Our Mask [Shinso Hitoshi X Reader]

Chapter 21 - One Fate, Two Stories

"Y-you..WHAT?Aizawa has a soulmate?", you stared incredulously. Hitoshi's justifications for his theory wasn't something you cared about anymore. You were too shocked with that one major detail. Hitoshi looked slightly amused with your bewildered expression but it wasn't enough to diffuse how much his suspicions weighed on him.

"He does. It came up when we were talking about our soulmates and he indirectly told me she took her own life but I don't think he was lying to me. He's under the false impression that she's dead."

If you'd been any less shocked you would've caught onto the fact that Hitoshi admitted to talking about you to the older man but your mind was too preoccupied with the emotions overcoming you. Aizawa was such a good man and past his exterior crankiness, he was nothing but kind, yet he went almost a decade believing his soulmate left him behind. It was making your heart hurt for him.

"That's...oh god", you barely mustered out, the emotions becoming too heavy for you to speak easily. You didn't even know half the story--if this is how you felt, how much worse was it for Aizawa, who lived the entire thing?

"Yeah. I don't know what happened in regards to her dissapearance and supposed death but I want to ask her."

"You're gonna talk to her?", you said with skepticism coating your voice. The situation was so unexpected and heavy that you were still in a bit of shock. You weren't sure you were even done processing that Aizawa had a soulmate. Soulmate marks were so rare that it would be a miracle to find two sets in the same country--let alone the same school.

"I am. Are you not coming with me?", his tone implied he expected you to come along from the moment he decided to go. You stiffened and shook your head furiously.

"Nuh-uh. No way. It doesn't make sense for me to go. Aizawa runs the place and he's who she's asking for, you're the closest to him and trusted when he's gone, and then there's me. There's no reason for me to meet her, it would just be me being nosy in a situation way above my paygrade", you genuinely believed that this was something too important for you to involve yourself in. There was a guilt you had from just knowing about a part of Aizawa's life that he hadn't actually shared with you.

"I'm not asking you to come with me so you can be 'nosy'", the immature word sounded foreign rolling off his toungue, "I'm asking you to come so you can stay with me. You kept my head on straight earlier, you might have to do it again."

His voice showed a sincerity behind his words and that's when you realized--you weren't the only one apprehensive and guilty about this.

"When you put it like that...I guess I can do it. But why talk to her if you're not feeling great about it?", you didn't understand why he'd put himself through that. There was a bit of a tug of war in your mind about going and you guessed it was worse for him. His lips turned into a soft smile when you agreed to stay by his side.

"To be nosy."

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"You cannot convince me that all these hallways are necessary",it was far from the first time you complained to Hitoshi. You'd been walking about 15 minutes and you wondered how big the building must be if you weren't even near your destination yet. Hitoshi looked as fine as ever, his hands in his pockets and his head tilted the slightest to look at you while he spoke.

"This is common in hero agencies. If someone breaks in, it won't be easy for them to find an escape route, so in a way, it's necessary."

"That's awesome", you replied with no joy. Hitoshi chuckled and he stopped walking to turn to you, taking note of how much you were dragging your feet at this point. Then he remembered how much he pushed you in the morning--he'd been so anxious that he walked fast the entire distance and you spent a lot of energy to stay right behind him despite his speed and taller legs. His sudden stop and thinking confused you and you raised your eyebrow, parting your lips to speak but he beat you to it.