The Burden of Time [Aizawa x OC]

- eighteen -

July had made it three hours into his patrol without hearing a hint of anything abnormal. Because it was so quiet, he had the opportunity to stop at a local drug store to grab bandages for his hand. He now sat perched at the top of a building, picking out the remaining shards of glass. Once he removed all of the shards out of his hand, he finally wrapped a bandage around it. Tiny speckles of blood immediately began to dot the wrapping. Not the best wrap job in the world, but it would do for now.

Just as July tucked the end of the dressing into a fold to keep it secure, his eyes locked on a citizen taking a few sips out of a to-go cup. The person took the last few sips of the drink and tossed the styrofoam cup onto the ground. They were littering.

July's anger spiked despite the minor infraction. He could feel the blood in his veins grow warmer and his fists clenched in response. He hopped down from his perch, steadily making his way toward the person. It only took a few strides to catch up. Without thinking, July yanked the arm of the citizen backward, forcing them to stumble backwards.

"Wha-"

The perpetrators' eyes met July's unforgiving ones. "I don't think I have to tell you littering is against the law." July's voice was hard.

The person gulped, but immediately began to feign ignorance. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

July's grip tightened on their wrist. It pissed him off even further that they were lying to him. He was already having a shit day. He had been waiting all night for someone to come along and be a release for his anger. Unfortunately, this person was just that. He passed the point of being willing to cooperate many hours ago. At this point, all he could see was a lowlife scumbag that committed a crime. And they needed to pay for their wrongdoings. "I fucking watched you throw the cup, dipshit."

He yanked the person backwards with such a force that they yelped in pain. July swiveled the perpetrator around, grabbing at their neck, and kicking their legs inward from behind. As the person fell to their knees, July shoved their face down into the grass by the back of their neck. The person's vision now was parallel to the discarded cup. "Are you so stupid that you can't follow a simple rule? Or are you just that lazy?"

The person gasped, wiggling under July's tight grip. "I'm sorry, okay? I'll pick it up. I'll throw it away. I swear."

July shook his head as if the person could see him from the current position he held them in. He was beyond being able to be reasoned with. He didn't care what kind of bargaining they were trying to do. He tugged the person up by their neck and hit them square in the jaw. The person was out cold, laying completely limp on the sidewalk.

It was at that moment that Aizawa had walked out from the darkness. A lone streetlight highlighted his dark features. "What the fuck is going on here?" He asked.

"This doesn't concern you,  Eraser." July growled. "They committed a crime and I am handling it."

"They littered. Your reaction does not fit the crime, Uncle Sam."

This caused July to scoff in amusement. "Last I checked, I'm able to practice under the authority of American laws."

In a fraction of a second, Aizawa had wrapped his scarf around July. It was clear to him that July was not in the mood to see other points of view. He pulled him backwards, away from the still unconscious litterer. July was rendered immobile. "Did you learn anything from your ethics course?"

"Japan doesn't know how to make examples out of their people." July bit back. He immediately created a paper thin forcefield around himself, able to create a barrier between himself and the scarf. He extended the forcefield, effectively ripping the scarf to shreds. "You should've kept your quirk activated, Eraser."

Aizawa, less prepared now without his scarf, activated his quirk in defense. "I wasn't trying to fight you, Uncle Sam."

Both heroes did not realize that the unconscious litterer began to stir while they argued. Aizawa's eyes were glowing red, hindering July from using his quirk. July's eyes were a similar color - but from a lack of sleep and true emotional exhaustion.

"FIGHT ME." July yelled from so deep deep within his lungs that it burned. He needed this. He needed a release. He needed an outlet for all of this pent up frustration and anger, geared toward no one in particular. Well, aside from himself.

He had felt backed into a corner by the American government, as he had for the majority of his life, but this time it was different. The moves they were making, the directions they were giving him, the amount of clearly unread paperwork he was responsible for each day.... All seemed to serve no other purpose than to keep control while they were over here.

July briefly wondered why they would even send them here in the first place if they refused to trust him with making even the simplest of decisions. The only logical explanation he could come up with was that Japan agreed to clear the United States from all of their debts from borrowing money. It must've been too good of a deal to pass up... and now he and Stand Still were the ones to clean up their mess. This thought only served to make July angrier.

He was hoping Aizawa would start throwing punches - just so he could feel something other than anger. Feel pain to shock him out of his inner turmoil and allow him to release everything he pent up. He gave Aizawa one, last pleading look. "Fight. Me."

Aizawa shook his head, but kept his quirk activated. "I won't do that, Uncle Sam. You need sleep, not a fight."

"DONT TELL ME WHAT MY NEEDS ARE."

Both of the heroes were too engulfed in their conversation to notice the litterer begin to stir. July was about to lunge toward Aizawa, in hopes of getting him to react, when the click of a gun sounded behind them. July only had enough time to turn around before the gun was fired. A bullet lodged straight into his shoulder, right underneath his collarbone. July hissed at the sting. His eyes involuntarily watered in response to the pain.

The gun was only in the shaking hands of the litterer for a half a second longer before July kicked it out of their reach. His bandaged hand was now seeping with blood as he pressed it to his collarbone.

Aizawa had the person restrained underneath him, their hands held tightly behind their back. The person was muttering profanities directed toward July. "Uncle Sam, are you alright?"

"Clearly, I'm fucking fabulous." July choked out a laugh which caused his shoulder to move. The pain shot through his arm like a bolt of lightning. July let out a low growl, and applied more pressure to the wound that was oozing blood. His shirt and hands were soaked in the red liquid. The pain with the added pressure was strong enough to make him dizzy, but he had to keep pressure on it. "Fuck, I forgot how badly being shot hurts."

Eraserhead used his cellphone to call for an ambulance, much to July's distaste. Even when the ambulance showed up, July was still muttering about how he could've walked himself to the hospital. He refused to get on the gurney and instead hopped up onto one of the bench seats in the back.

The criminal had been handed over to the police and Aizawa was standing lazily in between the ambulance doors. "This is so fucking unnecessary." July complained as the EMT began to work on him.

"Then you should've thought through your actions." Aizawa said lazily as the doors began to shut. "I've gotta go tell Stand Still."

"WAIT - DON'T -"

Aizawa watched as July's eyes widened and his face contorted into panic through the little windows. The last thing he wanted to do was face the wrath of Stand Still. July tried to yell to Aizawa, begging him not to inform her of this predicament. But the doors had already shut and the ambulance had started its route to the hospital.

A new wave of anxiety coursed through July. The machines he was hooked up to in the ambulance had began to beep in protest. "Sir, you need to calm down. Your heart rate is picking up and you're already losing a lot of blood."

"You might as well let me die, cause what's about to come is much worse."