I'm With You (Aizawa x OC)

Chapter Nine

This time Aizawa was the one to furrow his eyebrows together, "What medicine? We have plenty of that here. She could have helped herself to whatever."

He wondered if maybe she felt uncomfortable asking him for anything. Was he that intimidating to confront? All she needed to do was ask. He has anything she could possibly need and if he didn't, he could get it.

"When we went to get ice cream yesterday, she saw one of her old friends and..." Eri's words trailed off as her eyes widened, quickly filling with realization of her slip up. She slapped her hands over her mouth to prevent her from saying anything more.

"What friend?" Aizawa followed up, his expression suddenly changing from confusion to speculation. What was she up to? He narrowed his eyes at the young girl in front of him.

Eri shook her head, eyes still wide as she tried to backtrack. "I..uh..I don't know..." her eyes darted around the room, looking everywhere but at him.

Aizawa's eye twitched in irritation, his anger building. Why was she being dishonest? "Eri, you know how I feel about liars." He stated coldly. He lifted his head up to glare down at her.

The color drained from her face, panic and dread settled deep in her chest. Her shoulders slumped forward and she cowered down, "They can't be trusted." She whispered and he nodded slowly. Hot tears began to spill over her lids from his intense glare. A small strangled sob escaped her lips as she broke down.

"I didn't mean to tell you that!" She cried. "She told me not to tell you and I did! She's my friend and I betrayed her. She's going to hate me now, isn't she?" She yelled, her voice becoming more distressed as the anxiety from the situation started to weigh down on her shoulders.

Aizawa's arms crossed over his chest again. "What happened?"

The small horn perched on Eri's forehead began to pulse slightly and shine a bright yellow. "Please don't make her go away! She told me she would have to leave if you found out."

Aizawa felt like he was punched in the gut. His glare softened slightly at Eri's distraught face. He wanted to bring her close and comfort her but he needed to know what really happened yesterday. Surely, this was a big misunderstanding.

"You need to tell me the truth, Eri. What did you see?" He asks sternly before his eyes light up a bright red, canceling her quirk.

Her horn receded back in her forehead and she looked up at him through her lashes, small whimpers slipping through her lips as she sniffled.

"She saw her old friend yesterday when we were running errands. She got medicine from him. I waited for her across the street while I ate my ice cream." Her lip quivered as more tears threatened to pour out. "After she left him, she told me if you found out she'd have to go away and I'd never see her again..."

Aizawa clenched his teeth. He wasn't stupid. He knew she wasn't buying medicine from that person. A short and bitter laugh left his mouth. That woman, no that criminal, had not only broken his rules, but she manipulated Eri to break his rules.

Anger bubbled in his veins. He felt like time stopped at the realization that he was wrong about Kazu. She played him like a damn fiddle. What did he expect though? She was a liar and a thief. He knew better than to trust a criminal.

Still, he felt an ache in his chest. Betrayal. Hurt. That was his fault though for allowing her to invade his mind and for stupidly believing she was just a misunderstood girl who's childhood was taken from her. His eyes closed as he knew what he needed to do. She had to leave, and now.

"How would you like to spend the day with Mirio today?" He inquires, attempting to hide his hostility as much as he could.

The attempt was useless to subside the anxiety and guilt Eri was currently feeling. Her hands clenched into fists in her lap. She looked down as more tears ran down her soaked cheeks. She nodded her head slowly, "Okay..." she whispered. She knew nothing she would say could fix her mistake.