Shangri La Pt. 1

111: Can I be Selfish?

But luckily, her worries were interrupted when the sound of a deep growl echoed around them. Izumi flinched as she felt the small vibration from her stomach start to echo out that she could only clutch her stomach. 

Growl~ 

"What was that?" 

"Eh? Oh– N-Nothing." 

Growl~ 

'Not now!!!' 

"Was that you?" 

"M-Me? O-Oh no, d-definitely not!" 

Growl~ 

Hearing it a third time could only make her cheeks blush with uneasiness. 

'I really don't need my stomach to be doing this to me right now!' 

"I'm gonna guess... you're hungry?" 

"Eh? N-No, I'm fine! M-My stomach is perfectly fine!" 

"Your stomach doesn't sound like it." 

Growl~ 

"Erm– I thought I ate enough this morning since Yu gave me an entire bowl of soup as soon as I woke up. I shouldn't be hungry already."

"Yah– It's noon." 

"I-I know that! B-But I don't know what time I woke up." 

"Yu told me you woke up at 8, so it's been 4 hours since then. You're hungry." 

"4-4 hours already?!?! What was I doing all morning?!?!?" 

"Trying to aim at the same target for the past hour with a bow." Katsuki muttered. 

"What? T-That couldn't have been an hour of me trying, I–" 

Growl~ 

It's gotten to the point that Izumi's stomach actually started hurting from how hungry her stomach was getting. 

"O-Ow–" 

"You okay?!" Katsuki asked with worry in his tone. 

"Y-Yes, but... I-I suppose I should get something to eat." she whined as she could only hold her stomach. 

"Got it, hang tight, I'll get you something!" Katsuki spoke as he jumped to his feet and then ran off.

'Erm– I've never had my stomach growl and hurt this much before, but I guess it's because of these clothes. Yu called this a corset, right? I remember her telling me that it's to restrain your body movements and even make you look slim all the time. I guess because I didn't eat all that often when I served in the East has caught up to my body wants me to eat now before it gets worse. These clothes might be worse compared to when I try to act as a consort during the festival. But even when that happened... Katsuki was there for me when I needed him...' she thought as her thoughts started to change in a good way.

"Izuku!" 

When she managed to lift up her head as she was trying to hold her growling stomach, Izumi's eyes almost glistened when she made direct eye contact with the disguised blond running up to her. 

'He clearly likes me–even loves me–and ever since we got here, he's been patient and easy towards me and I'm not scared of him like I used to be. What... What is this feeling?' she thought as she could feel her heart fluttering in her chest. 

"Good, you didn't run off. 'Huff' Here, eat this." He breathed as he approached her and held out some kind of skewer with charred food sticking onto it.