Chapter Text
Final exams came and went. You felt that you did well on them, but there was no way for you to know for sure until your grades came back. All that was left for you to do now was the show. Your first live show, with someone you adored deeply.
You knocked on Kaito’s door gingerly, and rushed footsteps preceded Kaito swinging open the door to greet you. A cheerful grin spread across his face as his eyes met yours. He was already wearing a backpack, presumably containing his costume and various other things.
“Are you ready?” He asked, breathlessly.
“I- I think so!”
“Let’s go!“ He took your hand in his and began walking at a brisk pace, but not so fast that you could not keep up. You both exited the building into the dim light of dusk. You squeezed Kaito’s hand nervously as you walked with him. You felt like no amount of practice and preparation could ever calm your nerves completely.
“Are you alright?” Kaito asked. He sensed your tension and felt the tightness of your grip.
“I’m a little nervous,” you admitted. You squeezed Kaito’s hand tighter as you said this, and he gently squeezed your hand in reassurance.
“Your performance will be wonderful,” he said, smiling softly down at you. “I believe in you!” You smiled back weakly. You were still nervous, but Kaito’s faith in you made you feel a little better.
All too soon, the club came into view. Your stomach churned. Kaito trusted you that you would support his performance perfectly, but you could not trust yourself. You feared ruining Kaito’s performance above all else. How could a seasoned performer like Kaito possibly trust a rookie like yourself?
You and Kaito entered backstage through the back door, and Kaito led you to a dressing room.
“Oh, I don’t need to change,” you said. “I just thought I’d wear—“
Kaito had rummaged through his backpack and produced an outfit you hadn’t seen before.
“What’s this?” You asked.
“I should’ve had you try it on sooner, but I wanted to surprise you,” Kaito said, offering the outfit to you. “I designed an outfit for you, and Luka helped make it a reality.”
You took the outfit in your hands. To your amusement, the outfit had a similar punk theme as Kaito’s Majestic Stone outfit, yet the material was soft and little details in the outfit were tailored to match your personality. The outfit was even in your favorite color.
“Kaito…” you pulled him into an embrace. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet!” He chuckled, pushing a strand of hair out of your face. “Try it on and see if it fits you.”
Somehow, it fit you overall. Some parts of the outfit were a little too snug, but the outfit was still comfortable enough to wear and perform in. You came out of the dressing room—Kaito had just come out of the other dressing room, and was adjusting his gloves. He froze in awe as his eyes met your figure.
“What do you think?” You asked, doing a little spin to showcase the rest of the outfit.
“You’re stunning,” Kaito said, taking your gloved hands in his and kissing them gently.
Before you knew it, set-up on stage had finished and you both were being introduced to the crowd by the MC. Anxiety suddenly gripped you as you realized your moment to perform had finally arrived. You had rehearsed with Kaito many times in preparation, but no amount of preparation could alleviate your anxiety, it seemed. Kaito headed toward the stage, but stopped short as he realized you weren’t coming with him. He turned back towards you quizzically.
“Are you okay? It’s time for us to perform.”
You shook your head. “I don’t think I can do this,” you said. “I-I’ve never performed in front of a crowd before, not like this. I don’t want to let you down.” You gazed at your feet, ashamed of yourself.
You saw movement in your periphery, and you looked up to see Kaito holding out his hand to you with a soft expression.
“You could never let me down,” he said. “I don’t care if you make mistakes. I don’t care if our performance is messy. This will be the best show we’ve ever done, because we’re doing it together.”
Your expression brightened, and you took his hand. “Yeah,” you said, “let’s give them the best show they’ve ever seen!”
Kaito gripped your hand in his and you both ran up to the stage. You took your place in front of your laptop and controller, and Kaito took his place in front of the microphone.
“Apologies for the delay,” he said. “This time, someone special is here with me. This is my partner in music”—he turned toward you, expression tinged with adoration—“and the love of my life.” You shrunk in your seat at the affectionate introduction as scattered whoops from the audience filled the air. You didn’t waste any time, however, and you began the music.
Loud but beautiful electronic music dispelled the silence, and Kaito began dancing around the stage along with it. You were very new to the concept of performing live with electronic music, but you did your best to automate the setlist and assign different instruments to different buttons on your controller.
“Usotsuki no kamisama ni senaka o muketa
Itazurana hohoemi wa yozora ni tokeru
Ikareta rajio no supiikaa kara wa mada
Tsuyogari to koukai no tasukete”
His voice rang out above the music, powerful and angelic. As he performed, you found he often lingered near you, as if he wanted to draw the audience’s attention towards you. The extra attention flustered you, but you enjoyed Kaito’s closeness and found him performing near you to be reassuring.
After roughly thirty minutes, the set ended and was followed by an eruption of cheers from the audience. You could hardly believe that you managed to perform live for the very first time, and with minimal mistakes at that. Kaito took your hand and brought you up to your feet, and raised your arm into the air as if he were a referee raising the arm of the victor at a boxing match. Whoops filled the air as he scooped you into his arms and ran offstage.
Kaito carried you all the way into the dressing room and he set you on one of the chairs.
“We did it! You were wonderful!” He said, panting, still out of breath from carrying you and from performing. He held both your hands in his in a firm but gentle grip.
“R-really?” You said.
Kaito kneeled in front of you, so tall that he could still make almost level eye contact with you. He released both your hands so he could cup your face.
“This was the best performance I’ve ever done in my life, and it’s all because of you.”
Kaito, softly holding your face in his hands, drew his face gradually closer to yours, eyes hooded. You felt your face grow hot as you realized what was happening. As you closed your eyes, you felt Kaito’s soft lips touch yours. You wrapped your arms around him, drawing him ever closer. His kiss was gentle and chaste, as if you were something treasured that he feared breaking. The moment seemed to last an eternity, yet still ended all too soon. Kaito withdrew, but pressed his forehead to yours, still holding your face in his hands.
“You’re so precious to me,” he whispered, and he pulled you into a strong embrace. You clung onto him tightly in return, soaking up his warmth.
After changing out of your costumes, you both walked back to campus. You had your arm wrapped around Kaito’s, and your fingers were intertwined. Your heart raced, and the soft stroking of Kaito’s thumb against your hand only served to make it beat faster. You were still soaring high from the adrenaline of your first performance. More than that—Kaito kissing you still weighed heavily on your mind. You both were quiet as you walked, but it was undeniable that you had each other on your minds. Kaito especially seemed a little anxious—was he worried that he had gone too far?
When you got back to your dorm with Kaito, you and he ended up deciding to just watch a movie for the rest of the night. You both had all these plans for what you were going to do when you got back—video games, karaoke, the like—but you both were a little exhausted and had come down from the adrenaline high.
As the lights were turned off and as soon as the movie began, you pulled a blanket over yourself and Kaito as you settled and lay against his chest. He held you close in his arms, massaging circles into your back. You both were much more interested in each other than whatever the movie was about—one needed the other’s touch as if it were a necessity like food or water. Kaito faced the TV, but secretly only you were on his mind. Instead of watching the TV, you gazed at Kaito as the blue light of the TV illuminated his features.
As his eyelids began to droop, you gently cupped his cheek with one hand, bringing his attention towards you. He leaned into your touch, smiling softly at you. You pulled yourself closer to Kaito and kissed him, catching him by surprise. He pulled you into a tight embrace, melting into your kiss. You could feel his heart beating against your chest, and he could feel yours against his. Your heartbeats seemed to whisper some unspoken confession of adoration to each other. Eventually, your lips parted, but Kaito continued to leave tender kisses on your cheeks and forehead. You lay against his shoulder, content in his company. Kaito wrapped his arm over yours, intertwining his fingers with yours.
Kaito turned off the TV, leaving both of you in the dark. Both of you were tired and said very little, but little needed to be said. It was clear what strong feelings were felt between the two of you without having to say a word. You were soon clutched by sleep as you lay in Kaito’s arms—and honestly, you had the best sleep you’ve ever had.