"Why the hell did you tell them that we were members of a boy band?" Tomura Shigaraki scowled the moment he entered the washitsu alongside the others.
At his question, Mr. Compress merely waved his hand dismissively as he, too, entered the japanese style room.
"How else can we book this Maid Cafe without raising suspicion? Look at all of us. Our choices of clothing and our overall aura is bordering on edgy and someone might assume that we are dangerous individuals. Take Dabi for example with his piercings and coloring...and let's not forget about Overhaul with his attitude and his mask. The manager might refuse our booking mainly because most of us look strange. Hence, the need for pretense." Mr. Compress pointed out.
Meanwhile, both Dabi and Overhaul glared at Mr. Compress for singling them out but otherwise did not say anything.
"I agree that we all need to act under disguise but to pretend to be members of a boy band? Really? That's asking too much of us, Mr. Compress," Twice gesticulated after he settled into his zaisu. "Most of us don't even know how to sing or dance."
"It's not like we are going to perform or anything while we are here. So you don't need to worry about that." Mr. Compress said.
"That's good to hear that we won't be singing or dancing any time soon," Chronostasis muttered, but all the members heard him well enough.
"I still don't understand why we have to go to great lengths just to see this girl at all," Overhaul remarked through his plague mask.
"Like Tomura said, the girl is someone important to All For One," Dabi explained as he sat comfortably on his zaisu. "In all the years that we worked under him, we never heard about this girl from All For One. And if Ryu hadn't let it slip to Shigaraki, we wouldn't have found out about her at all."
"Yes, if it wasn't for Ryu...we would have remained oblivious about her and her connection to All For One," Shigaraki said and would have said something more if not for the shoji doors sliding open to reveal the maids carrying the drinks and appetizers.
"Perhaps let's finish this discussion at a later time, shall we?" Tomura said hastily to the others while the maids entered the washitsu.
Like the rest of the League of Villains and the Shie Hassaikai, Tomura lounged lazily on his zaisu and waited for the girl to arrive.
.
.
.
"Are you nervous?" Yuka asked her.
"A little bit," Izuku admitted to her as they walked towards the washitsu where their patrons were.
Yuka was the one who helped Izuku with her make-up and now the older woman was there to present her to the patrons who were waiting for her in the japanese style room.
"I don't blame you," Yuka commented. "I will probably feel the same if a group this large asks me to perform alone. However, I believe the only way to combat your nervousness or stage fright is to focus on doing your best and I'm sure you will do just fine."
"Thank you, Yuka-san." Izuku said to her. "I will keep that in mind."
"And don't stop smiling when you are performing as well. Overall, just ensure that you are making a really good impression."
"I will do all that, Yuka-san. Thank you once again for your advice." Izuku replied as they finally came to a complete halt right in front of the shoji doors.
"You are very welcome." Yuka said with a smile. "Now, just wait here for a bit and I will call you inside the washitsu once you are ready to perform."
"Alright."
Then, Izuku watched as the older woman disappeared inside the washitsu where she listened to her talk to the patrons for a bit right before she heard Yuka signaled her to come inside.
"And now may I introduce you to the maid you all have requested. You may enter, Izuku-chan..."
Izuku's heart leaped towards her throat when she heard her name being called while her body thrummed with nervous energy. After she brushed her sweaty palms against her pleated skirt, she slid the shoji doors open and entered the room, where she was instantly greeted by the sight of odd-looking men seated on the tatami mats with their zaisu.
She half-listened to Yuka make introductions for her the moment she entered while Izuku allowed her eyes to wander over the patrons who were now looking at her in open curiosity and intrigue.
She instantly noted the guy with piercings who smirked at her when she met his gaze. Then, her attention drifted next to a guy with a plague mask who was regarding her with a cold look in his eyes. Afterward, Izuku's gaze turned towards the guy with shaggy bluish-white hair who looked at her from head to toe with an inscrutable expression on his face.
There were more of them but Izuku's observation came to a halt when Yuka suddenly nudged her side. That was when Izuku realized that the woman was done introducing her to their patrons.
After she realized this, she instantly dipped down for a curtsy and said to them, "How may I be of service to you, Masters?"
To her right, she heard Yuka bid her leave quietly. When she listened to shoji doors snapped shut close behind her, Izuku's anxiety went up a notch. Now, she was left alone to deal with the room full of people by herself.
As she looked up at the crowded room, she swiftly saw the smirks that appeared on the patron's faces at her words.
Meanwhile, she heard the guy with the piercings say, "Masters, huh? I like the sound of that..."
Even by just looking at their faces, Izuku instantly knew that they were trouble. She hoped that they would simply follow the rules of the cafe while she catered to them or they were going to be facing the wrath of her father if they made a move on her.
"So you are Izuku Midoriya," The guy with bluish-tinge white hair remarked while he subjected her under his scrutiny.
"Yes," was Izuku's demure response while she half-bowed.
"I hear that you have a lovely voice, Midoriya-san. Care to show us your talent?" The guy with the plague mask suddenly interjected almost in challenge and Izuku turned her attention towards him and briefly noted the untouched food and drinks at his table.
She silently wondered the reason why the man chose not to drink or eat yet.
Is it because he simply doesn't want to remove his plague mask? She thought to herself.
"Of course," She said to him as she met the man's golden eyes head-on. "Do you have any song request in particular?"
"How about a song you are familiar with? What's your favorite song?" a genial voice said from her right and she turned her head to see a handsome man wearing a vest and top hat.
She met the man's dark brown eyes and replied, "I don't really have a favorite song but I can sing a song that my father really likes a lot."
Her statement seemed to pique everyone's interest because she saw them straightening up and leaning forward to hear more while some of them were glancing at each other with a knowing look on their faces.
"Oh, what's the name of the song?" the man with black and white suit said while the white haired man with arrow-shaped strands asked, "What song is it?"
"All For One by Hidden Citizens," was her immediate answer.
At her response, some of them let out a laugh of incredulity while the rest appeared highly amused by her response.
"Typical," someone muttered and Izuku wondered what the person meant by that.
"Let's hear you sing then," said the man with the blue-tinged pale hair.
At the same time, the guy with the piercings drawled, "Well, why don't you sing the song to us, sweetheart."
Izuku was tempted to pin the man with a glare for the unwanted endearment. However, he was her patron so she couldn't say anything about it other than ignore him.
She hardly knew the guy and it grate on her nerves to be called something else other than her name. Plus the way most of them were staring at her and was starting to make her feel self-conscious. They all looked like they were assessing her for something.
Trying to visually dissect me more like...or trying to figure out what made me tick for some unknown reason, she mused.
"As you wish, Masters," Izuku said to them as she walked to the side where she picked up the Ipad and started typing the name of the song where it would play in the speakers attached to the ceiling.
Then, she pressed play onto the Ipad and listened carefully for the song to start.
After she placed the Ipad back in its cradle, Izuku moved towards the center and waited for her queue to start singing.
The feeling of so many eyes on her were starting to make her feel agitated that she was almost relieved when she heard the intro to the song.
Izuku closed her eyes and started singing.
At once, everyone in the room fell silent.
[Intro]
(All for one
All for one)
.
[Verse 1]
Take a breath
Open your eyes
.
She opened her eyes and smiled when she saw her audience rapt attention. Most of them were staring at her with a strange look on their faces as she sang.
Since the song was a slow song, Izuku didn't need to dance. Although she had to sway from side to side just to disguise her nervousness from her attentive audience.
She knew that she couldn't very well stay still and fidget on the spot while she sang. So it was better for her to sway or she would just lose her tempo if she didn't.
.
The world has broken
Down inside
.
[Verse 2]
Everything has changed
Dawn of a new day
Don't know where it goes
But this is what I know
.
The men were regarding her intently now as she continued to sing and Izuku's anxiety was still mounting up so it was by sheer impulse that she started to improvise with her performance.
She followed the flow of the music and started leaning forward close to her seated patrons as she sang.
.
[Chorus 1]
We rise together
(Ohhh Oh-oh)
She waved her hand in a rising motion towards the people seated to her left and then did the same thing to the opposite side on her next verse.
We fight forever
No rest till it's done-
All for one
.
Clenching her hand into fist, she twirled on the spot and instantly felt herself flush scarlet when she realized belatedly that they might have seen her bloomers beneath her short skirt when she twirled around. And she was right because Izuku heard someone make a choking sound when she did it.
Izuku tried her best to ignore their surprise reaction and continued singing.
With them seated within the japanese style room and her standing up, they were bound to see her bloomers mainly because the maid cafe's uniforms were tailored that way.
She was at a disadvantage here and so she sang loudly to rivet her audience's attention towards her singing instead of her short maid uniform.
There was no helping it. Izuku would have to keep up the act and pretend that this didn't bother her at all.
To hide her true state of mind, she did the exact opposite of what she wanted to do and just simply acted on instinct, almost defensively.
.
[Verse 3]
Every step leads
Towards the dream
A future where we
All are free
.
She waved her hands again towards her patrons once more and did something utterly impulsive and stupid.
She winked at one of them.
She winked at the man with the blue-tinged white hair. And to her complete embarrassment, she watched as the man gaped at her in obvious shock while some of them either snickered in hilarity or simply ogled at her in surprise.
Her face flooded with color and she nearly stopped singing, but she barreled on.
Wanting to finally finish her performance, she grit her teeth and smiled.
Then, she acted that everything was part of her performance, which included her previous twirling.
So she started twirling again and ignored the way most of them were staring at her now.
.
[Verse 4]
Sharing all the power
In the final hour
We're not giving up
They can't silence us
.
She raised a finger and wiggled it from side to side as she sang the latter verse.
Then, she began to sway and step closer to her audience as she sang the chorus once more.
[Chorus 2]
We rise together
(Ohhh Oh-oh)
We fight forever
No rest til it's done
She stepped close to the left table while she moved her hand in a rising motion. At the same time, she smiled at the man with grey eyes and arrow-shaped hair who was looking at her with an awed expression.
"She's cute," the man with the piercings said out loud and Izuku's face heated up again when she heard him.
However, she decided to turn her attention elsewhere and tried her best that she didn't hear his compliment.
.
We rise together
(Ohhh Oh-oh)
We fight forever
No rest til it's done:
All for one
[Outro]
(We rise
We fight
We rise
We fight)
.
Either it was due to her excitement to finish the song or it was because she got frazzled by the man's compliment earlier.
Either way, when Izuku stepped forward onto the right table for her final move, she missed the sight of someone's foot sweeping in front of her.
Since she has poor reflexes, she couldn't avoid the foot and she immediately tripped.
At once, Izuku Midoriya went sprawling onto the lap of the man with the plague mask just as she finished her song.
All for one