Welcome to the early 2000's-- where pop punk music all kind of sounded the same but we pretended it didn't, flip phones with limited text messages and minutes were the standard, and Eijirou Kirishima is currently getting the cold shoulder from his friend--

For moving her out of his MySpace Top Ten Friends.

https://open.spotify.com/track/4KacUpvbA3Mfo05gttTjhN?si=QM1csnr0SU2m5UrgonE9hw&utm_source=copy-link

"Ow! Fuck-- Mina you just stabbed me!" Eijirou whined, leaning back to rest against the mirror as he sat perched on his bathroom counter.

"Im sorry, I can't stop laughing, it's so stupid--"

"Apprently not to Kendou!" He blinked a few times, frantically fanning his eye with both of his hands in a futile attempt to keep it from watering.

"Just admit that you were only friends with her because of Tetsu, anyway!" Mina leaned to check her matte lipstick in the mirror before leaning back into Eijirous personal space +

"Now that they're broken up, you don't have a real reason to talk to her, let alone keep her in your top ten."

Eijioru sighed, running his tongue along the back of his lip stud "I just hate being an asshole."

"Youre not being an asshole! Youre just cleaning house." She abruptly placed her hand on the center of Eijirou’s chest, anchoring him against the wall, "Look up and stay /still/ or I'll stab your eye again."

He yielded, crimson iris' tilting up to stare at the dusty bathroom light fixture as Mina applied the make up, "Is this really necessary?"

"Dude, you can't go to a show without guy-liner. People are gonna stare."

Eijioru squirmed uncomfortably as Mina took her time applying a generous amount of charcoal black around the lids of his eyes.

"There! Now you won't look like a total poser at your first show!" She winked, taking a step back to brush the wrinkles out of her plaid, hot pink skirt.

Eijirou hopped off the counter with a frown, turning to look at his reflection in the mirror--

He was sporting a shirt for a band he didn't /actually/ listen to that he paid /way/ too much money for at a store in the mall. His black hair was haphazardly bleached and dyed red with a kit he bought on sale, and now he had gobs of cheap black "guy-liner" smeared all over.

The hair he cluld definitely get used to with a proper redo-- but the fingerless gloves and over priced, pre distressed skinny jeans?

He was having trouble feeling like this was really /him/.

He didn't want to stand out too much-- hed never been to one of Tetsu's shows, or any show for that matter. He wanted to support his best friend, and if Mina said this was how to blend in-- he'd play the part to the best of his ability.

/Dance, dance
We're falling apart to half time!
Dance, dance
And these are the lives you love to lead!/

Eijirous phone vibrated from its spot on the charger, echoing obnoxiously off the bathroom tile,

"Hey, how'd you get an actual song as your ring tone?" Mina asked.

"I ripped it off of Limewire and held my phone up to my ipod speaker and recorded it." Eijirou explained as he flipped the device open to see a message from Sero.

"Your boyfriend is here to get us."

"He's /not/ my boyfriend."

"Right okay, the guys who literally wrote you a poem at graduation and taped to a CD full of songs that made him think of you--"

"Can we not do this right now?!" She shouted, "don't forget your wallet, lets /go/."

The late afternoon sun beat down mercilessly on Eijirou's back as they waded through the crowd of people.

He looked around at the sea of bad hair extensions and high tops, finding himself over stimulated, over whelmed--

Perhaps Tetsu had /downplayed/ just how big of a break this was for his band.

This was a full fledged /festival/ almost, complete with bag checks and a map of the entire site.

Since Eijirou hadn't paid for his ticket, he hadn't bothered to get any details.

And now he was regretting that decision and his promise to show up-- this wasn't his scene at all.

His eye wondered around as they entered the pavilion, distant melodies from less popular bands echoing above their heads.

"Hey, you good?" Denki nudged him, adjusting the black and white arm warmer that had began to bunch at his elbow

"Im good, great, super pumped."

The blond quirked one suspicious eyebrow at him "just stay close to me. Toshi always dances in the front, but I stay in the back. Someone broke my band new Razor last time I tried to mosh."

Eijirou had no idea what exactly Denki was talking about, but staying close to someone familiar seemed like a great plan.

This song is very appropriate

https://open.spotify.com/track/2ydUT1pFhuLDnouelIv4WH?si=2habpOzxRTG8C12MPLJlTw&utm_source=copy-link

The group of them wondered towards of the stages at the back where Tetsu's band-- Lost Cause-- was supposed to open for the much more popular Galactic Cactus.

Sero and Mina lead the way effortlessly, Denki and Hitoshi and himself straggling back.

Sweat and cigarette smoke clung to Eijirous body like an uncomfortable wet suit, rubbing against strangers had him on edge, and all he wanted was a giant glass of water after standing in the hot parking lot for two hours.

"Mina!" He called, tugging at her fishnet sleeve "Im gonna pass out if I don't get something to drink."

Mina turned around, wiping the beads of sweat off her own forehead as she spoke "there's a place you can get water over there!" She pointed one finely polished black nail over off towards a trailer. "Go, we'llwait right here!"

Eijirou nodded, maneuvering through the sea of skatecore punks to stand in line.

For the first time in about an hour, Eijioru felt like he could breath. Why had he let Mina talk him into wearing jeans when it was still 100 degrees even at almost 8pm.