A Life Worth Living (Aizawa x OC)

62 - Homecoming

Aizawa's eyes were attentively trained on Himari, who was eagerly devouring the breakfast he'd made for her without paying him any attention, currently bearing an uncanny resemblance to a certain pink video game protagonist from the 1990s. But that was fine, perfectly fine. By now, he knew that food ranked higher than he did in her personal hierarchy of things. The highly entertaining rollercoaster of emotions her face went through while eating definitely helped him to accept this circumstance.

But at the moment, he was mainly relieved to see that her appetite had celebrated its comeback. When he'd brought her home yesterday, she'd insisted on going straight to bed while ignoring her rumbling stomach, which was something that hadn't been as easy for him as it had seemingly been for her.

"Stop staring at me with your eagle-eyes, you creep", Himari said with a full mouth, not even considering looking up from her food, "I already told you – I'm fine."

He rolled his eyes and took a sip from his coffee, not even putting effort into think of a somewhat witty response.

"I saw that." The grumpy undertone in her voice raised a smile from him.

"I have to make a quick stop at home today. I need to snatch some things and check on Sushi. Is that alright?" He had a bad feeling about leaving her alone today. He'd already cancelled his patrol tonight to be able to stay with her instead, despite her constantly reassuring him that she was fine. Aizawa genuinely wanted to believe her, but the concerned voice in his head urged him to remain wary. Unfortunately, it had been a while since he'd been at home, and he desperately needed a new set of clothes.

Himari finally put down her cutlery, chewed down the last bit of the surprisingly delicious pancakes Aizawa had conjured for her, and fully focused on the man opposite of her. He was still eyeing her, almost as if he expected her to lose her shit again at any minute.

His worries truly touched her, and she appreciated his concerns, but she didn't want him to lose his already lacking sleep over her. It was obvious that this had affected him as well, despite him not being eager to talk about it.

Yesterday's unexpected turn of events had reset all the social progress she'd achieved in her daily life over the course of the last few weeks. Before the Sports Festival, everyone had finally been treating her normally again. At least, as normal as it can get with her friends. No more concerned side-eyes, no more constantly questioning if she was really fine, no more special treatment with kid gloves.

Well, so much for that. They were back at the beginning.

While it was heart-warming to witness how much the people around her cared for her wellbeing and had her back, just thinking about how awkward these next weeks of tiptoeing around and constant reassurance would be, tempted her to let out a groan of frustration, despite knowing that it wasn't fair to let her own irritation out on someone else.

Aizawa's piercing look tore her from her thoughts, and she put on a heartfelt smile. "You really don't have to babysit me. The worst is over. I'm still a bit shaken, but that's nothing I can't manage. As I said – I'm fine, and I really mean it."

Also, there was something she wanted to do. Something she could only do when he wasn't here to overprotectively watch every of her steps.

"Are you sure?"

And there it was – as expected. Himari sighed, "Yes, one hundred per cent sure. Please take your time and give Sushi a cuddle from me. You spend way too much time here anyway."

A puzzled look appeared on Aizawa's face as he unsuccessfully tried to conceal that the last bit had hurt him more than he'd like to admit.

The moment she saw the subtle change on his face, she realised that her choice of words had been rather unfortunate, "That totally came out the wrong way. I didn't- ... what I meant is that Sushi is alone most of the time because of your work already. I feel so bad for robbing her that little time she has left with you."