Between Illusion and Erasure

Is in the between the finish and the start.

TW\\Repeating thoughts, Drinking, Addiction Issues.
Beta reader and editor: colourfulmelodies (ao3)

"Here," you placed the cup carefully on his table, sitting on the chair beside him and leaning against the table with a cocky smile. "Try it."

"What is this?" He looked towards you out of the corner of his eye, still editing the documents on his computer.

"Coffee, a decent cup, might I add." Eraserhead finally stopped editing, turning to look at you with defiance in his stare. "Fresh off the pot."

"You have a lot of nerve for somebody with a broken nose," he quipped sarcastically, taking a sip; his expression quickly turned sour. "Oh, this is rancid, Wisp."

"My ass, I bet you're only saying that because of last week." Taking back the cup in disbelief, you decided both of you needed a new judge to settle this. "Mic! Come over here!"

"You are not letting this go, huh?" Eraserhead commented, shaking his head as he turned back to his documents. Mic briskly made his way towards you both, a confused look on his face.

"No." You quipped, turning to Mic. "Could you do me a solid and take a sip out of this coffee?"

"Uh... Sure, but before I do, is it Eraser's coffee? If so, count me out."

"It's not, loud-mouth. I need an unbiased answer on this, and sleeping beauty over here isn't going to cut it."

He laughed, to Eraserhead's annoyance, but soon that changed — the same expression took over his face, clearly making an extra effort to even keep it down. How could he? He didn't even soften that blow, it came before he even opened his mouth.

"What the fuck is in this coffee, Wisp? Battery acid?!" His voice was lower than usual — his honesty, however, wasn't. Eraserhead took his chance to brag about his triumph.

"Ready to admit defeat?" He looked at you with a brash expression, "It was his coffee, by the way."

"Oh, Jesus. I love you man, but I'll never, ever, drink something from you again." Mic placed his hand on your shoulder, not hiding his laughter.

"Never. Get up, we have a class to teach." You bickered back, moving away from Mic. "You betrayed me, Mic."

"I'm the victim here." His laughter was contagious, and you couldn't keep your stony facade up. Mic always knew exactly how to cheer you up. However, break time was over — you two had a class to teach.

You both made your way with the class towards the gym. There was a commotion stirring, and a bit of uncertainty in the conversations happening. It was one of the last days before winter fully set in, and you could feel your body getting just a bit colder. Trying to keep pace with the kids, you started reviewing today's plans.

This one was going to take a bit more effort from you — the plan itself wasn't too complicated, just basic first aid training. The 'draining' part of it all was that you were to place illusions to enhance the training dolls, one for each of the five groups.

"Everyone here?" Eraserhead stood a bit away from you, looking over the attendance pool. The class echoed in agreement, "Let's go then, I want all of you in groups of four, fast."

"What's today's exercise, teach?"

"We're doing first aid training." You answered Kirishima quickly. His attire seemed different from usual, and you noticed the underlying extra lines under the costume's usual tank top. Upon a closer look, your stomach sank with a worrying realization. "Eraserhead."