Marie was wearing her lingerie in bed while going over her assignment for tomorrow's presentation. The lingerie she found boosted her confidence and she was starting to think about buying more.
Her note cards were ready and had no doubt that she'd do well. She had hoped to see Shinso at the apartment when she was tutoring Eri but he wasn't there. She also found that it would be embarrassing to ask his adoptive father or sister where he was.
There was a knock on her door which she was grateful for due to her current clothing choice. She found that though wearing the clothing gave her confidence it still was embarrassing.
"Who is it?" She asks as she glides out of the bed.
"Hitoshi Shinso." She freezes in place for a moment. Looking at the clock she knew it wasn't past curfew yet but it was getting close.
"Uh. One moment. I'm. I'm not decent." She practically face palms herself at the stumble she has over her words.
She looks around the room. Should she change? Should she just cover up?
In a rush she puts on a sundress and heads to the door.
"Shinso. What can I do for you?" She stands in her door frame and looks at him.
She notices and can feel as his eyes skim over her body and stop when they meet her eyes.
"I thought we could go over the project one last time before tomorrow. I was out with Izuku earlier so I missed you at the house."
Marie didn't really think that it was necessary for them to go over the information again. But he had already come all this way.
"Sure. We can go to the commons or her-" She didn't even finish when he was pushing her door open further.
"Here is fine." He steps into her room and his head looks around, "It's only fair since you've seen my room."
She was pretty sure she saw hints of a smirk but his head had turned away from her too quickly for her to be sure.
Hitoshi was grateful for his confidence and Izuku's pep talk that got him to come to her dorm room.
Her room was put together just as he would have expected from the girl. Everything seemed to have a place.
He didn't hesitate to sit on her bed and when he saw a strawberry blush across her cheeks and her collarbone, he had felt like he had achieved something.
Marie realized that she felt incredibly exposed in her sundress. It wasn't much shorter than her uniform skirt but it was much more loose fitted and the top of the dress hugged her waist and chest. The straps were thin and layered over the lingerie straps.
The black lace of the straps is the only hint of what she could be wearing. Something that doesn't go unnoticed by Hitoshi.
Hitoshi can't help but watch her micro movements as the girl makes her way to the bed. She sits closer to the top near the pillows while he was near the foot of the bed.
Her legs were crossed at the ankle and her dress moderately rises up her thigh as she leans over the folders and paperwork that he notices was already on the bed. Her left hand supports her against the mattress she starts to gather the work together.
"It's different from the others but I'm really confident with this approach. It will be similar." She pauses as she notices him getting more comfortable by laying on his side. Propping himself up with his forearm and his hand under his head. "You okay with this presentation. These are my notecards." She slid them to him.
She watches him take the cards and move all the paperwork aside and basically sitting next to her and using the headboard as a backrest.
The new position made her also shift to be using the headboard as a backrest. Their shoulders were fairly close but not touching. She watches him as he reads the notes.
He was wearing casual clothing. Black denim pants, a shirt and a denim jacket. His hair was its usual unruly purple self. Her eyes trail across his face. It was lacking any indicator of what he thought.
The silence was thick and she can't help but lean in close to see which part he was at in the notes.
"Soo? What do you think?"
"I think… It sounds like you know alot about me and I don't know anything about you."
His voice was close and that's when she realized just how close she leaned in. With the turn of her head she's looking up into Shinso's face.
"I mean," His eyes roll down her back and he's half smirking, "I know you like to wear black lace."
She abruptly sits up and her arm twists to contort round to her back and feels that the back was more open and revealed the lingerie piece.
Her face was on fire and as he continued to talk it wasn't going to subside.
"I know that you've been a student aid for your whole UA career, I know that you're the top of your class." He sets the note cards down and faces her. She can feel herself shrinking into herself.
"I know that you've been training not because you want to do better for the Sports Festival but because you're going through-" He was leaning close to her and she felt exposed and also like a weight had been lifted, "a type of quirk puberty that made you sensitive around me. With your purring and assaulting me with your tail."
Marie was mortified. She'd never heard Shinso speak so much directly to her and on top of it she watched as his eye lit up during all the points he was making. She needed it to end.
"I'm. I'm so sorry Shinso." Her hands found his forearm, "I should have explained properly but never really got the chance." She can't look him in the eyes and just looks at her hands that latched onto his arm, "You don't have to worry about that anymore though. No more purring or my tail or-"
Marie's words fall off when she feels fingers grab her chin. Redirecting her face and attention. She sees Shinso's smirk was gone and now was serious.
"Marie, I don't want it to stop." She watched the way his mouth moved and everything he says sinks in. Her eyes flicker up to his and sees that he's also looking intently at her.
They were the closest they'd ever been to one another but there was still a distance that made Marie's mind wish that his lips were closer.
"Shinso, Do you like me?" She asks the words that not that long ago he had asked her and she avoided.
Hitoshi wanted to kiss her. He wanted to know what those soft pink lips felt like against his. She was so close and so far.
He wanted to know her lips, he wanted to know her favorite color and what she liked to eat. He wanted his own personal profile on her.
He had just been talking to Izuku earlier about his crush and how he wanted to get to know her and how he just wanted to be around her.
"I am interested in you. I want to get to know you."
He felt her pull away from his hand and her hands grip his forearm. She looked like she was really thinking about it.
"To.. become friends?"
Shinso's never looked at his friends lips the way that he's looked at hers but he also didn't have the assurance to say that he wanted to date or be more than friends with her either.
"Yeah." He moves to create a bit of distance, "It would be nice. Plus you're around me enough." He shrugs it off like it's nothing, "It would be nice to have another close friend."
He listens to her breathy laugh and then she starts to slip off the bed and grab the school work, "You mean besides Midoriya and Kaminari?"
Hitoshi's eyes follow her back as she rounds the bed to her desk. Her sundress' back is a deeper cut than the front. Exposing the lace black lingerie that she was wearing underneath. His curiosity has him wonder what the ensemble looks like without the dress.
"Yeah." He shakes the mental images, "Besides them."
Marie turns around from the desk and leans against it, looking at him.
He looked so good on her bed. Leaning against her headboard with a slight slouch. His arms lazily at his sides.
Shinso was attractive and then she thought about the other day when they played video games.
"I really enjoyed hanging out the other day. Maybe I can come over and play video games again." The idea made her really happy.
She heard Shinso's phone beep and sits up and looks at it with a frown followed by him getting off of her bed and facing her.
Hitoshi speaks the other lingering thought, "I look forward to it. And as your friend," He smirks, "I give you permission to purr and use your tail around me." Her blush excites him but not as much as her tail which quickly wraps around his ankle.
Marie conjures up her confidence that she's gained from wearing lingerie. She was already wearing it and she could feel like laying across her skin under her dress.
"Be careful Shinso. It's got a mind of its own."
He gives her a half grin, "I guess I'll have to tame it."
Aizawa was in his sleeping bag and was in the corner of the room listening to the girl as she gave her presentation. She had honestly had the easiest of the three students.
He had the rubric memorized and she had hit all of the points that she needed to.
The girl bowed and took her seat.
"Marie, You're next." He instructed. His eyes came to the two seats that were in the middle of the classroom. One was where his adoptive son sat and the other was where the feline student sat. There weren't any tails grabbing ankles and he took that as a good sign.
When Marie got to the podium she first put the Hero Profile on a desk for Aizawa Sensei to read over later.
"Underground Hero Mindjack is best known for his brainwashing quirk that is best utilized for support and infiltration. He demonstrates incredible combat prowess and ingenuity that makes him a formidable asset. His usual tactic is to use his quirk and capture weapon in conjunction with his high agility to defeat or restrain his adversaries." She makes sure to take this moment to check the audience and that she was still in a professional stance.
"Without the use of his quirk, Mindjack relies on his proficiency in hand-to-hand combat, excelling in close quarters combat. Ranking in the Top 20 in the UA Sports Festival two years in a row and in the latest UA Upcoming Heroes Popularity Poll he has Ranked 10. His heroic intentions are seen both in the field and off with noteworthy community work done in his name. From ocean clean up projects to helping with the organization of the UHA - Underground Heroes Allegiance's Annual Glow Run." She bowed and thanked the class before sitting.
She hadn't been nervous giving the presentation but more so after. It was so clear that she left out so much extra stuff that Danny and Gina had. It felt like she barely gave a presentation. Her nerves did ease though when she looked at Shinso and he gave her a small smile. A smile that made everything else go away. As long as he approved nothing else did.
Well, her grade too but realistically it was a managers job to manage the hero and at the end they needed to approve it above all else.
Aizawa got up and addressed the class, "Well done. Any questions?"
Marie wanted to break Kaminari's wrist. It was always him.
"Hitoshi's profile didn't have his name or mention his mask or any of the fun stuff that the others had. Also, since when was there a popularity poll?" The electric hero did turn around to face her for a moment, "You were good but I think you did my friend injustice. I could have sold him better then that."
"Marie's presentation and her profile together will give a more accurate description of who she is selling. Marie, care to explain to the class why yours was so clearly different."
She didn't mind being put on the spot. She knew that she did everything right by the standards that she and Shinso had set.
"Shinso is an Underground Hero, it would be illogical to broadcast to the world that he uses Artificial Vocal Cords. Announcing that he can copy voices or throw his voice would be giving someone else an advantage. As for his name, if he were to ever do anything undercover you don't want people to put a name to a face. His hero name isn't just a persona, it's for his protection and anyone he may ever care about."
Kaminari put his hands up in a surrendering motion, "Dude, It's just the class."
Marie gives out a breathy laugh and looks at Aizawa Sensei, "We weren't informed on who the audience was for our presentation." She looks back at the blond, "Public Speaking 101. Always know your audience. Instead of assuming it was a class full of students who know Shinso, I took it upon myself to assume that you were a potential agency."
Hitoshi was impressed. Reading the profile and the notecards was nothing compared to hearing her speak it. He felt both embarrassed and confident by her words. But most of all…
"She stayed within the parameters of what I was okay sharing." He couldn't help the small smile, "Marie did a good job."
She was blushing at his praise. Aizawa could say something now. Someone. She felt so exposed and Kaminari was still turned in his seat now looking at both her and Shinso. His lips turned in a type of realization.
Luckly the lunch bell rang and she couldn't have been more grateful.