Insomnia [Shota Aizawa x Reader] (Rewritten Version)

Chapter 20

You hadn't seen Eraser for a while after you told him about what happened. He had left and gone home afterwards, leaving you alone.

He had school and classes to teach, and you had an early break thanks to Nezu. Because the internships were starting soon for the students, the teachers had less classes to teach. Since you only taught the first years, you were off with an earlier and longer break. You took this precious time to work and talk to Tomura.

You stayed at your own home and worked at the café most of the time. Rina had noticed your change in attitude though, and began worrying. You had her brush it off as just a bad day.

You went to Tomura's later, thankful that Eraser allowed it as long as it was treated as if you were all family. Tomura was withholding information from you, too, which you didn't like but understood.

You entered the vacant bar and saw that no one was there in the main room. The silence was unnerving as you headed towards a different room.

You found Tomura in his own room that was part of the bar, surprisingly not playing video games on the computer, but instead staring blankly at one of the dismembered hands in his own hands. He was still a child, in a way. His uncovered face showed one of surprise when he saw you. "Did anyone follow?"

"Nope." It was late at night and Eraser's patrol route definitely didn't include the Kamino ward. "He allowed it anyway on a few conditions."

"I'm surprised he didn't just immediately arrest you for being involved with us." He had a small frown. "I was considering breaking you out somehow if necessary."

You laughed a bit. "It's fine. I didn't tell them much about you either. Mostly Katsumi and the others."

You sat down on his bed and looked down. You weren't sure why you had come, only to spend some time with him and think through if it was the right choice to have told Eraser what you had. Katsumi wasn't really a friend to you; you didn't have connections to him. But Aiko was a good friend of yours. Thinking back on it, you just told Eraserhead about Katsumi to take his mind off of Tomura instead.

"Sorry I kept it from you," Tomura said suddenly after a moment. "The Nomu project. Sensei told me about it a while ago."

You nodded, silently accepting his apology. He was always Sensei's favorite. "I think it's best if I stop coming here."

His head snapped up immediately, worried about how you were speaking, with that sad tone in your voice, and shocked about what you said. "Why?"

"It's for your own good. Didn't you say yourself that it's best I stay away? I'm still not guilty but it's only a matter of time before other heroes find out that I'm associated with you. I can still get in trouble if I knew about the plans and didn't report it. I don't want to accidentally spill out anything you tell me." You bit the bottom of your lip before letting out a sigh. "I don't care about whether the heroes win or lose, just that you're safe."

He paused with a surprised look on his face. "They have no proof that you knew anything." You could see that he still saw you as an older sibling, and was still hanging on to this connection. He didn't want you to leave him. But according to what Eraser said, he also thought it'd be best for you if they left you out of everything.

You let him think about it for a moment and finally heard a sigh from him. "They can't link you with us if you just go back to what you were doing. The café and teacher work. That's the least suspicious thing you can do."

You weren't sure whether or not to be concerned about his maturity. It was rare of him to say something so... caring.

"What are you going to do?" you asked.

"Continue with what Sensei wants, I guess. And figure out what I'll do to fix... this." You weren't sure what he meant by that, but didn't push it. He looked up at you with a small smile. "I hope it goes well for you. Life in general, I mean." His dry and cracked lips formed a smile with what little sanity he had left. You ruffled his hair.

"You as well." You still planned on texting him to make sure he was alright.

You hated that you knew he was in the wrong. He destroyed things for the sake of it, but you knew he was psychologically fragile, and he was influenced by bad people surrounding him, and that he... these were just excuses for you to continue to love him and care for him.