Elly exited the coffee shop that morning with a smile, her favorite brew in hand. It was a good day so far and everything was going to be -
She blinked, her ears flicking as her phone rang. "Hello?"
"Hi, Cheshire, sorry to be calling so early. I know you have school starting soon, but just wanted to check in on you and discuss something."
<i>It's Hizashi's PR agent..</i>?
"Oh?" She sipped her drink as she headed back to campus.
"You and Mic were seen this weekend at the beach. I think you need to go somewhere different on dates. Not so, ahhhh... public places."
She froze in her tracks, her tail stiffening as her heart dropped. "Wh - what?"
"All I'm saying is I think it's best if you two don't flaunt your relationship."
She hung up immediately, confused and hurt.
<i>Why can't we be seen together</i>? Her mind roiled, digging up doubts and bad feelings to throw them up for her to get tortured by. <i>Did Hizashi want this</i>? <i>Was he ashamed to be with her</i>? <i>Did his PR agent want him to appear single so others would see him in a better light</i>?
She groaned, shaking her head to try and clear it.
Worse yet, there was now a media crowd blocking U.A's gates. Inwardly she cursed her decision to go to the local coffee shop instead of grabbing a can in the teacher's lounge, but what was done was done. Elly flickered into invisibility and slipped between the reporters as silently and quickly as possible. She then rushed down the pathways and halls past her startled colleagues to hide in her office for the first part of the day.
At lunch there was a rhythmic knocking at her door, a pattern she recognized. Hizashi stood there, his neck speaker in one hand and leather jacket unzipped. He set the clunky gear down when he saw her expression.
"Whoa, babe - you all right?"
"My brain is on fire," she whispered in a hoarse voice. "...help?"
"Was it the bad news media?" He closed the door behind him and walked quickly over to her, holding out his arms. "What did they do to my baby?"
"Meh." Elly whimpered and collapsed in his embrace, resting her head on his chest as he stooped to pick her up. "You don't wanna know what it was."
"Oof."
"M'not heavy," she protested faintly.
"Nah. But yer neck gear is digging into my - oh, thanks." He took the sharp-toothed speaker and set it on her desk. "Better," he sighed, sinking into a chair. "Now, what happened?"
She laid her ears back briefly. "Your publicist called to discuss our relationship."
He groaned. "Oh <i>nooooo</i>."
"Apparently we shouldn't flaunt it? In public? Whatever that means..."
"Bullshit," he scoffed loudly. "He needs to talk to me if he wants anything, and I'm not hiding my love for you."
"Maybe it's for safety reasons." She took a long, shaky breath and buried her face in the soft cotton of his shirt.
He hummed thoughtfully, stroking her short purple hair. "That's not how you feel though, right?"
"I - I'm not good enough to be seen like that with you."
"Now <i>that's</i> wrong." He shook his head, scoffing at the very idea. "I'm proud yer my girl... ohhhh, wait, uh oh." Hizashi tightened his hold on her as he felt her start to shake. "You know that, right? I love you."
"I know," she sniffled.
"You can cry if you need to. Let it out, Ches." He cradled her in his arms, rocking gently. The smell of leather this close up was comforting and familiar, but she remained distraught.
"It's okay."
"Nuh uh, it isn't!" He was adamant about it, feeling the stress in her body. "It's okay to cry, baby," he urged. "This has happened a few times now. Why can't ya cry for me, huh?"
"I'm <i>scared</i> to let go," she told him in a very low voice. "My family punished me for showing emotions, and above all, I wasn't allowed to cry."
He whined with sympathy. "My poor baby. That's not right, it's not fair."
"I know it's okay to cry, but I have to fight the voice in my head that says it's wrong. That you'll scream at me, or hit me or - or leave me if I do."
"Oh, shit," he choked. "No... <i>no no no no no</i>. <i>Shitfuck</i>, baby, yer family..?"
She nodded, eyes streaming tears.
"I'll never do any of that!" Hizashi pulled her up further, swinging his legs across the desk. "Please," he whispered. "If you won't do it for yourself, baby, do it <i>for me</i>. Do whatever you can. I'll be so proud of you, always, I promise." He gripped her hands in his gloved ones and clutched them to his heart. "I love you no matter what. I'll always love you. Say it with me, please."
She fidgeted on his lap, eyes filled with tears that she was still fighting hard to hold back. "I - it's silly..."
"Hizashi will always love me," he said in a firm voice with more than just a hint of his quirk. The air between them vibrated with intensity.
Elly swallowed hard, choking on a wave of embarrassment. "Zashi, I -"
He repeated himself, his sunglasses sliding down his long nose so she could see the concentric circles in his eyes. They seemed to thicken with his force of will. "<i>Hizashi will always love me</i>."
She took a large, trembling breath. "Hizashi will always love me."
He cocked his head, his hazel eyes wide. "What was that? I didn't hear you."
"<i>Zashi</i>..."
"Louder."
"H - Hih - Hizashi," she husked.
"Almost there. Give me the whole sentence, baby."
"...will always love me."
"Again," he whispered, kissing her on the forehead.
"I can't, I feel stupid!"
"You're not," he told her firmly. "You're amazing. And Hizashi..."
"...will always love me?"
"Aw," he sighed, covering the back of her head in one hand and drawing her to his chest. "It's not a question. You're halfway there. I know it's hard. I know you don't feel good about yourself. But I <i>will</i> always love you." Hizashi paused, a steely note creeping into his expressive voice as he yanked his cell phone out of a tight pocket. "Also, I'm <i>firing</i> my PR guy <i>right now</i>. Fuckin' punk hurting my girl. He'll be lucky if I don't yell at his ass."
For some reason that was what broke her and she clung to him, half sobbing, half laughing, for the rest of lunch break.
True to his word, Hizashi didn't mind at all.
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