Chapter Text
An absolutely self-indulgent One Direction au but gay and polyamorous without shitty management and toxicity. This idea all came from a short discord convo I had about One Direction. This is not X-Factor canon, there are some differences (mainly because the Wiki was incredibly sparse about the process). Includes hidden relationsips, two-sided beard relationships, and lots of humor, drama and fluff. It's also the shorted fic I have written in years! Not 150k+ words! Anyways, enjoy!
Shoto was not nervous. He was in line behind an older woman, with Enji breathing down his neck, about to perform in front of both a crowd of people, and have it be televised for the world. But he had no stakes in this. Enji wanted one of his kids to be famous, and Shoto had an alright voice that his father wanted to capitalize on. He didn't know that Shoto had already been accepted by a community college.
He did that to piss off the man once Shoto was outdone, kicked off the show, and could live his own life telling Enji, “Hey, I tried. I wasn't good enough.” Then he could fuck off to community college with his own money from working through home schooled high school, and find some roommates or something. Anything to get away from his father.
“Now, don't embarrass me.” Shoto ignored him, face blank as he stared ahead. The woman in front of Shoto and the teenage woman behind them looked at Shoto in pity. It was easy to tell he didn't want to be there, and by his father’s behavior, that it was his idea. “And make sure you smile! Don't look apathetic to the judges.”
“Why don't you go out and perform how you want to?” Shoto asked blandly. The woman in front of them snickered into her hand, before she was called onto stage. Shoto started to feel nervous butterflies. He didn't really know anybody who would make fun of him in real life if he did poorly, but he was still getting nervous.
The woman performed pretty poorly, and Enji looked pleased. There were some really good performances so far, and Shoto knew he wouldn't compare to the energy they’d brought to the stage.
Shoto walked out on stage when a man waved him forward, walking out into the sight of the four judges with a nervous breath intake. He already passed the ghost audition to see if he was even worth being televised. He’d be okay.
He was wearing a dress shirt and jeans, and stiffened just slightly when the crowd, sounding like mostly women, started screaming. “Hello,” Hizashi Yamada greeted.
“Hello,” Shoto responded with a polite nod.
“What’s your name and why are you auditioning?” Shouta asked.
“My name is Shoto Todoroki. I’m auditioning because my family wants me to.” The judge blinked, with Nemuri Kayama snickering to herself, while Shouta looked unimpressed.
“Do you not want to be here?” Yamada asked, sounding genuinely worried. Shoto knew Enji was fuming right now. He didn't really care.
“I'm fine with being here. I'm good with either passing or not passing. So don't worry about hurting my feelings if you don't like my performance,” Shoto answered politely.
Shouta was watching him closely, and saw his eyes drift to the side of the stage. Shoto assumed Enji was looking pissed or arguing with the stage guard. Shoto didn't look. “Tell us a bit about yourself,” Shouta said.
“I just turned 18 and if I don't pass this, I’m going to a community college.”
“To study what?”
“I don't know yet. I don't know what I want to do or be yet. I've been pretty sheltered so I think going out and meeting new people will be good for me and give me an idea of what kind of future I want to have,” Shoto explained. He was surprised when Shouta smiled, looking pleased. Yamada asked what song Shoto was performing, and it was one that he hadn't told Enji about. It was his favorite song. Enji hated that Shoto liked “girly” songs, so forbade him from singing anything sung by a woman. Just another “fuck you” to him.
The music started in the background, and Shoto took a deep breath. He wasn't too nervous, because he honestly did not care if he did poorly and was not moved forward. He sang, stiff on the stage, no body movement. Shouta grinned, while the other three judges seemed surprised for some reason.
Usually they cut off early, but they let Shoto sing the entire song, getting to the very end with the hard to hit note that he was able to reach. Once he was done, he let out a breath. The crowd was silent, before he got a standing ovation, which stunned him. He didn't think he was that good. Even the judges were standing up. Shoto wiped his sweaty hand on his pants, feeling suddenly very untethered. He didn't expect people to actually like his voice.
“You look surprised," Nemuri said with a smile. Shoto pursed his lips, unsure how to respond. “Your voice is beautiful, and that kind of range for a male voice is pretty rare unless you’ve had years of vocal coaching.” Shoto’s cheeks flushed. He was not used to compliments from people. "I'm saying yes.”
“It's a yes from me,” Hizashi offered, also grinning.
“I wasn't expecting much from your performance based on your energy, but you proved me wrong,” Sekijiro Kan offered. “A yes from me.”
Shoto numbly looked at Shouta for the last answer, even though it didn't matter what he thought, Shoto had three yesses. “Is this what you want? Because your voice is something special. Do you want this?” Shoto nodded. “Then it's a yes from me, too. Looks like you’ll be meeting plenty of people from now on. No more sheltered life.”
“Okay. Thank you,” Shoto said stiffly, and left the stage, handing the microphone off to the person who took it from him. Shoto knew he had to face his father soon.
Someone came after him, “Mr. Todoroki. Shoto.”
“Huh?” Shoto asked, still shocked by a whole room liking something he’d done.
“This is the last public audition. Meaning Bootcamp starts soon. You need to know where to go for that.”
“Oh, right.” Shoto gathered himself together, and found Enji already talking with the producer about where Shoto would be going next. He had gone into this expecting Enji would hate him for not making it in. Now that Shoto was progressing, his father was going to be a pain in the ass. Or, this could be Shoto’s way to get away from him. He had no idea. For now, he’d just go with the flow.
Knowing Shoto had to fly to New York for the Bootcamp portion in two weeks, meant quite some time away from Enji. He had to just not get eliminated and go back home. Maybe by the end of this, he’d be fully independent. Know how to talk to people and the whole thing.
He could do it.
-x-
Things were tense. Shoto had made Enji both look good and bad. And he was being very passive aggressive to Shoto in the two weeks they were in the same place. Shoto’s siblings were proud of him, but less because he’d sung well and more because he’d made subtle digs at their father. He was the only one still living at home. His siblings had all left the moment they could, and Shoto supposed he was doing the same thing.
But being the youngest sibling, the rest having cut off their father, made Shoto the last chance for Enji to have access to one of his children. Shoto was overworked and controlled for this reason. He was forced to take advanced classes and discouraged from socializing. He halfheartedly took music classes, but didn't really bother with them.
He was so busy with trying to keep away from Enji and looking at past seasons of the X-Factor for context that he paid no attention to social media. He didn't have any in the first place, but he didn't notice how much his performance had blown up online. He had no idea. And that was for the best.
-x-
Shoto had his suitcase and backpack on as he boarded the plane. Touya had set Shoto up with someone to meet him on the other side, so he had thrown Enji’s boarding pass in the women’s bathroom trash can so he could get away from him. The last few days he’d been awful. Controlling, yelling at Shoto for any little thing to disobey him. So, at this point, he was trying to escape him. Best to stay with the show as long as possible so he really didn't need to go home so soon.
Enji dug around in his bag for his boarding pass, and as he frantically searched, Shoto slipped into the crowd, pulling a baseball cap on to hide. He made his way onto the plane, and into his assigned seat. First class, sitting tight and tense until the plane started to take off, without Enji on it.
Shoto was ignoring his phone blowing up, and once it was time to put the phone on airplane mode, he didn't need to deal with his father’s abuse anymore. The texts were unhinged. Yeah, he didn't want to go back anytime soon.
For most of the three hour flight, Shoto slept, utterly emotionally exhausted after walking on eggshells with Enji the last two weeks. When he landed, he called Touya, who had him call the man he set up Shoto to stay with as he tried to become something. Shoto was generally very stressed, because he finally blocked Enji’s phone number, and just felt… off balance and nervous.
It was easy to find the man, Keigo, because he had a big poster with Shoto’s name on it. He had a friendly smile, wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. “Hey, kid!” Shoto was sure this man was only a few years older than Shoto, and he was much taller, but wasn't too offended.
“Hello. Thank you for helping me.”
“No problem! Follow me,” Keigo said with a blinding grin. Shoto rummaged in his bag, making sure he had everything, even if it would be too late at this point if he didn't have everything, but no, he had everything he needed to continue on the program. “So, Touya fill you in?”
“He said you are his long distance partner that I was unaware of.”
“That’s me! I saw your audition, you have some real talent!”
“Wow, you saw that?” Keigo turned around and lowered his sunglasses, looking shocked.
“Shoto, that performance blew up. It’s the highest viewed audition from this season.”
“Oh… really? I don't have social media.”
“Oh yeah, people liked it a lot and have high hopes. Though a lot of the popularity comes from your general appearance and behavior. A talented, handsome, very awkward young man.”
“I’m not awkward,” Shoto argued halfheartedly.
“Also the fact Shouta Aizawa already seemed to take a liking to you. Big deal.” Shoto sighed. They took a cab to Keigo’s apartment, which was very nice and likely pretty expensive. “Do you know who I am?” Keigo asked.
“Touya’s long distance partner.”
“Yes, but do you know what I do?”
“No, I don't.”
“Right. Touya did say you spaced out hard about the outside world. I'm an actor.”
“A good one or a bad one?” Shoto asked. Keigo snorted.
“A good one, I’d hope! I don't have any Razzy awards,” he laughed. “Anyways, my apartment is a safe space from the public in case you blow up big while filming.” Shoto thanked him sincerely for his help. “No worries. Touya wouldn't set someone up to stay with me for a couple months if either of us would drive the other insane. The spare bedroom is right down that hall and to the left.”
“Right. Thank you,” Shoto said, and picked up his suitcase and went to the spare bedroom. It was massive with its own bathroom. Touya had done so much for Shoto despite not seeing him for a long time. Maybe this was his apology for leaving him to live with Enji alone for the last four years after Natsuo left, too.
It had been lonely and isolating. Shoto never wanted to go back.
-x-
Keigo drove his own car to the place the Bootcamp would take place. It was basically a mid-sized hotel with performing areas, and it had been reserved for showings. None of the Bootcamp would be recorded live. Shoto was wearing his baseball cap, but he was still very recognizable, with the giant scar on his face and heterochromia.
He was getting a lot of nasty looks from other contestants. That sucked.
Keigo checked in with him as support, but left before he went into the room with every other contestant. “I’ll see you in a few weeks, kid.”
“Thank you,” Shoto said sincerely. Keigo smiled, winked, and then left. It was nice to know there was someone who would help him if he called. And he didn't need to risk meeting Enji outside, since they were not leaving the hotel until a few weeks had passed.
Shoto turned around and ran straight into a much shorter guy his own age. Well, he barreled into Shoto. All of their things clattered to the floor. Both immediately apologized and bent forward to pick their things up, only to collide with each other’s heads, and fall on their asses like complete morons.
A blonde teen also around the same age started to laugh at them, while others openly snickered. Shoto sat up, and grabbed his things, mostly unbothered. But the one who collided with him looked near tears, humiliated. Maybe this was a usual thing. “Are you okay?” Shoto asked, still sitting. The other hadn't stood up yet, so Shoto hadn't either.
"I'm fine. I’m sorry for embarrassing you,” the freckled teen quietly said in shame.
“It’s okay. I’m Shoto.”
“Izuku…” then he looked up, and finally saw who he’d run into. “Oh! You're the - ohhhh…”
“The oh?” Shoto asked.
“The one who didn't care either way! You really aren't mad about - about this?”
“It was an accident. And a little funny,” Shoto admitted. The remaining tension on Izuku’s face disappeared, and he smiled in relief. He was… pretty. Very pretty. “We should probably get up, now.”
“Of course!” Izuku held out a hand to help Shoto up, which he accepted. They ended up walking to the room every other contestant was in together, and it felt a little safer to be with someone else. Izuku seemed awkward in a different way than Shoto, who was a quiet awkward. Izuku mumbled the entire time. It didn't bother Shoto at all, so he said nothing.
While he already knew how this was going to be working, it was a relief to have everyone who passed the first auditions rounded up and explained what would be going on for the next six weeks. He had six weeks here, safe from Enji. That sucked, but was also fine. He was fine. Maybe the dust would settle by then.
“So, we wake up at 5:30, have breakfast, then vocal lessons. Group sessions, private sessions, until lunch. Then more lessons. Then dinner, then more lessons. I hope we get a chance to get some exercise,” Izuku mumbled. That didn't sound very different from Shoto’s life already, so he was fine with that. He could adapt. It would just be singing lessons instead of school lessons. And no Enji still made it much better than at home.
Shoto ended up following Izuku around all day. The whole process would start the next day. Shoto was a silent but calm presence. “Where are we going?” he finally asked.
“I was following you!” Izuku cried.
“But I was following you.”
“Oh my god. We share the same brain cell.”
“Must not be a very big one,” Shoto mused, earning peals of hysterical laughter from Izuku. Shoto smiled and scratched his cheek. “Um. Do you want to be friends?”
“Yes! Oh, but we’ll be competition!”
“Not for another six weeks,” Shoto reasoned. “Besides, if I don't make it far, I’ll still have made a friend,” he said, shy, worried the competition would be a dealbreaker. But Izuku just smiled a bit wider, and held out his hand to shake.
“Then we’re friends.” Shoto shook his hand; it was a little sweaty, but soft. Then, the door they were standing next to opened, and the blonde guy who laughed at them earlier walked out in pajamas.
“Ugh, you two again,” he groaned. “Listen, just cause your performance got a couple million more views than mine means jack shit!”
“Okay. I’m Shoto.”
“I know that! Everyone knows that!”
“This is Izuku.”
“Hello! You were Katsuki Bakugo, right?! Hizashi liked you!”
Katsuki frowned, looking Izuku up and down critically. “I don't remember your audition.”
“Ah, that’s kinda reasonable. The lady behind me bombed. She made a real impression and I was kinda forgotten, haha,” Izuku said scratching the back of his head.
“Why are you in pajamas?” Shoto asked. “It's daytime.”
“So? I wasn't planning on leaving my room until I heard you weirdos outside my door,” Katsuki said critically. “What are you even doing here?”
“I was following him but he was following me so we ended up here,” Shoto said honestly and matter of fact, while only Izuku looked embarrassed, and hid his face in his arms. Katsuki just looked at them in stunned silence.
“Wow, I don't need to worry about you two idiots being my competition at all, do I?”
“Not for at least six weeks,” Shoto replied, unoffended. “Izuku, we should find our rooms.” Izuku nodded hastily, and started speed walking away. “Wait, there’s a map over there.”
“Where?”
“The way we came.”
“Which way did we come from?”
“Yeah. You're not a worry for me at all,” Katsuki said, and shut his door.
It turned out he did need to worry about them because the roster that was emailed to them all with the list of who would be assigned to which vocal coach showed all three of them spending the next six weeks in the same vicinity. Even if their hotel rooms were far from one another. He met up with Izuku for breakfast, and everyone else seemed too nervous to glare at him for having his audition go viral.
“Shoto!” Izuku called once he saw him standing by the entrance. “It's so early, I’m going to die.” Shoto wasn't that socially clueless, he knew he wasn't really going to die.
“Let’s hope the food wakes us up a bit.” It was a buffet style, like most hotels, but they were allowed to take a lot of food. They both piled their plates up, and found the edge of an already full table. They barely fit at the edge, so they had to find somewhere else to sit if they didn't want their necks breathed down the whole meal.
Everybody was cranky at what time it was, so they opted to eat in the hall, and balanced the trays on their knees. “So, got a supportive family?” Izuku asked. “Are they keeping in touch with you?”
“No, I blocked my father for now. He was supposed to take me to New York, but I tossed his boarding pass in the trash so he couldn't come with me. My brother set me up with someone in New York to have my back if something goes wrong.”
Izuku stared at him in shock and horror. “Oh. You said you lived a sheltered life. Did you mean… a-abusive?” Izuku whispered, whipping his head around to look if anyone was listening in. But there was nobody, and they weren't wearing mics or anything.
“I guess. You're the first friend I’ve ever made, so that explains some of it,” Shoto mumbled. “My first rebellion was the audition. My dad made me come because he thought my voice was good. I was supposed to sing a different song, but I went behind his back to sing a song I chose. But he was extremely unpleasant the two weeks from the audition until the plane ride. My three siblings cut off contact when they turned 18, and I’m the youngest, so it wasn't great for me to be alone and the last one he possibly can have control of,” he explained. “I figured I have six weeks until I possibly have to see him, so hopefully stuff can mellow out during that time.”
“Did… he ever beat you?”
“Not for a long time. But he was really, really bad when I was little. He abused my mom so much she went insane. When I was five, she poured boiling water on my face because she thought I looked like him. After that, I never saw her again. I don't know what happened to her. We just never talk about her. I don't know if she’s dead or not,” Shoto explained.
Izuku’s jaw was dropped, until he snapped his mouth shut. “W-well, maybe we could room together once we get out of here! Then you don't have to go back to him. We can find somewhere else.”
Shoto’s eyes widened in shock. “But… you just met me? What if I’m actually a wacko?”
“Like you said, we have six weeks to see,” Izuku said kindly, beaming. “And, I’m really sorry your parents are bad. My mom’s a single mom - we have nobody. My dad died a long time ago, so it was just us.”
“Is she good to you? You like her?”
“I love my mom a lot. My awkwardness kinda kept people from becoming my friend. So I was bullied a lot. So she’s protective of me.”
“Thats surprising. You seem really smart and nice so far.” Izuku blushed up to his ears, smiling to himself. “Oh, we should probably start eating soon.”
“Right!” The pair scarfed their food down just in time to be called to go to lessons. Izuku wasn't scared away by Shoto’s shitty childhood. This was a real friend, right? That meant, even if his voice sucked, Shoto would be encouraging. And he found out it, in fact, did not suck.
A lot of people were “meh” but Izuku wasn't one of them. The boy’s group was mentored by Shouta Aizawa, so everyone felt super uncomfortable while singing; it was like he stared into your soul. He was also a lot harsher on TV than in the lessons. By the time they got to Shoto, everyone was feeling comfortable enough with him, but it was with each other that there was strife.
Shoto really didn't know if he did well, but nobody laughed at him, so he took that as good. Izuku was beaming brilliantly. Shouta was smiling, too, and then moved on to the next. He was testing their range capabilities. And the only other man in the room who was able to go as high as Shoto was Katsuki, but his voice was a completely different experience from Shoto’s. Raspy and intense and harsh but still very nice to listen to.
He smirked at Shoto and Izuku’s looks of surprise.
Shouta pushed them hard. So much so that every single one of them left for lunch with their throats sore. “You were surprised, jackass,” Katsuki said, shoving his way in front of Shoto in the lunch line.
“I didn't watch any of the other auditions,” Shoto replied. “I was surprised. By you and Izuku.” Izuku stammered something neither of them understood. “It sounds like you gargle rocks, but in a good way.”
“Hah?! What the fuck kind of compliment is that?!”
“I agree! What kind of rocks, do you think, Shoto?” Izuku asked, clearly mocking Katsuki.
“A fancy rock. Like a geode or something.”
“You two are fucking idiots.”
“I thought we established that when we got lost yesterday.”
“Oh, that made it clear you're both fucking dorks. But today… I can't rule out you being talent competition. I'm gonna surpass you so hard it’ll kill you dead,” Katsuki threatened.
They ended up sitting together outside, and talked about the others in their group. It was mostly men in their twenties and thirties, and the three of them were the youngest, just barely out of high school. “That just makes us more durable.”
“Our brains are underdeveloped. Do you think that’ll be to our disadvantage?”
“Hah?” Katsuki barked at Shoto.
“Brains aren't fully developed until twenty five.”
“Nah, our brains are growing, while their clunky ass’s are declining. We’re better off.” Shoto hoped that was true.
The second batch of vocal coaching had to do with a lot of breathing exercises. While Izuku couldn't hit the highest pitches, he was able to sing the longest notes, at least out of the three of them. Katsuki had the hardest time with breath control, but seemed fully ready to jump in to improve.
By the time dinner came around, all of the men, regardless of how developed their brains were, were exhausted, and while they were hungry, they were also tired, so ate at a slower pace. They finally were released at 7 PM to go off on their own. Izuku immediately headed down to the gym, with Katsuki following, arguing that he was stronger than either of them.
Shoto knew that was true of him, because he wasn't super into working out, but he didn't want to be alone, so he went with them. Well, they all changed clothes, first. And it looked like most people didn't end an exhausting day with a workout, because there were few people in the gym.
Finding a vending machine attracted all of Shoto’s attention, and as Izuku and Katsuki competed with who could do more pull ups, Shoto ate an extra large Twix bar, sitting by the window. He could see the city lights from where they were.
“Are you not going to work out, Shoto?” Izuku asked.
“No. I’m already tired,” Shoto replied.
“Are… are you eating a candy bar?! While we’re working out?”
“The caramel in the candy bar is giving my jaw a work out. Shouldn't that count?” Izuku was horrified while Katsuki started laughing.
“That does not count. You have to keep healthy, Shoto!”
“I really don't think one candy bar is going to hurt me. I usually eat a very strict diet regimen.” Realization came across Izuku’s face; this was not the norm for Shoto. He relented, but threatened him with consequences if he ate sweets every single day. Shoto raised his bicolored eyebrows. “What kind of consequences?"
“Hmm. I’ll have to think about that,” Izuku said, with a mischievous grin. Shoto didn't think it would be anything bad or painful. He ate his candy in peace, and they eventually headed back to their own rooms to decompress and sleep. Shoto took a long shower and collapsed into his bed.
He smiled into his pillow. If Izuku didn't get tired of him, he had somewhere to go after all of this died down. Because he didn't really see himself becoming some super star. He wasn't super star material, which was what this show wanted to produce.
-x-
It appeared Katsuki was a friend now, too, because they spent most of their days together. He bickered a lot with Izuku, while Shoto just existed, for the first time, content in some chaos. The quiet moments were peaceful, but the noise was also a good distraction. And they both seemed to like Shoto enough to keep him around. It felt wonderful. He had friends. And Shoto didn't plan on going home after this, so he wasn't going to say goodbye to them forever or anything.
As long as he didn't mess things up with them.
Days passed, and Shoto found himself enjoying his life for the first time. Singing was fun when he wasn't doing it alone and at the order of his father. Shouta had a lot of faith in him, it seemed. Shoto was of the idea that the man could tell he had a difficult upbringing. Just… the way he looked at him sometimes, it was like he was encouraging him in a different way than everyone else.
It was nice, to have an adult seem to actually care about him, even if it was just trying to turn him into a professional music artist.
A week in, they started having to harmonize with each other, and sang duets. Some people sounded awful together, and Katsuki was clearly working very hard to not laugh. But he wasn't laughing when he sounded like shit with everyone else, too. His voice didn't match with anybody, but he didn't seem too bothered by this. He wanted to go solo.
Shoto dominated over the people he dueted with, while Izuku got lost with stronger voices. When it finally came to see if they were as compatible as singers as they were as strangers running into each other, Shoto was pleasantly surprised that he and Izuku sounded very good together. Shoto’s voice was stronger but Izuku’s was extremely complimentary. They grinned at each other.
“Katsuki, you try with them,” Shouta said bluntly. Katsuki seemed reluctant, but with a firm look, he acquiesced. They tried the same song, but Katsuki stepped in when he was told to, and he ended up fighting Shoto for dominance, and the three of them together were really powerful.
The room was shocked, and Shouta grinned in a feral way. “I want to be a solo artist,” Katsuki said quickly.
“We’ll see.”
The blonde looked unhappy and worried. It was okay, Shoto and Izuku were both happy they sounded good together. Even without Katsuki.
At lunch, they sat at the same table with a few of the girls, who seemed to be in the same situation as the trio. Three of four were fine being a possible group in the future, while the fourth wanted to solo.
Shoto asked Izuku, “You want to be solo, right?”
"I'm fine either way! As long as I like a bandmate. I wouldn't want to work with someone I didn't like. But I like you a lot! Singing with friends would be really fun.” Shoto smiled shyly. “How about you?”
“I never really thought I’d even get this far, but it sounds fun.” Then he turned to Katsuki, who stiffened under the attention. “It’s cool if you want to go solo. I'm sure you can do it,” Shoto said, fully sincere. The blonde’s shoulders relaxed just a bit at the statement. “But why are you averse to a group?”
“I barely know you two. Sharing my career with two near-strangers isn't a promising idea,” Katsuki said defensively.
“Oh, that’s reasonable,” Izuku nodded. “Well, we have a month left. But if Shouta tells us we have to or we can't go forward, we’d have to make some hard choices.” Katsuki nodded, and said nothing more, while Izuku and Shoto talked about ideas, how both of them had never really tried serious song writing. And Shoto started to picture a future he actually looked forward to.
-x-
They had a sleepover one night, staying in Katsuki’s since his room had the best view. They were playing with fire, staying up late when it was mandatory to get up at 5:30, but they just wanted one night of “normalcy”, though a sleepover with friends was anything but normal for Shoto.
They had spare blankets and pillows on the floor while Katsuki was on the bed, and they watched a movie. Shoto fell asleep almost immediately, but when they woke up, it was clear both of his friends had stayed up later, as they consumed an alarming amount of coffee.
And their performance suffered. Shouta looked at them in disappointment. “What on earth is going on today?”
“We didn't get much sleep,” Izuku admitted shamefully.
“Why not?”
“...”
“We had a sleepover and watched a movie,” Katsuki sighed.
“Shoto is fine.”
“I fell asleep early in the movie.”
“I see. You two, go sit down. You're out for the rest of today. I don't want you damaging your vocal cords.” The two walked to the chairs in the corner, heads bowed. Shoto realized quickly he enjoyed singing with Izuku far more than solo, even if he was still good at it alone. His friends moped in the corner all day, and vowed to have no more sleepovers if they had to get up early in the morning.
During dinner, Shoto asked, “So, how was the movie?” and earned a middle finger from Katsuki, and a suffering sigh from Izuku.
-x-
There was a lot of drama in week four. Shoto got sick after breakfast, vomiting his guts out in the toilet of a random bathroom on the first floor, while Katsuki tried to track down a doctor on set, of which there were few.
Shoto was obviously exempt from any work that day, and Izuku and Katsuki stayed with him all day. He had blood taken when poison control came when Shoto just could not stop vomiting. It was very scary, especially when it became clear Shoto’s food had been spiked with Ipecac, resulting in every room being searched.
By the end of the day, one of the men from their coaching group was arrested. Shoto spoke to police, but didn't want to press charges, because that was a headache he just didn't want to deal with. The guy was still taken out of the hotel in cuffs.
Shoto recovered in a few days, but singing was out of the question for a few more. His throat was raw beyond belief. Thankfully, Izuku and Katsuki didn't stick with him the entire time, so they had some training time while Shoto just lounged around in his room all day, bored but taking advantage of the opportunity to rest.
-x-
Week five, things started to get real for everyone. Nervous, knowing they only had one week left until they knew whether they were staying or not. Shoto worried for himself, hoping that he and his friends either all passed or all didn't. He didn't want to part with them. But most people had improved a ton since the training started, so the quality had changed. He couldn't point at the same people as from the start that he didn't think would go far.
And it became clear the trio were going to be paired together at the end. They started having sessions with Shouta after everyone else was done as a group. Shoto hoped Katsuki wasn't too upset. They did sound really good together, but it was a little more complicated to sing with three people than just a solo. They had to figure out which parts to sing.
"I'm putting you three in a group,” Shouta announced to them at the end of a night session in the middle of the final week. “How do you feel about that?”
"I'm good with that!” Izuku said excitedly, with Shoto nodding in agreement. They looked to Katsuki, who sighed.
“Alright.”
“Good,” Shouta grinned. “The three of you are all individually talented, but as a group, you excel. I expect great things from you three.”
“Thank you,” Shoto said politely. Shouta nodded, and dismissed them. They headed to Katsuki’s room, and just sat on the bed and couch in silence, before Shoto spoke. “Sorry that this isn't what you wanted, Katsuki.”
The blonde sighed, flopping onto his back on the bed. “It’s fine. I like you guys. Maybe being in a group will be fun. I don't know. We’ll see. Besides, we could all be fine on our own, probably. If the group breaks up later.” Shoto nodded. “Guess we need to come up with a band name.”
“Oh, yeah!”
So, they brainstormed, trying to come up with some mix of their names that worked. But they were coming up short. Until Shoto looked at their reflections in the hotel window. “Traffic Light,” he said, interrupting Izuku’s babbling.
“Hah?” Katsuki asked, baffled.
“Our hair. We look like a traffic light.” Both of his friends and future bandmates looked stunned, before they started to laugh. Shoto wasn't sure if that was a yes, until they both vehemently agreed, absolutely loving it.
In the morning, Traffic Light told Shouta their chosen band name, and for the first time in the last nearly six weeks, he laughed. “I love it. Alright, Traffic Light.” Shoto smiled.
The week passed quickly, and soon they were due for their Bootcamp auditions, which would help the judges decide who was progressing to the next stage, the Judge’s Houses. Shoto was pretty confident Traffic Light would pass. He also was fairly sure of which of the guys would pass, considering the trio were now in the group category.
It was probably going to be Mirio, Shinso, Neito and Ken, who was the oldest. They were the best of them. All a couple years older than the trio, but still in their twenties.
-x-
The day came to do their Bootcamp audition after all their training. Shoto was very nervous, as was Izuku, but Katsuki was sure they were going to kill it. Their chosen song was approved by Shouta, and he seemed pretty confident in their potential. They unfortunately didn't get to watch the other auditions, but that meant they wouldn't have an audience for their first real group performance. Which was good for now. But if they passed this, and the judge’s house, they’d be singing in front of massive crowds, on TV.
That was very scary, but also, at the same time, Shoto wouldn't be alone during it. That was a relief.
When they walked out onto stage, all the judges were happy to see them, pleased they’d become a group. They each had a mic, and when the music started to play, they did their very best. And while they clearly sounded very good together, their stage presence was not great. Especially Shoto, who stood in one spot the whole time while Katsuki was all over the place, and Izuku just shuffled around.
But what mattered most for now was their sound. They could work on the rest of the performance later.
“Good work, boys,” Hizashi praised. “You sound very good together.”
They were not told if they passed or not, and left. “Our stage presence sucks,” Izuku said. “We gotta work on that.”
“You both gotta work on it. I was fine,” Katsuki argued. “You both gotta learn to move around! Just standin’ still is boring as fuck.”
“How’d you learn to move around like that?”
“I can't stand fucking still for long.”
“ADHD powered stage presence,” Shoto mused. Katsuki slapped his shoulder, and Izuku laughed. “Do you think we’ll pass?”
“Yeah,” Katsuki said confidently. Shoto latched onto his confidence, and by the end of the evening, everyone had gathered, and were either cut or approved to move on. And Shoto’s prediction about the boy’s group was right. Katsuki’s prediction of their own status was also correct.
They passed onto the next phase.
And their mentor would not be Shouta this time, but Nemuri. She was working with the groups. Traffic Light was the only boy’s group this time. The rest were women, mostly in their 20s and 30s, but there was a surprise group of older women. Again, the trio were the youngest.
Two of the groups auditioned together, while Traffic Light and Rainy Season were put together during Bootcamp. “Why Traffic Light?” Ochako asked while they were waiting to check out of the hotel. There would be a two week break before the Judge’s Houses, which Nemuri was in Barcelona. So Shoto was flying out of the country.
“Our hair looks like a traffic light,” Shoto answered. Those in the vicinity who had passed laughed (the ones who hadn't were too morose to laugh) at the news.
“I think it's great,” Izuku beamed. “So, your group gets along?”
“Yeah! We made friends. It seems like you guys did, too.”
“Yes, we became friends on day one. Day two for Katsuki.”
“You guys sound good together?” Mina asked.
“Hell yeah we do,” Katsuki bragged.
“Our stage presence needs some work,” Izuku admitted with a bashful smile.
“Oh, us too! I was all over the place, Tsuyu just stood still.” That was nice, they weren't the only ones who needed to work on that aspect.
When they left the hotel, Shoto grew depressed quickly. Izuku and Katsuki would be returning to their homes until the next flight. “Are you staying safe somewhere?” Katsuki asked, filled in on Shoto’s shitty father.
“I hope. Keigo might let me keep staying with him.”
“Keigo Takami?” Izuku asked, shocked. Shoto nodded. “How on earth do you know him?”
“My brother is his long distance boyfriend. I hope he’ll let me stay.”
“You can come with me for now if you need to. Should call him first,” Izuku encouraged kindly. So Shoto did, but Keigo was already in the parking lot to pick him up. Shoto was allowed to stay with him until the next stage. Shoto was filled with relief, and the man seemed genuinely fine with Shoto staying with him.
He hugged Izuku and Katsuki goodbye, planning on talking on Facetime as much as possible, and promised to see each other in two weeks. They would keep practicing on their own, and on video calls.
Shoto was still very sad when they drove away. He’d miss them. He’d become so quickly attached to them both.
They each texted once they’d gotten home, Katsuki taking the longest since he was the furthest.
Shoto realized the only way they could stay in proximity was to make it in this, and become a band. So, his practice took center stage in the break. Keigo wasn't home much, so Shoto singing didn't bother him, and he was otherwise a good guest.
When his siblings texted him, asking how it went, they were surprised but happy he’d made friends.
Man, Enji’s gonna be pissed you’ll share the stage with two other people, Natsuo texted.
You still have him blocked? Touya asked.
Yes. I haven't been contacted since I blocked him on the flight. I don't want to speak to him. Plus, even if the band thing goes nowhere, Izuku offered to live with me as roommates in the future.
That’s great, Sho! I'm so happy you made friends! Fuyumi said.
Thank you, I am, too. I hope I don't have to see Enji for a long time.
He got agreement emojis from his brothers, before the conversation ended for now.