G H O S T [Shota Aizawa x OC]

N I N E T E E N

Shota and Eri played with Echo as Sumire finished preparing dinner, refusing to allow the man to help at all. The little girl was preoccupied with the cat, twirling around a feather attached to a plastic baton and string and watching her jump around to try and catch it. But he was absorbed in watching the silver-haired woman, smiling and humming to herself as she worked.

"I'm done!" She declared and pulled the tie from her hair, freeing her thick locks around her shoulders.

The man got up and started picking up the plates and utensils.

She blinked and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Showing Eri how we do this."

"You're going to teach her bad habits." Sumire pouted.

"It'll be fine." He reasoned, carrying the food over to the coffee table.

She sighed. "I won't argue."

Eri crawled onto the couch when she saw that that's where the adults were congregating. Shota and Sumire sat on either side of her. When the little girl's plate was set before her, her eyes widened and she gleefully shouted, "Thank you for the food!" then dug into her meal. "It's so yummy!"

Sumire exchanged a glance and a smile with the man who couldn't keep a faint blush from his cheeks upon seeing her pride and feeling the joyful aura that the child was engulfed in.

They ate together, and the adults laughed and joked while Eri watched in amusement, becoming closer to closer to erupting in giggles and smiles. Random sounds and sights came from the television, but none of them paid attention to what was being broadcasted as it was just on in the background.

As soon as they were done, Shota put on a movie and dimmed the lights in the room before taking the empty plates and utensils to the sink.

"I can do that." Sumire started to get up to take care of washing the dishes.

But he quickly stated, "No. Let me do this."

"But they're my plates." She whined.

"I said no." He frowned at her, but she knew that his intentions came from a good place. "Hold her down, Eri."

As he said, the white-haired girl sat on Sumire's lap and pushed her shoulders down, wrapping her tiny arms around the woman's waist and laying her head on the heroine's chest. "Got her!"

"Good girl." Shota hummed.

Defeated, but grateful that the man was willing to help her, she hugged Eri and lied back, cuddling the child that seemed so comfortable with her and the dark-haired man. They settled down and watched the movie, taking up the entire couch, including his seat when he returned from washing and drying the dishes.

He just sat down on the ground, leaning his back against a pillow propped up against the couch. His messy hair laid over the edge of the cushions and Echo - sensing the calm and peaceful atmosphere - crawled into his lap and curled up there.

He suddenly stiffened when he felt a rhythmic pressure pulling at his hair. He turned his head to glance behind him. Eri had already fallen asleep, resting peacefully on top of Sumire who briefly looked away from the film to meet his narrow gaze with a warm smile. Her thin fingers were entwined in his messy layers and gently pulled through them, loosening any knots and soothing him with an overwhelmingly comforting and tender touch.

She wasn't aware of how much she was fulfilling his dreams and deepest of innocent desires. "Sorry, it looked soft." She whispered, careful not to wake Eri, and removed her hands from his hair.

"I don't mind." He lied; he never wanted her to stop.

She began to play with the curly ends before returning to brushing her fingers through each layer. For a man who didn't care about his appearance, he was a clean person. His hair was clean and conditioned. The dark locks twisted with each other in his natural waves but didn't really form knots. While he didn't put much effort into how he looked and always had tired bags under his dry eyes, he did have good hygiene and always smelt fresh. She was also now realizing that he didn't disregard the health of his hair either. He may not style or cut it regularly, but it was strong and healthy, maybe even better cared for than her own.

Shota pulled out his cell phone to text Eri's primary nurse at the hospital, but Sumire saw over his shoulder the background he had on his screen. It was one of the pictures Eri had drawn earlier in the day when she was with the silver-haired woman. It was a stick-figure doodle of him and Sumire sitting next to each other and the little girl sitting on his lap. They were all smiling, even though Eri didn't know how it would feel on her face.

Seeing the drawing as his phone background made the silver-haired girl fill with warmth and a fluttering sensation. No matter how tough or hard-core he tried to seem, he was a soft-hearted man deep within his stern exterior, but she knew he'd immediately become stoic and cold if he caught her looking at his phone over his shoulder, so she focused on the movie she hadn't really been watching in the first place.

Shota texted the nurse, hoping to get a response quickly seen as it wasn't too late in the evening. However, he had no desire to go anywhere, but to stay with the two girls and melt beneath Sumire's gentle and soothing touch.

He asked if Eri could stay with him for the night and then take her to the school festival the next day, and he received a message not too long afterwards giving him permission to do so.

He sighed and turned his phone upside-down on the table in front of him. His shoulders relaxed and he tilted his head back as the girl continued to run her fingers through his messy waves. As he let her, she inched her fingers closer to his scalp. She began to rub the top of his skull and he released a short and low moan from his throat. With every stroke he pressed his head further and further back until Sumire was looking over him. His eyes were closed peacefully, and although he didn't smile, she could tell he was happy.

Eventually, her hand grew tired, so she stopped rubbing his head and running her hands through his dark hair. But he was more than satisfied and couldn't possibly be disappointed with what she had done for him.

He felt the most relaxed he had ever been but was simultaneously filled with a heavy pounding in his chest.

If it were just them, he would have surely succumbed; he would have climbed over the woman on the laying on the couch, pinched her chin with one hand and used the other to grip her hip and pull her closer and finally kiss her. If Eri weren't there, he would have finally acted on his feelings for the girl.

But Eri was also largely responsible for the two of them getting closer and closer together, so he wasn't upset that she was cradled in Sumire's arms.

So, he settled for resting his arm on the couch and leaning his head on it comfortably. The woman also adjusted herself slightly, and he could feel the weight on the pillows shifting the tiniest bit behind him.

With Eri cuddled beneath one arm and sleepiness creeping in on her, she struggled to keep her charcoal gray eyes open to finish the movie. Kind of disoriented from tiredness and not thinking about the reasoning behind her actions, she slid her hand beneath Shota's muscular arm and gently touched his palm.

He tensed up upon the unexpected sensation and action, but all stress that filled his body was released with a sigh when she tenderly slipped her thin fingers in his longer and stronger ones.

Itfelt like the perfect fit; like a piece of him that he didn't realize wasmissing had been returned to him and he had been made whole again.