Karaoke Night (Hizashi)

Hizashi was early.

Some of the teachers got together now and then, at a bar, sometimes elsewhere. It had been the counselor's turn to choose a meeting spot, and she had picked a popular karaoke place near the campus.

He was so excited he was really, <i>really</i> early.

Oh, well.

He showed up and asked for the party name, was given a room number and cheerfully bounded off down the hall. He cracked the door open carefully and slipped in, grinning, his mouth opening to greet the Insanity Hero who he saw standing with her back to him. She didn't notice him, however. Her purple striped tail was flicking back and forth as she sang.

"Whoa..." He stood, breathless, listening to her.

The song was in English, but that wasn't a problem for him. He listened, his head tilting quizzically as he recognized the lyrics. It was a story about an American girl who fell in love with a blond haired man. A very handsome, very <i>long haired</i> man.

He blinked as his red-framed glasses slowly slid down his nose. Touched the back of his head where his hair was wrapped in a messy bun, doubled up but still spilling down his neck from the sheer amount of golden tresses he sported.

<i>Oh shit. Oh my god holy shit.</i>

Hizashi didn't have a super large ego and he doubted he was that handsome. Yet he sure fit the most specific of that criteria of the man in the song. And he knew that personally, when he came to sing here he chose stuff that vibed with how he felt at the time. He bit his lip as she finished and set the microphone down, his nerves making his stomach feel like there were a million butterflies inside.

"Oh!" She jumped back when she saw him and he waved sheepishly at her.

"Sorry! Sorry ... I got here early an' I didn't wanna interrupt. You sounded way too gorgeous," he blurted out, then blushed really hard. "Uh! I mean, well. You've got a great voice."

Elly blindly thrust her hand out to find something  - anything -- to stabilize her, since her knees had grown weak at his statement. "You - you think so? I mean, you're the Voice Hero, that's... that's huge. Are you serious?"

"Hell, yeah!" His greenish-gold eyes spun wildly behind his glasses. She couldn't look away from the mesmerizing, spiralled pupils as he stepped closer. "I love music. An' you're <i>beautiful</i>."

Her ears perked. "Uh... Yamada?"

He sighed inwardly. It would be too presumptuous for him to ask her to call him by his given name and not the family one; in Japan, that was reserved for close friends and lovers. But he wanted to hear her say it.

"Yeah?"

"You just said... nevermind." She shook her head. "I must be hearing things."

"Oh." He absently fiddled with the beaded bracelet on his wrist, pulling it up and letting it fall back down. "Sorry I'm so early. I <i>love</i> karaoke."

"Yeah, me too." She pointed at the microphone on the table. "Do you even need one of these, though?"

He snickered softly. "No-o-o, but I use 'em anyway. It's safer for me to sing or speak quietly into a mic or somethin'."

"I'm fascinated by your quirk," she admitted shyly. "I mean, uh, I know you can do all sorts of frequencies. That's amazing. Did it take long to learn how? Or did it come natural for you?"

He was notjing short of amazed at her genuine interest in his ability. Not a lot of people thought it was interesting; he was just "the loud guy". Truth was, there were a lot of subtleties to his quirk.

"Okay, so, how about this one?" He hummed a low pitch and watched in delight as her ears perked cutely.

"I can hear that!"

"Awesome."

"It makes my ears tickle a little," she giggled. "Yamada!" She burst out laughing when he amped it up.

<i>To hell with it!</i>

Hizashi reached out and placed his palms on her shoulders, staring intently into her eyes. She looked up at him, startled.

"Please," he begged softly, his voice thrumming in the air all around them. "I want you to call me by my given name."

"But -!"

"I know, it would mean we have a special relationship. But I <i>want</i> that so much, ya dig? I want everybody hearin' you say my name an' knowin' we're... um." He trailed off, suddenly shy. "Did I just run my mouth too much again? Was that bad?" He bit his lower lip, his brows drawn tightly up in his worry.

"No, it's okay." Elly reached out and placed a shaky hand on the back of his neck. He felt the cool touch through the spill of hair and shivered. "I'm in love with you, Hizashi," she whispered.

His eyes popped wide open and the biggest smile stretched his lips, though he was still biting them. A low squeal emanated from the back of his throat.

"Is <i>that</i> okay?"

He gave up trying to speak and kissed her.