A Grateful Man

Els x Shota

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Aizawa rubbed at his eyes, grunting at the dryness. "Damn it." His last bottle of eye drops was in his desk, and it was almost empty. He'd left it there to salvage what he could to make it through the day.

"Hey there, Zawa." 

He blinked. The familiar little blue bottle was dangling in front of him, floating in midair. This one was still in its shrink wrap, though. "What are you doing, Cheshire?" He asked flatly.

She slowly materialized in front of him. "Honestly! You are the most exasperating person I've ever known." She pressed the bottle into his hands. "Can't you just be grateful like most people would? Take it."

"Hnf." She was gone before he could say anything else, not that he would have anyway. He tore the plastic off and squirted a couple drops in each eye. 

Later on that day after classes were out he was in the teacher's lounge when he noticed the vending machine. She was still here, doing some work in the office. He reasoned that buying her a drink might be an acceptable way of paying her back.  Aizawa squinted at the choices. What the hell type of coffee did she drink? There were two coffee brands and two flavors. He sighed and bought one of each since he knew she would like at least one of them. He could always give the others to Mic. His friend always had a cup in his hand. He swore he'd seen him chewing grinds once. He wouldn't put it past the man to do something like that, anyway. It was a short walk back to where the teachers had their computers set up. He placed the cans down on the desk near her but before he could say anything she raised her hand before her face.

"That poor girl."

He looked hurriedly up. A small photo of Eri was on her screen aling with her file. "She's had a bad life until now," he told her quietly, walking around the desk to where she sat staring sadly at her computer.

"Bad? Her experiences make my childhood look perfect. The poor thing."

He raised an eyebrow and sat beside her. "You had a hard time as a kid?"

"Nothing like this, but yes, I did. It's what made me want to help younger people." She wiped her eyes on a tissue she held in one hand. "Well! I'm sure this is boring as hell to you, so..."

"No." He placed a hand on her shoulder somewhat awkwardly. "You do all the listening for the students. It stands to reason you should talk to someone l, too, if it alleviates your own stress." He reached out and grabbed a random can of coffee. "Here."

"Oh, thanks." Elly took the coffee gratefully and popped the top. "Very logical ... but strange, nonetheless. Did you just offer me a sympathetic ear?" 

He gave her a very bland look. "You're a colleague of mine. It isn't strange."

"I seem to recall Midnight having an existential crisis last week you didn't care about."

"I wouldn't call her realization that her costume isn't going to age well along with her existential."

"For her it was," Elly said under her breath. 

"Do you want me here or not?" He crossed his arms and glared at her.

"Well. I guess since you're being so sweet about it..." Aizawa rubbed the bridge of his nose and groaned. "Okay, okay. I mean - I'm not used to talking about myself. I always think it will chase people away."

"Does it?"

She looked away, her ears drooping. "Yes, actually. It does. So trust me, Eraser, you don't have to do whatever it is you're doing."

Aizawa was not a man very in touch with his feelings. They got in the way and were a nuisance more than anything. Today, however, he had an epiphany. She was what Eri might have grown up like if she didn't have him around. Maybe there were two new girls on campus that would benefit from his company.

He shrugged. "If you don't want to talk, that's fine. Would you rather go out and eat?"

"I thought we were all gonna go Friday."

"We are. But I meant just us tonight. We can go to the same place, if you're more comfortable with that."

"Are you asking me out, Aizawa?"

He smirked. "Can't you just be grateful like most people would?"