Flea

Chapter One

13 YEARS, 4 MONTHS AND 18 DAYS LATER

Aizawa rapped sharply on the door to his daughter's bedroom. 

"Maeve, if you don't open this door right now I'm climbing up the side of the house and dragging you out your window with my scarf."

Muffled groans wafted through the crack underneath the barrier including what he thought could be a softly pained "Fuck youUuUuu" He wasn't sure though. Aizawa stared down at Strawberry, their newest addition to the household, and they both agreed he needed to change tack. Him with resigned sigh, her with a meow. 

"I've got coffee. That stuff with extra cream you love that will block up your insides and take off a month of your life with one serving." 

Silence. Time was running out, but he'd learned from experience that only meant he had to maintain calm more effectively. Mornings were always the hardest, once they could get past this it was fine. Leaning against the wall in his sleeping bag, Aizawa settled down to wait.  

The door slowly creaked open and Maeve emerged like a sea monster from the depths. One in a fluffy red dressing gown, felt slippers and her well used white gloves.   

She croaked, "Why, the actual golden jesus bananas themselves, are you getting me up at 6 in the morning? If you're trying to kill me there must be less painful ways than this. Grab one of those limb stretching things from an instrument of torture museum. You could play Procrustes and I'll play some poor Greek sod, it would be splendid fun. At least that way I can be in a bed when I die. And I'd be tallerrr."

As talkative and frustratingly knowledgable as ever even on the brink of fatigue collapse. He looked up at her from the floor. 

"You look terrible." 

She really did. Her curly hair looked like one of their cats had been sleeping in it all night (which, Aizawa realised, they probably had), her eyes had shadows under them which were now such a dark shade of purple it was as if they were floating in a black void and he swore she was losing a pound a day at this rate.

"Thanks Dad, I'm touched. As an angst filled teenager who suffers from many potential self esteem issues, that really helped to build me up. You didn't answer my question. My shift at the hospital starts at 8:30. Why are we up this early?"

She couldn't be serious.

"Maeve, the UA entry exams are today. We need to be on campus at seven sharp to help organise."

His adopted daughter gave him one of the blankest stares he's ever received from her.

"How does someone with what has been scientifically determined as the best known memory in human history forget something like that?" Aizawa asked, more disappointedly amused than frustrated.

She ran a hand tiredly through her hair. It travelled about 3 inches far in all the knots. "I swear I've never heard about it. Nobody's mentioned the entrance exam to me since January the 7th at 3:23 pm. You want to know who said it? Cementoss. You know what he said? His exact words? 'I think school upper management said something about giant robots chasing students.'" 

Maeve looked at him for acknowledgement of how ridiculous that statement was. He gave none. Her expression changed from being amused to one of horror.

"No."