Work Text:
“Did you enjoy today’s visit, Eri?” Togata asked the young girl as the two were leaving the main school building.
Since Togata was still on medical leave from his classes, he offered to help Aizawa out by watching over Eri during the school day so Aizawa could focus all his attention towards his class. Not that Eri minded, of course. She looked up to Togata and always enjoyed spending time with him. She nodded in response to his question.
“Where are we going now?” she asked as she turned to look at him, her hand loosely grasping his.
“Well, I was thinking that I’d take you back to your room, and I’d cut up an apple for you! How does that sound?”
This time, Eri didn’t answer.
In fact, she had stopped walking entirely.
Her eyes were glued to something with something that could only be described as childhood wonder.
Togata couldn’t help but smile seeing her eyes light up.
Togata stepped back to rejoin Eri at her side and followed her gaze. His eyes landed on a blonde girl walking past them into the building. Her hair was in a neat braid that sat perfectly still, even when the afternoon breeze picked up.
With her free hand, Eri held a section of her own hair in front of her face. She let out a small breath that resembled a sigh.
Togata knew exactly what was going through her mind.
He slowly crouched in front of her, lowering himself to match her height.
“Eri, would you like your hair styled like that girl had it? A braid?”
Eri nodded enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling as wide as they had when she was given her first candy apple to try.
“Okay!” Togata exclaimed loudly. “After classes end, I’ll take you to see if Hado can help you out!”
She smiled, and he led her along the path leading back to the dorms, where he’d give her an apple to pass the time.
————————————————————-
Usually, the Big Three spent the hours after class walking around campus, looking for something to entertain themselves with until curfew. Togata typically led their expeditions, but now he only occasionally made an appearance, being that he was one of Eri’s primary caretakers.
Because of this, Amajiki and Hado began spending time in the library after the final bell. Some days, Amajiki would help Hado prepare for upcoming math exams. Most of the time, Hado was listening to Amajiki practice giving his English speeches, or drilling him for Present Mic’s oral exams, since his anxiety made them harder for him.
On this particular day, Amajiki was trying to guide Hado through a math equation, but she just wasn’t getting it.
“Can we *please* take a break, Amajiki?” she begged. “My head is starting to hurt! Dontcha know you’re not supposed to study with a headache?”
Amajiki sighed. “You’ve said that every time we’ve tried to study math…Just finish this last problem, and then I’ll send you videos that you can watch tonight.”
As her pencil touched the paper, footsteps approached their table.
“Hey guys! Mind if we interrupt for a second?” the cheery voice of their best friend rang out.
Amajiki looked up.
“Mirio.. Eri..”
Hado rose from her chair and rushed toward them, grateful for the break.
“Togata!! What’s up? You never come to the library with us. It’s weird that you’re here, since you don’t have classes right now. Are you here to study? Huh?”
Togata laughed. “I’m not here to study, silly! I’m here because I need your help Hado!”
He put an arm around Eri’s shoulders.
“Eri here saw a girl wearing a braid, and she wants her hair in a braid too! I was hoping you’d know something about that?”
Hado furrowed her brows in concentration.
“I’ve never braided my hair. Usually I keep it as is for pageants. I know how to curl hair, though!”
She knelt down in front of Eri.
“Hey, hey, do you want me to curl your hair, Eri?”
Eri shook her head slightly.
“No thank you..” she said meekly, repeating the manners Aizawa had taught her.
Hado thought for another moment. Then, she stood and let out a gasp of realization.
“Ooh I know! Togata, you should take her to Class 1-A’s dorms! The other day, Tsu and Uraraka were telling me about a sleepover the girls were having, and she said something about braiding hair, but I can’t remember. That’s strange, huh? Isn’t that weird, Amajiki?”
Amajiki, who had been focused on one of the math problems, looked up. It was clear he hadn’t expected to be roped into the conversation.
“U-Uhm…sure?” he contributed shakily, rushing to back to his studies.
Togata tapped his chin.
“That sounds like a great idea! Come on, Eri. Thanks guys!”
Togata took her hand and walked with her to the Heights Alliance Building that housed Class 1-A.
Approaching the two large doors, Togata offered Eri the chance to knock, which she took.
The curtains of the nearby window opened a sliver, and a recognizably tired eye peeked out. After he satisfied himself that he knew who was knocking, the door was opened by Shota Aizawa.
Eri smiled and Aizawa placed a gentle hand on her head.
“Togata. How was her day?”
Togata smiled and went to answer, but Eri got to it first.
“Mr. Aizawa!” she cried excitedly, “Lemillion took me around the building, and then we saw a girl and her hair was really pretty. Lemillion said he’d take me my hair…um…braided?”
She looked back towards Mirio, who nodded that she said it right.
Aizawa opened the door wider, allowing them entry.
“Some of the girls are in the common room now. You’re free to ask them for help,” he said.
As they came inside, they saw Uraraka, Asui, and Ashido all sat on the couch, laughing over something Ashido had playing on her phone.
Togata led Eri over to the three girls, hoping they would have better answers than Hado.
“Excuse me! Sorry to interrupt, but I was hoping one of you could help us!” he said as he waved to them.
The girls looked up and saw Togata and Eri standing before them. Uraraka rushed to give Eri a hug, meanwhile Asui addressed Togata.
“How can we help you, ribbit?”
Togata looked between the three of them.
“Do any of you, or even one of your friends, happen to know how to braid hair? Eri really wants to get hers braided.”
Uraraka shook her head sadly. “My hair is much too short, so I never bothered to learn. I’m sorry, Eri!”
Ashido stamped her foot on the ground. “Mine too! Jiro is the only one who knows, but she’s training with Mic-Sensei until dinner tonight. We’re no help at all!!”
“Ive had my hair braided as a kid, ribbit. But it hurts to much to take it out after getting it wet, so I never learned to do it myself.” Asui added. “And one time I tried to let Hagakure braid my hair. It was her first time doing someone else’s hair, and she kept getting it tangled since she can’t see her hands.”
The light in Eri’s eyes faded, and she looked to the floor. “It’s okay…” she said sadly, turning to go to Aizawa. Aizawa saw how saddened she had become and let her hug him.
“It’s alright, Eri,” he said soothingly, “We can try to figure something else out.”
The Class 1-A girls were shocked to see their usually stern and cold homeroom teacher suddenly so softened, but none of them dared to say a thing about it.
Eri nodded weakly against him, but Togata could see in her face that she didn’t fully believe it.
Just then, the group heard two voices laughing as the elevator door opened.
“I’m so glad we could do this, Yaoyorozu!” Itsuka Kendo’s voice said happily as she stepped out.
Yaoyorozu followed suit. “Of course! Let me walk you to the door. We’ll have to do this again!”
Kendo nodded and let Yaoyorozu follow her to the door.
As they passed the group, Eri gasped and tugged at Aizawa’s sleeve.
“Her hair!” she whispered excitedly.
Yaoyorozu’s hair, which she typically kept in an expertly styled ponytail, was now braided, sitting neatly on the back of her head.
“Thank you again for braiding my hair, Kendo! It feels wonderful to take the pressure off of my skull,” she said as Kendo grabbed her coat from the coat rack.
“No problem! I’m always happy to help out!”
Yaoyorozu shifted past her Class 1-B friend to open the door, when suddenly Togata stopped them.
“Wait! One second, please!” he bade as he ran up to them.
He looked at Kendo, who met his eyes with a confused look.
“You did that?” he asked, gesturing towards Yaoyorozu.
Kendo nodded.
Togata smiled, and waved his hand, signaling for Eri to join him.
Kendo let out an “aww!” and knelt before Eri.
“You must be Eri, right? Hi, my name’s Kendo! I’m classmates with Monoma, but between you and me I’m much nicer. It’s good to finally meet you for myself,” she said, offering Eri and hand to shake.
Eri looked at Togata and simply held Kendo’s hand.
Togata quietly cleared his throat and decided to speak up.
“Kendo, do you think you could braid Eri’s hair? I know you were about to leave, but she’d really like to have it braided!”
Kendo smiled.
“I’d be happy to!” she exclaimed.
Kendo shifted her position and gently told her to sit facing away from her. Eri obeyed, her nervous expression quickly shifting into a polite smile.
Before Kendo could reach for her bag, Yaoyorozu used her quirk and created a hairbrush and two soft hair ties. She handed them to Kendo, who thanked her, before beginning to gently brush Eri’ hair.
As the Class 1-B representative carefully braided the strands of Eri’s silver hair, Aizawa found himself watching intently.
Almost subconsciously, he began taking mental notes of how each section was equal to the others, the order of which each section went over one and under another, and how Kendo had made sure that the top of Eri’s hair remained perfectly flat.
He rationalized his sudden care by saying it would be illogical to have to take Eri all the way to the 1-B building every single time she wanted to braid her hair. It was pure practicality.
That’s it, practicality.
When she was done, Yaoyorozu created two mirrors, which she extracted from her forearm.
Kendo held one mirror behind Eri, and Yaoyorozu held the other in front of her, allowing the child to see clearly how her hair had turned out.
As soon as she saw her new hairstyle, her small, polite smile quickly became a wide expression of pure joy.
“Mr. Aizawa! Lemillion! Look!” she cried. “My hair is beautiful!”
Aizawa let his features soften, and Togata looked ready to cry.
Eri turned to face Kendo.
“Thank you!!” she exclaimed with a deep bow of gratitude.
Kendo returned the girl’s smile and placed her hand on Eri’s shoulder.
“I’m glad you like it!” she told Eri as the girl stood up straight.
Kendo stood and bid Eri, Togata, Aizawa, and Yaoyorozu a good night. Yaoyorozu held the door for her as she exited, but as she went to close it, Aizawa signaled for her to hold it, and he slipped outside.
“Kendo,” he called out, stopping the red haired girl in her tracks.
Kendo paused midstep and turned to face Aizawa. “Sir?”
Aizawa took a heavy breath and avoided making eye contact.
“The braid you did for Eri came out good. She seemed to be very happy with it,” he said. “I was wondering if you could run through the motions with me one more time, so I know undoubtedly how to do it in case she wants her hair braided again.”
Kendo was surprised. She had heard horror stories from through the grapevine of Eraserhead and the numerous ways in which he tortured and, in some cases, expelled his students. If you had told her when she woke up that morning that that same man would ask her to teach him how to braid hair, she would have burst into hysterical laughing.
Yet here she was.
Putting the irony of the situation aside, she agreed. Her hair, which was tied into its usual side ponytail, was quickly let down. She pulled a section of hair over the front of her face and began splitting it into three equally-sized strands.
“So,” she began, “a standard braid usually starts with a ponytail, which means you’ll need two hair ties each time: one when you start, to secure the ponytail in place, and one when you’re finished, to hold the braiding.”
Aizawa nodded, pulling out his phone to jot down things he thought would be useful to remember.
She then showed him the three parts she had just finished separating. “Take the left most piece, and place it in your left hand. You see how you have two pieces in your right hand? Take the piece in your left hand and cross it over to be in the middle of your other two pieces. Then, hold the left-most piece and the new middle piece with your left hand, so that only the right-most piece is in the right hand. Then, cross the right-most piece into the middle of other two pieces, and hold the new right-most piece and center piece in your right hand. Now, you’re back to the beginning, and you repeat the process until you get to the bottom, at which point you secure it with a hair tie.”
Aizawa nodded along as she spoke, watching her once again thread the strands of hair between each other as she instructed him. When she was done, he finished the last of his notes and locked his phone.
“Any questions, Eraserhead-Sensei?” she asked.
Aizawa shook his head. “You’re a pretty good teacher, Kendo. It makes sense that you’re Class B’s representative.”
Kendo smiled sheepishly and bowed slightly with gratitude.
“It was my pleasure, really. Have a good night!”
Aizawa nodded his head.
“Good night, and thanks,” he returned, already heading back inside.
—————————————————————
The next morning, Aizawa was awoken to the sound of his phone buzzing on the small desk next to his bed.
He forced himself to sit up and answer it.
“This is Shota Aizawa.”
“Good morning, Eraserhead!” Mirio’s energetic voice answered, “Eri wanted her hair braided again. Do you know where I can find the girl who did it for her yesterday?”
Aizawa rubbed his eyes and blinked himself awake. “No need. I’ll be over in five minutes,” he replied tiredly.
Before Togata could express his confusion, Aizawa stood up, threw on his slippers, and made his way over to Eri’s room, which was kept at the end of the faculty wing.
He gave three brisk knocks before Togata opened the door and let him inside.
“Good morning, Eraserhead!” he greeted Aizawa once again as the homeroom teacher walked inside.
“Morning.”
Aizawa looked around until he found Eri, who was sitting on a small stool in front of her mirror. She was mindlessly playing with her hair, trying unsuccessfully to braid it herself
When she saw Aizawa approaching her, she turned around to greet him as she had been taught. “Good morning, Mr. Aizawa.”
“Good morning, Eri,” Aizawa responded.
Without wasting any more time, he carefully reached over her shoulder and grabbed one of the hairbrushes on her vanity, as well as two hair ties that were kept in a plastic container.
“Would you like me to braid your hair?”
Eri gasped. “You could do that?!” she asked with an unbridled sense of wonder.
Aizawa nodded and explained, “I had Kendo teach me how to do it yesterday, so that you can have your hair braided whenever you want.”
Eri smiled, her large eyes tearing with gratitude, and nodded, sitting down to facing her mirror so Aizawa could start working immediately.
Aizawa set his notes on the table of the vanity, but as he went through the motions, he ended up not needing to look at them. Instead, he was completely focused on the bright smile and glowing eyes sitting in front of him.
Once he was finished she rushed to look in her mirror, and she laughed with pure contentment.
“Thank you, Mr. Aizawa!!” she near-shouted. “Togata, look how pretty!”
Togata walked over and knelt beside her.
“Yep! Eraserhead did a great job, didn’t he?”
Eri nodded and looked up at Aizawa.
“He did! He really did!!”
Aizawa smiled softly and laid a careful hand on her crown of her head.
“You look beautiful, Eri,” he said, watching her smile grow wider.