Love and Sacrifice (Eraserdust/An Eye for An Eye Part 2)

Chapter 1: Broken Hearted

Shota Aizawa sat at the couch, looking over the divorce papers that laid on the table in front of him, his grey eyes glancing at the words through his rectangular reading glasses. His eyebrows scrunched together in deep sorrow and frustration, at himself and his soon to be ex-wife. How could he have let this happen? Why did he have to tell her he was keeping a villain captive? Why did she even have to make this big a deal about it? Did he do the right thing? Did she? This seemed so out of character for her. She seemed so in love with him before. She never shut up even since high school. She must've taken her hero work very seriously. He picked up a sheet of paper to take a better glance at it. He had a court hearing regarding the finalization of their divorce on Monday and the process took a couple of months. It was agonizing for him, but on the other hand it gave him a chance to focus more on himself, the kids, work, and especially his new boyfriend Tomura Shigaraki, who he hadn't seen since the divorce began. Last time they had seen each other Shota had helped him into a redemption program so Tomura could establish a better life for himself and had stayed at a shelter they provided. They kept in contact, but both of them were so busy, Shota with the divorce and Tomura with settling into his new home and getting a new job at the gas station in town.
Shota was so focused on the sheet of paper on his hand that he didn't even notice his adopted son, Hitoshi Shinso approach him from behind the couch.
"You doing ok, Dad?", he asked. He knew that Shota was in fact not ok, but he needed the fill the endless silence that filled the house ever since Emi moved out. Shota was nervous that their next court hearing would determine whether or not Shinso and Eri, his adopted daughter, would be taken away from him.
Shota jumped, dropping the paper and letting it silently float back onto the table.
"Jesus Christ, kid", he grumbled with a sigh, resting his elbow on his knee and rubbing his forehead. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking his glasses off and placing them on the table before turning to look at his son behind him. He tried his best to smirk. "Taking after me, huh? You've really learned how to sneak up on a person", he joked.
Shota and Shinso had a bad habit of sneaking up on people with their quiet footsteps. "It's like they're twins", Shota's students would often joke.
Shinso returned the smile, rubbing the back of his neck and chuckling.
"Well, at least you're smiling a little", Shinso commented. "How's everything?" Shota looked back to the papers, dropping his shoulders with a huge sigh.
"It's going", he replied straightforwardly. Shinso looped around the sofa and sat beside his father, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, what you did may have been dangerous but you were just doing what you thought was best and that's just part of your job. That's why I'm glad to have such a great dad like you", Shinso said to him. Shota smirked again and started to sniffle. He itched his nose with his index finger.
"Thanks, kid", he muttered, not even making eye contact with him. Shinso patted his back.
"That's why I'm still here, Dad. At least you have Eri and I", Shinso pointed out. Shota quickly turned and wrapped his arms around Shinso's shoulders.
"You're a good kid, you know that?", he muttered in his ear. Shinso hugged him even tighter.
"Thanks, Dad"
Both of the men felt something jump onto the couch beside them. Shota kissed his head and looked behind Shinso. Their tabby cat had welcomed itself onto their sofa, sitting and staring at them expectantly with a bag of her tail. Shota had decided it was a great time to get a cat in his time of grieving. He had a kitten he took care of in high school, but otherwise he just looked after strays that wandered his hometown and never actually had one of his own. It felt really nice to him to always have the feline strolling around his home instead of waiting for one to come around randomly on the street in between his jobs.
"Hi, Sushi", Shota cooed with a wave of his hand. Shinso turned.
"Hey, buddy", Shinso murmured. Sushi meowed, laying on its back to let the two men gently rub her stomach. She started to purr. Shota smiled for what felt like the first time in eons. Shinso noticed out of the corner of his eye and smirked. "Aww, looks like someone's cheering up", he teased. Shota chuckled.
"Maybe"
"Well, I'm glad", Shinso admitted. Shota's smile quickly dropped into a frown. He had remembered something important he had to attend to, besides the divorce papers, of course.
"I'll be right back, ok?"
"It's getting late, Dad", Shinso pointed out, "You might as well head to bed. You look like you need it". Shota glared at him playfully. However, Shinso being used to his serious and intimidating demeanor, he still lowered his head and looked down in worry. "No offense. Just with everything that's happening and all. You must be tired", he added.
"Hmph", Shota grunted, "You're telling me", and with that Shota gathered his documents, tucking his reading glasses into the collar of his dark gray long sleeved shirt. He headed upstairs to his bedroom, the one that he used to share with Emi, but now seemed so empty and depressing. He felt like a piece of him was missing which was unlike him. He had always felt like he was his own person, like he didn't need anyone else to complete him. But for some reason he couldn't help but feel that way when Emi left, and especially when Tomura wasn't around. And he was about to feel the same after sending a disheartening message to the Pussycats.
He sat on his bed, scrolling through his messages to find the ones that belonged to Ryuko, Tomoko and Shino.
Sending each a separate, private text, he said, Need to talk. Let's figure out a time to meet so I can say everything on my mind.
After pressing the send button, he placed his phone on the nightstand and heaved a big sigh. He had hoped he was making the right decision. He just needed a break from everyone right now and wanted to focus on his new relationship. What he also needed was support, so he also texted Tomura.
Hey, precious. It's been a while since we saw each other. I miss you so much. I've been dying to see you. Can I visit you when you're free? I'd like to hear all the updates you have for me.
And that was the truth. For some reason all he craved was to hear him talk all day, to never stop listening to his cute voice. His thoughts lingered over the way Tomura expressed himself. The way he talked, the way his eyes looked deep into his when he spoke, the way he used his hands to help get his points across. It all drove him crazy. He was willing to stay silent as he usually did anyway, just to have that all again.
Shota got dressed into a white T-shirt and black boxers and headed straight for bed. He was exhausted though his body still found itself anticipating a response from Tomura.
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