It had been two days since I had started class, and Aizawa was completely, one hundred and fifty percent done with my shit.

At home, he would ignore my existence, and at school he would just gag me with his capture weapon if I got too mouthy. It wasn't ideal, but at least I was being fed. The bitter pro was now over by his desk after announcing some sort of field trip, and once the students had cleared out, I approached him.
"So, where are we going?" I asked curiously, tapping my toe against the leg of his desk.

"The Unforseen Simulation Joint. USJ." Aizawa replied with a yawn, folding up his sleepingbag so he could shove it under his desk. Quirking a brow, only one thing popped into my head.
"Universal Studios Japan..." I murmured out loud. "There's gotta be some copyright infringement there." Hearing the faint click of the man's heels, I began to follow, quietly counting each step.

"It's easier for the students to remember. If you hadn't already realised, most of them are about as daft as you are." His insult ticked me off, but just before I opened my mouth to retort, my face met with the door frame. I would have fallen right on my ass if a hand hadn't shot out and grabbed me by the arm. "Point proven."

I'm not daft...

Rubbing my now sore head, I grumbled, hunching my shoulders.
"Oh, shut it, Shota..." There was quiet for a while, and I began wondering why he hadn't let go of me yet.
"You're usually pretty good at getting around blind. Why the sudden pinballing?" Was that concern in his voice? No, I was definitely hearing things.

"I've only been here for like, what, two days? It takes time to memorize the floor plans..." I explained, mildly embarrassed. "The streets are one thing, because I've walked them a thousand times...but this school? Shit's complicated, man." Again, silence, but when I felt a tug on my arm, I was soon walking along, guided by my favourite ravonet.

He either cares, or he doesn't want to deal with the paperwork that would come with me falling down a few flights of stairs and breaking my neck.

"You're doing pretty well, then, if that's the case." He mumbled quietly, his grip on my arm relaxed, but more than enough to keep me steady. Sneakily, I reached up with my free hand and peeked out from under my blindfold, kind of smiling at the man, who was looking dead ahead.
"Aw, thanks! Also, you know if you really want to hold my hand, that's fine!"

Never would I ever tire of hearing that exasperated groan of his. Of course I liked having Aizawa as a friend, but I also liked being a cause of his slightly raised blood pressure.
"I would rather have my arm twisted clean off." Snickering, I leaned into his side, nudging him with my hip.
"I knew you were a masochist at heart, you cheeky boy."

And that was the story of how I was abandoned in the middle of the Yuuei hallway.

-----------------------------------------

"Duty! Of! Care!" Present Mic wagged his finger in Aizawa's face as I stood beside him, nodding along. "If you aren't gonna take responsibility for her then I'll take her in!" Pausing my nodding, I pouted, crossing my arms.
"I'm not a dog, but go off I guess."

Once my banana buddy had finished scolding my carer, we boarded the bus, and I made sure to take the seat right next to the kid with the tail. I could feel him stiffen the moment I sat down, but I made sure to keep my teasing to a minimum. I genuinely wanted to befriend some of the kids, not terrorise them. Mostly.

"So...uh...are you going to be participating in the rescue training, (L/N)?" Ojiro asked curiously whilst he watched me tap my knees to a silent rhythm.
"Me? Probably not, Tails. A bit hard to see what I'm doing." I chuckled, secretly a little annoyed that I wasn't joking. "I'll probably just sit around and listen to you guys do your thing. Part of the whole deal is that I have to go wherever Shota goes."

I wouldn't mind so much if he wasn't such a sour puss...

"That must be annoying." He replied sincerely. "What's it like living with him? I always pictured him living in some dark apartment with blackout curtains and that kind of thing." Snorting into my hand, I couldn't help but release my laugh.
"That's what I pictured too, but it's actually a pretty nice house. He usually ignores me, which is honestly a talent in itself, but I just snoop around and play with his cats."

I could hear people shifting in their seats to edge a little closer to our conversation, even over the light chatter that filled the bus.
"Why does he ignore you?" Ojiro questioned, and I gave him a light jab in the ribs with my elbow.
"Come on, dude. Have you met me? I'm what the cool kids call insufferable."

Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I turned my head to face whoever had wanted my attention.
"Got any juicy secrets you can tell us? You know, in case we need to hold them over his head to get out of a quiz or something?" Mina asked eagerly, and I really did try to suppress my evil grin.

"Well, you didn't hear it from me, but your stoic Mr teacher has a pretty freaky collection of fuzzy cat sweaters, right in the very back of his clo-"
"(Y/N), I swear to god, I will tie you up and hitch you to the back of this bus like a set of newlywed cans!" Aizawa barked from his place at the wheel, and the majority of the bus erupted into loud, obnoxious laughter, including myself.
"I heard hitch and newlywed and I'm using them to keep my ship afloat!" Mina squealed in delight, and I honestly thought I was about to bust a lung.

He's going to smother me in my sleep but it's worth it.

For the remainder of the trip, I just kind of sat there, fluffing the tip of Ojiro's tail after I pestered him about letting me touch it. When we rolled up to the USJ, I heard the students ooh and ahh, but I didn't really give much of a crap. A building was a building. Ojiro was kind enough to lead me off of the bus, and I stuck close by his side just for the heck of it. It was funny to feel his pulse spike.

The next ten minutes or so dragged on once we met Thirteen. She had a lot to say, and more than enough air in her lungs to rattle on and on until the cows came home, so I decided to listen to literally anything else.

Water trickling...Mouth breathers...humming of the electrica-

I paused, trying to search for the sound of the building's electrical system, but it was nowhere to be found. Immediately, it didn't sit right with me, and I casually stepped away from the student group, pointing upward.
"So, does this place have no security system or something? I can't hear any buzzing or any of that kind of thing."

Somebody walked up to me, and I knew it was Aizawa from the heavy scent of aniseed and black pepper.
"It does. You can't possibly hear it, over everything else." He explained, but I knew that wasn't the case. I could hear that faint droning hum in the main buildings. Heck, even at home, but I decided to drop it. At least for a few minutes.

When I first heard that particular sound, I thought that maybe some kind of squelchy bug had burrowed into my ear canal. I hadn't heard a noise like that before. It was almost like a mix of river water lapping against rocks and the sound of an idling car, but so very faint.
"Shota...I'm either having a stroke, or some weird shit is going on somewhere nearby..." I murmured, reaching out to grasp onto his arm.

"(Y/N), please Just shut u-"
"What the heck is that?" One of the boys called out, and suddenly the atmosphere of the building became oddly heavy. My skin began to prickle, and the air weighed down my shoulders.
"Is...this part of our training..?" Midoriya questioned innocently, but I already knew that this kind of feeling meant that was a hard no.
"Stay back! Those are real villains!"

Villains..?! How many..?

Slightly unbalanced by Aizawa's arm holding me back behind him, I tried to listen for new patterns. Breathing, the shuffling of feet, anything that could give me a vague idea. I didn't like what I concluded.
"Where is he..? Where is All Might..?" That voice was disturbing, through and through, and I found myself quaking in my boots.

"Eraserhead!" Thirteen didn't need to say anything more. Hearing the slight jangle of Aizawa's goggles, I gripped his arm ten times tighter.
"Shota...there's too many..." I whispered, genuinely panicked. "Don't you fucking dare..." Did I doubt him as a hero? No way. Not in any way, shape or form. I did, however, know that everyone had their limits, and one man against more than two dozen was surpassing that.

"Stay with them. No arguments. Do what you can." He said quietly to me, though his tone could only be described as rigid. "Thirteen! Protect the students!" I very nearly fell when Aizawa lunged away from me, and when I tried to follow, I was grabbed by the scruff from behind, likely by Thirteen herself.

"Sh..Shota, you fucking suicidal prick..!"

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***Y'all know who they meet next...

Love me some angst.

I'm changing up the USJ a smidge because I'm literally going off the top of my head. I've reread the manga too many times and I just don't want to jump back to arcs.

Next Time: A Familiar Stranger***