Archive of Our Own ^beta

Akechi sighed as his attempts to focus on his book were once again thwarted by someone whooping and hollering. Again. He glared at the group, some of the many people here to support friends or family. He understood it, but that didn’t mean he had to like how loud everyone was, it made him even more pissed he agreed to come.

“You know that’s kinda rude right?”

Akechi turned to Kurusu, giving him a dry look that he hoped got across how little he actually cared. Kurusu had asked him to come see Yoshizawa perform and that’s what he intended on doing, he had no interest in seeing random people backflip for other’s entertainment.

Kurusu ran his hand up into his hair to play with it like he always did. “Well just make sure you put that away when Sumire comes on, or I’m throwing it across the room.” he said with no real threat to his voice.

Akechi hummed a sound of acknowledgement and tried to turn his attention back on his book. As annoyed as he was, this was for the best. Kurusu had been pestering him constantly about seeing Yoshizawa’s performances, he finally agreed just to shut him up. He just hoped Kurusu wouldn’t expect him to make a habit of this.

“Next up is… Yoshizawa Sumire!”

At the announcement, Akechi slipped the book into his bag. He planned on leaving as soon as she was finished anyway.

Kurusu nudged him again. “Come on you gotta watch!” He seemed very excited, which was normal for him. Kurusu was far too invested in the lives and accomplishments of his friends. He turned his attention to Yoshizawa, currently taking a deep breath.

And then she began.

Immediately her performance struck him more than any of the others had. While it was true he hadn’t exactly been paying attention to any of them, their movements all felt bland and uninspired to him. Yoshizawa on the other hand…

He brought his hand up to his chin as he watched her. Her movements were precise yet graceful, extremely so. It reminded him of how she had fought together with them. She always had this elegance about her, and yet was direct enough to get criticals like they were nothing. Watching her now made it hard to think she had any trouble with it in the past, she seemed like a natural at this.

When she was finished, she gave a little bow, earning her cheers and applause. Was it louder than the other performances? He couldn’t tell but it felt like it was.

“Alright… I’ll admit that was quite pleasant.” He said, reaching for his bag. “Perhaps I’ll come by again to watch once in a whi-” he cut himself short when he saw the look on Kurusu’s face.

It was the biggest shit eating grin he had ever seen on the other boy. And that was saying something considering the grins he gave as Joker. “Enjoyed the show?” he said, as if he knew something Akechi didn’t.

“...it was a passible performance.” he responded, suddenly very on guard.

“I’m glad, cus Sumire wanted to have dinner together!” Somehow, Kurusu’s grin got bigger. “And I told her you’d be there!”

Akechi felt his eye twitch involuntarily. “Is that so…”

“Yep! She’s very excited to hear what you thought of her performance. And honestly, after seeing your face while watching her… I think I am too.”

He was very thankful he’d had a lot of experience keeping his emotions in check, because if he didn’t he might have socked Kurusu right then and there.

____

They met up with Yoshizawa in front of a diner Kurusu frequently visits. When she noticed them her face lighted up. It made Akechi feel slightly more at ease.

Or at least it had until he saw Kurusu’s smug grin again. Bastard.

“Akira! Goro! I’m so happy to see you both!” she greeted them. “Let’s get inside, I’m starved!”

And starved she apparently was, Akechi didn’t think he’d ever seen someone eat as much as she did in one setting. She ate at least two full meals while he and Kurusu were still working on their own food.

Yoshizawa seemed to take notice of him staring, to which he immediately turned his head down to focus on his meal. Much to his annoyance, he heard a snicker from Kurusu. Bastard.

“This was your first time seeing me right?” Yoshizawa asked shyly. “Can I ask what you thought? Don’t worry, I can take criticism!”

Shit. This is the question he’d meant to think of something for beforehand. Yoshizawa seemed so hopeful, and he could feel Kurusu’s eyes on him.

“Well that’s… a difficult question to answer if I’m honest…” he started weakly. “I’m not sure I could give any worth wild feedback- HEY” he was cut short by an elbow in his ribs.

He turned to Kurusu next to him, who had dropped the smile and was giving Akechi this disapproving look. He was about to ask why when he realized; he’d slipped into his pleasant facade, something he rarely did nowadays. But it seemed to slip out every now and again, usually when he was trying to bullshit an answer to someone. Old habits die hard.

“R-right… I’m still not sure what exactly to say about it… it was…” he really hated this, he was used to having it all together, he despised being so lost for words.

“It’s alright Goro, I get it if it wasn’t all that great” Yoshizawa spoke up, her voice a little quieter now. “I’ll try harder next time for you!”

For some reason, that made Akechi’s heart sink into his stomach. It wasn’t that he disliked her performance, he just… wasn’t good at this.

“That’s not it at all” he started again. “I just… can’t give a proper judgement just yet.”

Both turned their full attention to him, curious. Akechi cleared his throat a little and continued.

“It was… difficult to judge your performance when the only other ones I’ve seen were… painfully mediocre at best.”

“Mediocre? You think?” Akira said, finally dropping the smug asshole act to have a genuine discussion.

“Yes, they all were absolutely appalling, they couldn’t even keep my attention for more than a second or two.” he continued, feeling a bit more confident now. “It’s impossible for me to truly grasp how skilled Sumire is when she was being compared with garbage.”

“Really?” Sumire asked. Her cheeks were a little red for some reason. “I thought they were a lot better than I was…”

“Many people are ignorant of their own talents, causing them to put others on a pedestal.” Akechi took a pause to sip his drink. “You should think higher of yourself.”

“W-wow I… wow” Sumire’s face was VERY red now.

“It’s a rare and wonderful sight to see you so genuine.” Akira said. He was still smiling, but it was less arrogant now and more sweet.

Akechi wasn’t fully sure how to respond to each of them, so he turned his attention back to his food. Maybe putting more in his stomach would stop the weird churning it was currently doing.

“Well… if you’re free, I would very much appreciate you coming to see me again” Sumire spoke up again. “I’d really love for you to see if I improve on this!”

He sincerely hoped his face wasn’t as hot as it felt. “I… I’ll be sure to make time to come and see you again.”

He felt Akira put an arm around his shoulder. “We’ll both be there cheering you on!”

Between Akira’s arm around him and Sumire’s bright smile, Akechi couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He made a note to make room for them in his schedule later.