Mark 9

 Elly woke up to a warm, affectionate man beside her. "Hey, sleepyhead," Hizashi crooned, kissing her on the forehead.

She blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Oh my god," she yawned. "What time is it?"

"Seven." He stroked her messy hair back from her cheek. "I didn't know if or when you had to get to work, baby."

"Mmn. I'm off today."

"Awesome. You wanna take a shower? I'll start the coffee and make us some breakfast."

Elly hugged him, purring happily. "Hooray, the magic words <i>coffee</i> and <i>breakfast</i>."

Hizashi laughed, threw a robe on over the underwear he had on and pointed at a dresser. "I gotta lot of merch here in different sizes - you can at least change into a fresh shirt, yo."

"Wow, cool!" She hopped up to check, thinking how strange it felt to be happy in the morning. "Thanks."

He winked at her and left to start breakfast. He heard the shower turn on and Elly squeal with delight about something - possibly the shower itself, since it was spacious, with a huge bathtub below. Chuckling to himself, he opened the fridge and began rummaging around for what he needed to make some killer omelets. He had only pulled the eggs and milk out when he heard a knock at his front door. He shuffled over in his bare feet and popped the security latches.

Standing there in the cheery light of the morning was a hunched over, pale man with bedraggled, dark hair and what appeared to be a week's worth of stubble on his face. The sunlight seemed to not have an effect on him, though it brightened up the porch and everywhere in the surrounding area. His dark eyes had lines of blood running through the whites and he had bags under them as well, making him look like he hadn't slept in a week.

"'Sup, Aizawa?"

The dark man grunted, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Do you have any coffee? Mine ran out."

Hizashi wordlessly handed him a couple of k-cups. This wasn't the first time it had happened, and probably wouldn't be the last.

"Thanks." Aizawa turned to leave, but then seemed to think better of it. He frowned and glanced warily over his shoulder. "Did you bring someone home from one of those clubs? That's not like you."

The blond-haired man's eyes lit up. "I found her," he breathlessly told his friend. "I found my soulmate!"

"And she spent the night? Yamada," the scruffy man grunted sourly, "aren't you moving a bit fast?"

His friend rolled his eyes. "She's my <i>soulmate</i>. I mean, we both feel it just like you did with Shira."

Aizawa stared dully at him. "Keep Orboro out of this, please."

"Oh?" He wiggled his eyebrows, pointing at the dark smudges under his friend's eyes that accented the sleepless bags. "When your Marks matched you did the same thing."

"I was young and foolish."

"Look," Hizashi said sympathetically, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'd rather be with her, no matter what happens. If anything, your situation taught me to experience everything to the fullest, right away. Right?"

Aizawa cast his eyes down to the ground and shook his head. "I don't like Marks. You can be perfectly happy without this soulmate crap."

"...and then it doesn't hurt as much when they're gone?"

"Zashi?" Elly's voice called out in the background. He half turned, and Aizawa swore and jerked away from him.

"Fine. Do what you like. You will anyway."

"Aw, c'mon..." He stormed off and Hizashi sighed, closing the door.

"Who was that?" She wandered out into the foyer.

"<i>That</i>, was my neighbor." He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in the scent of her freshly-washed skin. "Mmm."

"Hey, that <i>tickles</i>."

"Sorry." He kissed her neck. "He's grouchy. Thought he might wanna meet ya, but he's had some rough times and, well. He'll come around, yeah?"

"He better if we're moving in together."