Her heart was beating so hard and so fast that it made her chest feel tight. Shirayuki glanced over at Shinsou as they walked together to the store, clutching the strap of her bag tightly. There were so many things that she wanted to say, but every time she opened her mouth, it felt like her throat was constricting.
He wore a light frown and his gaze was on the ground instead of focused ahead of them. Shinsou's hands were in his pockets, his eyes half-closed as he seemed to mull over everything that had happened in front of Shirayuki's house. It was obviously bothering him, but he seemed to be giving his words great consideration before opening his mouth.
"…y-you…have a bruise on your arm…" she quietly started.
Shinsou's eyes slid toward her and he lifted his arm a little to look. There was a deep bruise on his left forearm, spreading down from his elbow. "Oh. Yeah, it happened during training."
"…my grandmother could heal it…if you want…"
He rubbed the back of his neck and half-shrugged. "I don't want to bother her. It's fine."
"…i-it's no bother…!" She turned to look up at him, her face turning pink behind her mask. "…she…said you're her favorite out of all of my friends…she won't mind healing you, Shinsou…"
A hint of pink rose to his face and he smiled slightly, looking away. "I guess it would be alright, then."
They both went silent again, both falling into deep thought as they continued the shopping trip. Shinsou helped her reach the items on high shelves and insisted on carrying the shopping basket for her, but Shirayuki stayed close in case he looked like he was tired. Honestly, he did seem a little exhausted from his training.
It was on the walk back to her house that he finally let her know what was on his mind. Standing in the kitchen after her grandmother had healed his bruise, he looked to Shirayuki and met her eyes directly. The eye contact made her flush pink and she started to look away, but he put a hand on her shoulder. "Shirayuki. Look at me. I need to tell you something important."
She felt her pulse quicken again and frowned behind her mask. The girl had gradually calmed down, but now she was anxious again. Her stomach twisted into knots as she forced her crimson eyes to remain locked onto his deep indigo ones. "…what…is it…?"
Shinsou put his other hand on her other shoulder, making sure that she would keep looking at him as he spoke. "I still like you," he started. He saw her blush deepen, but he withheld a smile. "I still like you, but I'm not going to ask you out again. Not yet. When I get into the hero course, though, I'll ask you out. And I hope you'll say "yes", but I'll understand if you say "no"."
Shirayuki stared up at him, her nervousness growing with each word. She lifted a shaking hand to tug down her mask and she frowned. "…you…you're going to ask me out…if you get into the hero course…?"
He nodded. "I have to work hard to try to get into the course, but if I make it, I'll ask you out. It's just a little more motivation this way." Shinsou finally flashed her a half-smile and pulled her into a gentle hug.
She had only one day to really think about his confession before she fell into a bunch of incredibly busy days. Studying for her exams, taking her written exams, doing the practical exam. The day of her practical exam, Shirayuki waited near the school gate after classes had ended.
"Hey, Yuki! Are you waiting for someone?" Togata's warm, cheerful voice made the girl look up and he beamed. Walking beside him, Amajiki lifted his head a little from staring at the ground and he visibly tensed.
"…s-sort of…ah…I was…hoping to go with Tamaki…"
"Oh! You had your exams today, right? How'd it go? Was it rough? I remember my first exams here! They were kind of difficult and-!"
"You…want to go with me?" Amajiki asked, anxiously glancing toward her and then away again.
"…yes…um…I-I want to see Fat Gum…I want to tell him…about the exams…" It was a little embarrassing, but Shirayuki really wanted to tell the hero about how her exams went. Talking to Fat Gum was close to talking to her father and she wished more than anything that she could tell her father about how she did.
"That's so sweet! Tamaki, you've got to take her with you!"
The dark-haired boy fidgeted a little and mumbled something under his breath, but nodded. "S-sure. You…can come with me," he agreed.
A hand pressed at Shirayuki's back, pushing her closer to Amajiki while another hand pushed at the boy's back. "And…friendship! Come on; hold hands!" Togata insisted, smiling brighter than the sun.
"R-right. Ah…" Amajiki hesitantly reached over to take one of Shirayuki's hands in his, a reddish blush spreading across his face and reaching to the tips of his pointed ears. "Let's…let's go." He started leading the way, his facial expression intense from the amount of nervousness he was feeling.
"Oh, right! We still need to make summer plans, you guys! I'll message you both after I leave Sir's office!" Togata called after them, waving.
Amajiki set a brisk pace, keeping a tight hold on her hand when they went through the crowded station. He was silent, but stayed close to her and kept glancing worriedly in the girl's direction. When they boarded the train, he immediately scouted for an open seat and found two of them. "This way."
Shirayuki walked behind him, her head down and avoiding lifting her eyes. It felt more crowded than usual and she could feel her pulse starting to race. She sat beside him, her shoulders hunching as she tried her best to avoid touching the stranger on her other side.
What would my father think? If I could tell him how the exams went, what would he say? Her eyes closed as she remembered an occurrence from when she was a little kid.
She got a good score on a test at school and she was excited about the gold star on her paper. Her mother had been so kind back then. Hikari had told her what a great job she did and her father lifted her up and twirled her around, grinning and telling her how proud he was. He was so happy that he had made her favorite food for dinner that night and surprised her by taking her and Hikari to get cake afterwards.
Thinking about that moment and how proud her father had been, Shirayuki smiled behind her mask. She tried to imagine telling him about her final exams, tried to imagine how him grinning and telling her that he was proud of her. The blissful moment was shattered when the person on her left tapped a fingertip against her knee.
Shirayuki jolted and released a muffled yelp of surprise, her eyes snapping open. She glanced over at the boy on her left, feeling her stomach churn with nervousness. "…d-do you…do you need something…?" she mumbled.
This was a boy she had never seen before, but he looked a bit older than her. He grinned down at her when he saw her glance over. "You're pretty cute. Are you a first-year?"
"…y-yes…"
"Oh, cool! What course are you in? I'm a second-year. General studies. Are you doing anything right now? You want to go for tea somewhere? Are you single? If you need help with any school stuff, I can-"
"No." The answer came from Amajiki, on her right. His tone was low and firm. An arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her against his side, his narrowed eyes focused on the younger boy. He looked intense, even though he was blushing.
The stranger's eyes widened and he held up both hands. "Whoa! Sorry! I didn't notice you over there! My bad!"
Shirayuki's face felt like it was burning from embarrassment, but she muttered a "thank you" to Amajiki and bowed her head. His arm felt warm around her shoulders and it made her feel safe. Her pulse was erratic and she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself down. Dark violet hair fell around her face to hide the intense blush that had turned her cheeks red.
"Yuki, what a surprise! You want to walk with us today when we patrol?" Fat Gum greeted her when they arrived.
"She…finished her final exams today," Amajiki spoke up quietly.
"What?! Okay, I've gotta hear about it! Have a seat and tell me what happened!" Fat Gum looked ecstatic.
"…um…w-well, I passed…" Shirayuki told him the details about the practical exam, knowing that it was probably more interesting to him. She had been paired up with Asui and Tokoyami. The three of them worked fairly well together, but Shirayuki had hardly ever spoken to them so she felt awkward and nervous for most of the exam.
Fat Gum listened intently and grinned when she finished describing the practical exam's events. "Yuki, that's great! You really pushed yourself, huh? I bet you were nervous about working with them, but you showed some real bravery by pushing yourself! I'm really proud of you!"
The words she wished she could hear from her own father, coming from her father's friend. This hero really believed in her. He believed she had what it took to be a hero. Shirayuki felt her throat tightening and she looked down, nervously fidgeting with the hairband around her wrist. "Th-thank you," she stammered.
"I…I think you did well, too," Amajiki commented.
"…thank you…T-Tamaki…"
The professional hero sitting across the desk from them looked from his work study student to the first-year student. His grin faltered for a moment before he tapped a fist against the desk in front of him. "That settles it! After we patrol, I'm treating you both to dinner!"
"…y-you don't…have to do that…" Shirayuki tried to argue.
"I insist! Besides, it's what Umetarou would've done!" Fat Gum's grin spread wider and he stood up. "You know how proud he'd be? He would've taken you out to celebrate so that's what I'm going to do. We'll hit up his favorite restaurant and have a great meal."
While walking with them during their patrol, Shirayuki felt happier than usual. It was almost like a giddiness. A burst of joyful bubbles in her veins every time she remembered what Fat Gum said. He was proud of her and he said that her father would have been proud of her. It made her so overwhelmingly happy.
Despite her mask hiding her face, it was soon obvious that the other two could tell how blissful she felt. Fat Gum put a hand on Amajiki's shoulder and guided him over to stand next to the girl before giving him a slight nudge. The boy's face went a vibrant shade of red and he looked down.
"Yuki…um…after dinner…" He started off very quietly and trailed off, losing his nerve and tugging his hood forward more.
"How's your grandma, Yuki? I haven't seen her in forever, but I remember she made these amazing little cakes that Umetarou used for his quirk," Fat Gum spoke up, giving Amajiki a moment to recover.
"…ah…sh-she's fine…I think…she'd probably like it…if you visited…" Shirayuki still could not remember meeting Fat Gum before Amajiki introduced them, but when she mentioned him to her grandmother, she seemed to remember him. If he visited…they could talk about my father. Grandma would really like that.
"I'll have to do that! Maybe I could drop by on Sunday. Suneater, what about you? Have you ever met Yuki's grandma?"
The boy jumped a little at being pulled back into the conversation. "Y-yeah. I mean, no. I've…walked her home." He lowered his head some more and winced when they passed a group of people that were staring at them. Amajiki saw Shirayuki start to fidget with the hairband on her wrist and he frowned, protectively moving closer to her. "Yuki, could I…come over for a while?"
Her face started to heat up again and she lowered her head more, letting her hair fall around her face. "…a-alright…"
"So did you guys make any plans? You've got some free time during your summer break, right?" Fat Gum spoke up again, grinning and clearly pleased with Amajiki's courageous move.
"N-no…not yet." The boy slowly moved a little closer to Shirayuki, seeing her tense up from the people that were getting too close to her on the sidewalk. He reached over, his eyes quickly darting away from her as his hand took hers. "Mirio wanted to talk about it tonight, but…the thought of going out somewhere…"
"…I-I don't really…want to go anywhere crowded…" she agreed. His hand felt warm and reassuring as it held hers. Not a tight hold, like when Bakugou held her hand. Not a delicate hold, like when Shinsou held her hand. This was a protective hold, like Kirishima's, that was meant to make her feel secure and it was working.
"Misspent youth," the hero said, shaking his head. "If I was your age, I'd live it up before classes start again. It's not a big window of free time, you know. I guess just make sure you have fun, but stay safe."