Comfortable Silence (Shinsou Hitoshi x Mute! Gender Neutral Reader)

Chapter 8

 Shinsou's POV

Something cool....Right. That. Hitoshi laid down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. A mound of beige and brown fluff was curled up on his stomach, purring softly as he absent-mindedly petted his cat's head. Kumo blinked slowly in his direction, a sign of love of cats. Hitoshi blinked back, although his mind was far, far away, back in the workshop, back beside..them.

Although he already assured himself that on his path to being a hero, there would be no friend-making, it couldn't hurt to have a good relationship with his support technician. But there was something stirring in his gut that wanted more than just a 'good' relationship. He had sat there, watching Suzukaze work, a calm, focused expression while sketching and resketching his hero suit. 

They started simple, a colour palette consisting of various dark purples and greys so dark it looked black. Then they incorporated the scarf they had built earlier, a craftmanship that Hitoshi greatly appreciated, along with the artificial vocal chords, which was given the official name of Persona Chords. The blueprint for that had been greatly improved, more detailed than before which he couldn't believe, with proper specifities that would help Hitoshi during hero work.

And while watching, Hitoshi could only focus on the passion Suzukaze had while discussing his suit, the pure light of knowledge and confidence that he knew that he himself somewhat lacked. It was vitalizing to watch them work, to see them get lost in it and still know exactly who it was for. Even when he was told that he could leave, that them working on the different gadgets would be boring, he found that he didn't want to. He wanted to stay and just watch. Watch them move along the flow of work, head clear with purpose, wanted to watch them check in on him to gain his approval, because his praise made them beam like the sun, wanted to watch...them. Just watch them. See them. Be near. Be around.

He was so at peace with them in sight, while also being incredibly..nervous? A sudden spike in joy when they were his line of sight while also making him so wonderfully calm, knowing that all they wanted to do was to help him become a great hero. Those past few days spent in the workshop with them became what he looked forward to that day, almost as much as he looked forward to training with Aizawa. His desicion settled. Maybe no friends while becoming a hero, but Suzukaze wasn't competition. They were, if anything, the biggest help to his success. 

His thoughts were startled away by a series of knocks on his dorm door, then opened. His classmate, Genya, is at the doorway, a fixed stare at a space just above Hitoshi's head.

"I know you're going to deny this," he says softly, "but that is the brightest pink form I have seen in a while, and it's awfully humanoid. You sure this isn't a crush?"

Ah yes, Genya's quirk. The ability to see emotions and their thoughts in a shadow-spirit form above everyone around him, used best for interrogations and finding people. Unfortunately, that meant you couldn't hide anything from him. Hitoshi sighs and stretches, Kumo stirring from her stomach pillow and running off into her cat tree. "I don't know. I...I don't wanna think about it..."

Genya gives him a look like he doesn't believe him but ignores it. "Sure then. It's dinner time. The class wants to brief our roles for the festival."

He nods and Genya leaves him alone with his thoughts. Hitoshi rises from his bed as a ping  goes off from his phone. Suzukaze's name is at the top of his phone, a photo attached to the text.

Suzukaze
|Suzukaze sent a photo|
How's this? 

He clicked the photo, a fully built Persona Chords on their desk with the sketch of it hidden in the background. It was amazing. Beautifully crafted. He couldn't wait to try it on.