Waiting near the gate, he tried to fight down the butterflies in his stomach. The excitement had begun when he first received the note from her. When he got home, he looked for a pen right away and then tried to think of the best way to respond to her question.
Shinsou looked down at the folded piece of paper in his hand and his mouth curled into a smile. He had been so worried that she was angry with him after he stood up for her. This had to mean that she forgave him.
"Have a good day at school, Ume, Shinsou!"
He looked up from the note and saw her grandmother waving from the doorstep as Shirayuki approached him. Lifting a hand, he gave the old woman a wave in response. When should I give her the note? I feel like I should have brought a gift or something. Shinsou glanced over to the girl, curious to see if she would ask about the note.
Shirayuki was wearing a simple black face mask this time rather than a patterned one. Her gaze was focused on the ground as she walked along beside him, her delicate hands gripping tightly to the strap of her bag. "…g-good morning…" she quietly greeted him. A warm hue rose to her cheeks when she spoke and her eyes momentarily lifted to meet his.
"Morning." The boy held the note tightly in his hand as he once again considered when he should give it to her. He knew that one of her classmates was going to walk home with her so that would be the worst time to give her the note. Shinsou was unsure if he could wait until lunchtime to do it.
"…after school…um…d-do you still want to walk with me…?"
He pushed the note into his pocket and rubbed the back of his neck, heart racing. Despite his excitement, Shinsou still managed to maintain a calm expression on his face. "I thought your classmate was going home with you."
She bowed her head again, anxiously toying with the strap of her bag now. "…he is, but…I think it would still be okay…if you walk with us…"
A glance over made his heart skip a beat. He reached over, gently taking her hand in his and feeling her lace her fingers with his. "I read your note." From the corner of his eye, he saw her face turning bright red. The grip on his hand tightened and he could feel her pulse racing just as fast as his.
"…s-sorry…that was…p-probably too forward of me…to ask something like that…i-in the shows I watch…with my grandmother…th-the boy always asks the girl out and…th-that was probably wrong of me to ask and…um…"
He turned to her, his free hand lightly resting against her cheek for a moment. The girl's eyes widened, crimson glimmering with tears of embarrassment. Shinsou carefully slid her mask down and leaned in closer, pressing his lips against hers. His hand slid to her hair, very gently running his fingers through the dark violet locks and feeling them glide softly over his skin. When he broke the kiss, he looked down at her for a moment and wiped away her tears. "Sorry. Was that too much?"
"…d-does that mean…you're not…mad…?"
Smiling down at her, he shook his head. "If anyone should be mad, it's you. I should've asked you after I said that I liked you," he admitted. "But, anyway, my answer is "yes"."
Her eyes widened once more as she stared up at him. "…y-yes…?" Her free hand quickly covered her lips as she shifted her gaze away. "…you…you're saying yes…and…and that means that you…want to…"
"I want you to be my girlfriend," the boy stated simply. When he saw her lips curl into a wide smile, he could not stop himself from drawing her against his chest in a hug. "I'm really glad that you asked me out."
Shift P.O.V
"So what did he say?!"
Shirayuki jumped a little when Ashido appeared next to her desk. "…y-you…um…you scared me, Ashido-chan…"
"Sorry. I'm just so excited! So he answered you, right? Wait a second!" The pink-haired girl leaned in kind of close and began to grin. "Yuki, you're smiling, aren't you?"
She bowed her head, letting her dark violet hair fall around her face to try to hide the intense way that she was blushing. "…I…um…w-well…it went…really well…" she admitted, pulling her mask down a little.
Ashido saw her smile and brightened even more. "Yuki! You look so cute when you smile! You shouldn't cover your face so much; you're adorable!"
"…I'm…not brave enough for that…"
"So he said "yes"?" The quiet girl nodded and put her mask back up. "So you're dating. Like boyfriend and girlfriend. I'm so happy for you, Yuki!" Ashido grabbed her in a hug and was surprised to feel Shirayuki hug back. "Awww! Is that a Yuki hug?"
"…you…helped me get the courage to ask him…and…helped me get over being mad…" Shirayuki let go and leaned down to her bag, rummaging for a small box. "…um…I-I actually…made you something…to thank you for your help…"
Ashido accepted the box and frowned. "Yuki, you didn't have to do this. I'm just happy that you're happy."
This is friendship. Being happy for someone else that's happy. Shirayuki smiled again behind the mask. I like to see her happy, too.
"Oh, cool! What'd you get?" Kaminari peered over Ashido's shoulder as the girl opened the box. "Whoa! Those cookies look awesome! Yuki, did you make these yourself?"
"What's going on?" Kirishima approached the three friends, raising an eyebrow. "Oh. Bakugou's not here yet?"
"Not yet. Look at these cookies that Yuki made."
"…a-actually…um…I made some for…Kaminari-kun and Kirishima-kun, too…" Shirayuki pulled two more little boxes out of her bag and offered them.
Kirishima accepted his gift from her, but frowned. Turning his head to the side, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks. They look pretty good. So you really gave that note to that guy from 1-C?"
Ashido nodded, grinning. "They're official now! Isn't that great?"
"Yeah…really great." He popped a cookie into his mouth and finally looked at Shirayuki again. "Hey. So you're really sure about that? Don't you think it's a little soon? We're just first years."
"What the hell are you doing?" Bakugou glared at the four friends as he approached. "Why do you all have boxes?"
"Yuki gave us cookies," Kaminari replied, holding one up. "Don't they look cool? And you can taste love in every bite!" He laughed, seeing Shirayuki's face turn pink.
"Where's my box?"
The girl tensed and slouched in her seat. "…I-I didn't…make enough…"
"Whatever. You'll make me something better then, right?"
Class started and Shirayuki could feel him practically staring a hole through the back of her head. Slouching in her seat, the girl refused to let him sour her mood. Shinsou had said "yes" to going out with her. Shirayuki's courage had paid off and now she was his girlfriend. Just thinking about it made her smile.
At lunchtime, she walked with her group of friends. Ashido grinned when she saw the girl look around the cafeteria for Shinsou. "You want to eat with your boyfriend, right?"
"…I…I don't see him…"
"He's probably eating with people from his class," Kirishima pointed out. "Yuki, maybe you should hold off on that kind of stuff. You know, until after the sports festival at least."
Remembering the challenge that Shinsou had basically issued to her class, she frowned. "…but we…just started going out…"
"I know you like him, but there's a rivalry here, okay? Can't you just wait a little?"
"Oh, there he is!" Kaminari waved at the indigo-haired boy from across the cafeteria. Shinsou did not wave back at him. "Come on, Yuki; I'll walk with you."
She was glad for the company, but at the same time she was a little puzzled. Normally, he would stay close to Kirishima and Ashido so for him to split away from them was a bit odd. "…thank you…"
"No problem!" He grinned down at her, but it soon faded into a frown as he saw her glance over her shoulder at their other two friends. "Hey, don't worry about what Kirishima said, okay?"
"…is he…angry with me…?" Shirayuki nervously toyed with the hem of her blazer sleeve, glancing back again just in time to see Bakugou appear. Please don't come over here. Please.
"I wouldn't say he's "angry". Maybe a little bit jealous?"
"…jealous…?"
"Hey, so those cookies you made. They're pretty good. Did your grandma help you with those or did you make them all by yourself? They're really pro."
She tilted her head slightly at the shift of the conversation, but was more than happy to change the subject. "…by myself…it's…an older recipe…but…I made some changes…"
Shirayuki promised to meet up with her friends again after lunch and went with Shinsou to get her meal. As she sat down to eat, she found herself thinking about that morning. Remembering that moment when Shinsou told her "yes", she felt her heart start to race all over again. She smiled, her cheeks burning with a blush as she tried to hide her mouth behind her hand.
Across the table, he saw this and a faint pinkish hue rose to his face as well. "Are you training this afternoon?" His gaze settled on the average-sized portion of food sitting in front of her.
"…n-no…" Summoning forth some courage, Shirayuki lifted her eyes to his and gripped her chopsticks tighter. We're going out. I should ask him if he wants to go on a date. Shinsou…took me on a date and he planned everything. I should do something like that for him, too. I want him to know how happy he makes me feel. I want to make him as happy as he makes me.
"Are you doing anything on Sunday?"
"…ah…n-no…but…um…I-I was going to ask if…you want to…g-go somewhere…"
"Like a date?"
"…like a date…" she agreed, her face red.
Half-smiling, he gave her a nod. "Yeah. I'd like that."