Mistaken Identity

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." Elly affected a prissy, little girl voice as she read from the book she held in her hand. The kids in front of her giggled loudly, clapping their hands over their mouths when they remembered they were in a library.

She was reading to them from her signature book, Alice in Wonderland, as part of a little good deed to the city. She likely would have done so if she'd been a pro hero or not, but her public relations agent encouraged these little events, booking several a month.

She had been reading for awhile when she noticed one of the staff approaching her in haste. The woman whispered in her ear, her body language panicky and afraid.

Elly paused, then nodded. "Time for a break, kids! I'll read the next chapter after you all get some cookies over there." She pointed, smiling, and they all took off at full speed.

After they were gone she followed the aide to one of the back rooms. "So, tell me more about this suspicious character you detained."

"He didn't say much at first, but he claimed to know you when we told him we would call the cops."

The head librarian stepped close with a shiver. "He's really creepy, Cheshire. We spotted him loitering by the shelves, watching you - or, worse, maybe the kids -- while you were reading to them."

Elly's nose wrinkled. "But he says he knows me?" Her purple eyes suddenly went very wide. "Oh, no. Oh, shit... he wasn't wearing all black, was he? And black hair?"

They looked surprised as she rushed over to the room and threw open the door to find exactly who she suspected sitting hunched over in a chair by a small table.

"Hello, Ches." Aizawa Shota grimaced as he spoke, wrinkling his forehead in disgust at this turn of events.

She groaned loudly. "Crap. What the hell were you doing?" She walked over to him, shaking her head.

He pressed his lips into a thin line. "Nothing wrong, that's for sure."

She looked him carefully over. "Aizawa, you've got at least three days' worth of stubble on your face, bloodshot, bleary eyes, unkempt hair and are dressed in all black skulking around a kids reading session."

His scruffy face grew bleaker. "I wasn't aware not being attractive was unlawful."

"What th - who said anything about that?" Her ears twitched and she laid a hand on his. "You know how people see you when you don't make an effort to blend in. Why did you come here, of all places?"

The head librarian popped her head in. "Excuse me, Cheshire..?"

Elly waved a hand at her. "Yes, I know him. He's another Pro Hero. Wasn't going to cause problems, and, in fact, is probably here to protect us all."

"Oh!" One of her hands wandered up to her mouth in shock. "I'm terribly sorry. We won't be calling the police, obviously."

"Thanks," Aizawa grunted.

"I have to get back to the kids. If you want, you can come sit with me. That is, unless whatever it is you were doing requires you to be lurking in the shadows."

He sighed. "I'll just leave. I'm sorry to have interrupted you."

"Well, okay. But we're all still getting drinks tonight, right?"

"It is Saturday." He shrugged as he slumped out of the room.

Elly went back and finished reading to the kids, who were all super excited when she got into her part in the book and used her quirk to act it out. After she went home she realized she couldn't stop thinking about how utterly depressed Aizawa had appeared. He normally looked like 'shit warmed over', as Mic put it, but earlier she thought she had caught a hint of sadness in his gray eyes.

And what was with that comment about him being unattractive?

As she showered and got ready for the casual night out the teachers enjoyed each weekend, she pondered this. Honestly, she found Aizawa Shota desirable. Hot, even. She liked the scruffy stubble on his tired face and his hair was long and soft, so who cared if it was slightly messy?

She even loved his creepy grin that freaked most people out.

"Who knows," she murmured as she pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Her hair took awhile to get just right, but other than that she didn't care how she looked, either. She hated makeup and her feline nose was too sensitive for most perfunes, had she wanted to wear any. Yet she managed to look more socially presentable than him with little effort. She shook her head, frowning, and walked out to catch her ride to the bar. Kayama wasn't going, so she had to bum a ride off someone else. That 'someone' ended up after a flurry of texting to be Hizashi.

Aizawa rode with him, of course, and probably drove back most of the time as the Voice Hero had a tendency to get insanely drunk. Elly knew all of this and it was expected. What she hadn't counted on was how Aizawa had dressed this night.

He was wearing soft gray jeans and black loafers, but surprisingly had on a dark purple button down shirt. She stared, amazed, noticing that not only was he dressed neatly but his hair was pulled into a tidy bun and he had shaved.

Well, sculpted was more like it. He left some of the stubbly growth but had shaved the more scraggly bits and this made it look almost purposeful, like a rugged style. She tried to control her reaction but her tail fluffed out and her cheeks started to burn.

They ended up being the only ones to show up at the bar. Hizashi wandered over and sat on a stool, ostensibly so he 'could be closer to the bartender', but she had her suspicions when this left her and Aizawa alone.

She held her peace until they had a drink, then asked him the question that had been burning in her mind since earlier. "Why were you at the library?"

He stared morosely at her over the rim of his glass, then sighed and looked away. "I was there to watch you read to the kids." He downed the rest of his beer and set it on the edge of the table, indicating he wanted another.

"Me?"

"I've gone to almost all of your public relations events and otherwise." As he admitted this, she saw his ears were burning, and she surmised it might not be from the alcohol. Aizawa didn't meet her gaze and he sounded grouchier than usual. "That's why I was there. I'm an idiot."

"You're not an idiot," she scoffed. "But why? And, wait, why did you dress up?"

"You said I had stubble and messy hair." He shrugged uncomfortably. "And I always wore black. I took your statement to mean you didn't care for any of that."

She stared at him in astonishment. He had done all of this for her then. That pretty much answered her first question.

Elly took a calming breath and reached out across the table to place her hand on top of his. He jerked a little but didn't pull away. "Shota?"

His face immediately turned as red as his ears at her use of his given name. He was stubborn, however, and he raised his head to glare belligerently at her. And then he upped the ante. "What, Elly?"

Her heart beat crazy fast in her chest. He pronounced it badly, the L sound more an R, but be had done it. "Do you want to walk me home later?"

He ordinarily would have scoffed at this idea; she lived in the same complex the teachers all did and her apartment was only a couple away from his. This, however, had the tone of an bigger offer being presented.

"Do you want me to walk you, or are you inviting me over?" His hand slowly curled around hers on the table top as their eyes met and held.

"I thought you could use a cup of tea or a, ah, similar sleeping aid."

Aizawa's smiled at her, the expression amazingly soft and sweet. It was nothing like she had seen on the scruffy hero's face before, and she felt her knees grow weak. "I think I would like that very much," he said quietly.