CHAPTER 9

"Yuri." I heard Shoto pronounce my name flawlessly. I looked at his direction and his dual-colored orbs met mine. In all honesty, I have never gotten tired of this beautiful sight.

I tilted my head to the side. "Hmm?"

My eyes wandered restlessly for a moment and then back at him again waiting for a response but no words came out of his mouth. His gaze were fixed on me as if examining my presence. What is up with this guy?

Shoto and I are just at the far end of the reception room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a crowd of students gathering just an earshot away from us. I peered at the side and spotted Shoto's classmates. The moment I glanced at them, they pretended not to listen at our conversation. Honestly, I couldn't care less if they overhear us. It's not like we're gonna talk something about our arranged marriage anyway. I broke his silence.

"Sho-kun?" I froze at my words.

Crap. Did that just roll out of my tongue?

My eyes met the ground. I felt flustered. I cannot remember when was the last time I called Shoto that. I shook all the awkward feeling away and spoke again. "You… Uh… Wanted to talk to me about something?" I waved a hand in front of him and noticed him looking away from me. I saw a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks.

"Yeah." He cleared his throat and looked at me. "It's about you avoiding me the whole time today." He replied, with a half-smile.

Is he bringing this up again? And when did this guy get better at reading someone? I tried to deny it the best I can. I laughed while I fixed the fringe on my forehead as a means of keeping myself from being too obvious. "Me, avoiding you? When?" I scratched the back of my head.

"I just told you. This. Whole. Day." He stressed out every word.

"And didn't I just tell you earlier? I was not, okay? I was just a bit too tense about the exam today. But so far, it worked out fine." See. It's not too hard to deny something? Wait a minute. Shoto and I are finally having a normal conversation. This isn't too awkward at all.

"You didn't look too tense to me. Especially with how you snapped back at Bakugo a while back." Shoto responded

"Oh, that?" I began to feel embarrassed. They were classmates after all. "I was just looking after myself."

"To be honest, that was a good call. At least you've shut him up." Shoto bluntly replied.

The moment Shoto said those words I heard an angry guy yelling something like I'll KILL YOU HALF AND HALF BASTARD.

I chuckled.

"Although I don't recall introducing you to Bakugo prior today. Have you met him by any chance?" He continued as he crossed his arms on his chest.

"I bumped into him a couple of weeks before at the grocery store. I was buying some stuff for grandpa. I kind of recognized him from the UA Sports Festival."

"Oh. That explains why he called you taiyaki girl earlier. Were you there?" Shoto asked.

"At the actual Sports Festival? No. We were watching at school. Kind of checking out who we are against." I smiled at Shoto. I can't remember how many times I've smiled at him today. This was all new to me. At the same time, it felt good.

Unconsciously, I have been looking at him the entire time. Did he grow this much the whole while we haven't seen each other? His shoulders grew wider and the muscles on his arms were more defined. Even if he doesn't flex, I can see traces of burliness in his physique. His hero costume was just as simple as mine. His body covered with a resistant jacket made of durable material. My gaze traveled to his chest and landed on his abs. I'm sure underneath that costume lays a very ripped frame.

Yuri! What are you thinking? I mentally slapped myself finally realizing my eyes were locked on Shoto's beautiful figure. As I caught myself blushing, I cleared my throat. My eyes back to his face.

"Nice hero costume." I said to distract myself. "Is it made of a fire-resistant fiber for your other quirk?" I tried to sound formal to shake away my awkwardness.

"Yes. I'm glad you noticed." He smiled. Why does he look so freakin' handsome every time he smiles? I'm gonna melt. "It's the first time I saw your hero costume as well."

I blushed. Again. "Please don't tell me it looked a bit revealing. I got endless comments about it from Inasa already."

"Actually, I was about to say something like that." He scratched the back of his head. "But if Gran Torino allowed you to wear it, I'm not in any position to object. It helps you move freely since you're a hand-to-hand fighter. And… it looks good on you."

I let out a sigh. "I'm relieved then. Thanks!"

"Although, if I may say. It's kind of fit at the…" He cleared his throat again. "At the bottom part." He eyed my butt and looked away.

I felt blood rush to my cheeks. "Shoto-kun… Did you just check me out?" I jokingly snapped at him and laughed. All my shyness gone out of the window. It was as if our friendship never drifted apart.

"WHAT? NO! I was just trying to accurately describe it." He laughed. He laughed. This beautiful human being laughed. "At least it doesn't look anything like Midnight. If it did, I'd probably have to keep an eye on you all the time."

"What?"

Shoto's eyes widened with what he just said. I stared at him open-mouthed.

Did I hear him correctly? Keep an eye on me?

We both looked away. I can sense both of us are blushing at this moment.

Did Shoto's classmates hear what he said? I glanced at their direction and saw the same expression I had. It was definitely out of Shoto's character to be like this.


A/N: Just realized this was a short chapter Will upload the next one tomorrow once I got all my work done today! Hope you like it!