Chapter Text
“I’m beginning to worry about Young Midoriya.”
Mic choked on his coffee in place of the laugh that wanted to burst out of his throat. Beside him, Eraserhead’s fingers were twitching just above where they rested on his keyboard.
“Beginning to?” his partner said, tone straightlaced despite his agitation.
Toshinori sat across from their desks again this year. They’d returned from their joint sabbatical three weeks ago, but any attempts at catching up on work were thwarted as soon as All Might caught either one of them in the teacher’s lounge.
Midnight had finally taken pity on them after their first week back to explain the situation. Apparently, Detective Tsukauchi had been out of town on a high profile investigation since Mid-July. His need for the positive reinforcement, companionship, and attention that the Tsukauchi usually provided was woefully under met through phone calls and Facetime sessions.
By the time September rolled around, the other teachers had taken to ducking into each other’s classrooms to avoid being alone with the man. It was no secret the former number one hero swung wildly between boisterous ignorance and a raging ball of anxiety at the best of times. Without the Detective to calm his worries at the end of the day, however, Toshinori was best described as a “hot mess”.
To make matters worse, All Might had volunteered to take on class 2-A while Eraser was on sabbatical, and his constant need to play mother hen had exhausted even his biggest fans in the class. The moment Eraser and Mic had returned, Toshinori had glued himself to their sides at every opportunity.
Eraser’s patience had lasted all of three hours the first day, but Mic felt bad for the guy. He knew the shitty kinda places a mind could go to when distance and co-dependant relationships were involved.
Even for an extrovert like Mic, however, he was beginning to count the days until the Detective returned home.
“What’s the little green bean gettin’ into now, eh?” Mic forced his biggest grin, addressing All Might between their computer monitors. “Tell your old pal, Mic, all about it!”
Beneath the table, Eraser gave a small squeeze to Mic’s thigh for taking this one.
“He’s just been so distant lately. Distracted,” All Might told him with a heavy sigh. “He’s skipped out on our last two training sessions to study.”
“Y’all train five days a week,” Mic shot a flourish of finger guns Toshinori’s way. “Hitting three outta five ain’t bad, man. Gotta exercise that brain muscle too, Yo!”
“I know, I know,” All Might admitted. “And I’m proud of him, really, but I enjoy mentoring the lad and I’m starting to get the impression he’d rather spend his time training with Young Shinso.”
The typing beside Mic stopped abruptly.
“Shinso?” Eraser questioned. One didn’t invoke the name of Eraser’s protege lightly. “Why Shinso?”
“They’ve been studying together,” All Might waved his hand miserably. “He asked Midoriya to tutor him in English.”
“Yo, in English?” Mic broke in, before shooting Eraser a look. “Shinso Hitoshi needs help in English?”
“I know..,” Toshinori practically wailed as Mic mouthed the words
Straight A Student
at Eraser. “I offered to assist the boys in their studies while you were away, but they turned me down. Young Shinso seemed rather uncomfortable though so I didn’t push. I can understand he may be more comfortable working with a classmate, but I’m starting to think they’re secretly training together now, too. Just last week I heard them wrestling in Midoriya’s room when Midnight and I were changing shifts.”
Shota choked this time. No coffee needed.
“I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong,” Toshinori shook his head, lost in his own worries.
“Yo, yo, yo!” Mic frantically cuts in, clamping a hand on Eraser’s with a glare to say ‘don’t you dare duck out and leave me right now you shithead.’ “You know how kids are, dude--they’re young and stupid and--uh--you know, bonding and shit. Give it time, and they’ll eventually come out.”
“Literally, in this case,” Eraser added dryly before Mic elbowed him in the ribs.
“In the meantime, dude, just keep it chill. They’ll figure this shit out in their own time, ya dig?”
“I suppose stepping back is a part of letting them grow,” Toshinori nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face as he considered Mic’s words. “I appreciate the advice, Present Mic. Thank you for listening.”
“Yo, anytime, man,” Mic returned a double thumbs-up as Eraser nearly shoved him out of his chair. “Eraser and I got yo’ back!”
“Speak for yourself, idiot.”
“Rude, dude!”
Across from them, Toshinori laughed.
“You know, it’s easy to forget you two were schoolmates long before you were heroes,” he noted with a shake of his head. “I imagine you must have been much like Young Midoriya and Shinso back then.”
“Is he serious?” Eraser looked over at Mic.
“He’s innocent as shit, yeah? Do not ruin him, yo,” Mic raised a finger in warning.
“If a year of teaching alongside Midnight hasn’t taught him anything yet..,” Eraser muttered.
“Do not bring my name into this, wicked boy,” Kayama scolded him from where she was waiting on another stack of pages from the copier. “Delicious as it may be.”
“Did I miss something?” Toshinori asked, a nervous flush lighting up his cheeks.
“Not at all, sweetheart,” Kayama cooed at him. “The boys are just being especially naughty today. How is your darling detective, by the way?”
At the mention of Tsukauchi, Toshinori immediately perked up, regaling Midnight with adorable stories of the pair’s last Facetime session. In detail. With pictures.
“We’re going to owe her for this,” Eraser huffed under his breath, eyeing Mic.
“Oh yeah, big time,” he nodded, socking Eraser in the shoulder. “Bout that time tho, ain’t it?”
“Yeah,” Eraser admitted, the hint of a smile breaking his gruff demeanor. “Let’s go.”
Together, they got to their feet, shutting off their monitors and gathering their things before heading out with a wave to All Might and Midnight. The latter of which winked at them before dragging a perfectly manicured thumb subtly across her throat in their direction. No doubt they’d be picking up her tab at their next bar night, but it’d be well worth the cost for the escape she’d provided.
Shoulder to shoulder they passed through the halls, listening to the murmur of voices from the various club rooms full of students as they too, began to call it a night. As they sauntered towards the main exit, an all too familiar voice called out behind them.
“Mr. Aizawa!”
“What now, Mina?” Eraser stopped and turned towards the bubbly pink girl.
“Oh hey, Sensei!” she addressed Eraser, bright and loud as always, before turning to Mic. “Sorry to bother you on your way out, Mr. Aizawa, but I wanted to ask you about starting the Radio Club thing!”
“Yo, let’s meet up after class tomorrow, Alien Queen!” he gestured dramatically, sharing a high five with the girl. “Today’s broadcast has sadly come to a close!”
“No problem--Jiro and I will totally be there, thaaaanks!” she said with a sing-song tone, waving as she ran passed them towards the dorms. “See you tomorrow, Mr. Aizawa! You too, Sensei! Have a good night!”
“You could have stayed,” Eraser murmured beside Mic as the two watched her go. “I know you’re annoyingly excited about this whole club business...Mr. Aizawa.”
“Nah, man, it’s cool. I’ve got an open block already penciled in for it,” Mic shot Eraser his most award-winning grin, casually bumping their shoulders together. “Besides, I got places to be tonight, ya dig Sensei?”
Eraser snorted and returned the gesture, leaning into Mic as they made their way out the front doors.
“Hot date?”
“The hottest!” Mic laughed, waggling his brows at Eraser over his sunglasses. “How ‘bout you? Gonna sleep?”
“No, but I wouldn’t mind a night in, just the two of us,” Eraser said with a shrug.
“Consider me flattered,” Mic pressed a hand to his chest and gasped. “But I have a husband.”
“Hmm,” Eraser nodded, offering his hand. “Lucky man.”
“He will be once we get home,” Mic murmured, sliding his palm into Eraser’s.
“Very lucky,” Eraser agreed, picking up his pace.
Together, they passed through the gates of UA, turning towards the train station. The streets were packed with people heading home for the day and the sky was just starting to shift from the bright autumn blues of the day to the soft hues of the setting sun. The weather was still mild as of yet, but the trees would turn colors soon. Their conversation remained light and mostly one-sided as Mic chattered away over some new band he was anxious to interview on his Friday night Radio Show. They slipped onto the train, pressed together between a crowd of office workers and middle schoolers with their noses glued to their phones. Somewhere along the line, Eraser had nodded off, with his head against the front of Mic's leather jacket.
Five stops from their station, the train came to a halt. There was a minor villain attack up ahead that was just clearing up, but the conductor reassured them all that Mount Lady was on the scene and apologized once again for the delay. A boom sounded in the distance. The sharp beeping of Eraser's phone intermixed with the muffled music of Mic's ringtone. Eraser looked up at Mic who shook his head in amusement. With a heavy sigh, the two made their way to the train doors. No doubt, Mount Lady could handle this one alone, but with a little help, they might speed things up.
Much later, after the paperwork was settled and the press had been dealt with and they were finally off the clock, Hizashi slid his hand back into Shota's as they waited for the 8 PM train.
It’d be a long ride back to Naruhata, but Shota was a patient man.
An hour; another school term; the rest of their lives: Time didn’t matter, so long as Hizashi was by his side.