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It starts out as an accident, an address entered incorrectly into his navigation app, a moment of embarrassment when he’d walked inside too quickly and was met with twenty-four faces staring in shock at the former Number One Hero standing in the doorway of their beginner ballroom dancing class.
Toshinori was quick to stammer hasty apologies and backpedal outside, but the instructor, a young magenta-haired man with a smile that reminded him almost of Nana, had been quicker to chase after and press a brochure into his hands before Toshinori could successfully leave.
He’d hurriedly returned to his car right after, resetting the target destination to the originally intended new restaurant Nemuri had recommended him, but long after he’s eaten his fill and arrived back home, Toshinori finds himself turning over the brochure in his hands, unable to stop recalling the instructor’s kind expression and earnest insistence that he would have a place at the studio if he ever so desired, if maybe that happy accident was a fated coincidence, if he ever wanted to just do something new and fun on a mundane afternoon.
It takes him two hours of sitting and staring for Toshinori to finally conclude, as someone who’s faced mortal peril so many times, what’s the worst that can come from trying out something random?
It takes him another three hours after making up his mind to start overthinking his decision. It’s not so much the fear of being bad at ballroom dancing as it is the fact that he hasn’t done anything like this, well, ever — these sorts of extracurricular options weren’t exactly available to a quirkless child, and from his UA days onward he’d had no time for such trivial pursuits.
Ultimately, what finally firms his resolve is Nana’s voice, saying, “maybe it’ll do you some good, Toshinori, you never know.” His mind filled with memories of her smile, the same sort of raw and unbridled kindness as the man's, he wonders if perhaps this unexpected similarity, on top of everything else that led him to that studio, is the universe's way of nudging him toward this new hobby. With that, he punches the number into his phone and holds it up to his ear.
"Hello, may I please speak to, uh-" he fumbles with the card in his other hand. "Suzuki-san? I believe he said there's space in your beginner ballroom class?"
"This is he," the person on the other end replies. "Are you the one who stopped by today?"
Toshinori blushes slightly; he must have made quite an impression to be recognized by the sound of his voice alone. Either that, or the studio might just not get much business — after all, he hadn't ever heard of ballroom dancing before, and it wasn't exactly a trend or anything.
"Yes," he acknowledges with a self-conscious chuckle. "That's me."
"That's great!" Suzuki-san exclaims. "Will you be joining us after all?"
"I will," Toshinori confirms, smiling slightly despite himself at the younger man's infectious enthusiasm.
Later that week, he arrives at his first class fifteen minutes early, the address entered correctly this time, and is immediately greeted by Suzuki-san waving at him. Slightly self-conscious, he waves back. "Hi."
"I'm glad you're here!" The man exclaimed, beaming. "I'll introduce you to everybody else and then we'll just proceed as we normally do, okay?"
Toshinori nodded. Then a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Is there- is there something I should be wearing?"
Suzuki-san shakes his head. "Just whatever makes you comfortable to move in. We're a very chill class, and everybody here is just here for fun."
"Okay."
As the others trickle in, they take note of him, and a few come over to greet him and introduce themselves. If Suzuki-san notices that it's five minutes past their scheduled start time, he doesn't say anything, instead allowing the conversation to naturally trickle off before clapping his hands from the front of the room. "All right, everybody, let's get started. As many of you have noticed already, we have a new student joining us today- meet Yagi Toshinori."
There are a few murmurs from those who recognize the name, but the looks directed toward him are all friendly smiles. The class goes smoothly, the warm-up exercises clearly meant to just get them up and moving rather than be overly exerting. Save for one slightly tricky step sequence where he isn't accustomed to coordinating his feet in that manner, Toshinori executes everything with ease, and it's as if the hour flies by in an instant.
He's almost sad to pack up his things and leave, but if this session was a trial run to see how he likes ballroom dancing, Toshinori's made up his mind: he'll be back next week for sure.
Arms full of equipment that he's putting back in his rightful place, Suzuki-san bids him goodbye with that same vibrant expression as before.
It's certainly a happy accident, messing up his directions and walking in that day. In his mind, he thinks of Nana's voice: “maybe it’ll do you some good, Toshinori, you never know.”
He smiles. "Maybe it will."