Deep Red

56

I was glad to discover that I could also sit on the roof of the teacher's dorm whenever I felt the need to. All this time I had thought it was inaccessible - I knew the students' roofs weren't accessible for them - but to my surprise the door was open and I could just go and sit there.

I had to admit that the view wasn't nearly as nice as from the roof of Shouta's house, mostly because what I saw were for the most part the students' dorms and then there were just a bunch of U.A. facilities and only very far away were there some city lights. But it was what it was.

I didn't even know why I felt such a need to sit on the roof on my own tonight. It wasn't like anything bad had happened, but I still just felt like sulking. Maybe it was the whole story with Miss Joke that had thrown me off, maybe it was this whole feeling of things slowly changing for the worse.

However, I didn't stay on my own for a long time. After a while I heard the door opening and some footsteps coming towards me. I didn't even need to look to know who they belonged to. I would be able to identify these footsteps from a mile away, so used had I gotten to them in such a short time.

"What do you want, Shouta?" I asked with a sigh. He didn't say anything and just held a can of beer in front of my face.

"You forgot this." he commented. I glanced down at the can. Oh, fuck it. I took it from his hand and cracked it open, while he sat down next to me. So we were going to have a talk now? Was that it?

"Thanks for the beer." I mumbled and took a sip. Honestly, I hadn't even realized that I had been missing the taste of a can of beer after a long day, but here I was, feeling like I was discovering it all over again.

"Now, are you going to tell me why you're sulking on the roof all on your own? Thought that was an us thing." Shouta said. I just sighed and scratched the back of my head. I didn't even really know myself.

"Is this about Joke?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.

"I don't even know, Shouta. I don't know what the deal with her is and I just... ugh. It's been a long day and I'm just kinda feeling off." I replied, finally glancing over at him. He looked a little concerned.

"There is nothing going on with me and Joke. She just likes to... well... joke a lot. And she doesn't get it when it's inappropriate. But there is nothing you need to worry about, okay?" Shouta said.

"Well, the two of you did seem pretty chummy back at the arena..." I muttered and took another sip of my beer. Shouta just looked at me, somewhat worried, maybe a little amused, too.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I know I can trust you and all, I don't know what's wrong with me." I replied and sighed.

"You're jealous." Shouta said, his voice sounding both amazed and amused at the same time.

"Jealous? Me? Why would I be jealous? As if you had the energy to cheat..." I replied, but I could feel myself blushing. Goddamn it. Why was I always blushing at the wrong moment? I mean, of course I was kind of jealous, but I wasn't going to admit that to him. Not like that, at least.

"You're actually jealous." Shouta repeated and chuckled a little. I looked down at my feet in embarrassment.

"Shut up."

"Hey. Nothing to be ashamed of. I'm kinda flattered you think I'm such a womanizer." he said and laughed.

"Well, maybe I'm a little jealous. I mean... we are a thing, after all. Right? I don't know, Joke just kind of threw me off, I don't even know why. And then with everything else that's been happening lately, it just... it was exhausting." I admitted. I mean, what the hell? He knew anyway.

"I can imagine. I didn't know she'd be there, I would have given you a heads up otherwise." he replied and opened the can he had brought for himself. We were sitting there and sipping our beer without talking for a while.

It was a really warm summer night and the sky was also clear. I was kind of glad to get a few minutes just to sit and relax. We barely got any time to ourselves since the new year had started up again, so this was a good time to just catch a breath. I moved a little closer to Shouta and leaned against his chest.

"Sorry for getting jealous. I'm normally not like that and... I don't even know why she was putting me off so much. Can we... can we sit for a while?" I asked him. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"Sure." he replied and pressed a small kiss to my forehead. I sighed contentedly. It had been ages, since we had time to just sit and talk. The little time we got to ourselves was usually spent doing... other stuff. Not that I was complaining, but I kind of missed the talking and cuddling bit.

"You think people will get suspicious if we meet up on the roof in the evenings? Can they even see us from down there?" I wanted to know. Shouta shrugged and let his eyes wander over the other dorm buildings.

"Don't care. They're probably not even going to notice. I mean, word hasn't spread after the Allmight incident, so I kinda doubt people will think much of it." he said and smiled down at me.

"Yeah, that's true. I just like sitting and talking with you. You know, like old times." I replied with a grin.

"Old times? You mean a few weeks ago when we were living at my apartment? Is that what you mean by old times?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean by old times." I said and stuck out my tongue at him. He laughed and captured my lips in a sweet and gentle kiss, before letting go of me and looking towards the dorms again.

"The view is kinda shit from up here..." he mumbled, as he shook his heads at the students' dorms.

"I don't know, can't complain about that..." I retorted, as I continued to look at him. He glanced down at me and huffed with a little grin.

"Oh, really? Is that so?" he asked, smirking.

"Uh-huh."

"Well, too bad I'll have to leave you then."

I blinked a few times, not expecting that. And I didn't want him to leave, I wanted to spend some time with him.

"What? Why is that?" I asked.

"I have a whole lot of paperwork to take care of. Sorry. I'd like to spend some time with you, too, but I'm afraid I can't afford taking that much time off." he replied and nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh. That's a shame." I said. He sighed and nodded. I knew he was busy and so was I, but we really had to set aside some time for just the two of us soon. This whole dorm situation was becoming unbearable.

"Hey, if you don't mind sitting around in a tiny cramped dorm room, you can always come with me and sit around with me while I do my paperwork..." he offered hesitantly, as he turned around.

I squinted at him. Had he just offered me to keep him company while he was doing his work? Shouta Aizawa? Eraserhead? Had Shouta Aizawa just asked me to keep him company? The world surely was ending or this couldn't be happening right now. I smiled and got up from where I was sitting.

"I can't believe you're admitting you'd like my company, Shouta." I said, snickering a little. He shook his head.

"I never said that."

"But you thought it!"

"Well, maybe I don't mind having some company. As long as it's yours."