Our Mask [Shinso Hitoshi X Reader]

Chapter 32 - Deceit

The silence that ensued intensified your curiosity. Shinso Hitoshi was a very blunt person. What made him so unwilling to be like that in that moment?

"Right", he repeated. For the past few minutes, he'd been trying to decide whether to be straightforward or to beat around the bush until you understood. He strangely opted for the second.

"The rumors going around are mostly bullshit. There...is some truth to them though."

Your heart sank at that; almost everything that you'd heard from the rumors were things that would break your heart if they were true. Him having feelings for another woman, the probability of there being someone he dated and didn't tell you about despite your talks, or him being distracted enough by a woman to jeopardize the entire mission.

Stop it, you told yourself. He was literally trying to explain the situation and your brain wanted to jump to conclusions.

"I dated the civilian used as bait",there went your heart,"but you already knew that."

Huh?

The fact that Hitoshi was breaking these news as a riddle, along with the fact that his words unintentionally played with your feelings made some impatience and displeasure spurr up inside you.

"Can you be straightforward, Toshi?", you hated how annoyed you sounded but you were way more accustomed to the honest Hitoshi. You wanted him back.

"I can, if that's what you want", he scratched the back of his neck. Your reaction was understandable and even he didn't like how iffy he was to break out the truth but clearly it'd be better for the two of you if he was straighforward.

"The civilian was Aimi", once that was out there, everything flowed out with ease,"She was lying about trying to get over me. Or maybe she tried but didn't succeed. Instead, she made a deal with some villains where in exchange for her being bait to trap me, someone would use their love quirk on me and make me fall for her, making me completely forget about you. She's also the reason why a villain targeted you--she mentioned me having a soulmate in front of a villain I fought and he probably thought harming you was a good way to get back at me. She didn't send him to you but she knew it would happen when he heard her and she didn't tell me until I noticed something was up."

Hitoshi looked straight into your eyes for any sign of a reaction. Furrowed brows, open mouth, any trouble processing. You weren't showing anything. For almost ten seconds, your face stayed exactly the same as it was from before he broke out the news. Then he got the reaction: all of what his thoughts listed off.

Your face was scrunched up in disbelief, your mouth hanging open, as you finally spoke up.

"You...she...what?"

Hitoshi wasn't sure what else he could say. He did his job of informing you, now the rest was for you to process, which he understood would probably take a while.

"Aimi sided with villains to capture me and Sensei because it would end with me being forced to fall in love with her. And she let a villain go after you. Whether it was because she thought it would thin out her competition or because she's just to desperate too care about anything other than me, I don't know. I think it's the second one."

"I- Please stop talking- Sorry- Just... Oh my god."

Your hands went to cover your mouth and nose as everything processed. Aimi was your best friend--a kind, innocent girl who had boy issues but otherwise looked completely harmless. And yes, you knew that her unrequited love for Hitoshi bordered obsession but you always tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe that's why a part of you just couldn't believe Hitoshi was telling the truth.