Deep Red

4

"Please understand that this can't be a permanent solution. You'll have to find somewhere for your cat to stay that is not the school. I understand you're in a bit of an emergency situation here, but please do your best to find a different solution. Until then she can stay here, of course while you work. There should always be someone in the staff room that can look out for her while you're teaching." Nezu said to me. He had sat down with me for a cup of coffee just before my first class of the day, Cho sitting on my lap and thankfully on her best behaviour.

"I absolutely understand, Professor, I'll do my best to find a place as quickly as possible." I replied. Nezu nodded and smiled at me.

"Good, I'll be in my office then. Have a good day!" he said and jumped off the chair. I nodded and took a sip from my coffee mug. Once Nezu was gone I let out a big sigh. This went so much better than expected.

Cho hopped down from my lap and started sniffing the area out. She seemed curious enough and was thankfully not scared. I checked my phone and saw that I still had a few minutes to relax, before I had to head off to my first class. I hadn't met this class yet, it was 1-C. General Studies. I had finally gotten a chance to look through the files a bit and familiarize myself with my new students.

I liked adjusting my curriculum a little to whatever the students in a particular class needed. Most of the people in the hero classes needed more knowledge about Physics and Chemistry, whereas the spectrum was much bigger in other classes. So I had spent more time working on my curricula yesterday evening, than actually preparing the lessons and I couldn't really be bothered to do it now. I just had to wing it. Fly by ear. It would be fine, I was sure.

I finished my coffee and went over to the coffee machine to get myself another cup, so I'd be able to get through the first class in the morning. On my way I looked around the room to see whether I could find Cho. It was weird she had wandered off so quickly, she was usually kind of shy with new people.

It was then that I could hear some purring, just before I turned on the coffee machine again. My eyes followed the purring noise and ended up resting on a bright yellow sleeping bag. Cho was sitting happily on top of the sleeping bag, purring. The thing that struck me as even weirder was that Aizawa had a slight smile on his face as he was happily petting her. What the fuck?

"You like cats, Aizawa?" I asked him, a little amusement in my voice. For some reason I wouldn't have taken him for a cat person at first sight, but then again... his weird sleeping pattern definitely fit.

"I do." was all he mumbled sleepily. He looked especially tired today. Or maybe I just got a good look at him.

I decided to walk over to him and Cho and join in in scratching her ears. She seemed to be truly happy. As did Aizawa. Thinking back to school, there was never a time when I saw him smiling. Unless he was around his friends. Any other time he just seemed more annoyed about everything.

"Her name is Cho." I told him, figuring it would probably be best to leave him alone and get to my class. Aizawa didn't even look up to me, his eyes were completely fixed on the cat. I was lowkey jealous that he got to stay and cuddle MY cat. Maybe I was highkey jealous. Who knew.

"I heard that." he just said, as I grabbed my fresh cup of coffee and headed over to the table to grab my bag. I should have left like 2 minutes ago already, but I couldn't just let that opportunity pass by.

"Seems she likes you. She's usually pretty shy." I remarked, as I made my way out of the staff room.

"Does she get along with other cats?" I heard him say when I was just about to shut the door behind me. I walked back a few steps, leaning in the door frame, looking at the face poking out of the yellow sleeping bag on which little Cho was now peacefully sleeping. I shrugged quickly.

"I don't know, never had another cat with her. I found her on the side of the road, she was literally just a tiny kitten. Someone abandoned her there, that's all I know. Poor thing was almost dead." I replied.

"I see." was all Aizawa said to that. I was still standing in the door frame, wondering whether this conversation was going anywhere. He didn't say anything else, so I slowly retreated back into the hallway. I was already really late for my class anyway. I couldn't believe he had managed to keep me for that long.

I took another sip from my coffee mug once the door had closed behind me, mostly because I was worried I'd spill it all over myself if I attempted walking with a full cup of coffee. I glanced at the clock on the other side of the hall. Shit. I was already like 5 minutes late. By the time I would find my classroom, it would probably be 10 minutes. This really wasn't a great first impression.

Not that me being completely unprepared for the lesson would be a better impression, but still. At least now I didn't have to improvise as much. Silver linings and all that. I took another deep breath and started walking in the direction of where I thought the room was. This school was changed around every year and while it was kinda cool when I was young and had a fresh brain, it was driving me insane right now.

After turning a few corners, I was fairly certain that I had found the right room. I got in close to the door and I could hear a good bit of noise. I could barely blame them, I was really late for class. When I was in high school I would have been the same way, especially when it came to speculation whether this meant we could all head home. With a big smile on my face, I opened the door quickly and heard the class quiet down within seconds. Good, at least I didn't have to tell them.

"Good morning, class." I greeted them.

"Good morning!" they answered more or less in unison. I gave them a smile, as they sat down. I let my eyes wander over the students. They all looked fairly inconspicuous, there were really only two that stood out to me. One of them had an elaborate hair-do and the biggest chin I had ever seen in my life. The other one had messy purple hair and looked about as tired as I felt.

"Sorry, I'm late, I had an important discussion with the Principal. My name is Takahashi Akane and I'm your Science teacher. Let's do attendance first, alright?" I said to them and pulled out the list of students. As I went through the whole routine of roll call, I realized that this would be a very, very long day.