Atsushi didn't regret it.

But. . . he could tell the rest of the group did. By the time he was done belting out his off key rendition of "Last Friday Night," they all had their hands covering their ears, eyes widened in shock at how utterly terrible it sounded.

A part of him felt proud.

Chuuya was the first to react. He hesitantly brought his hands down from where they had rested upon his ears and smiled sweetly.

"Atsushi, darling. That was...." He trailed off. "Let me show you how a real idol does it." His voice turned smug at the end and Atsushi knew he wouldn't like this.

As Chuuya climbed onto the small raised area, Atsushi could have sworn he saw Dazai pull out his phone from his pocket. Oh boy. This would be a long night.

The song Chuuya picked was a duet, so Dazai just had to speak up when Chuuya mentioned this.

"I'll do it with you, chibi!" Dazai chirped, standing up. He handed his phone to Akutagawa and told him to video the whole thing.

Chuuya looked hesitant at first, but eventually relented. Atsushi supposed in the spirit of his birthday.

Dazai shot Chuuya a look when he saw the song.

"You know it, I presume?" Chuuya asked haughtily, as if daring Dazai to challenge him.

"Of course, who do you take me for?" Dazai responded, picking up the microphone.

Chuuya glared. Dazai reciprocated. Atsushi knew this wouldn't be a duet.

This would be a battle.

Atsushi sighed. Why can't he just have normal friends?

No one knew what the song was except Dazai and Chuuya, so when the group heard the opening music, everyone stopped what they were doing and started cheering.

Kouyou: "You go, Chuuya!"

Ranpo: "This is my favorite fucking song!"

The guy that worked with Kouyou and Yosano at the beauty shop: "Oh, I know this song. Fyodya, how about you?"

The guy that was clinging to said beauty parlor guy: "Um, I've never heard it. . ." Atsushi saw that blush at the nickname 'Fyodya.'

He didn't even know half these people!

Atsushi groaned because he, too, recognized the song. He be lying if he said he didn't like it though.

I mean, Hayloft. A classic, in Atsushi's personal opinion, even if it came out in the early 2000s.

Of course, Chuuya sounded amazing. Like the downtown mall's own little pop idol. Dazai wasn't too bad either, he supposed.

And of course, Dazai probably guessed the song would be by someone Chuuya likes, so he chose to sing it with him. Dazai's genius sometimes scared Atsushi a little. He seemed like he could be a mob boss, or a really powerful mafioso. Or any other high up job. Not working in a trashy mall.

Atsushi shivered. No one knew what Dazai's past was, and frankly, no one really wanted to know. Ranpo is probably the only one who knows.

The song ended and they both stepped off the stage, grinning at each other. It was the most civil Atsushi has ever seen them.

"Well, Chuuya, that wasn't too terrible. Way better than I thought it would be," Dazai sounded smug, but he looked away from Chuuya before he could see his face. He had a small smile on his face.

Chuuya couldn't see it, but boy, Atsushi could. He sighed for the millionth time that night.

All this pining is going to kill him.

He glanced over to Akutagawa, who had just finished videoing the performance. He handed Dazai's phone back to him when he walked over to him. Dazai thanked him and smiled. Akutagawa shrugged and sat back down.

He looked at Atsushi. Atsushi looked away

"U-um, who's next?" Atsushi stammered out. Why did he fucking stammer? Whatever. Who has time for these things? Dazai and Chuuya, apparantly, his brain unhelpfully supplied. Kouyou and Yosano.

Wait wait wait! What kind of things is he even thinking about?! He stopped that train of thought as soon as he could and tried to focus on the next singer.

It was Akutagawa.

Well this certainly isn't helping stop that train of thought!!

Akutagawa looked uncomfortable for a while as he fiddled with the microphone and scrolled through the song choices.

Atsushi couldn't for the life of him recall how it had been Akutagawa who had been called to the stage next.

Akutagawa's eyes almost lit up as he stared down at the screen. He must have found a song he likes, then.

The music started. Atsushi thought it sounded familiar. He glanced around the room to gauge everyone else's reactions to see if they knew the song.

Kyoka looked pleasantly surprised. The quiet guy Ranpo was with also looked like he recognized the song.

If Kyoka knew it, then it must be some emo song. She always tries to get Atsushi to listen to that music, and he complies sometimes. When he heard a few lines of the lyrics, he knew it.

Sleep, by My Chemical Romance.

Atsushi let out a small chuckle. Of course. What else did he expect?

Akutagawa wasn't the best at singing, but his voice wasn't bad to listen to. Not as bad as Atsushi's, that's for sure, but not as good as Chuuya.

At the screaming parts, he sounded really excellent. It was surprising at first. He's usually very quiet and calm. Seeing him on stage, singing to an old punk rock song in a sweaty karaoke bar, Atsushi had never been more enthralled in anything.

He couldn't look away, even as the music faded out and Akutagawa's eyes met his. He was breathing hard from singing, but his gaze never left Atsushi's until he stepped off the stage and handed the mic off to someone.

Well, mark me down as scared AND horny.

Atsushi didn't fully comprehend this thought. All he could think about was how beautiful Akutagawa looked under the flashing lights, sweat dripping down his neck as he sang.

And maybe Atsushi is too dense to realize that maybe that's not what people think about others they have practically just met.

If he had realized this, he probably wouldn't have cared anyways.

¤¤¤

Kyoka just watched her brother have a gay panic without realizing it.

She sighed, just wanting to have a normal night where she could sing her edgy emo music without anyone being overly homosexual.

Apparently too much to ask with this group.

But it was fine. Maybe if Atsushi got a boyfriend, he wouldn't be so protective over her.

She doubted it though. The day Atsushi got a boyfriend was the day she got to see MCR live. (AN: this is before MCR got back together)

Before anyone else could stand up to sing, Kyoka walked to the stage and scrolled through the list of songs.

Ah. She spotted one she actually liked.

She glanced up at Atsushi's surprised face, and without breaking eye contact, clicked the song title.

The music began, and everyone had the pleasure of listening to Kyoka perfectly imitate Billie Eilish.

Hey, it was better than her brother's singing.

This chapter feels really rushed, and for that I apologize. My cat just died and school has just ended. Motivation has run thin, I do believe. Hopefully next chapter will be longer. Thanks for understanding •^•