Chapter Text
“Kiri, babe, what -in the goddamn world- is that ”
“ That is my favorite shirt, Mina!”
“ Jesus Christ... ”
Kirishima’s hair was still dripping wet, little droplets of water rolling down his neck and creating dark spots on the shoulders of his shirt - a beautiful one, alright? It was red with balck undertones, small roses embroidered from top to bottom - he had a crimson towel tied around his waist, securing the last bit of his privacy Ashido had yet to invade. Mina had refused to hang up the call for him to change and get ready “ You can’t dress yourself to save your life babe ” was her reasoning. Screw that . Eijirou thought. My sense of style is underrated .
Balancing his phone on a shelf inside his wardrobe, Eijirou was careful to angle his camera up - Mina was one pervy little shit and he wasn’t good with compliments about his appearance. “What do you suggest?” He asked carefully.
Ashido’s humming could be heard through the facetime call, Eijirou wasn’t looking, but the image of his friend looking up and resting a hand on her chin to think was clear on his mind.
“Remember that one house party we went, like, two months ago or so? Sero couldn’t make it because of a late-night tutoring session and all?”
Randomly searching through his clothes, Kirishima nodded, noticing only a few seconds later that Mina probably hadn’t seen that. “Yeah, what about it?”
“It was cold as fuck so you had your leather jacket on” Ashido started “But I think the shirt you had under it was quite decent. A black one if I’m not wrong”
Hmm . “I think that one is clean, gimme a sec” Now having an objective, Kirishima pulled open one of his built-in drawers, the movement almost making his phone fall from the small shelf over it. “Remind me again why I need to dress up for a TikTok?”
“Because we want to make the perfect duet so you can snatch a hot man to yourself”
“Half of that isn’t even possible” Kirishima mumbled, not really sure whether or not his friend had heard him “He also doesn’t know I exist” He said a bit louder, rummaging inside the mess that was his drawer “Which is something you should start to consider, Queen”
“But he will know! No way he could ignore a cutie like you on his mentions” Eijirou could almost hear the smirk Mina probably had on. Romance obsessed crazy pink girl.
Kirishima pulled the black shirt out of the drawer “‘s that the one you were talking about, Queen?” He held the shirt on his phone’s camera level, wiggling it around.
“Mmm- put it on, let’s see” she answered.
Eijirou obliged, taking a step back to avoid hitting his phone while changing. He pulled out his fantastically well chosen embroidered shirt , tossing it towards the general direction of his bed, and put on the other shirt. It wasn’t a bad one, not one of his favorites, sure, but not a bad one. Black, with a very simple and barely visible circle pattern, the v-necked shirt hugged his form tightly but not tight enough to be uncomfortable.
“Yes, yes, that’s much better” Kirishima heard Mina’s silvery voice through his phone “This one will look fan-tas-tic on camera, babe!” Moving to see himself better in his mirror, Kirishima made a low sound of agreement. The shirt didn’t look bad.
“Now go put some pants on, you perv”
Blushing, Kirishima hurried to turn his phone face-down. “Oh shut it”.
_____
Half an hour later, pants on, shirt on and Kirishima found himself in a heated argument over facetime with his childhood best friend about lighting, because of course it was important but god-fucking-dammit was it imperative his light source was in front of him and not by his side?
“If it’s by your side it will cast shadows on you, Kiri!”
“So?!”
“Just put the goddamn ring light in front of you, Kirishima! If you don’t I’m hoping on the next train to your place and if I do get there I swear to god-”
“Alright! Alright! Jesus, woman...”
Eijirou let his phone fall on his bed once again, moving away from it to fumble with the clutter he had on his bedside table. He really should clean all that up… And start bringing his cups and mugs back to the kitchen after using them. What a mess, Eijirou . Kirishima scolded himself. You’re a twenty-one-year-old man and your room is as messy as a teenager’s.
He had wanted his ring light on his right side because it was freaking easier that way, he would just use something to support it on his bed and be good to go, but nooo - it had to be in front of him .
“I can hear you, Ei!” Ashido’s voice came through his speakers.
Shit. He hadn’t meant to say that aloud.
“Fixed it” Eijirou announced, going back to retrieve his phone and balance it on the small support the ring light offered “Does it look okay?” Stepping back, Kirishima realized he couldn’t really see his phone’s screen, the light was too bright compared to how low he usually left his screen’s brightness level. “I can’t see anything”.
Mina’s giggling could be heard through the speakers “Max your brightness, dummy”
“Yeah, yeah...” Eijirou moved towards the phone, pulling down his notification bar to adjust the screen’s brightness “Can I record with facetime on?”
“I don’t think so” Mina replied, scrunching her eyebrows together “Not with the facetime camera on at least”
“I’ll turn the camera off then” Kirishima decided “Feels weird to not see you though”
“Aw babe, love you too!”
If he were to be pretty honest, Kirishima was starting to get unsure about the whole thing. Playing dress up and joking around on facetime with Mina was fun , but that was because they had known each other since they were five. Did Kirishima really want to duet a random stranger on TikTok simply because he thought the man was handsome? Was that even the right way to go about this? Was there a way to go about this? About what? What was he even after? Being noticed? Like a cliche shoujo manga about a kouhai trying her best to get senpai to notice her? How unmanly .
“Ei? Did the connection go funky? I can’t hear you” Mina’s voice snapped Kirishima back to reality, he breathed “Queen, don’t you think it’s weird to duet him out of nowhere? Shouldn’t I, like, ask first?”
“Honey, I thought we were over this”
Kirishima let out a sigh, sitting down on his bed “I’m not sure…”
“Turn your camera back on, let’s talk”
Kirishima complied, mostly because Mina was good at these talks. Deep down he knew he was simply doubting himself, a bad habit he got from high school, but the reassurance that he wouldn’t look like a creep dueting a stranger would do him good. Carefully, he let his phone off of the ring light support and angled it up a bit, turning his facetime camera back on.
“What’s wrong, Kiri, baby?” Ashido’s face popped back on his screen, lagging a bit “You do know TikTok was made for duets, right?”
“I know that, I guess… It’s just, I don’t know, man, I don’t wanna make a fool of myself dueting a cute video like that” Kirishima rubbed the back of his head, careful to not undo his gelled up spykes. “Also, I followed him only a few hours ago, you know… Isn’t that weird? Dueting someone you don’t know?”
“I don’t think there’s an etiquette for that” she answered, her tone honest “Back when I used to upload stuff people would duet me all the time” raising a finger, Mina continued “sure, there are weird duets, like the random dudes that would simply duet their reaction to your video, those were creepy...” raising another finger, she added to her mental list “also the gross dudes that would duet in a way the video would look almost pornographic, I always blocked those” raising a third finger, she finished “and the kids, dueting without really knowing what you were talking about”.
“I don’t think I fit any of those” Kirishima mumbled.
“That’s my point” Mina agreed, nodding her head “You’re just a small account dueting a big one, bonus points since you’ll be actually dueting the video and not just reacting to it”
“Is it okay, though? I never posted anything related to acting”
“You have those workout routines up, right?” Kirishima nodded, biting his lip. “I mean, I don’t see the problem with that, just say you’re trying out something new”
Eijirou nodded again, more out of habit than anything. Yeah, what she said made sense. “Still, queen… He’s so pretty, I don’t know...”
Mina let out a small squeal “That’s so cute, babe, you have a crush ”
“Minaa...” Kirishima covered his reddening face with his free hand, he did not have a crush “Don’t encourage me on this please, you know it’s weird”
Ashido’s face suddenly became very serious “Kirishima Eijirou, liking men is not weird , I can’t believ-”
“No, Queen, not because he’s a man! Jesus Christ, I’m gay and you know that!”
“Then I don’t see what’s weird about having a little crush!”
Pressing his left index finger against his temple, Kirishima breathed out “Queen, I don’t know him!”
“And a duet isn’t a marriage proposal! Don’t overreact it, Kiri!” Ashido raised her voice “Christ, I mean, I was joking about the crush part obviously , you can’t develop feelings for someone after watching a couple videos” His friend let out a sigh “Look, hear me out, babe. This - the whole “Should I not duet a guy just because he's beautiful and TikTok famous ” thing - is just your mind playing with you! You’re letting your intrusive thoughts take over, Kiri”
She’s right. Kirishima told himself. She’s right, you are making a duet on an app that was created specifically for that, you are not being creepy, you are not being weird. Alright.
Suddenly filled with determination, Kirishima stood up “You’re right, Queen. Overreacting is not manly. Let’s do this”
“Finally” he heard her say, sound muffled by the way he was holding his phone. “I’ll turn the camera off again” Kirishima informed.
Facetime camera turned off, Kirishima placed his phone once again in the small ring light support. Switching apps, he opened TikTok and his “Favorite” tab, KingExM’s video was still at the top of the page, the man’s pretty pout making a nice cover for it. Eijirou clicked on the video, the first lines of the dialogue ringing through his bedroom, at the bottom right of the page Whatsapp’s bright green icon was what Kirishima was looking for, he clicked on it and then on the “Duet” option right after. Waiting a few seconds for the video to load and there he was, his face - distorted by the angle - right next to KingExM’s. “So, hm… How do I-”
“I wasn’t one to duet stuff, babe” Mina interrupted “But when I did I usually practiced a few times and then tried to give it a go. Try hearing the song a few times, ya know, to memorize your lines and all”
Alright . Setting the timer to start recording only after a three-second countdown, he moved back a little bit and fixed his own position on the camera. Kirishima didn’t look bad but something was missing, the way his face looked was just way too different from KingExM’s, he was too far away from the camera but if he physically got closer his face became distorted. Eijirou tried zooming in, but, again, it just didn’t look the same.
“Queen, did he use any filter? Is there a way I can check that? Our faces don’t match no matter what I do”
“Oh! That he did, I remember using that filter too, it’s, hm…” after a few seconds of probably opening TikTok again, Mina continued “It’s the one that follows your face, here, I sent you a screenshot”
“Oh, thanks!” Kirishima switched apps, checking out the screenshot Mina had just sent him and going back to the TikTok tab to search for the filter. “Found it”
With the filter turned on, his face finally matched King’s, very zoomed in and a bit unfocused, his movements bouncier as the camera tried very hard to focus on his face time and time again. “Yeah, that’s way better, thanks, Queen!”
“Hehe, anything for my baby~” Mina giggled “Oh! Mom’s calling, I’ll take that and then call you again, okay? Try shooting it once!” She left the call before Kirishima could say anything.
Okay . Let’s do this, man .
Fixing the timer once more, Kirishima let the whole conversation play through once. KingExM had Bambi’s lines and Kirishima would have to be Faline “ Hello, Bambi ” Eijirou muttered to himself “ I said, hello! ” And then, after a few seconds, letting out a solid giggle. Should be easy .
Except it wasn’t.
By the time Mina called him again, Kirishima had already tried to shoot the duet seven times, five of which had failed so terribly he had to erase the drafts out of shame. “Queen, I’m a failure” Kirishima stated, a pout on his lips.
Ashido was clearly trying to hold her laugh, Kirishima sounded so disappointed it was cute “Oh, baby, tell me what’s going wrong”
“It’s just -” Kirishima threw himself back on his bed, raising his voice a little so Mina could still hear him “Looks fake, dunno… Like, like, his is so natural and mine is so… so fake!”
“I’m sure it’s not that bad”
“It is though...”
A few seconds passed before Eijirou heard Mina ask “Can you record your screen for me? I know you can’t share your drafts - so record it for me, please, then I can tell you how to improve it”
Kirishima had feared it would come to this “Dun’wanna” he mumbled into his covers.
“What? I can’t hear you babe, speak louder”
“I said” Eijirou sat up, proceeding to cover his face with both of his hands “I don’t wanna show those drafts to you, they’re so lame, it’s not manly at all”
“You don’t wanna show me something lame? ” Mina’s high-pitched laugh echoed through Kirishima’s small bedroom “Oh please , I’ve seen you drunk , honey - I’ve seen you high out of your mind , I’ve even cleaned your pu-”
“STOP! Stop” Eijirou intervened, face reddening by the second “Jesus, Queen, why do you gotta remember me of that , what the hell”
“‘Ha! Cause you’re being stupid, that’s why”
Eijirou was sure his sigh could be heard through the call “Alright, alright” Without getting up, he pulled the ring light until his fingers could touch his phone, messly uncoupling it from the support “But I’m only sending you the last one”
Mina giggled and waited - it wasn’t a long duet, barely thirty seconds - as Eijirou recorded his screen and sent the video to her. “There you go, I know it’s bad”.
“Let’s see~”
Kirishima heard the first lines of the dialogue playing out, picking on his thumbnail as he anxiously waited for his friend’s feedback. Hearing Ashido’s snort as soon as she unmuted herself wasn’t very encouraging, to say the least. “It’s - pfft - it’s not horrible ”
“Oh, Queen...” Kirishima flopped back onto his bed, left arm covering his face once again.
“Babe, you just - You look so stiff! Pffft - Faline wasn’t stiff, that I can tell you!”
“Ain’t helping!”
“Your - Haha - Your face! Why are you this rough , Kiri, baby, you look ready to break through a wall!”
“That’s it, I ain’t doing this - No more duet-”
“No, no, no!” Ashido raised her voice, a bit panicked “I’m sorry - sorry! You see, I said it’s not horrible! You just need to - to loosen up, baby, relax a bit and it will be perfect”
“Uugh” Eijirou groaned, he didn’t want to take Mina’s word to heart, but still… Was he that rocky? Sure, he was tense. Hell, he hadn’t done that before, he could be a little stiff.
“C’mon, Ei”
“... Fine .” Sitting up, Eijirou got closer to his phone “But I need some real advice here, what do I do about the stiffness?”
Ashido let out another snort “D’you gotta phrase it like that, babe?”
“ Mina ”
“Alright, alright - Let’s see” Kirishima heard Mina opening his video once again, the telltale dialogue playing in the background “See, hm, you gotta - When you say your lines, try saying them a tiny little bit earlier than they’re supposed to be said. I can see that you’re saying them at the exact same time as the audio, but try to do it a bit sooner”
“I - Okay, I will, but why?”
Ashido smacked her lips “I don’t know why , but it always made my duets seem more natural”
“Okay… Say my lines earlier, that’s one point, is there another?”
“Hm - I dunno babe, guess you just gotta relax? As I said, you look super stiff - so try thinking about bunnies or something”
Bunnies? Okay. He could do bunnies.
Kirishima once again set up his phone to record the duet, making sure the right filter was on and his lighting wasn’t making him look like a ghost. Bunnies. KingExM would be a cute bunny.
Wait. What?
Cute, light fuzzy ears, dropping a bit over his eyes, adorable .
What the fuck.
Pinching his arm, Kirishima scolded himself. Get a grip, what was that? Setting the timer for what was probably the hundredth time that night, he stood a bit further from his bedside table.
As Ashido had recommended, Eijirou consciously said his lines a bit earlier, trying his best to not look like a freaking stone wall. This time, he moved around a bit, shaking his head and even pouting to make his “I-wanna-be-friends-say-hello-to-me” point stronger. When the final seconds of the dialogue came to be, he let out a solid giggle, making sure to let his small - but still there - dimples appear on camera.
“Done?” Mina asked after a few beats of complete silence.
“I think so”
“Let’s see it then!”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah! Come on~ record that screen for me!”
So, Kirishima did just that. Watching the new duet for the first time while his phone recorded his screen, Kirishima went back to biting on a nail. Truth be said, it was way better - at least, Eijirou thought so - his expressions, the timing, the giggle, everything seemed more fluid. It’s cute. He’s cute.
“Ow, babe! This one is so sweet! I luv it!”
“To be honest, I like it too, Queen” After watching it a couple of times, Kirishima was sure he couldn’t do better than he had already “Looks really cute”
“Totally!” Ashido’s face was back at his screen, a big smile showing off her white teeth “The hair color difference also adds to it”
“Heh. ‘s that so?”
“Yup! Definitely!”
“That’s good then”
“Yeah! So post it!”
“Wait. Now?”
“Now!”
“But-”
“Now!”
______
By the time he had finished recording and uploading the duet, Kirishima was beat. TikTok is tiring . Turning off his ring light and setting it aside, the boy allowed himself to sprawl out on his bed. Would KingExM even see it?
Rationally, there was a chance King wouldn’t see his duet - that boy was famous , probably receiving thousands of duets a day. However, the less rational part of his brain hoped KingExM took extra care while looking through his notifications and noticed - preferably soon - Eijirou’s duet among all the others. Heavy eyelids interrupted his line of thought - maybe sleep would be a better solution than overthinking his chances.
It’s raining . Eijirou’s brain noted - before allowing the rest of his body to relax, successfully letting the sound of heavy raindrops lull him to sleep.
* sleepy_catz , KingExM and 356 others liked your video*
* KingExM commented on your video*
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