Popped Knuckles, Dry Eyes, and Burnt Hands

11

We finally got inside to find that my mom was sitting at the piano, playing an old song from when she was younger. I leaned against the livingroom entryway as I listened to her play for a moment. Aizawa stood next to me as we listened and when she finished I pushed myself off the wall and started clapping as I walked over to help her up.

"That sounded beautiful momma," I stated, helping her up.

"Thank you honey." She smiled at me and walked with me to the hall. Aizawa was still at the doorway as we walked over, a soft smile was plastered on his face as he helped us get to the kitchen. I sat her down and went to the pantry.

"What do you want for dinner mom?" I asked before walking in.

"Curry rice, It's been a few weeks since we've had that." She called as I walked around the corner into the pantry.

I grabbed the bag of white sticky rice and the stuff for the curry sauce, "Do either of you want meat in it?" I called as I walked out, wondering if we even had any meat left.

"I would like some in mine. I think we still have some beef in the freezer," She motioned in the general direction of Aizawa, "Would you like some, Mr. Aizawa?" She asked kindly.

"I wouldn't mind having meat in mine." He stated, looking over and smiling at me. I nodded and started cooking.

"So, Mr. Aizawa, tell me about yourself, I'm afraid I didn't get to learn much earlier." Mom stated, leaning forward on the table. I decided it would be safer not to focus on them so I refocused on the food I was making.

"What would you like to know?" He asked thoughtfully.

"Well, where are you from?" She asked politely.

"I was born and raised in Tokyo," He stated, and I glanced over to see him mess with his hair a little.

"Oh, my son moved up their with his boyfriend a year or so ago, I've heard a lot of great things." She stated and I could hear the smile in her voice when she talked about Ankoku; I rolled my eyes, "So what made you want to come to Shizuoka to teach? I've heard about you being a pro hero in Tokyo before so I was surprised to hear that you wanted to teach in this area."

"Well I was actually a student at U.A. high school. I graduated with great scores and for a little bit I just worked as a hero, but I decided that I'd rather get out of routine and help students become hero themselves as a second job." He stated. I smiled as I started cutting the meat up into pieces, glancing over at the rice cooker to check the time on it.

"That's very noble of you Mr. Aizawa. I'm glad that Hotaru met you because I have a strong feeling that she might need you later on more than she'd like to admit." She stated and I rolled my eyes, putting the knife down for a moment.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, turning a little to give her the stink eye.

"I'm just saying you tend to do things on your own because you think you don't need help when you really do." She said defensively, raising her hands a little.

I snorted, "Ok, yeah, whatever." I stayed quiet and continued on with the cutting, letting them continue to talk.

"What do you look like?" She asked tentively, "I can see the outline of things but I can never get a detailed idea."

"I have black hair, it's long, but not terribly long," He paused as he tried to think of words, "I have black eyes, and I guess you could say I have fair skin. I'm six foot tall and I'd like to think I'm an average weight for someone my height." He stated.

"How would you describe his face and how he carries himself, Hotaru?" She asked and I sighed, not turning my body, but pausing to focus on his face.

"Very tired, but not because of training. He has a resting tired face, but very sharp features. He tends to be very serious in a school setting so you see more sharpness, but outside of school he has a very nonchalant and soft look to him. He has deep set eyes, and an average sized triangular nose," Aizawa watched me as I spoke, and he seemed to be taking in every word I said, "His mouth is also a pretty normal size, but he can smile pretty wide. He has straight teeth and nicely shaped eyebrows. His hair goes to his shoulders and it sometimes gets in the way of his eyes."

I saw mom nod, "Thank you, honey."

"You're welcome, momma." I stated, continuing to put the beef pieces in the skillet to fry. I rolled up my sleeves and pulled out a bowl to put the curry ingredients in, then checked up on the rice again.

"You seem like a very nice man, Mr. Aizawa." She stated kindly.

"Please, call me Aizawa." He stated modestly and it caused me to smile.

The rice and beef finished cooking and I pulled out plates, fixing everyone's food up neatly before setting the plates on the table.

"Thank you, sweetheart." Mom stated as I sat down.

"Thank you." Aizawa chimed in and I smiled.

"You both are very welcome." I stated.

The dinner was fun, mom embarrassed me some more, Aizawa told us some more stuff about himself, and we just enjoyed each others company until Aizawa realized it was about 7:30.

"Oh wow, I should probably head home. I have a pet to take care of that I don't trust Mic with," He stated in a semi-joking manner, and I stood up to grab everyone's plates.

"Alright, let me put these away and I'll walk you out." I stated energetically as I walked over to the sink with the plates. After taking care of that, Aizawa said his goodbye to mom and I walked him to the front.

"I don't think I've ever had curry rice with sticky rice like that before." He chuckled as we stepped out onto the front porch.

I smiled, shutting the door behind me, "Yeah, we prefer the sticky rice because its easier to eat with chopsticks and forks."

"That makes perfect sense," He stated, turning to me with a smile.

I grinned and crossed my arms over my chest, "Thanks for the training today. It was actually fun for a change." I laughed.

"Of course, I had a lot more fun than I thought I was going to. I will see you Monday." He stated.

"See you Monday," I stated happily, watching him walk to his car.