**ON HOLD** Soft/Sharp (Kirishima x OC)

Chapter 12

Moegi sat back in her seat, unable to conceal her smile. She looked up at Shinso apologetically, realizing how awkward that must have been for him, but he was looking down at his books. His brows were burrowed, as if he were frustrated and confused.

She had no way of knowing, but he was both frustrated and confused. This wasn't supposed to happen. Kamanari pulled him aside at the arcade, asking him to help play wingman for Kirishima. Shinso was happy to do it, honestly. He liked Kirishima, and he liked Moegi, and they clearly seemed to like each other. He had barely even noticed Sero when he was around the group, so he didn't expect that she noticed him, let alone liked him, at least not in that way. While he knew he should mind his own business and just be happy for his friend, he couldn't help but feel uneasy, like he had done something wrong for letting that scene play out in front of him without speaking up. He could've brainwashed Sero and made him go away, even if he knew that was petty and wrong.

Sero strode back to his group's table, his face practically splitting from smiling so big. He sat next to Kamanari, grabbing the menu but struggling to focus on any of the words. He wasn't even hungry anyway, and the two blondes were nearly finished with their food. Kirishima absent mindedly moved the food around his plate with his chopsticks. Everyone at the table had such contrasting moods, it was like looking at a bad renaissance painting.

Bakugo made another attempt for his friend. "What the hell was that?" His tone was aggressive as ever, but he tried his best not to scream it. It startled Sero out of his thoughts, making him snap his gaze towards the angry boy.

"What?" He looked over at Kamanari, then slid his gaze to Kirishima. He felt guilty when he realized what his friend must be feeling. "Dude, you told me to ask her!" He threw his hands up in frustration. "If you didn't want me to you should've said something. I... I didn't even think she was going to say yes anyway." He put his hands back in his lap, looking down to hide the redness returning to his face.

"No, it's fine," Kirishima tried to force an understanding smile. "I did tell you to, because I thought it was a good idea. I knew she was going to say yes, and I'm glad she did."

Feeling uneasy, Kamanari pouted at his friends. He turned back around to look at the other table. He and Shinso shared a sympathetic glance to each other. Moegi was happily reading from her textbook, unaware that her purple haired friend was barely paying attention to her. The sound of a smack on the table in front of him made him spin back to face forward. Bakugo had slapped his money on the table angrily, grabbing Kirishima and dragging him away to take him home. "Let's go Shitty Hair." Kamanari threw down his own money and got up to follow, leaving Sero to wait for Moegi by himself.

The conflicting emotions swirling around in Sero's head were making him wonder if he made a mistake. He didn't want to hurt his friend, but Kirishima gave him the go ahead, and he was beyond excited to spend some time with Moegi one on one. He knew it was soon still, but he liked her. He liked how she was different, and sweet to everyone she met, and even how she laughed when Bakugo made fun of her appearance. He even truly thought she was pretty, in her own way. He loved her big yellow eyes and how they sparkled when she tried new things, and her sharp smile when she was having fun with her friends. He pushed down the guilt. Kirishima would be fine, he was a good-looking guy, and way more popular with girls than Sero. Sero deserved to have a girl like him too.

Moegi approaching him snapped him out of his train of thought. "Hey, Sero. Shinso and I decided we studied enough for today. You ready?"

He smiled up at her and nodded. He stood, sliding his chair back from the table, and pushed it back in before walking to open the door for her. They walked side by side down the sidewalk, enjoying the fresh late morning air and sunshine on their faces. After a minute of walking in silence, he tried to make conversation. "So, what kind of stuff do you guys learn in General Studies?"

She pursed her lips, thinking. "I imagine it's probably pretty similar to what you guys learn, we just don't really get to train with our quirks. Not that I really want to anyway."

"Really? Why not?"

Moegi looked down at the ground, biting her lip. "My quirk... can only hurt people." She held up her hand, eyeing the leather across her palm, then let it fall back to her side. "Other than that, I just don't stick to your tape, but it's not really effective for combat."

"Hmm..." Sero was thinking, then perked up when he got an idea. "Tomorrow after school, can we try a little experiment? It won't take long, and you can meet some of my classmates from the hero course."

"Um, sure?" She looked over at him, smiling but trying to figure out what he was up to. "You're not gonna just keep trying to stick tape to me again right?"

"No," he laughed. He looked over at her now, she was facing forward as she walked. He admired her hair, the slope of her nose, her gently smiling lips. She really was pretty, he thought to himself. Without thinking about it too much, he reached for her hand. The leather glove radiating her warmth felt nice in his hand, and he let his fingers slip between hers. She was a little surprised that he had done this, but smiled and gripped his hand back. "What would happen to me if you weren't wearing these?"

"Well," she exhaled deeply. "It would be very painful for you, especially since it's your palm. Your hands have a lot of nerves in them for touch. The lamprey mouth would bite you, and latch on hard. It would take a lot of both of our strength to separate our hands. But if we left them attached, you would get weaker and weaker until you passed out, or..."

"I could die." It wasn't a question; it was a realization. Sero tried to push the thought away. Moegi always wore gloves, so he could hold her hand without worrying. Part of him did wish she didn't need them though. He wanted to really hold her hand, with no barrier. The tough leather didn't feel as nice as the soft skin of her fingers.

"Yeah." She looked ahead intently, also trying to ignore the worries she had. Even though her parents seemed happy and were affectionate enough with each other, she always wondered if they felt the way she did. Knowing she could never really touch someone, that she could hurt someone while trying to show affection, made her heart ache. She wanted to know how it felt to hold someone's face delicately in her hands without fear. But she would settle for this, a boy willing to hold her gloved hand and not be grossed out by her.

They walked the rest of the way still holding hands, forcing their way out of the awkward silence and idly chatting about school and their families. Moegi tried to pry about Sero's "experiments" he had planned for tomorrow, but he was determined to keep it a secret for now.

The walk wasn't too long. They made it to the door, and Moegi thanked Sero for walking with her. She made him promise to text her when he made it home safe, and they said their goodbyes. At the last moment, Sero let a wave of courage wash over him and hugged her. He tried not to squeeze her too tight, and relaxed when he felt her arms hug him back. They smiled at each other, Sero's cheeks turning pink before he turned to go.

Moegi entered her home, kicked off her shoes and shuffled her way to the kitchen to find her mom. Akari was at the sink washing dishes, calling over her shoulder to her daughter, "Welcome home, Mo! How was stud- "

She was cut off by her daughter's arms hugging around her waist from behind. "A boy walked me home," Moegi said quietly, almost as if she were reminding herself that it really happened.