The food disappeared quickly, everyone hungry after another demanding day at school. Eating the last bite of my meal, I pushed my plate toward the centre of the table. Mina took the final sip of our shared drink, slurping loudly as the liquid level lowered to the point where she was only slurping foam. Leaning back in her seat, she let out a long, satisfied sigh of relief.
"That really hit the spot," she giggled cheerily, pushing her own dishes to the centre of the table. Hagakure laughed along with her friend, expressing how much she had enjoyed her meal as well. But I barely heard a word the invisible girl said, focusing on another who was seated next to her. Jirou shifted uncomfortably between Uraraka and Hagakure, being trapped between the two girls. It didn't seem so bad but it was obvious that she wanted to get up.
"Need to use the bathroom?" I asked, hoping that I was helping her out by speaking up. She awkwardly looked around the table before nodding her head. Hagakure directed her attention to the purple-haired girl, petting her on the shoulder.
"Come on Jirou. If you needed to go you could've just told me," she giggled, getting up out of her seat so Jirou could get up. The girl with the earphone-jack quirk stood beside the table, sending me a glance in the corner of her eye. I wasn't sure if she had done this knowingly or not but decided to do what she was wordlessly asking of me.
"Yaoyorozu, do you mind if I get up?" I asked her kindly. Hearing the unusual edition of my voice, she nodded with pink cheeks before she stood from her seat and allowed me to get up. Standing, I slid out of the booth and approached Jirou. Glancing back at the others, I lifted my hand to send a casual peace sign.
"I'm going too," I called out before beginning to walk away with Jirou. As we walked, I could hear giggling from the table, that coming from mainly Ashido and Hagakure.
"Don't have too much fun without us!" Ashido called out from the table. I decided it was best to ignore her comment, not wanting to know what she was thinking. I knew she was hinting at something and Jirou picked up on it too, her face resembling a tomato in colour. She looked so tense walking beside me, it made me worry that she didn't want to have me around but I knew that thought was just me being self-conscious.
"Do you really need the bathroom or do you wanna go somewhere else?" I asked, thinking back to earlier when we all brought up what we wanted to do. I remembered Jirou not saying anything, remaining silent yet showing on her face that she had a place in mind.
Right now she looked embarrassed, probably not wanting the others to know about it. When she heard me ask, she looked surprised that I had read her so easily. But this time she surprised me, her cute laugh filling my ears.
"I can't believe you noticed that," she smiled, keeping her gaze on the ground ahead of her. She lifted one of her fingers to an earphone jack, curling it around her finger like someone with longer hair would do.
"Yeah actually, I do have someplace I want to go to. I was just too embarrassed to admit it," she sighed, a faint smile remaining on her lips. Looking around at all the surrounding shops, I wondered where she would want to go. I didn't know too much about her but was interested in knowing more, enjoying the soft smile on her face as she thought about the things she wanted to do.
We walked through the mall for another minute or so before Jirou pointed out where she wanted to go. My eyes followed where she was pointing, taking in the sight of a music store to our left. The windows were lined with various instruments, Jirou immediately rushing over to have a look. She peered through the glass at the displayed instruments, looking excited now that she was at the place she had been thinking about this entire time.
"I really like music but I was too embarrassed to say I wanted to come here," she admitted to me, keeping her eyes on the instruments through the shop window. A sad smile tugged at her lips, showing just how insecure she was about her interest in music. I hated to see her look like this, especially when it came to something that shouldn't be a big deal at all.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with liking music," I told her, hoping it would cheer her up. But it didn't seem like my words were enough to assure her. Placing my hands on her shoulders, I forcefully turned her body to face me. I don't know why I felt so obligated to make her feel better, I guessed that it would bring me some comfort knowing that she was more secure in her interests. Looking me in the eye, she immediately noticed my worry.
"I know that there's nothing wrong with music, most people like it. But it's different for me, playing instruments is embarrassing," she admitted, averting her gaze. Jirou could immediately see that something had changed in you, being able to feel your hands holding her shoulders firmly.
"Jirou, there's nothing wrong with liking stuff like that. I really respect that you have something you're passionate about," I confessed, not caring that I had said something weird again. I felt like Jirou needed to hear this and know that there was nothing wrong with what she liked. She stared at me with wide eyes for a moment before she took a step backwards. Slipping out of my grasp, she turned her face to the side to hide her flustered expression.
"L-let's just go inside," she urged. I nodded in agreement and followed her as she entered the store, beginning to look around at the various instruments and music equipment. I let my eyes wander the store, following Jirou to where ever she wanted to go.
"What do you play?" I asked, wanting to make conversation after the previous awkward situation. Jirou hesitated before speaking.
"Mainly the guitar," she said, admiring one of the many acoustic guitars that were on display.
"Would you mind playing something for me?" I asked, feeling genuinely interested in hearing her play. Her body froze after hearing my request, but after seeing how interested I looked she gave in. Approaching one of the workers, she asked for permission to play the display guitar before coming back over. Picking it up and properly positioning it, Jirou directed her attention to the pegs at the top.
"Don't expect much, I'm not very good," she admitted, beginning to tune the guitar. I watched as she played each string before adjusting the pegs, giving a satisfied smile when she was done. Keeping her eyes on the guitar, her fingers began wandering the frets as she strummed the strings of its body. I watched in silence as she played a short tune, stopping when she was finished. Looking up at me, she was quick to shyly avert her gaze to the side.
"See, I told you I wasn't that good," she said, still refusing to look at me. After a moment of silence, Jirou looked back at me to see my reaction.
"Wow, that was amazing. How did you do that?" you complimented, approaching her to get a better look at the instrument in her hands. But as soon as I drew near, she took a step back. Knowing that she was still feeling unsure about it, I couldn't help myself from praising her some more.
"I think it's really cool that you like music and even better that you can play it," I admitted, watching for her reaction. Her face heated up once again, being revealed to me before she could hide it. Lowering her gaze, she found it hard to hide her smile. I could tell that my compliment had really reached her, making her feel a lot better.
"I only came here because I wanted to look around a little, is that okay?" she asked, looking at me hopefully. I didn't mind at all if all she wanted to do was look around, it was fun finally getting to hang out with her when it was just the two of us.
"Yeah, I'm having fun," I told her. She shyly nodded before turning and beginning to walk to the next section. I followed after her, Jirou eventually getting more comfortable and telling me about all the instruments I was unfamiliar with. She even told me that her parents were musicians and that's how she got into music. We walked around for another twenty minutes or so before we decided it would be best to return with the others.
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Returning to the group, Ashido was the first to spot myself and Jirou. Standing up, she glared at us with an annoyed look on her face.
"What took you guys so long? We've been waiting for ages!" she whined, Hagakure nodding in agreement. Exchanging a look with Jirou, I tried to think of a believable excuse. I didn't want to reveal Jirou's hobby since I knew she was still really embarrassed about it, so needed something else to tell them.
"Sorry, the line was really long," I lied, knowing my little lie wouldn't cause any problems. Ashido watched me suspiciously for a moment before she sat back down, looking as carefree as ever. It was obvious that they believed it, making both Jirou and I feel relieved. Directing her gaze to her phone, Tsu turned it to show everyone.
"It's getting late, I think we should start heading home now," she said, revealing the time to us. Seeing that it was indeed getting late, the other girls nodded in agreement. But once that was brought up, I thought back to earlier when we had said where we wanted to go. I remembered Yaoyorozu's suggestion of wanting to visit the book store, everyone else already forgetting about it.
"Didn't Yaoyorozu want to go somewhere? It was the book store, right?" I brought up, directing my attention to the dark-haired girl. Seeing that the attention was on her, her face heated up in embarrassment.
"I did want to go to the book store to buy something but it's really not that important. I can go another time," she tried to assure us. The others looked over it already, wanting to go home so I knew that I wanted to stand up for her.
"I'll go with you," I said, bringing all of their attention to me. Hearing that, Yaoyorozu's face lit up.
"Really?" she asked, sounding excited that she would be able to go. I nodded in response before returning my attention to the others.
"We'll meet you at the entrance," I told them, watching as Yaoyorozu stood from her seat to stand beside me.
"We'll see you two after," Uraraka called out, earning a wave in return from you. I then began walking away with the dark-haired girl beside me, clutching her bag nervously as we walked. Once you had left the restaurant and were on your way to the bookstore, Yaoyorozu finally spoke up.
"Hey, thank you for bringing it up again. I didn't really want to bore anyone by dragging them along to the book store," she said, keeping her gaze lowered.
"I don't think it's boring," I told her, meeting her gaze when she looked up. By the look on her face, I could tell that she was surprised to hear me say that. But her surprise soon turned to laughter, Yaoyorozu lifting her hand to her mouth to suppress her giggles.
"Thank you, (Y/n). Not just for saying that but for coming with me too," she said, offering me a sweet smile. Seeing her look at me so tenderly, I could feel my cheeks turn pink.
"It's uh no problem, I really don't mind," I told her, becoming shy myself. Up ahead I spotted the book store she wanted to visit, making me happy to spend some more time with her. I was really enjoying my time with Yaoyorozu.
Glad to finally write a part for Jirou and the beginning of your little trip with Momo. I really love the class 1-A girls and the story is unfortunately ending their outing. They'll return for more bits later but once Momo's bit is over it will be back to the main story.
I also having something planned that I think people will be REALLY shocked by... not sure actually but I know people will be like WHAT?! Anyway, the sports festival comes after this bit. I won't focus on the sports as much, maybe a little for character development and plot but other than that I won't too much into it. This arc will be more focussed on character relationships :D You'll be meeting some new people and even reuniting with some you already know. But other than that, my mouth is shut and you'll just have to wait for the next chapters :P
Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!