Deep Red

36

"I really hate that it's raining right now." I complained as I was sitting on the couch, my legs hanging off its side. I had been on my phone for the last few minutes, but now I was watching Shouta work away in the kitchen.

It was his turn to make food this evening and for a change he hadn't ordered anything online and was actually cooking something. I had to admit he looked really handsome doing whatever he was currently doing in the kitchen, with his hair tied back and an insane focus in his eyes.

"Why is that?" he asked. I was pretty sure he wasn't actually listening, but was instead doing that thing he did with Hizashi where he pretended to be listening and just had an entire conversation, but couldn't remember a single thing from it afterwards. Somehow Shouta Aizawa had mastered the art of making small talk while being in his own personal little headspace.

"Because we can't sit out on the roof. We have the best conversations when we're sitting on your roof." I answered. It almost sounded like he chuckled a little at that. Cho and Mana jumped up on the couch beside me and started fighting and hissing at each other over the best spot that was left on the couch.

"You know what's good about this rain?" Shouta asked. I shook my head and grabbed Cho to keep her from going after Mana. She meowed at me in protest, but kept quiet after that and settled down on my lap.

"Students are actually going to study for the finals." he answered. I hadn't thought about it that way, but it was true. I was pretty sure none of 1-A had been studying a lot because they all just seemed too excited about the training camp. If they knew what was expecting them, they wouldn't be excited.

"I feel like there's a bunch of them that are still gonna fail. At least my exam. Some of them just really don't get the point of doing science, especially when it comes to the two hero courses." I said with a sigh. Cho had started purring as I was absentmindedly petting her. Shouta turned around to me while something was sizzling in the pan. Whatever he was cooking up, it smelt good.

"Don't worry about it. They act a lot dumber in the mock exams than they do in the real thing. I never studied for a single mock exam, but I nailed the actual thing." he replied. I took a deep breath.

"This stuff smells seriously good, what are you making?" I asked.

"Just a stir fry. It's almost done." Shouta replied.

"I actually can't wait. I didn't know that you're good at cooking."

"I wouldn't say I'm good at it."

"Sure smells good. I bet you have like a ton of hidden talents." I said and saw him looking down in what seemed like embarrassment.

"No, I don't..." he mumbled. I grinned. This was really precious. It was rare to ever see Shouta flustered. It never, ever happened at school and it only rarely happened when we were at home.

"You do! You know what I think? I think you're a really good dancer." I claimed boldly. Honestly, I had no idea, but I could imagine he'd at least find it easy to learn. He seemed like the type.

"What the hell makes you think that?" he wanted to know.

"I mean, your fighting style... it's kind of all about control and balance and coordination. Which is a bit like dancing. It was just a wild guess, honestly." I replied. Shouta didn't say anything and just turned back to the pan.

This was wild. Had I... had I actually made a valid guess there? I wasn't sure if I was more excited about possibly being right or about finding out that grumpy, gloomy Shouta Aizawa - Eraserhead - was actually a good dancer.

"Oh my God, Shouta. Was I right about that?" I asked him. I was excited about this now. I was thinking about texting Hizashi and asking him for a second, but it felt wrong. I wanted to find out all by myself.

"Dinner's ready." was all he said, as he got two plates out of the cupboard and started heaping the stir fry onto them. He placed them onto the tiny kitchen table that he owned and sat down to start eating.

"Shoutaaaaa! I need to know!" I whined and carefully put Cho - who was protesting loudly - down onto the floor. I made my way over to the table. I had been getting really hungry, especially with that stir fry smelling so good.

"Well, I'm not gonna tell you, so eat your food before it gets cold." he replied, without even looking at me. I sat down at the table and started eating. It was really good. It was a simple meal, just noodles and a few vegetables jumbled together with some mix of soy sauce and other spices, but it definitely hit a spot.

"Oh my God, this is really good. Why don't you cook more often?" I wanted to know. This was some good food. Shouta just shrugged.

"Too lazy." he replied.

"I'm kind of embarrassed about the stuff I cooked before, because this is so much better." I told him.

Shouta didn't say anything, he just sort of smiled slightly to himself and kept eating. Seeing him smile to himself like that just made my heart melt. Why was he such a beautiful person? It wasn't just that he was hot or anything - that was established a long time ago. But once you spent some more time with him, he just genuinely cared about people, even if he didn't want to let it on.

"I need to find out if you're good at dancing, though. And one day I will find out." I said to him. He was shaking his head.

"I feel like you already should know. To some extent at least." he replied, giving me a knowing look. I had no idea what he meant. I was wrecking my brain until I went all the way back to my graduation. Someone had managed to smuggle in both of the second grade hero courses to our after party.

I remembered that we had rented out some section of a club in Tokyo and were basically having some sort of school dance. We were all dressed up in formal wear and then all the people from second year got in somehow and there was Shouta who looked like he didn't want to be there at all.

I gasped loudly, when the memories came back. A lot happened that night. I had completely forgotten about most of it, but now it was all coming back. Oh my God. I had actually been slow dancing with Shouta Aizawa before. And from what I remembered he was definitely a good dancer.

"I almost forgot about that..." I mumbled. I saw Shouta shrugging.

"It's just a silly memory. I asked you for a bet." he replied without looking me in the eye. I remembered him telling me that he had a bet going with Yamada and Shirakumo that evening. And because I thought it was such a dumb thing to do I wanted him to win that stupid bet, so I danced with him. And I definitely didn't regret it.

"Well, I'd say we should definitely repeat that. For real, this time." I said to him, chuckling slightly.

"No chance." he replied.

"Oh, come on, Shouta! I'm coming to your training camp and everything, the least thing you can do is dance with me!"

"I'm letting you live here for free, I think that's plenty."

I didn't respond to that. He was right, I should really be more grateful. But still... I really started wondering about that night. Sure, we were just dumb high school kids. I was graduating, he had a bet to win. But I remembered that the time after graduation just felt like some sort of weird limbo. And it was also to some extent, because that black-haired boy that I was sometimes curiously watching wasn't there anymore.