Muse

Chapter 36

Izuku could not stop smiling the next day at work. Most people knew him as a fairly positive person, but the constant lovelorn glances and lovesick, puppy-dog eyes were a bit much. He couldn't help it though. Anytime he had tried to focus on his paperwork, he couldn't help but picture Alyssa's lips on his and the rush that it gave him anytime he thought about their time together and how much he craved more of it; the fact that he still had her flower pen probably didn't help, each sharp twitch of the pen sending new waves of lavender his way, especially when he tucked it by his ear. Outside of getting excited when he was about to meet up with All Might, Izuku couldn't think of any other time he had wanted to be around another person this badly before.

"You sure are thirsty," Kaminari commented with a slight smirk.

Deku, who had chosen to daydream over by the water-cooler, had his cup overflowing onto his hand before he pulled back with a start. "Oh! Sorry! I had something else on my mind."

"I'll bet. Looks like somebody had a good night out," he teased, causing Izuku to laugh nervously and take a sheepish sip from his cup.

"Don't you dare deny it, mon amie. You've had a twinkle in your eye since you walked in this morning," Aoyama tut-tutted, appearing from the kitchen after reloading the rat traps if the smell of camembert was any indication; then again, he could have just had a snack. "I take it the date with your belle fille went well then?"

"It went amazingly well," Izuku admitted, regaling his co-workers with the date he'd had with Alyssa on Sunday. He knew better than to tell them everything- inexperienced as he was, the can-do hero knew it was polite not to kiss-and-tell, especially when there had been quite a lot of kissing -but even the abridged version had him blushing up a storm.

"So it wasn't just a date then?" asked Kaminari. "You're all official now?"

"I guess so," Izuku shrugged and received a few congratulatory shoulder pats and back slaps.

"Good for you, man, but tone down the star-struck lover look a bit. Not everyone had an amazing day like you did and we still need to get through the weekend paperwork before six."

"Sorry," Izuku apologized though he was still unable to rid the smile from his face completely.

"Don't mind him. He's just upset that he has to do all of our paperwork for the next month. Speaking of which," Aoyama held his hand out expectantly towards Kaminari. The stun-guy hero sighed and went into his wallet before handing the shining hero five thousand yen.

"Man... I knew I should have bet the other way the night she showed up at the party. Girls are always a sucker for a pro-hero," Kaminari grumbled to himself. "How did she react when you told her you were in the top twenty? I bet she was real happy to have locked you down when she did."

For the first time that morning, Izuku felt his smile drop from his face, sobering instantly at Kaminari's words. She didn't know. They were together in a committed relationship and Alyssa still didn't know who he really was. She had kissed him without knowing who he actually was. Noticing his boss's sudden pallor change, Kaminari's teasing halted. "Wait, you mean she still doesn't know?"

"...No."

"Oh man... Dude, you gotta tell her."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Izuku bit the inside of his cheek. "It's... complicated."

"Well, she knows you're still a pro-hero, oui?"

"Technically, yes, she knows I'm a pro-hero and that my hero name is Deku, but she doesn't know that we're the same person."

Both blondes stared at him, uncomprehending and vague, like they had missed an entire novel. "...Man, I am so lost."