Sunfeeder [BNHA]

ch. 21

Chapter Twenty One;;- Coming Face to Face with Feelings

A yawn slipped passed [name]'s lips, not out of boredom but out of plain exhaustion. In front of her, Tamaki, Fatgum, and Kirishima were working together to stop a villain. It was impossible to be bored when you're watching that.

Kirishima had his quirk activated, acting as a sort of defense with Fatgum, while Tamaki acted more as offense. Tamaki used his tentacles more than any other food, [name] noticed. Occasionally he would use a clam or chicken, but most of the time he stuck with what he was the most familiar with.

He's really cool, [name] thought as she watched Tamaki bind the villain and Fatgum rush in to clap some handcuffs on him.

Tamaki moved back, letting Fat take care of the villain. He swiped a hand across his temple, probably wiping away sweat, and took a large step away from the curious crowd that had formed. His hood had fallen off his head and bunched up around his neck, but his mask and mess of dark hair concealed most of his face.

[name]'s first instinct was to walk forward and greet him, but something stopped her. Instead, she stood there among the amazed people, watching Tamaki quiver at their awe. His shaking hands tugged his hood back up and over his face and he retreated towards the wall. Again, [name]'s mind initially compelled her to go comfort him, but when her chest stirred with warmth, she paused.

What was that feeling? It bloomed in her heart when she saw Tamaki being confident, but when she saw him crawl back into his introverted shell, the feeling seemed to multiply tenfold. She watched him say something to the ever-optimistic Kirishima and Kirishima's prompt response.

She turned her back to them, taking a deep, contemplative breath. Her heart pounded in her chest and she listened to the blood rush in her ears for a long moment.

Tamaki was important to her, she would admit that openly to anyone who asked. He was timid and maybe he put too much pressure on himself, but she loved seeing his rare smiles. His soft laughter always made [name] feel like everything was going to be okay. Being beside him felt almost natural by now, but she wasn't sure whether that was because she was so used to it or because fate had truly intended for them to meet.

Fate was an awfully bold word to use, but it was difficult to deny that their personalities fit really well together. While it was always weird to think of an extrovert like Mirio befriending such a shy guy like Tamaki, it was easy to think that someone like [name] had sidled into his life and become his friend before either of them had noticed.

I wanted to be by his side for as long as I can.

You know in those old timey cartoons where the characters gets a grand piano dropped on their head and they pop up a moment later missing a few teeth and their eyes crossed? That was the exact feeling that [name] felt the second the full weight of that sentence slammed into her chest. A grand piano just fell directly on top of her head and she was seeing stars.

She faltered in her steps as she turned back around. Tamaki no longer had his head against the wall. He seemed to have gotten over his moment of crowd anxiety as he focused on listening to Fatgum. She could see though that his hands were still shivering and he wore a frown on his lips. His eyes remained fixated on Fat, as if as long as he only looked at him, the crowd that surrounded them wasn't there.

As if feeling her burning gaze, Tamaki's dark eyes wandered over to where [name] stood. He looked almost relieved to see her and raised his hand in a small wave. [name] waved back, but didn't take a step forward. She couldn't move with the weight of her feelings on her shoulders.

Could she turn and leave without worrying Tamaki? Should she text him? She wasn't sure that she could bear to speak to him now, not without her voice shaking. She felt pathetic. Tamaki didn't deserve the silent treatment because she was scared and [name] couldn't hold onto and hide these feelings forever, not with the way these last couple minutes had been going since she figured it out.

[name] spun on her heel once Tamaki turned his attention back to Fatgum, slipping through the slowly dispersing crowd. Once she was passed the thick of it, she quickened her pace. She hurried into a deserted street, an angry flush forming across her cheeks at her own stupid actions. She scolded herself over and over in her mind as her shoes tapped out a fast, steady beat of her cowardice.

[name] stopped, a gentle hand on her wrist catching her attention. She looked back, meeting eyes with Tamaki. Her cheeks darkened, this time with embarrassment of her own irrationality.

But Tamaki's eyes were still kind, curiosity and concern forming behind their dark irises, searching for answers in [name]'s diverted ones. "Is everything... okay?" He asked, removing his grip when he was sure that she would stay.

"Yeah, I..." She trailed off, not sure where she was going with that. Scrunching her eyebrows, [name] struggled to compose an excuse. "I got a call from Dad... Something's wrong so I'm going to go." It sounded bad. She knew that.

The almost inaudible sigh from Tamaki made her face flood with another shade of red. "You're lying... I-I'm okay if you don't want to tell me... b-but I'm here..." He paused. "..y'know?" There was a tone very near disappointment in his voice.

[name]'s heart sunk at his shy, sad voice. "I'm sorry," She spoke quietly now, trying to put her feelings into comprehensible words. "I just..." Paused. Started again. "Have you ever been hit by an emotion so hard it sends you reeling?" She swallowed, then shook her head and started again. "No-- that's not how I should say it." She frowned at her own inarticulacy. "I am really bad at having feelings for someone," She finally whispered.

Tamaki tilted his head innocently. "W-What do you mean..?"

She groaned. "I'm awful at words, I've discovered." She bit her lip and brushed a stray hair away from her face.

He looked down, not sure how to help her. "Sorry..," He apologized, guilty for making her frustrated.

"Don't apologize," [name] answered immediately, touching his shoulder gently. He looked back up at her, meeting her eyes sheepishly.

They held that gaze for a moment, or two, not noticing the closing distance. [name] noticed, her eyes widening when she felt her body moving toward the stock-still, unaware Tamaki.

Fuck it, she thought, closing the distance entirely and pecking him softly on the corner of his lips.

Despite the confidence her mind had exuded before doing it, when she stepped back, her face was more colors of red and pink than she had ever seen. Tamaki's face looked the same, his lips parted in disbelief.

"Huh?"

a/n: here's a cliffhanger ily