Era

47

Well. This week was going to be a disaster, and it hadn't even started yet.

First of all was the fact that both of his students were late to their meet-up, something he'd planned for but hadn't quite expected. As it was they barely made it on the train, and only then did Shouta notice exactly how light Suzuki was traveling. He'd told them to pack enough for the week, and it looked like she only had her costume case and her backpack.

Great. Shouta knew that Suzuki didn't exactly have spending money before, but he'd hoped with the extra yen she'd been awarded that she'd be able to address that issue.

Second, they were already exhausted and the day had barely begun. Had neither of them slept? Shinsou dozed on and off throughout their train ride, but Suzuki seemed twitchier than ever before, constantly checking the doors and even twisting around to look behind them when she thought he wasn't looking. There was a jerkiness to her motions that belied a deeper anxiety, one he didn't understand in the slightest—she lived alone in a rundown apartment. Surely she wasn't homesick.

By the time they made it to the place he'd rented out in Hosu, he felt like his nerves were shot from her constant twitching. Being an underground pro meant he had to pick up on subtle cues, and sitting around someone so uneasy for that long had a tendency to wear at him. Still, Suzuki seemed to calm as they left the train and neared the apartment, the tension easing from her shoulders when Shouta finally led them through the door.

The place was sparse, but that was to be expected. It had enough—two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. For its size the price was exorbitant, but given that he was only going to be here for a week, and the police department was footing most of the bill in exchange for his work on the Hero Killer case, Shouta wasn't too worried about that.

What he was worried about, however, was problem number three. Dinner was fast approaching, and the kitchen wasn't exactly stocked. Shinsou suggested that they just order pizza which was fine by him. He hadn't planned on cooking much this internship anyway. The kitchen would probably catch on fire the moment he even stepped foot in there.

Baking, baking he could do. Baking had rules, damn it. Cooking? Absolutely not. Him and open flames did not mix.

Suzuki glanced up from where she had settled on the couch, rifling absently through her hero gear which was definitely something she should not have been messing with on the living room table goddamn—

"I don't think I've ever had pizza."

Shinsou turned towards her, brow raised. "Seriously? Never?"

She shrugged, not looking up from her gear. "My family was very traditional."

"So, what, you never went out with your friends or something?"

Suzuki snorted. "Hitoshi, do I look like the kind of person who had friends."

They bickered back and forth for a moment as Shouta sighed and searched his phone for the closest, most adequate pizza place. He tried to keep his mind from wandering too much but... traditional family... was that a clue, or was it just another lie she'd thrown in to make herself seem less odd? If that was just a euphemism for her parents being strict or even abusive, it could explain the desire to completely cut herself off from them.

Or maybe he was just overthinking it. The point of this wasn't to dissect every single thing that Suzuki said; it was to observe and, hopefully, get her to open up a little more. Most of all, though, they were here for training, and Shouta couldn't teach them to the best of his ability if he was constantly scrutinizing Suzuki.

By the time the pizza got there he was already exhausted, and he still had a full night of patrol ahead of him. Couldn't be helped—not like this schedule was much different from a normal school day.