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ask any toman member, they would say takemichi had an okay voice. ask a commander, or division captain, or division captain, they would say his voice is like music to their ears. ask them why they say so.
don’t ask any further, they will ramble about how angelic he sounded when he spoke, and how heavenly he sounded when he sang.
a soft spoken young boy who had the heart of gold, with a voice that could make you melt and drift you in a deep slumber that made you dreamt of him. all 100 problems are suddenly down to 0.
it first started with the toman commanders, mikey and draken. passing by and visiting takemichi was the norm, they enjoyed his company and it made their day better.
but it was this one day where they walked in on him singing his heart out. he was faced away from the duo so they went unnoticed by him. “what is-“ mikey’s mouth was closed shut by draken hand. second in command glances at mikey and raised a finger to his mouth.
mikey nods. so they stand by the door and listen to takemichi.
“you with the sad eyes”
“don’t be discouraged”
draken’s body naturally leans back onto the opened door frame, crossing his arms while doing so.
“oh i realize”
mikey and draken began to hear the strumming of a guitar, sounding so quiet but soothing, like a comfy lullaby. it was obvious that takemichi had a guitar in his hands, playing with the strings so skillfully.
“it’s hard to take courage”
“in a world full of people”
“you can lose sight of it all”
“the darkness inside you..”
“can make you feel so small”
mikey always knew that takemichi had a way with words, it’s the reason why he had never given into the dark impulses that scarred his brain, the boy had surprised him over and over again how powerful his words were.
and the words he sang just now were no different. singing with such emotion which was beautiful because it didn’t feel blank and empty.
takemichi stopped singing, catching draken and mikey off guard. the commander stopped breathing and the second in command hoped mikey wasn’t going to make a noise in the next 5 seconds.
then, the guitar was being played again, only a bit louder this time and they heard his singing once again, filling their ears with soft melodies.
“show me a smile then”
“don’t be unhappy, can’t remember when”
“i last saw you laughing”
“this world makes you crazy”
“and you’ve taken all you can bear, just call me up, ‘cause i will always be there”
draken had taken the words to heart and wondered in the back of his mind: who was this song about? judging by the lyrics, this song was targeted to someone. but who?
he’ll just ask after this beautiful singing session.
takemichi takes a deep sigh.
“and i see your true colors shining through, i see your true colors and that’s why i love you…”
the whole song comes to a stop again. takemichi turns around and sees the duo staring back at him intensely, causing him to freak out. “OH MY GOODNESS! just how long were you standing there?!” he quickly pulls himself up to put his guitar on the bed.
“long enough to hear the full song” draken said while walking in and setting himself on the ground, mikey follows him and sits next to his best friend.
takemichi playfully scoffs. “that wasn’t the whole song, draken. it was just the first verse”
draken hears a shuffle beside him and he turns to mikey whose eyes were gleaming with curiosity. “can you sing the rest of the song? please? i’d love to hear your voice again takemitchy” draken chuckles when he sees takemichi blushing and covering his face.
“i haven’t figured out the rest of the song yet, it’s in the works” takemichi shrugs, and mikey gives a slight smile. “will you show us when you’re done with it?”
“of course mikey”
on most days, takemichi would spend his time during lunch with his friends, with hinata saying hi to him sometimes. recently, he’s started to spend more time on the roof of the school than with his friends downstairs.
he’s been finding the time for himself to be valuable and a breath of fresh air. when he told his friends, atsushi was understanding the most, being the voice of reason to three who was giving takemichi questionable looks.
he didn’t take offense to it however. according to them, it seemed out of character. he’s always enjoyed being around them when they had free time - he still does.
but it’s been overwhelming to say the least. and that’s why he’s sitting by himself with his back pressed against the wall, away from all seeing eyes.
he was lucky that no one was up here today. feeling relaxed, he pulls out his phone and wired earbuds from his pocket. he plugged in the earbuds and started playing something that he felt was right.
the music starts and invades his mind.
“remember when we all got drunk?”
“i ended up with two broke thumbs”
“oh my God, i felt so dumb, lucky me”
he starts to nod his head to the beat, unable to feel his mouth curl up into a smile.
“i wrote a song that no one knows”
“i played a show and no one showed”
“oh my God, i felt so alone, lucky me”
the mizo gang shared glances and some chuckles here and there. they knew he would be here, but they didn’t expect him to be in his own world and sing out loud. takemichi’s eyes were closed anyway.
atsushi could almost feel himself falling asleep. yamagishi grabs onto atsushi’s shoulders and shakes him until he comes back to reality.
“when all is going wrong and you’re scared as hell”
“what you gonna do? who you gonna tell?”
takemichi starts to hum, his head following along with the music.
“a hundred bad days made a hundred good stories”
“a hundred good stories make me interesting at parties”
“yeah, no, i ain’t scared of you”
“no, i ain’t scared of you no more”
“la da da da da-“
takemichi feels compelled to open his eyes and when he does, he’s met with four boys staring at him. “AH!” he jumps back, hitting his head on the wall. the four boys cringe at the sound.
that definitely hurt. let’s hope he doesn’t have a dent on the back of his head.
takemichi pants and holds his hand up to his heart trying to calm himself down. “oh my gosh… please don’t scare like that again” he says. yamagishi bursts into a pit of maniacal laughter. “ow!” he groans when takuya hits his head.
“sorry, we didn’t mean to scare you”
makoto reaches to pull out takemichi’s earbud and asks him a question. “since when did you know how to sing?” atsushi nods. “yeah we never knew you could even sing! you were in some other dimension there”
takemichi’s flustered and red face was adored by the mizo gang. seeing him get embarrassed from this made them see a different side.
it was.. sweet.
and of course, his voice was magical. they could easily compare it to a hypnosis spell, and takemichi could cast that same spell as much as he wanted.
toman’s captains were enjoying each other’s company after a meeting that ended nearly 30 minutes ago. takemichi had sat on the ground with his guitar and a notebook laying flat down.
adjusting his position, he had one knee up to support one arm. despite the multiple voices speaking all at once, he fell in a state with just him, his guitar, and his words.
“i’m sorry that i did this”
“the blood is on my hands”
mikey whips his head around to the sound of a guitar that sounded like something he heard before. the familiarity was comforting. his eyes fixate on takemichi.
the others stop talking along the way, when mikey walks up to the boy singing and carefully claims a spot behind him. he loved the way he feels connected with takemichi by being in his presence and now, he has found a new way to connect with the boy.
his talent for creating music.
his desensitization for death was something he was always aware of. there was nothing about it that truly excited him but he knew if he was ever presented with the opportunity, he would accept it.
another thought ran through his mind. if he was going to die, he would prefer to die to sounds of takemichi’s loving voice and the strumming.
“i stare at my reflection”
“i don’t know who i am”
“practice my confession”
“in case i take the stand”
chifuyu mumbled to himself, “he sounds.. amazing” he had never heard takemichi’s singing voice but fuck it was so ethereal. he jumps at draken appearing beside him randomly.
“doesn’t he?” chifuyu nods. it was a question, it was a statement, and he couldn’t agree more. “shush, i’m trying to listen” said kazutora who had a frustrated expression.
“if you’re gonna keep talking, piss off” baji barked back.
“i’ll say i’ll learn my lesson”
“i’ll be a better man”
“i’m packing up my things and i’m wiping down the walls”
nahoya asks a question that has been on his mind, “who is he talking about?” kazutora retorts back. “your mom” nahoya’s never ending smile stays the same but the intention behind that smile was not innocent.
“you’re too old for ‘your mom’ jokes kazutora” draken shook his head in disbelief. “i’m not that old!”
“shut the fuck up all of you” sanzu sent a murderous glare at all of toman that was currently present.
“i’m rinsing off my clothes and i’m walking through the halls”
“i did it for her so i felt nothing at all”
“i don’t know what she’ll say, so i’ll ask her when she calls”
peh-yan tilts his head, “her?” he asks quietly. “his girlfriend?” souya responds while completely focused on takemichi. draken couldn’t confirm the song was about hinata, but he can’t confirm that the song is even targeted towards anyone.
it could be a song with a story.
“would you love me more”
“if i killed someone for you”
“would you hold my hand”
“they’re the same ones that i used”
“when i killed someone for you”
“would you turn me in”
“when they say i’m on the loose”
“would you hide me when”
“my face is on the news”
“when i killed someone for you…”
mitsuya tapped takemichi’s shoulder, scaring him for the third time this week. the lilac haired boy throws his hands up. takemichi sighs and relaxes, “oh it’s just you mitsuya” he says calmly. “sorry, didn’t mean to”
mitsuya apologizes while chuckling awkwardly. “but your voice is nice, and you definitely know how to play the guitar well” the others walk up to them. pah-chin pats takemichi’s back who looks up behind him with a soft smile.
“you got some talent kid” pah-chin’s compliment had the blonde’s smile grow bigger, feeling embarrassed again at the same time.
how is everyone catching him singing? well that was a no-brainer, he was next to them, of course they’re going to hear him and be curious.
takemichi mentally slapped himself.
“maybe you should start a singing career takemitchy” nahoya suggests. takemichi clutched his guitar, no one had ever said that to him. he didn’t think his voice was that good. in his opinion at least.
could he really start a singing career? this could give him a new purpose in life after toman.
hakkai appears in front of takemichi. “hey if you start a singing career, we’ll be your number one fans”
“thank you guys”
“why is there so many people here” takemichi asks concerningly. most of everyone who was fond of him in any sort of way was present in the room, mikey’s room. he wondered how many people can even fit in here.
“i could only fit a few people in here, kisaki or hanma wasn’t on the list” mikey shrugs as he sits next to takemichi on his bed.
the dyed haired boy brought his guitar because mikey wanted to hang out and asked him nicely to play for him, but seeing how the amount of people he was looking at made him feel on edge.
“mikey..”
“what?”
takemichi sighs, “nothing”
“hey takemichi” said rindou, capturing the boy’s attention. “sing for us please?” in this setting, takemichi was guaranteed to deny such a request. but rindou’s eyes were glistening and soft, they called out to takemichi’s shakened face.
now he felt bed if he said no. not only would he be saying no to rindou, he would be saying no to everyone in this room. the people who took the time to sit down and listen to his beautiful singing.
“sure” takemichi clears his throat, everyone in the room shushes each other and wait patiently as they see his fingers grip on the pick, starting the song off with the melody of angelic guitar sounds.
“this is for all the lonely people”
“thinkin’ that life has passed us by”
practically every single people that was blessed to be here with him was sighing deeply, absolutely love-struck by the boy. half-lidded eyes all across the room, they were slowly ascending to the gates of heaven.
seeing white all around.
“we won’t give up until we, drink from the silver cup”
“and ride that highway in the sky”
takemichi gazed upon the numerous eyes looking at him with such.. love and affection. they stared at him like he was the most precious thing on earth, a treasure to be shown to the whole world.
a wonderful feeling. he saw nothing but smiles everywhere. but if his singing and decent guitar skills were enough to keep those smiles genuine, he could do this forever.