A Mother's Touch

Chapter 9

After a couple of days spending time together healing their minds and bodies, Shoto and Aylee finally got Aizawa's approval to go outside of UA's campus. He begrudgingly granted the request after the two kept interrupting class time and bothering him whenever they found him by himself. The halls, the break room, even his sleeping bag were no longer safe from the stir-crazy 5-year-old boy and 24-year-old woman. It was honestly suspicious of how quick they found him. Eraserhead would never admit it to anyone, but he currently misses the teenaged and emotionless Todoroki every day. He doesn't know how much more he could take of toddler Todoroki and the unpredictable icy tantrums that follow. His already thin patience was running out at an alarming rate, depleting his energy.

Right after he begrudgingly said yes to the hyper pair, they excitedly raced to the door like someone had shouted 'fire'. Aizawa was still worried something might happen again, especially since it was not long since they were attacked and kidnapped by the LoV. But at this point, they would probably try to sneak out just to breathe fresh air and enjoy a change in scenery.

Thankfully, he had his own condition when approving their pleas. And Shoto wasn't happy about it at all.

~ 1 hour later ~

Shoto ran ahead on the sidewalk pulling on Aylee's hand, practically yanking her shoulder out of its socket in his eagerness. He was loving the newfound freedom, not that anyone would blame his excited nature. Shoto's still a growing kid.

"Hold on Peppermint. I'm coming."

But, the split-haired boy ignored her pleading words and kept rushing forward. Unbeknownst to Aylee, her charge kept turning around to glare at the unwanted member of the group easily following behind them.

Hawks leisurely walked behind the quick pair, he was swinging a picnic basket in his hand while whistling a tune to himself. Even though he looked carefree, the pro-hero kept a sharp eye on their surroundings and subtly scanned for any suspicious persons. So far nothing was out of the ordinary. Well, nothing dangerous. The winged hero's golden eyes met the fiery glare of little Todoroki while the other was intently looking for a good spot to settle down in the shade.

The blond man offered a genuine smile to the grumpy boy which only made him turn redder in the face. But, before the toddler blew up in a temper tantrum, possibly quite literally, Aylee finally pointed out a finger to a good enough place to sit and set up.

The two followed after her and waited as she placed the striped blanket onto the grass and comfortably sat down. They continued to stare at her smiling face until she patted the blanket and invited them to sit down with her. Shoto immediately zipped to her side and took the open space next to her. Hawks watched on amused and unthreatened as the young child stuck out his pink tongue as if he won something truly priceless. The hero didn't have a problem with losing this 'battle' until Aylee gently started playing with Shoto's two-toned hair. The boy nuzzled his face into her shoulder in response and leaned into her soothing touch even further. Hawks' mouth slightly twitched in slight irritation and he thought that it should be him curled up next to Aylee's side as she ran her fingers through his hair. It was a bit childish for the adult to be thinking, feeling jealous of a child.

Shaking off the sudden and random thoughts, Hawks opened up the wicker basket in the middle of the blanket and pulled out three wrapped sandwiches. He handed two of them to Aylee and kept the last for himself. As he began to unwrap the paper towel to take a bite, he sensed someone unfamiliar slowly approaching them. It was a very secluded area in the park with not a lot of people passing by. Alarm bells went off in the hero's head, prickling at his innate instincts, and the sandwich was now forgotten.

Hawks immediately stood up from his relaxed sitting position to confront the possible threat posed to the recent kidnap victims he was protecting. It was a young man dressed formally in a dress suit with a tie and he kept pushing his glasses up his nose, maybe a nervous or an anxiety tick? The unknown man stopped about six feet away from the alert group and calmly met Hawks' burning yellow gaze before focusing on Aylee's seated figure.