G H O S T [Shota Aizawa x OC]

T W O

After school hours and attending a long meeting with Principal Nezu regarding approaching press conferences that dealt with the year one students' recent excessive encounters with villains, Sumire finally returned to her apartment in the teacher and employee dormitory that she had not yet finished moving into.

The dorms were her idea, and it solidified for her that it was the right move for U.A. after the Kamino Incident. The staff of the school could keep a better eye on the students and protect them, plus it would a lot easier to protect the students on campus, surrounded by professional heroes rather than by themselves and not legally allowed to use their quirks for combat.

Along the same vein of thought, she proposed on-campus housing for teachers and employees that were single or without children to live devoted to U.A. and the students in the case that anything were to happen. Legally and politically, it would put the school in a better position with the media and those questioning their competence and safety as a hero education system. The dormitory was presented to the staff as an option, not a requirement, but nearly all the childless employees chose to move into the apartment-style housing, free of rent due to their jobs.

The staff housing was like a standard apartment building with interior hallways rather than a dormitory with single-bedroom rooms. They lived as adults in rather normal adult apartments with a living space, single bedroom, full kitchen, and full bathroom. The primary difference between these apartments and normal Japanese apartments was that they were located on the edge of the famous U.A. with new, clean, and nice-looking construction, standing just a five-minute walk from the Heights Alliance dorms to allow for more privacy.

Sumire moved in the previous day as the students moved into their own dorms. When she finished unpacking and organizing her things, she took out all of the trash and set cardboard boxes outside her door, preparing to make a few trips to the large garbage bin on the side of the building. Her apartment was the second-to-last one on left wing of the third floor. There were exterior fire escapes on either end of the building and a primary staircase in the center leading to the front doors of the building. The first floor was public with three floors above it housing four apartments each. Seeing as U.A. was an exclusive school, not many actual apartments were needed.

Just as she was preparing to make a trip to the dumpster, her left neighbor with the corner apartment was returning, finding the key to that door as the woman came from her room with more flattened boxes.

"Oh, Aizawa." She muttered, nearly bumping into him as she approached the outer stairs.

The tired-looking man merely grunted in acknowledgement of her presence. Yet, he put his keys back in his pocket and sighed begrudgingly as he went to lift the remaining trash bags outside her door.

She blinked in confusion. He seemed so annoyed by helping her, but she didn't ask for help. "I can take care of it. I'm sure you have more important things to do."

"I do."

Dumb-founded, she dropped her head to the side, slightly irritated by the man's puzzling behavior. "I said I'm okay. I don't need help."

"What kind of hero would I be if I didn't accompany a lone woman outside at night?" He grumbled in a monotone voice.

A small vein pulsed in her forehead, luckily hidden behind her thick gray bangs. "I'm a hero, too, you know."

"Whatever." He drawled and walked ahead of her, carrying the remainder of the trash and pushing exterior door to the fire escape open with his back, standing there and waiting for the girl to walk through.

With a suspicious raised brow, she walked through the door, not breaking from his half-lidded gaze until he followed her down the stairs and allowed the door to shut behind them. He didn't say anything more, and neither did she. Although the situation was strange and confusing, the silence - once again - was not uncomfortable. Despite how odd and gloomy the underground hero was, he and Sumire were similar in a lot of ways.