Not Yet

XLIV: Finding you

Aizawa was nowhere to be seen for two days now. 1-A was told he was going to be absent for a while. No one thought much of it, with how much he had missed of the schoolyear until now, but Shinsou, Shouto, Eijiro and Katsuki all knew that something was wrong, because none of them had been allowed to the facility, let alone meeting the two new kids added to their collection.

Shinsou had been staying with his mother in another apartment that had been secured especially for them by the heros. And while his mother said it was a good thing to settle down on their own, Hitoshi couldn't help but feel like they had been kicked out on a haste.

Kirishima seemed to be swirling in his own world whenever one of the other three tried to talk to him about their uneasiness, so he had mostly been left alone since.

Katsuki, and Shouto who had heard about the news from his own mother, suspected that the sudden disappearance and withdrawal had something to do with Mitsuki's recovery. Yet while Shouto could only speculate in the darkness, Katsuki had formed a somewhat sensible theory from what he had witnessed so far about Izuku's abilities and their consequences.

It was clear for Uraraka, and the rest of the class, that these four were not entirely there with them during lessons and breaks. The distant looks, the frowning faces, the bouncing legs, something was definitely on their minds.

Therefore, when Mirio-senpai came to personally speak with these four in private at the end of the day, they didn't think that something was up, they knew.

*****

The sight of Mirio-senpai without his iconic, beaming smile was unsettling to say the least, the first sign of something being terribly wrong.

"Uh- sorry for dragging you out like that. We- I was wondering- it would really be appreciated if you could- I mean, you don't have to- not all of you at least-" the stumbling and the uncertainty that was definitely not in their senpai's nature was an absolute give away. The second sign of an issue.

"Is everything alright, senpai?" Shouto was the one to voice the nagging question swimming in everyone's head. Kirishima was eyeing Bakugou wearily, expecting him to snap at the incomprehensible wording, but found him studing the blond upperclassman in surprising calmness instead. Shinsou took in the black circles around his senior's eyes that could rival his own, and the overall tiredness his slouched posture implied.

"N- yes, yes, of course. I just need someone to look after Eri-chan for a while." He answered sheepishly, scratching the back of his head and straightening his back when he realized the four pair of scrutinizing eyes on him.

"Where is she?" Shinsou was the one to voice their worries this time.

"She's with Midnight-sensei in the teacher's lounge," their senior answered.

"Why can't she stay with you? Senpai, did something happen?" The worry in Hitoshi's tone was self-evident.

"No it's- it's nothing. I just didn't want her to- she's just too-" Mirio stumbled on his words before he cut himself off. He scanned hurriedly through the expressions of all four students before he hastily turned away from them, seemingly ready to leave.

"Alright. I'll leave her in your care, then." This time he tried to sound as casual as possible, attempting a small smile that could almost resemble his normal ones.