Shangri La Pt. 1

77: Lustful

'Phew~ Thank goodness I won't have to dress like this anymore, acting like a consort isn't fun.' she thought. 

And right as she started to undo all the hair ornaments in her hair, she was least expecting something to wrap around her waist and something warm to rest on her back. 

"Wah– What is– Woah!"

Without giving any warning, Izumi suddenly felt her body get heavy to the point that she ended up falling over and onto the floor, so why? 

When she managed to realize that something forced her to fall over onto her stomach, she rolled herself over and was lying on her stomach as she could only rub her forehead which got bumped in the collision. 

"Ow~ Did I feel lightweight all of a sudden and fall over? Why did I–" 

"Izuku." 

The second she heard someone call her name, Izumi froze up and panned her eyes off the ceiling and in front of her to see that a certain drunk blond was towering over her as she remained lying there on the floor. 

It was clear that though the blond was awake, he was still very drunk as his cheeks–and even his ears–were carrying a soft pink hue to them and his eyes seemed a little tired as well when he looked down at her.

Seeing him gazing down at her like this almost made her heart skip a beat, but after realizing the situation, Izumi lifted her right hand to grab her robes that were undone only to scrunch them up to cover her chest. 

"O-Oh, K-Katsuki, you're... awake." she managed to say as she couldn't even try risking taking her eyes off his intense Ruby red glare. 

"U-Um, I-I believe you were having fun at the festival with your friend, Gin, but you came back early in the evening when he carried you with him since you had a lot to drink. I-I just happened to see you and your friend in the palace and thought I should bring you with me to get some proper rest." Izumi tried to explain, thinking he'd be interested in hearing such a thing. 

'He's still not saying anything, why does it feel like he's judging me by what I say?' she thought as he still hadn't said another word.

"I-I'm sure you're wondering where I was this evening, but I had to put on my act before the Emperor and Empress. This is also why I'm dressed like this and–" 

"Izuku." 

The greenette immediately stopped herself when she watched the blond speak his name once more right in front of her. Her eyes thought they were mistaken just by watching how his lips moved just by calling her name that she almost felt enticed by him. 

"Y-Yes?" she carefully spoke. 

And without a second longer, she watched as the blond reached his right hand up to her and then rested it right on top of her own hand that was still clenching the front of her robes until he decided to take grasp. 

"Ah– Katsu–" 

"You looked so beautiful tonight..." he breathed.

Though this was clearly not the first time the greenette had heard someone call her beautiful–especially when she was dressed up like this–but it was always the blond's compliment that made her heart begin to race, almost to the point that she wasn't sure if she heard him right. 

"Ah– You– You think I'm what?" 

"The second I saw you tonight... I knew it was gonna be hard for me to hold myself back." he answered as he grabbed and lifted her right hand to let go of her robes and held up her hand close to his face.