Shangri La Pt. 1

79: Strange

"Did–" 

"Hm?" 

"Did I do something bad last night?"

Izumi sat there staring at the blond, and though she appeared surprised to him, in her mind she was screaming with relief that he didn't remember that he basically fell asleep on top of her. 

'Thank goodness! He doesn't remember that he passed out on me and I was completely stuck when he was on top of me. It didn't take me until early this morning to realize he'd gotten off me. Alright, then I can just ask him what he does remember.' she thought as she took in a deep breath. 

"Oh– You don't remember, well I guess that's not a bad thing." she sighed, only making the blond become worried that he truly did something bad. 

And in seconds, Katsuki looked down at himself to see he was still fully dressed, proving that nothing really happened to him.

'So nothing did happen... But I feel like I said something,' he thought, only leading him to want to ask more questions. 

"When... When did I get here?" 

"Last night after your Vice Captain was trying to carry you off to your usual resting grounds. I just happened to notice him struggling to carry you so I offered to have you brought here and you could sleep it off. Since you passed out long before we brought you here, I figured it would be a struggle for me if I tried to change you out of your alcohol-sobbing clothes." Izumi explained, forcing the blond to sit there and focus on her words. 

"So I– So I didn't say or do anything stupid in my sleep?" 

"No." she lied. 

He could only sit there in silence as he tried to dig deep into his brain and think if he really just passed out and slept the entire night like she said.

"And... And I didn't wake up in the middle of the night?" 

"No, you slept quite soundly, so I didn't want to bother you or make you leave here sooner. Of course it would be best for you to wash up and eat soon since it's almost the crack of dawn and I know you and the other knights are usually up this early." she noted. 

Just hearing how calm and almost unfazed she seemed by just having to sit there and explain everything from the night before seemed odd to the blond. He was used to her stuttering and trying to avert her gaze from him, but it was almost like he wasn't truly talking to the real greenette before him. 

And because of this, he started to become curious and want to see if she really was the one that he's had his eyes on.

"Right, since I need to start my duties right away–since the festival is now over–I need to get to the shrine and–" 

"Wait." he interrupted as he rested his hand on top of hers to stop her from getting up. 

Right away, Izumi turned her head to face him and in an instant her eyes widened when he started to lean towards her and was mere centimeters away from her face. 

"Ah– W-What are you–" 

"Hold it." he started as he gazed deep into her Emerald green eyes and squinted to see if they would fade or falter for even a second, but they never did. 

And though he knew that he didn't remember most of the previous night because he was drunk, he certainly knew the reason as to why he started drinking in the first place.

He lifted his right hand and gently rested it onto her cheek and made her flinch from his sudden yet warm touch. Feeling how soft the skin of her cheek almost reminded him of a delicate and lovely lone flower, a flower that smelled of sweetness and only bloomed once a century. And after staring deep into her enchanting gaze, he watched as a slight pink hue grew on her cheeks that he started to think that this really was her.