'No. Not under the influence.'

She looked at the man sitting behind the car wheel. The memories of Christmas Eve flooded her brain, showing her pictures she didn't want to see. At least not now.

As her cheeks slightly flushed, she turned her head away, attempting to focus on swiftly changing scenery from outside the window. Trying to regain clarity of mind, Mariko pushed herself to recognize as many brands of the passing cars, as she could. Her expression was focused, with eyesight bouncing from a vehicle to a vehicle.

Shota glanced at the woman from the corner of his eyes and placed his hand on top of a stick shift, unconsciously extending his ring and pinky fingers towards her leg. Their skin didn't touch, but both of them could have sworn to themselves, they felt a weird, magnetic pull towards each other.

Eraser changed the gear and placed his right hand back on the wheel, gripping it so tight, his knuckles whitened. Mariko pushed her body to the seat and awkwardly slapped her head on the bolster. She quickly glanced at Aizawa; his mouth twitched, as he barely stopped himself from a vicious smirk.

'Can we like... do something?' she asked eventually.

He made sure he can drive forward safely, then peeked at her questioningly from the corner of his eye. Her face was blushed and gaze intense.

'Like, put on some music or talk or something, please?'

'Do you have the word 'silence' in your dictionary?'

'I do, but I'm tired of it.'

'Is it uncomfortable?' he asked.

'No. Yes. Not exactly,' she answered. 'I am just... distracted.'

She turned her head away from him and connected her knees, then straightened her left leg and tilted it to the side, as if counting on another accidental touch. Her eyes slid across the window to her right, looking for invisible patterns to follow, to do something, anything, to stop her brain from displaying the images of Eraserhead hovering over her body in the middle of the night.

'You can put something on.'

From the corner of his eye, he noticed her head snap towards him.

'But what if you will not like it, sir?'

He shrugged.

'Just don't play it too loud. You can connect your phone to the car and play music,' he informed and turned on the radio, putting it in the Bluetooth mode.

'I would like to know what do you listen to,' she said, looking at him, keeping the head tilted towards the bolster.

'If you are distracted,' he said, eyeing her carefully. 'Then maybe focus your brainpower on figuring out what could it be?'

'Should I try with genres or bands?'

'Up to you.'

Mariko looked in front and pouted, thinking intensely. After some time, she stopped herself from smiling and put on a serious face, while turning her head to the Pro Hero.

'10 hours of calculator clicking and beeping as it measures the most logical ways to go about one's day.'

Then, the inner corners of her eyebrows raised and her eyes softened, as she saw his genuine, bright smile. She stared at him, hypnotized by the view. When he smiled like that, he almost looked like a teenager again.

'I will do my best to make you smile more,' she thought to herself and turned away from him, afraid that she will make him uncomfortable with the staring.

He sled his hand from the wheel to the stick shift and brushed her leg as he switched the gear, then allowed his palm to rest on top of the stick; the tip of his ring finger still connected to her body. She turned around and reached to the back of the vehicle, grabbing a water bottle they purchased on the way from the shopping mall. She unscrewed the cup and brought the bottle to her lips, taking a sip of ice-cold water.

'If that's what I listen to, then you must go with 'Trying not to fall for your teacher and failing miserably.'

She quickly pulled the bottle away from her lips and swallowed, then started coughing. Tears appeared in her eyes. He looked at her with a nasty smirk.

'What was that for?' she asked in a raspy tone, her face red.

He switched the gear, brushing her leg again and slowed the vehicle down. Mariko closed her eyes and felt herself become hyper-aware of her body. After a car drove by, Aizawa turned to the right and continued down the road going slightly uphill. The view outside changed from a concrete jungle into standalone buildings surrounded by empty spots, where greenery would soon start growing. After a few minutes of silent travel, the empty spots were filled with naked trees and there were no more buildings around; they were already approaching the gigantic park of UA High.

'So what would you listen to, like actually, sir?' she asked, stopping her brain from going into very inappropriate directions.

He lifted his hand from the stick shift, turning his palm towards her. She inspected his scarred skin and then reached to her pocked and unlocked her phone and gave it to him. He slowed the car and glanced at the screen, then opened a music app, looking for a song. Before any music started flowing from the speakers, they heard a Bluetooth connection notification.

'I like female vocalists,' he said after a while.

Mariko felt the need of unleashing her internal scream, but used all her strength to not make any sounds at all. A sudden wave of panic mixed with excitement pierced through her lungs. She shifted in her seat and avoided his gaze.

'What kind of? More powerful, slower, more... em... sensual?'

Instead of responding, he pressed play on the screen of her phone and the speakers started playing 'Plastic Love' by Mariya Takeuchi.

'No way!' Mariko exclaimed with a wide grin on her face.

'Yep,' he replied with a hint of a smirk.

She placed a finger on her mouth, stopping herself from singing in front of Aizawa. She swung her body to the rhythm, emphasizing the beat with light stomps of her right foot.

'I love her so much, I can't believe you like this kind of music, too,' she admitted and he felt a wave of heat wash over his body.

He glanced at her bright face, lit up eyes full of joy. Even though most of the time he was gloomy himself, he disliked seeing others depressed and feeling down. His cold demeanor made people think that he is just as cold inside as he is cold outside, but that was not true at all. In reality, he was a softie. And seeing Eri or Mariko smile, hit him in the softest of spots; mainly because he recalled how they were before he had a chance to have a small impact on their lives. Small impact, he would tell himself. In reality, however, his influence on people around him was of a much greater scale - a lot greater than what he was allowing himself to recognize.

His eyes returned back to the road. The car continued uphill and soon after, the top floor of the UA high was visible on the horizon, towering above the many trees surrounding the high-school. Mariko hummed the melody and looked to the backseat, checking on the lizards they purchased. The box in which they were being transported was sealed, keeping the needed warmth inside. The woman made sure the box didn't move too much during the travel and the small holes providing oxygen to the inside of the box were not covered by anything, allowing the air flow.

She twisted her body and turned back to the road, still fighting with the urge to start singing.

'I will now keep thinking about you when I listen to this song,' she admitted shyly.

'Sorry for ruining it,' he put on a serious tone.

'If anything, it just got better,' she responded quietly.

He turned the car towards the UA gate and reached to the keychain dangling to the side of the car wheel. He pressed a button on a small remote, opening the gate.

'Oh, what's that?' he asked, glancing somewhere outside the window, as the gate slowly started opening.

Mariko frowned and extended her body forward, trying to see what Eraser was looking at. She decreased the volume of the song, as if that would sharpen her sight.

'Where?'

He didn't respond, but just looked at her face, now a lot closer to him. She lifted herself up on the left hand, still frowning and inspecting the outsides.

'Where?'

'Here.' He cupped her chin with his right palm and pulled her face towards himself, then closed the gap in between their lips.

Her heart immediately dropped and returned back to it's place, accelerating it's beat. At first, the touch of their skin was chilly, but less than a second later, it seemed to burn. The careful first kiss, turned into a longed-for, passionate one. She slid her tongue in between his lips and moaned into his mouth, the moment their tongues collided. He smirked through the kiss and moved his other hand to the back of her head, pushing her deeper into his mouth. She rose a shaky hand to his arm, slowly, unsurely sliding it to his muscular shoulder. She felt herself tremble, feeling how well built he was under all the baggy clothes he used as the Hero Costume.

Aizawa slid his one hand, holding her chin to her throat, grasping it. He then focused on her bottom lip, capturing it in between his teeth and sucking on it. His kiss and the hold on her neck sent shivers down her body. Her eyes rolled in the sockets and she heard him growl. When he was about to return to her tongue, there was a 'bang!' sound coming from the outside.

He let go of her and straightened in his seat, then switched the gear, casually driving through now opened gate.

'I'm sorry,' he said, watching her struggle for her life on the seat next to him. Her eyes were foggy and cheeks red, just as her lips. She looked at him worriedly, as if expecting him to admit that he regrets everything he did. 'For grasping your throat. I should have asked first.'

She shivered, the shadow of his touch permanently engraved inside her skin. He sped the car up and soon after turned around the parking lot, positioning the car in front of an empty spot.

'I enjoyed it,' she said quietly.

The muscles in his jaw visibly tensed. He stopped the car and turned his face to the side, watching her carefully.

'Did you really?' he asked her.

His gaze reminded her of the time he was using Erasure, but his pupils remained dark. The look in his eyes was intense, piercing and made her feel like a prey in front of a big, graceful, hunting cat. Her throat dried out and she found herself unable to respond, as all of the words seemed to fade away before she got a chance to say them out loud.

'Very,' she responded in a weird way, then shook her head and corrected herself. 'I enjoyed it very much. I am a masochistic type, after all.'

He didn't respond, just continued staring her down. She felt the pressure built inside her lower belly and she connected her knees together. His eyes slid on her legs, interpreting her movements. His palm shot towards her throat, pushing her to the seat, making her freeze in place.

'Someone might see,' she said.

'The windows are tinted,' he responded.

He slowly raised his chin and she could have sworn, there was a hint of red in his eyes. She curled her toes inside her shoes and tried crossing her legs to relive the tension from arousal.

'Behave,' he warned in a low, almost purring tone, and watched her grasp the sides of the leather cushion.

'Fuck,' she whispered, not daring to look away from his eyes; her entire body, face, lips, even the tips of her toes felt like they were on fire.

He raised his eyebrows, visibly unamused with her swearing. His grasp tightened on the sides of her neck. She bit on her bottom lip.

'I'm sorry, sir,' she said quietly.

'You are twisted,' he announced with a smirk on his face. 'And so much fun.' He traced her jaw with his thumb.

He tilted her head to the side and for a moment, she was convinced that he is amidst an internal battle with himself. His gaze landed on the box with the lizards in the backseat.

'I understand,' she nodded. 'We have to go back.'

'Yeah. But you look suspicious,' he responded and eyed her still red cheeks.

'Throw me in a snow pile.'

He chuckled and slid his hand to her arm.

'Not sure if there is enough of it around,' he replied, raising his hand to scratch his stubble while looking around the parking lot.

'Then-'

'Then just calm down,' he suggested with a playful smirk. He rested his back on the seat of the car.

'I don't think I can walk at this state, yet calm down,' she responded.

'I believe in you,' he informed and opened the door, going outside. The cold air filled the inside of the car, colliding with her heated body.

She sighed out of bliss, a smile plastered to her face. Then, she unfastened the seatbelt, left the vehicle and walked to the teacher who was taking out products they have purchased in the shopping center. Mariko tilted her body and reached to the windshield of the nearest car, carefully grasping the snow from it. She placed it on her face and flinched with her whole body.

'What should I take?' she asked him, her voice muffled by the melting snow.

'You can take the lizards from the inside and the bag with the feed, it's behind my seat.'

'Alright.'

Some time later, they both appeared in the teacher's dorm, carrying the purchased products in their arms.

'You are back!' Eri called out to them and hopped down from the couch, where Togata and Amajiki were sitting, both of them watching the TV and accompanying the child.

Aizawa slid his shoes on the mat a few times before stepping deeper inside the dorm. The cold air mixed with the temperature of the dorm and the sounds of people entering muffled the screams coming from the TV. Then, Shota smiled at Eri and placed the box with terrarium on top of the kitchen counter. The kid followed him and extended his arms towards the man, the second he was no longer holding anything. He ducked down and picked Eri up.

'What were you up to?'

'I practiced my writing, then reading and we started watching a movie not so long ago. It's about a zombie attack during Christmas.'

Eraser looked at Mirio, who scratched his head and smiled brightly.

'Why would you show her something like this?'

'It's OK, she knows it's not real,' Mirio said and laughed it off.

'I told you it's a bad idea,' Amajiki whispered, his face reddened with embarrassment.

'You should have showed her Mulan!' Mariko said, swiping her shoes on the mat. 'That's such a great movie.'

'Mulan?' Eri asked, looking at Mariko from Aizawa's arms.

'It's a story about a girl who proves everyone that even though she does not belong to the societal norms for women, she is still the most badass, bravest, strongest and smartest one out there!'

Mariko placed the box with lizards and the bag with feed next to the terrarium on the kitchen island.

'Societal norm?' Eri asked and looked at Eraser.

'It's when society, so the entire collection of people from either the entire globe or a country expects you to do something, follow their orders or force you to fit their image of yourself, just because you are, in this case, a woman.'

'So it's like, you are a woman, so you should do the laundry for men. Or cook for them.'

'Should I not?' Eri asked.

'It's all up to you, if that makes you happy then by all means, do it,' Mariko approached Aizawa and patted Eri's hair. 'But if you have to force yourself to fulfill someone's desires, then it most likely doesn't make you happy, so you should just not do that. And this is what Mulan is about. She found her own pace and created her own destiny, proved her worth and discovered happiness and fulfillment.'

'So if I like doing laundry I can, even when it's for a man?'

'Exactly,' Mariko nodded and took Eri from Aizawa's arms. 'But with boys it's still very complicated,' she whispered to her mischievously.

'Okaido,' Eraser snapped.

'I'm kidding, I'm kidding,' she replied and then looked seriously at Eri, who stared at her with curiosity. 'But it's true. If you will have any boys dilemmas, you can always ask me for some information or guidance. Or Eraser, he seems alright, if you ask me. Don't ask Midnight, though.'

'OK,' Eri simply responded and then Mariko carefully lowered her to the floor.

The kid returned to Mirio and Amajiki, who were turning off the TV, displaying a goofy, B-class zombie movie. The woman turned on her heel and nodded towards the staircase, grasping the box with lizards.

'Shall we go upstairs?'

'Yeah.'