An Eye for an Eye (Eraserdust)

Chapter 15: Reaching Out

   Shota retrieved Tomura's phone from his night stand drawer. He was deep in thought. He had screwed up big time. He immediately regretted ever telling her the full truth. He knew it'd go bad, but even still he was left questioning his decisions. Oh well, guess he'd have to worry about it later. Right now he had to focus on his plan to evacuate Tomura as soon as possible. He shoved Tomura's phone deep into his black skinny jeans pocket, itching beneath his white T-shirt with a Pantera logo printed on it out of nervousness. Emi was settling Eri down for bed and Shinso had left to his bedroom to watch TV. Shota had made his way down to the basement, thinking over his plans to take him to that program he had been talking about. Many known pro heroes like Endeavor and Miruko had played a part in running the program out of the kindness of their hearts, or just because they were assigned to it, Shota had assumed.
   "Tomura", Shota called to him as soon as he descended the stairs. Tomura looked up at him. He wasn't tied up this time, only in the same outfit he was in for the date, as it had only been just a couple hours since they got back. Shota found him sifting through his old books on the shelf.
    "Yeah?", Tomura asked, sounding bored, his eyes still focused on the spines of the books.
   "Here", Shota blurted, digging Tomura's phone out of his pocket and handing it to him. Tomura looked at his phone in Shota's outstretched hand then up at Shota's tired looking eyes.
   "You're letting me have it back?", Tomura asked, confused.
   "Your friends are worried sick about you", Shota replied, ignoring his question. Tomura reluctantly took his phone and immediately turned it on to check his notifications. Shota put his hands in his pockets, watching Tomura eagerly scrolling through his device.
   "I had a great time on our date, by the way", Shota said. Tomura looked up from his phone screen and smirked.
   "I did, too, Eraserhead", he replied.
   "Please. We're dating now, call me Shota"
   "W-we are?", Tomura stuttered, blushing, having a hard time believing his long time dream was finally coming true. Shota chuckled.
   "Of course we are. We went out on a date, didn't we?" Tomura's face felt hot. He looked back down at his phone to take the focus off of how embarrassed and flustered he was. He opened his messaging app and peeked at the highlighted contacts that texted him. The first one he noticed was from "My Beloved <3". He quickly tapped on it. He was immediately overwhelmed by the swarm of messages he had opened. 

   "Tenko, where tf are you? You've been missing a week and haven't even bothered to contact anybody. Is this some kind of sick joke? I don't find it funny. Please talk to me. I just wish you'd open up sometimes, you know? You're safe with me, I hope you know that. Just please"

   Tomura felt immensely guilty despite not being in control of whether he could respond or not. He tapped away at the keyboard letters, forming words that quickly became long sentences.

  "Hey, Shuichi. I'm so so sorry about not responding. It's kind of a long story if you have time to talk about it. I love you so much"

  Tomura closed out of the chat and looked through all of his other messages. He chose the next one down: Jin. Upon seeing Jin's worried messages similar to Shuichi's, he responded with:

   "Hey, man. Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. Long story, might have a meeting with the League to discuss it, or a group call, whichever works"

   He replied similarly to Kagero, Atsuhiro, and Kenji. 

   He saw Dr. Garaki's message asking him how the Nomus were treating him, to which Tomura said, "They're great, make great pets. Love Gigantomachia too. Both prove useful in battle"

   Tomura decided to ignore the group messages from the Shie Hassaikai and the Meta Liberation Army. They were all stupid anyway. It was practically pointless and a waste of time to even read their messages anymore. He noticed that Toga and Dabi had not texted him since their departure back at the mall. For the first time, Tomura found himself angry with Shota. How dare he let his friends get arrested? How dare he take his phone away and causing his friends to worry? Tomura shut his phone off and glared at Shota.

   "What did you do to Dabi and Toga?", Tomura asked, curling his lip. Shota raised his hands almost in defense. 

   "Whoa, that wasn't my decision. All Might took them into custody, not me", Shota replied. That helped to reassure Tomura, but he was still not satisfied. 

   "Why was I not allowed to have my phone then? You caused my friends to worry!", Tomura shouted angrily.

   "Friends?", Shota asked. Tomura looked away, crossing his arms.'

   "Shut up, that's not the point", he uncrossed his arms and looked back up at Shota. The pent up emotions from the last week had started pouring out. "And you kidnap me and force me to succumb to your hero ways?!" Shota crossed his arms, shutting his eyes and sighing. 

   "I had to take you in for questioning but I found myself distracted by you. I wanted to know more about you, that was all. You have a lot of trauma, kid, and I want to help you through it. I could've just arrested you and not have any of this happen, instead. Is that truly what you want?"

   Tomura looked down and took a moment to think. Shota was right, that wasn't what he wanted. All he wanted was to be in Shota's arms, for his hair to be stroked while Shota whispered praise in his ear and telling him that he was a good boy. How he wanted to regress at the thought. He just wanted help, and he wanted to take that from Shota. Tomura shook his head as if to shake away those thoughts. He looked back up at Shota, who had opened his eyes but left his arms crossed. Shota stared him down like a disappointed parent and Tomura felt ashamed but excited at the same time. He admired that someone like him could be like a caregiver to him. That's all he wanted was for a father-like figure to come into his life and show him his praise and approval but also discipline him when necessary. He just wanted a normal childhood. 

  "No, you're right, Shota", Tomura muttered, hating to admit it as stubborn as he was. Shota smirked at how his name sounded on Tomura's lips. He just wanted so badly to taste them, but he had to focus on his tasks at hand, and the conversation. Tomura wrapped his arms around Shota's waist, nestling his head into his muscular chest, taking his scent in. He smelled of cigarettes and expensive cologne and Tomura found himself wanting to be wrapped in that aroma forever, to no longer care about the world around him and have his only worry be Shota and his handsomeness. "Thank you for everything, Shota", he sniffled, a tear trickling down his cheek and soaking Shota's shirt. Shota wrapped his muscular arms tightly around him, returning the hug. He looked down at Tomura, whose face was buried in his shirt. He could distinctly hear muffled sniffles. 

   "Hey, enough of that crying, kid. You're fine, hun", Shota replied, gently pushing Tomura's head back so he could see his face. Shota tucked Tomura's long blue hair behind his ear to better see him. Shota smiled once he saw Tomura's beautiful red glistening eyes stare into his. Shota rubbed Tomura's scars with his thumb, smiling. He hadn't found a man that made him this happy in...ever and he wanted to cherish it forever, to preserve Tomura's youthfulness and cuteness and hold onto it for as long as he possibly could. Shota leaned his head down to kiss Tomura's nose. "You're doing good, kid. Just do what you have to do, ok?", Shota let go of him, patting his shoulder. Tomura nodded, almost in a trance. It was like Shota had read his mind from moments before. It was like Shota knew just how to drive him mad and Tomura found himself loving it so much. Shota smiled at him as he made his way up the basement stairs. Tomura stood there for a moment, reflecting back on the past few minutes. He found himself daydreaming of things he wanted Shota to do to him until he remembered that he had to make an important call.