Akari heard a muffled groan and jolted awake. Sitting upright on the guest bed, she had to take a moment to remember where she was and what had happened. I'm at Hizashi's place, she reminded herself. That's right. Her gaze slid to the man sleeping beside her and she smirked. And here's Shouta.
She reached over to brush a few stray locks of black hair away from his face and her wrist was caught in a tight grip. He pulled her down on top of him and Akari flushed red. "H-hang on a second!"
"Quiet," he growled, an arm wrapping around her waist. His bare skin felt warm against hers and he had his eyes barely open. Staring up at her, Aizawa's lips twitched into a smirk. "What're you staring at?"
"Sh-shut up! Like you're not admiring the view," she muttered, looking away. Settling her head against his shoulder, she tried to relax again. When she had heard Aizawa groan in his sleep, the female hero was shaken from slumber and reminded of her dream. His groan was different from how Jin's had been in the dream, but close enough to make her stomach twist in guilt.
It was just a dream though! You don't really have control over dreams! Akari's arms slipped around his neck, fingers tangling in his dark hair as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew that the dream would have been arousing if not for the bloody rain. Is it just because Jin said that he loves me? Or…do I actually feel something like that toward him? We haven't even spoken that much.
"What's on your mind?" Aizawa sounded like he was hesitant to ask. Like he knew he might not like the answer.
"Do you…love me, Shouta?" Instantly, she felt his hold tighten. A hand rubbed along her spine, making her back arch in response. However, the man was silent. "Shouta?"
"We've only been dating for a little while," he finally replied. "But I liked you in high school. I still like you. A lot. But that's a strong word."
"Right. Sorry. That was a dumb question." She flopped onto her back beside him and stared up at the ceiling. A hollow sort of feeling began in her gut and she hated that it seemed to spread up through her chest. Why am I so disappointed? It's not like he has to love me for us to be together, right? Shouta isn't even the type of person that would use that word.
Aizawa saw the forlorn expression on her face and scowled. Wrapping an arm around her, he brought her head to his chest and held her in place. Once more, fingers trailed along her back and he was only satisfied when she released a shuddering sort of moan. "Can't this be enough for right now?"
"Yeah…it's fine," she agreed. "Going back to sleep?"
"You want to go again?" He raised an eyebrow and looked down at her.
"Heh. I think I've reached my limit for the day." Akari got up and dressed before stepping out of the room. She tried to be as quiet as possible, in case their friend was home, but she really wanted to make some coffee.
The beverage was beginning to brew when Akari felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She turned swiftly and a pair of hands planted on the counter to either side of her, trapping her in place. The woman's vivid blue eyes met a pair of green ones that were partially obscured by glasses and she felt her pulse skip. "H-Hizashi?! I didn't know you were back!"
He leaned down, bringing his face inches from hers, and his lips curled into a grin. "Awww! Akari, baby, were you planning to surprise me? Maybe a little afternoon rendezvous~?" His right hand lifted, cupping beneath her chin and lifting her face slightly. The blond licked his lips and raised an eyebrow.
She snickered and put a hand on his chest, pushing gently. "Come on, Hizashi." Akari turned as the coffee finished and began to carefully pour two mugs full of coffee. Why did that make me so nervous? I don't have any reason to be nervous around him; we're so close.
Yamada stood beside her, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms. His hair was pulled back in a loose half-bun rather than styled into the cockatiel swoop that it usually was so he actually looked a little tired. "Thanks, babe." He grinned when she handed him a cup of coffee.
"Hey…so…I have an awkward question," she began.
"Go for it." He took a sip of the coffee and seemed quite content with the amount of sugar she had added.
"When we were dating, how soon did you know that you loved me?"
The man pushed up his glasses and tilted his head as he considered her question. "I loved you pretty soon after we met, Akari, baby! It's hard to pinpoint, but I'd say it was probably love at first sight!"
That soon and we were still together for seven years. Considering this, she sipped her beverage and nodded to herself. Love at first sight. I guess…I loved Hizashi pretty soon after we started dating, right? I still had a crush on Shouta, but I fell for Hizashi pretty hard.
"Why the heavy talk, babe? Are you worried about Shouta?"
"No, I was just curious."
Akari stayed at Yamada's for a few hours after he got home. Aizawa eventually emerged from the guest room when he realized that she had become distracted and sleepily settled beside her on the couch. The three friends had a few drinks before separating and Akari trudged home alone.
Love is too damn complicated, she thought as she ran her fingers through her hair. It was easy with Hizashi. He was nice to me, he made my heart race, he gave my stomach butterflies. It was easy to tell that I fell in love with him. I started to like him pretty quickly, too. So is love at first sight really a thing? Is that what Jin's feeling?
As she walked, she glanced over her shoulder every so often. The hero felt a nervous twisting in her stomach, but when she looked back, she was unable to see any danger. There were lots of people outside, but no one that was staring at her.
The feeling grew as she got closer to her building and when she reached the stairs, Akari all but sprinted up them. She heard footsteps echoing up the stairs behind her and felt her heart drop into her stomach. What the hell?! Shit, shit, shit! She was soon at her door and unlocking it before the person could emerge from the stairwell.
Pressing her back to the door and locking it, she tried to catch her breath and calm her racing heart. Akari could now feel someone looking at her and lifted her gaze to find Jin giving her a curious look from the kitchen. "It's…nothing."
"Oh…okay?" He saw the woman peer through the peep hole and frowned to himself. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." Akari saw a figure walk past the door. A figure wearing a black sweatshirt and keeping their hood pulled up. What the hell? Is it a stalker? An Endeavor fanatic from the incident?
She settled on the couch and frowned, running her fingers through her hair. The woman's eyes fell upon the black and white mask sitting on the coffee table and she reached for it. "Jin. Why do you act differently when you wear this mask? You…contradict yourself when you wear it."
The man rubbed the back of his neck as he leaned against the kitchen counter. His eyebrows furrowed, drawing more attention to the scar running down his forehead. "I need it…when I feel like I'm coming apart," he confessed.
"Coming apart?" Akari let him take it from her when he entered the room and when he sat beside her, she was impressed by the space he left between them. He's always polite though. He's a gentleman. It's actually kind of cute.
Shift P.O.V
Jin had some reservations about telling her the story, but at the same time, he wanted there to be no secrets between them. He wanted her to love him as much as he loved her and a good first step toward knowing her true feelings would be to tell her the story and gage her reaction.
As he spoke, he could feel his heart hammering in his chest. He told her the truth. The whole story, beginning from when his parents died and everything took a turn for the worse. His gaze occasionally flitted from the mask to Akari's face, expecting her expression to turn to disgust or fear at any moment. Most people would assume he was insane after hearing about his past.
Rather than make any sort of face, she listened attentively and kept a neutral expression throughout his story. It was as he neared the end, when he spoke about why he no longer cloned himself, that he saw it. A sadness began to take form in her eyes and it spread throughout her face.
Bowing her head, she chewed at her lower lip and considered everything that had been said to her. Jin went silent at the end and simply waited for her to say something. He held his breath, anticipating some sort of remark along the lines of making him leave or rejecting him.
Instead, Akari turned to him with a frown and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry. That…sounds horrible. I don't think I could've kept going after something like that happened to me." She gave him a light squeeze and sighed mournfully. "Jin. You're a good person. You're brave and you're…really loyal."
He could no longer hold back. Both arms went around her and he pressed her close against his chest as he turned. His fingers threaded into her thick, crimson locks and he felt their silken texture glide between his digits. She understands! She really understands! No way; she's just pretending because she's scared!
"I…I love you, Akari." His voice came out as just above a whisper. The man's pulse sped up as he felt her embrace tighten again. Having her body pressed so close against his ignited other certain desires, but he fought against them. In this moment, her hug was all that he really needed.
She drew away slowly, meeting his gaze with blue eyes that shone wetly with tears. "Wait here. I'll be right back."
Now left alone on the couch, he frowned and leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees. Did I do something wrong? Nah! She's just playing hard to get! What if I really made her mad? She didn't say it back. She totally loves me! Jin jumped a little when he felt cold metal against the side of his neck.
Akari smiled sheepishly when he lifted his gaze and met hers. Holding out the can of beer to him, she settled beside the man with the rest of the pack. "Tonight. I'm ordering takeout, we're drinking some beer, we'll watch some movies, and…in the morning we can decide what to do. What do you think?" She raised her beer can and clinked it against his in a silent toast.
Jin could feel warmth blooming in his face, but nodded and tapped his beer can to hers. A date night in…sounds pretty good, he thought to himself.
