It was late in the evening and Hizashi was getting ready to head out for one of his extra jobs.
"I'll wait up for you tonight, sweetie. Just let me know if your gig is going to run late." He bent down slightly as he was fixing his hair and she kissed him on the cheek.
"'kay. It shouldn't, though. This place is usually good at keeping strict closing times." Hizashi frowned, tapping his tub of hair wax on the counter.
"Stuck again?"
He nodded in frustration. "Damn thing. I ran hot water over it before."
"Well, if it's dried up I bought you another yesterday - it's behind the other stuff in the cabinet."
"Oh, word?" He dug around for a moment and popped up, beaming, with the fresh tub in hand. "You're awesome, babe!"
Elly chuckled and watched from the door, still fascinated at the way he could turn his soft, long hair into a gigantic cockatoo plume with a single handful of goop and some spray.
"Okay! Gonna get some water in my bottle, and my other gear, and then I'm set..." He pulled his boots on and grabbed the handle of the huge bag that held some of his equipment. The bigger items were stored locally and moved ahead of time to where the venue was. He grabbed an umbrella as well, since it was storming outside.
"Oh! Almost forgot the most important thing." He leaned over and hugged her tight, kissing her noisily on the cheek and making her giggle. "Now I'm ready."
"Hydrate, Mikey," she told him, reverting naturally to his other name since he was in costume. "Remember this time!"
He waved his water bottle at her with a grin as he left.
She settled down for a quiet evening of book reading. Over the course of several hours, the storm outside grew worse. She started to worry about Hizashi getting safely home when a huge crack of thunder split through the air. Elly's ears snapped up as she heard a loud crackle and a low, whining sound. "Uh oh," she murmured.
The lights went out all over the campus.
Sighing, she walked over to the closet and grabbed a rain coat. She knew she was one of the only heroes in the vicinity that could partially see in the dark, and she would be needed.
Of course the school had backup generators, but they could only be set up in one of the largest gyms. She gathered up students and teachers alike that hadn't managed to make it there yet. After around a quarter of an hour, she noticed someone was missing.
Shota Aizawa had a secret that only one close person to him knew.
He was afraid of the dark.
It was easy to hide because there was always some sort of light available - street lights, candles, even the faint glow of the moon. But the storm had caused complete darkness to settle all around him, and he was horrified.
He hated the paralysing, irrational terror the absence of all light caused in him and he always had a contingency plan for emergencies. Unfortunately, he had been busy with work and hadn't checked the batteries in his flashlights for some time. He also had the suspicion that Eri might have worn down a few while playing, but that didn't matter now. What mattered was he was stuck, in the dark, and completely unable to move.
When there was a light tapping on his front door he nearly jumped out of his skin. "Who is it?" He managed to keep his voice even with a mighty effort.
"Elly." She paused. "It's Ches, Shota. I've got the skeleton key and I'm coming in."
He panicked further, but there was no time to cover up for his condition before she shone a light in the corner of the bedroom, exposing him curled into a ball in his fear.
"Oh, Shota. I'm sorry -"
"No. Don't come closer and do not attempt to comfort me." He must have realized his voice was shaking even in his determination and added in a softer tone, "Please."
Elly focused on him and saw the raw fear in his eyes. "I tried to get them to send someone else. I can see better in the dark, plus we're neighbors. They picked me."
"You didn't want to ..." He flinched as the storm brought another large branch down and there was a crackle of electricity from the fallen lines. "Of course you know. You have a degree in psychology." Aizawa hung his head between his knees, his hands clasping the back of his neck. This was now officially one of the worst days he had experienced in a while. "I tried to hide my feelings for you. I apologize."
"There's nothing to apologize for. It happens; there's a reason there are so many books, movies and songs devoted to such a scenario." She rummaged in a bag she was carrying and handed him another flashlight and some extra batteries.
"Ugh," he grunted at her response and then nodded. "Thank you."
"Do you want me to leave you alone?"
"No." The obvious pain the next statement caused him made her cringe slightly. "But you should."
"I understand. You want to put distance between us? And Hizashi, too, for awhile?"
His bitter sigh floated up out of the darkness. "It's necessary."
"All right." Elly nodded. "I'll go back and let everyone know that you're okay, just busy." She held back, knowing any gesture might be seen as encouragement. It was frustrating because she really did care for the man. He was her second best friend here, her boyfriend's best pal for ages that had always been his rock. His voice cracked as she got up and it was very difficult to not comfort him with a touch.
"Thank you." It didn't help that she could see the yearning in his weary face as he looked in her direction. Knowing he would be separating himself from his friends clearly pained him even more. Others thought him antisocial; yet even the most dedicated loner craved some human contact.
"You're welcome, Shota." She touched his shoulder briefly, unable to leave the frightened man without a token act of human kindness.
He drew in his breath sharply and caught her hand in his. It was clammy and cold, the tremors running through his body causing it to shake as well.
"Ches, I..."
A loud knocking at the front door cut off whatever he was about to say.
Hizashi stumbled clumsily in, fumbling around in the dark. He held several glow sticks in one gloved hand which didn't really illuminate much farther than the tips of his fingers. "Hey hey, I heard you talkin' and it's so dark out! I know someone has an issue with that. S'everything okay?"
Aizawa jerked himself away from the cat woman, slamming himself into the wall in his haste. He hissed with pain and swore.
"Hey, there you are." He stepped into the bedroom and handed his friend the party sticks. "No reason you can't have some festive light too, hey?"
Elly smiled at him and wrapped an arm about his waist, causing him to exclaim with delight. "I was just telling Shota I'm going back to the main hall to tell everyone he's all right. He wants to stay here."
"Oh. Too many people. Okay, then - if you're sure!"
"I'm fine. Go."
They walked back out into the wind and the rain, shutting the door tightly closed behind them.
Hizashi looked back over his shoulder once. "Hey, babe, I don't think he was fine."
"I know. But it's what he wanted."
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