Defying Expectations (Sayaka x M!Reader)

Putting on your headphones, you hit play on your music player and starting rocking out. As the SHSL Drummer, you were practicing your skills, using a song from your favourite singer, Sayaka Maizono. You really liked her music and enjoyed a concert where she was performing in Akihabara. As fate would have it, the two of you just so happened to end up going to the same school. Your band wasn’t very popular, causing the egocentric lead vocalist of your group to leave and thus causing the whole band to split up. However, thanks to your practice, you managed to win a few awards for yourself, thanks to speed drumming competitions. Despite your young age, you were the fastest drummer in Japan.

Rocking out in the music room on the fourth floor, you were so distracted by your drumming and the music playing that you never noticed someone walking into the room. After a few more minutes, the song finished.

“You are as good as they say,” a girl with long blue hair told you, grabbing your attention.

“Thanks, Sayaka,” you replied with a light smile. You weren’t the most social person, hence why you were the drummer and not the singer of your band. Your vocals were decent enough, but not quite as good as the lead vocalist of your old band and not even close to Sayaka’s level. You were usually in the background and that was more than okay for you.

“Hey, (YN), do you mind if I ask of a favour? I think I’ll know your answer since this is pretty short notice, but my record label just fired our backup drummer and we have a concert coming up this weekend. I was wondering if you’d be willing to help us out.”

“I don’t see why not. I don’t have anything else to do this weekend, and besides, I’d love to help you out regardless of what you needed.”

Sayaka couldn’t seem to contain her happiness from your response. “Thank you so much! You have no idea how much I appreciate this! Are you sure it isn’t going to be too much of a hassle to learn our songs in just a few days?”

“That depends, do you have any brand new songs for this concert?”

“No, it’s all of our usuals. We did have a few songs we were using from the record we made last month, but nothing more recent than that.”

“It’ll be fine. I’ve already learned all of them.”

“Y-You’re joking, right?” she asked, staring at you in disbelief. Seeing this, you decided it’d be better to just show her. With that in mind, you started playing 15 seconds of every song her band had written. After about 5 minutes, she realized you were serious. “You really went out of your way, huh?”

“What can I say? I’m a really big fan of yours,” you explained with a light smile on your face. Sayaka blushed slightly.

“Alright, just give me one minute,” she told, pulling out her cell phone and calling someone. “It’s me. Yes. I found another drummer for the concert. He’s really good and knows all of the songs already... Oh, I didn’t ask yet. I’ll ask him in a little bit and get back to you. Okay, bye,” she said to the person over the phone before hanging up. “I forgot to ask you how much you charge for playing for us.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that, huh... Well, this might sound a bit odd, but perhaps you could let me to take you out on a date.”

“H-Huh?” Sayaka asked, caught a little off guard. Clearly, she didn’t expect this answer, but even so... she smiled. “Well, that works for me. Although, we will have to make it a private one.”

“That’s fine by me. I would have preferred it that way, anyway.”

“Well then, I’ll get the rest of the girls to come over to the school for practice tomorrow afternoon. Thank you so much, again,” she told you, giving you a quick peck on the cheek before heading out. You weren’t expecting that, but you certainly liked it. You decided to practice for a little longer before heading out yourself.

A few days passed and before you knew it, the day of the big concert had arrived. You had to mentally admit, you were a little nervous. You may have done a few public concerts with your old band, but that was just a couple hundred people in the audience at best. The sold out concert you were playing at was looking to be about twenty thousand in the live audience, with who knows how many watching the concert on television at home, including your father and sister. After taking a few deep breaths and after seeing Sayaka’s all-so-sweet smile, you knew you could do it. And given the cheering, you could tell everything was going well.

“Thank you all so much for coming! You’ve been amazing tonight!” Sayaka called out to the audience. “I have to thank someone else too. Our new drummer, (YN)!” The audience continued cheering, though now it was for you as opposed to Sayaka’s group. Sayaka looked back to you and smiled while lightly blushing. This, naturally, caused you to smile right back to her.

The group of you all left the stage and went backstage. The five girls and you all congratulated each other for an awesome job. All of a sudden, the six of you heard some clapping from behind you. “Well done, all of you. I’m certainly impressed,” a man told you as he walked over to you.

“Mr. Akiyama? I thought you were in Osaka for the week,” Sayaka said, sounding a little shocked.

“I came back a day early. I wanted to see your concert, as well as the hidden talent that you were hyping up, Sayaka,” the man said, looking to you. “My name is Sadao Akiyama. I’m their agent. Here’s my card,” he told you, handing you a business card. You calmly took it after thanking him. “I must say, Mr. (LN), I know Sayaka told me about your skills before, but you still managed to defy my high expectations. If you’re interested, I’d be more than willing to get you on our record label. You’d be paid very handsomely and we’ll see what I can do for other benefits as well.”

“I will need a little time to consider it, since I’m still in school, but I will keep your offer in mind. Thank you very much, Mr. Akiyama,” you replied, still a little surprised from the sudden turn of events.

“Anyways, I have to get back to the office. We’ll talk more about the concert tomorrow, girls.” With that, Mr. Akiyama took his leave.

“So... Now what?” one of the girls asked.

“Between you and me, I’m ready to call it a night. This was our best concert yet!” another one exclaimed.

“Yeah. I’ll head back to Hope’s Peak with (YN). I’m more than ready to get some rest,” Sayaka mentioned.

“Hey Saya... you might want to let go of his hand before taking off. Press might get the wrong idea, you know,” one of the others suggested. It was only then that either of you realized that you were holding hands. She suddenly let go of your hand, blushing slightly in embarrassment, as did you. Within the next few minutes, the two of you walked into a limo and were on your way back to the academy.

“... I hope you do it,” Sayaka told you.

“Huh?”

“Mr. Akiyama’s deal. We’d love to have you, the crowd loves you, and well... so do I,” Sayaka admitted. Your crush, Sayaka Maizono, actually admitted that she was in love with you. You were completely surprised, and without thinking... you suddenly kissed her.

“Sayaka... I don’t know what else to say, other than I love you too,” you admitted. The two of you then kept kissing all the way back to the academy. A few days ago, you would have said this would be something you’d never expect. Then again, over the past few days, you defied a lot of expectations, haven’t you?