Hi

Enjoy~

Aizawa's POV

I can't seem to explain it.

When I am around Joue, I feel energized enough to keep awake during the day and even to wake up before my alarm. I wasn't dragging my feet anymore, as cliche as that sounded. I had fallen asleep at her apartment last night, the both of us cuddled up to watch a movie. Normally, I wouldn't even think that flowery of a word. "cuddle"; it just seemed not myself, but I felt like a totally renewed person around Joue. Not in a bad way, like she was changing me for the worse. I had just never been so...comfortable. Or at least not in a long time. Now I had waken up before her, glancing over to where she was pressed up against my side. Her eyes were closed, a soft downturn to her lips—but not upset enough to be a frown. Her breath was steady and I had to reach over and place a hand on her stomach to feel it. Joue always wore the softest clothes and I dragged my hand across her stomach just slightly because of it. I couldn't see her chest fall and rise while she was breathing, it was almost like she was dead. Despite the fact she was so still and her face was paled enough to make me think she might be dead, I still thought it was the cutest thing I had ever seen. She didn't snore, she wasn't restless, she was just...completely passed out.

I rubbed my dry eye, looking to her again. I felt almost cartoonish in the way I 'double-take' glanced at Joue. Her body was warm at least and she looked peaceful. I leaned down and kissed her cheek before getting up and turning off my alarm before it went off. It was strange that there was a time when me kissing her face would've been forcibly labeled as friendly. I headed for her kitchen to make her some breakfast, sneaking a glance back at her. I felt so lucky to even wake up next to a beautiful woman like herself. I got to call her my girlfriend—at least that was what I assigned her in my head for now. I hadn't called her that out loud yet.

That was what I could not explain.

I had been friends for Joue for nearly the entire school year so far. I had met her family and spent Christmas with her. We had stayed in a hotel together. We saw each other almost everyday. I accompanied her to her high school reunion. I had been crushing on her for a little while before this.

And yet. She had never been so beautiful to me before. I had seen her dressed up in beautiful dresses and seen her hard at work. I had seen her cry and laugh and grow angry with me. I had ample opportunity to look at her and yet now, when she looked dead as she laid on the couch, the admiration I felt for her was stronger than it had ever been. At this moment, thinking back to all I had seen of her, I think it would've been way too overwhelming for me to experience them now. I was placing a glowy shine over all my memories with Joue, fantasizing our past encounters now that I knew exactly what I was feeling for her.

She was gorgeous and I needed her. I didn't just want her. I needed her. I wanted to hold her close, touch her, kiss her, have her pressed up against me, the list could go on. I just wanted to soak up every last minute with Joue. I felt more energized because I could call her mine. I felt more full and happy. I felt on fire each time she looked at me or touched me. I had never experienced such feelings for someone and they were hitting me—full swing. It was evident that my rule for keeping us secret was near to impossible to me now that I was fully aware that Joue was really...here for me. The opportunity struck and I couldn't help myself. It was better so she wasn't in public eye as related to a hero. She couldn't get in trouble with the school. The reaction from friends and students might be overwhelming.

But I just wanted to hold her hand in public, like a lovesick little kid.

Joue was good at keeping these things a secret, which could be explained by the fact she's liked me for so long. She was good at controlling her emotions and keeping things on the down low. It greatly impressed me that she was really that good. It had become apparent to me, past all my obliviousness, that Joue really really liked me. If she was feeling the things that I was, it was highly impressive that she had kept it in for so long. It was apparent that she was driven by avoiding embarrassment.

It was crazy to think about how things must have been for her. If she really did like me more and more, like she had expressed, then things like staying in her house for Christmas or going out as much as we had done were probably rather difficult to deal with. I did wish that I had realized sooner. She had begun dating Nari, probably as a way to distance herself with me. Or because she thought things wouldn't ever happen between us. It was all good now.

I heard stirring and I took 2 bowls of cereal back around to the couch. I watched the back of Joue's head as she sat up. She looked around, tired and hair messy. I came into view and she looked up, eyes studying me and the breakfast in my hands.

"Oh, hi," she said, covering a yawn.

"Morning," I stated, handing her a bowl. She accepted it with a 'thank you', situating herself to eat. She ate a few spoonfuls before looking over to me. Joue met eyes with me, setting her spoon in her bowl as she chewed.

"What?" she asked. I suppose I had been staring at her and neglecting the cereal bowl I had made myself.

"Nothing," I shrugged. We had a whole day of work and then a staff meeting today, so I wouldn't see Joue again until then. We ate in comfortable silence, knees pressed together. It was sweet and simple.

"I'll see you later today, but you should probably get ready," Joue said, taking the bowls and stacking them in her lap--silverware clattering against the ceramic. "Have a good day in class."

"You going into the office?"

"Of course," she said, smiling at me. Joue had a cute nose. It wasn't exactly a button nose but it was small and I could see it shift or scrunch when she was really emoting. She had soft dimples under the corners of her mouth whenever she was mixing a frown and a smile--almost like her smile was upside down. Joue wore blush a lot of the time, her cheeks were always rosy. She quite liked pink in that way and purple in most other ways. She wasn't wearing any make up, but her expressions rounded her cheeks and made them flushed anyways, she didn't need blush right now. She had sort of thin lips, but a pronounced cupid's bow and a naturally pink color to them. Kissing them was rather nice. "Why are you looking at me again?"

"Just am."

It was really like our roles had reversed. It was like Joue had become oblivious to just how much I admired her and I couldn't get enough of her. I was honestly and embarrassingly head over heels for this woman.

"Great answer Aizawa," she said, grabbing a hold of the bowls. She leaned in as she stood, placing pursed lips on my cheek. It was a simple and small peck, but the way Joue was deliberate was so nice. Her hesitancy to initiate romantic contact with me was dissipating more and more. I could smell her hair, sweet and clean. Joue stood upright and headed towards the kitchen. I watched her walk away, eyes falling and rising along the length of her figure.

"I'll see you later," I said, grabbing my things. She agreed and I let myself out of her apartment and into my own.

Today was as normal as things could be. Class was what it normally was, and I was now sat beside Mic for our meeting. Joue wasn't here yet and Mic was talking about his most recent patrol. Around once a month we had to go out and patrol, considering we were still pro heroes. A teachers, it wasn't our main job anymore, but we still had to patrol sometimes.

"I mean, am I getting old? I swear this shit didn't used to hurt my back," Hizashi whined. I just sipped my coffee. I was well acquainted with pain, it was my new normal. I had been in chronic pain since...as long as I could remember.

"Yes, you're old," I stated.

"You're a shithead," Mic replied, though I knew he didn't mean it. It felt like my pain was worse when I was away from Joue. When she was around, I could ignore it easier. It made my life easier. She did. I let out a breath before she came in, holding a notebook. She sat down across the table from me, not directly but adjacent. That was in an effort to appear more distant to the rest of the staff.

I wondered if it would be all that bad to just tell Mic and Nemuri. They wouldn't tell on us to administration or Nezu, so maybe we could just tell them. The tease of us being official to someone made me almost giddy, which was very unlike myself. It was just 2 people, but that opened much more time for Joue and myself to be amorous to each other. We wouldn't be hiding it. Midnight joined Joue across the table. My heart was steady but squeezed slightly.

The meeting seemed to drag on, for a ridiculous amount of time. I did not understand how Joue could just sit there so casually. Of course, I couldn't read her mind and her heart was covered. So maybe she was just freaking out too. It was like the seat of my chair was on fire, I just wanted to get out of here and be with Joue. I was slightly worried that I might be too obsessed with Joue, but I just wasn't used to this kind of passion in my life. Strong feelings like this were out of my wheelhouse.

So I was itching to just sit closer.

"So, I've got some new initiatives that I wanted to run by staff!" Nezu said, stacking his papers. "Firstly, the students need some kind of game day. The field trips went over spectacularly, and I think a fun tournament between students playing a regular game would be beneficial."

"How about kick ball?" Snipe suggested.

"Oh yes that would be good," Nezu said, placing his paws on the table and leaning over to look at Joue's notebook. She was sitting at the seat near the head of the table. She was actively writing things down and he seemed to be benefitting from the fact. "Following that point, students are not only required to do physical education testing, but are required to complete a dance and movement unit under the education law! The teacher that we previously had hired is unavailable and that's coming up in a week and a half. Any suggestions?"

"Joue can do it," Nemuri said, pointing at Joue. I looked to her, as did everyone else did. Her pen stopped and she glanced up, slight fear in her eyes.

"What?" she questioned.

"You do have the qualifications," Nezu mused. "I don't know why I didn't think of that before. It's just 2 weeks and you'll get overtime."

"Oh...I mean...yeah okay," she agreed.

"Perfect! We'll discuss the details," he stated. "The last initiative is offering different training sheets to students. Look at curating some routines that they can complete and we can put them in a small library for the gyms or put them up on the walls. That is it for today. Any questions?"

There were none, like usual. I picked up my hand out, Mic getting up and expecting me to follow him. He waited for me and I stopped to pretend fix my boot. I watched Nezu speak to Joue, who had waved Nemuri on to go without her.

"You sure are slow today," Mic said.

"You can go on without me," I stated. "I want to walk with Joue."

"Ah, alright loverboy. Put in some effort with your potential lady," he said, making his way out of the room. I watched him for a moment, shaking my head. If only he actually knew. Joue made her way out of the room, holding her notebook close to her chest. I went after her and when I placed my hand on her shoulder to stop her, she dropped all her papers and her notebook. It was vaguely reminiscent of when we first met, the amount of nerve and stress radiating from her as she sighed and squat down to pick up her things. It made my chest ache, thinking that I made her that nervous the first time we did meet.

"Hey, what's the matter?" I asked, squatting down to help.

"Wh--oh nothing! You just scared me. I'm fine," she said, taking a step back from me. Evidently, Joue was much better at following the guidelines I had put in place to protect our growing relationship, whereas I was not. It was redundant to say the least.

"You know, we can me amorous in public," I pointed out. "That doesn't mean we're together."

"You really want to be close to me that badly?" she joked.

"Yes, actually," I replied, entertained by the amusement in Joue's face. That, and the fact she was being more playful. It was good to see her comfortable. I seemed to fixate on that, but I just wanted her to feel good. "I have to say, I did miss you today."

"It was just a school day," she said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're more romantic than I am in this...relationship."

"What an honor," I replied, pulling her hand so she stepped closer. I glanced behind her, seeing as we were in a little doorway nook. The hall was empty and when my gaze returned to her, she was studying my scarf and chest. Joue smiled, looking up at me as I leaned down our short height difference. I brushed my nose against hers. I could practically feel her smile before catching her lips with my own. I took her hips in my hands, squeezing firmly. Joue placed her hands on my chest, confirming why she had been looking earlier. She kept one palm firmly over my heart and lightly tugged my scarf. My shoulders came foward with it and she initiated a second pass of our lips. Her eagerness and lack of hesitation once again made my nerves buzz. It was beginning to feel so real. She kissed me again, leaning her face in closer this time. I was about to pull her more flush against me, the warmth of her slight embarrassment evident against my palms on her hips. However, there was a deep but quiet 'oh'.

Joue immediately whipped around to look behind her, her ears read and lips slightly red. I glanced past her at All Might standing in the hall there. Joue nearly shoved me away.

"Ah...carry on, my mistake," he said, turning and moving down the hall with large strides. I turned to Joue, seeing her place her hands over her pink face.

"That was my bad," I said.

"Oh my god," she breathed.

"No more hallway kissing."

"You think?"

There was a moment of reflection between us, before we chased All Might down. Joue wrung out her hands and All Might stood awkwardly in front of us, towering over both of us.

"Ah, we were just, well, uhm," Joue's cheeks puffed out with air before she let it out, finding this particular interaction difficult.

"Joue and I are seeing each other," I interrupted. "But, it's against school rules and no one knows. Could you just keep it a secret?"

"Oh! Well...of course I can," All Might stated. "You two have always been a pair, ever since your arrival Joue. I would just...avoid PDA in common areas while trying to keep this a secret, my friends."

Joue covered her eyes with her hand.

"Congratulations. I'll keep my lips zipped tight," All Might said, giving us a thumbs up. While it seemed like he might be the guy to spill about us, All Might was probably the best person to keep our secret. He wasn't a blabber mouth. Thinking about it, Mic would be good to us about it, but he was a blabber mouth. That was why we weren't telling him yet.

Would we ever be able to?

All Might excused himself and I let out a sigh.

"He won't mention it. Seriously," I reassured.

"I know," Joue stated. I watched her smooth down her hair with her palms as a way to regain some control in the situation. I resisted the urge to smile, finding the entire situation almost funny. "I've got to go to my office, but I'll be back for dinner."

"I'll check on Uno and get something to eat," I suggested.

"Thanks," she replied, smiling. She seemed appreciative that I had remembered she had left Uno in her apartment instead of bringing her to the office.

"Don't be too long," I said and her smile grew into a grin.

"You're kind of cute when you miss me," she stated, cheeks rosy. She squeezed my arm and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Thank you?" I asked.

"Later," Joue departed, heading off towards the front office. I just wandered to her apartment, shoving my hands in my pockets. She did have a point, I seemed to be the one who was more obviously into the other.

I didn't really mind all that much.

~Caly