Especially You

"Well, you like cats." Midnight shrugged. "I thought maybe you'd be interested in her."

The 18+ Hero was standing next to Aizawa in the teacher's lounge, talking to him as he picked out a drink. They had the place to themselves at the moment, and she had decided to press an old issue with him.

Aizawa snorted, taking more time than usual to choose what he wanted. The company that filled the vending machines had changed them around recently, and he only drank one type. "If that were all it took I'd have been dating that cop at the local precinct years ago." He found the number and pressed it.

"Ha! The one with the furry head." She nodded to herself. "Listen, though, isn't Cheshire at least interesting enough to ask out on a date? You never go out. It's worrying."

"I'll ask people out if I want to, and only then." He bent to retrieve the can of coffee as it clunked out of the chute. "I have no need to date. It's a waste of time, especially -"

"Especially me?"

He jumped guiltily around. There stood the counselor in her noise-cancelling paw boots. He had forgotten she was very quiet in his haste to assure Kayama he didn't need her help.

Elly was smiling in a calm manner and waved her hand when the other woman apologized. "No, it's fine. I'm well aware of the self-professed loner lifestyle Aizawa leads. And let's face it, I'm not really what you would call a good catch."

Aizawa blinked owlishly at her and said nothing. He was stunned at her casual degradation of herself and watched as she grabbed a can of juice and walked back out as silently as she came.

"Damn it!" Midnight slammed her palm into the wall. "Now look what you've done."

"What I've done?"

"You hurt her feelings. Go apologize."

Aizawa stared at her as if she had sprouted a new head. "Nonsense. You heard her; she's perfectly fine." He held up a hand when Kayama tried to protest. "I'm going to take a nap before the next bell."

And with that he slowly trudged down the hall, can deposited in one of his tracksuit's many pockets and dragging his worn sleeping bag behind him. He was almost to his classroom when he passed the small office they had given Cheshire for her counseling sessions with the kids. He heard someone sobbing quietly inside and his brow creased in worry. Despite his gruff exterior, he really cared about the kids he taught and was alarmed one was sitting there weeping as if her heart was breaking.

The "in session" sign was nowhere to be found, so, frowning harder, he knocked lightly on the door.

Silence - except the sound of heavy rain pelting down outside.

Aizawa's frown grew so deep he felt it pressing and reached up to massage his forehead. He pushed his shoulder against the door, opening it enough for him to slip inside. There was no one inside and in fact, the room was darker than usual with only a desk lamp on. He flicked the light switch and blinked blearily around as the fluorescent lighting crackled into life. "Ches? You in here?"

If she was, she wasn't letting on. He sighed and shot a quick glare past the obvious desk chair to the window ledge, his hair shooting upright as he utilized his quirk.

Sure enough, the counselor materialized into view, though she turned around the moment she knew she was visible. "Please go," she said quietly.

Aizawa dropped his bag and crept forward. "That would be a rather heartless thing to do," he said carefully. Her low chuckle was so bitter he felt he could almost taste it. Yet she still remained silent, so he tried once more. "Did I really hurt your feelings like Kayama suggested?"

Elly sighed deeply and faced him when he was about a foot away. He winced at her red eyes and tear-streaked cheeks, proof she had been crying heavily. "No. You are you; it's not your fault for being blunt. It's mine but as I'm a liscensed therapist, I suppose I can work my own way through things just fine."

He rubbed the back of his neck, looking off to the side. "I wasn't quite honest back there." He hesitated, then added sharply, "I wasn't lying - I don't lie -- yet I let her believe certain things to make my life easier."

Her ears twitched. "I've heard that 'logical ruse' crap from the kids."

"Yes, well." He leaned beside her at the window, thinking how he should word this. The rain hit the window in a million little droplets, pattering down on the pane. "You think less of yourself. I think more of you. Perhaps we should go out somewhere and discuss this."

She passed a weary hand over her bloodshot eyes. "Thank you for trying to make me feel better."

"I'm not trying," he said firmly.

She felt his rough, calloused hand gently pull hers away and found herself staring into his enigmatic gray eyes. "Aizawa..?"

"I'm not trying," he repeated. "I'm definitely making you feel better."

His stubbled face was so close to hers she could make out the ragged edges of the scar under his one eye. She twitched backward, but gasped as she felt his other hand on her back. He pulled her forward, and she went willingly, still too stupefied to realize what he had in mind. As he tilted his head, his expression was part amused and part something she couldn't quite bring herself to admit.

Until, that is, his dry lips covered her own in a surprisingly soft kiss.

It was brief but left her mouth tingling. She gasped, color flooding her cheeks as he regarded her solemnly.

"After work, then?" He had already walked over to the door and grabbed his sleeping bag in a loose fist. Elly nodded numbly and he grinned in that disturbing way he had when he thought he had outwitted someone.

The door slipped closed behind him and she sat there in shock, fingertips stealing to her lips.