Dinner went by quicker than you had expected. The students spent most of the time asking you about your quirk and the different times they'd seen you in the field. Eventually, though, after the food had run out and the topics of conversation ran dry, the students began to head to bed. You gave them each a smile and a wave as they left. 

Throughout dinner, you'd kept letting your gaze drift to the quiet teacher sitting at the opposite side of the table. He hadn't said much, only really scolding the students here and there or providing advice and answering questions about school. He was always short and to the point, never speaking any more than he had to. It made you think that perhaps he didn't like social situations like these, which was why you kept looking at him; to check if he was okay, scan his body language to see if he wanted to leave. You knew you didn't have to, of course. He was a fully grown adult; he'd leave if he wanted to. 

"What?" In all your thoughts, you hadn't realized that the students had all left and it was only you and Aizawa at the table. You hadn't been staring at him, but your gaze was locked in his vague direction. 

"Oh, nothing," you shook your head. "sorry." 

He shook his head just slightly and dropped his gaze from yours. "You kept looking at me during dinner. Why?"

Your eyes widened a bit. You hadn't expected him to notice that. You did it to most people and pretty often, but no one ever noticed. Or, if they did, they never mentioned it. "I'm sorry, I hope it didn't make you uncomfortable-"

"You don't have to apologize." He cut in before letting you continue. 

"It's a habit, I guess. I don't know you super well yet, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I just thought you didn't maybe like social situations like this so much. So, I kept glancing at you to see if you were uncomfortable or wanted to leave." You took a deep breath, pushing your chair back and getting up. You walked over to the kitchen, suddenly feeling his gaze on your back. 

"So you were reading me to make sure I wasn't uncomfortable," he murmured, "what would you have done if I was?" 

You grabbed two mugs and began rummaging through the cabinets. "Do you know where the tea is?"

You heard his chair scrape against the wooden floor, followed by the thud of his gentle footsteps. He came to a stop behind you, reaching above your head to open a cabinet. "Here." He took a step back and leaned against the counter.

"Thanks," You shuddered a bit from your previous closeness. "I probably would've either found some covert way of asking if you were okay and/or got up and made some excuse to leave, so you could too." You quickly made some tea for the both of you, handing him a mug and leaning against the counter to drink your own. 

He hummed quietly, pulling his scarf down to take a sip of his tea. "I see." 

"You're pretty observant," you let your gaze trail up to the ceiling. "Most people don't notice that I do that."

"Occupational hazard." He kept his eye trained on you. "You notice everything, all of the time."

"How does that feel?" You dropped your eyes to meet his. 

"Exhausting." He grumbled and took another sip of the tea. "Thanks for this, by the way." 

"Oh, yeah, no problem." You gave him a smile. 

"I'd heard you were a lot more..." he paused, "energetic than this."

A soft laugh fell past your lips. "Is that your way of saying that you thought I'd be annoying?" 

He glanced away, awkwardly fixing his scarf. "Maybe." 

You giggled softly, shaking your head. "I guess my reputation precedes me." You shrugged. "I can be really upbeat, especially when I'm on the field. I just felt like it was the only way to match my quirk. If I'm a light hero, I should bring the light in all situations, right?"

"You don't have to." Aizawa looked back over at you. "Don't give yourself some duty that you don't need to have, it's only going to weigh on you. Look at All Might." He sighed, "If you don't want to be bright, then don't."

"I'm not right now, am I?" You gave a quick half-smile out of habit. You weren't very good at serious conversations, or keeping a straight face during them. 

"Sure, if you say so." He clearly didn't think you were being completely yourself and he wasn't wrong. It was habit for you now. You were constantly trying to make sure you were happy and smiling, no matter what. And, even when you were more relaxed, that fact was sewn in your every move. 

"What's with the whole gloomy thing?" You rose a brow after a short silence. "You know, the black clothes, barely talking, never smiling."

Aizawa seemed to scoff or snort or something of the sort. "It's just how I am. Always have been." 

You thought you'd messed up, annoyed him or offended him with your question, which would make sense now that you thought about it. "Sorry, that was a bad question. I shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine." He met your eyes as if to prove his sincerity. 

Another silence settled over you both. You sipped your tea, looking out the window as the moon glittered above. "It's pretty..." You set your mug down and wandered over to the window, watching the stars intently. 

There was the quiet sound of footsteps approaching, but they stopped a few feet from you. "Yeah." His voice was quiet, softer somehow. 

A few minutes passed like that, silently looking out the window. "It's late, isn't it?" 

"Mhm." He hummed in response. "Heading to bed?"

"Maybe." You turned to the dark haired man. "Say, Aizawa, what do you think about going out somewhere tomorrow?"

"No." Came his flat response and he immediately turned to leave.

"Aw, come on, wait," you reached out and set your hand on his shoulder. He turned to look back at you as you began to speak. "it's our last day off before school starts. Let's get breakfast or dinner or something. I'd like to get to know you better."

He grumbled under his breath, about to say something when you mentioned it was the last day off before school started, but he let you finish. After a moment, he sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Fine."

"Should we invite-"

"No or I'm not going." Aizawa started off towards his room. 

You laughed softly. "Understood. I'll see you tomorrow, Aizawa." 

He only lifted his hand in goodbye, disappearing down the hall.