All Strings Attached

Advice and Duets

"You're sure you want to do another duet with me?" Shinso asked as he and Midoriya sat in the common room to their dorm. The purple haired mans eyes couldn't help but be drawn to several dark circles along his neck and it made his blood boil.

"Yeah, I just have some rules." He replied with a simple shrug as he grabbed his ipad from his bag.

"And those are?" Shinso questioned in confusion. He's never had rules from his other partners, so he was definitely confused.

"One, no talking about Katsuki." Midoriya started with a heavy sigh as he created a brand new music sheet on his shared cloud. "It ruins my mood and I no longer want to perform the song." He explained simply. "Two, we're going to switch up the genre a little bit. It doesn't have to be incredibly slow or anything like that, but I would like to showcase more than the few songs we have already done." He finished as he set the ipad down on the table in front of them.

"Alright, I think I can agree to those." Shinso responded with a simple shrug. He wasn't planning on talking about Bakugo anyway since he knew he wasn't going to drive a wedge between them that way anyway.

"Any rhythm or any lyrics that have been stuck in your head the last couple of days?" Midoriya asked, mainly just getting some brainstorming ideas.

"How about you start this song and I'll build off of it. I haven't written slower and calmer songs since UA, so I'm a little rusty since I prefer not to sing them anymore." Shinso admitted nervously. He wasn't a terrible student or anything, but it was his way or the highway. He was always praised by his parents and everyone else who knew him for his amazing songs. He didn't like the idea of switching back to his older music in fear of being reminded of the past. Plus, he didn't have the same inspiration he had at his second and third year of high school, so his music drastically changed. However, he didn't have the time to dwell on the past now. He shook his head to clear his thoughts before turning his attention back to the other male.

"Okay, so this is a melody I've had stuck in my head for a few days." Midoriya informed as he grabbed his ipad and began drawing in the correct notes. When it was done, he hummed it for Shinso, hoping he would understand the pace and the kind of song he was hoping to make. Once the purple haired man hummed it in return, it clicked in his head. He knew what song he wanted to write with Midoriya, which is something that rarely happened. He knew he needed to expand his music, but he never had the inspiration to do so. Turns out, he just needed someone else to help him understand it a little more.

They sat on the couch in the common room for hours, writing lyrics just to change them again and again. But for once, they were both enjoying the song they were writing. It wasn't something Shinso would usually sing, but he could picture himself singing it with the green haired man.

"Maybe we should take break." Shinso said with a sigh as he ran a hand through his messy hair.

"Probably." Midoriya responded as he leaned back into the couch, his eyes tired from staring at the bright screen.

"Any recommendations for our songs for the showcase?" The purple haired man asked, wanting to get off the topic of the duet they were writing for a moment.

"I was all of us to sing at least once, so I'm not sure." Midoriya replied with a heavy sigh. He was so exhausted but the song was due by the end of the day tomorrow. They waited till last minute and didn't have anymore time to put it off, so they had to get it done tonight. "I have a few songs that we've performed that I think would be amazing, but I also want to perform some songs that nobody else has heard before."

"I think we should use all new songs." Shinso countered. Midoriya sent him a puzzling look, silently asking for an explanation. "Think about it." He started as he shifted his body to look at the green haired man. "We upload all of our completed songs onto the schools public file for viewing." He started as Midoriya turned towards him, giving him his full attention. "We don't want the other students to know what songs we'll be singing and we also don't want to perform songs that any scouts may have already heard. They're looking at the website to get an idea of who to look out for, we really don't want to perform songs that they're already based their opinions on." He explained. Since his dads were in the loop on everything, so was he.

"I didn't even think about that." Midoriya responded with a shocked expression. Any boost in the showcase would help.

"Also, UAE is the only record company that will always sign the full band. Another scout from another company might only want to sign the singers or pick the bands apart to make a new one. So it's also important that we all showcase our talents and show the rest of the world that we're meant to be together as a band." Shinso explained. He didn't want Bakugo and Midoriya to get picked and him to be left in the dust, but he couldn't really say that without making himself seem suspicious, so he had to promote staying together as a whole band, even if he didn't care for Kaminari and Kirishima.

"This is probably information that we should tell everyone else you know." The green haired man said as he pulled his phone out, quickly writing everything down in his notes for the next time the band was practicing.

"You know, I really like this song." Shinso said with a soft smile as he leaned forward, glancing at their progress. "It's definitely not something I would have wrote on my own, but it's different with you." He added as he looked to the man beside him. Midoriya's dark bags under his eyes stood prominent against his pale skin, but it was still nothing compared to Shinso. They were both exhausted and barely functioning at this point. "Have you ever been told that you bring out the best in people?" He asked as he raised his hand before setting it on top of Midoriya's hand that was lazily resting between the two of them.

"All the time." The green haired man responded with a shy smile as his heart skipped a beat from the sudden touch. He looked back up to Shinso to see his purple eyes staring back at him gently. His eyes were filled with a sense of sadness and want as they flickered down to the green haired mans pink lips. When Midoriya noticed the movement in his eyes, he pulled it hand away slowly, forcing Shinso to retreat back to his side of the couch.

"We should probably finish this song." The freckled man whispered as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"Yeah." Shinso responded with a sad sigh. Midoriya wasn't like any other person he's tried to get with before. He was taken and was completely in love with someone else. He was an idiot to think this would be an easy task. However, he was used to always getting what he wanted, so he wouldn't be giving up any time soon.