Sound of Silence (Aizawa X OC)

Ch. 18: Ruptured Silence

-----Shouta's POV-----

"Now, care to explain to me what the fuck is going on here?"

Hizashi's glare could have killed or at least seriously intimidated most people, but he had been my best friend for over 10 years. I knew that he was most likely more hurt about us not telling him then anything.

"I have feelings for Shinobu, Hizashi. Strong feelings. And she has them for me too. I've been letting her dictate the pace of things since she told me she's never been in any sort of relationship before," I explained bluntly. His narrowed eyes relaxed slightly at this, but his interrogation wasn't over yet.

"How long has this been going on?"

"A little over 2 weeks."

"Who made the first move?"

"I did, but I gave her plenty of time to express that she wasn't interested or comfortable," I responded to his questions almost as quickly as he asked them. I wasn't going to bullshit or beat around the bush with Hizashi on this. It wouldn't do anyone involved any good if I did. After a couple of minutes of what was a rather tense silence, he finally spoke again, this time his voice is loud, clear and has a hint of anger in it.

"How far have you two gone?"

"That's really not any of your business, Mic. We're both adults." At that response, Hizashi grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and pulled me eye to eye with him, clearly pissed off at my response.

"How. Far. Shouta," he asked through gritted teeth. I sighed but decided to tell him. If we didn't hurry this conversation up, I was worried Shinobu would come in and this would not help her mental state right now.

"Calm down, Mic. All we've done is kiss a couple of times. No making out, no sex, and I haven't pressured her for it. It's not even something that's on the table right now," I answered, my serious tone back as I met his glare with a serious gaze of my own, "I'm not going to pressure her into something she's not ready for, Hizashi."

"Look, Shouta, Shinobu has a lot of baggage that comes with her. So if you're not serious about this thing with her, or you're not willing to deal with that baggage, then back off. She doesn't need any half-assed relationships in her life," Hizashi snapped, his green eyes blazing in protectiveness and anger at the thought that I might hurt Shinobu.

-----Shinobu's POV-----

I held back a quiet gasp at what I had just heard Hizashi-nii say to Shouta as I had exited the bathroom. I had been so excited to get back to them because I felt like things were going to be okay, but... Hizashi-nii really just thinks of me as a burden. I guess those insecurities caused by the poison really were rooted in reality.

I pressed my back against the wall beside the open door to hear the rest of the conversation. Part of me wanted to run, but a bigger part of me needed to know how Shouta felt too. I peaked around the door frame to see Shouta's fists clenched and his jaw taught with an angry glint in his onyx eyes; however, when he responded to Nii-san, his voice was scarily calm.

"Shinobu has never once been a burden to me," he stated strongly, "Her so-called baggage you're referring too are terrible events that happened to her and a mental disorder that is also not her fault. She has carried and dealt with all of these things alone, without complaint, in silence for years. If she'll let me help her carry it, I'm more than willing to. She at least deserves that much."

At that, I let out a relieved sob as I stood in the doorway now where they could me. My eyes were filled with tears, both of devastation from Nii-san's words and relief from Shouta's. The underground hero walked towards me with a softened expression in his eyes as he spoke in a much softer tone than what he used with Hizashi-nii, as though I were going to shatter if he spoke too harshly. Honestly, maybe I would have.

"He didn't mean it like that, Shinobu. Hizashi is just an idiot. No one thinks you're a burden," Shouta soothed as he came up to me and grabbed my hand gently tracing soft circles on the back of it with his thumb.

"Nobu, I-I didn't mean it like it sounded! Come on! You know I've never thought of you as a burden!" Hizashi-nii sounded desperate as he apologized, but his loud voice which I always found comical and endearing as well as his conflicting words were making my head throb with the beginning of a migraine as the memories from the poison and my actual memories warred for dominance in my head.

"No, Nii-san. I DON'T know that. My memories are all jumbled up! Some of them have two different versions, and I can't tell which one is the real one! So honestly, I don't know much of anything when it comes to you right now!" I snapped, taking my hand from Shouta's as I began signing while speaking, one of my biggest tales that my anxiety was kicking in. Hizashi stood there for a second with his mouth open in shock before his eyes narrowed. He looked angry for some reason.

"Then how come you remember everything with Shouta just fine?!" he demanded loudly. At that, I felt my composure and calm demeanor completely snap.

"Because I may be falling in love with him, but the one thing my brain couldn't handle was losing you as my big brother!" I yelled angrily, ignoring the shocked faces of the two heroes in the room with me as I continued, "If Shouta ended up rejecting me, sure I would have been heartbroken, but I would heal because I had the best, most supportive and crazy overprotective nii-san that would shit talk him and eat tubs of ice cream with me until I was okay! That poison targeted my memories with things that would hurt the most, like losing you, you idiot!" With that last statement, all the anger drained out of me, leaving only pain and loss in its wake as I came to a realization that had hurt more than any of the pain that stupid poison had inflicted.

"But I guess I didn't even need the damn poison to do that," I whispered and signed quietly as my voice broke and I kept my gaze locked on the floor.

Tears filled my eyes as I cancelled my own hearing and sight, not wanting to deal with anymore as I walked blindly to where I knew the bed was and buried my face into a pillow and sobbed. The best part of my quirk was being able to make myself not know if other people were around. After a couple of minutes, I felt soft fur and a cold nose poke into my cheek. I deactivated my quirk as I turned to see Shiro staring at me with what seemed to be concern. I gave her a weak smile.

"Thanks Shiro," I murmured as I hugged her and buried my face in her fur, not looking up until I felt a dip in the bed beside me.

"He went home. He's going to bring Kuro and some of your clothes tomorrow," Shouta's low voice informed me. I sighed and released Shiro who immediately jumped off the bed to do her own thing.

"Maybe just have him take them to a nearby asylum and have me admitted," I replied dejectedly as I looked up at his onyx eyes, feeling devoid of all hope at this point. I had always had issues with my anxiety, and now to make it worse, my memories being messed up made my mind even more unstable. Maybe I am just going to end up being a danger to others at this point, and they really should just admit me before something bad happens. My thoughts were interrupted as Shouta wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him, his long fingers going straight to work stroking my hair making me relax slightly.

"I'm not letting them take you away from me," he murmured as I felt him place a warm kiss on the top of my head.

"Who?" I asked in confusion as I looked at him with furrowed brows. His hand stops stroking my hair as he cups my cheek gently.

"Anyone," he replied before pulling me into a deep and affectionate kiss that would have made my legs give out had we not been laying down before pulling away and locking his onyx eyes with mine, a serious but caring expression on his face, "Be mine, Shinobu. We don't have to do anything you're not comfortable. I just want to be the one that gets to protect you and help you carry all of the baggage you've been carrying on your own for far too long." My breath hitched at his sweet words and serious expression as a blush spread across my freckled nose and cheeks, but I couldn't stop the sincere smile that found its way onto my lips.

"I'd love to be yours, Shouta."

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Song: I'm Yours by Jason Mraz