Light Within The Shadows(Aizawa x Reader Agent!AU)

Ch 26: ...Turns To Hope

He looked over at me, holding something in his hands. "Oh, (Y/N). I remembered that I bought this for you on the day we bought our kimonos together. I thought that this would suit you well."

He walked toward me and held out a hairpin adorned with multiple (f/flower)s, with dainty golden leaves sprouting out from them and four jewelled chains hanging off of the pin. I stared at it in awe and watched as he tucked it into my hair beside my bun. He pulled some loose hairs from their place, and he positioned them so they framed my face. "Guess I was right. You look amazing."

I could feel the tips of my ears warm up, and I chuckled shyly. "Thank you, Shouta."

"You're welcome. Should we get going now?"

I nodded, picking up my umbrella and putting on my camera. Together, we headed out the door and down to the ground floor. We exited the hotel and joined the massive flow of people that filled the streets of Kyoto. The bustle of the streets rang in my ears and I thought that in such a large crowd, I'd lose sight of Shouta. 

I grabbed his hand and grasped it tightly. He looked down at our hands and I responded, "Well I just thought that I might lose you in the crowd..."

Shouta just shrugged and further intertwined our hands and we walked together. I looked away and stared ahead, a largely affectionate smile on my face. His hand was rough and calloused, but it fit perfectly into mine and held my hand gently and securely. I subconsciously squeezed his hand...

...hoping I never had to let it go.

~~~~~

Our first stop of many was the infamous Fushimi Inari shrine. The 10 thousand torii gates spanned farther than my eyes could see. Couples and groups of people were scattered along the path, taking pictures of each other. An idea popped inside my head.

"Shouta, do you want to take a picture?" I asked.

"Eh, I don't really like that kind of stuff, but I guess it's okay for today." I smiled. I asked a person nearby to take our photo, and they happily agreed. They happened to be a professional photographer. I handed them my camera and told them to take photos whenever their creative eye caught something. I ran back to Shouta and pulled out my umbrella and propped it on my shoulder. I grabbed his hand and smiled at him, then put my head on his shoulder. A moment later, the photographer yelled that they were finished. I ran back to grab my camera but before they left the photographer said,

"You guys make a cute couple!"

I blushed and smiled. "Thank you!"

We only came here for the aesthetic, and we didn't need to pray for business or crops. We started walking to our next destination, gazing at the dancers in the middle of the street. We stopped by a small cafe to eat a snack. I showed Shouta the pictures, not even knowing what they looked like. 

We explored the photos and found that the photographer had taken six photos. The first one was when I ran back to Shouta, the second was of us standing under the torii gates. The third was me looking at Shouta with a smile. The fourth was me facing Shouta again, but he was smiling. The fifth photo was where I laid my head on his shoulder and our heads were obscured by the umbrella. The final photo made me gaze at it fondly; it was our interlocked hands.

"That person was a damn good photographer! These are beautiful!" I exclaimed. Shouta leaned in more closely to look at the photos

"Yeah, these are pretty nice."

I laughed happily and we left the cafe to continue our festival escapade. People were going around, selling little trinkets and souvenirs. I spotted someone selling maneki neko statues. They were selling a black cat statue that had a grumpy look on its face and I bought it on impulse. I mean, how could I not buy it? It looked like Shouta when Hizashi was annoying him!