A Love Song

Chapter 13. Familiar Faces

I ran into someone I knew very well. It was an old friend of mine, a teacher to be precise; my old choir teacher, Hirose Kei. Huh, he still looks young as ever. I wonder what youth regimen he uses?

"(Y/N)? Are you okay?" Shoto asks me concerned.

Before I could answer him, Hirose Kei had approached us. The corner of his lips curled up. "My, my that face is unmistakable despite it being what almost seven years? Lovely to see you again (Y/N)."

"Hirose..." my voice quivered with astonishment. "It's really you!" I happily met him in a hug. "What are you... how?"

He chuckled softly, "Hehe, always lively as ever. And I told you, call me Kei."

"Hah, right we both hate formalities huh." I smiled.

"Not only that but we share a common interest too, singing." He smiled back.

"True." I felt my eyes fill with nostalgia. "Ah." I gasped at a confused Shoto, "Kei, this is Todoroki Shoto, Shoto this is Hirose Kei, he used to be my choir teacher."

Shoto and Kei politely exchanged greetings. "Nice to meet you." Shoto tells him.

"Likewise, you can call me Kei too, any friend of (Y/N) is a friend of mine. I'm glad to see (Y/N)'s made friends, she was quite the loner. Super cold hearted, aloof, difficult to start an actual genuine conversation with." Kei began to list off a couple of old habits of mine which I didn't find pleasant.

Shoto on the other hand was stifling a laughter. He smirked, "So, she was worse before?"

"Hey! You're no better Shoto." I pouted a little annoyed.

"Oh? So he's similar? No wonder you two seem to get along so well." Kei chuckled.

"She's more stubborn than me though." I heard Shoto mutter to him and Kei nodded.

Seriously? It's just like when Daisuke met Shoto they both got along so great, now Kei too? Gee... Shoto's more social than he tends to believe about himself.

"So, tell me Kei, what brings you here? No... wait don't tell me the special guest singing is you?!" I astonishingly exclaimed. He nodded, "Oh my gosh! That's awesome. UA truly knows what's best. Also I'm really glad to see you."

"You're too kind as always." He smiled back, "So, what about you? I never thought I'd run into you here, at a hero school. I figured you'd probably be a professional singer on tour by now or something or wait... is that still forbidden by you-know-who?"

I bit my lip and he immediately understood. "It got worse."

"Worse than the time you jumped out the window?" he asked hesitantly. But there was a hint of laughter trying to poke out.

"You jumped out of a window (Y/N)?" Shoto asked alarmed, "Wait, why didn't you teleport away?"

"Hey!" I crossed my arms with a pout, "You're never going to forget that huh? And Shoto, I was so scared I didn't think of using my quirk and I jumped, luckily I ended up falling in the school's pool."

"Oh God (Y/N)." Shoto looked mortified.

"Hey, you weren't the only one scared, I was too." Kei sighed with a melancholic expression, "...you were my favorite student. The best student there was. I really missed you." His tone was crestfallen.

I frowned sadly, "I'm sorry I never came back to at least say goodbye. I was scared and a part of me hoped I would return someday that's why I didn't say bye. But I guess seven years is having too much hope." I threw a self-deprecated laugh.