BLOW.

PILLOW TALK

never tell, luke chiang

The room Juniper was going to live in was smaller than her apartment but felt cozier. Hitoshi had spent the day helping out, moving boxes, and even decorating according to her directions. By the time they finished, it was even better than her old place and already past 8.

Aizawa knocked on the door and came inside, holding a bag of take out, "Dinner. You two did a good job setting up."

Juniper cheered, excited for the proper food since she hadn't actually eaten a full meal in days, "Yay! Thank you Aizawa!!" The three ended up heading downstairs from the random room she got to choose out of the entire building. They set up everything at the huge table in the dining room and ate together like a found family.

The girl was feeling a lot better than earlier, trying to casually steal food from Hitoshi. Aizawa decided to ask, "Have you been able to bring over everything you've wanted already?"

Humming, Juniper nodded while Hitoshi playfully hit her hand away from his plate. She gestured with her chopsticks, "Yup! Thank you two for all of your help. Oh, do you need help moving in tomorrow Toshi?"

Hitoshi shrugged, deciding to sacrifice time he could spend with her in exchange for her own progress, "I'll be fine. You should spend time with your classmates."

This caused the girl to grow a bit nervous, thinking about trying to act normal with everyone else, "Oh... I guess..."

Aizawa chimed in with what he saw from the three days she was missing, "They were all really worried about you. Especially Bakugo and Todoroki, both blamed themselves for you being left behind."

She felt guilty, mentally noting that she should take time to talk to both of the boys separately. An idea popped in her head, "Do you think we could stop by a store real quick before they close? It's nearby!"

He saw how her eyes lit up and couldn't deny her, "Okay, I'll come with you guys. Just make it quick."

Juniper rushed through dinner, forcing Hitoshi to rush as well so they could run out of the dorm as soon as possible. They stopped by two stores so Juniper could purchase what she was looking for as an apology gift for the two boys.

Once back at the dorms, Aizawa gave his final instructions, "I have to head out to patrol but Juniper, you have to stay here for the night. There will be heroes coming by every now and then to make sure you're okay but call me first if something happens."

The two waved, like children saying goodbye to their parent as they went off to work. Juniper felt happy, smiling as she waved, "Bye bye dadzawa!!!"

He waved, oddly happy to see the girl was back on her feet and glad to have been able to take care of her.

Hitoshi pulled out his phone, seeing texts from his moms, "Angel, it's getting late. My moms—"

She cut him off, pulling him by his wrist up to the fourth floor, "Come up for a sec first!!!" Juniper brought him back to her room, sitting on her bed as she looked at the boy.

He stood in front of her as she fiddled with his hand, "Yes, Juniper? What's up?"

Juniper looked a little nervous, trying to come up with something she could say, " Uhhhh... Look at this!" She grabbed a white cat plush she got when she was younger and held it in front of the boy's face, "Wow so cool!"

The boy sat beside the girl on her bed, taking the cat and holding it next to Juniper's head, "It looks just like you." She laughed a bit before silence filled the room. Hitoshi grabbed her hand and asked her seriously, "What's wrong, Juniper? Why are you nervous?"

He could read her like a book.

She sighed, leaning closer to the boy and resting her forehead on his shoulder, "Do you think you can stay? I don't want to be alone again..."

Hitoshi smiled, running his hand through her hair to soothe her nerves, "Of course I can. Let me tell my moms real quick, kay?" She nodded, and the boy let his parents know so they wouldn't be worried about him. They didn't mind him staying over, just telling him to keep it PG, causing him to roll his eyes and toss his phone away from him.

Juniper laid down, holding her hands up in front of her and looking at the small scattered scars she had, "Thanks Hitoshi."

The boy laid down beside her, turned on his side to gaze at the girl he cared so much about. They hadn't talked about what happened yet, and the boy thought it would be a good time.

He grabbed one of her hands and held it tightly, "You know... When you were gone, I felt so powerless. My moms and I were staring at the TV, just hoping you would be okay. Then, Bakugo and the others left but you... You passed out and went with the villains again. You have no idea how much I kept bothering Aizawa about any information they had about you, how I couldn't even sleep, how I desperately was hoping for you to somehow message me and let me know you were okay."

She looked at him, noticing how his dark circles truly had gotten much darker. All Juniper could do was pull the boy closer for a warm hug as he teared up. His arms wrapped around her tightly, as if she would disappear at any second if he looked away.

"Those three days were hell for me. You can't vanish like that again, Juniper. I mean it."

"Yeah yeah. I promise, you're stuck with me from now on."

"Thank god for that, Angel."

Juniper spun to her feet, bringing Hitoshi up with her while still hugging him, "Wanna get ready for bed? I'll give you some clothes to wear."

He yawned, running a hand through his hair before nodding, "Yeah, that works. Plus you're a giant so clothes will fit perfectly."

The girl playfully wacked his shoulder, pushing him into the bathroom, "You're just so tiny. Such a small little guy, little 177 centimeters. You wish you were as tall as me, don't you? Must suck being so itty bitty all the time."

She handed over some clothes and decided to put on some music while he was changing. When he came out, Hitoshi was wearing a pink shirt that said 'TUMMY HURT' and had an orange cat crying with a big tummy. He had some gray sweatpants as well, all of which was slightly oversized on him since Juniper was taller and already liked oversized clothing.

Hitoshi stretched his arms over his head, picking up Juniper's guitar and sitting on her bed. Juniper went to change while he messed around with the instrument, trying to match the music by ear. Juniper came out wearing a five nights at freddy's tshirt and white sweatpants.

She joined him on the bed, listening to him play, "I didn't know you could play too!"

He shrugged, "It never came up. I only know basic chords from a random class years ago."

Juniper hummed before relaxing on the bed listening to him play. It was nice. He was nice. Spending time with Hitoshi made it feel like she was normal, and that the mess with the league of villains didn't exist in the first place.

Before she knew it, Juniper had fallen asleep.

Hitoshi joined next to her once he noticed, finally getting some well needed rest.

Without knowing it, they held hands the entire night. There's a really nice comfort in knowing someone you care about is sleeping right beside you.