person in the world. Plus, she was a little more distracted by the awkwardness of this situation right now. Why did he look so hot right now?
Honestly, Y/N had been out of high school for five years now and she had never even wasted a second thought on Mr. Aizawa, because... well, because he was her teacher. Not just that, but he was also... ancient. At least he seemed ancient to her back then. He was only 25 at the time, but still. To an 18 year old girl that was basically ancient. But now... well, he had to be 30 now, but the age gap didn't seem as severe anymore, now that she was 23 herself.
She never would have thought it, but after a certain age 7 years just didn't seem to be that long anymore. And it was kind of scaring her, but there was nothing she could do, except sitting it out. Hoping that she'd get everything done she wanted to get done before it was too late.
"Would suck if it was some long term Quirk. But I guess you'll find out in time, huh?" she replied, yawning. God, Y/N hadn't even noticed how tired she was. She just wanted to fall asleep. Being independent didn't just mean lots of overtime for little money, but also much less sleep.
"You seem tired." Aizawa observed. Y/N raised an eyebrow at him.
"No shit, Sherlock." she mumbled, before realizing who she was talking to. She quickly sat up straight again, her face heating up, as she was clearing her throat, giving him an embarrassed look.
"Uhm... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be snarky, Mr. Aizawa." she corrected herself. Aizawa let out something that sounded like a mix between a scoff and a chuckle, before shaking his head.
"Relax, kid. You're not at school anymore. And stop calling me Mr. Aizawa, makes me feel old as hell." he answered.
"What else do you want me to call you?"
"Aizawa is fine. Or Eraserhead. Whatever you want, really. Just stop being so formal, if we ever meet again." he told her, leaning back against the wall of the building. Y/N glanced at him. He seemed just as tired as she felt. But then again, Aizawa had always looked really fucking tired. He started sleeping during class after the first trimester, which was a little odd, but Y/N didn't mind. It just made him look a little more human and she could appreciate that. Wholeheartedly.
"Alright, Aizawa. So, have you called the police already?" she wanted to know. He nodded and glanced at her.
"Sure, I have. Why? You in a hurry or something?" he replied. Y/N just shrugged and looked up into the night sky. She wished that she'd be able to see more stars, but the city lights were too bright for any of that. So she had to be happy with seeing the moon and maybe one or two very bright stars.
"Not really in a hurry. Just tired. Been doing overtime all week and I had kind of been hoping to get home on time today. But here I am." she answered with a tired grin. Aizawa sat up again and got out his phone, handing it to her.
"Put in your number. I'll wait here and deal with the police. They'll need you to make a statement tomorrow I'd say, but I'll tell you when they want you to come over. You can go home." he told her. Y/N blinked at him in surprise. She wanted to protest at first, but... well, she was really tired. And she wanted nothing more than to go home. Plus, giving her teacher that was suddenly hot her number? Seemed like it couldn't go better for her tonight. She took the phone and started typing in her number.
"Are you sure about that? I mean, I can wait here with you, it's no problem." she said. Aizawa shook his head.
"It's fine. It's enough if one of us is tired. Go home and get some rest, I know it's tough going independent, especially at the beginning." he told her, taking his phone back from her after she had given him her number.