False Reality

It's Happening

You were about to start walking to the gates without Shinsou. He'd text you to tell you that he was going to meet you in the hallways for your usual walk to the gates together, but something must have come up because you'd been hanging around for at least five minutes, and there was still no sign of Shinsou anywhere.
You feel a solid hand on your shoulder though after a few steps, and you immediately flinch away, but do relax when you spin to face the person touching you and are met with Hitoshi's tired eyes, his hands up in mock surrender.

"Sorry I'm late, I, uh, needed advice on something real quick." He explains, scratching the back of his neck.

You smile, lowering your wings as your body drops the tension it had held for a moment. "It's okay. I thought you might have forgotten about training or something."

He shakes his head, his hand moving to fuss with his hair anxiously.
You do wonder what's up with him, but don't ask beyond giving a raised eyebrow. He wasn't much of a talker anyway, and when he did occasionally open up it was usually because it had gotten to a point where he'd kept himself up for days worrying about whatever was bothering him, and he'd made himself sick. You couldn't get it out of him, he had to come to you himself.
When you're almost at the UA gates not really having spoken a word to each other, you wonder what the point of him joining you was.

"I gotta get the train, 'cause Hawks said that one of his meetings ran over, so..." You begin to halfheartedly complain just to fill the space.

"I really like you!" Shinsou blurts out all of a sudden.

You pause in your footsteps, turning to look at him with heat slowly crawling to your face. "Huh?"

"I really like you." He repeats, a little calmer, but his lavender eyes are averted. "I... Can we go out? On a date? Tomorrow?"

"A date?" You repeat, surprised.

Was this too soon? Keigo was always telling you to 'go slow' whenever you got a little too defensive about your feelings or eager when you spoke about Hitoshi with him.
When you remember the fact that the last 'date' you'd been on had been less than favourable, and was still in a public place, anxiety begins to chew at your chest, making your heart begin to beat a lot faster than usual, and not in a good way.
But Shinsou wouldn't do that, right? He hadn't even kissed you yet. There was no way, Akio had been forceful from the beginning, and Shinsou was gentle and awkward.

"If... if you wanted." Shinsou chokes a little. "There's a really nice cat café nearb-"

"Yes!" You reply without even thinking about it the second you hear that he actually has a plan, your wings fluffing up behind you.

"You're right, sorry, I-" His head lifts, tired eyes wide. "Wait- what?"

"Yeah! I'd love that!" You agree. "I've never been to a cat café before!"

He looks a little taken aback for a minute, but there's soon a half-smile on his face. "Great. I'd like that."

"I'm not sure if cats will like me, I was never allowed pets growing up, and Hawks gets hissed at a lot because of his wings..." You begin to say, simply chatting excitedly because... well, you're excited.

"Oh, shit. Sorry, it was a dumb idea." He groans, pinching the bridge of his nose with painted fingernails.

"No! I love the idea! Just don't ditch me if they decide they hate me, yeah?" You grin. "I'll need you to back me up."

His eyes soften on you, that small upward curve of his lips returning.

"Yeah. Always." He agrees. "I'll put them in air jail."