You woke at the late hour of six AM filled with dread. No, what you had seen last night wasn't a dream and no, you still weren't ready to talk to him about whatever 'announcement' he had for you. Unfortunately, you couldn't skip training two days in a row so you had no choice but to suck it up and deal with whatever he threw at you with a pleasant smile on your face. As if that wasn't enough, the ukulele on your bedside table reminded you that you were supposed to play at the coffee shop tonight. Hurray.
You decided your best option would be to get to training right away. Toshi wouldn't wake up for another two hours or so, but maybe if you got to training before he was awake he'd come down and see you'd already put in a day's work. That way you could cut your session short and spend less time with him that morning. Gran Torino and Sir Nighteye weren't going to be there to watch you that day so your plan just might've worked.
You hastily got up and got ready for the morning before heading down to the gym. The light streamed through the giant windows and heated up the entirety of the room, making it uncomfortably stuffy. You decided to push through anyways and hope Toshinori would turn the AC on whenever he woke up.
The first problem you encountered when trying to train on your own was deciding what you needed to do and in what order. Usually you'd just fight in the morning and the afternoons were reserved for workouts. Your performance was at the same time that your workouts usually were, so Toshi and everyone else had decided you could just do your workout and combat training at the same time.
You decided the best course of action would be to follow your normal routine: Stretches, weights, and then finish it off with some cardio. You began with the normal stretches you and Toshi would do together, feeling a little less self conscious that you weren't bending around in your leggings while he critiqued your form. Once you felt good and limber you made your way over to the weights. You only did the things you wouldn't need a spotter for in case something were to happen. You pushed yourself well beyond your normal reps and for once the burn felt good. Without Toshinori there to remind you of the looming threat you were about to face you felt powerful. You were able to run without taking any breaks at this point, lift well beyond what you initially could those few weeks ago, and exercise left you feeling less and less sore and miserable every day. Combat, on the other hand, was still an uphill climb.
By the time you'd finished your run and had sat down to drink some water and catch your breath, the air conditioner had kicked on, signaling that Toshinori was awake. You sighed and waited a few minutes before he made his entrance, stepping off the elevator and looking curiously at you.
"Mornin', (Y/N). You're up early. What's the special occasion?" He was in his grey joggers and black tank top that he always looked so excellent in when you were training. For a moment your heartbeat picked up in excitement at seeing him and you smiled, but you remembered why you were there so early in the first place and your face fell.
"Well, I need to practice my song for the open mic night tonight, so I thought if I got up earlier and started training earlier then we could end earlier and I'd have more time to practice." You lied smoothly.
"Well, that makes sense. Why didn't you wake me up? We could've trained together."
"Well... I didn't wanna wake you up. You were out late last night and you probably needed the rest after babysitting me the night before."
His face lit up as he remembered last night, "Oh! Speaking of, I wanted to tell you something but you went to bed early last night. I-"
"Uh... can it wait a little bit?" You interrupted him, heart sinking. You really didn't want to discuss this quite yet.
He looked taken aback, "Oh, yeah. Of course. It's nothing too important I suppose. Are you just that eager to fight?"
"Always!" You stood up and stretched. Hopefully he'd forget about what he wanted to tell you after he kicked your shit in during training.
Your combat practice went as well as it usually did, with you only landing a few hits and Toshinori teaching you different techniques you didn't understand at all. To be honest, you zoned out during most of it, unable to pay any attention to anything he taught you. You were to preoccupied thinking about him and her together... hugging... possibly kissing... other stuff. The green eyed monster reared its ugly head, putting you in a sour mood. Toshi definitely took notice.
"Somethin' on your mind?" He stopped your training, instead walking over to get both of your bottles of water. He tossed you yours a took a large drink of his own.
"No, nothin'. I'm fine. We should keep going." You mumbled, obviously lying.
Just ask him if he has a girlfriend! You lectured yourself internally. Or ask him about his announcement! Then everything will be all cleared up!
But you couldn't bring yourself to do it. You didn't want him to see the disappointment in your eyes if he was actually dating 'Audioma'. You just needed to let the jealousy take its course until you could get over him. Then you'd be able to talk to him about his girlfriend. You hoped that you'd get over him sooner rather than later.
He stared at you blankly, deciding whether or not to push farther. He'd never seen you like this before, so it was uncharted territory. He decided it'd be best to drop it.
"Well... alright. But you know you can talk to me if you ever need me. How about we call it a day on training?"
"That sounds good," You accepted eagerly. Your plan had worked. You could go hide in your room for the rest of the day and not interact with him now!
"I figured you might like that. Anyways, I really need to tell you what I was going to tell you last night."
Your heart sunk. There's not avoiding it now. At least you could run off and hide if you needed to after he confessed whatever it was that he had to say.
"I have this woman I want you to meet tonight," He began, "I invited her to come to open mic night so I could introduce the two of you." He was practically beaming, but you felt sick.
"Oh yeah? Who is she?" You tried to keep your voice even.
"She's a pro hero I work with often, Audioma. She's an up and comer but she's absolutely amazing. Her real name is Amane Ichika. I really think you'll like her."
"Oh, how did you two meet?"
"Saffron introduced us last year, it was for a publicity project and a charity event. We hit it off and have been fast friends since. I haven't had time to see her in a while so I'm excited for you to get to meet her."
"Oh... yeah. I'm excited to meet her too. I should really go practice, though. So I'll see you later!" You practically bolted out of the room and into the elevator without another word to him. In the elevator you bounced from foot to foot, anxious that not only had he pretty much confirmed that he had a girlfriend, but that he also wanted you to meet her. That same night. She was going to watch you perform.
You were absolutely fucking screwed.
You bolted into your bedroom and locked the door, instantly grabbing your ukulele to begin practice. It was about ten in the morning at that point and your friends were all going to meet you there at five, so you had about seven hours to practice, not including the time needed for eating and getting ready. Without wasting any time, you threw yourself into your practice, trying to ebb the increasing anxiety inside of you. You'd initially agreed to do this whole thing as a way to get Toshinoris undivided attention, but now that his girlfriend was coming, what was the point? You were branching waaaay out of your comfort zone for this and the 'payoff' was that you were going to meet his girlfriend. Yep. What a wonderful reward.
You practiced relentlessly for the hours leading up to your performance, only taking a break to grab small snacks to eat. You didn't see Toshi anywhere and he never came to your door, so it was hard to tell whether or not he had left or was still in the apartment. When you tiptoed out to the kitchen to get some fruit to eat the apartment was entirely silent, only the air conditioner making any noise.
You tried your best to eat the bowl of fruit you'd acquired, but your nervous stomach made everything unappetizing. At this point you were too nervous to even practice much more, and you only had an hour left. You decided it would be a good time to get ready before everyone got there.
You changed into something cute but casual, nothing too flashy or eye catching. Your hope was that the more uninteresting you looked the less people would pay attention to you. By the time you'd gotten completely ready, you still had a good chunk of time left before everyone would get there. You decided to practice the song two more times and then you set your instrument aside, switching to working on your anxiety.
Your entire body was practically shaking with nerves and you anxiously picked at the threads of your comforter. You tried doing various things to calm yourself down; breathing exercises, distracting yourself with videos on your phone, pacing around your room. It wasn't until you heard Toshinori exit off the elevator, followed by a group of other voices, that you opened up your door and exited.
Standing in your living room were all of your friends; Toshi, Saffron, Camilla, Gran Torino, Oscar, Tsukauchi, Sir Nighteye, and even Akemi. Saff was the first to run up and greet you, throwing her arms around you and squealing with excitement.
"You look so cute! I can't wait to see you play. I've been jacked about this all day! Are you ready?"
"Absolutely not," You mumbled in embarrassment. "Thank you all for coming though, I hope I can put on a good show for you."
"You're gonna be great, (Y/N)." Camilla gave you a hug once Saffron released you. "Glad to see you're doing well after we completely failed at keeping an eye on you. I hope you don't mind, but we brought Akemi along with us. He wouldn't stop texting us and asking about how you were."
Akemi smiled shyly, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I didn't realize you were a singer. That's super cool."
In all honesty, Akemi was the last person you'd expected to show up unannounced with Saffron and Camilla, but it didn't really make you nervous. He had a chill vibe that resonated throughout the room, it made you feel a little better. You smiled kindly at him.
"It's good to see you again! You have to let me buy you a cookie or something at the coffee shop if you're coming along. It's the least I can do since you practically saved me from getting kidnapped."
"Ah- It was nothing," He rubbed his arm, "I'm just glad to see you're okay."
"I think we both owe you, Akemi," Toshi chimed in, "I don't know what I'd do if (Y/N) got kidnapped. I'm glad you were there to help her."
"I'm just doing my job. I'm glad I can help. Seeing you sing will be repayment enough for helping you out." He added, running his hand through his black hair. You felt your face heat up in his words, and for a split second you were wondering if that counted as flirting or not. You didn't have any time to mull this over before Toshi changed the subject, telling you all to get a move on so you wouldn't be late. You ran back to your room to grab your ukulele, which you put in the small carrying case it came with, and met your friends in the elevator.
"You better be putting on a pretty good show," Oscar teased, pinching your arm, "I had to pass up going to waltzing class with my wife for this... not that I really wanted to go..."
You laughed at Oscar. "I'll do my best, no promises."
"You're gonna do great, hon," Saffron smiled and patted your arm reassuringly. You hoped she wouldn't notice how badly you were shaking.
"Something like this is good for training," Gran Torino observed, "It helps you act under pressure."
"I'm not sure that's true at all..." Sir Nighteye rolled his eyes. "I just hope you put as much practice into your training as you did for this performance."
You chuckled nervously, not willing to admit you'd only started practicing yesterday.
"Leave the poor girl alone," Camilla said, shooting a look at Gran Torino and Nighteye. "She's probably nervous enough, you don't need to talk 'training' on top of it. Lets just have fun!"
"Not as much fun as the other night, I hope," Toshinori teased. Camilla just rolled her eyes and gave him a solid punch to the arm.
Soon your entire group was out of the elevator and walking down the street towards the coffee shop. You walked with them in silence, only half listening to their idle chatter. Your mind was too distracted to participate much. The anxiety of not only having to perform in front of a small crowd of people, but also the fact that Toshi's girlfriend wasn't there yet made you anxious.
"Y'all right, kid?" Akemi nudged you for your attention.
"Oh, uh... yeah. Sorry. Just nervous" You admitted.
"Hey, don't be nervous. I know that's easier said than done but think of it this way; no one there is gonna judge you. Especially not us. And even if they do, you never have to see them again. Singing is a really hard thing to do in front of other people, so it was brave of you to even agree to do this." He gave you a reassuring half smile.
"I guess you're right..." You muttered.
"Just imagine everyone in their underwear... well maybe not the old men... but everyone else. Especially me, I look fantastic in my underwear."
You laughed heartily, "Really? How humble of you to admit."
"I have six packs upon six packs," He chuckled, "I'd put even All Might to shame."
"I bet you do," You played along, your anxieties momentarily forgotten. The two of you engaged in more lighthearted conversation until you made it to the coffee shop. The little high you'd been riding as you talked to Akemi was suddenly shot down as you saw who was standing in front of the door.
In her civilian clothes stood Audioma, somehow even more beautiful the closer you got to her. She lit up as soon as she saw your group and sauntered forward to meet you.
"Toshiiiii!" She squealed as she stretched up to give him a tight hug.
"Hey! Glad you could make it!" He smiled and returned the hug. You looked away, embarrassed. Akemi seemed to notice your discomfort and shot you a sympathetic look. As they released each other Saff cleared her throat.
"Gonna introduce us all or?" She seemed a little irritated, probably on your behalf.
"Oh, yeah. Audioma, this is Camilla, Akemi, Gran Torino, Mr. Gutman, and (Y/n). You already know Saff and Sir Night eye."
"Good to see you guys again! It's especially nice to meet you, (Y/N). Tosh has told me so much about you. I can't wait to hear you sing."
"It's nice to meet you too..." You muttered unconvincingly. You tried to shoot her a genuine smile, but it was obviously very forced.
"I bet you're so nervous," She said, patting your shoulder. "Don't worry. I bet you'll be great. How about we all head inside?"
"Sounds good," Toshi said, shooting you many glances. He was trying to gauge your initial reaction. Did you like her? Did she like you? Was his plan going to work?
The coffee shop was busier than it normally was, but not completely packed like you'd anticipated. There were still a few tables completely empty, which your large group pushed together in order to sit. You sat sandwiched between Akemi and Saffron, with Toshinori and Audioma sitting across from you. She looked around the coffee shop in wander, exclaiming about how chic it was.The rest of you sat in silence as she kept the conversation going, unsure of how to interact with her. Saffron was able to make idle conversation on everyone else's behalf, but the awkwardness at the table was palpable.
"How about I get you something to drink?" Akemi directed the question at you.
"That'd be great! I'll come with you," You said, eager to get away from the table.
"You're not going to get anything for us?" Saff whined.
"Camilla can get you something!" Akemi shouted back to her as the two of you walked up towards the coffee bar.
"What's your poison?" Akemi asked, looking over the menu. "I don't think they have any alcoholic drinks here, sorry to disappoint you."
You groaned and rolled your eyes, "I get drunk one time in my entire life and suddenly everyone has me pinned as a crazy alcoholic. What will it take for you to let that go?"
"Hmmm... I'll think of something later. Right not it's just cute to see how red your face gets when anyone mentions it."
Your face heated a bright red. Had he just called you cute? You shook your head and laughed. "I'll take a caramel frappe please," You told the barista as they came over to take your order.
"Will that be all?" They asked.
"I'll have a small coffee. Black please." Akemi piped up.
"Sure. That'll be 527 yen please."
You went to hand them your cash, but your hand was swatted away by Akemi, who handed the Barista his card before you could protest.
"Hey! I was gonna pay for that. I owe you, remember?"
"Ah, whatever. I'll count this as some repayment for the many jokes about your alcoholism to come."
"Will you ever let me pay you back?"
"Yeah, maybe someday. I'm gonna keep all these things you owe me and cash them in for something big one day."
"Alright, as long as it's not a ton a money or something."
"Nah, I'd never ask for money. I know you need it to buy drinks at the bar." He quickly snatched his drink from the barista, a mischievous smirk on his face before he rushed back to the table.
"Oh my god! Akemi!" You rolled your eyes and protested. You had to admit, as annoying as his alcoholism jokes were, he was growing on you. He was a sweet guy, handsome, with some badass tattoos on his arm. You really liked the shaved sides of his head as well. You momentarily imagined what Toshi would look like with a haircut like that, but you were broken out of your daydreams as you sat down and heard Audioma laugh at something Toshinori said.
You turned your attention away from them and joined in on the conversation Akemi and Saffron were have about your upcoming performance. The reminder that you'd be singing in only a few minutes put you back on edge, and you anxiously chewed on your straw. It was only a few minutes more before the lights in the shop dimmed, and someone walked up to the microphone and stool at the front of the room.
"Evenin', ladies and gents. Glad you could all make it to this week's open mic night. We have a smaller group than usual this week, but I did notice we have a couple of pro heroes joining us today, so make sure to give them all a warm welcome."
Audioma waved and All Might smiled as the people around the shop murmured with excitement.
"We have a few really talented performers today, so give it up for 'Maki' here to sing "She will be loved!' by Maroon 5."
The entire cafe clapped as she walked on stage. She seemed calm and casual, like she'd done this many times before. She tuned her guitar briefly before she began singing. There was quiet chatter as she sang, not too many people were paying much attention, but her singing made a nice background noise for the setting.
You bounced in your chair nervously, hoping that you'd go last. You didn't really know what the order was, but there was hopefully more people in front of you. Saff seemed to notice your nervous bouncing and placed her hand over yours.
"You're gonna do great, hon! Don't even stress! We'll all be cheering for you!" She smiled. You saw audioma lean across the table.
"I used to get so nervous performing too, but something that always helped me was remembering that at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if everyone else likes your performance. If you go out there and do a performance you're proud of then that is more than enough!" She tried to comfort you.
You tried to smile and nod, but her words were far from encouraging. Toshi leaned over to you to, backing her up. "You're gonna do great, (Y/N). I've heard you sing before. You're amazing. Don't psych yourself out! We're here to support you."
You thanked him, but his words weren't helpful either. Part of the problem was that they were there supporting you. Especially her. You'd have rather done your first on stage performance alone, in case you failed miserably. You knew you could either do a performance in front of your friends, or in front of a bunch of strangers. Tackling both at the same time was too much.
Too soon Makis set was over and she had left the stage to quiet applause.
"Alright, next up is (Y/n), here to sing a cover of 'La vie en Rose"
Your heart started pounding. Why did you have to go next? Why was your luck so terrible?
Everyone at your table gave you encouragement as you made your way up to the stage. The audience quietly applauded, mostly still paying attention to their own conversations.
You went up and sat on the stool with your ukulele, quickly tuning it and adjusting the mic. You took a deep breath and swallowed, looking out over the crowd. Some people were watching you, waiting to see what you had to offer, while the rest continued their conversation. As you looked over to your table you locked eyes with Saff, Akemi, and Camilla, all who gave you encouraging thumbs up. Gutman waved at you with a bright cheesy smile, and Tsukauchi smiled slightly. Audioma was still talking Toshi's ear off, but you could tell he wasn't paying attention, instead his eyes were locked on you, completely and utterly enthralled by the way you shined under the small spotlight. He gave you a big smile, and that was all the encouragement you needed to begin.
With a deep breath, you played the opening chords to the song before you parted your lips and began to sing.
"Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas
Je vois la vie en rose"
You started out perfectly, your pronunciation and projection on point. You were easily able to keep up with the ukulele. You slowly felt all of your anxieties melting away as you got lost in the first lines of the song. That is, until you took a breath.
In that instant you realized just how deathly silent it was, and as you looked out over the crowd you realized it was because everyone was staring at you in wonder, completely enthralled by your song. Some people sat their slack jawed as they listened to you, shocked that a voice like that could belong to a human and not a celestial being.
As soon as you saw everyone's eyes on you, you began to panic. This isn't what you'd wanted. You wanted them to ignore you. Your friends were the only ones you wanted to hear you sing. You started to panic, your blood coursing through your body so fast you thought you might faint. Your fingers stopped strumming the ukulele and you looked out at the crowd. You couldn't do this anymore. You had to get out, had to leave.
Without another word you bolted off the stool and out of the coffee shop, ukulele and all. You heard Toshinori call after you, but you ignored him.
As soon as the cold summer nights air hit your face you began full on sprinting back to Might towers, your refuge. You sprinted the entire way there, ignoring the tears that streamed down your face and the aching pain in your legs.
You zoomed onto the elevator without a single word to the doorman and as soon as you were back into your shared apartment you flew under the covers of your bed and began to sob.
Idiot idiot idiot. You chided yourself. Why had you thought that was a good idea? You didn't want the limelight. You weren't ready for that yet. You'd only done it to impress Toshi, you should've just given up. Now you'd made an idiot in front of the coffee shop and all of your friends, including Toshi's girlfriend.
You decided in that moment that you never wanted to do that again. You didn't want to sing in front of people anymore. You'd only sing when your quirk required it. That was all. The embarrassment was not worth it.
You wanted to smash your ukulele into the ground. To throw it away and never look at it again. This was a terrible idea from the start. Without Brien there you couldn't manage. She had always been your rock when singing. Without her, you couldn't manage.
As you lay there and cried, you heard the elevator door ping as a bunch of rushed footsteps exited. It was only a few moments before you heard a knock on your bedroom door.
"(Y/N)? Honey?" Saffron called, concern dripping out of her voice. "Are you in there? Are you okay?"
"I-I need to be alone." You sniffled meekly.
"We're worried about you, (Y/N)." Toshinori called through the door. "Please, let me come in."
"No... I need to be alone. I'm such an idiot," You called, wishing everyone would go away. You heard indiscernible mumbles a few minutes outside the door, and then you heard it open and close. Heavy footsteps made their way over to the bed, which creaked as Toshinori sat on it. He patted your back over the covers.
"(Y/N)... please come out from there. Tell me what's wrong. Why did you run out of there so fast?"
"I was embarrassed," You cried after a few moments hesitation.
"Embarrassed? Why?" He asked, trying to tug down the blankets covering your face. Revealing your tear streaked face hurt his heart, you looked absolutely devastated.
"Cuz everyone was looking at me. It was so quiet. I probably did something dumb up there."
"Dumb? No! Everyone was staring at you because your voice shocked them. It was unlike anything they'd ever heard. Even I was taken aback and I've heard you sing out in the middle of the ocean."
"You don't have to lie," You murmured as he wiped some of your tears with the blanket.
"I'm not lying to you. It really was amazing. We all agreed. When you bolted out of there everyone was upset that you couldn't finish your set."
"Really?" You asked.
"Really." He confirmed, smiling at you. His face held no traces of deceit, he really was telling the truth.
"I-I'm sorry..." You mumbled, suddenly ashamed, "You all came out to see me and took time out of your day and I bailed like a scared child."
"Hey, cut yourself some slack. You were nervous, wouldn't anyone be? No one is mad at you. In fact, they're all out there worried about you. Even Gran Torino. How about you put on a little performance? Just for us." He asked as he rubbed your arm.
You thought about that option for a minute. You'd already embarrassed yourself once, you didn't want to do it again. But they had come just to see you, you felt like you owed them.
Taking a deep breath for courage, you sat up and wiped your eyes. "I think I could do that..."
Toshi's face lit up. "Wonderful! I'll go tell them. You're gonna do great."
He pressed a warm kiss to your forehead before leaving and you nearly choked.
Why would he do that with his girlfriend in the other room??
Your face burned a bright red as you tried to clean yourself up and get the courage to go out there. You felt the ghost of his lips on your skin, lingering and reminding you that so far in the past two days he'd given you not one, but two forehead kisses while having a girlfriend. It was like whiplash, you went from floating on cloud nine from the physical affection he showed you to crashing down into jealousy at the thought of what he might be giving his girlfriend, Audioma.
Ignoring that, you gather your ukulele up and shuffled up to the door. You took another deep breath before exiting your bedroom and walking to where your friends were in the living room.
"Hey! She's out of her cave!" Cam teased, punching you in the arm as you walked past.
"Are you gonna be singing for us? I paid good money for these tickets!" Oscar smiled.
"You forgot your coffee in the shop," Akemi mentioned, "So I took the liberty of drinking the rest myself."
"She said she'd be willing to sing for us on the condition that you all stop being so rowdy," Toshi said, pulling a chair out from the kitchen and to the front of the room. He gestured for you to sit. You took your spot at the front of the room and nervously tapped your fingers against the fretboard. As you scanned the room you saw all of your friends casually leaning in their chairs, enjoying pleasant conversation with each other. Even Audioma was there, to your dismay, scooching closer to Toshinori as he sat down next to her.
"Well, take it from the top!" Gran Torino quipped, looking like it was way past his bed time.
"Don't rush the girl!" Saffron scolded him, earning a grumpy glare.
"Okay, okay! I'm gonna get on with it!" you mumbled, clearing your throat. You took a few deep breaths to calm yourself before looking out over your much smaller crowd. Their eyes were all trained on you, but you didn't feel as anxious as you had in the coffee shop. Without the pressure of a ton of people watching you felt much more comfortable. You were just sitting and having fun all together in a safe environment. You had nothing to fear in front of your friends.
You didn't waste any time tuning your instrument and as soon as everyone quieted down you began strumming the first few chords of the song. With a few deep breaths and an encouraging look from Toshi, you began your song.
"Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas
Je vois la vie en rose
Il me dit des mots d'amour
Des mots de tous les jours
Et ça me fait quelque chose
Il est entré dans mon cœur
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause
C'est lui pour moi, moi pour lui dans la vie
Il me l'a dit, l'a juré pour la vie
Et dès que je l'aperçois
Alors je sens en moi
Mon cœur qui bat"
It was a love song, one you'd heard years ago. It sang of a woman so in love with a man that everything he did made her fall more and more in love with him. You'd initially picked it because of your feelings for Toshinori, and even now that he had a girlfriend you still felt those same feelings. Everyone could tell you were putting your whole heart into this, and as you occasionally closed your eyes and got lost in the music you could feel your heart soar.
You knew you were irreversibly in love with him. There was no changing that. Even then, as you sang your feelings aloud in front of your friends, you couldn't stop looking at him.
Everyone sat entranced by your voice as it echoed around the room. You looked from face to face as you sang. Saffron was holding Camilla tightly, happy tears streaking down her face as she listened to the words. Even Sir Nighteye seemed to have softened a bit as you looked at him. Audioma's face was lit up in pure delight as she watched you, but Toshinori and Akemis eyes were both glued on you with a similar look of utter adoration.
"Hold me close and hold me fast,
This magic spell you cast
This is La Vie en Rose"
From the moment you'd met him he had completely and utterly entranced you. The way he talked to you, the way he looked at you, it was indescribable. It was like you were the only person on the planet that mattered. How could you not fall in love with him?
When you kiss me heaven sighs,
And though I close my eyes
I see la Vie en Rose
As Toshi listened to you sing his heart beat in doubletime. You were looking directly at him, those big gorgeous eyes giving him all of your attention. You blushed as he made eye contact, but made no move to look away. You were singing this to him, he knew. There was no other way for him to interpret those looks. He felt his face heat up as he listened to the words, getting lost in your melodic voice. Even though you weren't using your quirk he felt compelled to go to him, to take your rosey cheeks between his hands and feel what it'd be like to kiss you, something that he'd dreamt about doing so often since you'd met. But he couldn't. Audioma was right there, he needed to stay professional until she was gone.
When you press me to your heart,
I'm in a world apart,
A world where roses bloom,
And when you speak Angels sing from above
Everyday words seem to turn in to love songs
Each day since you'd met him was better than the last. It felt like your life was filled with a light that hadn't been there since you'd initially hid yourself away at the bottom of the ocean. Every time he touched you, kissed your forehead, comforted you, made you feel stronger and stronger about him. The feeling you got when he entered a room was unlike any you'd ever had before.
Toshinori wished he could confess to you, wished he could take you out on dates, show you the parts of the world you'd never gotten to see, to show you how much he loved you. He wanted to spend all of his time with you, to give you all he had and all of the things you'd missed out on since your initial descent into ocean life.
Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en Rose
As the final chord of your ukulele echoed throughout the room, leaving a calm silence behind, you looked from person to person to gauge their reaction. Camilla sat with her mouth agape, unsure of how to respond to what she'd just heard. Saffron wiped her tears and clapped, unashamed of how freely she cried. Everyone else began to clap along, singing your praises and raving about you. Toshi wanted to immediately go to you, scoop you up, and spin you around in a tight hug, but Audioma grabbed his attention, desperate to tell him something. Akemi was the first to stand up and walk over to you, absolutely enthralled by what he heard.
"Holy shit, (y/n). Saffron said you were a good singer but I didn't realize you were that good. You're an absolute angel."
You blushed in embarrassment and slid off the chair. "Oh, shut up. I am not."
"You definitely are. A beautiful face and a beautiful voice to match? You're definitely from heaven".
You smiled at the compliment, "if you say so..."
"In any case, I decided to trade in the stuff you owe me."
"So soon? I thought you were gonna stockpile them," you teased.
"Nah, this is more important. Go on a date with me!" He said, unafraid of anyone listening.
"Huh?" You were sure you hadn't heard him correctly. Why would he want a date with you?
"Let's go out! I'll take you to a nice dinner or something. It'll be fun! I promise. Would some alcohol sweeten the deal?"
"Oh my god, Akemi. Knock it off! Be serious." You lightly punched his arm.
"I am! If you go out with me I'll buy you all the wine you want, promise... as long as it's not too fancy. I only make a bouncers salary. It's not much."
"You really wanna go out with me?" You asked, unsure of how to answer. Sure, Akemi was very handsome and fun to be around, but you'd just met him. Plus, you were kind of pining after someone else at the moment.
Toshinori did technically have a girlfriend, though. So what would it hurt to go out on one date? There was no reason for you to wait around on him in the hopes he might love you some day.
"I'm serious as a heart attack," he confirmed.
You debated your options in your head. Akemi looked so hopeful, and he was so nice.There was no reason you shouldn't give him a chance.
Well... Toshi was the reason. But as you thought over your answer you heard him laugh heartily at something Audioma said, his arm slung around her shoulders.
"Alright, sure. I'll go. That sounds fun," you decided. "You should give me your number so we can make plans. I will warn you though, I've never been on a date."
"Really? Well I'm honored to be your first. It'll be fun, I know how to show a lady a good time".
The two of you laughed as you exchanged numbers, unaware that Toshi had been listening in that whole time.
He felt absolutely sick.