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

Chapter 12

Shinsou's POV 

He finds you alone in the workshop during lunch, the walls muffling the chatter of students walking by. You don't look up when he slides the door open, or when he's standing at a distance, watching you sketch away. It's quiet enough that there's no way you didn't hear him, but he's learned by now that the noise inside your head is loud enough to drown reality out.

"Mei said I'd find you here," he starts, leaning up against the wall, staring down at your desk.

You startle, looking up at him with wide eyes, signing a weak Hey.

He slips in next to you, scanning your face that seems exhausted. Of course, he found that you too had this natural tired vibe going on, his slightly more evident than yours, but today of all days seemed worse. He took in a breath and finally said what was on his mind.

"Are you and Senpai...fighting...because of me?"

He sees you take in a sharp breath and knows he hit the nail on the head. He hadn't stopped thinking about it since this morning, or rather, since yesterday. The tense frame you had when your cousin saw you with him beside you, the looks he was given. Shinsou knew what was said about him. It's what fueled him to be a better hero than anyone, those rumors. He wanted to prove them all wrong, prove that his quirk said nothing about the kind of person he is.

But even a child is taught to not say rude things out loud. All those whispers about him being the villain were rarely told to his face, especially in such a hateful manner. He couldn't stop thinking about those cold, disappointed eyes. He hated the way that you were being stared at, the way you were being ignored.

You don't meet Shinsou's eyes as you place the pencil down. You keep your hands in your lap for a bit, Shinsou remaining patient as ever. He wouldn't dare push you to speak if you didn't want to.

We are...fighting. Maybe. About a lot of things. I don't want to fight him, but he's pushing me too much.

"Am I the reason?"

No.

"...Am I one of the reasons?"

Your hands still, something he begun to understand as you hesitating. There were times where your fingers would twitch before replying, and he understood that as you changing your mind about what you wanted to say. 

...Yes. He's making it something we are arguing about. I don't want you to be something to fight about. You sigh, and face him, finally. I'd really like it if you two got along...If he...If he knew you were also working hard to be a hero I think he'd like you...But Maiko is very...

"Is very much like everyone else? A lot of people don't like me because of my quirk, Suzukaze."

That shouldn't mean anything, Shinsou!

He had to remind himself that the sign you were using was used as his name. 'Personal', the sign itself being two pointer fingers coming from either side of your head, meeting together just below your chin in the middle, like a V. When you had first used it, you reasoned that it was because brainwashing people was like getting into their personal, mental space. He didn't mind the sign or anything, and was happy to be given a sign name, but...for that reason...

Every top hero out there has a quirk that could be used just as easily for evil as yours. Theirs are more destructive, as well! I mean, you've seen the craters All-Might used to make! 

He can only smile softly at your anger, happy to know that at least someone out there didn't judge people based off quirks, or anything, for that matter. As far as he was aware, you were the most understanding, empathetic person he had ever met, rationality your strongest skill.