Family ties (An mha fanfic)

Don't Work With a Clouded Mind

Shota sighed, resigning to his fate as he sat in the chair. He picked up the tea, taking a sip before gently placing the delicate porcelain down. "Fine." He gave in.

Nezu grinned. "I'm glad." He reached out a paw to gesture to the board. "Guest first."

"You're white..." Shota observes.

"Yes, my fur is very much white."

Shota shakes his head. "Your pieces are white, mine are black. It's either wrong or you go first." His says then realizes what it means but his expression doesn't waver as Nezu chuckles.

Nezu is the guest here. Which means he believes Shota to be capable to surpass him. In what? Shota isn't sure.

"My bad." He spins the board around, a few of the magnetic pieces shaking but they don't fall.

Shota makes a basic move, putting out his pawn and letting his eyes flicker up to Nezu's face as he drops it.

The stoat hums, imitating Shota's move with a wide grin.

Shota looks back to the board, then sending another lidded glance to Nezu before glaring back down to the board. He moves his bishop to capture Nezu's rogue pawn and when he does the stoat captures the piece.

Was it just to intimidate me? He finds himself wondering as he moves another pawn,  half expecting the rat to copy it or do something else entirely.

Nezu copies the move and Shota sighs.

He plays more intently. It lasts about 4 more turns before he's back to making simple meaningless moves. He repeats this many times until Nezu has him cornered and ultimately defeated.

"Interesting..." The stoat mutters.

"May I leave now?" Shota asks impatiently.

Nezu sips at his tea with a frown. "It's a shame you're limiting your potential." He sighs. "I was really looking forwards to this."

Shota furrowed his brows. "Please tell me why on earth I'd be limiting myself. I may not want to play chess but I haven't played in years and wouldn't like to pass up an opportunity. Why do you even think I agreed?"

Nezu hums. "You're a good liar Eraserhead-" Shota groans, throwing his head back. "- I suppose I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thank you." And within the next minute Shota had already left the room and the staff murmuring amongst them.

He stepped into his office with a heavy groan, five pairs of eyes snapping towards him.

"Rough day?" Mirio asks as he straightens from where he was on one knee beside Eri.

He lets out a breath, sinking to sit with his knees to his chest with his back against the door. Something about the position was so natural it felt like his body was meant to be in it. He would have thought otherwise if he'd seen the cringe Katsuki's face made but his hands were together in a prayer-like manner as they covered his nose, his eyes were closed and he sighed.

"Eri-chan has something for you." Mirio prompts and Shota looks up to the the girl with curious silver eyes.

"I- It's nothing!" She squeaks out. "You must not be feeling well..."

Shota gets up, crossing the room room to crouch in front of her. "What is it?"

She shyly handed him a card, 'Thank you' written in surprisingly neat Kanji. He looks through the card with wide eyes and his face soon settles into a smile.