your pov
"y/n, are you looking for something?" mina asked, tugging on the sleeve of my shirt. tsuyu, hagakure, and jirou were standing beside her searching the mall directory, while yaoyorozu and uraraka were deciding on where they wanted to go in the food court.
i didn't realize how obvious my staring was, but the fact that mina mentioned it signaled that i should be more careful.
i turned to the group who, to my relief, had not noticed me and were talking amongst themselves.
"how about we split up, kero?" tsuyu said. "momo and ochako are hungry, but i don't really want to eat yet, so they can stay at the food court."
"good idea!" hagakure added. "i wanted to find a gift for ojiro so i can just look around all the stores. it's his birthday soon..."
we all laughed, gently poking fun at hagakure's obvious crush on mashirao, which was even funnier to me because of how close i was with him. he knew about her feelings, but she didn't know he reciprocated them. i had been trying for months to set them up, with no avail. still, i knew it would happen eventually. i wasn't in the position to give relationship advice, anyway.
"i'm going to my aunt's wedding in a few weeks, so i need to find a dress. i can go by myself though, since we're all looking for different things," i chimed in. i wasn't particularly excited for the wedding, but it would be rude not to follow the dress code.
"i can go... with you." jirou said, staring intently at the ground. my heart practically skipped a beat. jirou helping me try on dresses, watching me spin around and knowing her eyes were only on me.
i nodded, maybe a bit too enthusiastically. mina decided to go with tsuyu to look for a specific aloe vera drink she liked, which left just me and jirou alone.
she was fidgeting with the zipper on her jacket, avoiding my gaze.
"so..." i said to break the silence. "is there anywhere specific you want to go first?"
"nowhere in particular," she answered. she was still avoiding eye contact, but seemed a bit less tense once i spoke.
"hey, have you ever gotten a piercing?"
"what?"
"like your ears, or nose, or lip pierced. have you ever done it?"
she laughed, then looked up. "no, but i'll do it if you do?"
"seriously?" i laughed back. "there's a piercing pagoda on the second floor."
"then let's do it. you only live once, right? then we'll find you that dress."
she took my hand suddenly, an amused grin on her face appearing after seeing my reaction.
"shall we go?" she asked.
"lead the way," i answered, and the butterflies in my stomach had woken up again.
...
jirou and i had gotten matching nose piercings—small jewel studs. it didn't hurt as much as i thought, but i had to hold her hand the whole way through.
"it makes you even cuter. although there isn't a day when you don't look cute," i said as we walked. i was shocked at my sudden boldness, but i wasn't complaining. i finally had time to spend with the girl i liked alone, and all my prior awkwardness seemed to disappear. it was so comfortable to talk with her; it was as if we had been friends all along.
she blushed, but didn't respond.
but as soon as we reached the dress shop, she tensed up again.
"is everything okay?" i asked.
"yeah, it's... fine. i'm just worried i won't be helpful enough. i don't know a lot about dresses and all that," she responded.
"are you kidding?" i said. "your fashion is awesome! here, why don't we both pick dresses for each other and then trade?"
she nodded, a smile on her face. i loved making her smile.
"meet back at the dressing rooms in ten?"
"sounds good," she said, and then we parted.
a dress from a long rack on the left of the store caught my attention. it was black, short, with only one shoulder and sparkles on the neckline, and it seemed like jirou's style. i picked one up that seemed like her size, and was satisfied with my choice. i hoped i would find a more flowy dress for her to spin around in, but the one in my hand seemed perfect for her.
i found my selection relatively quickly, so i perused the store for a little while before i had to go to the dressing rooms. i picked up a necklace from one of the shelves; it was golden with a small pendant of two angel wings.
would it be too obvious? maybe i would wait to give it to her. it would be part of the reveal—a gift from the one whose name she would finally learn. the whole idea seemed straight out of a teenage romance, but i quickly rushed to the register to purchase it and placed it discreetly in my bag.
jirou was already waiting at the dressing rooms. the dress in her hands was red, but i couldn't see what the design was.
her eyes visibly widened when i showed her what i found.
"this is actually really pretty," she said, her face flushing.
"try it on!" i said.
"okay, then you try yours on, too."
i stepped into a dressing room and put the dress on. the red complimented my skin perfectly—it was long and satin, with a high neck and a side slit at the leg. i never expected jirou to find something that suited me so perfectly. i could barely find fitting clothes for myself.
when i left the dressing room, jirou was staring at herself in the mirror and beaming.
"the dress–you... look stunning," i said, half-whispered. i didn't realize i had said it out loud until she turned around to face me.
her eyes went wide upon seeing me in the dress.
"do you like it?" she asked.
"i love it."
"the one you chose for me is amazing. i don't know if i would've been comfortable to pick it out myself, but it's gorgeous."
"glad you liked it," i said, then gave her a quick hug. my cheeks started to turn as red as my outfit.
she checked the time on her phone, visibly jumping when she saw it. "crap, the others were expecting us back ten minutes ago!" she said.
i laughed, grabbed her hand as she did earlier, and we walked over to the cash register and paid as quickly as possible.
we ran through the mall, just running, with my fingers interlaced with hers, and i don't remember the last time i was so happy.
