The Couples of Class 1-A

LCO | Ch. 11: A Bit of Spiteful Indulgence

-Classroom 1-A; Right After Cleaning-

Yaoyorozu must've stared out the window for ten solid minutes. She could hardly blink—her mind was cloudier than a winter sky, and she feared somewhat if she cleared it, she would pass out from embarrassment. The image still persisted in her mind even after Todoroki had bolted from the room. His eyes reflecting back in hers, her blushing face, and his hair which fell inches from her forehead about to tickle it. A phantom sensation tingled against her upper thigh from where they'd touched, remembering also the subtle pressure of his opposite knee; which had unintentionally worked to hold her down.

What was she supposed to do with this memory?

It had been an accident. Yes indeed, a pure, bonafied accident. One where he'd meant to get off of her sooner, one where she'd only imagined time stopping and coming to a crawl when their eyes met, one where she'd hallucinated him getting that close to her—as if intending to kiss her... it was an accident through and through.

Yet her heart wouldn't shut-up.

No matter how long she stared out the window and pretended she didn't care, somewhere inside her, she did. Because as ashamed as she was to admit it, when Todoroki had moved in to the point where she could feel the warmth emanating off of his face, she had closed her eyes.

Why had she done that?

If an explanation existed, she would've discovered it by now. She would've dug it out of her, and plastered it over the whole problem like nothing had happened—the equivalent of slapping a band-aid on a car wreck and believing it wasn't still totaled. But no, that sweet, sweet excuse was nowhere to be found; because unless she'd genuinely lost consciousness in that moment (which she obviously hadn't), Yaoyorozu had definitely closed her eyes with the hope and intention that she would feel his lips on hers seconds after.

Hot lava seemed to rush through her veins, making her heart pump harder than ever to keep up with it.

I'm blushing. My face is so red, I can feel it down to the bottom of my neck. she squeezed her eyes shut, Dear heavens—I can't take another moment of this!

Yaoyorozu's hands slid over her face in shame, blocking out the world from view and magnifying her inner voice in the process.

I don't understand why. she continued to argue with herself, about at the point of begging, Why did he get so close? Why did I kind of want him to—to do "that"? I'm certain Todoroki was aware of himself. He had to have known what he was doing. There's no amount of explaining that could clear his name, and the fact that he rushed out of the room the moment he had the chance, tells me even more that he knew that.

But what about me? Why didn't I nudge his shoulder or something—anything to tell him: "Todoroki, can you please move off? You're squishing me." It still would've been a little awkward, but not to this degree! I genuinely don't understand! Is there a word for this? Something to describe my behavior, at least? No matter how blunt?

At this time, parts of her were still in denial. She was so preoccupied with understanding her behavior in a logical sense, that the possibility of her having a crush on him went completely under the radar—despite it being the only viable answer.

Instead, Yaoyorozu slinked away from the window, groggy from her racing mind, and made her journey to the dorms in silence. Several tens of times, she would come back to the subject of him and debate about it more—never quite coming to a conclusion. Even more frequently, she would see his face in front of her at that daringly close proximity. Her eyes would trace the pattern of his pores like constellations, and sink hypnotically into his bold, beautiful irises with only the mere visualization of him. She hoped and begged that the next time she saw him, she'd be able to keep herself sane. Truthfully, she wasn't sure if she could.