Aizawa Shota was incredibly grumpy.
His class noticed this right away and were on their best behavior, only relatively trying his patience until they escaped towards the safety of the cafeteria at lunch.
His best friend commented on it when he came over to ask if he wanted to grab some food. Present Mic winced at the scathing reply he received.
"Whoa there. Yer crankier than usual."
"I'm having difficulty concentrating due to lack of sleep. My stomach is irritated and jumps around a lot, and that's put me off eating as well. I've also become fixated on a certain scent, a - an odd, almost nonexistent scent. It's not there all the time, but when it is I can barely smell it." He stuck his hand into the scarves around his neck and brought out his eye drops. "It's infuriating, " he grunted as he squeezed a drop into each eye.
"A certain smell?"
"I thought I might be having seizures so I had testing done. Nothing." He stowed the bottle away. "I can't get the counselor out of my head. I know I should talk with her if this is a mental issue, but -"
"Is it, um, wait. Wait... you're telling me you can't eat or sleep, and your stomach is all fluttery. The smell is really light, but kinda sweet, an' you can't stop thinking about Ches?"
Aizawa's eyes narrowed.
He rubbed at one eye, then blinked really hard. "Yamada," he choked in panic. "Yamada, wait. Aren't these feelings and awkward physical sensations things people claim to experience when they're in love?"
Mic was ecstatic. Rarely did he get to see Aizawa flustered and he was clearly in shock at his revelation. He clutched at the edges of his desk, the whites of his eyes huge and his face drained of color except for reddened ears and a patch spreading across the bridge of his nose.
"And the scent..."
"Definitely her," the Voice Hero said smugly. "She doesn't wear perfumes or anything, so it's really light. Maybe from her clothing, I dunno." He covered a smile with one gloved hand when Aizawa fell forward, banging his forehead onto the desk.
"I can't be in love," he groaned. "I've held the damned foolish emotion off for thirty-one years! Why now?"
"I'd guess you hadn't met the right person. You really couldn't run from it forever, ya know."
"This will only complicate matters if Cheshire finds out," he declared firmly, jerking his head up with a steely resolve in his eyes. "No one - and I mean no one -- is going to hear about this. You got that?"
"Oooh." Mic sucked air in through his teeth. "That's gonna be a problem. See, uh..." He held up his phone.
Aizawa's face somehow grew paler. The screen showed that Cheshire was on call and had presumably been for awhile. His dark hair flew upright as his eyes burned red, his jaw clenching so hard it popped slightly. "I'm going to mute you for a week," he snarled angrily, pushing his chair back. His gripped the desk so tightly his knuckles were white.
"Oh! Hey now, uh, is that Toshi calling..?" His friend bolted out the door without warning, yelping as he heard rapid footsteps following him. He pelted off as fast as he could, scrambling around the corner with a jet black blur in pursuit. He veered off to the side suddenly with a low laugh, but Aizawa was too blinded by rage to see and collided with the person coming down the hall towards them.
"Whoa, Eraser!"
"Of course," he murmured in resignation, staring down into a pair of wide purple eyes.
"I was just coming to see you." Elly coughed lightly, adjusting her tail as he sat up. He offered her his hand and she pulled herself to a standing position.
"I gathered as much." He jerked a thumb backwards at his classroom. "Let's go inside."
Aizawa slumped in his seat, and she took a chair beside the desk. "Are you okay?" She frowned.
"I am not," he grumbled, rubbing his palms over his eyes. "This... I never thought I would feel this way. It's quite an inconvenience."
"Is it really that bad?" She asked in a small voice, her ears curling backwards.
Aizawa glanced up, startled. She was staring at her hands in her lap, her face flushed and an odd expression on her features. "Excuse me?"
"Is it that bad that you like me?"
His throat worked mightily but no sound came out. He could only shake his head numbly as he watched the counselor place her hands in front of her, folding them tightly.
"You might be mistaken, then," she husked tearfully. "If you think it's an inconvenience."
"Are you crying because I might not like you?" His tone was absolutely incredulous. "Cheshire?!"
She drew a shaky breath and held her chin up bravely. "All right, listen. Remember the day we were showing your students how to restrain their captures?"
"Yes."
"And the time we worked together during the physical training field trip."
"Yes..." His brow started to draw up as his mind pieced things together. "There were a lot more instances, as I recall."
"Aizawa," she sighed in disbelief. "No one else wanted to work with you. You know the staff usually draws lots for the, ah, dubious honor. But I offered every time."
He stared at her for almost a full minute, eyes narrowed as he thought. "Is that so?" His low baritone took on a rumble, almost a purr. "Did you enjoy it when I took you down?"
Elly shivered, shaking her head but not in negation. "I'm not sure what you're suggesting," she lied.
"Oh?" He stood and stepped closer to her beside his desk, placing a hand on either side and leaning down to stare intently into her eyes. "I think you do," he murmured.
Her ears lay folded into her hair as she shook, staring into those blood-flecked gray eyes.
"Logic dictates that if you find me attractive, you might find this arousing..." His dark locks whisped upright in that unseen wind, his eyes burning red. "...and those few times I caught you? Tied up in my capture weapon, with me like this, hovering above you." He paused, reached out and gently took her chin in one hand. "I thought you were smiling for other reasons, and that your blush was caused by simple physical exertion. Perhaps I was wrong, hmm?"
"What are you doing?!" He was right, of course: she was mesmerized by his eyes and floating hair. It was more than sexy to her, and this was the first time she'd seen it so close up. Her tail fluffed out in all directions as she tried desperately to control her breathing.
"You're trembling, Ches," he husked, inches from her face as his semblance returned to normal. "That pretty blush is back on your cheeks as well. Why is that?"
"A - Aizawa..."
He kissed her.
Elly had imagined this moment many times but, being a therapist well-versed in the ways of fantasy versus reality, never thought it would be this good. Nothing could be - or so she had thought. His lips were dry, a little chapped, but gentle on her own as he brushed them on hers but didn't push. Next was a series of mouthing movements that left her shaking even harder, her heart pounding in her chest. She grasped his capture weapon and held a tight double fistful, moaning lowly. Aizawa paused, then opened his eyes as he did his mouth, his tongue lapping as he silently asked for permission to deepen the kiss. She tilted her head up further, lips parting eagerly, and it grew more passionate yet. His stubble rasped on her skin, scratchy but not too much. It was him, the scratch, and she craved it as well as his taste of bitter coffee and energy drink. She wasn't sure how long they were locked together, but eventually they parted for air.
Elly miaowed shakily. "I almost can't believe you just flipped a switch like that and - and, wow."
"I needed confirmation," he told her very seriously. Then he smiled, reaching around to rub the back of his neck. "I, uh, enjoyed it as well, of course."
"You're an amazing kisser," she murmured.
"Mnn. I had a special muse." He laid a thumb on his lower lip in reflection, his eyes far away for a moment. "I know you're from America, but you've lived here long enough to understand a lot of our customs, correct?"
"Yes. I studied before I came over, too. But being here is the better teacher."
He took her hands in his, disentangling them from the scarves about his neck to hold against his chest.
"I'm in love with you, Ches," he told her quietly, confessing in true Japanese fashion. "We've been colleagues and have gone out before in groups... plus that one time we both helped out at the cat shelter. We know each other." Aizawa frowned a little. "I want to date you, with serious intent."
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Mm hmm. I love you, too. Now, let me just..." Elly took her hands back and smoothed his hair down. "There. It's a good thing I don't wear lipstick, but gloss rubs off enough." She carefully wiped his lips with a finger.
"Presentable?" His eyebrows arched upward.
"Hell, yeah." She grinned and rubbed her cheek on his. "I mean, everybody's going to know at some point, but let's not give them gossip fodder right away."
He actually laughed, a dry sound that nonetheless made her heart soar.
No comments:
Post a Comment