Chapter 07
Eri

"Where is he?"

"Don't worry about it. He should be here any minute."

"But it's been a minute six times already."

He holds back a snort at that statement. Though to be honest he does find it quite humorous. He purposely makes his footsteps louder as me makes his way to the common room (he's an underground hero; he needs to keep his footsteps silent, and sneaking up on Mic and his kids are just added bonus) even though he doesn't need to since his companion's footsteps are already loud enough.

The other day his female kids (he can't deny it anymore, they're his kids) decided to have a sleepover in the common room. No, he wasn't eavesdropping; he was passing by to grab coffee from the kitchen. He definitely did not wait around the corner to eavesdrop and use the coffee as an excuse.

Somewhere along the way, between the kitchen and his journey back to his room, he agreed to join them in their sleepover. He doesn't remember how but surprisingly he is not against that idea. And besides, this is an opportunity for him to take. Not for him, but for his companion.

His kids look up when they hear him entering the common room and smile with joy seeing that he did come. Then their eyes trail to his companion and their smiles widen even bigger.

"Eri-chan!"

Eri smiles back at them shyly, even giving a timid wave.

Yes, this sleepover will be good for her. Eri needs to socialize. Bringing her to this sleepover is a good decision, killing two birds with one stone.

"Mr. Aizawa, why didn't you tell us you'd bring Eri-chan with us?" Mina squeals, crouching in front of the little girl and smiles widely at her.

"Is that why you wanted to join us?" Uraraka asks him, now taking resident beside Mina.

"Eri-chan, you look very cute!"

"I had not seen you for a while!"

"How have you been, Eri-chan?"

"I missed you, Eri-chan."

The girls are crowding at his feet, cooing and squealing around Eri. Then, he feels a small hand tightens on his pant. He looks down at her just in time to see her shrinking, retreating behind his leg almost hugging it, causing him to rumble in displeasure.

"Hey," he lets out with a low threatening growl. The girls instantly shut up and stiffen. They look up at him glaring at them with red eyes and floating hairs. "You're crowding her," he points out as he bends down to picks up Eri and hoister her to his hips. Instantly her hands grip his shirt tightly, leaning into his chest for silent comfort.

They all stand up and have a look of shame on their faces, rightfully so. He takes in a deep breath, ready to scold them before swallows it down. He releases a long sigh and closes his eyes, turning off his quirk and letting his hair falls.

They don't need a scolding, especially on the beginning of their sleepover that they are excited about. He's not going to ruin the mood.

"Next time, don't do it again," he says instead, opening his eyes and glares at them with much lesser heat behind it. They nod their head with a chorus of "Yes, Mr. Aizawa" together. He nods his head before turning his attention to the little girl in his arms.

Eri is still holding onto his shirt, though less tight than before. She is looking at them with hesitant eyes.

"Eri," he says gently. "Do you want to get down?" he asks. She locks eyes with him and bites her lips hesitantly. Her hand on his shirt tightens and she shakes her head. "Alright then," he sighs.

Eri is never shy around his kids, but he guesses the crowding earlier had really overwhelmed her. Not quite a good start for her, not quite to what he had planned from the beginning. Thankfully, one of his kids has come to the rescue.

"Eri-chan, do you want to help me bake cupcakes?" Uraraka steps forward as the rest had back away and gave them space. That peaks Eri's interest, seeing how her eyes light up.

"Cupcakes?" she says, unfamiliar with the word. Then she gives him an inquisitive look, silently asking him for answers.

"They are like cakes, but smaller," he provides gently. Now Eri has a look of amazement, interested. She turns back to Uraraka to answer her question but quickly stops herself. Then she looks back at him, a silent permission. He nods his head.

"Yes please," Eri answers, looking back at Uraraka once more. Uraraka claps her hands cheerfully before making her way to the kitchen. He follows her with Eri still in his arms.

"You got everything?" he asks Uraraka even though he knows that he had secretly stocked everything up the day before yesterday.

"Yep! Everything's here." Uraraka spares him and Eri a smile before she takes out a bowl, a whisk and everything related. He pulls the nearest chair to Uraraka and gently sets Eri down on it. Thankfully she is recovered from earlier.

He does not seat far, wanting to keep a close eye on them, and a closer one on Eri. Thankfully, alongside with Eri, he brings his work along with him.

He notices Tsuyu is staying close to Eri. Silently he relaxes knowing there is another person there for Eri.

"Mr. Aizawa, why?" he hears Ashido whines beside him. He glances at her from the corner of his eyes, noticing the pout on her lips as she glares at the grading papers. He didn't answer, merely taking out his glasses and starts getting to work.

"Ms. Ochaco, where do you learn to bake cupcake?"

"I had some help."

He didn't miss the fond smile on Uraraka's lips.

He pretends he didn't see her eyes flicker towards him for a split second.

His heart is not swelling.

"This isn't the usual grading papers."

He snaps his head to the side to see Ashido holding a thin colorful book in her hand. He grabs it out from her hand and slaps it on her head, causing her to yelp.

"Get your nose out of your teacher's business," he tells her. She even had the audacity to look through his papers, and thankfully she grabbed none of it. She pouts as she rubs her head where he had slapped her. "This is for Eri's," he tells her as he holds the book up. "She needs a small catchup before she starts school soon."

"I can teach her!" Ashido exclaims brightly. He narrows his eyes at her, skeptical but she gives him a confident smile. He hums before nodding his head.

"Eri," he calls out. The little girl looks up in the middle of frosting the finished cupcake – sloppy and messy but she looks like she is having fun – and gazes at him with wide questioning eyes. "Once you're done and all cleaned up, Ashido here will teach you."

"Okay," Eri nods. She finishes on the current cupcake before handing the plastic bag to Uraraka. She carefully climbs down the chair with Asui's help and heads over to the sink to wash her hand under Asui's supervision. Then she quickly rushes to where Ashido sits.

The pink girl decides to reside the seat right next to him and Eri sits next to her. He makes sure to put his grading papers away from Ashido's prying eyes even though she is busy with Eri, but he's not taking any chances.

He is impressed at her teaching skill but not surprise.

Tsuyu is the furthest away, sitting silently on the other side of Eri. He curiously glances at her before going back to his work.

"You can teach very well, Ms. Mina," he hears Eri speaks up, momentarily distracted from her work.

"Well, I have great teacher who taught me everything," Ashido giggles. He feels her elbow nudges into his slightly, almost intentionally than accidentally, but he ignores it.

And no, his heart is not swelling again. It's defin-

"Sing me a song, you're a singer. Do me a wrong you're a bringer of e-"

The ringtone surprises him slightly but he does not show. He almost reaches for his phone if he had not remembered that he had put it on silence earlier, which means it is someone else's phone.

"Ms. Kyouka?"

"Yes, Eri-chan?"

"What was that?"

"It was my phone, Eri-chan."

"The song… it sounds familiar."

"Well, someone recommended it to me not too long ago."

"Oohh."

"It's great. His taste in music is great as well."

He hides his snort by blowing his hair from his eyes. But, hearing Jiro smothering her chuckles and Tsuyu's giggles, he failed.

No, his heart is not swelling.

"Guys," Hagakure whines drawly, sprawling onto the empty space on the table next to him with a light bang, right on top of the papers. It startles Eri but a quick comfort from Tsuyu calms her down.

He is thankful of her.

"Are we done yet? I want to watch some movies already," Hagakure continues, still whining.

"In a bit," Uraraka answers. "I just need to cook up some popcorn."

"Mind turning on the pot for me, Uraraka?" he asks. He had been meaning to brew some coffee but his kids momentarily distract him from it.

"Yes, Mr. Aizawa!" Uraraka answers cheerfully, already making her way to the pot.

"Uhmm… Ms. Toru… right?" he hears Eri starts hesitantly.

"That's right, Eri-chan!"

"I like your shirt. It's really nice."

"Thank you! I got some incredible feedbacks to pick out my clothes!" Hagakure giggles.

He feels a (invisible) hand squeezes his forearm slightly before it goes away. He huffs, blowing his hair from his eyes while pushing up his glasses.

His heart definitely did not swell this time.

"Shouta?"

"Yes, Eri?"

"Do you want to tie your hair? You kept blowing it away from your eyes. Is it bothering you?"

Bless her sweet heart. She's very perspective.

"Do you want to tie my hair, Eri?" He asks as he puts down his red pen and turns toward her. Thankfully Ashido has the decency to know to lean back so Eri could look at him better.

"Yes please."

"Alright."

Tsuyu already brings a chair behind him before either of them could move. Once more, he is thankful of her. She holds Eri steady while she starts to braid his hair. Seeing how he has free time, he grabs his red pen once more and returns back to his work.

"Eri-chan, would you like me to braid your hair?" he hears Yaoyorozu asks behind him. He doesn't need to turn around to see Eri's permission and nods his head (carefully or else he might mess up her work that she is currently working on).

"Yes please."

He hums internally. He wonders how the three of them look right now. With Yaoyorozu braiding Eri's hair while Eri braiding his it must be quite a sight.

He hears other girls coo and croon at them, hears a few snaps of their phone and giggles. He ignores them and focuses on his work.

And when he asks for those photos later it is very definitely for Eri. It is definitely not for him.

"It is finished."

"Done!"

He forcefully swallows to cover the small curl on his lips when he hears two simultaneous answers. He feels Eri letting go of his hair, now braided beautifully. He knows so because all of her works are beautiful in his eyes.

"Ms. Momo, your braid looks pretty," he hears Eri voicing out. He guesses she is currently inspecting her hair.

"Thank you, Eri-chan!"

"It looks… familiar."

"I learned from the best."

"Ooh."

He releases a silent snort while keeping busy with his task at hand.

"Mr. Aizawa."

"Yeah?"

"Will you braid mine?"

"Sure." He had already put down his pen before he even gave her his verbal answer. He stands up and approaches Yaoyorozu who turns around to present her hair, now loose from its usual ponytail. He quickly but elegantly weaves her hair into a braid and ties it with the offered tie.

"Thanks, Mr. Aizawa." Yaoyorozu turns around and gives him a warm smile when he is finished.

It almost makes his heart swell. Almost.

"Why are you always staying very close, Ms. Tsuyu?" he hears Eri saying. He turns and watches as Asui helps her getting off the chair safely. Honestly, he is wondering that himself.

"Because being alone is not good, Eri-chan."

Well, that is good enough answer he guesses. He returns back to his seat and picks up his red pen once more. There are still quite a lot more to go.

"But I am not alone."

"It's okay to have someone close nonetheless."

"…Have you felt lonely lately, Ms. Tsuyu?"

"…Yes… But…"

Hearing Tsuyu pauses, he turns and looks up at them and sees Tsuyu gazing at him, openly smiling at him.

"I got comforted by the best person ever."

Damn it, it is getting hard to not get his heart swell.

"Guys, hurry up or I'm starting the movie without you," he hears Hagakure calls out from the common room.

"Don't you dare!" Mina rebates as she dashes to the common room. The rest soon follows except for Asui and Eri, both are looking at him.

"Mr. Aizawa, you're not joining us?"Asui asks. He grunts before turning back to his work.

"I'll bring the popcorn once it is ready," he replies instead, shuffling some papers around and takes out the right one.

"So you're not joining us?"

"I'll sit this one out."

"You're not watching movies with us, Shouta?" he halts in his movement when he hears Eri voice.

"…for now."

"Okay."

.

There had been a heated debate earlier. Ms. Tsuyu had reassured her that it was non-threatening and that this happened every time. Ms. Mina was shouting about "disc knee" while Ms. Toru shouted "dream works". When Ms. Ochaco said something about "illuminate" all she got was pure silence that she blushed heavily and backed down.

Everyone finally agreed to first watch disc knee, which Eri found out it is actually called "Disney", or is it backward Gisney? Nonetheless she watches the movie with captured eyes, fully engrossed with childish attention. She had never watched this movie before; maybe she will ask Shouta to buy her one for her to watch at home.

But then, a foreign word catches her attention. She doesn't know what it means, but it could mean something special seeing how the younger character in the movie uses it to refer the older character. She turns to the other occupant of the couch (she sits in the middle) and shakes her arm to gain her attention.

"Ms. Momo?"

"Yes, Eri-chan?" the black haired girl turns her head away from the movie to give Eri her full attention. Eri should also mention that there was another argument on who gets to sit on the couch that is directly in front of the television. Eri, Ms. Momo and Ms. Mina had earned their place (though everyone gave the middle spot to Eri nonetheless).

"What is a "dad"?"

It seems Ms. Momo is not the only one freezes at her question. Eri looks around in concern when everyone in the room gives her a look she could not recognize. When Ms. Toru pauses the movie, Eri starts to panic.

"Hey, it's okay," Ms. Momo quickly reassures her with a soft smile, seemingly noticed her panic.

"Should I not say it?" she asks hesitantly, still looking around with concern, but Ms. Tsuyu's kind reassuring smile relaxes her a little bit.

"No, there is nothing wrong with it. It's just… it surprised us," Ms. Momo clarifies.

"So it's okay if I ask?"

"Perfectly fine."

"Okay… What is a "dad", Ms. Momo?" Eri asks again now calm enough to know that everyone did not mean harm. Suddenly, everyone gathers around the couch but enough to give her plenty of space to breathe.

"A dad is…" Ms. Momo starts hesitantly, and then her lips pressed into a thin line before she speaks again. "A dad is, at its simplest, is someone who looks after you and cares for you."

"Ooh?"

"A dad is someone who you feel safe, someone who you equate to safety, secure," Ms. Mina tells her with a wide smile. Eri looks at her with a tilted head.

"Someone I feel safe? Like, Mr. Izuku?"

"No. Well, yes but… no…?" Ms. Mina looks lost for words very quickly.

"A dad is someone who you trust fully without any doubt," Ms. Ochaco picks up the conversation. Eri turns her head towards her with same curious look as before. "Yes, it's like De- Mr. Izuku, but more."

"More?"

"Yes, he is someone special, someone who is there for you." Eri watches as Ms. Ochaco's smile turns fond before she giggles. "He is someone who will teach you how to cook even though he himself doesn't know how to, so you two learn together."

"He is someone who will guide you when you are feeling lost and helpless," Ms. Mina adds as Ms. Ochaco giggles some more.

"He is someone who is there for you when no one else can," Jirou supplies fondly with a soft smile that Eri has never seen on her before.

"He is someone who you can trust, even with fashion sense!" Ms. Toru poses, gesturing her shirt that Eri complimented earlier.

"He is someone who will share his knowledge so you could grow." Ms. Momo touches her braided hair fondly. Eri is a little confused at this action. Maybe there is something more to the braid?

"He is some who you can call… home." Ms. Tsuyu has a soft smile; she seems to be lost in a memory seeing how her eyes faded slightly.

"Even though at times he can be pretty sh-"

"Shh!"

"So he's… special and important?" Eri asks, not quite sure of what a "dad" is. They seem to describe a different person but it is actually just one. Can just one person do that many?

"He is someone pretty special. He is the one who you trust the most. He's the person who you go to when you are facing a problem. He is someone who can make all your problems go away with a single gaze."

Eri widens her eyes, now finally realizing.

'A gaze… that can make problems… go away…'

Eri reaches up and grasps her horn.

.

"Eri-chan?" Momo calls out when the little girl stays quiet for a long time, with a hand on her horn. She looks at everyone else in the room, sharing their concern with her. Then, she suddenly gets off the couch before quietly pads away from them and to the kitchen. Everyone shares a look once more before following her.

They stay at the doorway and watch silently as Eri walks over to Aizawa, who is sitting at one of the many chairs around the dining table, with a fresh mug of coffee beside him. The man stops whatever he is doing with the papers in front of him and turns his attention to the girl staring up at him.

Eri is saying something to him that they couldn't hear from where they are, too far and too quiet. What they can see is Aizawa's reaction.

They could see him stiffen as his eyes widen in disbelief. The pen he is holding clatters onto the table as his hands shake. Then, slowly, he reaches down and picks up Eri to put her on his lap before hugging her tightly. Eri hugs back just as tightly.

The girls croon quietly, touched and tearing up at such a beautiful sight.

They don't know what the exchange was, but they have the general idea.

.

"OH MY GOODNESS!"

The entire class shakes at the loud voice, causing everyone to flinch in surprise.

"What riled Present Mic up this early in the morning?" one of them wonders out loud before the chattering fills the classroom once more. Soon enough, right on time as usual, the classroom door slides open and everyone is instantly back to their seats. Their homeroom teacher walks in but he's not alone.

"Eri-chan!" everyone cheers, all smiling widely. The white haired girl smiles back at them and their hearts instantly melts.

"Mr. Aizawa! Why are you bringing Eri-chan to class?"

"I'll get to that," he answers before he leans down to Eri's height. "Why don't you introduce yourself to everyone?" he asks the little girl, much to her and everyone's confusion.

"But everyone knows who I am," she says, tilting her head to the side.

"Do it either way. At least people will recognize you more now that you have a full name."

"Okay!"

Everyone shares a confused look with each other, clueless, as Eri steps forward and to the middle of the class. She bows respectfully with a wide happy smile.

"Good morning, it is nice to meet you! My name is Eri Aizawa!"

The classroom explodes.

Well that's the end for this fic, I had blast writing each chapter except for the last chapter. It's all over the place and not quite a fitting end but I tried. I still love it though.

I have no plan to make "He Has No Sons" because I find it more complicated. I do have two plans for future Dadzawa fics. One is coming along nicely and the other... I'm already dying before starting.

See ya

Uncle RJ