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With Shouta’s line of work, particularly his branch of it, someone hanging out on a rooftop was fairly common.
Sometimes they were fellow Underground heroes, other times they were vigilantes or even the occasional villain who thought they wouldn’t have to deal with a hero that way.
No matter what it always served to make him anxious and he always made sure to check in as soon as he saw them.
Because a lot of the time it wasn’t a hero, or a vigilante, or a villain.
No, a lot of the time it was a civilian, and he refused- (Not again. Never again.)
So when he spotted a figure a few rooftops over from him, he wasted no time jumping the small gaps.
He was quiet when he landed. He had to be. Villains are always too happy to catch him off-guard. Though that didn’t seem to be the case this time.
They were small, dark clothing allowing them to blend in with the night. It made the bright yellow bag and red shoes stand out even more from where they sat beside the figure. The child.
Because that’s what they were, a child. And fuck if that didn’t make his chest hurt. As much as he tried to deny it, Hizashi was right to call him a bleeding heart.
He was gentle in dragging his foot over the ground but loud enough that the kid should hear him.
And hear him they did. They immediately startled, whirling around to face him with wide eyes. Even from this distance, Shouta could see they were a brilliant green.
The kid looked like a deer in the headlights. It made a little amusement curl in his chest briefly before the concern swallowed it.
“Hello.” His voice was soft, louder than a whisper but just enough to be heard. Careful now, Shouta. “I’m Eraser. I use he/him pronouns. How about you?”
The kid shifted slightly where they stood as they examined him. Shouta let them, his eyes occasionally flickering away and at their surroundings, both so that there were no sudden surprises and so that he wasn’t just staring dead-eyed at the kid.
After a few moments they finally spoke, their voice hoarse and shaky, “I-I use he/him, Eraserhead-san.”
No name, but the kid knew his. That was interesting. It was pretty hard to track down any information about him and he was careful to keep Eraserhead and Aizawa Shouta apart as much as he could. He was a little curious how the kid knew about him, and just how much, but that could wait.
“Doing some stargazing, kid?” They both knew that that wasn’t what this was, but it was an offered out if the kid wanted it. Though it didn’t seem like he would as he just looked away, lip caught between teeth. “Can’t say you picked the best night for it. It’s a bit cloudy.”
He shifted again, glancing back at Shouta, “Wasn’t gazing…”
Shouta hummed quietly. “Is it alright if I come closer?”
He watched as the kid rung his fingers together, twisting and pulling as he seemed to have an internal struggle with himself. Eventually Shouta received a hesitant nod and he slowly shuffled closer. Nervous eyes watched him but there was no move to stop him. The last thing he wanted to do was push the kid, so as soon as he saw the flinch he stopped. He was about an arms length away. It was closer than he thought he’d get. He didn’t want to crowd him, but also wanted to be able to catch him if the boy suddenly decided to make a run for the edge.
He was clearly anxious, eyes watching Shouta warily as he chewed his lip and his hands constantly fidgeted and flexed. Shouta made sure to keep his posture relaxed, even as one hand buried in his capture weapon just in case.
“It’s pretty cold out.” It was, even though it was supposedly spring. Centuries ago, he had heard that it used to be a lot warmer, but alas, if humans were good at anything, it would be destruction. “There’s this little cafe a few blocks away.”
It was a plain statement but the implication was clear.
The kid shook his head, “You don’t ne-need to waste your, um, your time on m-me, E-Eraserhead-san.”
“I’m not one for wasting time, kid.”
The silence that spread between them was surprisingly comfortable, given the situation.
“O-Okay then.” It was barely a whisper, Shouta had to strain his hearing to hear it.
“Alright. Do you want to get your shoes on?”
The kid rocked for a moment before shuffling back over to where he’d left his things, he had moved away when Shouta had startled him earlier. He was careful not to turn his back and his eyes constantly darted between his things and Shouta.
Shouta was neither blind, nor was he deaf, and so did not miss the way the kid flinched as he reached down for his bag, nor did he miss the quiet hiss that escaped. He pursed his lips but said nothing, adding it to his mental list of things to ask the kid later.
“Um, the- the door is locked…”
Well that was concerning and raised quite a few more questions for the list, because that implies that someone had trapped the kid here.
“Guess it’s good that I know how to lockpick then, huh?”
The boy seemed to perk up at that, following when Shouta moved. “Really? I mean- I guess it makes sense. You probably have to find quiet ways in or out of places a lot of the time.”
“It’s something I made sure to learn when I was younger. It’s a good skill to have.”
It barely took a minute for him to get the door open and gestured the kid through. They lapsed into silence as they made their way down several flights of stairs and out into the street. It had been a pretty tall building.
The streets were mostly empty so they thankfully didn’t bump into anyone. Shouta was happy to let the silence stand and although the kid fidgeted, he didn’t seem to mind it either.
The cafe he led them to was, to probably nobody’s surprise, a cat cafe with the best name - ‘A Cup o’ Kitten.’ It was open at all hours, although it was usually empty around this time.
He’d stumbled upon this little gem a few months ago when he was first scoping out the area and now made sure to stop by whenever he was in the area - an unfortunately rare occurrence.
A glance beside him allowed him to see the curiosity on the kid's face. Has he never come here before? Well, Shouta smiled to himself, hopefully it would be a pleasant memory. The kid could probably use a few.
The jingle of the bell served to alert both the staff and the cats as they stepped inside. Shouta immediately made a beeline for the corner table in the back and happily sank onto the sofa seat with a content sigh. He was immediately swarmed by 3 cats demanding his attention.
He heard a quiet giggle and hid his own smile behind his scarf.
Yeah, he’d made a good decision.