fear. || { bnha }

twenty eight.

a/n: first, wow omg thank you for 2k+ votes, i'm crying <33
second, i apologize this took so long
third, dedicated for hataru-chan because of the idea for a bts reference~

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As Hitoshi led her down the sidewalk, Valui let her eyes drift along the different stores and buildings they passed. One of her hands — the one that wasn't intertwined with Hitoshi's — occasionally reaching up to touch the necklace that rested on the outside of her shirt as if she needed a confirmation that it was still there. They hadn't stopped to go inside a store since the jewelry and clothing one, though Hitoshi had asked every once in a while if she saw someplace she wanted to look inside. Valui had said no every time — nothing had really caught her interest.

Until she heard music.

Valui's feet stopped, which led to Hitoshi stopping a step or two in front of her. He turned to partially face her, confusion flickering across his face and taking root in his eyes. "What is it? Are you oka—"

"Music." Not many things piqued her interest — it was actually rare that something did, though she had never been able to figure out why — but if something did, it was music. A different sort of light filled her eyes; one that had forgotten all about the genuine hell she had recently been through; one that rivaled the sun itself. "Do you hear it? Where's it coming from?"

Hitoshi tilted his head, seemingly stunned at her sudden change of mood and reaction to her surroundings. His face soon softened into a smile. "Down the road, I think. Do you want to go to it?"

Valui nodded, her face breaking out into a wide smile. "Yeah!" In contrast to how Hitoshi had been the one leading her around, Valui took the lead this time, half dragging him behind her. "Let's go!"

Hitoshi didn't say anything of protest to her, but Valui did hear him laugh softly from behind her. He caught up to her to walk by her side, his hand pulling away from hers so his arm could wrap around her shoulders and pull her close to him. "Jeez, you sure took off," he teased, poking a finger softly onto her cheek.

Valui smiled up at him, an almost sheepish look entering her eyes as she let out a small giggle. "Sorry. I just...really like music, is all."

The light look of happiness that had been on his face turned into one of amusement. "Really?" The gentle teasing tone was still present in his voice. "More or less than you like All Might?"

Valui rolled her eyes just as teasingly as Hitoshi was speaking. She stuck her tongue out at him. "More than I like All Might, but not as much as I like you~"

She watched his face get pink; he didn't look away, though, like she had expected. He shook his head lightly, leaning down to kiss her forehead, mumbling, "You're adorable."

Valui felt her own face get red, but the warm feeling dissipated when they reached the front of the music shop. The doors were open, leading the music that was playing inside to be louder — and also to be heard from a distance away so as to attract people like Valui to it. She didn't recognize the song that was playing, but it wasn't unpleasant to listen to. She tilted her head up to grin widely at Hitoshi before pulling him inside.

Once inside, Valui's face lit up as if she were a kid in a candy shop — and she was, in her own way. While it was definitely true the girl idolized heroes to the point of unrealistic, her love of them never came close to the love she had for music. If she were being honest with herself, the love was probably borne out of her own lack of a Quirk — she could never be what she wanted, so why even bother? Her high school pushed clubs on its students in attempts to help them feel more included in a world where they were excluded; Valui had picked the music club for no other reason other than the fact that everything else was full. She let herself genuinely love something that was within her grasp — something that was tangible; something she could achieve, Quirk or not; something that was based off practice and hard work and talent, not luck bestowed upon someone by birth.