Work Text:
Tamaki has never liked crowds.
The presence of a large number of human beings in a definite space had a way of transforming his mind from organized to blank. If he had to say something to a companion or to an audience, more often than not, the words would die in his throat, and his frowning lips would tremble in a painful sensation called ‘awkwardness’. In the end, he wouldn’t be able to say anything correctly—or anything at all, for that matter. It was no secret that he avoided crowds as much as he could, however, today was an exception.
It was the day of the U.A. School Festival. Tamaki stood amidst the sea of people excited for the annual beauty pageant, feeling out of place but nevertheless, determined to support her, one of his dearest friends, Nejire. These days, with Mirio taking a break, his school days were spent mostly with Nejire alone. As they were in the same section, they saw each other in class and back in the dormitory, and being friends, they ate lunch and spent their breaks together. When Nejire submitted her entry for the beauty pageant, the preparation for the event took the majority of her free time. Along with their classmates, Tamaki was around during her practice sessions, witnessing her hard work and improvement. At times, hints of weariness marked her features, yet she never failed to wear a cheerful smile. As they walked side by side on the way back to the dormitory, she had a skip on her steps and chattered happily about anything and everything as usual. She remained energetic and bubbly, as though she wasn’t tired at all. It was one of the things he admired about her.
Beside him, Yuyu, Nejire’s best friend, observed the other girls vying for the crown with clenched fists. Class 1-B’s Kendo Itsuka was a strong competitor, having starred in a commercial with Pro Hero Uwabami. However, Nejire’s greatest rival would be Kenranzaki Bibimi, the girl who was aiming for her third win. Bibimi exuded flashiness in her performance, as everyone expected.
The crowd cheered when Nejire took the stage. The thought of standing in front of all these people and performing made Tamaki’s stomach churn. From afar, he gave her a thumbs-up, uncertain if any words of comfort would reach her but still managed to grit out, “Hado, people are just animals… Just think of them as mammals, and you’ll feel more relaxed.”
It turned out, Tamaki had nothing to worry about.
As the audience let out sounds of awe, Tamaki lifted his head and gazed at Nejire from below, entranced at the sight of her gliding in the air, creating an image of a rose with the use of her Quirk. All the while, she smiled and enjoyed the performance she spent weeks perfecting; effortlessly graceful and enchanting. To Tamaki, she looked like an innocent fairy, and he could almost imagine her butterfly wings sprouting from her back and fluttering as she moved.
She was beautiful.
The moment Nejire’s feet touched the ground, everyone clapped their hands and cheered louder than ever. After being crowned as the runner-up twice in the beauty pageant in the previous years, she shined brighter than anyone else this time.
Tamaki had no doubt that she would emerge as the winner later on, and with that thought, he smiled.
Tamaki would never forget the day he met Nejire.
It had been a sunny morning, but his mood couldn’t have been more opposite. Surrounded by fellow students admitted to Class 1-A, he wallowed in his gloomy thoughts, alone. Despite going through the application process and entrance exams with Mirio, the two of them were separated in the assignment of sections, a possibility which didn’t cross their minds when they began their journey to becoming heroes. Mirio laughed it off and said words of encouragement to Tamaki, but in truth, Tamaki thought Mirio gave him too much credit.
While his new classmates acquainted themselves, Tamaki sat quietly at the back. The seat next to his remained empty, and the view outside the window kept him company. Excited chatters of the possibilities the future would bring to the students who were part of the hero course filled the room. Unlike them, Tamaki dreaded his first day at U.A. High School, knowing that the nerves, the anxiety, and the memories of the time when he was a transferee in middle school would come back to him in full force. He sighed and buried his head on his desk, wondering how he was going to survive his stay in this school. Classes hadn’t begun yet, but he already wanted to go home.
The classroom door slid open, and a female voice chirped, “Good morning, everyone!”
A chorus of ‘good morning’ replied to the newcomer, but Tamaki paid them no mind. He shut his eyes and wondered if he had enough time for a nap to make up for the lack of sleep he experienced the night before; the mere thought of the awkwardness he was experiencing right now had been enough to keep him up for hours.
The sound of footsteps neared Tamaki and stopped in front of his desk. The newcomer patted his shoulder and said, “Hey, hey! Good morning! Are you okay? Are you feeling sick? I can accompany you to Recovery Girl if you’d like?”
Tamaki froze. There it was, the inescapable social interaction he had not been looking forward to. Slowly, he lifted his head and sat properly, rubbing his closed eyes with his fingers. “It’s nothing. I’m fine…”
“I see! That’s good to hear. What’s your name? I’m Hado Nejire, by the way!”
He blinked, his vision coming into focus and registering the curious eyes gazing at him. Every second passing led to the heat creeping up his cheeks to grow more intensely. The girl in front of him was clutching the handle of her school bag, her long hair neatly styled. Even from a considerable distance, Tamaki got a whiff of the jasmine-scented perfume she used.
She was pretty. Very pretty.
He swallowed and took a moment to compose himself, not wanting to embarrass himself. “My name is Amajiki Tamaki.”
“Nice to meet you!” Her face broke into an innocent smile, and Tamaki felt like he was going to faint. “So, Amajiki… What’s your Quirk called?”
“Uh, Manifest.”
“And? What does it mean?”
“I can… manifest…” he cringed at his choice of words but continued, “the physical features of food I’ve eaten.”
Tamaki didn’t know how to explain his Quirk properly without him coming off as an odd person. Some people thought he was a ‘freak’ for possessing such an ability. He half-assumed that she would find him strange, but instead, she leaned closer in excitement, her eyes sparkling with even more interest.
“Oh, oh! Show me!” she said.
Though caught off-guard, he managed to reply, “Uh, okay.”
Tamaki raised his hand from the desk, unable to remember what exactly he had for breakfast as he had been too nervous to pay attention earlier. He did note that it was some sort of vegetable soup and was proven correct when a thin leafy vine erupted from the hollow of his palm, the stem still connected to his skin.
Nejire picked up the end of the vine, inspecting in closely. “Whoa! That’s amazing!”
“You think so?”
“Yeah!” She shifted her gaze to him, her eyebrows furrowing at something that caught her attention. With a small gasp, she bent down to peer at his face, her dainty fingers hovering closer to his ear. “Say, Amajiki, have your ears always been like that?”
Tamaki’s cheeks flushed, and he covered his ear with his free hand self-consciously. “I—uh, y-yes…”
He expected her to laugh at the way he struggled for words, but to his surprise, the sincere smile on her lips never faltered.
“Hm, I see…” She paused, deep in thought, and her eyes widened before exclaiming, “That’s it! You remind me of an elf!”
Tamaki stared at her with a confused expression on his face. “An… elf…?”
Nejire nodded and draped the vine she was holding over his head like a crown. “Yes, yes! See? Right there, an elf!”
“Huh?”
“I like you, Amajiki! You’re very interesting!”
“What?” Tamaki felt his whole face heat up to the tips of his ears. “You can’t just say things like that!”
“I can’t?”
Determined to change the subject he averted his gaze and muttered, “What about you, Hado? What kind of Quirk do you have?”
He was curious. Tamaki would bet anything her Quirk was a flashy sort; she was someone who stood out.
Nejire’s feet bounced in excitement. “My Quirk is called Wave Motion. Here, let me show you!”
She outstretched her hand, and a thin strip of golden light spiraled from her palm. For a second, he squinted, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness coming from her hand, and admired the way the light danced once he was able to see it fully.
“It’s a beautiful Quirk,” he found himself commenting.
“Ah, thank you…”
The peal of her laughter lifted his spirits, and at that moment, he was certain Nejire was another one of those who shined like the sun. As she occupied the seat next to his, for the first time that day, Tamaki smiled.
A crowd had formed around the newly crowned beauty queen as she stood in the hallway. Once Nejire had placed the crown, sash, and bouquet she received from the pageant inside her locker, she turned to thank her friends and acquaintances, all of them celebrating her victory.
Tamaki leaned against the wall by the staircase, content with staying on the sidelines, intimidated by the number of people surrounding Nejire. He would wait for them to finish and approach her after. From the looks of it, it would take a while, but he didn’t mind waiting.
Yuyu, who was standing next to him, said, “Make sure she enjoys the rest of the day, okay?”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
Instead of answering, Yuyu merely smiled and spun around. She navigated through the crowd to get to Nejire, tearing up once again as she congratulated her best friend. Nejire laughed, patted her friend's shoulder, and said something before whispering a question in her ear. Once she has received a reply, Nejire craned her neck, her face lighting up as she faced Tamaki’s direction.
Saying their goodbyes, Nejire excused herself and walked his way. “There you are, Amajiki!”
“Hado…”
“Well?” she asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Tamaki cleared his throat and said, “Congratulations, Hado. You were great out there.”
“I can’t believe I managed to do it!” She twirled in excitement, still over the moon at her victory.
“Of course, you did. You worked hard and practiced a lot, after all.”
“Thank you for coming to support me!” Nejire gestured to the staircase, giving him an expectant look. “Let’s go!”
“Go? Where?”
“To the festival, silly! Mirio, you, and I have always gone to the festival together since we were first years. It’s practically tradition at this point, right?”
“Yes, but Mirio is with Midoriya and Eri right now…”
“I know. I got to talk to them before they left. Did you see Eri’s smile? She’s so cute! Togata looks like he’s having a lot of fun with them, too. Anyway, it’s going to be just you and me this year, so let’s go on a date!”
“A d-d-date?!”
“That’s right!”
“Amajiki! Hado! Wanna go to the festival with us?” a classmate of theirs called from the distance, gathering other 3-A students who would like to explore the school festival together with the class.
Nejire shook her head and gave their classmates a wave. Yuyu whispered something to their classmate’s ear to which their classmate replied with a nod of understanding, waving back at Tamaki and Nejire’s direction and leading everyone inside their classroom to wait for the others.
“Come on, come on! I’m so excited!” Nejire exclaimed, patting his back repeatedly to urge him to start walking down the staircase.
Tamaki let out a shaky breath, following Nejire’s lead. The two of them had hung out many times before and had been alone together often, but they had never gone out somewhere explicitly as a date. A hint of pink dusted his cheeks at the prospect alone, the reality that he was going to be on a date for the first time—and with Nejire, at that—slowly sinking in.
Once they reached the school grounds, Nejire began to stroll from stall to stall excitedly, curious about the goods each of them was selling or which activity they were holding. Tamaki lagged behind, and Nejire would turn her head to check on him from time to time, asking him a question only to find him farther away each time. She sighed and pouted, shooting him a playful glare.
“You’re walking at a turtle’s pace, Amajiki! We’ll lose each other in the crowd at this rate.” Nejire reached out a hand to him, and swiftly—before he could figure out her intentions—her slim fingers intertwined with his. “There! Oh, by the way, have you heard? Apparently, some kids are selling beverages with Cementoss as the juice box! I wonder which stall is selling them…”
As Nejire rambled on, Tamaki’s eyes went wide, and his whole body grew stiff. His companion failed to notice—or perhaps, she was too used to the attention that she failed to notice—but everyone was looking their way. One by one, their whispers reached Tamaki’s ears, making his whole body tremble.
“Isn’t that Hado Nejire? The girl in The Big Three?”
“Yeah, that’s her. She won the beauty contest a while ago.”
“Look! She’s holding that guy’s hand.”
“That’s not just any other guy—that’s Amajiki Tamaki!”
“The guy who’s also in The Big Three? The one who can make tentacles?”
“Oh my gosh, you’re right! Do you think they’re dating?”
“Hey, hey! Are you okay? Are you feeling sick?” Nejire waved her free hand over his pained facial expression, worried.
“I’m… fine…”
“You don’t look fine to me, though,” she mused, peering closer to have a better look at him. “Ah, I know what this is!”
Without warning, Nejire dragged him away from the festival to the school garden. She chose the most secluded bench and pushed him on the shoulders, urging him to sit. “Wait here.”
Before Tamaki could protest, she had already turned and ran back to the direction of the festival. Although he was certain she wouldn’t ditch him, the fact that he was being a terrible date made him think twice. When a quarter of an hour passed, his shoulders threatened to slump in disappointment, and he asked himself repeatedly why she could be taking her time, assuring himself she got distracted or lost. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened.
Soon, he spotted Nejire sprinting back to him. Her lustrous hair bounced, and her face was coated by a thin sheen of sweat from the heat and physical exertion as she waved at him with a smile. “Amajiki! I’m here!”
Tamaki breathed a sigh and waved back.
Once she reached him, her breaths came out in light pants, and she handed him a paper bag. “I’m sorry I took so long. I passed by Uraraka and Tsu and chatted with them for a bit. Here you go!”
“It’s alright. What’s this for?” Tamaki asked, checking its contents: two packages of crepe and a pair of milkshakes.
“You’re stiff when you’re nervous, and you’re grumpy when you’re hungry. As of now, you are both of those things,” she stated and sat beside him, taking her share from the paper bag. “I was looking for a takoyaki stall, but I couldn’t find one. I saw this, and it's one of my favorite comfort foods, you know? So, I thought it would be nice if we could eat this together.”
“Hado… Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, eat, Amajiki!”
As Tamaki unwrapped his food, the warmth he felt from Nejire’s actions slowed his movements. It didn’t surprise him how she knew him so well; they had been friends for a couple of years, after all, and yet the way she showed how she cared caught him off-guard. A pleasant feeling welled up in his chest as he listened to Nejire ramble about the stalls she passed by when she purchased their food. Tamaki used to be more comfortable eating in silence, but being surrounded by outgoing people, this had become the norm for him.
Once they were both finished eating, Nejire turned to him and asked, her voice soft and concerned, “Are you feeling better?”
Tamaki nodded. “Yeah.”
“Are you ready to go back?”
“Okay.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“You’re really sure?”
“I’m really sure, Hado.” Tamaki stood, certain that their time together had helped him loosen up, ready as he’ll ever be for the crowd once more. “Let’s go.”
Nejire blinked at him, wondering what spurred this on and judging if he was well enough to go. Tamaki met her gaze and smiled. The sight of her reminded him of the performance she mesmerized everyone with earlier. At that moment, she wore no crown nor sash. She was the girl who had her curiosity piqued by anything and everything. She was the classmate who told him he reminded her of an elf when they first met and, until now, asked him endless questions. She was a great friend who showed him nothing but kindness.
She was Nejire, the girl he harbored feelings for.
Casually, Tamaki offered Nejire a hand and waited. A faint smile curved upon her lips, and she accepted and stood, both of them deliberately intertwining their fingers together.
As they returned to the festival and walked at a leisurely pace, the rest of the world was drowned out by the drumming of his heartbeat and the sound of Nejire’s voice as they talked. He pointed to a large booth a distance away. “Let’s check out that stall.”
“Oh, it’s one of those where you have to shoot a prize in order to win it,” Nejire replied, leading the way. “I didn’t think you’d be into those, Amajiki!”
“Yeah, I didn’t think so, too.”
They took their place at the back of the queue and waited for their turn. Tamaki browsed the prizes available for the taking, deciding on which one to aim to be more focused when his turn came. Nejire liked cute things, and plush toys, in general, were cute. A cat would be a safe choice, he concluded. Once they reached the front of the line, Tamaki paid the storekeeper and aimed the toy gun at the kitty plush toy wearing a purple ribbon on its head.
To his surprise, Nejire patted his back a few times and pointed to the other side of the shelf. “But, but! Why don’t you try aiming for the cute octopus one? It’s a lot like you, don’t you think so?”
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment…”
“Duh! Of course, it is!”
“Whatever you say…” he played it off, secretly relieved that, in a way, she revealed which one had caught her attention the most out of all the prizes.
Tamaki shifted his aim and managed to hit the octopus plush toy with its rounded mouth. Nejire cheered as the storekeeper handed him his prize, and the two of them walked away from the booth to make way for the next customers.
The moment they were a distance away from the booth, Tamaki tugged on Nejire’s sleeve and moved to hand her the octopus plush toy. “Here.”
“Huh?” She cocked her head to the side, a confused expression on her face. “I thought you wanted a cute plushie for yourself, Amajiki.”
“It’s for you.” He took her other hand to secure the octopus plush toy in her grasp and let go. “As thanks for the food and for taking me out of the crowd a while ago.”
“I see… Well, sure thing,” she replied with a smile, hugging the octopus plush toy to her cheek. “Thank you. I’ll name him ‘Tamaki-chan’.”
“What?”
“I said, ‘I’ll name him ‘Tamaki-chan’.’”
“Like your hero name? Nejire-chan?”
“That’s right!”
Before Tamaki knew it, the rest of the afternoon had gone by so quickly.
Together, the two of them explored the festival. One of Nejire’s hands had been occupied with the octopus plush toy while the other would intertwine with his and let go only when needed. Much to Nejire’s delight, they managed to locate which stall was selling beverages in Cementoss juice boxes and bought some of them. Later on, they managed to get out of the horror house unscathed. They even took photos with the ‘Principal Nezu and the U.A.’ themed photo booth, which was Nejire’s idea, but Tamaki was also on board with it, though he didn’t say it.
“I had a blast! Thanks for coming with me!” Nejire said once they reached the sidelines of the designated area for the school festival and entered the garden where they had rested earlier because of Tamaki’s nervous jitters. “Hm, I guess it’s time to go back to the dorm. Do you mind if we drop by the lockers first? I need to take the stuff I left there back with me.”
“Sure.”
With a skip in her steps, she led the way while humming the tune of her favorite song, unknowing that her happiness was making Tamaki’s nervous heart sing. It felt right. No one, save for the trees, flowers, and butterflies, was around the two of them. He didn’t know if he would get another chance, but he wanted her to know of the way he was feeling. At the same time, the depressing thought of her rejection crept inside his mind, but Tamaki cast those thoughts away as best as he could. If that were the case, he would be lonely, but it wasn’t as if they couldn’t be friends any longer. Even if she didn’t share the same romantic sentiments as him, Nejire would still be his friend, and he would remain hers. He knew her well enough, she was that kind of person.
Tamaki took a deep breath and exhaled. He took all the courage he could muster, tugged on her hand, and gave it a firm squeeze, urging her to stop. “Wait a moment, Hado.”
“What is it?” she asked, turning to him with those curious eyes that endeared him so much.
“I love you.”
Nejire was rendered speechless, a rare moment for her bright personality. Her wide-eyed gaze coupled with her reddened cheeks turned the speech Tamaki had been practicing in his mind into a jumbled mess, and his face grew warm. At that point, he must have looked like the exact shade of a tomato, but he couldn’t help it.
She was cute. She always was, even without meaning to.
Clumsily, he gathered whatever was left of his thoughts and hoped that what would come out of his lips would be enough to convey the extent of his feelings. “I… I want to be with you, Nejire.”
She averted her gaze to her shoes and fidgeted under his stare. Letting go of his hand, her fingers fiddled with the octopus plush toy’s limbs. Her lips curved into a shy smile, and with a soft voice, she asked, “So, you finally see me as a girl now, huh? Since when?”
“For quite a while now,” he admitted. “But I don’t really remember not liking you, to be honest… H-Hey, why are you crying?”
“Sorry, I just…” She wiped her tears with her sleeve, but as she did, more streamed down her cheeks. “I thought you’d always only see me as your classmate, friend, or teammate… I never thought this day would come.”
“I’m sorry it took me so long. I was… nervous.”
She chuckled and met his gaze, beaming. “That sounds a lot like you.”
Tamaki clenched his fists nervously. “Can I… Can I get an answer?”
Nejire threw her arms around him, and he held her by the waist to catch her on reflex. “I’ve fallen for you long ago, Tamaki. I love you—of course, I want to be with you, too!”
“Really?”
“Really, really. So, you’re my boyfriend now, right? Right?”
Tamaki was unused to the term ‘boyfriend’, but when it meant that his ‘girlfriend’ was the one who was holding on to him tightly, then the warmth from her embrace was all he needed to get used to it. “Yeah.”
“Tamaki…” she called as she leaned back to look at his face. “Kiss me.”
“H-H-Here? Now?”
“You don’t want to?”
“It’s not that…”
“Then, what is it?” Nejire gazed at him expectantly.
Tamaki asked himself the same question and found no valid answer. Throwing caution to the wind, he bent his head down and shut his eyes.
As their lips touched, the rustling of leaves made their eyes snap open and their heads turn to the direction of the sound. They released each other from their embrace and using her free hand, Nejire activated her Quirk to reveal who was behind the bushes.
Mirio and Izuku paused mid-step and turned around slowly, their eyes wide, every detail in their demeanor screaming that they were caught doing something they shouldn’t have been doing.
Izuku was the first to snap out of it. “We, uh, w-we were just—we happened to be passing by! We walked Eri to the gates, and I—um, we couldn’t help but overhear, but we sure didn’t see a-a-anything…”
“Midoriya’s right, we heard!” Mirio sauntered over to his fellow Big Three members and shook their hands. “Finally! Congratulations to you both! I guess I’m the ‘third-wheel’ now, huh.”
Tamaki began, “Mirio, were you spying—”
“Anyway, carry on!” Mirio ran back to Izuku and dragged him by the arm, escaping as quickly as they could to the direction of the dormitories.
Tamaki and Nejire exchanged glances and ended up laughing.