Fireworks ~ TodoMomo

||Chapter 7||

Shouto shifted as Yaoyorozu's dark eyes looked him up and down critically.

She turned around and pulled a dark blue yukata off of a neatly pressed pile. Carefully shaking it out, she held it up to his chest, just like his sister did whenever she tried to determine if a color suited him.

Shouto glanced away in an attempt to distract himself from how close Yaoyorozu was standing. His neck was hot, and he cleared his suddenly dry throat as he looked around the dressing room.

The changing area, just like the rest of the store, was fancy - fancier than any place Shouto had ever been in before, especially for clothes shopping.

A long carpeted hallway led to four side-by-side changing stalls draped with heavy gray curtains. At either end of the hallway were two full-length mirrors. And along the opposite wall, where Yaoyorozu had stacked her pile of yukatas, was a long table that had been set up with glass pitchers holding different types of flavored water.

"Here," Yaoyorozu finally said, her brow creasing into a 'v,' "Try this one on next."

It was a deep navy blue with rectangular patterns and looked exactly the same as the one he had on. But he could tell by the determined gleam in Yaoyorozu's eyes that this wasn't something he should say out loud.

Shouto forced himself not to sigh. He didn't understand why shopping for yukatas seemed so important to her, but she appeared eager in her endeavor.

Whatever made her happy, he guessed.

And it was obvious that Yaoyorozu was happy doing this. She was in her element, sweeping up and down the aisles pulling off various yukatas of every color for their classmates to try on. Even Midoriya, who always dressed in ill-fitting pants and oversized boots, seemed to find something reasonable thanks to Yaoyorozu's attention.

Shouto reached out and pulled the fabric from Yaoyorozu's hands. He stepped back into the small box-shaped changing room, closing the heavy fabric curtain again.

Slowly, Shouto stripped out of his current yukata, folding the fabric as gently as he could, before pulling on the one Yaoyorozu had just handed him. It must have been the tenth one he tried on. His legs were starting to ache.

When he was dressed, Shouto pulled open the curtain and stepped out. He scanned the hallway. Yaoyorozu was gone — off to find more yukatas probably.

Shouto tilted his head to both sides until his neck cracked and then leaned against the doorway of his dressing room. At the far end of the hallway, Shouto thought he heard what sounded like Sato Rikido's deep timber mumbling from one of the stalls.

He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together as he waited.

Tired.

He wondered how Yaoyorozu did it.

Shouto had never been what Fuyumi called a "shopper." He rarely went to stores himself, usually relying on his sister to bring home clothes for him to try on. And they had been at the yukata store for over two hours. He honestly didn't know what had gotten into him. And the fact that he didn't feel overly annoyed at the whole process was strange as well.

Maybe it was because they were doing it as a class? Or because even his mom had urged him to skip their usual Saturday lunches to come out. He wasn't sure; all Shouto knew was that Yaoyorozu was trying her best, and he didn't want to disappoint her, especially when, for some odd reason, he felt that Yaoyorozu was putting considerable more effort into helping him specifically. The thought sent a strange rush of satisfaction through his body, and his chest felt lighter.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Yaoyorozu's voice carried from the doorway.

Shouto straightened as Yaoyorozu walked back into the dressing room. More yukatas were draped over her arm.

Her eyes widened as she caught sight of him, and she smiled. "Oh, this one looks so good on you!"

She moved closer and beamed as she studied him, her black eyes shining. Shouto felt his earlier tiredness melt away as his stomach somersaulted.

"What do you think?" Yaoyorozu asked after a moment.

Shouto swallowed and shrugged. "It's fine."

Her eyes flickered up to his face, and her mouth thinned. "Todoroki-san, you have to have an opinion." Her voice held a note of impatience.

Shouto's lips twitched. He looked away before she could catch him. "Any of them are good. I'll get whichever one you like."

Yaoyorozu huffed. Her cheeks puffed out in a way he had never seen before; it reminded him of a hamster, and Shouto felt a rush of warmth spread through him.

Cute.

The word invaded his thoughts before he could censor it. It was foreign, alien, but it fit.

He looked back down at the yukatas in her arms and blinked as he noticed the sleeves were decorated with delicate flowers and objects that definitely weren't for men.

"For you?"

Yaoyorozu followed his gaze down to her arms and smiled. "Yes. I'm almost done helping everyone else, so I thought I'd try on a couple as well. I was thinking a dark blue might be a nice change from what I usually wear, but have a couple of different colors for comparison..."

Shouto opened his mouth to say something when a deep red one caught his attention. He stepped forward, and without thought, reached a daring hand out and caught the end of the fabric.

Shouto had never been one to touch another's things, especially without asking, but these were store items, so he didn't see anything wrong with it. "I like this one."

Yaoyorozu looked up sharply. Her dark eyes were almost doe-like as she searched his face, and Shouto couldn't help feeling pleased with catching her off guard. "Th - thank you."

He nodded, releasing the fabric. They were so close the cloth of the yukatas in her arms skimmed against Shouto's arm, but he didn't move away. "The red color reminds me of your hero costume."

"Well - I still have to try it on to see if it will look good."

He felt his lips lift on one side. "I think it will. The color suits you."

"Yaoyorozu-san, how do you tie this?"

Yaoyorozu flushed red, stumbling backward as Sato's nasally voice sounded down the hall, and the metal hooks of his changing curtain clanged as he opened it.

Shouto frowned, feeling unexpectedly disappointed as she edged away from him.

"Sato-san, I'll be right over," Yaoyorozu called down the hallway. She pushed her yukatas onto the table.

Shouto took a step back and was about to re-enter his dressing room when he paused, his fingers bunching in the gray curtain. He glanced back over his shoulder at Yaoyorozu. "Thanks, Yaoyorozu, for the help."

She looked up, and her dark eyes met his. His chest tightened. "I'll get this one," he added.

"You're - you're welcome!" Yaoyorozu stuttered as he closed the curtain behind him.