"Hey, I've been wondering," I break the silence in the room between me and her. "How does your quirk work, anyway?"
The pencil in her hand swings up to her mouth in thought. At least, that's what it looks like. She could just be poking herself in the eye with it, I suppose, although that's far less likely. "I'unno; Quirkologists said it was something to do with light going around me perfectly. Like it stops just before it hits my skin, zips around behind me, and shoots off again… It was all very technical and I wasn't really following it…"
Our study session has only been going for about half an hour, and honestly I think I might have burned myself out... I can't concentrate on English sentences any longer! She seems to bounce on floor for a moment as she thinks, however. Tooru does have some amusing little quirks about her, and I don't just mean the invisibility. A playful girl at heart, she's so enthusiastic about the littlest of things - It's hard not to smile when she's about.
"All I know for sure is that if someone gets close - and I mean real close - they get blinded by all that light zipping around me!" She puts her hands on her hips, triumphantly. I've heard of that side effect, it seems to be the one and only offensive move with her invisibility.
"Can you control that? I mean it sounds pretty cool,"
"Oh no, I don't think so. Aizawa thinks I might be able to set it off like a stun grenade if I can get a grip with it! That'd be fun!" Her shoulders slump a little and her hands return to the table. "As for now, though, all it means is I can't hug anyone!"
Even though she laughed and played it as a joke, I think she sounded slightly disheartened with that last sentence. Never being able to hug someone?
"You can't hug anyone?" I suppose it's something we all take for granted, come to think of it. "And you've been this way since childhood?"
She throws her hands up and waves off any fears. "Oh no no no, don't get me wrong! My parents always hugged me when I was growing up! It's only recently when I had my growth spurt that it's started being a problem," she picks up her notes and starts straightening the papers up. "A-Anyway, we should really continue this…"
"Tooru, if you don't mind me asking, when were you last hugged?"
She hesitates for a moment.
"Well, Mina kinda jumped on me the other day…"
"No, I mean like an actual hug," The worst thing about this is I can't really read her facial expressions. There's a chance I'm making her pretty uncomfortable, actually… But this is a chance. I can't miss this opportunity.
"Uhhh… I, uh… I c-can't remember…"
I stand up and step around the table to offer her my hand. There's no mistaking it now, even I can feel how flushed my face is, she can see it for sure. Her sleeve rises up and I feel her hand in mine. Oh wow, it's sweaty... Is she feeling as nervous as I am?
"Ojiro, I d-don't want to stun you too-"
In one smooth motion, my hand pulls her against me and the other takes her head and rests it against my chest. She yelps a little, but doesn't resist. Tense at first, she quietly asks if I'm alright, if my eyes are burning. With my confirmation, I feel her relax a little. Her arms tentatively wrap around my waist. I rest my chin on the top of her head and feel her sink deeper into the hug. I've made it. I can die a happy man.
"You know, I don't think your heart's supposed to be beating this fast, is it?" I can hear the grin on her lips. Cheeky little…
"Yeah, i-it's because of my quirk,"
"Like I've not heard that one before…" she giggles. I can't help but laugh a little, myself.
We stand there in each other's arms for what feels like minutes when she pulls back a little to look at me. She bursts into a giggle, much to my dismay. "Wh… What?"
"Ojiro~" she reaches up and pinches my cheek. "You're so red..!"
I can't think of anything to say, to be honest, there's no excuse I can think of. I'm about as red as a tomato. "Shut up," I pout, she laughs harder.
Tooru quickly peels away and gathers her things from the table, making small chat and planning for school tomorrow as she does so. Once again, everything she does has that little bounce to it. It's a bit calming, really. Even if things were a bit weird just now, she's not showing it. I can see why Sero thinks she's cute. Hell, I think we all do. When done, she gathers all her things into a bag and stands up with a little spring. She steps right up against me, arms behind her back.
"Don't worry about it," She gives me a quick little peck on the cheek. "You should see how much I'm blushing too..."
And just like that, she slinks out the room and into the corridor. I gently touch my face where she left the kiss and walk over to sit on my bed.
Oh wow.
Oh wow.
Although I think I won't mention to her how that peck left my right eye blind for half an hour after she'd gone.