Work Text:
Aizawa was looking at him again.
He did that far more often than Toshinori was comfortable with. Not that he wasn't used to people staring, but this was entirely different from the usual starry-eyed adoration that he was accustomed to performing for or the critical analysis of rivals and enemies. This was some kind of languid curiosity, like one would watch a fly buzzing around a warm window pane. He seemed to be watching just because he had nothing better to be doing, but knowing anything about the ever-logical Shouta Aizawa, there had to be a purpose behind it, right?
It was after school hours, and the sun had set behind the city skyline long ago. The fluorescent lights out in the hallway softly buzzed in a way that blended pleasantly with the distant sound of cricket song coming from outside. It would have been a perfectly peaceful afternoon if not for the looming paperwork, and the even more looming presence of the ninja silently watching him from the opposite of the room.
They had the overhead light turned off, the room lit by Toshinori's desk lamp, the streetlight outside the window, and the laptop open in Aizawa's lap.
Toshinori was not sure how much time had passed since Aizawa had actually done anything with his computer. He was sitting cross legged on the couch, stacks of papers arranged in neat piles around him with a seemingly forgotten hot beverage of some kind abandoned on the coffee table.
Aizawa blinked slowly and Toshinori tried to not let on he had noticed he was being watched. It was getting increasingly more difficult to focus on the report he was typing.
After a while Aizawa gathered up his papers and laptop and packed them all away into a satchel. Toshinori was expecting him to leave at this point, but he just settled back down on the lounge sofa, occasionally sipping his cold drink.
It was almost seven. Why was he still in the office?
He was beginning to wonder if Aizawa had a home outside of UA. Maybe he was watching Toshinori and wondering the same thing. Why is he still here? I want to go to sleep on the couch.
Unlike Aizawa apparently, he had work to do. Grading homework. And he was only halfway through.
The minute ticked over and the watch on his wrist began to beep the hour.
The alarm was meant to remind him to get a snack, which he realized he had forgotten to bring to work with him. Again.
He grimaced and pressed a button on the side to turn off the alarm. Maybe there would be something edible in the vending machine out in the hall. He would take a look later, after he was finished with this student's paper.
Aizawa stood and stalked across the dark lounge to the faculty fridge.
Toshinori half watched him out of the corner of his eye as he attempted to resume his work. He wondered if Aizawa also ate on a schedule. That wouldn't surprise him one bit.
He pulled out some kind of plastic tupperware and stuck it into the microwave, glaring down at the spinning tub as the timer ticked down like it had done something purposefully to offend him. Toshinori understood, he also found needing to eat annoying.
Aizawa stopped the microwave before it could beep and pulled the container out. Grabbing a fork and napkin from the drawer, he turned and stalked back into the room, straight to Toshinori's desk.
He dropped the container onto the desk top with a little more force than was necessary and turned his glare to the startled man in front of him.
"You need to eat something," He said, setting the fork and napkin down beside it without breaking eye contact.
Before Toshinori could say anything in response, he turned around, scooped up his bag, and slipped out of the lounge, closing the door softly behind him.
Toshinori blinked in surprise and looked down at the dish left on his desktop. Leftover rice with stir fried meat and veggies. It smelled delicious. If he still had a stomach it would probably have been growling in anticipation.
Toshinori smiled across the room at the closed door.
Most of the time he did not understand his fellow teacher, what he was thinking or what was motivating his actions. He wasn't even sure he quite understood the interaction that had happened just now at 7:03 PM in the teacher's lounge, but he was sure of the fact that Shouta Aizawa was much more of a softie than he cared to let on.