Irrational Problem Child

Hatsume's Irrational "Baby"

How could a trip to the grocery store go wrong?

True to your word, you'd been sticking close to Aizawa so that he could help with your quirk, and that included running errands with him. You weren't sure where to find the last item on Aizawa's list: dried cherries. You spotted a lanky teen with a mop of brown hair standing on a high ladder and stocking boxes into the shelves further down the isle. You ran over to ask him.

As you approached with a friendly smile, his eyes widened in alarm and he jerked backwards, the motion upsetting the ladder. Your stomach lurched as he tipped. "Look out" you gasped, leaping forward to save him.

"Eiko!" Aizawa yelled in the background.

You caught the boy.

"Are you alright?" you asked breathlessly. He stared back at you with dark, horrified eyes.

His silence was kind of freaking you out. Then you noticed. Your claws were fully extended. And they were cutting into him. You stumbled back, right as Aizawa reached you and steadied you. He took in the scene in an instant, the scattered boxes, the toppled ladder, the boy gripping his own arm where blood seeped through his dark shirt.

Aizawa spoke to the boy. "You need to go to the hospital, kid. Can I give you a ride?"

The boy seemed to snap out of his daze, and immediately began dialing on his phone. Aizawa tensed. A professional voice said "What's your emergency?" "Police!" the boy said hysterically "I've been stabbed, by the cat girl who's been on the news. Send help!"

"Boy," Aizawa took a step towards him, his tall frame taught with tension. "You don't need cops. You need a doctor."

You watched everything happening, but it felt hazy, unreal. You zoned out. Shock did that to a person, you thought in a detached way. Aizawa snapping his fingers in front of your face brought you back to the present, and you became aware of a chaos of confused onlookers chattering in the background. You must have been out of it for awhile. The boy was gone.

"Eiko," Aizawa stared into your eyes intently, calmly. "You need to retract your claws."

You slowly obeyed, sliding them back into your arms. Aizawa took your hands in his own, frowning, and wiped a smudge of blood away with a damp cloth. He turned you around and sheltered you with his arm around your shoulders as he made his way through the onlookers to the door.

You finally recovered enough to speak.

"Is the store employee okay?"

"He will be."

"We never got the dried cherries," you muttered dazedly.

A wave of nausea hit you as you suddenly remembered what happened, and you broke away from Aizawa in the parking lot, breathing heavily. You hunched over, hands resting on your knees. Aizawa's firm hand found your shoulder again.

"Breathe kid. You're okay."

You took gasping breaths. The nausea faded and the tears started. You'd been in shock before. The tears were part of it. You weren't even embarrassed about it, it was just an inevitable physical response. Aizawa knew that.

He held you tightly, and you cried into his chest.

You went to bed early and slept for twelve hours straight that night. Crazy how tiring a bit of shock can be. You hoped the rest of the weekend would go more peacefully. You woke up to the sounds of clattering dishes from downstairs, and Mic's unmistakable loud voice arguing about something. You groaned, trying to bury your head under your pillow. But your hearing was too good, and Mic was too loud.