Work Text:
You couldn't sleep.
It was 3 a.m. You’d tossed and turned but alas, sleep just refused to come to you. Your brain just couldn't stop thinking.
Now, this wasn't a new occurrence. You were known to have the occasional bout of insomnia. However, it was significantly more difficult this time around.
Previously you'd had your best friend, Shinsou, to keep you company during these sleepless nights. He often spent most nights up until the early hours of the morning, so when you had trouble sleeping, you'd sneak over to his room. The two of you would play video games, watch movies, or just talk. It was fun.
This year was different, however. Since Shinsou had been accepted into the hero course, he’d also had to move dorms, which made sneaking over to his dorm room just about impossible. You really wished you had a teleportation quirk right about now.
If you were being completely honest, the thing or, well, the person your brain couldn’t stop thinking about was the indigo haired insomniac himself.
Over the past year, you’d developed feelings much stronger than just friendship for him. You loved how you could talk to him about anything and everything, his sarcastic nature, and how he didn't give up on his dreams of being a hero despite his quirk being considered villainous by many.
You didn't think your feelings were utterly one-sided. Or at least you hoped they weren't.
Sometimes he did little things that made you think he likes to back. Like, for example, he always remembered even the tiniest details about everything you'd tell him, whether it was your favorite pocky flavor, which he just so happened to always have on hand, or that one episode of that one show that always makes you shed a few tears. He always tried to help you study, even now that you weren't in the same curriculum.
Though, there was the possibility that you were sure you had to be projecting your feelings onto him. That you'd wanted it so bad that your brain convinced you that he returned your feelings.
There was no way he liked you, right? After all, the Hero Course was filled with so many nice, attractive students. Who are training to be literal heroes! Shinsou Hitoshi is handsome. Many others find him attractive. So why would he choose you over them?
Still, sometimes it felt so real.
You decided just to bite the bullet and confess to him.
The thing is, you’d been trying to confess to him for weeks now. However, there was always something in the way, whether it be the bell ringing, school work, classmates, or even teachers. On the off chance that there weren't any interruptions, your nerves would get the better of you, and you'd ultimately chicken out.
Suddenly, you had an idea.
Getting up from the bed, you turned on the lights and walked over to the mirror you had in the corner of your room, just to make sure you didn't look too bad.
Deciding you look decent, you climbed back into bed and grabbed your phone, unplugging it from where it was charging on your bedside table.
Shinsou always had trouble sleeping, so he’d most definitely be up. You could just FaceTime him. It wouldn’t be the same as your old late-night chats, but surely this would be just as nice. You just really wanted to hear his voice.
Before you could talk yourself out of it, you called him. He usually answered pretty quickly whenever you called, but this time it seemed like he wasn't going to. Just when you were going to hang up and surrender to the uneventful hours ahead of you, he answered.
It seemed as if he had propped his phone against something, maybe a wall, so he didn't have to hold his phone, but you could still see him. The sight before you made your heart flutter.
A very sleepy looking Shinsou Hitoshi was on the other side of the screen. His usually messy hair was even messier than usual, and he was wrapped up in what you could only describe as a blanket cocoon. He was lying down on his side, cheek smooshed against his pillow adorably, so that he could property face the phone.
”Hey,” you greeted, waving a bit even though he couldn’t see you, realizing you'd been too quiet for too long, ”Are you awake?” You immediately wanted to punch yourself in the face. Of course, he was awake. How else would he have answered?
“Mm, not really,” he said in a sleepy, raspy voice, followed by a yawn.
You immediately felt guilty. Just your luck, the one time he could get some actual sleep, you'd wake him up.
”No? I am so sorry. I'll just- well, I'll just call back later, it's nothing important or anything. It's stupid really,” you rushed out, looking away from your phone, regretting the idea immensely.
”Don't worry about it; it's okay,” he reassured. God, his morning voice would most definitely be the end of you. You were okay with that, though. It would be a great way to go, all things considered. “How are you?”
You guys talked for a while, about anything and everything. You told him about how General studies were going and any new classroom drama. In return, he spoke to you about how the Hero Course was and told you stories about all his new classmates. It was nice.
After you finished telling one story about how your class currently had an ongoing prank war in the dorms, you looked to your phone to see he had fallen asleep. You couldn't blame him. After all, you'd called really late, and apparently, his class had been put through the wringer during a training exercise during the day.
You were going to hang up, really you were, but he looked so calm and at peace. You couldn't bring yourself to look away. Much less actually hang up the phone.
”You know how I've been trying to tell you something for a couple of weeks now?” you asked the sleeping Shinsou while looking up at the ceiling. Your sleep-deprived brain decided that, hey, he's asleep, now is a good time to practice declaring your undying love for him. ”Well, I guess what I've been wanting to tell you is that I think I'm in love with you. I've been trying to tell you for forever now, but every time I try to tell you, a million thoughts go through my head all at once, and my brain short circuits, and I wanna kiss you so bad, but I don't know how.”
You couldn't help but laugh at how horrible that sounded, relieved he was asleep. You would definitely not be confessing like that.
You looked back at your phone, expecting to see a sleeping Shinsou.
Only, he was very much, not asleep. He was looking at you with wide eyes, mouth slightly agape, obviously surprised. Your blood ran cold, heart-stopping for a couple of beats before restarting at high speed. You swore he would see your soul leave your body.
You were startled into action when he started to speak, hanging up the phone before he could get a full word out.
He tried calling you again, but you didn't answer. You felt like throwing up and weren't quite ready to face the possibility of rejection.
One thing was for sure. You were not getting any sleep tonight.
-----0-----
You were avoiding Shinsou like the plague.
Was it a little immature? Maybe.
Did you plan on facing him anytime soon? Fuck no. You knew it was a cowardly move on your part, but you just weren't ready to face rejection just yet. You'd leave the bravery for the hero course students.
So, you’d resorted to eating lunch out in the courtyard and going back straight to the dorms as soon as class was over. Thankfully you had a pretty good idea of Shinsou’s schedule, being such close friends with him and all, so you knew what hallways to avoid when making your way to class. Sadly this also meant you had gotten to class late once or twice.
Your plan, though carefully and strategically thought out, only really worked for three days.
Your last class of the day was English. It was, to say the least, a little dull. You wanted nothing more than to get out of the stuffy classroom the moment the bell rang. Still, you stayed in your seat long after the classroom was deserted, taking longer than necessary to pack everything.
You'd waved off your friends, telling them you'd meet them at the dorms in a bit. After all, the longer you waited, the fewer students you'd find roaming the halls, which meant the less likely you were to run into Hitoshi.
After around 20 minutes, you decide it was safe to leave. It had been a long week, with all the school work, avoiding your indigo haired crush, and you’d gotten little to no sleep this week. You wanted nothing more than to get to the dorm and change into the most comfortable pair of pajamas you owned, perhaps take a nap as well.
Yawning, you gathered your things and made your way out of the classroom, wondering whether or not you felt up to joining the weekly movie night in the common room.
On the one hand, you felt like sleeping all through the weekend. On the other hand, you felt like you hadn’t hung out with anyone in forever, with changing your schedule so abruptly. You owed it to your friends, especially since they’d brought you food from the cafeteria.
Maybe-
“Well, well, look who we have here. I take it you're not done avoiding me yet?” Your heart leaped to your throat. You knew that voice. Almost too well. In fact, you doubted you’d ever be able to forget it.
You turned around, shoulders a bit tense.
There stood Shinsou Hitoshi, sporting the same messy hair and tired purple eyes. He was leaning against the wall, one leg propped against it, shoulders crossed, and a backpack slung against his right arm. You couldn’t help but glare lightly at the shoulder with the bag strap. You always scolded him for doing that. He was going to end up hurting his shoulder. He was right next to the door you’d just exited from, obviously waiting for you.
He was a sight for sore eyes.
You hadn’t quite realized how much you’d missed him these past couple of days until just now. It’d only been three days without him around you, yet those had been the three most challenging days you’d had in a long time. You’d been moody, mopy, and, as much as you hated to admit, irritable. The effect his presence had on your mood was almost frightening.
You wondered if he felt the same way.
“I haven’t been avoiding you,” you tried to defend yourself feebly, wringing your hands together while looking at your shoes as if they were the most exciting thing you'd ever laid your eyes on, ”I’ve just been strategically going where I know you won't go.”
”That’s the textbook definition of avoiding someone,” Shinsou said in a deadpan voice, rolling his eyes. You winced slightly. He used his leg leaning on the wall to propel himself a bit away from the wall. He walked until he was right in front of you, close enough so that your shoes were touching. You felt your heart was somersaulting in your chest.
”Look, ” you started, taking a tiny step back, bracing yourself for the inevitable rejection. Rejection sucked, sure, but at least you'd get your best friend back. ”I’m sorry for avoiding you. I was just- I guess I was just embarrassed. Really embarrassed. I still am, actually. I didn't want you to find out like that, and then I just freaked out and hung up on you and-”
You were caught off abruptly by a pair of warm hands cupping your face, followed by a soft, slightly chapped, pair of lips on yours, not a second after. Apparently, Hitoshi had decided you were rambling too much, and kissing you was the obvious way to shut you up.
You really hoped this meant he likes you back. Otherwise, it was just going to be really weird between the two of you.
The kiss was relatively short, but sweet nonetheless. He pulled back after a couple of seconds, a small smile gracing his face.
”That’s how,” he stated, dropping his hands from your face.
You blinked in confusion, letting out a ’Huh?’ noise. You were still a little dazed.
”When you were confessing your undying love for me, ” you rolled your eyes at that, ”you said you wanted to kiss me, but you didn't know how to. Now you do. Feel free to do so whenever you feel like it.” With that, his left hand grabbed your right, lacing your fingers together, pulling you a bit so that you'd start walking.
”This means you like me back, right?” you asked, just to make sure, swinging your hands in a gentle back and forth motion.
He turned to look at you incredulously.
”Nah, we’re just really close friends, ” he teased, sarcasm dripping from his voice, as you exited the building. This caused you to glare playfully at him, bringing your free hand up to flick his nose lightly so that it wouldn't hurt.
”Where are we going?” you inquired curiously once you realized you weren't heading in the direction of the dorms.
”On a date.”
“Shouldn’t we change out of our uniforms first?”
After the both of you changed out of your uniforms and dropped off your backpacks at the dorm, the two of you had dinner at a nearby Cat Cafe.
It was pretty purrfect.