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onyxrx · 6 months ago

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holiday party

pairing: aizawa x reader summary: Shouta contemplates the possibility of expelling his coworkers. wc: 2.4k event masterlist

“Sensei, are you going to the staff holiday party tonight?”

You’d been a teacher at UA long enough to know to be suspicious of some students. There were some—Asui, Ochaco, Togata, Hado—who were genuinely interested in your life beyond school due to their openhearted personalities. They weren’t overstepping boundaries, but simply curious to get to know you. It was a good quality to have in a hero.

But then there were students like Kaminari and Ashido.

It’s not to say that they weren’t openhearted or curious, but their intentions seemed to dip more towards meddling than innocent questioning.

“Why?” You glanced up from grading, casting a suspicious glance over the two students who had barged into your classroom during lunch. It was far from the first time students from Class 1A had taken over your free period, the frequency had gone down significantly since Shouta had lectured them about overstepping. You’d only smiled and assured him that they weren’t a bother, but he’d insisted.

Most of the students seemed to get Aizawa’s message and respect your break as your free time. Kaminari and Ashido had only shown up more frequently, asking more and more questions about your personal life. Not that you had much of one beyond UA and being a pro hero.

“Just curious!” Ashido’s words were rushed, punctuated by a nervous look from Kaminari that she met with wide, chastising eyes. You didn’t need to be a pro to realize they were hiding something, and Kaminari was dangerously close to spilling his secrets.

“Uh-huh,” You hummed, turning back to your papers on your desk. They were a lot more organized than you usually kept them, thanks to Shouta staying late with you the previous week to help you get your classroom back together. And though he had been exhausted, like usual, he refused to give into your requests to let you finish on your own.

“So? Are you?” Kaminari leaned forward, grinning as wide as he did when you announced class would be outside in the training fields. Finally pausing your grading, you leaned back into your office chair and examined them with narrowed eyes. Maybe you’d get Shouta to lecture them extra, for good measure.

“I am,” You confirmed, watching as the two students shared a brief look of excitement before turning back to face you, their lunch trays completely ignored on the desks before them. “Why do you two care so much? Students aren’t permitted to go.”

“Mr. Aizawa said he was going to be there too, did you know?” Ashido ignored your question and countered with one of her own, giving her and Kaminari’s intentions away.

“Oh,” You struggled to keep your expression neutral. “I get it, now.”

Denki Kaminari and Mina Ashido were far from the first set of students to try and set you up with Shouta Aizawa, but they were by far the least subtle about it. You were pretty sure they were only a few short minutes away from asking if you had a crush on their homeroom teacher.

Every year, there were a few students that noticed the friendship between you and the underground hero and interpreted it as something deeper than it was. Sure, you were closer to Shouta than most others, and he dedicated a lot of his personal time to helping you with menial tasks or bettering yourself, but it didn’t mean anything.

High schoolers just liked to see romance everywhere.

Panic crossed over Kaminari and Ashido’s faces at the implication of being caught out, and you fought hard to keep your expression neutral and hide your amusement. But before you could assure them that you weren’t upset at their attempt to meddle, the door to your classroom opened abruptly.

You half expected to see Shouta standing there, summoned by your thoughts and the mention of his name. But it was only Hizashi Yamada, dressed in his costume and grinning like he wanted to start some trouble.

“Hi, Mr. Mic!” Kaminari greeted while him and Ashido scrambled to pack up their belongings and get out of the room. By their reaction, you could tell they clearly had thought Shouta had been the one at the door and panicked that he would catch onto their plan.

“Bye, Senseis!” Ashido waved over her shoulder to both you and Yamada as she shoved Kaminari out the door. You returned the wave with an amused smile, knowing that they were far from discouraged from their plan.

“What was that all about?” Yamada stepped closer to your desk to deliver the copies of an assignment you’d asked for, but his curiosity got the better of him.

“They asked if I was going to the staff dinner tonight.” You explained casually, knowing what you were in for if you didn’t pick your words and your tone carefully. “They mentioned that Shouta would be there, as if that would encourage me to go.”

“Well?” Yamada asked, voice loud and taunting as he set his hands on your desk to lean closer, like he might be able to draw out your secrets that way. “Has Shouta finally asked you to be his date?”

It wasn’t just the students who thought they could get you and Shouta together.

“It’s a work holiday party, not a middle school dance.” You rolled your eyes, dropping your attention back to your papers to avoid looking at Yamada, lest he see the truth you had buried deep, deep down. “You sound like the students.”

“Burn!” He shouted, and even without using his quirk he was loud enough to make you flinch. Shooting him a glare, you met his teasing smile head on. “You two are made for each other. Do me a favor and let me give a speech at the wedding?”

For the second time in only a few short minutes, the door to your classroom opened and another unannounced figure strolled in like they were taking your class.

“Who’s getting married?” Nemuri Kayama asked, her long dark hair effortlessly cascading down her back and smug grin letting you know without a doubt that she was going to back Yamada in his teasing.

“Who do we have bets on for getting married?” Yamada prompted her answer with his own question, causing your face to twist in confusion. There were a lot of bets floating around the UA teacher’s lounge, but you knew of only one that had to do with a relationship.

“Snipe and Ectoplasm?” You asked, throwing out the bet you and Kayama had made months prior after what was probably a few too many drinks.

“No.” Yamada clapped loudly, then used both hands to point finger guns at you. “You and Eraser.”

With the pros Present Mic and Midnight laughing at the look on your face, you realized your lunch break was going to be eaten up by trying to convince your friends that there wasn’t anything going on between you and your mutual friend. They’d never believe you, but it was worth a shot.

Maybe you’d have Shouta give them a lecture, too.

You blamed Kayama. You really blamed Yamada.

But you hadn’t stopped thinking about the fact that your coworkers had a bet running about how long until you’d get together with Shouta. You had a hard time believing that it had been kept up so long without you noticing, but Kayama had assured you that if you helped her win by making a move by Christmas, she’d give you half her cut.

Yamada had yelled at you for thinking about cheating, and it was shortly after that your next class period started. You’d tried to focus, really, on what your lesson was about. But you had made a few errors, mind focused on something in the distance.

Focusing on what exactly was so damning about you and Shouta that so many people seemed to think that it would be a good idea to get the two of you together.

That thought led to you thinking about Shouta himself. And yeah, okay, he was one of the most attractive men you had ever seen. He was tall, had gorgeous hair—you had always loved when he let you tie it back for him. Not just because you got to run your fingers inconsequentially through his hair, but also because he looked even more attractive with it tied up in a knot at the base of his neck.

You weren’t naive enough to think that your personalities didn’t mesh well, either. Both of your humors leaned towards the dry side, and where he struggled with caring about details he didn’t find rational, you did enough for the both of you. And he matched your energy like a puzzle piece, his strengths covering your weaknesses like you had been made for each other.

And—fine. Maybe you could admit that you’d thought about kissing him stupid one or two times.

One thing led to another and you realized you had a massive crush on one of your closest friends.

“You’re very jumpy tonight,”

Calm, rational. Shouta Aizawa was everything you currently weren’t as you clung to the wall of the teacher’s lounge, the space decorated for the holidays with drinks and music and food to snack on. You’d managed to keep yourself busy, distracted, but Vlad had just ditched you in favor of conversing with Cementoss about something you hadn’t actually heard him mention.

Which had been fine with you. You weren’t exactly sure how to navigate your newly discovered feelings for Shouta.

Until he approached you, drink in hand and looking devilishly handsome with his hair tied half up. You think you liked that style more than the low knot, you realized.

“Am I?” You managed to squeak, tearing yourself from thoughts about all the different hairstyles you could get him to try out. He sent you a concerned look, intelligent eyes scanning your face for any sign of what might have caused your discomfort and change in demeanor.

You were certain that you looked about as casual as Kaminiari and Ashido had in your classroom earlier that day.

“Yes. Kayama asked me to come and check on you.”

Traitor. You knew she was just trying to win her bet, and had hoped to accomplish it by sending him over to the corner of the room you had taken residence in for the evening.

“Well?” Met only with your silence, Shouta had to prompt you again in an attempt to get your attention. Flushing slightly, you turned away from where you were glaring at Kayama and finally shifted your attention to the man you, apparently not so subtly, been avoiding all evening. “Are you alright?”

No, you weren’t. You found yourself with a massive crush on the one person students and coworkers had been pushing you towards for a few years. And if they had been nudging you towards him, it only stood to reason that they had been encouraging him to approach you, too.

And if he hadn’t ever mentioned it to you, then he clearly didn’t feel the same towards you as you had recently realized.

“Did you know there are bets about us getting together?” The words tumbled past your lips before you had the chance to stop them, and you winced, waiting for the shock and disgust to wash over the rational hero’s face.

Except, he only turned to glare out over the rest of the party. You were pretty sure you saw Yamada and Kayama turn away quickly, as if they hadn’t been so clearly watching the two of you.

“I’m assuming Hizashi is to blame for you finding out.” He simply sighed, bringing his attention back to you. Frowning, you flustered attention snagged on his last two words.

“Wait, find out? Did you know?” Your question brought a rare blush to his face, palm scrubbing over his face as he tried to think of an explanation for why you had been the last one to know about something that was so heavily focused on, well, you.

“Yes, I did.” He admitted, voice almost deep and rough enough to distract you. You weren’t mad, just really, really confused. “I tried to get him to stop, but it spiralled out of my control. If you’re uncomfortable by it, I will talk to him again—”

“I’m not uncomfortable, Sho,” You interrupted, and though confusion knitted your features together you knew the one thing you weren’t confused about was whether or not your friends placing a few teasing bets made you uncomfortable. “I’m just not sure where everyone seems to be getting the idea that we’re made for eachother, like Yamada told me this morning.”

“It’s my fault.”

“What? How is it your fault?”

“A while ago, I told Hizashi how I felt about you, and he made a comment about how he bet that I wouldn’t tell you. Eventually, Kayama got brought into it, and before I could get them to stop, most of the faculty had placed money on it.”

“Hold on, slow down.” You waved your hand between the two of you as if to physically slow down his thoughts. Frowning, you tried to make sense of it in your head without jumping to conclusions and hurting your own feelings. “How do you feel about me?”

“This is not how I wanted to go about this, but I think my hand has been forced.” He turned sharply to glare at Yamada and Kayama again, only for you to follow his line of sight and realize that you and Shouta had gathered the attention of more of the staff.

You felt the corners of your lips start to curve up as you wondered just how many of your friends had money on you and Shouta getting together.

“Do you want to get out of here? I’d rather not have everyone listening in when I tell you how much I care about you.” He reasoned, and you couldn’t stop your smile from forming. Grinning, you nodded, and watched in delight as Shouta gave you his own hesitant smile. “And I think Hizashi is going to start singing carols soon, too.”

You smiled, laughing softly at his comment. You knew exactly what he meant—as soon as there was a sign of the colder months, Yamada was belting out holiday songs like his life depended on it. And his singing voice was not as enjoyable as his announcer voice.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Setting your discarded cup on a table as you passed, you used your newly freed hand to tentatively brush your knuckles against Shouta’s fingers. You weren’t sure how much he wanted everyone attending the staff party to know about what he had just confessed, but when he soundly wrapped his hand around yours to lead you from the room, you figured he didn’t care much at all.

Which was fine by you. Kayama owed you half her winnings, anyways.

#aizawa x reader #fluff

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onyxrx · 7 months ago

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late nights

pairing: aizawa x reader summary: Shouta really ought to expel whoever told Eri that Santa comes every night in December... wc: 3.7k event masterlist

Rarely did you ever see Shouta Aizawa after dark.

It wasn’t that he was an extrovert to begin with, you knew, but somehow it became even harder for you or Hizashi Yamada to drag your friend out to pretend to be social after he took on the caretaker role of little Eri. You were pretty sure it wasn’t healthy for someone to spend such little time with who he probably considered his best and only friends, or maybe he was drowning in responsibilities attached to teaching Class A and training Eri.

You were honestly a little worried about him.

Or maybe you were just overly sensitive to the number of times you saw Shouta in a day because of your embarrassingly immense feelings for your fellow UA teacher.

Nights were a struggle. They were long, and cold, and lonely—they let your mind wander to unimportant things, like whether or not Shouta was joining everyone for dinner the following night to celebrate Yamada’s successful launch of a school-wide news broadcast—and you had tried every trick in the book to calm your mind enough to finally fall asleep.

The teacher’s dormitories at UA were more like individual apartment units, with a common area furnished with couches, a television, and several computers for when you couldn’t separate yourself from your work.

Deciding that if you were going to be awake, you might as well be productive, you wrapped a blanket around your shoulders and shuffled out of your unit and into the common area. Once in the hallway, you heard the faint sounds of a television playing softly in the otherwise silent night.

Must be Vlad, you reasoned as your slippered feet padded towards the couches. He had a similar habit to you of staying up far later than he should, and the blinking 12:01 on your alarm clock you checked before retreating from bed told you that he was likely to be the only one you were going to run into.

“Santa?” A tired, tiny voice called out through the darkness.

Eyes adjusting to the darkness and minimal light coming from the television—an old Christmas special you remember watching a few times as a child—you spotted the source of the voice. Small head peeking out from over the back of the couch, little Eri was staring at you with wide eyes.

“I told you,” A gruff voice you’d recognize anywhere replied to the small girl before you had finished processing what you were looking at. “Santa comes one night in December. The twenty-fourth.”

Shouta.

“Not true!” Eri, as sweet a child as she was, was still only a child. Which meant she grew more whiny the more tired she got. And from the exasperated sigh Shouta let out, you realized both of them were probably very tired.

“Sorry, honey,” You cooed, moving closer towards the couch and trying to avoid looking at Shouta, who dropped his head back against the cushions at the sound of your voice. “But Mr. Aizawa is right. Santa only comes once a month.”

“But Deku’s friend said—!”

“And when I find out which of Midoriya’s friends told you Santa comes every night, I’ll have one less student on my roster.” As you rounded the couch to stand in front, you had to bite your lip to keep from laughing at the stressed out look on Shouta’s face, the bridge of his nose pinched between two fingers.

“Stop it.” The command left you in a snort, and you settled gently onto the couch opposite Eri while still wrapped in your blanket. You’d known Shouta long enough to know he was just talking tough, but he’d never expel a student for anything less than their own good. “You adore those kids.”

“This is the fourth night in a row she has refused to sleep because she’s been so excited.” His voice was even as he finally turned to face you overtop Eri’s head, and you could see the exhaustion in his eyes. At least, more pronounced than usual. “Trust me, I don’t adore them that much.”

You snorted a laugh, and Eri giggled, though you were certain that she didn’t know what was so funny.

“Right, well, grumpy—” You sent a playfully teasing look to Shouta in an attempt to make the young girl sitting between the two of you smile. A personal goal of yours from the moment you had met her. “Eri is probably just overtired at this point. C’mere, sweet girl.”

Opening your arms, you gestured for her to climb into your lap. In the months she had been at UA, you’d spent a considerable amount of time watching over her when Shouta had classes or other business he couldn’t bring a child too, which meant you had earned her trust—something you very much valued.

Eri let out a yawn as she settled into your arms, sitting sideways in your lap and resting her head against your chest. You could feel Shouta’s eyes watching your every movement, but you pushed aside the threat of a blush and focused on slowly rocking her from side to side.

“Turn it off, will you?” You hummed quietly, nodding your head in the direction of the television still playing the holiday movie. When Aizawa made no move to reach for the remote, you lifted your gaze from Eri’s face to see what was holding his attention and found that he was already watching you. “Shouta?”

“Right,” He snapped out of his trance, leaning forward to snatch the remote off of the coffee table and turn the television off without further distraction.

Silence finally settled over the room, and it only took a few minutes longer for Eri to finally fall asleep in your arms. Even still, you waited an extra moment before nodding to Shouta that you had accomplished his goal of getting her to rest despite her excitement.

“Thank you,” He breathed, scrubbing a hand over his face in exhaustion. You offered him a smile and tried to think about anything other than how warm your face felt in the dim room. “I know I shouldn’t indulge her in staying up so late, but after everything she’s been through…”

“I get what you mean,” You murmured, and with the hand that wasn’t supporting Eri’s back, you reached out and squeezed his arm. “I did a lot of the paperwork regarding Overhaul, remember?”

You had been sick to your stomach for weeks after you found out just what the young yakuza head had put the poor girl through, and you hadn’t even been part of the team that took part in the raid to rescue her. You understood what Shouta meant when he said he couldn’t bear to take the excitement she felt away.

Even if it meant she was staying up until midnight every day in December, falsely waiting for a Santa Claus that would only come once a year.

“I should get her to bed, finally.” Shouta stood from his end of the couch, and you carefully sat up taller to transfer the slumbering girl from your arms to his.

“Next time you can’t get her to sleep,” You start in a soft voice so as not to wake Eri, and Shouta pauses in his retreat to his rooms to turn and look at you. It takes a moment to remember what you planned to say, your focus briefly knocked off kilter by the full force of his attention. “Knock on my door so I can help.”

“Are you sure?” There was an edge of hesitation in his voice, though you could tell he didn’t like the idea of bothering you so late at night. But he was too rational to think he could do it all himself, especially with all the responsibilities he took on.

“Of course,” Smiling as bright as you could, you tried to assure him that you were fine with possibly being woken up at midnight. But if it was to help Eri, help him, then you would suffer a few late nights. Despite his initial reluctance, you watched more of the fight leave him in the subtle sag of his shoulders. “I wouldn’t have offered it if I hadn’t meant it.”

“Alright,” He agreed, adjusting Eri in her arms so that her head laid more comfortably on his shoulder. “Goodnight, then.”

“Night, Shouta.”

And if your eyes followed his retreating figure longer than what was probably polite, it was no one’s business but your own.

Despite your worrying the previous night, Shouta had shown up to Mic’s celebration dinner the following day.

Eri had been in tow, though she had been the one tugging Shouta into the restaurant by the hand, excitedly cheering that she wanted to sit between you and Zawa. You had readily accepted Eri’s request to sit beside you, and spent the dinner fluidly entertaining the young girl and holding conversations with your friends around the table.

And maybe it was your imagination, but you could have sworn you felt Shouta’s attention falling to the side of your face on more than one occasion in the evening.

“You look like a little family!” Mic teased towards the end of the night, clearly having over indulged in the wine on the table.

“You look like you’re going to need a cab home,” You had fired back, sipping the water in an attempt to cover the heat threatening to warm your face. Your comment distracted the table, earning you laughter and good natured jeers towards Mic, but Shouta remained quiet.

And you knew you weren’t making things up when he seemed determined to look anywhere but you for the remainder of the night.

You were still throwing a pity party for yourself hours later, back on campus and in the safety of your assigned room. It was nearing midnight, your clock told you, but your eyes were far from heavy and your mind was still running wild with ideas for the next day.

Then came the knock.

Two knocks.

You hated how quickly you grinned, knowing what those two knocks meant. You hadn’t expected him to use the deal you had created so soon, but you weren’t going to back out of it as you padded softly through your apartment towards the door.

Swinging it open, you were wholly unsurprised to see a wide awake Eri cradled in Shouta’s arms, his face darkened with exhaustion.

“Happy Christmas!” Eri cheered once she saw you, and despite the late hour and her refusal to sleep on time, you couldn’t help but smile at her excitement. So unfamiliar for her.

“Merry Christmas, and you should be asleep by now.” You gave her a pointed look, though any reprimanding you attempted was far overshadowed by the smile on your face. Shifting your attention to Shouta, you gave yourself a moment to take in his appearance on your doorstep. Dark hair disheveled from trying to put Eri to bed, tired eyes laden with exhaustion to the point that you worried he might pass out standing. “You should be asleep, too.”

“She’s refusing, again.” He explained, shifting his attention from you briefly to glare playfully, lovingly, at Eri. The sight made your chest warm, and your smile softened from one of amusement into one of adoration. “I wouldn’t ask, but I have training with Shinsou early in the morning, and I can’t stay up with her.”

“You don’t need to give me an explanation, Shou,” You rolled your eyes with a tease, reaching out to take Eri from him. She came easily, and though she clearly was forcing herself to stay awake, you could tell by the way her head fell to your shoulder that she only needed some gentle urging and she’d fall asleep.

You looked back to Shouta, expecting him to be preparing to leave with Eri settled in your arms, but you found him looking at you instead.

Eyes slightly wide, hands clenched in fists at his sides, mouth pressed into a firm line. The expression could be misconstrued for annoyance, but you knew Shouta better than that. He was watching you, holding Eri, with an expression that was entirely too familiar.

You could have sworn he was looking at you the same way you usually looked at him.

“I’ll see you in the morning.” Shouta, seeming to regain his focus again, cleared his throat and dropped his stare from you. “Thank you for this.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” You reminded him, but he only pinned you with a final look, like he was trying to chastise you for not accepting his gratitude the same way he tried chastising Eri.

Not that it really worked on either of you. You both knew how much of a softie he really was.

Eri shifting around in your arms brought you back to reality, and with a final glance at Shouta’s retreating figure, you closed your apartment door behind you. With a pointed look, you frowned at the young girl.

“Time for bed. Santa isn’t coming tonight.” You reminded her, and she sighed like she knew her games would only work on Shouta—not you. Like the previous night, you settled on the couch with her in your arms, rocking side to side gently.

“Can I ask you a question?” Her tiny, tired voice replied, and though you considered that it might only be a distraction to stay up a bit later, you relented.

“Only if I can ask you one after.”

“Why did Zawa’s face get all red when he said I was coming here?”

“I’m not sure,” You fight the flush threatening to climb up your own neck at her innocent words. You didn’t think that Shouta had it in him to blush, but hearing that he so obviously did—to the point where Eri noticed—was hard to comprehend. You needed to change the topic. “My turn. Which of Deku’s friends told you about Santa coming each night?”

“The lightning one.” She replied through a yawn, rubbing at her eyes.

Denki Kaminari.

“Ah,” Your lips curved up into a grin. If you had guessed, you probably would have thought it was him. “For his sake, don’t tell Mr. Aizawa that.”

“Okay.” Eri smiled sleepily before snuggling into your shoulder. You knew you needed to get her into the spare bed she was taking over for the evening, but you were enjoying her sweet company. “I like spending time with you. And Mr. Mic told Zawa he’s not as grumpy when you’re around. I think so too.”

Suddenly, any attempt you were making to not freak out over what the sweet girl was saying became nearly impossible. You just hoped she wouldn’t go back to Shouta and tell him how red your face had gotten.

“I like spending time with you, too.” You decided on answering with, hoping that it was enough to settle her curiosity.

You’d have to yell at Yamada for putting ideas in Eri’s head later.

And Denki Kaminari, too.

After a week of Eri staying up far too late, you and Shouta decided you needed to put a stop to it. The sweet girl had been so tired even Mirio had mentioned that she seemed grumpy and out of character. Eri needed to go to sleep at a reasonable time and in her own bed.

Which brought you to your current predicament—trying to convince yourself that your heart wasn’t going to beat out of your chest as you sat on the edge of Eri’s bed and twisted to face her, Shouta standing directly behind you.

Mic had teased you and Shouta about playing house on more than one occasion. If he had seen you then, both tucking Eri into bed, you wouldn’t be able to convince him that you weren’t.

“Santa only visits good girls who go to bed on time. Do you want me to tell him you haven’t been listening?” Shouta tries to use ration against Eri, and if it weren’t for the look of horror on the young girl’s face, you would have laughed. Instead, you jammed your elbow back and into the muscle of his thigh in reprimand.

“I’ll be good! I’ll go to sleep!” Eri hurries to clamber under the covers, and while she’s distracted, you shoot a glare over your shoulder at Shouta.

You nearly do a double take when you find him grinning down at you, arms crossed and clearly amused at the situation.

“Remember what we talked about, Eri.” You try to hide your grin at Shouta’s teasing by turning back to the child you’re supposed to be tucking into bed. Adorably, she has the covers pulled up to her nose and her eyes screwed shut so tight her face is scrunched up. “Santa comes once a year, and only when you’re asleep.”

She keeps her eyes shut, and nods stiffly.

“Good girl,” Shouta hums, clearly satisfied that she isn’t refusing to even get in bed like she had for the entire month so far. “Now, sleep.”

She nods again, and you press a palm over your mouth to keep from laughing. You stand as gently as you can before slipping out of the room silently.

Suddenly, you’re standing in front of Shouta as he closes the door soundlessly. You’re too close, or maybe not close enough, in the cramped hallway with only a few inches separating you. It’s a little exhilarating, having to tilt your head to look up at him while he studies you just as closely.

You think, distantly, that you’d like to kiss him.

“Stay for a drink?” He murmurs, and you’re not sure if it’s to keep Eri from overhearing or to not burst the quiet bubble surrounding the two of you, but you’re positive that you don’t care either way as long as he keeps looking at you as intensely as he currently was.

“Yeah, okay.” You agree, hating how you sound a little breathless.

It’s not your first time being alone with Shouta, but in all the years you’ve known him, it’s never felt so intimate before. Maybe it was because it was the evening, or that you had worked as a team to tuck Eri into bed, but something had shifted between the two of you.

Something had been shifting.

You followed him into the kitchen where you climbed onto one of the stools sitting at the island counter. It was silent as he opened the fridge to pull out two beers, and it was still silent as he opened one of the cans and handed it to you.

“Thank you for this.” His words carried through the kitchen as he settled onto the stool beside you, and you knew he meant more than just staying for the drinks.

You twisted on the stool to face him, your knees pressing into his thigh and head propped on your fist. He didn’t turn to face you, but you could tell he felt the weight of your stare in the way he held his can between his hands, how he pushed his thigh back against your knees in both acknowledgement and acceptance of their presence.

“You take care of so many, Shouta. Who takes care of you?”

You hadn’t meant to ask that question. Not really. But it had always been on your mind. He gave his all to those around him; Yamada, his students, Eri.

He took care of you, too. Offering to stay late to help you grade or plan, helping brainstorm ways to push your students to the absolute maximum of what they were capable of.

“I guess I’ve never thought about that.” He answered over a sip of his beer, and the honesty in his voice nearly cracked your heart open.

You wanted to take care of him.

“Shouta,” The call of his name finally earned you the prize of his attention, and you didn’t hesitate as you leaned forward to press your lips against his gently.

At first, it was only a desperate need for him to know how much you cared for him that had you acting. Kissing him was the only logical conclusion to those feelings, a final attempt to show him how much he meant to you without tripping over the words you had never been able to force out. But when you felt Shouta kiss you back? When you felt the fervent press of his lips just as urgent against yours?

His hand, cold from the can he had been clutching so carefully a second before, curved to the side of your neck with his thumb notching just under the side of your jaw. A possessive touch, and one you absolutely could get used to. Leaning even further into him, you set a hand on his leg to balance yourself between the two stools.

But somewhere between Shouta pulling you even closer by the hand on your neck and his tongue swiping across your bottom lip, you managed to hear tiny, sock-clad feet pad into the room.

“I thought I heard bells!”

You shot away from Shouta like he electrocuted you, one hand shoving at his chest to separate the both of you despite the act being seemingly impossible only seconds before. Your chest rose and fell quickly, out of breath from both the shock of seeing Eri standing in the kitchen and what had just transpired with Shouta.

“What did I say about getting out of bed?” Despite having been shoved from his stool, Shouta himself seemed relatively relaxed about the whole situation, and for the first time, you cursed his rational head.

Except, in the dim lighting, you managed to spot the faint blush creeping up his neck.

“No Santa!” Eri gasped, hands slapping over her mouth like she was in shock she had forgotten before she turned and ran back down the hallway towards her bedroom.

Shouta shook his head in amusement, then turned towards you, a determined look in his eyes that almost made you shiver.

“I’ll put her back down.” He promised. “Then we can talk.”

About the kiss. You flushed brightly just thinking about it, and you watched as the hint of a smile twitched in the corner of his lips.

“I’d like that.” You murmured sincerely, and with a final glance to make sure you weren’t running off, he followed Eri down the hall at a much more relaxed pace.

You pressed the tips of your fingers against your lips, still tingling even with Shouta in a different room. And for a moment, you considered that maybe Kaminari was right, after all.

Maybe Santa came more than one night a year.

#aizawa x reader #fluff

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