Emote: Shinso x OC Reader

Chapter 4

I felt my cheeks burning at his admission and my hands flew up to cover the embarrassment written on my face. He either didn't notice or had chose to ignore this, as he was already standing up and turning towards the door.

"Wait, let me walk you to the front door at least," I said, as I pushed myself up to standing.

He nodded once before opening the door and walking down the hall towards the elevator. I silently followed in his wake and after a few moments realized that I had been anxiously nibbling on my bottom lip and fidgeting with my hands. I made an effort to shove my hands into my pockets to hide their betrayal of my emotions and made an attempt to look unperturbed as we waited for the elevator.

When the ping sounded and we stepped into what felt now like an insanely small space that was all too quiet, Shinso turned to face me after pressing the button for the first floor.

"Sorry." He said and my head snapped up to look into his sincere eyes. "I feel like I just keep freaking you out and I don't want things to be weird between us. I haven't said anything about my feelings in the past because I worried that it would ruin our friendship and I don't want that."

Damn. I thought. He knows me too well. Even trying to hide how awkward I feel, he still caught on.

"No, you don't have to apologize, I just...don't even know what to say. Maybe I'm selfish, but I just kind of want things to go back to how they used to be."

Before Bakugo went and fucked everything up. I wanted to add, but kept that part to myself.

There was a flash of pain in his eyes that flickered in and out of his expression so quickly I almost didn't catch it. And then it occurred to me that the way things used to be between us may have been just as difficult for him then as they are for him now. As he turned away from me to face forward, I had the urge to reach out and grab him by the arm, but I was painfully aware that I couldn't give him the comfort or reassurance that he needed. He had made it clear that he had feelings for me and I didn't know how to process this in a world where I had never looked at Shinso in a romantic way.

I opened my mouth to say something but the elevator pinged and the doors slid open to reveal a surprised looking Mina.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, her eyes shifting between the two of us. "I was just going to come grab you, y/n. There's a few of us that were looking to play a game or something. Shinso, you should join us!"

Before he could respond, her slender pink fingers were wrapping around his arm and dragging him over to the common area. He threw me a look of desperation, as though begging me with his eyes to save him from this social situation, but I merely shrugged in apology, my face twisting in an expression to portray that there was no stopping the force that is Mina. In truth though, my own selfishness was at play again, not wanting our night to end on the note it did in the elevator.

It occurred to me with a sudden horrifying clarity that Bakugo may be one of 'the few of us' that Mina had been referencing, although I knew the probability was low given she'd said that they were looking to play a game. That definitely didn't seem like something Bakugo would be into. Still, I felt my heart start to pick up speed until we rounded the corner where a cluster of couches sat, revealing Jiro, Kirishima, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu and Sero sitting around chatting.

"Alright, guys, we've got two takers!" Mina said excitedly as we approached. "Have you all met Shinso?"

"Aren't you the one that was against Midoriya at the sports festival?" Sero asked.

"That's why I recognized you!" Kaminari said, snapping his fingers.

"Can't you control people or something? That's your quirk, right? How does it work?"