Insomnia [Shota Aizawa x Reader] (Rewritten Version)

Chapter 32

Soft, messy hair. Underneath your fingers. Ruffling.

You couldn't tell who, but you felt a smile on your lips.

You felt useful. Hopeful. Relief.

Red eyes stared up at you, grinning.

You were making someone happy as well. And that made you happy.

You felt a sudden tug on your other arm.

A variety of figures. They gave you the same feelings of joy.

But suddenly, the tugs grew stronger, and the first figure started tugging as well.

Somehow the one versus the others were both pulling with equal force. It was a game of tug of war, and you were the rope. A frayed piece of rope.

<•>

A loud ring woke you up. You realized you were slouched on the table, food container empty but not thrown away next to you. You must have dozed off. It had been a while since you last slept.

And that was a new... nightmare? Nightmare.

You glanced at your phone, opening it up to see that the last message you sent to Tomura was only half an hour ago. You weren't asleep for long, then.

Another ring reminded you of how you woke up. You slowly got up, yet still felt a bit lightheaded and tired with the way your limbs were when asleep.

You threw out the food containers before you went to open the door. A familiar face greeted you.

"Hi, Aiko." You yawned, still weary from the short sleep and wondering why she was here so late.

"[L/N]! Sorry it's late, but I wanted to talk to you about some things." Aiko awkwardly stood at the doorway, avoiding your eyes after that short explanation.

You stood, still confused, then shuffled over to invite her in. "Come in."

The two of you flopped down on the couch. You were still trying to get your bearings together after just waking up. That short nap didn't seem to help with your sleep deprivation at all.

"So," Aiko started. "I'm sure you're not the best person to talk to about this, but you're the only one I've got besides Miki. And he's not exactly the best person to talk to about this.... I'd rather tell you."

"Yeah?" you asked tiredly.

"Kaito's been off lately," she started. Her eyes were down, avoiding contact with yours for a bit. When she finally did make sure contact, you could see worry in her eyes. "He's been talking to us less, and spacing out a lot."

"And how do you expect me to help?" you asked, then immediately corrected your tone. "I mean, I don't know him enough to give you advice, unless you just wanted to vent."

"Just...." She let out an exasperated sigh. "Yeah. Vent."

You waited for her to continue. Her chin rested on her hands as she thought about something.

"I don't want to use my quirk on him either. To read his feelings, or manipulate them to tell me what's up with him. It feels wrong, y'know?"

"And you're creating Nomu," you added nonchalantly. She shrugged.

"Fair, but... that's... another thing. We've collected pretty much all the quirks on the list. Sensei told us we can contact him whenever we're done and move on. But Katsumi hasn't done that yet."

"Doesn't the doctor still have to combine them?" It was very uncomfortable talking about this with her.

"He's done that, now it's just up to Sensei to finish it."

You bit the bottom of your lips. You've decided that you could just not talk about one side to the other side, but it still made you uncomfortable to know the information.

But... discussing Nomu with her like it's nothing out of the ordinary was not illegal.

"I don't want to manipulate him just to know what's bothering him," Aiko continued. "If it's serious he'd tell me."

"I have no experience with relationships," you said. "So please don't rely on me for advice. But yeah, manipulating your partner might not be a good idea. Why not just ask him about it? And have you asked Miki about this?"

"I don't want to be controlling about it and I don't want Miki to get involved in this. He's his brother."

"Why's that a problem?"

She let out another sigh. "Just feels weird, y'know? Not like asking you is not weird, but... I guess I need to vent this out to someone like you."

You shrugged. If Katsumi's acting off, then he might be planning something. Tomura did the same thing to you, you realized. Not telling you things and spacing out a bit whenever you were there.

You were curious now, but.... You really didn't want to get roped into the villain stuff again.

Aiko seemed to sense your discomfort, getting up after one last sigh. "Sorry for dumping this all on you even though you've probably left all this behind. I appreciate you for listening either way."

You missed those simple "here's how to keep yourself safe" combat training you two did years ago. Before things went downhill.

"No problem." You walked her to the door, debating on whether or not to ask her to keep you updated.

Before you could, when you opened the door for Aiko, the two of you saw a familiar face. What's with all the visitors?

"Heya, [L/N]," the woman greeted. It was Kayama, wearing a casual outfit and carrying a large bag.