hold your breath//Shota Aizawa

Chapter 9; This Feels Like a Conspiracy...

"God damn it." Azumi sighs as he watches the news, reports from Hosu coming in at a rapid pace. If he recalled correctly, the student that chose Hosu for their internship was Iida. It should have been obvious after what had happened to his older brother. The Hero Killer had apparently been arrested but he was informed that some of the 1-A students had been caught in the crossfire, or more likely stepped right in the middle of the Killer's path. Azumi knew that some of the information was withheld from the public and Azumi was afraid of what exactly happened. He never had the pleasure to meet the Hero Killer himself, thank god, but the stories and news have been anxiety inducing enough lately.
Later that night, Azumi found himself unable to stop himself from tossing and turning in his bed, even annoying the cats enough for them to leave the comfort of his blanket. A groan left his throat as he sat up, giving up the pointless attempts to fall asleep, and got dressed into his jogging clothes, only adding a light jacket to help with the chill of the night. The absence of traffic and people in general made him relax into a steady pace in minutes. He ran his usual route from his apartment building down a couple of blocks towards the shoreline. He made his way down the beach onto the steadier wet sand, not bothering to dodge the waves and letting the water wash over his shoes. He was trying to ground himself and he knew it, anything to keep his mind from drifting too far.
"Azumi?" A low voice said from somewhere above him. There, on the pier Azumi planned to run under, sat Aizawa Shota.
"Oh, hi Aizawa." His voice felt too loud to his own ears. "Are you on a patrol?" He asked, noting Aizawa was wearing his costume.
"I was, about..." He checked his watch. "...twelve minutes ago. Decided to take the scenic route home. What about you?"
"Couldn't sleep."

"With those furballs lying on you? Can't imagine that."

"They actually left, guess I was tossing around too much." Azumi climbed onto the pier and looked out at the ocean.

"Thinking about Hosu?" Azumi's silence was enough of an answer for Aizawa. "The students are in stable condition, as far as I know. They will start attending school with the rest of the class."

"That's good to hear." And it was. Azumi just couldn't stop thinking about it. He heard Endeavour was there. Azumi sincerely hoped there had also been someone with ice or water quirk, or the collateral damage must have been massive. It was one of the reasons he despised Enji Todoroki and also the reason that had him working with the fire hero most often, usually acting as Endeavour's personal firefighter. If he had just been there then he could have contained the fire and-
"Stop it."

"Huh?"

"I can hear the self-deprecating hero complex from here." Aizawa spared him a small smile.

"Yea, well, it kind of comes with the job." Huffed Azumi and sat down next to the erasure hero.

"I wish it didn't. As if the flaws we already have weren't enough. I have that... uh, what's it called... tela... tera... a fear of the ocean.

"Oh, thalassophobia." Supplied Azumi, surprise evident in his voice.

"Yeah, that. The moment my feet stop touching the ground it's like my hero instincts just... turn off and it all becomes just I, I, I. If I had to count the times I couldn't help out because of it we'd be here till morning." Aizawa turned his head to look at him, eyes studying his expression as Azumi watched the water.

"I was afraid of water too when I was younger." Azumi confessed, voice thin and quiet. Aizawa tried to conceal his surprise.

"How come?"

"I almost drowned when I was a kid. Made me hate the water and anything related to it. Even my quirk." There was a tension in Azumi's voice, like he was telling the truth, just not all of it. Aizawa didn't push.