Notes: Thanks to Preussenlied on AO3 and the Kacchako Discord of all places for sucking me into this. Okay, so originally this was supposed to be just smut, but then I kept writing scenes to set the smut and then some more and... Look, we should all know by now that I'm a hot mess. Decided to just turn this into a one-shot and make the NSFW stuff separate. I love EraserMic a boat load, but I am weak for rarepairs and we should all know that by now as well. Aizawa is in need of some good love and teasing. Thanks for the inspiration, Kenzie!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Shota might have been experiencing brain damage after getting struck in the head by a villain in the middle of the fight, but there was something about the way Emi took down that last one that stood out to him. Maybe it was the way the sun shone behind her, glaringly bright, or the blood dripping from her split lip as she laughed and beamed when she knocked the third villain into submission. It was a mesmerizing sight.

They'd both taken their fair share of hits on this one, having been caught unawares on their day off. With their agencies so close to each other, it stood that they frequented the same places. He'd just wanted to get some coffee in peace while she'd been at the bodega across the street when the villains decided to not-so subtly rob a bank by blowing a hole in the back. It was their day off, yes, but they were the closest pro heroes on the scene.

He had caught eyes with her as she dropped her groceries and had known right then and there that, separate agencies and all their differences aside, they would take together to take the villains down. She was wearing a long skirt, for shit's sake, but that hadn't stopped her from doing her job and a damn good job she had done. It was hard not to be impressed by her, especially the way she never let anything get her down. He'd known that, even if he couldn't see her, as long as he could still hear her laughing, she was doing just fine.

To be honest, Shota had never considered himself to be compatible with Emi in any way, seeing as how she had made it her mission to make him laugh with or without the use of her quirk and he was in no mood to entertain her. She came off as careless and silly with her forward behavior and constant jokes. However, they'd made a great team. Both of them had been a disadvantage without any of their hero gear, but they had made it work until the cops arrived. It wasn't their support gear that made them heroes, after all, or even their quirks.

Emi was standing on the sidewalk now, running her fingers through her seafoam green hair, which was now covered in dust. She took a deep breath, blowing out some air and a bit of her hair from her face, before cleaning the blood off her face. His eyes caught onto the action without thinking, watching intensely as she parted her lips and swiped her thumb across her soft lips, taking the blood with it.

He was young and stupid and still filled with the rush of adrenaline from the fight. It would make anyone hot-blooded and think foolish things. So he didn't think much of it as he stared her down in that moment and wondered what it would be like if he bit her lip and ran his tongue along the same path as her thumb.

"Oh, Eraser," Emi said, stirring him from his very focused thoughts, "you keep giving me that look and I'm going to think that you wanna take me home with you."

There was a huge smirk on her face, one that pulled at her busted lip and caused it to bleed all over again. Her skirt was torn up past her knees and the buttons on her blouse had been torn off to reveal a white camisole underneath. She was dusty from the explosions in the bank and her hair was an utter mess. None of it should have been attractive and yet it undeniably was.

Still, Shota did not like being called out like that and he killed any sort of heat in his eyes. Putting a bored scowl on his face, he buried his hands in his pockets, slouched over, and turned away from her partially. "Don't say stupid things like that for everyone to hear."

"It's okay," Emi laughed. "I know how irresistible I must look to you right now."

"No thanks," Shota grumbled. He did not need this right now. All he'd wanted was coffee and some peace and quiet. Now, after dealing with three villains, he had to deal with the police on top of Emi with her painfully bright personality. Despite the fact that the villains were taken care of, his entire body felt pulled with tension and in desperate need of release. He was going to need a cold shower and a nap after this mess. So much for his day off.

He chanced a look back at Emi, who was talking with a bank teller. Even though she was shaken up at having been taken hostage, she was smiling thankfully at Emi now. It occurred to him without even using his quirk on her that she wasn't using hers to comfort the teller. No, that was just who she was.

He did not need this at all.

The idea of having a going away party sounded absolutely dreadful to Shota, but apparently his soon-to-be former colleagues did not care one lick about what he thought. He would be missed at the agency and he would miss the freedom that it had granted him as an underground hero, but teaching at U.A. felt like the right decision. So many agencies relied on heroes with more physical and fighting based quirks. If his success was any clue, it was time to focus on others as well. Either that or he'd been tricked by Nemuri.

He had definitely been tricked by Hizashi, something of which he didn't appreciate. When the man had convinced him to go out for drinks, he'd not specified that half his agency would be there as well. He didn't even work there, but it looked like he had made better friends with them than Shota ever had. Not that they weren't good people (they were) and not that he didn't think they were good heroes (they were), but he wasn't the friend-making type. He had the handful of people that he liked and he stuck with them.

Another problem that Shota was almost certain Hizashi had created was that a few heroes from the neighboring agency was there, including Emi. Somehow, the moment he had realized what his friend had done, he knew that she would be there. Oh, no, she couldn't miss out on this. She wouldn't dare not go to Eraserhead's going away party, not when there was a sliver of a chance for drunken shenanigans.

No way in hell was Shota going to get drunk - he didn't like the way it felt or how blurry it made his gaze - but that still didn't mean nothing stupid could happen. If Hizashi was involved, there was always a high possibility that something would happen. Throw Emi into the picture as well and it was guaranteed recipe for disaster.

It was no surprise that by the end of the night Hizashi had dragged half of the party into singing karaoke and the other half onto the dancefloor. He had a talent with people and getting them to do ridiculous things that Shota couldn't possibly understand. Just as he had suspected, adding Emi into the mix made things ten times worse. She used her quirk here and there, but for the most part, her forward and joking personality combined with Hizashi's loud and silly one meant that no one was spared. It took all of his stealth skills as a pro-hero to remain on the sidelines nearly the entire night.

What was a surprise though was that, also by the end of the night, Shota found his gaze roving over to Emi more and more. Compared to a lot of the other women in the bar tonight, she wasn't wearing anything special: a green top, slim-fit jeans, and some boots. Her hair was down, falling in her face whenever she hopped around on the dancefloor. She wasn't that great of a dancer, but that didn't seem to be the point. When others had been too shy to dance or to sing, she had jumped up first, always willing to make a fool of herself so that others were more comfortable.

The few drinks he'd had must have dulled his senses because he didn't look away from her in time before Emi turned around and caught eyes with him. Shota scowled into his drink, but didn't glance away as she sauntered towards him since he'd already been caught. He hadn't been staring and maybe he had been trying to avoid her all night, but it was too late now. She hopped over to him, light on her feet despite the boots, until she was right in front of him.

"Hey, you better buy a girl a drink before you give her a look like that," Emi teased.

"I wasn't looking at you like anything," Shota mumbled. "You were being loud and drew my attention for a moment."

Emi quirked an eyebrow at him. "No way, those were bedroom eyes if I've ever seen them. I'm pretty sure you were undressing me with your eyes."

"I don't think so," Shota replied stiffly. His train of thought had been more along the lines of what her body would feel like against his. Those jeans were far too form-fitting. She wore such baggy pants in her hero costume. He'd known, on a purely analytical level, that Emi was an attractive woman, but seeing her tonight in this low light had made him realize that there were plenty of other people in this bar whose eyes were being drawn to her. He didn't dislike it, but he didn't like it either.

He blamed Hizashi for getting him this last drink that was messing with his head. Also, watching her tie a cherry stem with her tongue a few minutes ago hadn't helped.

When Emi stepped closer into his personal space, Shota stiffened, but he didn't move. He narrowed his eyes as she stared up at him, her smile far too innocent for how close she was to him. "If you want to get out of here…" She didn't touch him, even though she was only a few inches away from him. She didn't touch him, even though she could have and he was right there and she was right there. He could feel the warmth coming from her body. It would have been so easy to set his drink down and put his hands on her hips and pull her closer.

"Stop messing around," Shota told her, his voice far gruffer than he would've liked.

A grin slid onto her red wine-stained lips. "You know, sometimes you're no fun."

"So I've been told," Shota deadpanned, still not looking away from her.

Emi opened her mouth to respond, but whatever she had to say was interrupted by Nemuri blowing out of nowhere and sweeping her away, demanding a dance with her. Shota took a breath and knocked back the rest of his drink, the ice clinking against the glass. He didn't know whether to be grateful or not, but judging from the way his and Emi's eyes kept meeting each other for the rest of the night, he wouldn't find out any time soon.

He didn't buy her a drink and he certainly didn't undress her. Not like he wanted to do those things anyway. In a week, he'd be gone and it was unlikely that they'd cross paths again, at least not for a long time. Both of them knew that and neither of them fought it. That was just the nature of being pro heroes.

"I didn't figure you for a teacher," he told her.

She laughed. "What can I say? I'm a woman of many talents." Without missing a beat, she leaned over and nudged him in the side. "You'd know that if you went on a date with me."

Shota rolled his eyes at the obvious joke. Emi had been teasing him like this for as long as he could remember. Always jokes about the two of them going on dates, being star-crossed lovers at opposite agencies, how he'd been hiding a thing for her for years. He neither had time for dates nor some absurd romance. Maybe other heroes did, but he'd never really considered it for his future. No, his life had always revolved around the job and he was fine with it most days.

Today was one of those off days, which was probably why he'd agreed to meeting up with Emi after the provisional hero license. It was not a date. She knew that. He knew that. This was lunch with a fellow teacher.

As aggravating as she could be and as much as she'd embarrassed him in front of his class, she was a hero that he could respect, even more so now that he had seen her class. They were good students, just not as seasoned as his class. Then again, none of the other students taking the test this year could admit that they'd faced fully fledged villains not once but twice without their teachers to help them.

"Why aren't you seeing anyone?" Shota asked. Not out of curiosity, but well… Emi wasn't like him. She was more like Hizashi and Nemuri. She was bright, kind, bubbly, sweet, friendly. She was open. People liked her. There was a reason she was so popular with the public. It didn't add up that she was single. Not that he knew her inside and out and it had been a while since they'd worked near each other, but he had a feeling that underneath all those jokes about dates and marriage, she did want those things.

And she deserved them. She was a good person.

"Besides my unrequited pining towards you?" Emi shrugged her shoulders. "It just hasn't been in the cards. I'm not gonna just throw myself at the first guy that shows interest in me."

"No, you pick the ones that don't," Shota said dryly.

"You're just in denial, sweetheart," Emi told him teasingly. She wagged a finger at him. "I've seen the way you look at me."

Shota bristled, but didn't rise to take the bait. She must have realized it and smiled. Somehow he knew from the softness of her smile that she wasn't going to push the joke any further. Maybe she'd calmed down in the past few years since he'd seen her, although she'd come off just as strong at the Provisional License Exam.

"Is it so hard to believe that I wanted to focus on my job?" Emi asked, sounding scarily close to being dead serious. He didn't believe it and narrowed his eyes This had to be a set up for a joke. She rolled her eyes at him, clearly amused that he was waiting for a trap. "After you got a job at U.A., I started to think about what I wanted to do with my life. A year later I got offered my teaching position and I took it and ran. I love my teaching. It's a lot of fun!"

"Teaching isn't supposed to be fun," Shota pointed out.

Emi waved a hand at that. "Not everyone is Mr. Hard Ass like you. We all have our different teaching methods. I'm sure Yamada teaches differently than you." She wasn't wrong there. They couldn't possibly be different teachers. There was a reason he didn't do English. He hated the class in school and he hated it after graduation. Hizashi loved to talk though, so it was perfect for him. "I love the kids. They're my life. Seeing them grow, helping them become heroes - I truly feel like I'm doing something for the future that isn't a complete joke."

"I don't believe it," Shota replied blandly.

"Okay, you got me there," Emi said with a huge grin on her face. "I mean, all those things are true. But could you have imagined me as a teacher back when we worked across the street from each other?" She laughed. "Almost as ridiculous as imagining you as one."

Shota sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know why I thought this was a good idea."

"Admit it, Eraser, you missed me," Emi teased. "This bubbly spirit, this bright smile, my shining eyes, my hilarious jokes-"

"Sounds like my worst nightmare," Shota interjected.

There was a tricky gleam in Emi's eyes that made him wary. "I'm a dream come true. That's why you asked me out today."

"This isn't a date," Shota reminded her sharply. How did she always manage to put him on edge? He couldn't decide whether he wanted to throw some money down and bolt or argue with her more, but he didn't like doing either of those things. His best option was to avoid her, but then he had been the one to call her in the first place. "I merely wanted to discuss a joint exercise with your classes."

"Pft, I don't see why it can't be both," Emi dismissed smoothly. "It is a good idea though. I'd like to teach them how to cooperate with rivals. They'll have to do that as pros with other agencies."

That was something that Shota could agree with. He would admit that in the beginning of his time as a pro he hadn't like to work with others. For the most part, he did a lot of solo work. It was the way he ran things. Being an underground hero usually meant long nights by himself. Emi was nearly the complete opposite; loud and bright as the sun, she stood out like a neon sign in the middle of the night even during the day, almost as bad as Hizashi.

The times they had worked together had been eventual and unusual. Despite their very extreme differences, he and Emi had made a surprisingly good team when it counted. She was one of the best at distracting villains so that he could erase their quirks; she could take them out and then he could secure them. They were effective, even if they didn't particularly get along. Well, she didn't seem to mind him at all, considering all the flirting, but he could still work with her even if she did drive him crazy.

His students, especially the more temperamental and loner ones, would do good to learn that.

Emi propped her elbows on the table and dropped her chin in her palms, eyeing him with mischief. "So why are you single?"

Shota folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his seat. "No comment."

The hallway was quiet except for the beeping monitors and quiet murmurs from the nurses. He'd always hated hospitals. Something about the sterile stiffness and bright whiteness of the place unsettled him. Since this last year, he had been in them far too often for his liking. He'd gotten badly injured before when he was an underground hero. One of Emi's favorite stories to retell was when she had found him in a dumpster in between their agencies. He had thought that his chance of getting hurt on the job would be considerably lower as a teacher.

Holy shit had he been wrong. These kids were going to be the death of him.

Surrounded by heroes for over half his life, Shota had visited hospitals often enough. He didn't like stepping foot in them and he wasn't the type to visit and leave flowers, but sometimes the occasion called for it and he went out of professional and common courtesy.

This was one of those times. When he'd heard that Ketsubutsu students had been targeted, his first thought had been that for once that it hadn't been U.A. in the news. His second thought had been Emi Fukukado. After that, he hadn't been able to think of anything else.

Ms. Joke was an unusual hero, all things considered with her Outburst quirk, but he was very confident in her abilities. He was also confident in his own and it hadn't stopped him from being severely injured while defending his students. It had only taken one very brief call to find out that she had been involved in the fight. She'd taken out ten villains on her own and saved the lives of a group of first year students and a handful of civilians.

And she was in the hospital due to complications from blood loss.

It was common courtesy that he visit her. He also hadn't had much of an option. The moment he got off the phone and told Hizashi and Nemuri the news they had all but demanded that they go visit. They had the time. Nemuri had been particularly insistent, even going so far as to shove him out of the school. He'd let them go first since they were so antsy, choosing to stay behind in the lobby.

He hated hospitals. He didn't want to be here. They made him uncomfortable, reminding him of the USJ Incident when he'd been bandaged up all over and unable to move for a full day even after Recovery Girl's quirk healed most of him. He had never been hurt so much before. The idea that something like that could happen to Emi…

With Hizashi satisfied with her health and Nemuri off to get a particular candy that Emi had been craving, that had left Shota to visit her. He opened the door to her room without any hesitation and stepped inside the room, which was, as he'd expected, filled to the brim with bright flowers and smiling balloons that broke the blandness of the hospital.

"Where're my flowers? My balloons? My chocolate?" Emi demanded cheerily from the bed.

Shota dug his hands into his pockets. "You seem too chipper to still be here. Playing hooky?"

"A cheery attitude is key to getting better sooner," Emi insisted, a big smile on her face. "That's why you're always bandaged up for days afterward. You're so sour."

Despite the smile and her cheeky comments, Shota spotted the difference in her immediately. She was much paler than he remembered, probably from the loss of blood, and there were dark bags under her eyes that were more reminiscent of him than her. There wasn't that usual gleam in her eyes either and her bright hair was tied in a loose side ponytail that he'd never seen her wear before. She wasn't one for sitting still either, but she sat in the bed with her hands folded in her lap over top a quilt from home. The hospital gown was blander than anything she owned.

But she was alive and looked fantastic.

"You look like hell," Shota said.

Emi smirked. "You sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself."

Shota grabbed the back of the chair next to her bed, pulling it back and then sitting in it. "What happened?"

"Turns out my jokes aren't for everyone," Emi told him, shrugging her shoulders. "Everyone's got a limit, you know?" She gave him a smile that even she couldn't hide was tight. "I mean, I know thanks to you that not everyone finds me funny, but I didn't think they'd stab me over it."

"Stabbed?"

"With a sword !" Emi exclaimed. "Out of all the things to take me out, medieval weaponry was not one of them."

Shaking his head at her, Shota sighed. "Fukukado…"

"I think we're on a first name basis after both nearly dying and all these years," Emi said. Truth be told, he was only on a first name basis with three people, preferring to keep things formal and distant with everyone else, but he could live with adding another person to the list. "Super sweet of you to come visit. Nemuri said you immediately called to check on me."

Shota honestly didn't have a response to that. He trusted in her abilities as a hero, but he could not deny being worried. He'd seen her take down villain four times as big as her. It didn't mean she couldn't get hurt though. Heroes weren't invincible. They could be hurt; they could even be killed. When he'd called, the teacher on the other end had hesitated since Emi had been in surgery at the time. For those three seconds of hesitation, Shota had pictured that his last words to Emi had been, "You can't be this desperate," and he'd felt sick to his stomach.

What a load of shit.

"It's okay," Emi said, leaning back against the bed and winking at him. "I won't tell anyone that you're a big softie on the inside."

He did not need this right now.