Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia

Chapter 81:

Zach sat on the desk chair in Denki Kaminari's room with his jaw dropped as he stared at the blond boy tossing a football up in his hands on the edge of his bed. Kaminari was grinning with the corners of his lips pulled far up on his cheeks as he tossed his football to himself over and over as he had to keep moving in his excitement and also nervousness at what he just said aloud. He said it in a quiet voice, but even though it was just the two of them in the room there was no telling if the girl he just mentioned could be listening to them from anywhere in the building.

"You're lying," Zach finally said, closing his mouth and nodding his head like he figured it out.

"Hey!" Kaminari threw the football at Zach who reached his hands up fast and almost caught it. He had the reflexes, but he had never really had a catch with one before and it bounced off which made him get a flustered look on his face and frown down at it. You don't even play football, Zach thought in annoyance, since Kaminari laughed at him for dropping it. "It so did happen," Kaminari said, and Zach lifted his eyes from the football on the floor back to his best friend who started grinning again.

"She kissed you?" Zach repeated, to see if Kaminari heard how ridiculous it sounded. Jirou's not that straightforward! She like, never, Zach started shaking his head in disbelief, though he thought back on some hints he had noticed over the past months. It's not that I didn't think it might happen at some point, but I thought you'd instigate it for sure.

"Well, in the intensity of the fight…" Kaminari began, changing into a tone of epicness and retelling a fight they had with villains halfway through their internship. The fight actually sounded pretty intense and Zach leaned forward since Kaminari and him had not talked much over the internship except for a couple texts when they saw each other on the news just to see if the other was alright. Zach opened his eyes wider as Kaminari mentioned zapping a villain coming up behind Jirou, and then she repaid the favor, and he started to find it more believable that something might have happened in that intense situation.

"So, what now?" Zach asked when Kaminari brought it up again.

"Well obviously she's my girlfriend now," Kaminari replied, leaning back on his bed and putting his hands up behind his head. "Asked her to be my girlfriend already and everything." He interlocked his fingers through his blond hair and said, "Jirou's super cool. I didn't think you were onto anything when we talked about it before, but she's totally into me."

No, really? Zach thought sarcastically, but he just smiled outwardly at his friend who he thought was oblivious for not noticing before. Then again, he had spent a lot of time with the two of them so he wondered how many other people might have seen it coming. Momo probably could tell for sure-

"So how about you and Yaoyorozu?" Kaminari asked, leaning forward suddenly while Zach's eyes opened wide.

Did he know? Or, damn was it my face? Just thinking about her… "How about what?" Zach asked in confusion, though he lifted the right corner of his lip as he pretended not to know what Kaminari was referring to.

"Something going on between the two of you?" Kaminari asked. Zach's eyebrows lifted up and he got a confused look on his face as it seemed Kaminari was asking if something was wrong.

"Why would you think that?" Zach asked. He had only just arrived back at the dorm a half hour back, but Kaminari said he really needed to talk to him about the internships so Zach came back to his friend's room right after unpacking his things. Did Momo say something? Zack wondered, a bead of sweat sliding down the side of his face.

"I don't know," Kaminari replied, shrugging as it was just a thought. "It's just, you haven't seen each other in a week and I feel like you didn't really have a bit like 'I'm back Momo!' You know?"

Zach rolled his eyes at Kaminari's way of wording it, then he sat back in Kaminari's desk chair and turned it a bit to each side for not reason. "Well, yeah. That's just because we've been talking even over the internship."

"'Talking?'" Kaminari repeated, bouncing his blond eyebrows a couple times and then smirking at Zach who turned towards the windows with a look like he did not get what Kaminari was getting at. The blond with a scar on his forehead over his right eyebrow continued in a smug tone, "So you guys were calling each other, and you're still going with 'nothing's going on' between the two of you?"

"Nothing is," Zach said, and he turned back with more of a frown at Kaminari again. I can't. I told you why. I, I don't want to make her a target. You accepted it though… and, and you said I was being selfish for trying to push you away. Am I being selfish to Momo- but that's only if she actually likes me!

Kaminari let out a long exasperated sigh at Zach's denial. He shook his head and then said, "Whatever man. Jirou told me not to go around telling everybody," Kaminari added, and Zach glanced at him in a skeptical way. "You're not everybody," Kaminari said at that look, and Zach shrugged but smiled that Kaminari came and told him first even if Jirou didn't want him blabbing about it.

"So, you guys are really going out then?" Zach said, the mock amazement filling his voice again. "Never thought after all your empty boasts that you'd actually get a girlfriend-"

"Shove it!"

By Sunday morning at U.A., most of the hero course students had returned from their internships. Some of them had minor injuries, but Recovery Girl had been making frequent trips around the country to protect and heal the students of U.A. at their various internships. Not one student had died during the week-long internships, though three heroes across the country had been killed in hero fights. All three had died in operations or villain fights that U.A. students were at too. One of those U.A. students was sitting at the couch area of Class 2-A's dorm in Heights Alliance, talking to a couple of his friends including one who had also been at a villain fight where a hero had been killed only two days earlier.

Zach nodded along with Tokoyami's story and had a serious look on his face while his classmate retold a League of Villains infiltration battle a small group of heroes had taken part in. He mentioned to the dark boy with a beak on his face that he had not seen Hawks when Tokoyami mentioned how his pro hero had flown across the country to Hokkaido during the big Trigger raid over the break. Tokoyami said Hawks mentioned Midoriya to him when he returned but also said he did not see Lifebringer.

Tokoyami was not very detailed in his story and only brought it up because Mineta asked him about it when Tokoyami was being all mysterious about his broken right arm. Sero had muted the tv, but he un-muted it when Tokoyami seemed to be finished as they were watching the news that was actually talking about U.A. all of a sudden. The four boys looked at the screen and saw small clips of their class, Class B, the upperclassmen and even some impressive underclassmen who had made a big splash in their first internships. Then the screen started showing a graph that had villain attack rates in the past week going down from the start. Another news anchor argued that the chaotic crime rate has gone down steadily since the days following the Sports Festival Invasion when it hit an all-time peak, but the other argued that they could contribute the trend at least in part to the new classes of heroes soon to enter the ranks.

"…Specifically the second years, Class A," one of the men on the screen continued, and the four boys watching tv started grinning as their famous class was brought up. They mentioned USJ, how the finalists of the Sports Festival were all Class A, Lifebringer, Bakugo, Deku, Todoroki Shoto, Tsukuyomi…

Zach grinned over towards Tokoyami who was surprised to hear himself be named specifically by the guys on the news. Then Sero let out a sigh of disappointment before saying, "I thought with the time I got put on the news this week they'd definitely mention me right there."

"Yeah," Mineta agreed, though the others glanced at him and wondered if he actually had something worth mentioning or if he was just disappointed too. Mineta kept smiling after a second of disappointment though as the guys on the news just finished by saying the hero prospects are all looking good, but especially that class makes them hopeful that the high villain rates will go down soon.

"And until they do go down," Sero started, turning to Zach and smirking as he thought about something he saw earlier that week. "Maybe everybody should start training their Quirks to protect themselves from villains," he suggested. Zach glanced at him and sweatdropped, then Sero grinned more with his smile covering the entire bottom half of his face. "Heard them talking on this channel last night about your report," Sero mentioned, and Zach nodded without looking surprised since he had heard that too and started watching on his phone while it happened.

"It wasn't really about my report," Zach started.

"It was the same idea though, and they mentioned you as the example," Sero slowed down as he realized he probably shouldn't mention that example. After a second he kept smiling though since he had seen the press conference Zach was in too and saw Zach bring it up himself when answering a question. Guess he's not too upset by it anymore, Sero thought, and he added, "I still think if you hadn't gone after me I would've gotten like ten points better on my paper."

Zach started laughing and he apologized though Mineta cut in with a smirk and talked about his grade which just made Sero frown more, and Tokoyami got a sweatdrop on the side of his face but pretended not to be upset that Mineta scored higher than him. Zach did not say anything, but he smirked internally as his grade actually was above Mineta's, not that he had told his friends that he had gotten a one hundred on it.

Zach leaned back on the couch and then he looked around at the three who he had not really talked to much before now after getting home. Time to blow their minds. "So, you guys want to see something cool?" Zach asked, grinning as he got up out of his seat.

"Don't transform here!" Mineta exclaimed, and Zach lifted his eyebrows and looked at him like the other two did.

"I'm not," Zach said in a deadpan voice.

"Oh," Mineta said, and he scratched the back of his head quickly as he realized he reacted a bit strongly there. "I can't believe you said it was your 'Nightmare Form' on tv," Mineta said. "You should have come up with a better name-"

"It's not about that," Zach said, frowning some more as Mineta would not just drop the subject. I have a motorcycle! Now I'm not even that in the mood to… nah, who am I kidding? Mineta's gonna be so jealous. Zach started grinning at Mineta and said, "Come on, follow me," Sero and Tokoyami started getting up with interested looks as they did not know what Zach was talking about. Mineta got up quickly too, but he was looking behind Zach who turned to see if he should invite some others to come check out his motorcycle.

Zach looked back and towards the bottom of the stairs that Mineta's gaze had snapped towards immediately when three girls came out of the stairwell. Jirou walked in the middle of the three, and when she spotted the boys up ahead she spun to Hagakure and gave her a look saying to 'shut up' as Hagakure was still bouncing around in an excited way. Zach figured Jirou must have told her friends something, but he barely focused on her at all when he looked that way.

Zach looked left to Momo on Jirou's right, at the girl who looked ahead when she saw Jirou giving Hagakure that look. Yaoyorozu figured there must have been some of their other classmates up ahead, but when she looked towards them she smiled brightly at the boy she looked straight towards out of the four of them. Zach's heart started racing as she did not look around at them but focused on him first, and she smiled happily to see him too. "Good morning, everyone," Yaoyorozu said as she continued forward towards the boys.

"Uh, morning," Zach said back, though his heart raced faster at that word 'everyone' at the end of Momo's greeting.

"What are you guys up to?" Jirou asked.

"Zach said he's got something to show us-"

"Oh! Is it your motorcycle?!" Hagakure exclaimed excitedly, running forward and then opening her invisible eyes wide and reaching up to cover her mouth at Zach's disappointed look.

"Your what?" The other three around Zach asked, looking in at him with wide eyes.

"Wait," Sero began slowly. He thought about who Zach had his internship with, thought about what Zach had told him he was trying to get over the week-long break from school, but he started shaking his head around as that still did not explain what Hagakure just said. "How- are you serious?"

"Sorry Zach," Hagakure said apologetically as she could see now he had wanted to surprise them with what she had heard a rumor about herself.

"It's no big deal," he assured her. "You want to come see it too?" He asked, since she did seem excited about it when she shouted in the first place. She jumped up and said that of course she did, and Tokoyami said something about how Zach does seem like the type to him to ride one. Mineta asked if he could go for a ride, which made Zach sweatdrop and say some other time since they could not just leave campus right now, though he was really just making an excuse.

The first person I want to take a ride on Flamedrag… Zach turned his head back to Momo and Jirou who were continuing to the kitchen without Hagakure. They mentioned to Sero who asked if they were coming that they had seen it already when Zach arrived, and Zach watched as Momo walked off with a hesitant look in his eyes. His heart was pounding again as he started that thought and tried hard not to finish it. Oh man, Zach thought, turning away quickly to the door before anyone would notice him staring, and he said for the others to follow him. I can't do this- no! I can't, do anything about it. I won't put a target on you like that. I won't let my feelings for- I won't let how much I like- AH! I don't know why I'm even thinking about this. A serious look spread on Zach's face as he walked in front of four of his classmates out their dorm and towards the garage his motorcycle was being kept. It can't happen.

Knock Knock Knock

Kaminari opened up his door and looked at the shorter dark-haired boy standing in front of him. Zach got a hesitant look on his face as soon as Kaminari looked at him, then he blurted out, "How did you ask Jirou out?"

"Huh?" Kaminari said, and then his eyes opened wide and a look of surprise covered his face. "You're really-"

Zach ran forward and into Kaminari's room, and he closed the door fast behind him but made sure not to slam it as the whole point of running in was to be quieter about this anyway. He frowned at Kaminari for calling out so loudly right there, but Kaminari had started grinning wide at Zach's expression. Zach frowned more at that smug grin like Kaminari thought he was totally right the whole time, though he could not deny it after what he had just implied there. "You're serious?" Kaminari asked, his grin lowering down a bit as he saw Zach starting to look hesitant again.

Kaminari scratched the side of his head as Zach looked back up at him in some confusion. Don't really want to remind you about this, but, I mean… "Aren't you, afraid of the villains targeting her anymore?" Zach frowned more and Kaminari muttered quickly, "Sorry. I just thought, that was the main reason you hadn't asked her out already."

Zach stopped frowning as much and thought about a conversation the two of them had had not too long ago. At least it did not feel too long now that it was being brought up again. "But you really think I could put that big a target on someone, I like?" He frowned just like he had been that day, then he recalled what Kaminari had asked him then too, "So you do like her?" "I like her," Zach said, something he had not come out and replied with back then even though Kaminari had called him out on it.

"So then go for it," Kaminari said with a grin. "She'll totally go out with you."

"You really think-" Zach began, then he cut himself off and frowned again. No, this is all wrong. Why would I risk putting her in danger? More, danger, he thought slower to himself. She was in danger this past week just doing an internship. All of us were. Trying to be heroes, we know what that means. Each of us knows the risks and yet we're still trying. They all saw what happened to me, and they're still going for it. I don't have any right to be scared for them, do I? Not like thinking that is going to stop me from worrying… but there's also no way to know that not dating Momo will put her in any less danger. If we are, if we were- I could be closer to her more often, protect- Zach's face started getting more red and he paced away from Kaminari with a serious and nervous look on his face.

"Yeah man," Kaminari replied even though Zach never finished his question. "Definitely."

Is it really that sure a thing? You saying that doesn't make it any easier! It doesn't make these butterflies go away! Every time I look her way. Zach brought his left hand to his stomach as he started to feel it rumble just from the idea of what he was considering. No, I can't! I promised I wouldn't put her in danger. I promised myself! Zach stopped near Kaminari's window and stared outside while his blond friend sweatdropped behind him and cocked his head to the side at Zach's sudden stop. Looking out into the sky as he just did, he thought about when he stood at the top of the Sports Festival stadium and looked out over the world, right after his talk with Monoma after he came back.

Zach thought about the face he had seen when he was dying, the first face he had imagined when he came back and looked up in that amazing sky after hearing what Monoma had to say about living his life for himself. He pictured Momo's face and his heart pounded so hard as he recalled what else he had been thinking about when that life he should live came to him, the things he never believed he could have before but realized at the time he had always wanted. I came close to dying in Mosu Esupa, without doing any of the things I told myself I would do this time around. I, I think that maybe waiting until the world is better, might not work like I hoped it would. And, and why can't I be happy, even as I make the world into that amazing place I imagine? Zach turned around to look back at Kaminari again, and a small smile pushed at his face that made Kaminari grin again. "So how'd you do it?"

"Oh you know me," Kaminari said. "I was super smooth, more than you possibly could be." Zach rolled his eyes, but Kaminari said, "I mean it." That made Zach sweatdrop and lose his grin as Kaminari actually sounded serious there.

"That's not really helpful," Zach muttered. But, I'm not trying to be smooth anyway. That's you. I, how do I want to…

"If you're really thinking about this," Kaminari began, and Zach looked back to see his friend actually lost his smile too for a moment. "Are you, considering telling her about secrets of yours?" Zach's eyes widened a bit, and he stared in surprise at his friend who continued, "I'm just a little worried, you know? Because you told me about Reaper, and the anti-heroes, and stuff… I mean, those are the only things I'm really going to keep from Jirou," he continued, and Zach felt relieved to hear that but only a bit as he was much more nervous about what Kaminari was saying. I can't tell her all of that! I shouldn't have even told- well, if Kaminari is willing to keep them from his girlfriend I guess I made a good choice picking him to trust. Plus, we could still work together if a time to be anti-heroes does show up. Focus, focus, he told himself with a nervous look on his face.

"You didn't, even think about it?" Kaminari asked, as Zach looked as nervous now as he did when he walked into his room. "I'm not saying to tell her everything," Kaminari said, as he did not want to push Zach into doing that. He scratched the back right side of his head though and added, "But, might be bad to try and start up a relationship if you're lying to her-"

"I don't lie to," Zach began, but he trailed off while Kaminari looked at him in surprise.

"You don't?" Kaminari asked. "So she knows-"

"No," Zach cut in again, quieter this time. "I just, don't lie. I don't tell her the truth either though, about some… most things."

Kaminari sweatdropped and then leaned his head back as he was not the best with this sort of thing. "Well, I'm sure whatever you do will work out." Zach looked back down and his eyes widened as he realized that was just about the best thing Kaminari could tell him. He did not actually want to do things the way Kaminari did, and he doubted Kaminari's specific ideas would actually work well for him. Whatever I do… If he's right, and Momo really does like me too, then it's me she'd want to ask her out. Not Kaminari. Not, whatever he could suggest. It has to be from me. How- I don't know how. I don't know what, I want to do. I don't know what to tell you. Some things I don't want to talk about. Most of the stuff Kaminari knows, I told him because of the Shatterer thing. I would have kept it all a secret… But I don't want to keep secrets from you. I trust you.

"Thanks," Zach said, and Kaminari got a surprised look on his face as he did not feel like he had said much to get thanked.

The blond grinned though and just said, "Good luck man. I'm rooting for you!"

Zach sweatdropped and glanced back towards Kaminari's door. A look of anxiety spread over his face again and his confidence from a second ago vanished again which made Kaminari sweatdrop again and lower the fist he pumped. Oh I am so not ready for this.

"So, it was this drug, Apocalypse, that killed Dandy?" Yaoyorozu asked the boy sitting next to her on the foot of her bed.

Zach nodded his head with a serious look on his face, while in his head he yelled, Why are we still talking about this?!

Yaoyorozu had asked about the raid that he had not gone in depth about in their phone calls or talks since. She did not know a lot of the stuff he had been talking about and she had looked interested through their whole conversation, not even realizing that Zach's mind was so far away from what he was talking about. Towards the end she started to figure it out though, especially as Zach just kind of nodded to respond to that question and was not continuing on any more about it.

Yaoyorozu had on the casual clothes she had been wearing all day Sunday, even though it was pretty late and she was thinking of getting into her pajamas soon. She might have changed already had Zach not texted her that he wanted to talk later. Her hair was tied back into a spiky ponytail, while Zach's was less messy than usual but had waves in it and curled up a bit down on the sides and the back of his head. He looked hesitantly at her with something clearly on his mind, and then he let out a sigh at her expectant look which told him she knew he needed to tell her something else. He sighed because it looked to him like she thought the extra thing he had to tell her was about the Trigger lab raid.

"Are you alright?" Yaoyorozu asked, and Zach nodded his head a few times while looking down at the floor between his feet.

A small smile formed on his face again at her question which sounded worried about him. Because she cares, he told himself, but that just made the butterflies in his stomach churn around even worse. "Momo," he began, and Yaoyorozu pursed her lips as he seemed like he was getting serious but kept that smile on his face at the same time. "Did I ever tell you, why I want to be a hero?"

Momo stared at Zach with a confused expression. Her eyebrows lifted up and she shook her head slowly for a second, though there was some hesitation in her eyes as she thought about something that she did not want to bring up. Zach started while looking down at his feet, after he saw her head shake out the corners of his eyes, "I, once told the world that I had to change the answer, but that was never the most important thing to me." Momo's eyes opened wide as the thing she was just thinking of, what she had seen in the video of the courthouse that she had watched a thousand times when Zach was gone with the villains.

It's not? It wasn't? Yaoyorozu started breathing faster, and then she whispered, "What is it then?"

Zach almost frowned that she did think that was her reason. He expected most people thought it though. Was it good that I was born? I know- I believe now! I believe the answer really is yes. And if it's a good thing, then I don't have to punish myself any longer. I can, I can finally get back to it. To the real reason. "At times of my life, I convinced myself that question was all that mattered." Zach started again and he lifted his head and glanced next to him at Momo who was looking back so interestedly, so closely, and he flashed her a small smile as he continued, "But it was never what pushed me towards being a hero. I want to be a hero, because… life is beautiful."

He looked into her eyes as he said it, then he continued before she could say anything. While her eyes were still huge he continued, "The way I felt when All Might saved me as a child, the day I leapt from my roof but he caught me." Yaoyorozu's huge eyes shook more as Zach said it, her bottom lip lowering as he continued to smile though looking away again. He looked across her cramped room that the bed barely fit in, and he continued, "The way I felt whenever I saw heroes flying overhead or fighting villains, and how I saw other people feel when they were saved by them. Because I remembered that feeling myself, and, and I wanted even more people to be able to feel that way." Zach smiled more and he continued with what felt like a massive light feeling on his chest as he just spoke without holding anything back, the way he always felt he could when he was with Yaoyorozu but struggled to do so often. "Birds. Do they sing to each other, or are they singing to people in the morning? Each snowflake is unique and original, just like people who have their own Quirks, or personalities, and appearances. Everyone has their own outlook on life, and I think it's all amazing. I think every last bit of this world is beautiful, and no amount of bad will ever overtake it."

Yaoyorozu's mouth closed and her eyes stopped being so huge, but she was starting to breathe faster out her nose while she pursed her lips. How? She thought, staring at Zach in shock as he turned to look at her again.

"I want to stop the people who are trying to make it less amazing though," Zach continued. "The ones trying to take the joy, and the feeling of safety, away from people. Because it takes safety for people to enjoy life as I do. I, I want everyone to be able to see the world as I do, even though I have no idea how I can see the world like this myself." Zach lowered his smile a bit and kept looking into Momo's eyes with a more hesitant look on his face as she had yet to say anything. He was not going to stop now though, and he continued, "After everything that happened to me, I wonder why I don't see it differently."

"How do you?" Momo whispered, and Zach smiled again that she was not being weirded out or anything. The anxiety he was starting to feel vanished, and her question made him think of the answer which added to his smile. "How can you?" She added, then pursed her lips as she did not want to tell him not to think that way, yet she could not believe what she was hearing.

"After weeks, months of torture, I escaped and I saw a snowflake land on my hand. And I thought it was beautiful," Zach said. He closed his eyes as he thought about something he had barely remembered for so long because at the time he was so deep in survival mode that everything just blurred together. He remembered that feeling now though, what had driven him to tears because of how he felt despite all that torture. Because he knew he still believed in his reason for being a hero just staring at that beautiful snowflake, the people around him, the world.

"I still thought life was beautiful after it," Zach said aloud, as he did not know why he was just thinking about those things and not describing them aloud considering who it was sitting in front of him. "I, always have. I've never doubted it. And it's all thanks to the people in my life that I can be this way. I, killed my mother, and at first my father still cared for and looked after me. After my dad started falling apart though, the Akers picked up the slack. They helped me after my dad was gone, and even my Aunt Maye supported me financially so I didn't have to worry about money as I grew up." Zach paused for a second and looked back at Momo with such a soft look in his eyes but still the smile he had as he thought about all of the most important people of his life. "And when I returned after the darkest time of my life, after the Akers were all killed, I had my teachers and classmates to save me again. Our class, preserved my image of beauty in this world. And, it's thanks to you especially, for being a bright light in this world that's already so full of amazing things."

Yaoyorozu's pursed lips started shaking and then a small gasp escaped out of them. She stared at Zach in such a soft way back at what he just said to her. After everything he had just told her, after the way he had broken down on the roof the night they both watched the Lifebringer video, to hear this from him was making her heart race faster and faster every second. "I can't," Momo began, but she stopped to catch her breath as talking was more difficult than she thought it would be right there. She was amazed, and she did not know why Zach looked hesitant all of a sudden, so she thought it was because of the way she was responding to hearing that which only made her breathe faster before saying the first thing that came to her mind, "I can't believe- I'm," amazed, she thought, then she gulped as he kept looking back into her eyes. "Hearing you say something like that, I, I don't know how you do it."

Zach smiled a bit more and started, "It's easy, when you're-"

"You still think I, you still think-" Momo's lips started shaking, and then she whispered, "After you yourself died, to protect me." Zach's eyes shot open wide as she said that, as he saw a guilty look flash over her face that she hid from him so much. She turned to her right looking farther up her bed and down at it for a second, and then she shook her head and whispered, "How can you still feel that way? Not just about… but about me too-" She could see him looking at her in more shock at what she was saying, and she turned back as there was no hiding it from him anymore. "You could have brought me back if you hadn't leapt in front-"

"I don't regret it," Zach said. He said it strongly and gave her a stern look as if telling her to stop saying what she was saying and stop feeling that way about it at the same time. That made her lean back and she couldn't feel guilty at the look on his face, because another emotion was pushing it down so much stronger. "And," Zach continued, while Momo started breathing faster and her cheeks were getting redder. "I'd do it again, to protect you," Zach said, though he got a bit softer near the end because he did not know whether he should say it. He did though. He said it and then he stared into Momo's eyes while the room was suddenly silent and the two realized how close they were sitting to each other.

In Zach's head flashed the beginning of April when he gave his final rehearsal of his final report the night before he gave it to the rest of the class. Momo had grabbed his hands and a moment very similar had occurred, but Zach did not turn away this time. Momo did not look away either though. His heart was racing but he knew what he wanted to do. He didn't know if she'd let him, and it terrified him thinking for a split second what would happen if she pulled away, but then he swore he saw her body scoot a centimeter closer to him. Zach did not know if he had imagined it, but he leaned towards her and this time he knew for sure that she was leaning back towards him as well. Her eyes closed and he closed his too.

They kissed. Neither of them had ever kissed someone before, but that meant it was the best kiss of their lives.

:)