Surprise Visit

 Cheshire darted, cat-like, about the back alleys of the neighborhood she was patrolling. She forced her mind to concentrate on work and not her colleague that had been missing in action a week ago.

It was difficult, though, especially seeing as she was following in his footsteps working his route. It ended up being a pretty quiet night tonight and after several hours had passed she was ready to go home. She mentally began the process to switch from Cheshire back into Elly as she materialized near the end of her shift. And then, as she began walking down a street close to where the U.A staff would meet for drinks sometimes, her nose picked up a familiar scent.

<i>No, that can't be right</i>.

She veered off into the dark alley, knowing she was probably not smelling correctly due to the garbage strewn in the dumpsters alongside the narrow path. Down the very end of the walkway the smell grew fresher, however, and she caught another whiff of coffee and bitter energy drink.

Eraserhead slowly slipped upside down from a strand of his capture thread directly in front of her. He said nothing but he stopped right when his head was level with her face. His jumpsuit was torn in various places and bloodstained besides, and his pale, unshaven cheeks were bruised. Her joy of seeing him alive was dampened by his injuries, and she tried to reach out to him.

Aizawa shook his head and grabbed her, instead. He spoke not a word but covered her mouth with his in a surprisingly passionate kiss that quite literally took her breath away. His rough, chapped lips belied the gentle licking of his tongue on her own.

And then, before she could respond fully he broke apart, spun down to the ground and darted down the alleyway, disappearing into the shadows as quickly as he'd come.

Elly forced herself to think past the lovesick emotions clouding her mind. She took a deep breath and scanned the alley for a good reason for her to have wandered in, just in case she was being watched. She spotted a nearby cat and bent down to talk softly to it, noticing it had a collar and seemed well groomed.

<i>There's two good spots of luck</i>. She smiled to herself as the cat, a simple orange tabby, nuzzled her fingers. "You far from home, kiddo? I'll take you back."

After dropping the pet back with some very grateful owners, she headed back home. Her thoughts were still muddled after she got back to campus and she walked slowly in an attempt to sort everything out before she had to deal with too many other people.

<i>Why did he come? Why did he</i> kiss <i>me</i>? She reached out, fingertips grazing a soft cherry blossom before it fell to the ground. It was pretty here, and she missed his eyes on her as she napped in the warm sun outside his window. <i>I could always ask when he gets back.</i>

Her ears flicked as she heard a footstep beside her.

"You look like you just saw a ghost." Yagi Toshinori tilted his head at her, a kind smile on his pale features.

"Yes, well... I sort of did." She got along with All Might very well seeing as he had done hero work in her home country and he also spoke her native language.

"You did? What a surprise." He fell into step with her as they strolled closer to the teacher's dormitory. "I suspect it was a certain cat lover we both know of?"

Elly snorted, amused. "Yeah. He greeted me in a rather, ah... odd way. I'm not sure if I dreamed it or not, to be honest." She brushed her fingers on her lips, cheeks turning as pink as the trees flanking the walkways around them.

Yagi noticed this and smiled. "Some dreams come true," he suggested gently.

She sighed. "We'll see."

Several days later, word came through to the school faculty that Aizawa was coming back to work. The staff welcomed the scruffy homeroom teacher, who brushed their questions off as quickly as their concerns. Elly kept to herself the first half of the day, knowing the man hated being the center of attention.

When the bell rang for lunch, however, he was fair game.

She slipped past the last student leaving his classroom, determined to get an answer one way or another out of the taciturn hero.

"Eraser?"

"Yes." He didn't look at all surprised. "Come in, Cheshire."

"Can I ask you a direct question?"

He slumped down in his capture weapon, his eyes wary. "I assume you're going to ask this question regardless? Let's get it over with, then."

She drew closer, her tail nervously swishing about. "Why did you kiss me the other day?"

"Of course." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, covering his good eye with his hand as he did. It failed to hide the fact that there was a burn across it, however, staining his cheeks pink as it spread. Aizawa sounded more tired than usual as he spoke, his baritone softer and without the bite of sarcasm. "Of course you would bring that up." He sighed, removed his hand and stood, pushing his chair back so he could be more level with her.

"If you're uncomfortable, we could talk later."

"No." He glanced warily around the room to check that it was empty of students or faculty besides them. A quick look showed no one roaming the halls outside at the moment, either. "It's as good a time as any to discuss it."

"You're upset -"

He cleared his throat and looked into her eyes. "I regret forcing you into this situation. It's my fault - a moment of weakness -- and I apologize."

"Seriously?" She gently placed both hands on his shoulders. He was taller than her but not like some of the heroes she knew, so it wasn't too much of a reach. "That wasn't weakness. It was probably one of the bravest things you ever did." He raised a sardonic eyebrow at this statement and she grinned, though it was tinged with sadness. "You can put yourself in harm's way a thousand times over or even slice off your own leg." Her left hand moved to trace the contours of his eye patch. "But you rarely let your guard down that much."

"Hnf." A slight frown creased his brow. "Do you perhaps... ah, your closeness suggests you might reciprocate?"

"I'll say it first if I need to." She took a breath but was stopped by his mouth covering her own again. This time he was much gentler, his hand cupping her face on one side and thumb grazing her cheek as he slowly deepened the kiss.

He whispered past her lips. "I wouldn't be very brave if I didn't go first, now would I?"

"Aizawa..."

"I love you." She gulped and he repeated it in clumsy English, which made it all the more sweet because he <i>hated</i> speaking her native language. He thought he was bad at it, and she was honest enough to admit he was, normally. This phrase, however, had obviously been worked on and she could hear how hard he tried to produce the L sound clearly.

"I love <i>you</i>," she whispered back.

"Ches?" He stroked her hair gently, his gray eye gazing directly into hers.

"Mmmn?"

"May I ask a question now?" He moved his hips restlessly against hers, his lips brushing her own.

"Yes," she breathed.

His mouth twitched into the softest smile she'd ever seen on his grizzled features. "What happened to the cat?"

Her ears flicked towards him. "What?"

"The cat in the alley."

"Aizawa Shota! Are you <i>serious</i> right now?!" She sniffed, then waved her hand casually around in the air. "I carried him back to his home, of course. Who do you take me for?"

His smile turned into the more familiar, creepy grin. "I'll take you any way I can get you."

She threw her hands up into the air and he snagged them with his capture thread, pulled them down and kissed her again.