Shinsou X Neko Reader

Part 9-What are We?

          In the stadium seating area, you turned into a cat. Being the cat you were in the warm sun and heated plastic seat, you slept through all the rest of the big, important battles that you definitely should have been watching closely. It was becoming a real problem. You should be careful and stay in human form more. You woke to someone shouting your name. Denki. You focused your eyes on him. He was pointing down at the stage, beaming excitedly. Hitoshi was on a pedestal, with a gold #1 medal on his neck. You opened your mouth in shock, eyes wide. Had he won the whole thing, and you were asleep for most of it?! No way! You would have to go watch the news later to see how he did it. He had his eyes narrowed at the crowd, hand over his eyes to avoid glare, as if looking for something. Maybe his parents were here. You transform back into a human, and smile and cheer for him with Kaminari with a high-five. The noises of the crowd were nearly as deafening as Present Mic's commentary. He looked at the two of you and waved. And smiled. A real, genuine, happy smile from Hitoshi Shinsou. He never did that. Sure, he smirked, or sneered sometimes, but nothing like this. It made you feel happy too, like you were the one who just won. It was so heartwarming. You waved enthusiastically back at him. Bakugou was frowning, looking deeply troubled. How could he be unhappy, even now? He had second place. That means Hitoshi had to fight Bakugou all on his own. Wow. Even if they were both quirkless, that would have been a crazy matchup to see play out.

        The next few days passed in a blur. You had quite a few internship opportunities presented to you, and Hitoshi did too, much to his suprise. You looked over them at lunch with him. His mood had drastically improved from when you had first met him. He was pretty happy most of the time, laughing along with you and Kaminari, like he was finally at home. You often met up with after school as well, when you had similar homework, to go to the park, anything, really that gave you an excuse to be with him. Right now, both of you looked over the internship forms at your place. "Hitoshi... are we friends?" you asked casually. What a little kid thing to say! You're sure there was a much more verbose and mature way you could have phrased that, but you had to say it out loud. Also, he was at your place... and you always sat together. Why would he be here if he did not want to be friends? He stared at you with an unusual expression. 

        "Wha-what do you mean? What else would we be? That's what you want us to be, right?" A slight blush was on his face, his voice strained at you speaking the question, but you could not tell.

         "It... was a dumb question." You reply. What did he mean by that? It was supposed to be a simple yes or no answer. Did he not want to be your friend? He hadn't even really answered, he just challenged your question with another. Before you had a chance to say anything else, Hitoshi got up and left, and you were alone again at the table. You guess he didn't want to be friends.

         Neither of you saw each other at school the next day, and you realized just how out of your way the two of you went to see each other all the time. You didn't sit next to him at lunch, didn't see him after school, and didn't exchange greetings before homeroom. It didn't sit well with you.

Hitoshi's Point of View:

       Startled by the question, I make up a dumb generic excuse, and left on my bike. The wind on my face almost made me forget my worries. Almost. Darn. That could have been- was that my chance to come clean? Were they asking if I wanted to be more than friends? Or simply if I was their friend? I must have let them down, and seemed like an a-hole, not  answering the question. Were they mad at me now? I run my fingers down my hair in frustration. Were they perhaps asking if I wanted to be their boyfriend? How would I feel about that? Something near my stomach throbbed at the thought of being their boyfriend, and I squeezed my legs together. I gasped, and almost lost my balance on the bike. I'd never felt this feeling before. Did I- did it- was I-was I in love? Did I have feelings for them? I bowed my head. They had always been nothing but kind to me, even from the beginning, befriending me when I was a nobody, alone, singled out because of my villainous quirk by general studies students. The last few days after the Sports Festival had been great. I felt happier than ever, and they were always praising me about how hard I must have tried. They were so supportive. Could I be a hero, with them at my side? Their hair, their build, their skin... I hopped off my bike, feeling the sensation near my stomach grow, ran into my room, and locked the door, sliding down the wall, panting from all the exercise. Everything was too hot, pants too tight. I pulled my shirt over my head. Thoughts, and feelings flooded me, thinking about them and what the future may bring.

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