Chapter Text
Kaito sat at the dinner table a couple weeks later, eyes as soulless and barren as he and Maki's dry spell. Karin sat across from him, phone against her glass of water as she lazily leaned on a hand. He cleared his throat, signaling Karin to give him attention. She looked up at him with an impertinent grimace. "Ahem-- uh..." Her eye twitched. It seemed like she was trying to watch a video. "H-have you heard from Maki lately?"
"Mhm." She indifferently scooped some soup into her mouth. "Pretty much every day this week."
"Right. Well, is-is... he well?"
"You should ask him yourself." Her tone was overly bothered, as usual.
"Right..." His tone was overly apologetic, as usual. Kaito went to get more water. Karin took that as a sign to go back to watching her livestream. Kaito tried to brush it off. It was a shame, but he was beginning to get used to this treatment. He'd just suppress his worry a bit longer and try not to have any anxiety attacks.
Maki would surely come express what was wrong, eventually. So, in that time, Kaito tried to focus on diligently being the honor student high school senior everyone thought him to be. He studied even more, took part in even more activities and events around school, and even got up early a few times to help Karin cook the eggs for their lunches. If you thought this would successfully distract him, no, Maki just wouldn't fade from his mind. Every action was trying to seek revenge, reassurance, or justification. His thoughts would ramble in that direction. 'Ha, I'll show him by living it up watching the tea ceremony demonstration.' 'I'm sure he'd look at me if I put up a poster detailing the dress code.' 'I haven't seen him because I've been too busy with studying and hanging out with Karin.'
He knew he was lying to himself, as always, but that third type of thought constantly repeated in his mind because it left open the opportunity for the two of them to get back together and pick up where they left off after their 'busy period.' Unfortunately, it was also the one that got the most holes poked in its logic. Every. Single. Day. Kaito would see Karin texting Maki, or going to meet up with Maki, or with Maki at the grocery store, or being escorted home by him by motorcycle. The most Kaito had interacted with Maki in those weeks, in fact, was when he came outside to chide him for not wearing a helmet himself while Karin was riding. His anxious optimism that Maki wasn't actually avoiding him was quickly turning into frustration.
Maki had changed, at least in how he was with Kaito. Firstly, the overly formal "class president" way of addressing him had no sign of slipping. Then, there was his ambivalent, almost suspicious look he got whenever he saw him from afar. And, most infuriating of all, if Kaito managed to get close enough to him to look him in the eye, he'd guiltily blush and bite his lip, like he wanted to give in, but if he wanted to be with Kaito WHAT was stopping him?!?!
Whether she acknowledged it or not, Karin was changing just as much as Maki. She was being more reactive, as Maki unlocked her bratty side with an uncharacteristic streak of random flattery. What? Was she blackmailing him? If so, then why did they look so awkward around each other all of a sudden..? It was almost like they were preparing to date or something...
Oh SH*T.
Kaito got back to the dark, empty house from student council duties early. He defeatedly dropped his bag in the entry way and shook the monsoon-levels of rain off his umbrella. Karin wasn't home. Kaito checked his phone. He debated in his head whether to watch some Stella Luna or to study until his eyes bled. A high pitched cackle, barely audible over a rainstorm, from outside quickly derailed his train of thought. It was the stupid laugh that comes from someone who doesn't have a care in the world, but the voice was definitely...
Kaito opened the door before the pair could even climb the steps. Both Maki and Karin froze beneath the umbrella they shared from the glare he was giving them. It was pitch dark at six o' f*cking clock, and these two were practically glowing. It made him seethe.
Sure, Kaito had said he just wanted a fling. Sure, as a result, Maki was free to date other people. Counterpoint: Kaito DID NOT WANT THAT anymore. Especially if Maki dating whomever he pleased involved his younger sister, from whom he now stood two centimeters, maximum. Please. Please. Plleeease. He. Could. Not. Accept. THAT.
"S'up, class prez~ Anyways, li'l sis, I believe this is your stop."
"Right, thanks again for the umbrella... are you sure you don't want to come and wait for it to stop raining so hard?" Maki glanced at Kaito, likely trying to avoid confrontation.
"Naw, I should go make sure there aren't any leaky roofs at base." Sheets of rain flooded the roads, thunder and lightning providing the only light and sound other than the glistening rain. Karin reluctantly sighed and gave a sympathetic look to Kaito, acting like this was just on the two guys. Kaito used that as an in. At this point, he had unfinished business with them both, and not just Karin. He called down to them both.
"Wait for a second!" They both looked up at him, still sharing the umbrella. "I-is there something going on between you two..?"
Karin's face instantly burned a bright red Kaito had NEVER seen before (unless she was angry). It would be a funny moment in any other scenario, but here it made his heart drop.
"Kai-chan!! Y-y-you're such an idiot-face... Stupid!" she hissed and barked before darting inside. Maki got a look like he was thinking. Kaito tried to get him to meet his eyes. A crack of thunder interrupted the silence.
"What makes you say that?" Maki looked depressed at just the thought. Regardless, a streak of anger flared up in Kaito. What else could this look like??
"You're LITERALLY... SHARING... AN UMBRELLA." Kaito motioned to the stereotypical sign of love, exasperated and trying not to yell.
"Because it's POURING rain!" Maki justified. He looked in his eyes and gritted his teeth, nervously. Kaito knew he was hiding something...
But his face is just so cute. "Would you like to come inside, then?" His words were still pointed, like a tsundere saying he'd forget all the trouble of the last two weeks if they'd just go back to normal.
"I... shouldn't." Maki blushed and looked away, lowering the umbrella over his eyes.
"B-b-but..."
"I should get going." Maki turned and began the long walk back to his base. Kaito saw Maki take hesitant steps away from him. Did Maki REALLY just want to leave like Kaito's raging thoughts were telling him? Most of all, this fire of curiosity was trying to squeeze his throat shut. Fed up, he decided to follow his instinct. Without even throwing on the shoes in the entryway, he bound out of the house, rushing down the steps to Maki slowly walking down the street. As though knowing who was splashing through the puddles and rivers on the pavement to reach him, he paused. Kaito desperately gripped one of his hands between both of his. Maki didn't pull away, but he also didn't turn to face Kaito, only giving him more anxiety. His face was hidden beneath the shadow of both the umbrella and the streetlight.
"I--" Kaito's voice cracked. He realized tears were choking him. Trying to yell above the downpour wasn't doing him any favors, either. "I don't know if I'm right, but I get the feeling you're avoiding me." Maki's head lowered. Kaito waited a few more moments. The wind kicked up and sent a shiver through him. He pressed further. "Why?!! D-d-did something go wrong?!" He felt Maki take a deep breath. Water was still pouring onto his back from the edge of Maki's umbrella. He whimpered like the wet dog he felt like. Finally, Maki mumbled something. "W-what was that?" Kaito asked in an almost normal speaking voice.
"The day I called you 'Kaito'..."
The rain drops hovered in mid-air, pausing all sound outside and inside Kaito, the moment the words sliced through him. He dropped his hand in shock. The thunder cracked as though to remind Kaito the rain had never actually stopped. Maki turned around and continued, a conflicted look on his face. "You looked so delicate, but honest. It felt like, whatever you said back would be coming straight from your heart. What did you REALLY want me for..?" He coughed to cover up a voice crack. Seeing Kaito this choked up was getting to him as well. "You call out for your sister??" he stuttered in disbelief. Kaito could barely remember what had happened after that moment, but it was clear Maki had been rolling it over in his head a bit. "A-and she walks in, we're both still hard, and you want her to *stay.* I... couldn't take that to mean anything other than the obvious..."
Kaito realized he had to say what he had actually wanted to, what Karin's interruption (and Kaito's subsequent summon) had kept him from: "I like--"
"You wanted to have a threesome with me and your sister!"
*CRACKLE* *BOOOOMMM!!!*
The thunder was insufficient for the power that struck Kaito down in that moment. His soul left his body. If the streetlight wasn't already washing his pale self out, he became a literal ghost.
Maki searched his shocked expression for any hints of guilt. "... Prez?"
"What the actual f*ck?" Kaito muttered, still frozen in place. It wasn't out of offense for Maki, it was just purely incredulous at how THIS happened.
Maki waited a bit longer. The rain began coming down like bullets, wind occasionally sending their spittle flying to Maki and making his skin sting. Kaito took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. Honestly, the rain was a bit reassuring. There weren't any surprises in it (other than carbonic acid from the smog) and beat on his back consistently. Despite this, Maki noticed how red his skin was getting from this strangely aggressive sky and moved close to him so the umbrella covered them both. "Let me take you back to your place..."
Kaito wordlessly nodded and trudged along. He almost felt numb to physical sensations from all the different emotions going through him. He sorted them and packed them down one-by-one. Laughter: repressed. Sadness: reflected. Disappointment: rejected. Outrage: reabsorbed.
Maki watched Kaito gradually get closer and closer to reality again. "So, yeah. I ran because of that. If the reason Karin was always so prickly about you was something so... horrific, then..."
"I get it..." Kaito curtly responded. He quickly cracked, facepalming, "I don't get it! How did your logic leap THAT far away from the truth..?"
"Well, I never really know when it comes to you. You're like a mystery."
"An enigma..."
"Yeah--"
"An enigma as to how you can think something like that!" Maki was silent for a moment. Kaito narrowed his eyes at him. "Wait... you're still not fully convinced, are you?" Maki let out a high pitched hum, turning away from him. "You're still not fully convinced I don't PREY ON MY OWN SISTER."
"I-I-I'm just saying we should hear her side of the story too..." he squeaked.
"What 'story...'" Kaito grumbled. A conversation involving Karin would be the best to clear Kaito's name... but why did his name even have to be cleared?! He was amazed, not in the fun way, at how Maki could come to this conclusion about him.
Karin was waiting in the kitchen for the water to boil, a couple fresh towels on the table. The door opened while she scrolled through Kyoko's spam in the group text about the bet. She looked up at the two of them, clearly not expecting Kaito to have spent so much time in the rain. "Geez, that's one way to get your confessions out of the way."
Kaito, who was soaked to the bone, got a change of clothes and took a five-second shower. He exited to Maki and Karin having some tea and talking.
"Not- like-- ever?"
"Kaito's never done anything creepy out of malice or licentiousness. He's just ridiculously in his own head and anxious and doesn't take into account how normal people actually see him."
"You're saying he does sometimes act creepily, though?"
"Of course! Like, he'll sneak around the shopping mart because he's afraid--"
"NO. Karin NO." Kaito stumbled out of hiding. She stuck her tongue out at him like she'd known the entire time he was there.
"That's also a good example," she pointed. Maki turned back to Karin eagerly.
"So..." Maki was beginning to recontextualize all of this. "He's not perverted (despite all the magical girl anime) or ill-willed... He's just awkward?" Karin nodded.
"He's not shameless, but actually very a-shamed--"
"KARIN..!" By now Kaito had burst into flames and Karin was happily dancing around the fire he'd made. The others ignored Kaito's interjection. Maki looked relieved, like they'd finally gotten down to the bottom of the endless pit of Kaito's self talk.
"But, if Prez's avoiding saying how he feels, what's he tryin' to cover up by constantly draggin' you into our business?" Karin got a grin like Maki had asked the million dollar question. She patted him on the shoulder and stood, grabbing a couple snacks.
"And for that, I leave you two to talk while I watch the riveting tale of Akira on full volume in my room~"
Maki's eyes trailed after her until she disappeared from view. Were it not for how adorable his 'lost puppy' look was, Kaito may have actually taken offense to how they were talking about him when he was in the room.
He chuckled and crossed a leg over the other, drinking some tea. Maki looked at him a bit differently, holding the new knowledge that any confidence he projected was fake. "Is that how you two talk whenever I'm not in the same room with you both?"
"W-we don't talk about you all the time, like that..! Unless it's the strategy meetings..."
"Strategy for what?" he asked in instant regret of asking. Jeez. Was Kaito really that much of an impenetrable fortress of pop culture references and study tips that a plan of attack had to be made to tell him something? Maki flashed an uncomfortable smile.
"Confessing my own feelings..." Kaito nearly spat out his tea. Maki crossed his hands on the table with an uncharacteristically severe expression. "I've wanted to call you 'Kaito' for a long time, now... because I've wanted to go out with you for even longer..."
The plain, honest words hung over Kaito's head like a slow-moving, puffy, white cloud. "Y-you..."
"The time it slipped out-- your name, I mean-- I was secretly hoping you'd say mine too, and it'd all fall into place..." His delicate words gently fell in line, softly said like the sky would fall with too much disruption. Maki tried to make eye contact with Kaito, but he was looking down, blushing, making that same, tender expression as that day in his room.
"...That's wishful thinking." Kaito's voice was in a hushed tone that matched his.
Maki made a small noise of dissatisfaction. "But what're you really thinking?"
"I'm happy..." He smiled anxiously. Maki leaned over the table with a concerned expression. "But really nervous... because I don't deserve you after all the stress I've put you and Karin under..."
"That's not your bad at all... It's my assumption that caused all this--"
"But it's more than that... I couldn't say it the first time I thought it, I couldn't say it that day, and I still can't say it now." Kaito stared at the table dejectedly, but tensed when Maki reached forward and hesitantly brushed his fingertips against his hand.
"Say what?" Kaito couldn't bear to lift his head and look at Maki directly. It was glaringly obvious he had to confess his true feelings now, but that didn't make it any easier. He felt like he was about to collapse into a black hole from the internal pressure.
"I like you too." Kaito's voice weakly broke. "And this is such a lame way for a guy to be saying this, but I wanna go out with you, too..."
Maki playfully punched Kaito's forehead. Kaito looked up, trying not to let his eyes get misty so that he could see just how beautiful Maki was. He was smiling with the slightly uneven smile that never got braces, peach hair losing its color that was just waiting to be ruffled, beady eyes that sucked Kaito into their own universe, and MAN, he just wanted to kiss him then and there. "F*ck gender norms."
How absurd. "Hahaha! Yeah!" Kaito triumphantly grabbed the back of Maki's head and pulled him to his lips to cut off their laughter.