Genre: Fluff with a small dash of angst.
Plot: 1-A and 1-B hang out after the Joint Training exercise. The two residential edgelords soon learn they have similar taste in music.
Music
Shihai hated social situations. He'd always rather do anything else. He just never knew what to say around anyone. And yet here he was in Class 1-A's common room. The two classes were mingling and talking to each other. Shihai just sat off to the side, lazily scrolling on his phone. He took out his air pods and decided to listen to some music. He pulled up his playlist and hit shuffle, unsure of what he was going to get.
Soon, a haunting yet somber melody filled his ears mixed with the distant voice of a woman talking. He smiled to himself when he recognized the tune.
"Kuro Iro" by Jordan Paul Roussau.
Ah, Jordan Paul Rousseau. Thank you for writing this piece. You truly are the most underrated artist I've stumbled upon. Shihai thought to himself. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, getting lost in a world of his own.
"Whatcha humming?" a deep voice suddenly cut in.
Shihai's eyes snapped open and he pulled an air pod out. Had he really been humming? He probably was and didn't realize it. He stared up at the voice and saw it was his 1-A rival. Fumikage Tokoyami.
"Tch. What's it to you?" Shihai asked.
"Just sounds like an interesting song to me, is all," Fumikage responded.
Shihai felt his face grow a little warm. He secretly had a crush on Fumikage, but he didn't want the avian head to know. So he declared a rivalry just before their match instead. But now that the match had ended, perhaps it was time to set that rivalry aside. "Do you ... wanna listen?" he offered.
"Sure," Fumikage responded as he took a seat next to Shihai. The latter handed the former an air pod and rewound the song back to the beginning so Fumikage could hear the whole thing.
"This is quite good," Fumikage said, listening to the chilling, sorrowful notes. "What's it called?"
"'Kuro Iro' by Jordan Paul Rousseau," Shihai replied.
Fumikage chuckled a little. "You'd consider this your song, would you?"
"Not 'would'. I do," Shihai chuckled in response. "He is honestly a really good artist. He's written several creepy songs like this. He deserves more recognition."
"Agreed. This is really good. I'm gonna look into him later," Fumikage agreed.
After the song, the next one started playing.
"Popular Monster" by Falling in Reverse
Shihai started gently nodding his head to the beat. He'd been meaning to get all the lyrics memorized. He just had the chorus down.
He looked over at Fumikage, who had completely leaned against the wall with his eyes closed. He was perfectly lip syncing every lyric. His face seemed to be filled with a mix of emotions. All negative. Sadness, anger, and fear were mixed on his face as his beak movements matched the words.
He's really feeling the lyrics of this song. Shihai noted. Even more so than I usually do. Is ... he okay?
Shihai remembered the attack on the forest camp. He heard about how Fumikage had lost control of Dark Shadow and how he had nearly killed a few classmates. He also heard about how he took out Moonfish is a single blow after Bakugou and Todoroki - the top two Sorts Festival winners - were struggling against him. To hold something as powerful as Dark Shadow ... it must be hard.
Shihai wasn't sure what made him do it, but he reached out and gently patted his hand on Fumikage's shoulder out of sympathy.
Fumikage stopped lip syncing a moment and cracked an eye open to look at Shihai.
Shihai panicked and pulled his hand away. "S-Sorry! You just ... kinda looked like you needed that."
Fumikage sighed to himself. "Apologies for worrying you. I'm fine."
Shihai didn't believe it, but he knew better than to push it.
After "Popular Monster" ended, Spotify decided to leave the playlist and go straight to a recommended song.
"This in your playlist?" Fumikage asked when he heard the guitars come in.
"No, but it sounds good so far. Spotify does that sometimes," Shihai explained. "It's weird."
"Isn't this from that American horror movie? Freddy vs Jason?" Fumikage asked.
"I think so."
I am so alike you
In so many ways
The two boys immediately tensed up and felt their faces heat up at that first lyric.
I know I'm just a copy
That carries on the stain
The two boys looked at each other. The words Shihai had said when they first encountered were echoing in their heads.
"Tokoyami, you're ... like me."
But we make the same mistakes
Cause we are one in the same
But we leave behind the stain
That cannot separate
They're blushes grew hotter as they remembered what Shihai had said next.
"You and me ... we're connected by fate."
All that lies in me
All that dies in me
How can I live without you?
All that lies in me
All that dies in me
How can I live without you?
Shihai felt his heart pounding in his chest. This song was hitting pretty close to home with how he felt about Fumikage.
I am your mirror image
I'm all you left behind
You made me what I am
Then who the hell am I?
Dark Shadow was snickering in Fumikage's head. Sound familiar, doesn't it? The quirk asked.
You can it. You're not helping. Fumikage scoffed in response.
But we make the same mistakes
Cause we are one in the same
But we leave behind the stain
That cannot separate
I feel like that "mistake" bit means something ... like ... was declaring a rivalry between us a mistake? And he agreed to it ... so ... "we make the same mistakes" Shihai thought to himself. He was blushing furiously still.
All that lies in me
All that dies in me
How can I live without you?
All that lies in me
All that dies in me
How can I live without you?
Why yo no entiendo porque
I know that our lives are the same
Once again, their hearts skipped a beat at the sound of another lyric they related to.
Y mi vida
Is just a guessing game
A dirty stain
That I cannot play
But I follow your steps
In the same way that you just walked away
And pushed the way through
I! Will! Not! Live!
Do you think of me?
All the time... Shihai thought.
Do you dream of me?
Occasionally... Fumikage thought, thinking about his dreams from the previous nights. There were times Shihai had made an appearance.
I always dream about you
Do you think of me?
Do you dream of me?
I always dream about you
All that lies in me
All that dies in me
How can I live without you?
All that lies in me
All that dies in me
How can I live without you?
The song had ended. Both boys' eyes were wide and their hearts were pounding in their chests. Their cheeks were bright red. Nervously, they looked at each other. Dark Shadow was cracking up in Fumikage's head, which wasn't helping.
"I see you felt it, too," Fumikage finally said.
"F-Felt what?" Shihai stuttered.
"That ... feeling."
"I-I think I know what you're talking about ... surely that was all just a coincidence?" Shihai asked.
"I don't think so. As you said earlier today, we are connected by fate. Everything happens for a reason. I believe that song was trying to tell us something," Fumikage said.
"I know we were fated to clash, but ... is it possible we are more connected than I originally thought?" Shihai suggested.
"Possibly. Do you think we're ..." Fumikage swallowed nervously "made for each other?"
Shihai's heart skipped a beat and thought about the question, the match, and the song. Fate really was pushing them towards each other. "Yeah ... I believe so..."
"So ... do you want to give us a try?" Fumikage asked, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.
"Y- ... Yes," Shihai admitted, blushing.
Fumikage smiled and snuggles up to Shihai. The latter internally panicked and then wrapped an arm around the smaller boy. Something about the situation just seemed ... right.
Meanwhile, the 1-A and 1-B girls were chatting with each other and gossiping.
"Hey! Check that out!" Mina said excitedly, pointing to Shihai and Fumikage snuggling on the floor against the wall.
"Finally!" Kinoko said. "Kuroiro has been pining for Tokoyami for a while now!"
"Really?!" Toru said.
"Really!" Setsuna chimed in.
"Tokoyami seemed to have a thing for Kuroiro, too. He was just too oblivious to notice it himself!" Mina explained.
"At least they finally figured it out!" Pony said.
The girls agreed and secretly continued to watch the two boys cuddle each other.