"And taking the lead in the 1000m relay is ALL4ONE! Will this rookie group take gold in their first ISAC games!"
The crowd cheered, the fangirls and fanboys waving their fans in banners whilst chanting their idols' names, encouraging them to run a little faster and win a medal. The ISAC games was an athletics competition where different idols competed in different sports to try and win as many medals as possible. And the group with the most wins at the end received a trophy!
"BAKUGOU! SERO! KIRISHIMA! SHOTO! BAKUGOU! SERO! KIRISHIMA! SHOTO!" the fans of ALL4ONE screamed, standing up in their chairs and punching the air with their lightsticks in sync.
The commentators were hyping up the crowd, and some of the older groups were watching the rookie team to see how well they would do.
"And now we're on the final leg, where Kirishima of ALL4ONE is passing the baton to Shoto! And look at that speed, that elegance in the exchange, you can tell they have been working very hard to perform well in today's events!"
Shoto was standing at his starting point, cheering for Kirishima as the red-head ran up towards him. They were in the lead but only by a few meters, so he would have to push himself to widen that gap and secure their win. Originally it was Sero who was going to be doing the final lap, but they wanted to get a greater head-start earlier on, so Shoto switched places with him.
10 meters, 5 meters, go! Shoto turned around and began to run, feeling the red metal baton slip into his hand before he increased his speed and ran around the first corner. His bangs sometimes fell in his eyes but as long as he saw the white lines on the track he would be okay. He could hear Iida yelling very loudly from the stands, and Denki cheering from the middle of the track. Their fans were all screaming his name, making him sprint even faster around the final corner.
"And here we go, the final few meters! Ready.. ready... finish! Shoto breaks through the end ribbon, meaning ALL4ONE win the 1000m relay! Let's hear it for this rookie group!"
Slowing down to a jog before stopping and hunching over, placing his hands on his knees whilst taking in all the oxygen he could, Shoto could hear the announcements of 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. He stood up just in time for Denki to come crashing into him, and Shinsou joining the hug from behind. The others in the relay joined the sweaty, heavy hug before bowing to their fans as they were announced the winners.
It was a long time, Shoto thought, standing on the podium and waiting for their gold medals to be placed around their necks. But it was worth it seeing Bakugou's proud expression for his group and his members cheering with the crowd. When their was a replay of Shoto's final leg, the model offered the crowd a closed-eyed smile, holding his arms up and waving at them, receiving cheers in return.
They had a long break now before they were up for their next sport: wrestling. So, sitting in their spot in the centre of the stadium alongside the other idols, they decided on ordering some food. From time to time one of them got up to do an individual event such as long jump, high jump, weights. Shoto was up to do archery later so he could relax for now.
"Oh look, they have soba." Katsuki showed his phone to Shoto, who was resting his head on his shoulder.
"With green onions?" Shoto asked, peering at the phone screen through tired eyes.
"Yeah. Hey what do you guys- where the hell have those idiots gone now?!" Bakugou exclaimed, looking at the spot where the team were all sitting in front of him earlier. Looking around, he saw Shinsou was half-asleep next to Iida, taking photos with fans' phones when they were handed to him, but the trio of dumbasses were missing.
"Food first, friends later." Shoto mumbled drowsily, leaning further onto Bakugou.
"I swear to hell if they do anything fucking embarrassing I'll- half n' half? You there?"
Shoto was practically asleep on Katsuki's shoulder, face all prettily smooth and relaxed. With a mix of both a sigh and a groan, the leader ordered a mix of soba and fried chicken before putting his phone away and deciding to go and find the idiots. He had weight-lifting soon so needed one of them to look after Shoto.
"Dumbass, always too tired to do anything." complained Bakugou with no bite behind his words.
He got into a kneeling position before hauling Shoto over his body, holding him against his front like a koala. Thanking the countless hours of dance practice he had endured over the years, he stood up whilst maintaining his balance and began to search for his group members. This caught the attention of both idols and fans, who all cooed in their direction at how caring Bakugou was as the leader of ALL4ONE. If only they knew how much Shoto liked to fall asleep literally anywhere, always sleepy and forgetting his bag and phone and whatever else he needed.
He heard Shoto mumble something in his sleep before resting his forehead against Katsuki's neck, sighing with content. Bakugou only adjusted his hold tighter as he looked for his idiots. He found them watching some gymnastics, cheering for a girl group called HERO2. They were good friends he supposed, since they talked whenever they were at music shows or awards ceremonies. Right now it was Mina doing some routine with a hoopla hoop.
"Oi!" he shouted, typical Bakugou style, catching the attention of his members.
"Bakubro!" greeted Kirishima. "Oh, did Todobro fall asleep again?"
"Yeah, now you idiots watch him whilst I go beat some damn extras in the weights."
"Will do Bakubro!" Denki assured.
"Give him here."
Sero managed to untangle Shoto from Bakugou, sitting down with him curled up against his chest still sleeping peacefully. Their fans cooed and the blond only imagined the tweets he would see later. He left to go compete in the weights, telling Kiri to look out for their food.
The food came ten minutes later, and the red-head bounced over to the delivery man, excitedly signing his name before running over with bags of food. Denki said goodbye to Momo and the other girls in HERO2 before diving into one bag and shoving a whole chicken piece into his mouth.
"Dude, that's gross!" Sero exclaimed.
"It's good!"
The shouting and smell of the food woke Shoto up, and he rubbed at his eyes before sitting up and yawning. When he saw the cold soba his eyes lit up, and he immediately grabbed the styrofoam bowl and some chopsticks. But, he stopped suddenly when he was about to take a mouthful as his bangs were pulled back.
He turned around to see Sero holding an elastic band between his fingers, pausing when Shoto looked at him confused.
"I thought you'd be able to eat better this way. Your bangs are kinda long. Sorry, does it make you uncomfortable?"
"Um..." the younger male thought for a second, fingertips tracing around his birthmark with a small frown.
"Hey, man, it's not a big deal! It's part of who you are so own it!" Kirishima encouraged with a grin.
"Yeah Todobro, plus the fans love it, love you!"
"Oh... Okay then."
Sero smiled before gathering up some of Todoroki's bangs and pulling them back, the male himself eating his cold soba calmly and prettily. It seemed Shinsou could smell the food too, so he joined them and grabbed a serving of chicken, accepting some soba from Shoto whilst complimenting his style.
Shinsou had come and gone to compete in bowling, winning gold with his unexpected skill in the sport, and came back for more food when Bakugou returned. He had rolled his sleeves up to his shoulders, and his defined muscles were gleaming with sweat. He waved to the crowd whilst holding his gold medal with his teeth, before he slumped down and grabbed some chicken, dropping the medal carelessly around his neck.
"Congratulations you two, I think we have a good chance of winning if this continues." Shoto stated, the two members accepting the praise.
"Hell yeah we will, we've gotta show all these old timers just how good we are."
"Hm. But Shoto, when does your archery start?"
"Oh." Shoto looked around as if some sign would magically appear telling the time his sport would start. "I don't know."
"In five minutes, actually." Iida miraculously appeared from behind them; Shoto turned around, head resting atop Sero's shoulder, as he looked up in surprise.
"Five minutes." Shoto repeated. "Five minutes! I have to go."
He opened his mouth and Sero dropped a piece of chicken before he waved and ran off to where the archery would be held. He came back a minute later to put his medal around Denki's neck, saying something about not wanting to show off, before he disappeared again. ALL4ONE laughed in amusement before looking to the giant display screens for the archery competition to start.
Despite only having practised archery for around two months, and stating several times he wasn't trying to win but to have fun, Shoto gracefully scored his way to first place. Even when he accidentally let go of his string early due to an out of nowhere sneeze, he scored a bullseye. His shocked face, wide eyes and parted lips, made the other idols cheer and laugh. But their competitiveness took over their amusement when Shoto scored bullseye after bullseye.
Shoto felt a little lonely standing atop the podium by himself, so he was quick to express his thanks to his fans, team members and managers before rushing off back to his group. He liked napping and spending time with them outside of music work, and he cheered happily alongside them when they were announced the overall winners of ISAC.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
"So, Shoto, can you tell me what it's like on a day to day basis in ALL4ONE? What's it like managing your schedules and personal time?"
"Oh, um..."
It had been two years since ALL4ONE debuted, and just under two since Shoto joined the group. Due to their catchy songs and hard work, plus their message of creating positivity and community within their fanbase, the group had grown rapidly. From not only touring Japan but other Asian countries too, to breaking into the Western music market with their latest track.
They could all speak some English, but Shoto was the most advanced and was able to hold fluent conversations. So that meant in all of their recent interviews in the US he was the designated speaker for the group. And as much as he loved being able to speak to their international fans, it was also a pretty demanding task. He wasn't perfect, and his members knew that, so they always tried to make the interviews light-hearted, whether to give Shoto a little break or time to understand some of the questions he was asked.
"Watashitachi no mainichi no sukejuru wa dono yona monodesu ka?" Shoto translated, the members nodding to show they understood the question.
"Totemo isogachi!" Denki exclaimed with a grin, the members laughing in agreement.
"Watashitachiha odori, utai, soshite mosukoshi odorimasu." Sero added.
"Denki said our daily schedule is really busy. And Sero said that all we do is dance then sing and then dance some more. Practise takes up a lot of our time." Shoto translated, the interviewer nodding along.
"But you also interact with your fans right? It was Shinsou's birthday last week and you did a live talk with your fans ONE4ALL right?" asked the interviewer.
"Yeah. We do lives if we have spare time, or we want to chat and relax. It's fun sharing our special days with our fans so we can connect to them more, but show that we too are just normal people."
"Watashitachiha tokubetsuhan no ekisutoradesu!" Katsuki exclaimed, making Kirishima jokingly elbow him and Shoto to face-palm, but Bakugou only smirked and crossed his arms.
"He said, oh goodness, this is like an inside joke with the fans. He said we are 'special-edition extras'."
"I see I see. I have actually seen lots of memes and funny posts about Bakugou's use of the word 'extra'."
"Bakugou is special that way." Shoto stated with a grin; Bakugou, sensing Shoto was saying something cheeky, kicked the back of his chair unseen by the cameras.
"Bakagou!" Kirishima yelled, the group all laughing once more.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
"Let's run it again!"
With windows condensed from their laboured breaths, and undershirts sticking to their skin, the group got into their starting positions for their new song. They had gone for a more contemporary style dance with this release so their instructor wanted them to practise more than usual. Alongside hitting the gym and dieting, they were honestly super tired. But the excitement of once again making a comeback kept them going.
Shoto started in his position to the right, crouching down and placing his arms around Kirishima and Denki. The music kicked in and they were able to take it easy for the first 30 seconds, moving from different standing positions whilst they walked around during their parts. The chorus was where it picked up, and the rest of the song continued in the same technical style.
The ending began to play out whilst Shoto sang his lines, the other members performing the last moves.
"Fuyu no owari o tsugeru yasashii haru no hi made hana saku made i te hoshii sonomama sonomama."
He took his time walking towards Bakugou, kneeling down and wrapping an arm around his as the blond did the same to him. The music stopped and their heavy breaths echoed around the room. Shoto's head hurt, but his ribs hurt more as if they were piercing his lungs.
"Bakugou." he called out faintly.
"Yeah?" the blond replied through breaths.
"I think I... I'm gonna pass out."
"Wha- hey!"
Bakugou caught him, using both arms to hold him up against his front. The other members' shouts created a cacophony around the room as they ran over and gathered around their leader.
"He's shaking."
"And cold too."
"It's that stupid diet they put him on, ain't it?" Bakugou asked even though he knew the answer.
Shoto, being their main visual, had been given an extreme diet this past month: only one meal per day and drinking water the rest of the time. He was getting 800 calories if that. And with their packed schedules it was going to take its toll eventually.
"Go and get the doctor." Bakugou instructed Shinsou who left immediately, rushing past their dance instructor who was watching them with an intense gaze.
Bakugou picked him, immediately noticing how much lighter he was compared to ISAC a few months ago. He had a glare on his face but it was worsened when the instructor stopped them from leaving.
"Practise isn't over, lay him on the sofa until he wakes up and we'll carry on."
"What the hell, man?!" exclaimed Sero, anger taking over his easy-going personality. "Seriously?!"
"He's not well so we won't carry on practise!" Denki stated.
"Move." Bakugou demanded. "Now."
"No. Shoto is overreacting, he will be fine."
Taking a long, deep breath so he wouldn't, as Shinsou called it, flip his shit, he gave another glare at their instructor before taking the initiative and barging past.
"Fine, then I'll make sure you never instruct again."
"You can't do that!" the instructor yelled as Bakugou paced down the hallway.
"I can and I will."
Guilt filled Bakugou as he carried Shoto to their company's resident nurse. As a leader he should look out for each of his members, and to not see how hard Shoto was pushing himself made him feel a sense of failure. He promised himself that from now on he would keep a closer eye on his members and to check up on them individually more often.
Thankfully, the nurse told him that as long as Shoto ate more and rested for the next few days he would be okay. When he told her about their instructor's heartless words she agreed with getting him removed from their charge and said she would file an official report to help him.
Shoto woke up about fifteen minutes later, pretty out of it since he said his head was fuzzy. The rest of the group had gone back to the dorms so the two of them asked Iida to take them back too. The moment they returned Shoto went to bed, drowsily changing into a t-shirt and sweatpants before face-planting his bed and not getting up the rest of the day...
It was 2am when Shoto woke up, his arms immediately wrapping around his torso at the tension he felt there. Tense and empty, he was starving. Pushing himself up slowly so as to not get lightheaded, he left his room and walked through the apartment to the kitchen, deciding on making some packet ramen before going back to sleep. He hoped that from tomorrow he wouldn't have to diet anymore: he hated not being able to eat soba.
Making the ramen only took a few minutes, but in those few minutes both Shinsou and Bakugou woke up. Well, Shinsou was probably awake anyway, his trademark eyebags ever-present, but for Bakugou who kept to a strict sleep schedule it was surprising to see him slouch into the kitchen too.
"Sit down dumbass, I'll cook." the blond grumbled, Shinsou dropping Shoto onto the couch before he could get 5 words of complaint in.
Bakugou added some other ingredients to the ramen, things he hadn't eaten in weeks, and Shinsou made some tea. Moments later he was handed a bowl of hot ramen with chicken and eggs and all sorts of vegetables, the smell making his mouth water. Damn, he really was starving.
Shoto didn't waste time before digging in, saying thankyou before devouring the meal, feeling a lot better after being deprived of nutrients for so long. Humming in satisfaction every so often, his older group members watched to make sure he ate everything and didn't feel sick. Shinsou went through a whole pot of tea by himself whilst Bakugou had some coffee, both wanting to stay up and keep an eye on Shoto.
"I think I ate too fast." Shoto whined, holding his stomach as he leant back on the sofa. "But that was so good I have no regrets."
Shinsou chuckled before speaking: "Don't worry about today, we'll be getting a new instructor soon. You won't know since you fainted, but he insisted we would carry on the practice and that you were being dramatic."
"I didn't like him anyways." Shoto huffed.
"Why didn't you say anything, half n' half?"
"Say what?"
"I don't know. That you were sick!"
"I wasn't sick, just hungry."
Bakugou groaned and face-palmed, giving a half-hearted glare to Todoroki.
"Dumbass, you could have told us that the diet was too much. We all knew it was but it's not like there was much we could do about it. But I'm the leader, how do you think I feel when you collapse on me like that?!"
"... Sorry. I just didn't want to bother you. It's not like I'm the only one dieting, anyways."
"It's not the same Shoto." Shinsou insisted. "We still eat pretty much the same, just cut out dessert from time to time."
"Hm. Sorry."
"Stop apologising, it's not you're fault, idiot."
"Right."
"How about tomorrow we all go out for some soba? That shop down the road is pretty good, right?" suggested Shinsou.
Shoto's eyes lit up at the idea of eating soba after so long.
"Yes, let's go tomorrow!"
The night caught up to them so the trio went back to their rooms to sleep. The next day Bakugou's shouting could be heard all throughout the agency, yelling at their dietician at being better at their goddamn job. Shoto's group members constantly checked on him throughout the day, giving him snacks here and there that were full of protein and sugar. And that night they did go out for soba, enjoying the time to relax and de-stress from their work whilst enjoying good food. These were the moments Shoto enjoyed most, hanging out with his closest friends with a smile on his face.