~No More Time~ (EraserMic)

Monotone Routine

“You have to understand, Aizawa, I assure you we are doing everything we c—!”

The raven haired man growled in annoyance, the pad of his thumb crashing into the red button at the bottom of his screen in angered exasperation, muting the now stretched thin voice of a severely overworked Naomasa Tsukauchi, who's current attempt at near-hopeless reassurance did nothing to sooth the agitated hero on the other end of the receiver.

The astute detective's investigation didn't seem to be getting anywhere, and it was driving him mad that he was still prohibited from aiding the police in their search for Overhaul, on the grounds that the case was 'Personal' and that he may 'cause unnecessary harm to himself or the suspect', which was ridiculous.

Launching, or planning to launch anyway, a swift, but mercilessly brutal attack that may or may not involve some form of dismemberment upon the kidnapper of your daughter is completely justified.

This thought ran through his head once more as his hands shook around the phone, staring blankly at the now darkened screen with an expression of ill uneasiness, grateful for the tightly wound layers of scarves that encompassed his shoulders, hiding his fears and angry thoughts within them, grit teeth and quivering lips concealed from the view of the taller, thinner man who currently sat beside him, locked in what appeared to be a state of paralysis, leather-clad hands gripping the steering wheel fiercely as he gunned the engine, reckless impatience making his body twitch and ache to roar far past the posted speed limit, especially when they hit a particularly slow moving traffic light.

Patience and collectiveness gradually losing their appeal, Hizashi found his thoughts drifting more and more towards the whole 'Fast&Furious/SpeedRacer/Tokyo Drift/GTA5' mindset, and quickly searched for a distraction to keep from slamming the idling gas pedal through the floor of the car.

He had doubts that his insurance would cover such a stunt.

His shadowed green pupils instinctively darted  to the smaller man in the passenger's side, who sat eerily still, the bottom half of his face engulfed in durable grey-white fabric and his eyes having an empty, far away sheen to them, the blond feeling a sudden tightening of his chest and lungs when he saw the dark screen that sat in his pale hands.

“What d-did Tsukauchi t-tell you....?” He rasped questioningly to his smaller, disheveled looking lover anxiously, unabke to disguise a voice that had long ago become a cracking mess of faded desperation, but Aizawa didn't seem to hear, his body remaining unresponsive and his expression hollow, glazed pupils locked on the phone screen.

“Sh-Sho-Chan? A-Are you feeling o-okay?”

There was a sudden rustle of fabric as Aizawa's head rose from the mask of scarf, his hand going up to rub life back into his glazed over eyes and turned to face his taller blond lover with a slightly guilty expression, his glazed eyes refocusing as Aizawa slid the phone into his pocket with slightly unsteady fingers, and exhaled a shaking but heavy sigh.

“Sorry, I-I dozed off for a moment....” The raven haired man mumbled, his bruised black eyes locking on the now orange tinted emerald pupils that reflected his own silent worries.

“Did you need something, Zashi?”

The blond sat there in silence, then sighed heavily, his entire demeanor shifting from impatience to ill at ease, his eyes turning back to the street.

It didn't matter if he asked again, the look in Aizawa's eyes had told him everything.

“No....I just wanted to look at you.” The blond responded, but with no trace of his usual, flirtatious teasing, which just demonstrated his exhaustion more than his currently messy state, blowing a few wayward strands of silky blond hair out of his face.

The two of them had known each other for years, and as such, had seen each other at both the highest, and lowest points in their closely tangled lives, and right now, both could agree that while this isn't the worst they had looked, but it was getting steadily closer.

Hizashi's usually alert green eyes had taken on a sickly looking glaze, the heavy, shadows that encased his lower lids only adding to the deadened expression that replaced his happy-go-lucky grin. His sleek black leather jacket was only half zipped over his scrawny, sparsely muscled chest, and he had forgotten to put an undershirt on, so his collar and several inches of skin were left on plain sight beneath the heavy chrome speaker strapped tightly around his bruised neck, the spiky red belt that was slung around his bony hips was only hooked through two of the loops, so it was hanging loosely off him in places. His hair was left unsculpted and soft, flowing in tangled curls down his thins shoulders and down his back in a waterfall of gold strands.

Aizawa didn't look much better, but then again, he almost never did, his baggy jumpsuit and layers of scarf hiding the shaking mess he was slowly morphing into, and the bandages wrapped around his damaged shoulders. The only evidence of distress was in his face, the light dusting of stubble that resided along his jaw and cheeks darker and courser than what was usual for even him, the dark bruises under his dull and lifeless black eyes, still tinged red, the tangled mess of hair that he at least ran a brush through before leaving the house, and the quivering hands that were gripping the black fabric at his knees with a silent desperation.

They both needed a break.....

Hizashi exhaled a shaky sigh from deep in his aching throat, his hands loosening from the vise like grip he had locked the wheel into, his shoulders slowly untensing as he pulled into the parking lot of the best hero school in the country and killed the engine, the two exhausted heroes sitting in silence a moment, trying to gather themselves, and brace for another hectic day of teaching and anticipation, Aizawa's curled fingers remaining firmly locked around the black fabric there at his knees, Hizashi brushing a few wayward strands of silky blond hair from his eyes before exhaling shakily, his bleary green eyes darting to his tense lover.

“H-Hey, Sho-Chan....?”

“Hmm?” Aizawa hummed in a sort of dreary tone, turning his head slightly upon hearing his pet name, Hizashi flushing slightly under his eyes, hands loose around the wheel and a worried, twisted look on his face.

“C-Can I...” The blond stuttered in a voice that rushed past as a cracked, ragged sounding squeak, his face flushing a light red as the hands loosened from the wheel and latched to his throat with a wince, Aizawa's bruised eyes darting over at the pained hiss, about to reach for him and check if he was okay, when Hizashi coughed once and inhaled a much stronger breath, setting his jaw and looking down towards him with glinting emerald green eyes shaded by orange lenses, shoving open the door.

“Y-You know what, w-we don't have t-time for th-this. Class s-starts in fifteen m-minutes. We should g-go, Shota.”

Aizawa stared, surprised and a little unsettled by the suddenly stern tone, but nodded his head in compliance as he gathered up his scattered belongings without so much as a sound, slipping out of the car with his sleeping bag tucked over his arm, and his head down, falling into step behind his leather clad blond lover as they made their way across the parking lot and up the grand stone steps, the only outward sign of distress being the sudden shakiness of a leather-clad palm as it shoved open the large glass doors of the school.

They skulked through the long, nearly silent hallways without a word, both their heads down, glazed eyes focused on their shoes, until Aizawa suddenly reached out a hand and wrapped it around Hizashi's, the blond startled out of his daze and turning to watch as the smaller man guided it over his shoulders, his head leaned over slightly, but still tilted down, and Hizashi could feel some of the tension that had been building inside him fade slightly, Aizawa's flat, monotone voice seeming to echo in the silence.

“I'm used to walking like this now, but you can have your toothpick of an arm back if you need it.” He deadpanned, glancing over at the blond, hoping the comment would make him at least crack a smile, however small, but his face remained blank and shadowed, as if Hizashi had not heard.

Or maybe he just didn't care....

The smaller man sighed heavily, his eyes down.

It was going to be a long day.
*************************************

Sorry for the shorter chapter, and the long wait....

Ive been busy with school, and everything, and writer block...