A tall man wearing a plague mask walked towards her as she cowered in the corner of a dark room, the walls splattered in blood. Her arms and head were throbbing from being thrown against the wall and she tried not to look at the remains of her former caretaker strewn around the room.
~Homura... I'm sorry...~
"Eri, you've been naughty again... what am I going to do with you." Overhaul said threateningly, furious at her attempt to escape.
"No... please... " she whimpered as he got closer. Removing his gloves, he stretched his hand out and placed it on her arms,
"You brought this on yourself... you have no one to blame but yourself Eri... YOU caused Homura's death, YOU killed your own father... you and your quirk are nothing but a curse... I'm the only one who wants you... but I have to punish you for YOUR bad decision." he said, his voice worming its way into her head while he deconstructed her cells and tissue agonizingly slowly. She screamed and pleaded until her vision swam and she passed out from the pain.
"AHHHHHHH! Please I didn't... Stop... please stop!!"
A bang woke her from her nightmare as her door was slammed open. Sobbing, she curled into a ball as Aizawa raced into her room and pulled the little girl into his arms.
"Shh, it's ok kitten, you're not there anymore... he can't hurt you... "
Aizawa said, stroking her silver locks as he tried to calm her down. It's been 6 months since they rescued her from Overhaul and he had adopted Eri. She went through hell in the gang's care and as a result her nightmares were terrible, sometimes she hurt herself during them while trying to escape the demons from her past; Aizawa hated seeing her like this, but couldn't do anything other than comfort her until she fell back to sleep.
Burying her face in his shirt, Eri sobbed harder as the memories raced through her head along with Overhaul's words.
~It's all my fault Lemillion lost his powers... Mr. Deku was hurt... and Mr. Kirishima, and 'Jiki and Fat Gum and Mr. Lock... Even daddy was hurt because of me... I'm cursed... everything's my fault, just like he said... people are always hurt because of me...~
"Breath kitten, just breathe." Eri gasped for air, still clinging to Aizawa and shaking like a leaf as he slowly rocked back and forth while rubbing her back, reassuring her that she was safe.
"Do you want to tell me about this one too?" he asked gently; sometimes Eri told him her nightmares, and sometimes she didn't.
"Y-yes... It was Overhaul again... he hurt me for running and killed Homura... it's all my fault... I only hurt people..." she cried as Aizawa's arms tightened protectively around her.
"Shhh, it's ok, I've got you... he can't ever hurt you again... and nothing's you fault Eri, we all willingly fought for you because we all wanted to rescue you... "
"Really?" she asked quietly, still sobbing.
"Yes really. You aren't cursed Eri... just like Midoriya said, you're a blessing" he whispered, kissing her forehead while internally cursing and planning a painful death for Overhaul.
~if it weren't for the Hero's code, I would've gladly snapped his neck after Midoriya was through with him... that monster deserved the league's punishment... hell, he deserves the death sentence, too bad we don't do that anymore... ~ he thought darkly before Eri's voice caught his attention.
"Daddy?" her sobs slowly quieted as the memories slowly stopped.
"Yes Eri?" Aizawa asked, looking down at the little girl in his arms as tear-filled ruby orbs slowly met his black eyes.
"Can... can I sleep with you? I'm scared... " she whispered, looking up at him with tears still running down her cheeks. He smiled and wiped her tears before standing up with her in his arms.
"Of course... Do you want Dragon?" he asked, referring to the plushy of the pro hero Ryukyu that Mirio, Hado and Tamaki had gotten for her.
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She nodded and he handed it to her before heading to his room, still carrying her. Laying down on his bed, he pulled the cat comforter over Eri as she snuggled into his side, clutching Dragon and still shaking from the nightmare. Smoothing her hair back, he gave her a kiss on the horn and hugged her close as she slowly fell back to sleep.
"Sleep well kitten, you're safe with me..." he whispered before drifting off to sleep as well.
