47

Chapter 22

The following school day was slow, agonizingly so. The only thing keeping me awake through our tiresome studies was Kiyoko Jirou showing me her mounds of playlists she had stocked over the past few years. I complimented each one, enjoying how in-depth she had made them.

She grew more excited and red with each compliment, almost as if she was thriving off of my praise. She promised to make a playlist dedicated especially to me and continued to show me a song she said had reminded her of me.

On the other hand, there was Izuku.

I had been avoiding him at any cost. I'd left this morning for school before he had even woken up, I kept my head down during notes, and worked with Momo on homework. I even went as far as to have lunch with her as well. As much as I felt him staring at me and mumbling, I couldn't bring myself to speak to him. The moments we shared last night played on my mind like a scene from some cheesy romance novel.

I couldn't speak to him. I couldn't even look at him without feeling like I was going to be sick.

I didn't understand why I felt this way and as much as I felt sorry for avoiding him all day, I had to make this feeling go away at any cost. If that had meant avoiding him for a day or two, I was willing to try anything.

I had done well avoiding him, that is until he finally blew up.

We were sitting in basic hero training, waiting for Aizawa to show for the class to begin. I was sitting on Momo's desk, swinging my legs back and forth as Ashido playfully smacked the bottom of my shoes every time they swung towards her. Momo was talking to us about an idea she had for an English essay we were assigned, insinuating we must come to her house for tea and all work together as a girl's night. Jirou huffed as Uraraka agreed, discussing plans for us all.

"Okuma, you won't be too busy with Midoriya?" Jirou smirked at me, twirling her ear jacks around her finger.

Mina giggled as she began making kissing sounds, teasing me. Uraraka stifled a laugh as Momo immediately took to defending me.

"What makes you think I'd be spending time with him?" I playfully kicked Mina's desk.

"Seeing as how he hasn't stopped staring at you since first period" -Tsu nodded towards Izuku who immediately looked down at his feet when she caught him staring- "I'd say there's something between you two that you're not telling us."

"We're just close, that's all," I muttered.

"She doesn't have to tell us anything if she's not comfortable with it." Momo glanced at me, placing a hand on my knee as she spoke. "I think it's nice you two have such a bond," She smiled, slightly blushing. "It's sweet."

I hummed, lowering my head as I tried to get them to understand I didn't like it when Izuku and I became the topic of discussion. Momo and Uraraka must have caught onto this as they immediately began discussing possible dinner ideas and what movies they'd been wanting to see that they could knock out. Without saying anything, I silently got up and made my way to my desk beside Izuku who was scribbling in his notebook.

I sat down, silently sliding down in my chair as I leaned my head back, staring at the ceiling as I began tapping my foot.

"Can you stop tapping your damn foot, Yatsu?" Bakugo groaned.

"Ah, I was beginning to think you'd completely forgotten the nickname."

"Tch."

I leaned up, sparing a glance at Izuku who had his tongue sticking out as his body moved at an odd angle, trying to perfect the elbow of a pro-hero he was sketching. Whether he had noticed me or not, he seemed unbothered by my appearance.