.Androphobia. | Aizawa Shota

02

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A couple days had passed, and you were feeling like yourself again.
You had to remind yourself who you were, and how strong you could be.
There was no use moping around. You had to get over it and toughen up.

Of course, that little pep talk proved to be useless when you stood in front of the door of your hero neighbour.
The nurses had told you that he was a pro hero who went by the name of Erasure Head.
His full name being Aizawa Shota.

You felt so nervous. Nervous that he would make fun of your fear.
It was ridiculous, but you thought he would find it funny that, even after a man saved you, you were still frightened to be near one.

You did some research and found out that he stated how he was 'fond of salty liquorice', so you asked Mei if she could get some for you.
You didn't tell her you'd be gifting them to the pro hero because you knew she'd make it all such a big deal.

Your fists hovered over the door, hesitating.
Come on! Just knock!

It was currently 12am, and you were supposed to be in bed, fast asleep. You didn't even know if the man inside was awake at all.
You sucked in a deep breath, holding it in as you knocked as quickly as you could on the hard surface of the door.

Nothing happened.
It was still silent, and no motion was heard.

You slowly opened the door, peaking your head inside of the dark room.
The man's motionless body laid on the bed, his back turned towards you.

Thank god..

You made your way over to the bed side table, gently placing the treat onto the oak.
You slowly pulled open the drawer, searching for a piece of paper and a pen. Luckily for you, the drawer contained a notebook and a whole stationary set.
He was a very well organised man..

You quickly opened up a blank page, scribbling a little note onto it, and gently placing the notebook onto the box of liquorice.

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The next morning, you paced around your room, finger in between your teeth. You felt so incredibly nervous.
What if he thought it was weird and that you didn't have to actually get him anything?

How were you ever going to get his thoughts if you couldn't even approach the guy?
"Hey.. (y/n)? Are you okay?" You hear Mei enter your room, the familiar sound of the trolley wheels coming inside before her.

You whipped around, letting out a nervous laugh as you tried to think up a quick excuse as to why you were  pacing around in deep thought.
"I was thinking about-"

"Yeah, I don't care. I saw what you did with the liquorice I gave you." She said, walking towards you with a teasing look on her face.

You opened your mouth to speak, but it seemed like you didn't have any words to say to that. You felt your entire face heat up as she took your hand in hers.
"Did you speak to him?! What happened?!" She squealed, leading you to sit down on the bed.

You giggled at her excitement. The gift meant nothing, yet she was making too much of a big deal out of it.
"Well... he was actually asleep when I delivered it, so no words were exchanged." You began to explain. Her eyes slowly lost its curious twinkle the more you spoke.

"Aw man.. that's no fun. I was hoping you'd start a friendship or something with him." She confessed, crossing her arms in disappointment.
You pinched the bridge of your nose.
"Did he.. say anything to you about the note?" You asked, fiddling with your fingers and nibbling on your bottom lip.

"Nope. Nothing at all. He kinda freaked out when I saw it and shoved it into his drawer." She replied simply, standing up and handing you a tray of food.
You looked down at the food, slightly disappointed that he didn't even send a note back.

"Listen, if you want to hear from him, he's just next door." And with that, Mei walked out the room, leaving with you a big decision to make.

You wanted so badly to go next door, and just ask him.. ask him whether he liked the gift or not and to thank him in person for saving you.
You groaned, falling back into the mattress.

You internally cussed yourself out, so frustrated that your body wouldn't listen to your mind.

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Aizawa balled up his fists, relaxing when the doctor ordered him to.
He was getting his blood pressure checked, making sure he'd be all fine and able to go back to teaching and back to his patrols.

The doctors sighed, loosening the armband.
"Your blood pressure is fine, but I can't clear you just yet." He stated, writing information down onto a clipboard.

Aizawa sighed, lying back onto his mattress, "so when do you think I'll be able to leave?" He asked simply, staring out the window, his voice sounding uncaring.

The doctor thought about it for a second. Erasure Head was a healthy, fit man. He got regular exercise and knew how to take care of himself. He was impressive.
"Should only be a week from now." He smiled, hoping it would be good news. He'd get a much needed rest before going back to his hero duties.

Aizawa merely nodded, never breaking his gaze from the outside world.

As the doctor exited, Aizawa remembered what he had shoved into his bedside table drawer this morning.
Slowly taking out the notebook and salty liquorice, he reread the note.

Hello!
I just wanted to thank you
for saving my life.
It was something you didn't have to do, yet you kindly risked getting even more hurt to help me.
I hope this treat shows my gratitude!
-Your grateful neighbour :)

He chuckled to himself, opening up the packaging, and popping a piece into his mouth.
The familiar taste melted into his tongue, giving him that same salty fondness he always loved.

What a weird lady... she's afraid of men but goes out of her way to get me a thank you gift?

Something about you intrigued him. He almost felt compelled to help you move past this fear and live life as you once did.

But he knew better than that. He would be leaving the hospital in a week's time, his schedule would return to being jam packed and stressful.
It just wasn't ideal.

Hearing a knock at his door, he patiently waited for the person to enter, assuming it would be a doctor or a nurse, but no one did enter.

Instead, they knocked another two reps.
He cleared his throat, a bit annoyed that he had to speak up.
"Come in!"

The door slowly opened, and you appeared meekly behind the door, sticking your head out to show him that it was you.

"Oh.. hello. Can I.. help you?" Aizawa greeted, slightly unsure of how to approach this.

You searched within yourself, trying to find the voice to speak instead of running away like you'd done these past months.

"I just wanted to know.. how you liked my gift." You squeaked, now moving fully away from the door and walking further into his room, looking around at the similar white walls and half cleaned windows that you had as well.

Aizawa kept his eyes on you, even though you didn't do the same.
He could tell you were nervous, yet you still came in despite your fear. You definitely had the courage of a hero..

"It was very nice. Thank you, I really appreciated eating something other than hospital goop." He joked, showing you that there were still a few pieces within its container.

You smiled, gaining a little bit of confidence from his satisfaction.

"My name is (L/n) (Y/n)."

"Aizawa Shota."

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