The Workout (Hizashi)

"Ohhhh." Elly's purple eyes grew very, very wide and her ears snapped upright. "Oh my gooooddd."

"Hey, you okay, Chesh -" Midnight stopped in mid-sentence, her eyes automatically following where the counselor was staring. She hid a naughty smile under one perfectly manicured hand.

Elly was aware that a lot of the staff came to this gym, as pro heroes, to work out. That's why they were there, after all. But she had not realized the sights she might see. Her cheeks were stained pink before she even started stretching, her breathing elevated and her tail lashing quickly behind her.

Hizashi was here.

He was stripped to the waist with a pair of neon pink shorts on, doing arm reps on an evil-looking machine in the center of the large room. His long hair was tied back in a ponytail and he wore a monitoring device strapped to one wrist as well as a pair of earbuds in his ears. His arms flexed powerfully as he moved, sweating, and quite obviously singing along to whatever he was listening to under his breath.

"Go ahead," Midnight chuckled wickedly. "You came to work on your arm strength, right? There's one open right in front of him. You two could cheer each other on."

Elly choked, her throat tightening at the prospect of being even closer to the man she was ogling. "Kayama," she protested in a strangled voice, "I'll bleed out! Plus, oh my god, why did I let you convince me to wear the bikini today, of all days..!"

There was a sudden, gruff snort from behind that caused her to jump with embarrassment.

"What's the hold up." Aizawa moved around the two women, staring at them with a frown. "You're wasting time. This isn't the bar."

"R - right." She shouldered her bag and purposefully strode over to Hizashi, setting her things down beside the machine facing his.

Midnight placed a hand on Aizawa's shoulder. "Wait," she cautioned with barely-contained glee. "This is gonna be priceless!"

Hizashi glanced up when he saw a bag fall in front of him, curious as to which hero was deliberately choosing to work out so close to him. The bag didn't have a cat on it, so he knew it wasn't Aizawa's. While Elly was busy stretching her arms a few more times, he saw her and did a comical double take, his red rimmed glasses falling down his nose. He looked because he couldn't avoid looking, and instantly both regretted and rejoiced, his heart beating wildly from far more than the exercise.

That bikini showed more of her than he had ever seen. He saw freckles and a mole he didn't know she had on her inner arm. Fascinated and greedy for more, his eyes wandered until he realized what he was doing and had to jerk his eyes back to her level. His face was flaming with arousal and embarrassment and he was mortified to discover he had an erection.

Had she seen him creepily checking her out?

She had not noticed a thing, because while he sat there, frozen, reps forgotten and music thumping heavily in his ears she was taking care to get ready without looking at him. It wasn't difficult, knowing that if she looked him in the eyes before she would start to sweat and flush for apparently no reason. There was already a modest burn across the bridge of her nose. Elly sat, slipped her arms into the cushioned pads and took a deep breath before raising her head.

"H - Hizashi? You okay?" He looked decidedly uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"M'fine! Good morning!" He squeaked nervously in such a high pitched tone she winced. "Sorry," he added in a more normal voice as he popped his earbuds out. "Uh, I wasn't expecting company. You ... can I, we, I mean, talk while we..?"

"Yeah!" She grinned at him, thrilled at his suggestion. She loved being with him and they had some common interests. They chatted about some new music that had come out, and Hizashi happily told her more about his DJ work on the side. She knew a lot of it anyway, sure, because she went to any and all gigs she could that he worked. But he didn't know that, and she loved hearing him get excited about his passion.

"Auugh. I'm hot as hell," he groaned after he finished his workout.

Without thinking, she replied, "I noticed that the minute I walked in."

Both of them froze.

Breathing hard, Hizashi raised his eyebrows and squinted at her as if to determine the real intent if her words. Elly was at a complete loss, her face redder than ever and her mouth working but with no sound coming out. Eventually he decided she had been flirting with him and smiled a slow, rich smile that reached all the way to his hypnotic green eyes.

"Hey, then. After we shower, you wanna head back to my place and listen to some music?" He bent forward conspiratorially, winking at her in an outrageous fashion that caused her to nearly lose her mind. "Maybe some sweet, slow rock with a steady beat to it?"

This time she had a response ready. "Hizashi Yamada, are you suggesting what I think you are?"

"If you're thinking I want you as my girl, then yes. If yer also thinkin'," his voice dropped low and grew thick with slang, "I wanna see your clothing on my bedroom floor, that's a yeaaahh, baby. Whaddaya say?"

Her ears flicked and she reached out to gently wipe a trickle of sweat off the side of his neck. "Let's not take too long in the showers," she murmured. "We're only going to get sweaty all over again."

"Oh shit," he breathed. "I hope so."