EraserJoke | In The Beginning

Chapter 2

It's 2 weeks before he sees her again, but by the gods does he wish it was longer. 

It's during patrol again, because of course people need to bother him while he's trying to work. She yells at him from across to streets and waves her arms crazily, and he wishes he had time to run away, to say "who are you talking about? I'm just a regular man doing regular things," to tell her he just wants to be left alone. 

He doesn't get to, though. In almost no time, she's next to him, telling him some random joke and laughing at it. he's not paying attention when she keeps talking, but he makes sure to turn her down whenever she says they should get married. 

He turns away from her, jumping up from the streets to the fire escape, making his way to the roof. He knows she's shouting after him. He sits on the ledge and sighs. Hizashi, his best friend, made him promise to bring a sandwich along to patrol, so he would eat actual food and not just a nutrition pouch. It wastes time to eat actual food, but even Shouta has to admit that fresh food tastes good. 

Ms Joke makes it up the roof, breathing heavy like she didn't expect him to run away from her, but he did, and he doesn't care about her. 

she puts her hands on her hips and says, "oh, is it snack time?" She must be more winded than he thought, because she leaves it at that. Huh. It's nice to  not hear her chattering away.

He takes a bite of the sandwich. There's nothing like homemade food. It's good, better than he expected from Hizashi, but he knows Hizashi has a big family--of course he's good at cooking and meal-making. 

Ms Joke sits down next to him, and pulls out a water flask and a few granola bars. She starts eating quietly, and for a few minutes, they just sit there eating. When he finishes his sandwich, he decides maybe he should be a little nice to her--allies are important in their line of work, and it's hard to work with someone you don't like. 

"... I'm 23," he mumbles. She looks up from where she's staring in the distance, and she looks shocked for a moment before a large smile breaks on her face. She starts laughing like mad.

"I'm so glad you started talking, Eraser! It's nice to know you aren't 100% serious all the time!" she slaps him on the back.

It forces a cough out of him, but he'll never admit it. 

She turns to him again. "Let's get married, Eraser!"

He frowns. "No."

She laughs at him and looks forward, staring out into the distance again. She's quieter when she answers, and she says, "mind sparing a reason, Eraser?"

He looks out to the city. He can see lots of lights, some of them blinking, and closes his eyes. "I don't know your name. We know nothing about each other. I have commitment issues. That enough of an answer for you?"

She looks shocked that he gave actual reasons, then contemplates them for a moment. 

She doesn't say anything for a while, and he sighs, but then she jumps up and says, "Eraser, next time I see you, I will make sure to dramatically propose to you and tell you my name!" She smiles, flashes a signature peace sign and wink, tosses him something, and runs off to another rooftop.

He looks down at what she tossed him. Oh. It's a granola bar with a note on it. 

Eraser, text me ;p only if u want tho xoxo, and it has her number--apparently--below it. He... doesn't plan on texting her. He thinks she's weird, and loud, and just a bit too much like his old friend from his time at UA, may he rest in peace.

Well, he thinks, talking to Joke was actually not that bad. That doesn't mean it was good--it does not. But he wouldn't actually, maybe be opposed to talking to her again. She's loud, like Hizashi is and like many other people present in his life, but she respects his boundaries somewhat and takes his mind off of work. She's probably the only person who can do that. That has to mean something, right?