A Life Worth Living (Aizawa x OC)

36 - Mellow

Aizawa's fingers repeatedly tapped against the vitreous bottle of beer in his hands, causing a steady sequence of clanking sounds as the elevator slowly moved upwards.

Back down at the bar, he had eventually given in and started a conversation with the barkeeper to prevent himself from permanently scanning the dance floor for Hizashi and Himari. However, the distraction and her physical absence didn't hinder his mind to paint vivid scenarios of whatever was going on just metres away from him.

The man who was knees deep in denial had downed another two drinks in an attempt to numb the pang in his chest that refused to disappear since he had turned down her offer to dance. The sight of her walking away with Hizashi had felt like someone had a good time rubbing salt into the wound hidden in his chest. Aizawa didn't drink on a regular basis, but this time he made use of it for his own good, which was something any rational and responsible adult would do in his situation. He wasn't drunk...yet, but surely a tad bit tipsy.

During his petty chitchat with the barkeeper, the man had let slip that the building had a small roof terrace. This piece of information immediately lightened Aizawa's mood. If he had known about its existence a little earlier, he would have probably spent the whole evening up there, simply enjoying the peace and quiet of the night without all these people and the noise down there. Leaving a generous tip at the counter, he had gotten up and headed straight to the elevator, the roof terrace portraying a silver lining on the horizon of an unbearable evening.

A shrill ringing and the sound of the opening elevator doors caused him to snap out of his thoughts. Aizawa stepped outside, closing his eyes as he inhaled deeply, simply enjoying the cool and fresh air hitting his face. It had barely been a minute since he'd arrived here and he already felt more at ease than before.

When he forced his eyes to open again, something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention. Someone was standing there, leaning forward and propping themselves up on the railing. Unfortunately, his brain immediately recognized who the exposed back he was staring at belonged to, causing him to mentally let out a string of curses.

Apparently, every time he tried to escape that woman and actively seek distance between them, he somehow managed to randomly stumble across her or end up closer to her than before.

Aizawa hesitated for a moment, his eyes wandering from Himari back to the elevator as he contemplated whether or not he should approach her or just retreat and head back down to the bar. As he tore his gaze from the elevator and directed it back to the woman he had hopelessly fallen for, a long-drawn sigh escaped his lips, marking the surrender to his internal struggle. He was aware that deep down he had already made his decision, no matter how much he was attempting to convince himself of the contrary.

On his short trip to the railing, his dark orbs quickly darted around, scanning the rest of the rooftop. Seemingly, they were alone. There was no trace of Nemuri or Hizashi, causing him to wonder why the two of them were absent and Himari was alone up here.

Without losing a word, he imitated her posture and leaned on the railing directly next to her, unconsciously leaving less space between them than originally intended, causing their arms to almost touch. He could basically feel the warmth radiating from her body.

Himari fumbled with the bottle in her hand while her gaze was directed at the scenery in front of them, the lights of the city illuminating the night. From the corner of her eyes, she could make out that it was Aizawa who had joined her, causing her eyes to remain fixated on the skyline of Musutafu.

To say that Himari wasn't exactly in the mood to talk right now would be an understatement. When she had returned from the restroom, where she'd tried to fix the damage her tears had caused on her make-up, she'd grabbed a beer from the bar and planned to retreat somewhere quiet to clear her mind. She had considered leaving the gala, but she hadn't been eager to anger a certain rodent and risk her job by simply disappearing without a word. On her expedition to find a quiet place to retreat she had stumbled across the elevator to the terrace situated on the rooftop.