Atrocious

- Chapter 19 -

Anna's POV

I woke up an hour before my alarm clock.
Keigo kissed me on the forehead and pressed me against him.
Tired, exhausted but also happy, I opened my eyes and looked at him.
He seemed tired too, but smiled contentedly and stroked my cheeks.
Then his look became more worried and he held his cell phone out to me.
Dazzled by the bright display, it took me a moment to recognize anything.

His agency - it was an emergency call.

"As quickly as I have to leave, I'll be back. How would you like that?" he asked, running his fingers through his hair.
"That would be nice...because I...would want to talk about our concerns."
She remembered their conversation before the kiss all too well.
"I'd like that very much," he said, rising from the bed.
Since it was an emergency call, he changed into his costume so quickly that I could barely keep up.
I got up too and wrapped my body in the comforter like a wrap.
He put his glasses on at the end and asked me what he looked like.
I ignored the question and kissed him.
"I'll be back in a week, then I'll open the window again."
He nodded and his eyes sparkled. When he heard another beep, he pulled out his cell phone, looked into it, lost in thought, and climbed out of the window as quickly as possible.
He jumped off in one leap and my interior was almost blown away - including me.

My emotional world seemed confused. At least I couldn't think clearly about it.
But I tried to take it step by step to get through the morning.

Point 1 - take a shower.
I still smelled of him and the thoughts of last night were almost driving me crazy again.
I squeezed my legs together and stepped into the shower.
I had to control myself because I didn't want to change my underwear every few hours.
I chose my clothes based on comfort. Jogging bottoms, boots and a blouse with a blazer. This made the pants less noticeable and I could sit comfortably.

Point 2 - Check my bag.
As I always planned and packed in advance, I had no problems with this.

Point 3 - Food
A quick sandwich of egg, cheese and tomato would have to do.

As I looked at my watch, I grumbled at myself and my comfort level.
I grabbed my bag, turned out all the lights and jumped out.
The bus was just under a 10-minute walk away and I painfully realized that my prepared coffee was still relaxing on the counter.
I arrived at the bus station tired, annoyed and drained of energy. There were two buses waiting.
One for the 1-A and one for the 1-B. Sekijiro's bus.
The students were already on it and I was ashamed that I was late.
I hurriedly walked around the 1-A bus to the entrance and saw Shota waiting there.
We fell silent and he held up a coffee cup.
"I thought you could use this."

The man thought of everything.
He had made coffee and brought it for her. It would help her get through the journey.
She accepted the cup, leaned forward and pushed his bandages down so she could see his entire face.
"You don't know how much I needed that right now."
He paused for a moment and I realized how close I had just been to him. I pulled back, smiled and looked down at my feet as I got on the bus.
"Good morning Ms. Hayami," a chant escaped from inside.
The students seemed bright, happy and excited.
Katsuki sat in the back with Eijiro and looked out the window.
Izuku was sitting next to Tenya.
Shoto next to Denki.
I had to talk to the boys sometime about what really happened with the hero killer Stain.
That's one of the reasons I recently became a guidance counselor.
Something happened and I had to know what.
"It's all right! Not so formal! We're on a school trip!" I said loudly and in a fragile voice.
I must have looked like a wreck, but if Shota was sitting next to me in the front row, we'd make the perfect couple. I took a seat by the window and took a few big sips of coffee. Shota sat down next to me and indicated that the buses could now leave.
The ride was long and bumpy. The teachers were the only ones who knew where we were going. Purely for safety reasons.
The rogue league was making its presence felt. And they had to be stopped.
It was getting dark around me and I could feel the warmth of last night's bed. His skin against mine. The red feathers that wrapped us up like a cocoon.
His thrusts.
The panting.

I fell asleep and dreamt about last night. The lack of sleep did the rest and the coffee didn't take effect immediately.
My dream was about Hawks, my first day at the U.A., Aizawa's red eyes, the dream, Sekijiro's touch, the USJ and All Might.
It felt like the last few weeks were crashing down on me and were now being processed in the dream.
I didn't know how long I had been away, but at some point I was patted lovingly on the shoulder.
Aizawa smiled at me: "You should sleep more."
"You don't have to tell me, the way your eyes look."
I stretched and looked for the small cup to take another big sip.
"We're here."
"Huh?!??"
My astonishment was a little too loud and I turned around.
No students.
"You're not going to tell me I've been asleep for hours, are you?"
He nodded and put his hands in his trouser pockets.
"You had a very light smoke and the air around you was burning...I think you needed the sleep."
"And the students?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.
He asked me to get out and pointed to a rise several kilometers away.
A large swath could be seen.
Smoke? Dust?
"HUUUHHHHHH?!??".
I didn't know what to do. I must have been so tired that I had missed it all.
"We stopped there and met the Pussycats. One of them triggered a landslide and transported the children into the forest.
First task they have to train for."
"Fighting your way through a thicket full of forest spirits without any preparation?" My voice became shaky.
She read the memo and she knew the forest too.
If you were helpless and in pain or grief, they were friendly and helped you out.
If not, you felt the power of nature.
He nodded wearily and pointed to my left.
"This is where we'll all be staying for the next few days.
I'd say we check into our rooms and take a bath.
There's a large onsen."
I was about to drop my cup.
An onsen.
I had been to one twice in my life
and I could hardly wait.
I got my bag from the bus and went inside with Aizawa.
Sekijiro was standing at reception talking to the staff member.
When he noticed us, he smiled, a little too obviously for my liking.
The rooms were assigned.
The teachers slept in the right wing of the accommodation, the students in the left wing, each on two floors.
"When are you expecting your students?" asked the gentleman at reception.
"Not for a few hours - we'd like to use the onsen during that time," said Aizawa, looking at me with interest.