With a Strum of My Heart Strings

Want You Back

A/N: Song used in chapter: Want You Back by 5 Seconds of Summer

Shinsou was never this nervous before a gig. Usually, when he woke up the day of a show, he'd never feel any anxiety, no nerves. Those came only when he was getting on stage. So, why did he wake up with his stomach in knots and a sense of dread hanging over him?

He tried to shrug it off, tried to go throughout his day like he normally would. He woke up, got a cup a coffee, checked social media, made another cup of coffee, dressed, got ready for his day, had more coffee, and was off to band practice.

On days they had a show, Bakugou was always a little friendlier as he greeted his bandmates. He held back some of his remarks, sometimes he'd even say something almost out of character, though that didn't happen often. Jirou was normally quieter, more focused. She didn't talk as much and seemed more stressed. She always made them rehearse extra, even just for a few more minutes, to make sure they were prepared. Shinsou didn't really act much differently. Usually, as his friends had told him, he'd only ever act stressed on days of bigger shows.

And, even though today was just a small, normal gig, he was acting more like Jirou than he ever had before a show.

"Eyebags!" Bakugou growled, slamming down his drumsticks in his frustration. "Are you even listening to me?" Shinsou spun around, shaken from his thoughts. No, he hadn't heard a word the blond had said. He was too focused trying to calm his seemingly never-ending nerves.

"Sorry," he mumbled, picking at his nails. It wasn't like he was trying to ignore his bandmates. He was pretty sure that they'd noticed how oddly quiet he was already. He just couldn't contain his anxiety today. "I was distracted."

Katsuki huffed, glancing at Jirou, who just shrugged. They both knew she'd be not much help right now. She was doing exactly what Hitoshi was doing at the moment. "Then focus, dumbass!" He just nodded, not finding himself able to do much else.

"From the top, then?" Jirou asked, finally joining the conversation.

"Let's just move on!" Bakugou shouted. "We've been doing this same damn song for the past twenty minutes!" Shinsou would admit, he was probably just as annoyed and ready to move on as the blond was.

But, he zipped his lips as Jirou argued, "It stills needs more work, though. You can't even get your solo right--"

"Like hell, I can't!" Bakugou roared. Oh, God, no. The last thing they needed right now was to be arguing even more. Everyone seemed on edge for tonight. It was still was strange, especially because this was, for lack of better words, a very unimportant show. Midnight's was not a very high-quality place. This show was mainly just for some quick, easy money. It didn't even pay as well as a lot of other places they played at. So why did it feel even bigger than the show for that producer?

"You know it's true," Kyoka retorted, not even bothering to look at Bakugou. She sounded bored, like she didn't want to be having this fight right now but didn't make any effort to end it. She didn't sound angry. Just done with all of this. "You're just too hotheaded to accept it."

That set Bakugou off. His palms sparked, nearly catching the drumsticks next to him on fire. "The hell did you just say to me?" he yelled. Crap. They should stop. They needed to stop before things got out of hand.

Jirou went to talk, starting to say, "I said that you're--"

Shinsou decided to step in then, moving between the two as their faces both twisted in anger. "Okay, that's enough!" he yelled, loud enough so that they would be able to hear him over their bickering. Jirou quickly backed down, and with one last snarl, Katsuki did as well. Shinsou breathed out a sigh of relief, though there was still a thick, fragile tension in the room. "Uh," he stammered as he scratched his neck nervously, "How about we come back to this one if we have time." He looked between Jirou and Bakugou. They both reluctantly nodded.