Shangri La Pt. 1

29: Unnormal

'Damn, is she gonna hold my hand the entire time?' Katsuki thought as the disguised greenette's grasp was just causing his chest to hurt and throb. 

"Hm~ Let's see~ It should be somewhere around here." Izumi mumbled as they were walking through the busy streets of the city without anyone bothering them. 

'Just what're we here for this time? Clearly she's looking for something that we didn't do last time.' 

"C-Can you let go of my hand?" he nervously asked. 

"Eh? But why? Last time we went into the city and I tried to take the lead, you stopped me, remember?" she clarified, causing him to gulp the second she turned to face him. 

'Don't look at me like that!' 

"C-Cause... Your hand's sweaty." he muttered as he tried to avert her eyes.

It took Izumi a few seconds to realize what he meant and quickly broke free from his grasp. 

"Ah– Is my hand really? I'm sorry. Oh– I know!" she blurted as she then dug her hand through her robe and pulled out a small handkerchief. She diligently wiped her hands as thoroughly as she could and then kept the handkerchief in her hand as she grabbed his hand once again, making him least expect it. 

"W-What're you–" 

"Like you said last time; you don't know this place as good as I do, and I don't need to lose my personal guard for the day either." she spoke as her eyes appeared big and beady to him–leading his imagination to go rapid. 

"You– F-Fine." 

"Hehe– C'mon, it's just up here where we're going." she instructed as she pulled him to follow once more. 

'Just how the hell did it turn out like this? Last time it was me that was messing with her, but now she seems fine and I'm a fucking mess. Does she really not seem interested in me?' he thought as he glanced down at their hands held tightly together.

"Here we are, just the place that we mainly needed to go for today." Izumi stated as Katsuki could only look up at what she was staring at and he was still confused. 

"What– Is this place?" 

"Eh? What d'you mean? This is a little shop that sells some of the best robes in the city!" she announced, only for the Captain to raise an eyebrow. 

"And we're here because–" 

"Oh– I'll tell you that later. Just stay right there and I'll be right back!" she answered as she entered the shop and left him standing outside in the busy street. 

'Tch– Is she buying new clothes? Why, she looks good in anything she wears. Ah– Stupid brain!!!'

'Mmmh~ They should be somewhere in here, but where?' Izumi thought as she seemed to be looking for a specific person and not a specific robe first. 

"And what're you doing out here when you should be working?" a familiar female voice spoke behind her. And without waiting any further, Izumi turned around to see the person she just wanted to see. 

"Ah– Kendo! There you are! It's so good to see you!" "Hmph– It's been a while, Izumi." the woman replied as Izumi ran up to her and embraced her.

Itsuka Kendo, a young and beautifully talented lady that is known to be a very popular seamstress in the city. She is such a talented seamstress that she used to be the personal seamstress for the Empress, but decided to stop working for the palace due to so many restrictions with clothing that she wasn't used to.