Rotten Ribbons

Chapter Four

You headed home after that, feeling a bit better now that you have someone to talk to. You felt as if you'd talked to a friend who could relate to your situation.

Once you reached your apartment complex, you unlocked the doors, letting them swing open as you entered the building. After placing your bag down on the couch, you went to the kitchen where you retrieved the ingredients for dinner.

While the rice was boiling, you grabbed a glass and filled it with water, then placed the spoon in to stir it around and mix the grains together with your other hand. Once the rice was cooked, you placed the pot back on the stove.

Grabbing a plate and cutting board from the cabinet above the fridge, you proceeded to prepare the dish you planned on cooking tonight: a stir fry. You decided to use some fried chicken, but after carefully checking the time to make sure that the time hadn't gotten off schedule, you decided to finally message Aizawa.

'Hey Aizawa, it's me, Y/N, would you like to come over for some stir fry? we can get to know each other.' she typed, proofreading it before hitting send, not quite sure of whether or not she should actually add that 'we' thing. What if it was awkward?

It wasn't very long before you received a reply.

'Sounds fine.'

You took out some plates from the cupboard next to the fridge, deciding to use your favorite pair of cutlery  instead of your usual ones. The first thing you noticed was the faint fragrance of curry wafting throughout the room. You had forgotten how good homemade stir fry tasted, and you had no idea that it could smell so good.

Taking the food out of the oven, you set it on the counter as there was a knock on the door.

"Coming!" you called as you went to the door and opened it to find Aizawa in his usual attire, minus the fact his inky black hair was pulled into a bun. You weren't quite sure whether or not he usually wore it that way.

You quickly stepped aside so he could enter the house. "Welcome!" you said enthusiastically, as he came through the threshold.

Aizawa closed the door behind himself and looked around. "Nice place." he said.

"Thanks!" you replied as you began to set out all the food onto the table, setting the glasses next to each plate. "Are you hungry? I made stir fry."

"I am. Thank you for inviting me over for that."

Your smile widened, "don't mention it."

Setting the tray on the dining table, you glanced up at the clock in front of you. It read 9 pm.
"Well, I guess we should start eating then." you asked as you picked up two pairs of chopsticks from the silverware drawer. grabbing two bowls and filling them, passing one to Aizawa.

"Thanks" he muttered as he grabbed the bowl from your hand

You both began eating dinner in complete silence. You didn't know why, but you found the silence rather comfortable compared to when you were alone in the empty apartment.

"So. . ." she began, not even thinking to look at his hand, Aizawa on the other hand couldn't stop looking at the absence of the red ribbon or a ring, meaning her soulmate was dead, it most definitely wasn't his business,but he felt a bit at ease with the situation

"Tell me a bit about yourself." she asked internally cursing herself for making it sound like an interview . She was trying to make conversation, she was being polite, but this was Aizawa she was talking to. He was silent for a moment, obviously debating with himself whether he should speak or not.

Finally, after taking a deep breath, he began to speak. "What do you wanna know?"

"well, um... anything?" God you wanted to crawl into a hole and die. That might have been a bit dramatic...

"I live in the dorms at UA high school" he said, sounding bored.

You figured as much. He didn't strike you as the type to enjoy small talk. "Do you work at U.A?"

"Yes, I do."

"that seems nice, it is a prestigious school after all."

"full of problem children yeah, prestigious maybe" he sighed.

She tilted her head, "do you really dislike the students that are there then?"

"They're annoying."

"I see" maybe you shouldn't have brought that up "do you prefer dogs or cats?"

"cats" he responded curtly, eating some of the stir fry, he seemed to really not like small talk.

"y'know, why don't you pick what we talk about, you seem to not like small talk" you offered awkwardly.
He shrugged. "Alright."

You waited, wondering why he suddenly seemed to want to keep the conversation going, when suddenly a strange thought occurred to you: why exactly did he decide to be here anyway? Was it because he saw you at the collapsing of the building. No, that couldn't be it. Unless there was something else he wanted to talk about that had caused him to go out of his way to come out here. You shook your head. There was no way for you to ask him, besides if he didn't like small talk then he wouldn't answer.

"So, you must have a lot of friends as a pro hero right, what do you do?" you asked as you took another mouthful of your stir fry.

"not too many."

That made your heart sink slightly, you wanted to know more than anything, but it seemed as though you wouldn't be getting any answers today.

"oh..." you mumbled sadly. "what do you like doing?"

He sighed heavily, almost as if he'd been annoyed at being asked a question he already knew the answer to.

"I like to train...and work on things." He paused, looking away from you.

You nodded slowly, knowing you had pushed too far. "Do you have hobbies? Or interests outside of those?"

"I've always liked reading books." he admitted quietly, a hint of regret lacing the words.

Now that caught you off guard. You never knew people enjoyed reading, they tended to avoid it since it's such a difficult subject that it's hard for anyone to understand the intricacies of their own feelings and thoughts. But, you wondered, what did this guy do? He doesn't really seem like the bookish type, so unless there was someone who liked to read him for the sake of it, you guessed that he probably didn't have many interests that he'd share. Well, whatever. Maybe you'll try asking him again later.

Suddenly his voice interrupted your thoughts, causing you to look up, "why are you asking me these questions? Is it to figure out who i'm soulmates with or something?"

"Oh! definitely not!" you panicked not bothering to look at his hand until now, where you noticed the absence of a ribbon or a ring, meaning his soulmate was dead, like yours. . .