Our Mask [Shinso Hitoshi X Reader]

Chapter 15 - Peace And Conflict

"Recovery Girl gives her patients a kiss."

Is that what he said?

His eyes bored into yours with a seriousness that you didn't know how to regard. Despite him sitting, he still had the height advantage, and he was looking down at you with a grip on your arm keeping you still. His pull had dragged you almost between his legs and his words repeated themselves in your mind for a few seconds. A kiss?

The reality of your situation had your confidence crumbling and your heart picked up its pace. You were frozen. Paralyzed. Was he asking for a kiss? Hitoshi finally broke the silence with satisfaction gleaming in his eyes at your reaction. A small smirk formed knowing he wasn't the only one who'd freaked out tonight at some point.

"On the cheek, of course. She never kisses anyone in the mouth", his tone held a playful tone that brought you back down from your internal stupor. You finally registered that the man was only teasing you, taking this joke up a notch to really bring a reaction out of you, and the sudden relief(that is what it was, right?) that crashed down at you had you too dazed to feel any embarrassment. You used that courage to give him a taste of your own medicine.

You softly walked out of his grasp and started organizing all the out-of-place materials into the first aid kit. In a mischevious fit, you faked dissapointment into your tone and shrugged,"Oh, I guess the cheek's fine, although I would've gone for a real kiss if that helped you heal better."

You wondered why the fake dissapointment sounded so real in your ears. Hitoshi's too, and it took him with violent shock. His eyes widened aggressively and he stared at you with disbelief. The grip he had on the counter under him turned his knuckles white.

Your words took his heart on a spin. You were willing to kiss him? A real kiss? 

Why was that driving such a reaction out of him?It wasn't until he noticed you snickering that it dawned on him; it was just a joke.

Of course.

Hitoshi forced himself to calm down. You wouldn't actually kiss someone just like that, would you? Whether that was a good thing or not at that moment, he didn't know. His mind grew fuzzy with the dissapointment he felt now and he was genuinely growing tired of not understanding what was going on inside him anymore. He considered himself a smart man, yet he couldn't understand his own mind, and it was frustrating beyond belief. He didn't realize how harsh his tone came out next.

"Don't joke around like that. It's innapropriate", he said sternly. Your playful demeanor changed immediately once you heard the way he spoke and a feeling of regret washed over you.

"A-ah, sorry", was all you managed. A silence fell over the two of you as you continued putting everything away. You were starting to grow uncomfortable at the weird atmosphere that was growing between you both after his dislike to your joke and the uneasiness started making you think a little defensively.

You only made the joke because he started it, so there wasn't really any reason for him to be mad at you, right? Hitoshi hadn't exactly said he was mad but the tone he took on you was new and you didn't like it. He didn't talk to you like that even when you actually gave him a reason to be mad. Your mind went to the week the two of you spent in bad terms. Even then, he'd been incredibly patient as long as he could be, but now he looked away from you with an angered expression in his face. Then you considered the fact that he had a rough day. You weren't a hero, but risking your life in a villain fight and dealing with the injuries later couldn't possibly be pleasant, right?

What you didn't understand is that Hitoshi was in no way mad at you. He never could be; who he was mad with was himself. All the emotions that were spiked in him from being with you, talking with you, or just thinking about you. He could never understand them. Yet, a voice somewhere in his mind did. He was just too much of a coward to listen to it.