Reason [BNHA x HxH!Reader]

[16] Chuunibyou

Shouto spoke up just as you were going to try and fill in the silence. ". . . What are you wearing?"

You twirled around happily and somewhat obnoxiously. "Aren't I cute?" you asked, picking the edge of your skirt up with your forefinger and thumb, as if you were going to curtsy.

The heterochromatic boy remained silent for a moment, averting his eyes from your form as he spoke up again. ". . . Yeah."

"Wait, did you actually--"

Shouto cut off your surprise as he started to speak up again, giving you no time to mull over the fact that he agreed with you and basically said you were cute. "I wanted to speak to you about what happened at the USJ," he told you carefully, and his eyes met yours again with a ferocity that made your mind stumble. Didn't Detective Tsukauchi say nobody would bother you about this?! First Izuku, and now Shouto - if this kept up, you were not going to be able to handle this!

You were hesitant, but nodded. "Okay..."

He continued at your reluctant agreement. "When those villains appeared, they seemed interested in you, and then that one had claimed you were from another world and attempted to capture you... You didn't even seem shocked and played into his delusions." You didn't like where this was going, and you tensed.

Internally freaking out, you kept a straight face as Shouto continued, his eyes watchful and his tone thoughtful. You'd have to back up Detective Tsukauchi's claims on the villains just trying to cause chaos and that you had no clue what they were on about.

"... Are you a chuunibyou?"

. . .

"Uh, what?"

Your brain stopped for a moment as you tried to compute the term he just used. Did this kid just basically ask if I'm delusional...?

Shouto rolled his eyes. "You always act like you're above everybody and hiding some great secret, and when you were confronted by that villain you played along. Also, you say weird stuff all of the time."

You were still reeling from being asked if you had middle-school syndrome, but then realized this was a great opportunity for you! It would be much easier to agree with him, right?

Slowly you nodded, before forcing out an embarrassed laugh. "You, uh, you caught me! I act extra to get attention and make friends," you lied, feeling a bit embarrassed that you were basically calling yourself crazy.

Oh well. Gotta do what you gotta do.

Shaking his head, Shouto stared you down, and you could feel yourself start to sweat. What, was he now going to doubt you?! Getting nervous, you frantically continued to basically insult yourself. "I know other worlds don't really, um, exist, but I thought humoring the villain would distract him! So, um, can you not tell anybody else about this?"

You were really stretching it thin, but finally Shouto relented, giving you a short nod. "Whatever. It's not my business anyways, I just wanted to confirm my suspicion." His words were somewhat arrogant, but you were already digging yourself in a hole and didn't want to make it any worse. Besides, he was apparently not done with you yet. "Even if you... are strange, I still stand by my earlier statement. If we face each other, I will win."

Calling you 'strange' was a very nice way of putting it, but you didn't comment on his word choice. Instead, you nodded once, your shaky smile morphing into a fired up grin. "Better watch it, Shouto, because I won't accept anything less than first place!"

He nodded once, and you thought for a moment you saw his lips quirk upwards before he turned away. Without another word he walked off, and it was only when he was far enough away that you allowed yourself to relax, your grin fading into a conflicted expression. "Man, that was way too close..." You murmured, raking a hand through your hair. Shouto was pretty observant and was on the right track at first, but you were thankful that his conclusion was far away from the truth.