Smile for Me

Chapter 71: The Next Steps

3rd Person POV

It had been another week since the attempt on Emi's life, but Aizawa wasn't taking any chances. She wasn't allowed to go back to teaching yet (only because Aizawa wouldn't let her) and she had gone to a few Hero counseling sessions. Aizawa went with her all the times but the most recent one, because she said she wanted to try it by herself that time. So, he waited outside in the lobby for her hour to be up.

I'm glad that Heroes get a certain amount of free counseling, like sick days. It's coming in handy right now.

Emi walked out of the room, thanking the woman that had been her counselor before shutting the door behind her. "Oh, hey Shouta. Sorry, I kind of forgot you'd be waiting for me." she smiled falsely. "How'd it go?" Aizawa asked, standing up from his spot. "Eh. I guess it was okay...it just doesn't get any easier to talk about some of those things yet." "Do you want me to go with you again to the next one?" "No, I'm okay...I need to stand on my own." she said.

"You do know it's okay to ask for help, right?" he said, as they walked to his small car. "Yes, I know. I just want to not have to rely on you as much. You've done so much for me, but I also feel like I should try walking on my own a bit again." "If you're sure." he said, opening the door for her.

It's not that he didn't trust her judgement, or that he thought she couldn't do it, he just wanted to be sure she would be okay. Once they got back to their house, Emi plopped down onto the couch with a sigh. The dark eyed Hero put away their things and went to sit on the couch next to her. After a bit of comfortable silence, Aizawa needed to say something.

"Emi, I need to get something off my chest." Emi looked confused for a moment then grinned as she wrapped his arm around her and leaned on him. "Is it me?" she said with a smile. "No...look, Emi," he said turning her to face him, "I feel like we need to talk about a few things." She realized the tone of his voice and immediately focused on him.

"I...I need to know what we're going to do. I know you've been doing very well and want to go back to teaching, and I won't stop you if that's what you want, but I just want to be sure you're sure. I also wanted to know where you were at on...us." he said, looking her in the eyes.

"I...." Emi didn't know what to say. She knew she still loved him, but she was still afraid to say her feelings aloud, for fear that he might feel something different. HE said he loved her, but this is a more specific question, and she wasn't sure how to respond.

"I would like to go back to teaching soon. Next week if possible. And If you're asking about our living situation, I don't know if I'm ready to leave yet. I'm not sure if that's just because I want to stay with you, or just to give me a bit more stability while I get back on my feet, or a mix, but I don't want to go...at least not yet." she finished, looking down at her hands. His calloused hands covered hers, holding them gently, causing her to look up at him. "You can do whatever you want. I'll just be here to support whatever you choose. If you want to stay...well I-I wouldn't be opposed to that..." he said, smiling gently.

Emi returned his smile and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Shouta."

Aizawa's heart skipped a beat, and he buried his face in her neck. "Sure thing..." he muttered. She shivered; "Why must you mutter into my neck like that?" she blushed and looked away. The dark eyes man pulled back just enough to look up at her gorgeous blue ones.

"'Cause I want to." he said simply, moving to kiss her neck and eliciting another shiver. "That, and you're comfy."

Emi giggled, and let him wrap his arms tighter around her. "Is that all you meant by 'us'?" she asked. "No..." he pulled back to face her, still holding her. "I also meant...what are we to each other?"