y/n didn't end up going to the party shinsou had invited her to nor did she reach out to shinsou in the months following their last interaction.

after believing she had messed up in their friendship, she decided distancing herself would be best.

she dedicated herself to her studies, in and out and in and out of the dance studio, overworking herself.

summer made its arrival, with y/n's solo looming overhead.

"y/n, we're going to the movies later, wanna come with?" mina offered as i sat in the living room, books and papers sprawled around my laptop.

"oh, uh, i have an essay due. then i'm going to the studio.. maybe next time?"

mina lingered in the doorway, lips pressed together, concern tainting her pretty features. "okay.. just make sure to take breaks and stay hydrated, okay?"

i nodded and blew a kiss off to her. she disappeared behind the door and i was left alone.

once i managed to submit my essay, i packed up to get to the studio.

over the course of the few months, i practically lived in the studio with things getting pretty bad in june.

studio 4 had been assigned to me as mistress kayama knew i would need a practicing space. the room never failed to remind me of shinsou, who i had spent some time with in there.

-

there were about three instances where i had run into him, not literally, but instead possible encounters which i had managed to outmaneuver.

a few weeks after the recital, i was making a coffee run for the gang as we were studying in the library. shinsou happened to be in the shop and before he saw me, i decided to go to another shop. fortunately, there wasn't any complaints about the lukewarm coffee once i had returned from the shop further from the library.

later in june, during my temporary camping at the dance studio, i was running back home during mina's classes to pick some stuff up. jogging up to the lobby, i hadn't noticed the boy sitting in the waiting room flicking through some book. i had shrugged my jacket off in the elevator and as it's doors closed, shinsou looked up and our eyes met. i holed myself up in the apartment that day.

the most recent encounter was only a few days ago during some excursion professor yamada decided to take our class to. for some reason, professor yamada likes to collaborate classes with professor aizawa (even though photography and dance history have very little to do with each other) and decided another project was due. this time around, our class was headed over to the photography rooms and i managed to slip out and have mina catch me up on the assignment.

-

with only a week left before my recital, i wanted to work and work on it.

the choreography was established but something felt off about the dance. there was something missing.

mistress kayama had watched the dance and agreed, something about finding the main component to bring it all together.

-

"maybe you just have to work with the stage crew? our dress rehearsal is coming up soon and you can talk to them about lighting, you know?" mina threw her pizza crust onto her paper plate and brushed her hands off.

"yeah, i've been thinking about that but even using the lights in the practice room it still doesn't feel right." i responded.

"who knows, maybe dedicating it to someone! sometimes when i don't know what to choreograph next, i think about either my family or my friends and it really helps." mina provided helpfully. just the mention of those she loved had her glowing.

"that's good advice mina, i'll see what i can do."

-

shinsou had been out at a grocery store, a ways off campus, buying groceries to restock his own fridge. the boy hummed quietly to himself, eyes mindlessly scanning the shelves for the bare essentials.

eyes slowly drooping by themselves, shinsou could barely keep them open despite the bright lights of the store blazing overhead.

too preoccupied with himself, he missed the small girl skittering past him. he bumped into her as she made her way behind him and her small basket went flying.

"oh, i'm so sorry! i should've been paying attention, wait, hitoshi?" the girl realized she knew shinsou. "wow, i haven't seen you in what? two, three months? i'd stay and catch up but i need to get back to y/n."

the mention of the name of the girl, who occupied much of shinsou's thoughts in the last few months, seemed to perk him up. the other girl, which shinsou recognized as mina, busied herself with picking up her items before shinsou crouched down to help.

"l/n, how.. how is she?" he asked, handing mina a can of peaches.

mina accepted it but waved her other hand in the air. "she's so dedicated to this solo, she's basically living in the studio and overworking herself. i'm not sure how she eats and manages to get to her classes but somehow she's doing it."

shinsou followed mina up from the floor, "is she taking care of herself?"

the pink haired girl blew a strand of hair out of her face before looking at shinsou, usually humor missing. "she's kind of worrying me, you know? i know she's a great dancer and she can do anything she puts her mind to but.. i'm just scared she'll push herself too far."

mina felt a weight lift off her chest as she was finally able to admit her fear to someone who wasn't her usual posse of boys.

groceries long forgotten by shinsou at this point, he walked with mina as she headed towards the cashier.

"right now, i'm trying my best to make sure she's okay but i can't force her to do anything, i'm not her mom. the boys and i are just hoping she has time to recover after this semester during our break."

shinsou nodded in agreement but thoughts were flurrying his mind. how could he help l/n?

"anyways, thanks hitoshi. i really needed to talk to someone, but i have to go now, bye!" mina scurried off to get her groceries to her friend who was somewhere exhausted, dehydrated and burnt out.

after shinsou had quickly picked up what he could, paid and made it back into his car, he pondered about what could be done with l/n.

his fingers itched to reach for his phone and type out a text but any he sent would be ignored. there was another way, however, to get his message across, 50/50 chance of success.

the line clicked in his ear then immediately went to voicemail. 

"l/n."

-

seeing the caller i.d show up on my phone screen wasn't out of character now a days, what was was the caller being shinsou.

we hadn't spoken in what felt like ages but here he was, calling me.

i watched the screen shine for a moment before the call dropped and my phone turned back off.

my music resumed but i felt sick. i stood in the practice room for a little bit, waiting for the feeling to pass, before deciding to shut off the music. as i did i noticed a little notification on my lock screen, a voicemail.

unlocking my phone, i saw that the voicemail belonged to none other than shinsou. i opted to ignore it for now and instead take a nap on the couch. it's cool leather in comparison to my skin made me feel sticky and i wanted nothing more but to go home and shower.

the lights clicked off due to the lack of movement and the peaceful quiet made it easy to fall asleep.

"y/n!" mina busts into the room, hitting the lights back on. "oh, there you are. here, i bought you some food and there's some water bottles in there. it's most just fruits but at least it's something, right?"

mina settled brown paper bags on the small coffee table in front of me. the gesture was kind and very mina-like but it was the fact that she had gone out while i was stubbornly stuck at the studio.

tears welled in my eyes and i rubbed at the with the palm of my hand before they ran down my cheeks.

"oh, no! i'm sorry, y/n. did i do something wrong? i-"

a small sob escaped me, startling mina even more.

"thank you so much, mina. i'm so sorry if i've been distant or if i was a burden." i wiped vigorously at the tears, hiccuping.

"not at all," mina spoke softly, "i just care y/n. friends take care of each other, right? so this is me taking care of you, no burden at all."

she crouched in front of me and i wrapped my arms around her, she quickly returned the hug. "i just want you to be okay, y/n. let's go home?"

i nodded into her shoulder before pulling away. her black t-shirt slightly stained with my tears.

-

it wasn't until later that night, after taking a long shower after mina's instructions and eating a good meal, that i decided to listen to the voicemail.

i was ready to go to bed but the little red notification was bothering me. if i listened to it now, i could just forget about it tomorrow.

i played the message. and if i thought about it too long, it would keep me up all night. so i decided to go to bed and leave it like that. but honestly, there was no way i could just forget about it.

-

for two days, i busied myself by catching up with my friends. i apologized sincerely and promised not to do anything stupid like that again.

there was an itch under my skin to get back to the studio but i suppressed it until our dress rehearsal.

it was embarrassing to admit that shinsou's voicemail had been on repeat the past few days. looping it, playing a certain part over and over again, it brought a sort of comfort hearing the boy's voice.

-

dress rehearsal was run through a few times, each time a few changes being made. mistress kayama stressed it to perfection as a lot of future opportunities would ride on this recital.

the first run, i was asked for what lighting i would be using. a certain color bounced around in my head.

the runs following those ones felt better than any other time i had practiced the dance.

after rehearsal, with only two days left until the recital, i decided to go to the studio just one more time.

"l/n," shinsou was standing in front of the studio, leaning against the wall, hands hidden in his pockets.

compared to all the times i've seen him before, this one was much different. it was such a breath of fresh air amidst the chaos of my life.

"shinsou."

"didn't you just have rehearsal? why are you at the studio?" his words didn't seem angry but i couldn't help but feel i was being scolded.

"i, um, i was only coming to.. grab some things from the studio." it wasn't a complete lie, i was going to collect any things i had left in my practice room as it wouldn't be assigned to me after the recital but i was also coming to practice.

it looked like shinsou was contemplating something before he pushed off the wall, "i'll wait out here, go get your things."

i hurried past him and into the building. i made quick work of looking for any out of place trinkets, making sure to dig through the couch's cushions to be very thorough. i managed to find a few crumpled bills, two pens i thought i had lost, and a fast food wrapper.

when i reemerged, i had a faint thought that shinsou left but i saw him sitting across the studio on a bench.

"ready?" he asked and i found it peculiar that he was doing something as small as making sure i was ready. i assured and nodded my head.

i watched his hand motion for me to join him as he tilted his head, i hurriedly made my way to his side.

like all the times we had spent time together, not much was said. i think it probably had something to do with my ghosting.

taking our silence as an opportunity to look at my surroundings, i noticed that we weren't on the usual route to my dorm building.

"shinsou," a little shock jolted up my arm as i brushed my hand across his own arm, "where are we going?"

he caught my fingers with his opposite hand and turned to face me. no words were spoken and i stared up at the boy as he loomed above me. with my hand in his, there was a tension between us.

i was too afraid to speak and somehow break the trance he seemed to be under. but, nothing needed to be said as shinsou spoke my name into the air before he closed the gap between us and kissed me.

it was.. it was..

ruthless

like it had been building, the dam holding back had broken and spilled. shinsou was gentle as much as he was merciless. his grip on my hand loosed and he cupped my face, pulling me impossibly closer. i took the opening to tread my hand through his hair.

"y/n," he whispered, voice hoarse from the kiss, but not even the kiss had as much of an effect as the fact that shinsou was using my first name.

in the moment, it was easy to forget that we were in the dark, in public.

"i have to get you home, come on."

although shinsou didn't say he was taking me to his place, my hazy brain wanted to interpret it that way. i allowed myself to be pulled towards the direction of the dorms, trying to recollect myself.

-

once outside my dorm, i realized i had no idea what shinsou meant by the kiss.

i pulled on his sleeve slightly, catching him before he turned to leave. "what does- what did the kiss mean?"

all of the seriousness shredded, shinsou smiled. "it means, you should text me and stop ignoring me."

his eyes shone and i watched him as he tucked his fingers under my chin, tilting my chin up. with our eyes aligned, he continued. "and take care of yourself, okay?"

i bobbed my head up and down, returning his smile. he guided my lips to his and after a parting kiss, he left.

i held myself up long enough until he was no longer in the hallway but as soon as the elevator doors closed, i felt my knees buckle below me. i slid against my door, hand on my chest as i tried to catch my breath.

~

a/n: annddd scene! okay, there's a lot i want to say but i'm not sure what to say so yeah! that's it,, i know it was a lot to build up to one, single kiss but i hope it was okay/worth the wait

omg n yeah! we got a shinsou pov!

thank u sm for reading (and waiting), take care and stay safe!! love yall sm <3 :))