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Eri wakes up in the middle of the night with a dry mouth.
It feels gross, and makes her tongue stick to the roof of her mouth. Luckily, she always has a little cup of water on her bedside table, just for times like this. Eri sits up in her bed, wiggles her blankets down so she can lean over, and picks up her cup.
But when she goes to take a sip, she finds that there’s no water in it at all! Not even a tiny drop, which means that Eri must have finished drinking it before she fell asleep earlier and forgotten to ask for more.
Nibbling on her lip, Eri knows she has to make a super tough choice.
She could go back to sleep, ignoring her dry mouth and hoping she gets comfy again. Or, Eri can go see if Zawa-san or Yamada-san are awake.
The idea of disturbing her guardians makes it almost easy to pick the first option, and Eri licks the inside of her mouth to try and get rid of the feeling a little bit. A minute goes by, with her eyes shut tight and her blankets pulled up to her chin. Two minutes go by, and Eri wiggles around trying to stop her pyjamas from riding up her ankles and bunching under her knees. Three minutes go by, then four, then five, but Eri just feels worse and worse.
Eventually, what feels like ages later, Eri gives in. Zawa-san is always awake at night, anyway, she tells herself as she slips off her mattress with her blanket wrapped around her like a cape. Her bare toes feel cold, even against the fluffy rug, so she scurries over to her unicorn slippers and shuffles them on.
With silent footsteps, Eri picks up her cup and pads towards the door. Yamada-san always leaves it a little bit open for her, even on days when Eri is too nervous to ask him to. Eri doesn’t know what love is, but she thinks it might be what she feels for Zawa-san and Yamada-san. And Deku-nii, obviously. And Lemillion-nii, but he doesn’t visit as much, so maybe a little bit less than Deku-nii.
Thoughts of what it means to love someone keep Eri’s mind from thinking about creeping around at night. There aren’t any lights on in the hallway, so Eri lets her blanket-covered fingertips just barely touch the wall to guide her along.
It’s brighter in the kitchen, so maybe Zawa-san is in there tonight?
But as Eri gets closer, she starts to hear voices. Not just Zawa-san’s voice, but Yamada-san’s as well. They’re talking quietly, in that way adults do when they don’t want you to hear them speaking. But Eri can hear them speaking, and her dry mouth is put to the side as she makes another decision.
Does she go in the kitchen to get her water anyway, interrupting them and making them mad? Or does she try to go back to sleep again?
It’s an easy choice, and Eri turns around to leave them be. But then, the words get a little bit louder, and suddenly Eri can hear them when they say her name. What if they’re saying they don’t want her anymore? What if they’re being quiet because they know Eri is awake, but they think if they’re quiet Eri will leave them alone? What if, what if they’re talking about something horrible?
It’s not an easy choice anymore. Even quieter than a mouse, Eri scampers her way closer.
“— Do you think she’s making enough progress for them, Shou?” Yamada-san asks, just as Eri crouches down out of their sight to listen in. “You know what they’ll say! You’ve seen the list they sent us!”
“Zashi, calm down,” Zawa-san sighs. “Even if they try, do you really think the Rat will let them take her? The HPSC can damn well try to take our daughter from us, but they won’t get anywhere with it.”
“Yeah, you’re right, I’m just being stupid and panicky.” A pause. “I love that little girl so much, Shouta, if they did, I’m pretty sure I’d yell down their headquarters to get her back.”
“With what alibi, Zashi?”
“My darling Shouta, who was dragged into watching The Princess Bride with me again?”
“They wouldn’t buy that, and you know it.”
Eri lets out a tiny giggle at Zawa-san’s voice, who sounds like he’s trying to hold back his own laughter. It’s not something Eri hears often from him, but it always makes her proud when it’s her who gets him to laugh. Yamasa-san normally just makes him sigh and drink more coffee.
The adults stop talking when Eri makes noise, and she holds the hand not around her cup against her mouth. Maybe if she stays super duper quiet now, they won’t know she’s here?
“Did you hear something, Shou?”
“Hmm, it sounded like someone who should be fast asleep in bed right now, Zashi...“
“Ah, but it can’t be our little Eri-berry, she would never be up and about this time of night!” Yamada-san’s silly gasp has Eri biting her lip to stay silent. “Surely it’s one of the cats? I keep telling you I hear Dumpster making odd noises while we’re trying to sleep!”
A noise like a flick, and then a yelp, covers up the shuffle of feet getting closer. Eri squeezes her eyes shut when Zawa-san’s voice sounds like he’s standing right above her.
“Hmm, I don’t remember Dumpster having such long white hair, or a tiny horn, or a cape, do you, Zashi?”
“Wait, she doesn’t? Then who’s cat have I been feeding treats behind your back!?”
Eri bursts into tiny snorts of delight at Yamada-san’s confused yelp, opening her eyes to peer up at her caregiver looming overhead. Zawa-san has an eyebrow raised, but he doesn’t look mad. That’s all it takes for Eri to hold out her little cup with a smile, and Zawa-san to take it with a shake of his head.
“I ran out of water, Zawa-san,” Eri explains quietly, picking herself up off the floor and letting Yamada-san tuck her against his side. “I didn’t mean to listen to you, but I- I heard you say my name?”
Her voice gets more muffled as she speaks, slowly wedging her face into Yamada-san’s shirt. A gentle hand brushes through the hair not tucked into her braid, and it soothes her enough that she can peek out and see Zawa-san watching her. He hands her the fresh cup of water, presses a soft kiss to her forehead, right at the base of her horn, and hauls her up off the ground and into his arms.
“We were talking about you, Eri-chan,” he tells her, bluntly, and Eri relaxes some more. She always does when Zawa-san refuses to hide things from her. “There are some bad people out there who don’t want you to stay here with us-”
“But I like it here!” The outburst interrupts him, and makes Eri flush a little bit. She didn’t mean to say that! Zawa-san’s eyes go soft, and Yamada-san makes a sniffly noise to their side, wedging himself into the cuddle
“We know, Eri-berry!” Yamada-san squeezes them both tight, making Zawa-san grunt at the pressure. “We love having you here, too!”
“The bad people don’t want us to keep you here, but we’re going to do everything we can to stop them from getting what they want. You’re so much more important to us than some stuffy suits.”
Eri sniffles, then hides her sniffles behind a sip of water.
“I think it’s time to get you back to bed. Are you okay to tuck yourself back in, sweetheart?”
Eri nods and shuffles her way to her room with a warm heart.