The Artist and the Hero (Aizawa x OC)

I Love You

"Shota, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"When you first fell asleep a few hours ago, I thought I heard you whisper something to me." I saw his face grow pale, causing my heart to skip a beat. I knew I hadn't just imagined it! "Do you remember what you said?" There was a beat of silence, and some fidgeting on his end, but when he next looked me in the eye, I saw determination.

"Yes, and I meant every word," he slipped his hands into mine, giving them a reassuring squeeze.

"Then, I love you, Shota. I'll do my best to stand by your side during difficult times like this because I want to. Whatever happens, I won't leave you." It may have been a little dramatic to say these things, but Shota's been through so much, and was still going through huge amounts of stress and fear. All I wanted was to be a crutch for him, and him a crutch for me.

"Thank you, Izumi. I love you, too, so much," he finally broke out into a genuine smile. I met his lips in a tender kiss, making sure he knew how much I loved him. He smiled against me, pulling me so close that I was sure we were going to meld into one. I gently brushed the last of his tears away with my thumbs, trying not to break the spell between us. I tangled my fingers in his hair, doing anything to calm him down.

I felt the vibration of him chuckling against my chest, causing my face to break out into a bright blush. I pulled away for just a second to take in some air before leaning in once again. At the last second, though, Shota gently put his hand on my shoulder to stop me. "Izumi, I don't wanna hide you anymore," he said seriously.

"W-What do you mean?"

"Truthfully, I've been scared to go on dates in public because I didn't want the press or any villains to recognize me. My job is dangerous, you know that, and I know that you can take care of yourself. But I also know that if we take the next step, and we go out in public, everyone is gonna want to know who you are."

"I know," I smiled.

"You do?" He raised a brow.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it for a while now. For me, I would like to go out to eat once in a while, but I also don't care what we do as long as we do it together. I know that it'll be a challenge, but I'm willing to take the risks if it means I'll stay your girlfriend."

"I-wow," he scoffed in disbelief, "I love you."

"I love you, too, now close that mouth of yours. I don't know about you, but I'm wide awake now. What should we do?"

"What about a moonlit walk through the park? The commission gave me one night off since I've been working non-stop."

"That sounds lovely," I grinned and kissed his cheek. We each made ourselves look presentable before leaving the comfort of his apartment. The park wasn't that far, so we decided to walk there. I looked up at the night sky, smiling at the full moon that was shining above us. It was so bright that the streets hardly needed to be lit. I linked arms with my boyfriend and grinned at him.

Now that everything was out in the open, he seemed lighter, less stressed. He must've been dwelling on his friend's death a lot lately, so I was glad that he felt comfortable enough with me to tell me what happened. When we got to the park, I noticed there were still a few people milling around. Some were exercising, while others were hand in hand, discussing personal things. It was peaceful, a nice break from all of the stress Shota had been dealing with. Hopefully after everything calmed down, he would go back to regular teaching.

"I really needed this, thank you," Shota smiled down at me.

"It's no problem, really. Besides, I love walking with you. It puts my mind at ease."

"Mine too. And I promise, our next date will be me actually taking you out. Maybe to a restaurant or something like that," he offered.

"I would love that, and I'm sure it won't be too long of a wait. Now that things may be going back to normal, we might have a little more time for each other."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. Hiz and Nemuri also wanna see you again, so we'll have to schedule something."

"Wow, look at you!" I nudged him playfully. "Making plans with your friends for once," I giggled.

"Ugh, you're just as bad as they are," he rolled his eyes jokingly.

"Seriously, though, I'm proud of you."

"It's all thanks to you, I mean that. You bring out a side of me I thought I lost a long time ago. I don't know how to show you how grateful I am that you walked into my life," he stopped walking and held both my hands in his.

"Shota, you're gonna make me cry," I tried to keep my lip from trembling.

"You need to know how much I love you, Izumi. I'll find a way, I promise, but for now I just wanted to tell you," he pushed a strand of my blonde hair behind my ear tenderly. Delicately, he pushed his lips against mine, seeming to not care that we were in public. The kiss was slow, deep, but also as light as a feather. My body practically melted as goosebumps exploded across my arms. He had never kissed me like this before. I could feel the raw emotion pouring from his heart in this kiss he was giving me.

A tear escaped me for reasons unknown to me. His thumb traced an invisible line on my cheek, causing a bubble of laughter to pop out of my mouth. He pulled away then, but just enough that his lips barely grazed mine. We were nose to nose at this point, everything around us fading away as if it were just the two of us. "As much as I love this, people are beginning to stare," he whispered.

"I don't wanna leave, but I have work tomorrow," I whispered back, not pulling away.

"Can I at least walk you to your car?" I nodded, so he reluctantly pulled away and intertwined his fingers with mine. There was something new between us now. Whether it was a newfound love, or peace I didn't know, but it made both of us stronger. The talk we had strengthened our bond. Now that we had told each other we loved one another, this relationship was really going somewhere.

When I look at him, I could see this lasting for a long time, possibly even years down the road. As these thoughts followed me to the walk to my car, I turned to Shota. "I want you to meet my family," I stated bluntly. He looked surprised for a moment before his face broke out into a smile.

"I'm sure we can figure out a time. I would love to meet your parents, and brother, officially."

"Okay, I'll talk to my parents about it, then we can schedule a time." We stood in front of my car in silence, not really wanting to leave the other's presence. "Well, I guess I gotta go. I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"I'll text you tomorrow," he squeezed my hand. "I love you," he said before leaning down to give me another kiss.

"I love you, too."

********************************************************************

A/N: Just an FYI, I'm not in tune with any of Japan's culture of popular foods, so if I absolutely butchered that meal in the beginning of the chapter, I apologize. Let me know if I misspell any words or get a traditional meal wrong. Also, sorry for the wait on this chapter. I was on vacation lol.