it was the day of the recital. all my hard work would either shine here or would've been for absolutely nothing.

usually, i danced with other people and now, the lack of anyone else in my routine had me pacing up and down the dressing room.

i took some measured breaths and tried to shake off my nerves. i glanced quickly at my phone, it stared back at me hauntingly.

slightly embarrassed, i looked around the room before reaching for it and searched for my voicemails.

flicking through, i found one of my recently saved voicemails. i wouldn't admit it out loud but i would itch to play it at least once, especially with recent developments.

tapping on the screen of my phone and allowing it to start, i carried it in my hand and returned to my pacing.

"l/n," the voice crackled through, "i'm not sure if you'll get this but i hope you do get to listen before you hurt yourself. five days, you have five days before this recital. and i don't know what you're stressed about but i need you to know that you're an amazing dancer. everyone knows it, i know it. give yourself two days off, just two. don't go to the dance studio, don't listen to your music, don't even think about the recital. just two days. after that, overwork yourself all you want but don't break yourself just yet, y/n, now when you haven't shown these people what you have to offer. i don't know if there's scouts coming or if someone who's important to you but i need you to chill out. your friends are worried for you, don't scare them. be careful."

i took a deep breath.

'y/n,' he had said. of course shinsou had said sweeter things in the voicemail but it was the use of my first name that kept me coming back to it.

at my exhale, a stage manager popped in and let me know it was time to head off into the wings of the stage.

they followed me to said wings and whispered an encouraging 'good luck'. whispering a 'thank you' back, i quickly ran the dance through my head and made sure my shoes wouldn't slip on the floor.

i watched the dancers on stage. the stage was lit in fiery reds and oranges and the music was just as sharp as the dancers moves.

but when the song came to an end, they shuffled off stage and i was up next.

-

y/n had never priced herself on being a good dancer, she always knew there was always someone better above her. and whatever influenced her thinking was dead wrong.

maybe it was because she would never be able to witness herself dancing, never truly see how she moved.

she took to the stage and made dancing look like breathing. movements so fluid that you think for a moment, she herself is water.

but there's a strength that surpasses water, strong and bending like wind yet so graceful at the same time.

for she is beautiful, nothing compares to the way she carries herself on stage. alive and with a purpose, y/n doesn't let anyone see her like this even when up close and personal.

she lets down any walls she has but still she feels untouchable, ethereal in her costume and under the lighting.

but past the glamour she presented on stage, shinsou could see how much work was put into this. he was there, even if y/n didn't let him get too close.

from y/n's busy schedule to late nights in the studio, the dedication and fear of letting anyone down. the girl was hard on herself and he couldn't help but think back to their high school days. they've both improved for the better but shinsou couldn't help but to admire y/n, it was a shocking revelation for him too.

he'd be lying if he said the dancer hadn't charmed him, her passion was just so addicting. but most of all, he was relieved that someone knew what it was like to want to chase a dream so passionately that you can't help but end up losing yourself.

he had done it once too, after all. but he had found somebody, professor aizawa, to help him. and now, he wanted to be there for y/n.

though, it's hard to guess if shinsou would ever admit any of this, to anyone, but he'd be lying if he hadn't at least acknowledged it himself.

as he watched y/n dance, he couldn't help but smile. her song wasn't even over yet but he knew she was the best dancer tonight, hell, best dancer in all of Yuuei.

biased viewing or not, he watched y/n's every move until a finishing aerial and her music coming to an end.

he would've kept watching if it wasn't for the curtains that closed onstange, giving the dancer time to move on and make way for the next performer.

shinsou itched to get out his seat and find y/n but he settled on staying put and waited until after the show.

-

after the bowing of the whole recital cast was over, i scurried off backstage to grab my things.

i waved bye to my co-dancers and gave them my congratulations quickly before i was able to make it to the theatre again.

there was a crowd forming as people were starting to head back outside. i pushed through softly, apologizing to those behind me but couldn't be bothered to spare them a second glance.

it was only until i saw shinsou that i realized i was looking for him. he was glancing around and i couldn't help but hope he was looking for me too.

when our eyes met, he froze for a moment before putting on a lazy grin that got my heart beating.

"shinsou," i shamelessly ran up to him and he had to catch himself from falling back as i crashed into him.

he wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his head in my neck, hugging me back as tightly as i did him. we lingered like this for a moment before pulling away as a few people bumped past us.

"mina and the others are waiting outside for you." he said, looking me up and down.

"right," i couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed but i hoped it didn't show, "let's go join them?"

shinsou glanced around the room like he was securing the perimeter before dipping down to kiss me. he seemed to enjoy surprising me with things like that.

"you were pouting." he told me and laughed when i gasped. "i'm kidding. come on, let's go."

i agreed, shinsou interlaced our fingers and started leading me through the diminishing crowd of people.

"so you don't get lost," he assured but it was clearly just an excuse.

once outside, we looked for my friends and only managed to find them because of denki's electric screaming.

"y/n!" the blond yelled as we approached them, "you did so amazing."

denki drew out his syllables and deepened his voice when saying it and it made him sound weird but it was overall amusing.

"thanks, denki!"

the others were walking behind him, viewing his antics from afar, but they soon joined us and gave me my congratulations as well.

"are you going to take y/n from us today, hitoshi?" hanta joked.

"what? oh, no! i won't take her away today. sorry about last time though." it was surprising to see shinsou act so sheepishly when all hanta was doing was teasing him.

"doesn't look like you're letting her go anytime soon, though." eijiro added, giggling while pointing to our interlocked hands.

i had completely forgotten we were holding hands but even at eijiro pointing it out, shinsou didn't seem to be letting go anytime soon.

"stop being mean, you guys! let them be in peace, it's long overdue." mina batted the boys with her hands before coming over to embrace me.

"you did so great though, babes! all your hard work paid off. i'm so proud of you, y/n." mina turned back out of the hug to face the group, announcing. "let's go get dinner!"

"are you going to join us, hitoshi?" hanta asked.

"nah, not today. like you said, i stole y/n from you guys once already, i'll share today." he chuckled and got ready to dismiss himself. "anyways, i got to get going. i have a shift starting in a little bit."

we watched shinsou leave before turning to figure out what poor facility we were going to celebrate in.

~

a/n: not sure what to say for this a/n!! but i've defs gotten past all the drama and i think it will be smooth sailing from now on! (don't know if i can make promises though..) anyways, i think that's all i have to say so like always thank you guys sm for reading, take care n stay safe !! love you guys <3 :))

p.s - not sure if i ever thanked you guys for 1k+ reads so this is me saying a double thank u!! mwah!