#i'm back with more awkward turtles obiyuki HOPE YALL ENJOY :'D

[k-itsmaywriting]

jazz hands but they’re a bit embarrassed (Music Majors!AU)

On Monday night, Obi paces outside Practise Room 408.

It’s…stupid, so stupid. It’s not the first time he’s asked someone out, yet why is he having so much trouble?

It must be because it’s different, he thinks. He’s asked people out on dates, to get coffee, see a movie, go for dinner, whatever. But he’s never asked someone if they would like to specifically come see him play jazz piano at the bar Suzu works at on a Friday night – no one knows about those gigs.

Well, except for Suzu and Kiki, because Suzu recommended him to the owner and Kiki plays bass in the same band…Not that he’s ashamed of it or anything. He just doesn’t exactly know how to say I play jazz every Friday at a bar my friend works at to everyone he meets.

But still.

He has his chat with Shirayuki open on his phone already. Their history is all there – the many all-nighters of relaying mp3 files of their compositions, Shirayuki’s ramblings about biology and his about romantic period music, and the occasional meme about the struggles of composing. Talking to her is always fun. They only see each other once a week since comp is Shirayuki’s non-science elective, and he probably looks forward to those Monday mornings more than he should.

Obi slaps his own cheek, stuffs his hand in his hoodie pocket, and starts walking through the hall, typing in the chat.

“Hey Shirayuki…”

Hold on, he’s never opened with that before. He backspaces.

“Heyyyy my guy…”

Nope. Too casual.

He tosses possibilities out of his mind as he walks down the stairs, crafting the text, a harmony of hey I really like being friends with you let’s hang out and but I kind of sort of want to be something else maybe but I’m trying to be low-key about it. The thoughts drum around his mind, spinning around and around. It almost makes him dizzy with how long he holds his breath while striding through the building.

So much that he doesn’t notice the soft guitar strumming or the soft voice that fills the hall on the corner of the first floor.

As he turns the corner to leave through the back exit, he really doesn’t know how he misses it. He suddenly freezes, and she’s there, sitting outside Practise Room 119 right by the doors. Shirayuki, singing.

He…he’s never heard her sing before. He’s pretty sure she tells him she can’t. But the song is definitely from her, soft but a little fleeting like fresh air in spring.

Shirayuki tilts her head and her hair falls away from her face, gliding through sweet melodies. Obi sees her eyes are closed, and she sings like she’s just listening, breathing. She’s beautiful when she’s in her own world, without a care, except…

He...kind of needs to get out that way…

The music suddenly stops, and he hears her voice hiccup.

Ah, shit.

Shirayuki’s shoulders are tense when he looks at her this time. She’s frozen, eyes almost bulging out of her head as her face and neck flush a humiliating red.

Obi clears his throat, cocks his hip to the side. He looks chill, right? “Woah, hey, Shira—“

He’s never seen anyone pack a guitar into its case and run out a building so fast in his life.

The door swings a few times in the wake of her rush, the only noise in the new silence.

All he can do now is look at the text, still unsent.

He has no idea what he’s supposed to do now.

On Wednesday morning, Yuzuri asks Shirayuki if she wants to go to a bar on Friday.

“I was telling Suzu I was looking for somewhere quieter and he said the place he works is a jazz bar off the main street, so…” she shrugs, “guess he’d be right? He says he can get us free drinks if we want. Wanna come with me this Friday?”

Shirayuki hums from underneath her blanket burrito, distracted.

“…You still thinking about Obi from Monday?”

She peeks her eyes above her blanket. “Yes...”

Yuzuri sighs. “It’s really not that big of a deal. He probably knows it’s because you were embarrassed.”

“But Obi of all people! One of the best musicians in the entire class! And the cute boy from comp who I’ve told a million times I can’t sing but I didn’t tell him I do it anyway!”

“Wow, really dug yourself a hole there, didn’t you?”

Shirayuki turns in her bed, dragging more of her blanket over her shoulder and groaning.

“Anyway,” Yuzuri says, “Do you want to come on Friday? You can put on that new dress you bought and just…drink cocktails and listen to jazz for a couple of hours. It’ll be a nicer than thinking about how you totally blew your chance with a cute boy from uni where, quite frankly, everyone does embarrassing shit, so.”

Shirayuki slowly peels her blanket away and sits up. She lets her hands fall into her lap, and she takes a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll come.”

On Friday night, Obi can bet real money that Kiki is internally laughing her ass off.

“We’ve got a double kill tonight. Suzu tells Yuzuri he works here, and she comes with Shirayuki.” Kiki steps into the tiny hallway to the dressing room. “I don’t know whether this would be a curse or a blessing for you.”

“It’s a curse,” he groans. “It’s gonna be awkward.”

Kiki is holding back a snicker. “But have you seen her yet?”

Obi presses his forehead against the wall and knocks a fist against it. Twice. “Black lace cocktail dress…”

“Don’t feel bad, you don’t look too shabby yourself.” Kiki steps towards him and pinches some of the black button up near his wrist. “You match. How cute.”

“That wasn’t really the issue.”

She smiles. “I know, but you wouldn’t be the only one that would fancy seeing each other here.”

Shirayuki can feel herself smiling.

While Yuzuri and Suzu chat away, Shirayuki sits with them at the bar turned the other way, drinking in the blue lights underneath elevated floors and across the edges of ceilings with her glass just against her pink lips. She takes another sip.

It’s a nice place. She thinks she prefers this over clubs with synths blaring in her ears and too many bodies against hers at once, even if this is a little pricier. More people are just starting to fill the lounge chairs around the room, and she can hear the continuous ring of a cymbal in the corner.

Suzu taps her shoulder, and she turns around. “The band’s gonna start playing soon. I think you’ll recognise another person tonight too.”

Shirayuki tilts her head at Yuzuri, but she doesn’t seem to know either. She looks back to Suzu. “What do you mean ‘another’?”

“Wait, shit, you’re not here for—“

Strolling piano chords cut him off, and they all turn towards the little stage across the bar. Shirayuki can only see the saxophonist under the front light, swaying under its halo. She doesn’t know them, so she looks to the left where there’s a glint of light off a grand piano.

The pianist’s back is turned, but Shirayuki can catch fingers lightly hopping between full chords, pressing a little deeper on the beats, stretching and drooping time with the muffled saxophone. But his arms and shoulders wrapped tightly in black follow his hands, like he’s playing a Chopin nocturne—

Hold on…

The pianist and saxophonist turn to each other, both minds and music in perfect sync. They dance over steady splash cymbal, and that’s when Shirayuki catches gold eyes on the night sky stage like a star.

She spins around to Suzu over the bar, whispering, “Obi?!”

Suzu’s lips are stretched thinly as he leans back away from the counter. He barely nods. “Yup. And might as well do the spoiler – Kiki’s on bass.”

“Since when?!”

“Since probably like…the beginning of this year? They were looking for a pianist and a bassist so I was like, hey I know some really cool people who just started uni here and are looking for some work, and here we are.”

Shirayuki turns back around and leans back into the edge of the bar. She…she just didn’t know he played jazz. She’s seen him strike lightning in the keys and other times lean forward while his fingers rippled over them like water in a lake. But now that she listens to his them dance in rainy New York City alleyways, she feels that the way he pulls, raises and falls is the same. And it’s beautiful.

Well, to be fair she never told him she sings even though she doesn’t think she’s any good…

She lets herself curl up in the comforting jazz that’s warm against her skin. She finds herself smiling again, bigger this time.

Soon, the song ends, and Kiki leans over towards the saxophonist’s microphone. She greets the guests nonchalantly, since half of them probably aren’t listening, and clears her throat. “Obi has a special performance of his own tonight.”

That doesn’t seem to be true, because Obi’s body suddenly tenses.

“Gershwin’s three piano preludes, please welcome him.”

There are a few cheers, and Shirayuki knows Obi isn’t backing out with the way he sits back upright, letting his head roll back for a moment. Even she can internally hear his groaning.

He plays by himself for ten minutes, but it feels like two with how tightly captive Shirayuki is in his music. The band takes a break after another few songs together. The instant the drummer and saxophonist are off the stage, Obi sneaks off his stool towards Kiki.

Yuzuri taps Shirayuki’s shoulder. “Suzu said Obi’s been preparing the Gershwin for quite a while now,” she says. “This was the first time he’s played it at the bar.”

“Really? It was so good! I never knew he did jazz. Did you?”

She shakes her head.

Shirayuki looks towards the piano again, but as she turns Obi freezes halfway across the bar. He smiles sheepishly at her. She can’t help but smile back, and hops off the seat to walk towards him. “Hey, Obi. I’m…” she suddenly doesn’t feel as confident anymore. “Sorry I ran away on Monday. I was just…embarrassed because I know I always tell you I can’t sing yet I was right there...”

He blinks. “Oh, uh, no, that’s…that’s fine. I understand. I was just confused and thought for a second like…you weren’t going to talk to me anymore or something…?”

She nods slowly.

“But uh,” he stuffs his hands into his trouser pockets, “I think you sounded really nice.”

Shirayuki lets out a laugh. “Thank you, you play really, really nice jazz. Suzu told me you’ve been working on it for ages.”

He coughs. “Yeah, it was uh…I’m kind of trying to impress someone.”

Shirayuki really hopes the dread isn’t showing on her face.

“Who…” She starts looking around, hoping he doesn’t notice the heaviness in her chest. “Who is it? Are they here?”

Obi grips his shoulder. “Yeah, you.”

She stops. She blinks up at him a few times because did…did she hear that right?

“I…I really like you, Shirayuki. I know we don’t talk all the time and we do different degrees but I really love class with you and talking to you. And…I was gonna invite you on Monday, but then, you know…” he grimaces. “I told Kiki about it, but she saw you here with Yuzuri and put me on the spot.” Even under all his embarrassment, all his awkwardness and nerves, he laughs. “I’ll have to thank her properly later. I don’t think ‘Kiki what the fuck was that for’ cuts it.”

She can’t find her words. She just gapes at him, but before she knows it she says something. It barely comes out of her chest, but she manages. “I really like you too, Obi.”

His grin lights up the entire room, and Shirayuki swears she’s never seen a brighter sun or star than this.

Kiki suddenly walks up behind Obi and smacks a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, we’re going back up now.” She peeks from the side and smiles at Shirayuki. “Love your dress, looks good on you. Right, Obi?”

Obi turns to face Kiki, serious, and he says, “Thank you, Kiki, for being my friend and listening to me talk about my hopeless crush on Shirayuki.”

Kiki furrows her eyebrows, then glances at Shirayuki. “You know she’s right there, right?”

“Yeah.”

She laughs. “Cool. But I do apologise, Shirayuki, I need to drag this pianist back onto stage.”

Shirayuki nods and watches as the two cross the bar. She’s about to turn to go back to Yuzuri and Suzu, but gasps. “O-Obi!!”

It’s louder than she thought – the entire band looks in her direction. But there’s no turning back now. She clenches her fists, summoning the loudest voice she can. “Do you want to go out for dinner sometime this week?!”

The bar fills with cheers and whoops while Obi beams at her again. “It’s a date!”

Shirayuki’s breath falls from her chest as her hands fall to her knees, and she’s laughing to herself.

She tells Yuzuri all about it, even though she just watched the whole thing.

#obiyukibingo2018 #obiyuki #akagami no shirayuki hime #i'm back with more awkward turtles obiyuki HOPE YALL ENJOY :'D