Sleepy little lavender petals

"I don't think your folks like me."

Hizashi turned to blink at his girlfriend in surprise as she shook the sheet out over the futon they were going to sleep on. They were visiting his parents over a long weekend, and Elly definitely sensed some unease, if not quite open hostility.

"Wh - why would you <i>say</i> that?" He sat and gestured for her to do the same so he could hold her. They were both wearing t-shirts and shorts, having brushed their teeth and cleaned up for the night. Hizashi had brushed his long, golden hair until it shone, and she ran her fingers through it gently as they talked in hushed voices. Sitting here, in his old room, he looked soft and nostalgic. She thought she couldn't possibly love him more.

"Little things. Mostly it's a feeling, like they look at me in disapproval for some reason."

"I'm not gonna tell you yer wrong, babe, but I hope you are." He kissed her gently. "But it doesn't matter, anyway. I'm the one that loves you. Even if they don't, when they see that, they'll come around."

"I hope so."

They went to bed, curled comfortably around each other. At some point Elly woke, however, when a familiar scent tickled her nostrils. She sneezed, then sat up. Hizashi whined softly when she gently disentangled from his grip.

"It's okay, sweetie. I'll be right back." She brushed his ponytail off his neck and he sighed, falling into a deeper sleep.

Elly crept out to the screen where the scent was the strongest. It couldn't be - but yes, it was. Aizawa Shota was sitting with Hizashi's parents around their family table. It looked like he had been assigned to patrol the area and was just now getting off duty. He'd probably stopped in because he knew them.

Her ears twitched. She could hear him very clearly since he was close. Hizashi's parents, however, were on the far side near a small fan, and they were muted. She strained, but all she could make out was the scruffy hero's tired voice. Their shapes were silhouettes behind the screen, almost like a child's puppet show at a festival.

"We really are just close friends," Aizawa was stressing firmly. "I've known your son for a long time and worked with him every day for the past decade." He paused, then looked down at the coffee table.

Hizashi's parents apparently stated something they had before. She heard their voices raising, but still couldn't make out what they were saying.

The scruffy man struggled for a moment, clenching his fists. Elly could see the tension in his shoulders as he grimly rolled them back and raised his head. "It's difficult <i>because</i> we're such good friends. I'm - I'm not in love with your <i>son</i>. I'm in love with his girlfriend."

She bit her lip, her ears standing up in shock. Shota Aizawa in love with her?! And upset because she was dating his best friend. Oh, no. Oh, god, what could she do? But he was still talking, so she shoved those thoughts aside and concentrated on listening instead.

"...know it's terrible for a friend. So I try to avoid them when they're together. Otherwise, one of them might notice how I feel."

Elly sighed quietly and snuck back off to Hizashi's old bedroom. He was clutching her pillow in her absence, a tight little frown on his face. Evidently the pillow wasn't as good as her. She crawled back under the sheet and gently nudged his arm. He sighed, flipping it over her waist, and his brow smoothed out as he hummed happily.

"Nmm... babe? Didja hafta wee or somethin'?"

"Uh huh. Go back to sleep, sweetie." She kissed his forehead and he yawned.

"I can't help it," he grumbled. "My folks're weird. I can't believe they thought Shota and I were a couple. I mean, people can be close <i>friends</i>!"

"It's okay. I think they get it now." She could see why they might have treated her this way if they thought Aizawa had been pining for him. They'd been friends for so long, and Hizashi was closer to the gruff man than anyone. But if the feelings weren't mutual, why act like that towards her?

No, it wasn't the time to analyze things now. Now was the time to snuggle up to her warm, sleeping boyfriend and drift off herself.

He'd stopped by without a thought, really. He was here, so he figured he'd pay his respects. Hizashi's family had helped him throughout his difficult teenage years as much as their own son. He should have remembered he was visiting, and of course he would bring his girlfriend. He shouldn't stay. In fact he couldn't stay; they would find out his secret if he was in one place for too long.

Aizawa paused on his way out and coughed once, a tearing, wet sound. He brought his hand up to cover his mouth and when he glanced down at it he grimaced. He hastily wiped the speckles of blood and tiny, purple petals in his palm off on his sweatpants and hurried outside. His mind kept returning to the same fact, over and over again: Hizashi had brought Elly with him this time. That meant they were getting very serious.

The very next school day Aizawa was forced to listen to his friend's incessant babbling about his love life. That didn't help his condition much, as every ten minutes he had to excuse himself to cough into a tissue. Disposing of the evidence was even trickier, since he wouldn't let anyone know what an embarrassing illness he had. He managed to hold out until the end of his first class, and then a wave of melancholy struck him as he remembered how happy Hizashi had been that morning. The blond man was always smiling at work, unless an event occurred that required gravity. The ones that reached his eyes, though? Those were different.

<i>It's her. She makes him</i> so <i>happy.</i>

Aizawa didn't have a chance to grab a tissue this time. He coughed violently over his desk, grasping the edges as his vision started to grow black around the edges. When he came to, he was shaky and gasping, struggling to pull enough air into his lungs.

"'Zawa? Holy shit!"

He blinked, his gaze blurry, but he knew that voice anywhere. <i>Of course</i>, he sighed inwardly in resignation.

Elly reached out and pulled his long hair back so she could assess his physical state. Evidently she didn't like what she saw but he was breathing, the color returning to his cheeks, so she turned her attention to where he had coughed.

"Is that a pile of lavender sitting in <i>blood</i>?" She gasped out in horror at the mess on his desk. "Aizawa, you need to get to a hospital!"

"No." He snorted in disbelief and then coughed once, weakly. Miniscule petals dotted his lips and he scrubbed at them with one hand. "No hospital."

"But - but this is <i>serious</i>, and you could <i>die</i>!"

He sighed dismally. "Yes."

Elly's hands felt ice cold and her heart hammered in her chest, blood singing loudly in her ears. She reached out for his scruffy cheek but he jerked away before her fingers touched him. "Shota, I know what that means. And I'm responsible, aren't I?"

"Please don't call me that." His tone was somehow wearier than usual. "I'm not quite sure how you figured it out, but if you would keep it a secret from Mic I would be grateful. Also, no. It's <i>my</i> responsibility, not yours. You are not at fault."

"I'm not going to let you die."

"You don't get a choice," he told her drily, spitting out another mess of blood and flowers into a tissue this time. "The surgery only has a five percent rate or less of survival, and it's my only viable treatment."

"It's that bad?!"

"I didn't opt for it," he muttered, embarrassed. His face was pale, the dark stubble along his jaw and chin standing out more than usual.

"Besides, you're wrong," she told him quietly, her eyes boring into his. "It's not the only way to treat this condition."

"I said, it's the only <i>viable</i> treatment. I was not wrong."

"You're willing to die rather than - than try anything?"

He didn't hesitate. "Yes."

"<i>That's the most stupidly illogical thing I ever heard</i>!" She spluttered in rage. "You're not some sappy teenager, Sho - err, Aizawa! How can you -"

He held up a hand to stop her in mid-tirade. "Please. I know this is ridiculous. But ..." Aizawa paused and sighed deeply, an audible wheeze coming from his chest.

"I'm not worth your life," Elly told him firmly. "You should at least try the surgery."

"<i>But</i>," he went on, staring hard at her, his gaze so intense she faltered and took a step back. "I determine what I want to do with my life."

"You - but you didn't even try to..." Her lower lip trembled as she sank into a chair by the side of his desk. Elly hid her face in her hands and wept.

"I can't confess," he told her gently. "It will only work if you return my affection for you. Otherwise it will hasten the process."

"You have to <i>try</i>!"

"You already know."

"It's not the same and you know it. It's got to do with your repressed feelings coming out, so you have to tell me."

"<i>What do you want me to do, Cheshire?</i>" His hair flew upright in his agitated state as he shouted at her.

"<i>Tell me</i>!"

"I'll die <i>faster</i>, is that what you want? Fine! Anything is better than the hell of you badgering me about it, fooling me into thinking you might care!" He took as deep a breath as he could manage, his lungs wheezing, and placed two shaking hands on either side of her face with a gentleness that belied his apparent anger. His bloodshot eyes filled with tears, and one slipped down his cheek as he placed his forehead on hers.

"Shota," she choked softly.

"<i>I love you</i>."

As soon as he confessed his feelings, the tickle in his chest grew unbearable. He lurched to the side, sure that this was going to be it - the plant had entrenched itself so fully he would asphyxiate right in front of her.

<i>A somehow fitting end</i>, he thought wryly as he began to reach. <i>I get to die in the presence of the one I love</i>. But his first cough was different, and he found himself gagging on tendrils that dropped into the bin. It lasted only a minute, an intermittent hacking of flowers and longer, thinner parts.

And then it just ...stopped.

"This..." Aizawa stared in bewilderment at the rooted plant parts and stems in the garbage. "I can breathe," he said simply. His gray eyes grew very wide and he started to shake the slightest bit.

"Yeah."

He turned and fixed her with a soul-penetrating stare, a look so intense she shivered and took another step back.

"Do you love him?"

Elly nodded. "So much. Yes."

"But..."

She bit her lower lip, eyes cast down. "I don't know why, how, or when it happened. It just did. As a psychiatrist I know that -"

He shook his head, quickly covering her mouth with a strip of his scarf. "Please don't analyze things. It makes it seem ...colder."

Her eyebrows raised. When she nodded, he released her and she smiled at him. "See, there's a reason. You're so much softer than you seem at first."

Aizawa rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck. "Huh. Well, then. I suppose the only logical choice is to forget this. All of it." He made an all-encompassing gesture with one arm.

"Can you?"

"I've done worse, I suppose." He dropped his gaze as he spoke. "It's enough to - to know. And now I need to get some of this grading done." Her lower lip quivered as she watched him resolutely turn his back to her. "Thank you," he added quietly.

"I don't know if I can," she told him sadly.

"Do it for him. In time, things will seem better than they are now. And Hizashi needs you."

"Yes." She sighed and nodded firmly. "After all, there are many different types of love, right? No one has a monopoly on any single one."

Aizawa grunted, and she took that as her cue to leave, quietly closing the door behind her.

He sat there for a long time, staring blankly out the windows. He wondered if she realized he hadn't answered her, and what conclusions she might draw because of that. Aizawa was a complex man that could lie when the situation demanded it, but he just hadn't been able to do it to her.

He wouldn't forget. He would do what was best for her, and for his best friend, without fail. If that meant suppressing his love, he would try.

Time would tell.

Aizawa knew one thing: he was <i>very</i> good at protecting the people he cared about.