Take your time (Tamaki x Reader)

Escaping

Ok. Breathe in for 4. Hold for 4. And release. You make yourself do this 5 times before opening your eyes. Ok. You don't really feel better, but at least your eyes have stopped watering. Soft footsteps click down the hall. Then the door to the bathroom swings open. Oh no, you can't let anyone see you crying on your first day. You hold your breath and squeeze your eyes shut. As you try to stay silent, your hands curl into balls. Another tear squeezes out of your eye and your fingernails dig into your palm. Calm down. Stay silent.

Suddenly you hear a soft, low voice.

"Y/n? Are you ok?"

The voice sounds so familiar. You don't feel as nervous anymore.

"Uhm... yeah." You croak out the words in a raspy voice. You press your fingertips against the stall door and push it open gently. "Jirou?"

The eggplant-haired girl squats down next to you and twirls her finger around her earbuds. She presses a cool hand atop your knee. "Hey." She says gently. "Scooch." You scoot your butt further into the corner and and Jirou slides down next to you. "Hey." She says again.

"How did you know I was here?" You ask shakily. Jirou gives an annoyed chuckle.

"Hm. I kinda overheard some girls talking about you."

"Oh."

You're both quiet for a second.

You take in a breath and ask "what're you listening to?" Jirou smiles and hands your one of her earbuds. You place it in your ear and hear rock music blasting. You've never heard this song before, and you're actually kinda enjoying it. Something distracts you from listening.

"They can suck. Just, like, people. I used to be friends with them. Well, kinda. I mean- I hung out with them, but they were, like, mean. I just remember one time we were all at the mall and they said something about me. I don't remember exactly what is was, but I got upset. I told them I just had to go to the bathroom and ran into the nearest store. That's where I met Tsuyu and Ochaco. They- they were so nice to me. I had never noticed that they went to the same school as me before, so when they invited me to have lunch with them the next day, I said yes. After that day, none of the girls I was friends with before has spoken a word to me. At first it was devastating and terrifying, but now... I'm just glad I got out.         Sorry. I didn't mean to ramble."

Jirou's voice breaks and you squeeze her hand.

"Thanks for being my friend." You say.

"Hey- let's get outta here. School's ending in, like, 10 minutes anyway." Jirou heaves herself up from her crouched position with a grunt, then turns to you and holds her hand out. You smile back and and let her pull you to your feet. You've never skipped school before, but you nod happily in response.

Even though you know the halls will be empty, your heart skips a beat as you exit the bathroom. Jirou sees the nervousness in your eyes and speeds up her pace. "C'mon! I wanna show you something!" You have to jog to keep up with her and before you know it you have left the building. You go down a few blocks and then turn a corner into an alleyway. Jirou giggles with excitement and points to a red door.

When you reach the door, you push it open and the bell on the top of the frame rings. The whole room smells like vanilla and is warm and cozy. Dozens of colorful paper lanterns are strung around the walls and across the ceiling. Beanbags and hammocks of every color surround tables  throughout the room. Album covers shroud the walls from the floor to the ceiling. Wow.

"This place is amazing..." you whisper to your friend. You don't know what it is, but you're afraid to disrupt the environment. Jirou giggles again and throws her backpack onto an empty beanbag. She skips up to the counter and smiles at the boy behind the counter. This is the happiest you've ever seen her. I mean, you've only known her for a day now, but still!

She orders, then beckons to you and you step up. She gestures to the teenage boy besides her and introduces him. "This is my friend Shouto!" The boy mumbles a "hi," but not in a mean way, more like shy. He has half-red, half-white straight hair split evenly down the middle. He has one blue eye and one grey eye, and a large burn scar covers most of the right side of his face. He looks to be about your age, but you don't remember seeing him at school.

You smile and give a little wave. "Hi. I'm Y/n." He gives a polite nod and glances up at a chalkboard behind him with all the drink and food options written in neat letters in colorful chalk. Oh- he's waiting for your order. You blush and clear your throat. "Oh uhm- could I have a small Mexican hot chocolate please?"

He picks up a small cup and starts writing on it. "Whipped cream?"

"Yes please!"

He nods again and says,"alright. should be ready in about 3 minutes. You look over your shoulder and notice that Jirou isn't next to you anymore. Now she's over in a corner working on something. You walk over to see what she's doing. Oh. It's an old record table and Jirou is flipping through the records. 

"Found it!" She holds up a record in the air triumphantly and grins proudly at you. Before you can read the album cover she has carefully slipped the disc out and placed it gently on the platter. Jirou lifts up the tone arm and lays the cartridge on the shiny black record. Music fills the room and you recognize the tune. It's Wake Me Up by Avicii. You can feel a smile starting to spread across your face. Behind you, Shouto groans and Jirou rolls her eyes. "Oh whatever. Shut up Sho."

Now she turns back to you. "Ignore him. He only listens to Katy Perry. He wouldn't know a good song if it slapped him in the face." You giggle and Shouto blushes. Now it's his turn to roll his eyes, and he turns his back on you and goes back to work. Jirou hoists herself up into a hammock and you plop into a beanbag. She hangs her head and stares at you upside down, her purple hair swishing in and out of her eyes.

You relax back into your beanbag and sigh. God, this is comfortable. You close your eyes and listen to Jirou's low voice as she sings along to the song. From what you can hear, she sounds pretty good.

You hear a dinging noise and raise your head. Now you see a flock of green hair entering the room from the corner of your eye. You turn around and see a bouncing boy with wavy green hair lean over the counter and kiss Shouto on the cheek. Shouto rolls his eyes, but the second the other boy looks away he gives a small smile. The boy walks over to you and sits down in your beanbag. When he sees the look of surprise on your face, he giggles. The sound and expression of joy on his face is so contagious, you can't help joining in the laughter.

After a minute of everyone laughing, you gasp to regain your breath. The broccoli-haired boy holds out a scarred hand.

"I'm Izuku! Nice to meet you!" He gives a cheesy grin. "What's your name?"

"Hi. I'm uh Y/n! Yeah- nice to meet you too!" You grip his hand, which is warm and soft despite all of its scars.

"It was her first day and it went kinda rough. She's cool though, trust me." Jirou explains to Izuku.

He smiles a blinding grin at you. "I bet! You definitely seem cool to me! We've all been there... everything will be okay- trust me!" Shouto walks slowly over to your group balancing a tray of 4 drinks on his arm. He lowers it onto the table. Izuku reaches out to grab a mug and Shouto swats his hand away.

"Zuzu! You didn't even pay- let Y/n have her's first!" He picks up another mug and hands it gently over to you. "Hot Chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon." 

Deku squeals, "hey- same! Twinsies!" He grabs another mug before Shouto can stop him. "Ha! Thanks Shou- this is super yummy!"

You spend the rest if the afternoon in the coffee shop, chatting and laughing with your new friends. 2 hours later, after Shouto closes up the cafe, you start the unfamiliar new walk home. The day didn't turn out to be so bad after all.