With a Strum of My Heart Strings

Call Me Hitoshi

"It's still super cool that you're in a band! No wonder you guys were so good on stage!" Midoriya exclaimed. Shinsou had almost forgotten about that. He put his hand up to his neck but forced it back down. He didn't want to appear any more awkward than he already was.

"Thanks!" Kaminari beamed. Shouto sighed.

"Well, we'll let you two get back to your date. It looked like you were ready to leave, anyway." Denki immediately made a sound as if he had choked on the air, sputtering and trying to make an excuse, but eventually went quiet. Shinsou held back a giggle.

"You good there, Denki?" Midoriya asked, clearly amused at his friend's behavior.

"Oh, shut it, 'Deku'." Shinsou was confused as Midoriya let out a gasp, looking offended.

"Hey!" he said, laughing. Denki soon joined in. Shinsou sighed, trying to calm his nerves.

"It's not a--" He was cut short by the knowing look Todoroki had given him. They'd known each other for a long time, and Shouto could always tell when it came to Shinsou and these kinds of things. Was he really being that obvious?

"Oh, crap!" Kaminari had just looked at the time. "Shinsou, we've gotta go!" Shinsou nodded, grateful for an excuse to get out of there. "Thanks again for paying!" Denki called as the two waved goodbye, exiting.

Once they were outside in the cool afternoon air, they were silent. Shinsou wished it was more of a comfortable quiet, but it wasn't. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't. He didn't know what to say. So he didn't say anything.

He thought Kaminari would eventually break the awkward silence, but it seemed he was having trouble with his words as well. Shinsou let out a sigh, finally causing Denki to speak up.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I was kinda..." He paused, "...spaced out," he said more slowly as if that weren't the case at all. Though Shinsou already had guessed that.

"You're fine." Conversating all of a sudden felt a lot harder. Hitoshi wondered if it was any easier for the blond at this point. Denki twiddled his thumbs nervously, sucking in a short break before glancing at the man next to him.

"Actually, I had a question." He seemed to be reluctant to ask, the tone of his voice sounding hesitant.

"Hm?" Shinsou hummed, not wanting to look back at Kaminari in fear eye contact would make his friend shy away from asking. It already didn't sound like he was quite sure of himself. If he could, he would have given him a reassuring smile, urging him that it would be alright, but Hitoshi knew that it would surely end up looking more like his father's crazy, and somewhat creepy, grin he wore every so often. That would definitely scare him.

"I, uh..." Denki stopped. Stopped both talking and walking, freezing up for a moment. Shinsou turned back to him, slightly arching an eyebrow as if to ask why he was just stood there now. He saw Kaminari take a deep breath.

"Was this an actual... you know... date?" His voice grew quiet at the end, and Shinsou had to do a double-take on if he heard that correctly. Was it a date? He didn't know. Sure, he wanted it to be, but... did Denki? Would saying 'yes' ruin things? But what if he said 'no'? Would that make Kaminari upset? He knew he was overthinking this. It felt like a trick question.

Finally, he settled on saying, "Did you want it to be a date?" Shinsou would have been amused at the look of embarrassment and contemplation on the blond's face if he didn't feel the exact way that he looked. Kaminari blushed and sputtered, trying to find a response. Shinsou heard him mumble something that actually sounded like words after a moment, though it was inaudible.

"What was that?" Shinsou asked. Kaminari gulped before meeting his eyes, face still red, though Shinsou could feel his was as well.

"Um, yeah, if that's okay. If not that's totally fine, dude, so don't worry about it. It's just-- I just-- I don't know! I'm sorry, I made everything awkward, didn't I?" he rambled, covering his face in his hands. Shinsou didn't know what to say. He was shocked. Happy, yes, but still shocked nonetheless. Denki actually wanted to date him. That thought alone felt bizarre.