Mind Boggled

Chapter 38

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Third person pov

The wedding wasn't as long as Harper thought it would be. She came out the other end of the whole event grasping onto Kirishima's hand for deal life, covered in rainbow glitter with her eyes blown wide. Her redheaded companion was in a similar state: far, far too shocked to even bother blushing over laced fingers. Even Mic seemed too surprised to do much of anything, staring off into the distance with slightly furrowed brows. Aizawa was the only one completely fine, somehow managing to have remained untouched by all the glitter. His expression was neutral too, though his thoughts ran rampant with their usual bubbliness.

"Did you see Mic's face when I started acting like my for real-real self?! OMG, it was SO funny! Kirishima looked like he was going to cry when I cooed over how cute you and him are! And when I pinched your cheeks-- they're so much squishier than they look, by the way. They remind me of dumplings!" Aizawa's thoughts jittered on excitedly. "Speaking of dumplings, I found the best dumpling place. It doubles as a cat cafe! So cute. Oh, and I own it-"

"You own a cat cafe?" Harper blurted out. Mic and Kirishima turned to look at her. Aizawa blinked languidly.

"No, of course not." Aizawa scoffed at her so convincingly, Harper was almost sure she'd imagined him thinking it. His thoughts, however, gave away that he was lying immediately. That he really did own such an establishment. "Of course I do! What kind of man would I be if I didn't own a cat cafe?"

"A dignified one." Harper muttered, more to herself than to Aizawa. She took a deep breath and shook her head. She was never going through that again. She hoped he and Mic lasted, because she wasn't sure she had it in her to deal with groom-Aizawa a second time. The mere thought made her shiver. Maybe they really were made for each other. They were the only ones who could tolerate one another's personalities for long periods of time. Mic didn't even look that traumatized! "Kirishima and I are going to bounce. See if we can't get some of this glitter off."

"R-Right." Mic said, still in shock. Kirishima was too, staring at their homeroom teacher like he was a being from an entirely different universe all together. His thoughts were actually pretty amusing, in Harper's opinion. But right now wasn't the time to dwell on that. She needed to get home so she could decompress. Plus, her parents were supposed to call in later. It had been ages since she last got to talk to them. The idea of finally getting to have a real conversation with them made her want to smile. She hadn't felt so excited about something that wasn't a nap in a while.

"Bye, lovelies!" Aizawa's thoughts chirped. Outwardly, he looked like he'd just attended a funeral rather than gotten married. Harper still didn't understand that. The happier he felt on the inside, the more dead he looked on the out. It was mildly concerning. She'd have to question Hound Dog about it to see if she couldn't find out what that was. Maybe it was just another one of the many, many special things about Shota Aizawa. Her fake, trick-ass teacher gave a gruff, "Your midterms are next week."

Harper rolled her eyes at him, giving Mic a sympathetic wince as she dragged Kirishima past. She'd created a horrifying couple. A monster, if she did say so herself. Harper should've just said she was busy. Went on and talked to Sero instead, since she was supposed to be doing that soon. Stain, as well. He was being moved to a higher-security facility that would probably be holding him permanently, which meant there'd be less chances to talk to the guy. He was actually a decent person deep down in there. He just... had judgement issues that projected out into violent thoughts and actions rather than just well-controlled opinions.

Kirishima slowly came back to the land of the living. When Harper had said Aizawa was a living, breathing ball of sunshine, he'd immediately assumed she was exaggerating. How could he not?! In love with her or not, it was impossible to deny how cold and distant their teacher came off as. It wasn't that he thought she was making it up and lying to him. It was more like he simply couldn't imagine, for the life of him, what Mr. Aizawa would be like with a cheery disposition! At least, not until now. Not until witnessing... that. Kirishima wasn't sure he'd ever be the same again.