Ochaco clutched the gift bag against her chest.
Then looked away shyly.
Her face was completely red.
"...Thank you, Aoyama."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
The apartment felt strangely quiet.
I could still feel my heart pounding in my chest.
Ochaco stood in front of me, avoiding my gaze.
Yet every few seconds, her eyes would drift back toward mine before darting away again.
It was honestly kind of adorable.
A small smile tugged at my lips.
"You know," I said softly, "you're really cute when you're embarrassed."
"W-What?!"
Her face somehow turned even redder.
I laughed.
My gaze drifted to her lips.
Ochaco noticed immediately.
Her breath caught.
Slowly, her eyes widened.
Neither of us looked away.
The nervousness was still there.
The uncertainty too.
But neither of us stepped back.
So I took a step forward instead.
Gently, I lifted a hand to her cheek.
Ochaco's shoulders tensed.
Then relaxed.
Her eyes slowly closed.
Preparing her lips to press against mine.
I dropped my gift bag, letting it fall softly onto the ground, and pulled her head closer.
"Mm," she let out a surprised hum.
Her eyelashes fluttered twice as I let my free arm touch the side of her waist.
I could taste the sweetness of her lips.
The way their soft skin parted against mine—shiver—the way they trembled as I turned my head.
I could hear her heart beating faster.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
I gulped.
I wanted to hear that sound speed up even more.
Caress...
I slipped my left hand behind her apron strap.
I tugged at its knot until it loosened.
Thump...
Thump...
She felt my fingertips ruffle and grab intimately against her shirt once the knot was undone.
Ochaco stood on her toes, trying not to squirm as the kiss started to get heated. She let me explore along her spine while she explored my lips in return.
Smooch.
Smooch.
Her expression hazed.
The hallway was filled with the sounds of lips smacking together.
Huff. Huff.
I wasn't unaffected by the building tension.
The longer I was locked together with Ochaco, the more pent up I became. To the point that I wasn't just content with rubbing against her clothes.
I wanted to feel her more intimately.
Our bodies turned.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself pinned to the wall.
With me pressing against her.
"Ochaco..."
She met my gaze—with an equally tempted look.
Huff. Huff.
I breathed heavily.
My eyes locked onto the front of her apron.
It hung loose over her chest, showing her shirt, now slightly transparent because of the humidity her burning body produced.
"What is it... Aoyama-kun?"
She stared at me, half cautious, half expectant.
She could feel the butterflies dancing in her stomach as she was pinned against the wall.
She felt this was the moment when we either crossed the line into something real, or I put an end to what she thought we were.
That scared her more than she knew.
That her one impulsive kiss could unravel or create any type of bond between us.
That was what would make what I planned to say next hit a thousand times deeper.
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
The shrill sound of a fire alarm suddenly echoed through the apartment.
Both of us froze.
"...Huh?" Ochaco blinked.
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
Her eyes widened.
The color drained from her face.
"My breakfast!"
She shoved me aside and bolted toward the kitchen.
"A-Ah! The pan! The pan!"
The smell of something burning hit me a second later.
A loud clang echoed from the kitchen.
"NOOOO!"
I could hear her panicked voice as smoke began drifting into the hallway.
...
..
.
Several minutes later, the apartment finally stopped smelling like burnt food.
Somehow, Ochaco had managed to salvage part of breakfast.
Not much of it.
But enough.
The two of us sat across from each other at the small table.
The earlier tension had faded into something softer.
Though every now and then, our eyes would meet before one of us quickly looked away.
Usually Ochaco.
"...Sorry."
I looked up from my plate.
"Hm?"
She poked at a piece of toast.
"For pushing you away earlier."
Her cheeks turned pink.
"I didn't mean to. The alarm just surprised me."
I couldn't help but smile.
"Ochaco, you nearly burned down your apartment."
"That isn't the point!"
"It kind of is."
She groaned and covered her face.
I laughed.
The comfortable silence returned for a few moments.
Then Ochaco slowly lowered her hands.
"...Aoyama?"
"Yeah?"
"What were you going to say?"
I paused.
Her eyes stayed fixed on me.
"You know."
"Oh."
I rubbed the back of my neck.
"I was kind of caught up in the moment."
Her face immediately grew red.
"But..." I continued. "If you really want to know, I'll tell you."
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
"I want to know."
For a second, I considered dodging the question.
I sighed.
"I was going to ask if I could go further."
The room went silent.
Ochaco froze.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
The meaning registered.
Her face turned bright red.
"O-Oh."
I waited.
She stared at her breakfast.
Then at me.
Then immediately looked away again.
"Were you... interested in doing that kind of stuff with me?"
I blinked.
Then smiled.
"Ochaco."
She peeked up.
"If I wasn't, that would be pretty disrespectful to the beautiful heroine sitting right in front of me."
Her eyes widened.
For a moment she simply stared.
Before she pointed accusingly.
"You're a smooth talker."
"I prefer charming."
"You definitely practice these lines."
"I really don't."
"You do."
"I don't."
"You absolutely do."
I laughed as she huffed.
Though the smile she was trying to hide ruined the effect.
After a few seconds, her expression softened.
"...You know."
"Hm?"
"If the fire alarm hadn't gone off..."
Her voice grew quieter.
"...you probably would've talked me into whatever you wanted."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so?"
Her face immediately exploded into crimson.
"D-Don't make me repeat it!"
I couldn't stop myself from laughing.
Ochaco buried her face in her hands again.
The rest of breakfast passed surprisingly peacefully after that.
Eventually she glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.
"Oh."
"What?"
"We still have about an hour and a half before class."
I looked over.
She was right.
Then Ochaco suddenly seemed to remember something.
Her eyes brightened.
"Aoyama."
"Yeah?"
"You want to see me try on the suit you bought me?"
I nearly choked.
"...Is that even a question?"
Her smile widened.
"I'll take that as a yes."
The moment the words left her mouth—
DING.
A familiar notification appeared in front of me.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[HIDDEN OBJECTIVE (Complete)]
Majorly Influence Ochaco Uraraka's Hero Persona
Status: Completed
Rewards:
• 3 MHA Skin Tokens (Low Tier)
• 10 Accessory Tokens
• +12 Affection (Ochaco Uraraka)
• 1 Mystery Cartridge
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
I stared at the screen.
Then at Ochaco.
Then back at the screen.
Somehow, I had a feeling the rewards weren't the most important thing I had gained this morning.
"Well?" Ochaco asked, standing from her chair.
"Are you coming or not?"
I grinned.
"Lead the way."