Shangri La Pt. 1

125: Fruitful

Not long after he entered the library, the sound of footsteps echoed onto the floor and approached the greenette. They knelt down and looked at her as she was in a peaceful sleep that could only make them chuckle. 

"Heh– So this is where you ran off to." Katsuki muttered, staring at the sleeping greenette.

The blond ended up just kneeling right in front of the sleeping greenette and staring at her while trying not to make any noises she'd wake up from. 

'You've been sleeping a lot since we got here, is this your way of running and hiding from me?' he thought as he tilted his head as he reached his hand out to her. 

At first he was planning on reaching out to touch her face, but he knew she could wake up if he did that. Instead, Katsuki reached out to grab a clump of her hair and noticed how fluffy and soft it was when he ran it through his fingers. 

Just from doing this, he couldn't help but think back to what happened the day before and how close they were when they fell in that bucket of water. He remembered how calm he reacted when that happened, but when the greenette started flirting back, that was something he wasn't sure his heart could handle. 

'Was she actually... flirting with me? After that happened... she went back to normal. So does she... like me back?' he thought as he subconsciously stared at her face once more.

And without even realizing it, Katsuki witnessed how Izumi started waking up and lifting her head. 

"Mn– Wha–" 

Lazily opening her eyes, Izumi tried to lift her gaze to see a very familiar blond with Ruby red eyes staring back at her. 

"Oh– It's only Katsuki..." she mumbled as she effortlessly closed her eyes and was about to go back to sleep. But after a few seconds of silence, Katsuki watched as the greenette's eyes jumped open and how she lifted her head to stare at him. 

"Wait–" 

She wasn't sure if what she was seeing was real or not as she carefully reached her hand out to the blond and hoped it was all an illusion. 

"Are you... r-really–" 

Right as she was about to touch his face, Katsuki stopped her by grabbing her wrist and answering with; "Wake up, you're not dreaming."

"Ah–" 

And because he grabbed her wrist, Katsuki somehow managed to pull her towards him to the point of making their faces just centimeters apart from one another. Seeing his Ruby red gaze right in front of her made Izumi clench up as she really thought he–or she–was getting closer to the other. 

Her eyes widened as she–without thinking–dropped her gaze from his eyes down to his lips and to see how soft and warm they looked. These lips–these very lips–were the same one that kissed her just a few days ago, and she still couldn't comprehend these strange feelings that were erupting in her stomach and chest. 

'Did they always look... so soft?' she thought as she wasn't even focusing on the blond's face anymore–just his lips specifically.

"Yah– You awake?" he spoke, making her flinch and look up to bat her eyes at him. 

"Ah– S-So you are real..." 

"Obviously." 

'Dammit, why'd I stop her? Was she gonna try and kiss me?' he thought as he wanted to hide the blush illuminating on his cheeks. 

"Hm? Are you feeling okay?" she asked, noticing how red his face was turning. 

"Tch– I'm fine." he muttered as he jerked his face away.