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"Is this really necessary?“
Aizawa Shouta's usual, stoic expression showed definite signs of annoyance at the suggestion he had just been presented with. Much to the dismay to his closest and perhaps only friend in this world, Kayama Nemuri.
"Oh, come on, Shouta, a single night out won't kill you.“
" I'm not so sure.“
"Besides, don't you think I get to choose where I want to celebrate my birthday?“ A cunning grin spread over Nemuri's face as she shot him a mischevious wink.
"Tsk. Fair enough.“ He was not amused. Not amused at all.
"Geez, stop pouting, killjoy“, she teased Shouta, poking him in his side just below the arms that he had crossed in front of his chest, making him flinch ever so slightly. "Besides, there's a pretty famous DJ playing tonight“, Nemuri hummed.
Shouta groaned. There were two things in this world that he hated with a passion: large accumulations of people and loud music. In fact, anything obnoxiously loud made his skin crawl just by thinking about it. That was the reason Nemuri had kept so suspiciously quiet concerning the location of her party, just so he couldn't come up with any reasonable excuse in time.
"See you at nine, gramps“, Nemuri laughed, playfully punching him in the shoulder, "don't you dare showing up in your sweatpants.“
"There's nothing wrong with my sweatpants“, Shouta annoyedly murmured under his breath, gazing towards the floor but to his misfortune it was audible enough for Nemuri to pick it up. She shot him a menacing look before waving him goodbye. So that was another one of his plans of avoiding the inevitable out of the window.
–
Just a couple of minutes past 9, Shouta arrived at his destination. He hadn't made any attempt to even look halfway presentable but at least he had forgone his sweats for a pair of faded black jeans that didn't do his appearance any favours at all. They were perhaps one or two sizes too big to allow at least some comfort despite the rough, restrictive fabric. On top, he wore a soft henley shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His hair fell into his face like it always did and he hadn't even bothered to shave the stubble that had been coating his jawline for the past couple of days.
As he approached the group of people Nemuri had assembled, she gave him a quick all over. „I suppose that'll do but I'll slip the bouncer a fiver just in case“, she grinned, adjusting her glasses before signaling everyone to follow her.
To his disappointment and definitely thanks to Nemuri's relentless efforts the bouncer didn't even flinch when Shouta strutted past him, hands dug deeply into his pockets. He had already heard the music blasting from outside, just how bad would it be inside?
When they passed the last doors seperating them from the dancefloor, he came to a definite conclusion. This DJ must be deaf. There was no way anyone could actually enjoy music that loud. By the end of this night, his ears would most definitely be bleeding, if they weren't already. Shouta didn't bother to check.The flashy lights were the next thing he took down on the list of things he was annoyed by, followed by the otherwise pitch black surroundings and last but not least – that obnoxiously clad person dancing on stage behind his DJ booth, constantly fiddling with all kinds of sliders that didn't seem like they were actually doing anything. How did he even see anything through his yellow tinted glasses when Shouta already had a hard time making out the way towards the bar with nothing obscuring his vision.
"That's Present Mic!“, Nemuri practically screamed at him when she noticed his gaze lingering at the DJ, his long blond locks falling across his shoulders, only half-secured by a sloppy half-up. Shouta returned her remark with an unimpressed look at his own face which earned him an elbow to his side. Celebrities were another thing Shouta did not care about and this guy was most certainly not going to change that. In fact, he'd probably only reinforce his view. To make up for his disinterest, Shouta ordered drinks for the two of them. If he didn't at least try to make an effort to have a good time, he'd have to endure her nagging for the next month, at the very least. For the moment, he was just glad that Nemuri had invited many more of her friends which would leave him at least some room to breathe between feigning amusement.
Their drinks arrived swiftly, a gin tonic for himself and a Sex on the Beach for Nemuri, "Cheers“, Shouta shot her the tiniest of smiles when their glasses met, the sound inaudible, obscured by a force much louder. At this point, Nemuri was practically beaming and for some reason that almost made it worth it for Shouta. Though this wasn't far from torture regarding his own person, seeing his friend light up like that did improve the situation quite a bit. Nevertheless, after she gulped down her drink ruthlessly, Shouta was left on his own as Nemuri preferred to actually do what people did in night clubs. Dance.
No, there was no way Shouta would set as much as a foot on the dancefloor, that much was certain. Instead, he clutched his drink and sat down at the bar. His gaze wandered across the room, yearning for something that would hold his attention before the alcohol would numb his senses, drowning out his surroundings.
Much to his dismay, his attention was drawn to the flamboyant DJ on more than one occasion. He found himself watching his movements, perfectly in sync with the music he had chosen to play. He downed the rest of his gin tonic in one swift motion, ordering another the moment he was done with the first.
"GOOD EVENING, MY DEAR LISTENERS!“, the guy on stage – what was his name again? Right, Present Mic – boomed into the mic, making Shouta flinch. Was there anything that wasn't obnoxiously loud about this person? "I WAS TOLD WE'RE CELEBRATING A BIRTHDAY TONIGHT SO BE PREPARED TO PARTY LIKE YOU NEVER DID BEFORE!“
He spoke a mix of Japanese and accented English, forcing Shouta to actually pay attention to what he said in order to grasp everything. Not that he cared, obviously.
"GET RRRRREADY!!!“
Just when Shouta had assumed it couldn't get any louder in here, it did. He sighed, downing another full glass of gin tonic. This was going to be harder than he had assumed. Absentmindedly, Shouta's gaze lingered on the blond DJ once more. By now, he wasn't sure why but he was pretty certain it was similar to how people just couldn't stop staring when they witnessed a car crash – this was equally horrendous.
But then, out of the blue, his staring was noticed. Though it was hard to tell from his position, he was certain the DJ had retorted his look, the broad smile on his lips widening as he did so. Shouta turned his head towards the bar once more, ordering yet another drink. He downed this one just as quickly as the previous two. When he returned his attention to the dancefloor, he noticed the blonde dude shooting him another sneaky look from behind his white rimmed glasses. Shouta's lips twisted in a displeased manner, making the DJ throw back his head from the mic in laughter. Oh, so suddenly he cared about not bursting their eardrums with his voice?
Irritated, Shouta closed his eyes for a brief moment. He faintly noticed how a small headache started to manifest inside his head. He blamed that on Present Mic. When he opened his eyes again his vision seemed just a tiny bit blurry. Oh, finally. A fourth gin tonic was already on its way to Shouta and he already dreaded how much money he was spending here just to make the night more bearable. Seeing how he felt himself getting a tad more light headed, he resorted to only taking small sips of his drink for now. Not all of the alcohol he had consumed could possibly have reached his systems just yet and passing out already wouldn't do him any favours. Especially not now that this guy seemed to have made it his hobby to let his view wander over at Shouta, piercing him with his bright green eyes.
By his fifth drink it had become a game of cat and mouse, each of the two just barely resting their gazes on the other long enough for the other to notice and for some reason Shouta found himself with a hint of a smug grin on his lips. He blamed that on the gin tonics.
He hadn't even noticed Nemuri approaching and felt his body flinch against his will when she suddenly leaned against him roughly to earn his attention. Judging from her lack of stability, she must've already had a fair amount of cocktails too. She had a wide grin on her lips, fueled by not only by the many drinks she'd been consuming but also due to the fact that she had obviously noticed what was going on.
"Are you flirting?“, she practically screamed, giving him a suggestive look and nudging her head towards the stage.
In an instant, Shouta's face went back to indifference, though he furrowed his brow.
"Don't make me laugh“, he gave back in an equally loud manner.
"Then give me another reason as to why your eyes are glued to that pretty blond boy up there“, she shoved him playfully, earning a scowl from Shouta.
"I'm just … how can someone think wearing a pink tee with a yellow belt and shiny red pants is even close to being acceptable?“ he finally gave back in an annoyed matter, trying his hardest to come up with a halfway decent excuse for his staring.
"Since when do you care about fashion?“ Nemuri laughed, continuing to tease her best friend. Oh, she knew how to push Shouta's buttons. This was just too much fun.
In an attempt to get out of this conversation, Shouta averted his gaze, only for it to wander back where it absolutely shouldn't. Just when his eyes found their destination, he realized that the DJ had most likely witnessed the whole situation that had just played out. Just then, he winked at Shouta from behind his tinted glasses while subsequently turning away after the deed was done.
Much to his dismay, Shouta could feel his cheeks reddening by just the tiniest bit. That earned him another nudge by Nemuri, followed by her mussing his already disheveled looking hair. Great. Now he looked like he had actually just crawled out of bed. Not that he cared. Obviously.
–
Oh, he was having fun tonight, that much was sure. With a big grin on his lips, Yamada Hizashi – more commonly known as Present Mic – turned his attention back to the dancefloor after messing with the scruffy looking guy who had been glued not only to the bar but also to his presence ever since he had arrived at the club.
One hand on his headphones, one on the sound machine, he maneuvered the sound masterfully for the perfect fade inbetween songs. His body moved with the rhythm naturally, as if it were engraved in his DNA. He was a natural performer, here to impress, basking in the light of his growing fame.
How ironic how someone so inconspicuous as that dark haired stranger had managed to capture his attention so masterfully. Especially considering how many people he had to choose from. Hizashi could not deny that he was impressed. While perhaps the stranger wasn't attractive in a conventional sense there was something about him that the DJ could not keep his eyes off of. He licked his lips.
Just when the tunes faded out ever so slightly, transitioning, he waved over a waitress and turned off his mic for a moment as he crouched down next to his DJ booth to give her an order for himself and some... extra instructions. Next up on his playlist was a remix of Toxic by Britney Spears. He couldn't help but smile widely, moving his head to the beat but almost eagerly keeping his gaze directed in one certain direction.
--
Aizawa had just finished his last drink in solitude after Nemuri had left him once more when the bartender behind him tapped on his shoulder. He was about to shoot him a snarky remark but any words that were supposed to be said got stuck in his throat at the sight of a tall glass, the liquid inside a hurricane of pink and bright red.
"I didn't order that“, he gave back as indifferently as he could, given his condition and the slur that was part of his speech now.
"I know. 'comes with this“, the guy behind the counter said, subtley sliding a folded up piece of paper in Shouta's direction, who just raised his eyebrows and hesitated for an instance before letting the slip of paper slip between his fingers.
Enjoy x
below, someone had scribbled his phone number
Shouta rolled his eyes and glanced towards the stage once more just to see a very amused DJ subtley raising a glass with an equally crazy looking drink of his own in his direction, only that his appeared to be swirls of black and yellow instead. Both of them looked vile to Shouta. His cheeks flushed ever so slightly as he reached for the dangerously colourful drink.
He raised the glass by a miniscule amount before guiding it towards his lips. The liquid was deceivingly sweet, masking its enormous potency and filling his mouth with countless of flavours. Raspberry. Chocolate. Cotton candy... but then... a fiery sensation grazed his tongue, it was excitingly different. A hint of a smirk hushed over his lips when he sat the glass down on the counter.
As she walked over, Nemuri already prepared a speech to persuade Shouta to pick up his damn phone and save that number but to her surprise he already fumbled for it in the huge pockets of his jeans. With an almost proud look on her face she sat down on the stool next to him in an attempt to sneak a peek at the screen.
Shouta hesitated for an instance before actually opening up a new conversation to the number that mockingly stared at him from the bright yellow paper slip. His fingers were slow and uncoordinated. He had to retype the number multiple times until it matched up. He took another sip of the conspicuous drink. Perhaps that'd make it easier. It didn't.
S: "thx“
H: "my pleasure ;)“
5 minutes later, during another fade between songs, Hizashi's fingers shot for his phone once again, nimble fingers typing on the virtual keyboard.
H: "wanna grab coffee with me sometime?“
S: "what makes u think I'd get coffee /w you?“
H: "oh, I don't know, perhaps because you've been fawning over me all night long? ;) “
S: "shouldn't that be common 4 you?“
H: "so you're not denying it? ;>“
Shouta: (typing... )
H: "meet me tomorrow at 4pm. If you're not coming, it's your loss. :*“
Shouta: (typing... )
Shouta: (typing... )
Shouta: (typing... )
Shortly after sending the last text, the raven haired stranger was nowhere to be seen anymore. Hizashi raised his eyebrows in disappointment but focused on doing his job before he felt a promising buzz in his backpocket.
Shouta: "where exactly?“
–
A couple of years later.
–
Hizashi was lounging in front of the TV in their shared appartment, clad in his most comfortable pair of pink sweatpants and a black henley shirt that was ever so slightly big on him and looked pretty faded. He gently cradled Shouta's black shock of hair that rested in his lap while scrolling through his social media channels with his phone in his free hand.
"Remember when you almost poisoned me?“, Shouta sleepily murmured, turning over to face him.
"Huh?“, the blond responded a little absent-mindedly before putting down his phone and looking down at his boyfriend. "You can hardly blame that hangover on me alone“ he retorted with a grin spread all across his face, playfully raising his eyebrows.
Back then, he had been surprised that Shouta had actually managed to show up for their coffee date. Hizashi was still amazed how Shouta had managed to drag himself out of bed that next morning. The bags under his eyes had been bigger than ever before but for some he had still looked as handsome as ever. Even though he had resembled someone who had just rolled out of bed. This notion had been confirmed at a later point in time.
Shouta had almost overslept that day and though he did not mind his partner sharing his sleeping patterns with those of a feline anymore, he was beyond glad he had made it that day. A fond smile grazed Hizashi's lips.
Shouta grunted softly in response. Though the DJ had been everything he had despised when he initially laid his eyes upon him – loud, flashy, obnoxious – there was something about him he hadn't been able to dismiss so easily. Yamada Hizashi had shaken up his world in the most wonderful way since he had forced himself into it in a way that only he could've managed. He was the blinding sunshine that broke through his clouded mind. Shouta was the one who kept Hizashi grounded. Their polar opposites balanced themselves out to create the perfect equilibrium.
Hizashi bent down and placed a soft kiss on his partner's forehead before he dozed off again.
Back when they had met, Hizashi's DJ persona Present Mic was just starting to take off. Nowadays, he was filling bigger and bigger venues, not just in Japan but all around the globe. Wherever he went, his personal bodyguard followed him at his heels, keeping him safe and warming his bed at night. Their relationship was the best kept secret in his entire life and he wouldn't want it any other way, especially for Shouta's sake.