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The sun was just peaking over the horizon. It was early in the morning and the Valkyrie pair were up and bustling packing up for a trip. Shu was back home from France for a few weeks, and Mika couldn’t be happier. He was in the most cheerful mood when Shu was around, excited to just spend time together. Little did the younger boy know he was in for a treat. Mika was surprised with the proposition they'd go on a mini getaway together. Shu knew Mika had been working very hard lately and they both deserved a vacation. So the two packed up and got into Shu’s car (some kind of big fancy shiny car that Mika definitely didn’t know the name of) and off they went to the Itsuki family’s summer holiday home.
Mika slipped into the front seat, yawning against his will, and waited for Shu to pack up the back. It was earlier then they’d usually get up for practice, but despite that Mika didn’t feel tired at all. A car trip with his Oshi-san! He couldn’t hold in his excitement as he practically vibrated in the seat. The trunk shut with a thump, and Mika watched through the mirrors as Shu walked around the car with Mademoiselle in his arms. Of course she would come too. Shu opened up the side door and safely placed her into her car seat, careful to properly buckle her in so she would be too jostled during the ride. She was wearing a matching blue floral sundress and hair ribbon to match Shu’s equally floral (and fruity) blue button down. Mika wished he was wearing some kind of matching Hawaiian shirt to fit in with the other car goers. Then he giggled to himself at the thought of them all rocking equally ugly vacation attire, it really was like a family trip! Shu noticed his giddiness as he got into his own seat in front of the wheel.
“What on earth has you in such high spirits, we haven’t even started driving yet.”
“Ehehe, 'm jus so excited to get to go on vacation like a lil' family!” He beamed, too bright for Shu. He grabbed his sunglasses from his purse, preemptively putting them on, and hit the ignition to start up the car.
“Make sure you haven’t forgotten anything, I'm not turning the car around because you decided two hours in that you didn’t pack your favorite stuffed animal." He warned, mentally checking he packed all his own belongings.
“Ngyaa Oshi-san ‘m not that forgetful, plus you made me a list of what I needed to pack so I couldn’t possibly have forgotten anythin’.”
Shu huffed, looking over to his passenger and noticed he wasn’t buckled up. He sighed and reached over Mika to grab the seat belt and properly buckle the boy in. Mika stood still in his seat while he let Shu fuss over him.
“Mon Dieu Kagehira, you’d forget your own head if it wasn’t attached to your body.” He sighed, checking the mirrors before pulling out of the driveway and into the road. And then they were off.
Mika looked happily out of the window, watching the city life go by. It wasn’t very often he had the pleasure of riding in a car, as he normally walked everywhere or just took a train. It also wasn’t often he was able to even take trips anywhere. The last trip being a visit back home to Kansai, which was hectic as always, so many little kids crawling all over him, happy to see him. And Mika being able to see his adoptive parents was always nice enough. But nothing like that could ever compare to being able to go on a real actual vacation with his Oshi-san. Mika loved going anywhere with Shu, he liked being in the car with him, just the two of them. He was happiest sharing activities with him and only him.
On the other hand, Shu hated being in the car. He hated driving. People who said driving was relaxing were most likely brain dead amoebas. Driving was nothing more than a stressful adult obligation. You never knew what the other manic drivers were thinking, there was no control to be had over others on the road. It was just you in your own little metal death machine. But alas, driving was something he had to learn how to do in France and on the rare occasion it did come in handy back in Japan.
Other than his hatred for driving, Shu had no qualms about him and Mika's little getaway, after all he was the one who proposed it. It was well earned after Mika’s latest performance. The boy planned it all out, from costume, to song, to choreography. Shu was nothing but proud, and Mika was understandably exhausted and burnt out. A change of pace was not only a reward, but a good way to get creative juices to reflow.
The only issue was the summer vacation home was a 4 hour trip north of Tokyo. A whole 4 hours in the car. Driving. On unfamiliar roads. Surrounded by other cars and imbecilic drivers. With a very chatty and bubbly Kagehira. It was only a matter of time until-
“Oshi-saaaaaaan how much longer? Are we almost there?”
The whining began.
Shu gripped the wheel tighter, answering his partner through gritted teeth, “Not yet Kagehira, we only started driving thirty minutes ago.”
“Ngyaaah I know, but 'm just too excited to get there! I can hardly sit still yanno?” He proved this by wiggling about in his seat.
He loosened his grasp, of course Mika was so eager. He couldn’t fault the boy, he would give Mika the world if he could. But he needed to get through this car ride without error.
—
Hour 1, Mika’s sleepiness was catching up to him, but he decided to chase it away by talking his neighbor's ear off. After all, if his mouth was moving then he wasn’t going to nod off and miss anytime spent with Shu. The other was trying hard to concentrate while listening to some French podcast that Mika definitely couldn't understand or enjoy. So maybe Shu was asking for it when Mika began to blabber on and on to any ears willing (or forced) to listen.
“Would ya always go up to this summer home as a kid? Man yer sooo lucky gettin’ to go to such a pretty place as a kid. I bet it's like 4 floors with a bunch of cool rooms and such. Oh oh! Is there a pool? Man I haven’t been swimmin’ in years, I was always too scared to swim at the town pool as a kid. I really can’t wait to see it, I can’t believe it's just gonna be the two of us! It’ll be just like the school trip but like way cooler cause I get to go with you!”
Shu, although mentally tearing his hair out from the never ending chatter, was filled with a warm delight at the thought of Mika’s excitement and anticipation of spending time with him. As he too was just as excited for the trip to ensue. They just had to make it there in one piece. It was proving more difficult than he initially anticipated.
He tried to answer any questions Mika had about the house and the vacation as a whole, but Mika was talking just to talk, and Shu was better off just nodding along letting the younger boy yap on as he pleased. And when Shu didn’t get to answer, Mika would simply turn around and speak to Mademoiselle, who was still safely strapped into her carseat.
—
Hour 2, they finally entered the highway. The most stressful part of the trip. Faster speeds, surrounded on all sides by other vehicles, small room for error and stupidity running (or driving) rampant. It made both of them nervous.
Everyone was well aware Shu had an awful terrible temper. He was hotheaded and quick to snap at any turn. Putting a person like that one the highway was a recipe for road rage. Shu had no lack of that.
It didn’t take long at all actually.
Shu gripped the wheel hard, his eyes glued to the road layed out in front of him. Irritation of the drivers around him pounding in his brian. A road must have been closed along the highway because there was an unnecessary amount of traffic surrounding them. A specific car encroached into his lane, merging way too close for comfort. It continued to ride their tail, having the audacity to honk furiously at the near miss crash.
“Just move to a different lane,” Shu muttered under his breath, his patience waning as he felt himself beginning to snap.
Mika looked on nervously, sensing Shu was about to blow. The never ending honking played behind them as Shu began to mutter under his breath. Mika squirmed in his seat to watch the car behind them almost ram into their back.
Another long ear piercing honk was the final straw.
“OH TA GUEULE, ENOUGH!” Shu turned around in his seat to shout obscenities in French, “JUST GO INTO ANOTHER LANE THERE'S FOUR TO CHOOSE FROM, ENCULE TOI SALAUD!” Mika had to grab onto the wheel and steady it to stay in their lane while Shu blew his fuse. "Va te faire courte et brûle en l’enfer.” He spat, turning back round to regain control over the vehicle and speeding up and away from the offender. Mika sighed in relief, hoping that was the end of their encounter, and praying that would be the end of their highway issues.
But then they got pulled over. Mika almost cried. The officer let them off with a warning, but not after giving them both weird looks. Mika assumed it was his eyes that scared the officer into not ticketing them. It was actually thanks to the creepy doll strapped into a baby seat in the back.
—
Hour 3, the restless Mika arc. Three entire hours in was when he started to get antsy. The pair had finally gotten off the highway and were riding along backroads for the foreseeable future. They hadn’t stopped, and weren’t planning on it, so Mika was starting to feel restless sitting for so long. His extended train rides from Tokyo to Kansai had frequent stops and rests, and he could move about the train when he felt like so he never felt too strapped down. But here, in Shu’s little tiny cramped car, his legs ache for freedom.
Mika had surprisingly run out of questions to ask and things to tell the other passengers. Watching the same trees pass along the small road could only be entertaining for so long and his phone had no service in such a remote area. Playing with the windows only amused him for a very short amount of time and in the end he opted to leave them down to get some fresh air flowing into the car. Luckily they weren’t moving very fast so the wind was no bother. What was a bother was Mika's exaggerated sighed and huffs, trying to signal something to the driver sitting next to him. He couldn’t find anything to occupy himself and quite frankly, he was bored out of his mind.
“Nghaaaaah,” a desperate whine from Mika, “Are we seriously not there yet?”
An equally desperate sigh from Shu, “You’ve asked me this almost 50 times in the past hour alone, Kagehira. For the last time, we still have 2 hours remaining.”
“But ‘m so boooored, an there’s nothin’ to do.” He threw his hands down in frustration, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling. His eyes caught a glimpse of Mademoiselle through the rear view mirror, she was still seated in her carseat. Mika hatched a plan to cure his boredom.
“Hey Oshi-san. I think Mado-nee is probbly jus’ as bored as me. And, and I bet she’s feelin’ kinda lonely all by her lonesome in the back, while we're all up here yanno? And I think she’s probably angry we left back there just strapped into her seat...” He was really trying to pluck at Shu’s heart strings. It was working.
“Well spit it out Kagehira, what is it you’re implying?” He huffed at Mika’s typical display of “beating around the bush”.
“Do ya think I could maybe have her sit up here with me in my lap? ‘M sure she’d love to see the real pretty scenery on these roads.”
If it was a way to get Mika to quit fidgeting in his seat and bugging him about the ride, then maybe he could let the safety violation slide. It’s not as if Mika wasn’t extra careful with Mademoiselle, he was overly aware of how delicate she was and was very good at treating her with care. Even if he was prone to clumsiness, the boy was especially cautious with fragile and important items.
“I suppose that would be fine then, keep her seated and do be careful not to let her dress wrinkle.”
“Ehe, sure thing Oshi-san! ‘M a pro at handlin’ Mado-nee, ain't that right?” Mika asked her directly, as he leaned into the back to unbuckle and then place the doll into his lap. He wasn’t expecting any answer back, as he knew Mademoiselle had slowly stopped talking to him after graduation. That was fine though, he understood her sudden lack of speech, but it didn’t make him miss their old conversations any less.
The boy laid the doll in his lap facing himself, he knew not to be too rough with her. He liked to lay down her frills and layers, smoothing them flat and ridding them of wrinkles. He liked to pet her delicate curls without tangling her hair, luckily the wind wasn’t able to wildly toss any of her golden locks around. Mika smiled fondly at the perfection in his hands. He loved Mademoiselle for how pretty and dainty she was, she was all the things he never could be, but that was ok. Shu loved the both of them equally, and for different reasons. But that never stopped Mika from being extra jealous of Mademoiselle's gorgeous outfits, handmade by Shu of course.
“Oh Mado-nee yer so pretty, Oshi-san always makes such pretty frilly dresses fer ya, ‘m always so jealous. Maybe one of these days Oshi-san’ll make a frilly dress fer me too ehehe” he giggled. Shu glanced over and took note of this, storing it away in his brain for future use.
Mika continued to ramble on his one sided conversation. This distracted him for a good twenty more minutes, and somewhere along the line he decided Mademoiselle wanted to look out the windshield at the scenery passing by. Shu didn’t notice this. They were passing through some particularly winding roads and he wanted full concentration so as to not jostle the car and its contents too much. Mika lifted up the doll to let her take in the countryside views. And before anyone could even blink, disaster struck. There was a sharp bend, the car swerved last minute, Mika’s grasp loosened from the sudden turn, and Mademoiselle slipped from his fingertips and out of the still open window.
Mika’s entire body ran cold. His hands were still lax and open in front of him, like he was still holding onto a doll and not just the empty air. His mind raced, catching up to speed with his pounding heart. His brain didn’t want to register what had just happened. One second he was playing and cooing at Mado-nee, and the next she was gone, blipped out of existence like she was never there to begin with. But Mika was sure he hadn’t suddenly hopped into a dimension without Shu’s beloved doll, because her blue ribbon was sitting in his lap.
It was all over for him. Mika was most certainly done for. Not only was Shu’s precious Mademoiselle probably lost and broken into a tiny million little pieces on the side of the road, but it was Mika’s fault who promised he would be extra EXTRA careful with her. If Shu didn’t accidentally crash the car at the news, then he was bound to explode into a furious rage in some other way. Maybe he would be merciful enough to kill him instead of just kicking him out of Valkyrie. No, even killing would be too merciful for the act against god he just committed. It was enviable, it was his last day, maybe even hours, on earth. He owed it to Shu to tell him now and not later. There was no way he could keep the secret long enough til the end of the car ride where the other boy would notice anyway.
“Hey… Uh... Can we stop the car maybe..” His voice wavering, trying not to cry for as long as possible.
“No, I told you we aren't going to stop anywhere, if it’s anything you need you’ll have to wait until we arrive at the house. Whatever it is you can be patient for-“ Mika cut him off.
“I really think we should stop the car. Like right now.”
“What part of no do you not understand? Your ears functioned just fine last time I checked.”
“No- I really really REALLY think we should stop the car.” He pleaded, eyes watering.
Shu was frustrated by Mika’s desperation. He peeled his eyes away from the road to face the distraught boy, “Kagehira, and for what pray tell? What could be so important that I would need to stop this car right this instant?”
“Ngahhh.” Mika whimpered, grabbing his head with his hands, “Nygyaaaaah…”
“Quit making your strange sounds and out with it, what has possibly gotten you in such a panic?”
“Mado-nee… Uh… Maybe sorta kinda flew out the window?”
The calm before the storm didn’t even last a second.
“WHAT?”
The breaks were slammed. The car screeched to a halt. Mika burst into tears.
“Oshi-san ‘m-m-m sorry I really am!” He managed to choke out through sobs. “I was h-holdin’ 'er all nice an’ helpin’ 'er l-look through the window an’ sh’ jus’ flew outta m-my hands!”
“Kagehira slow down, you’re not making any sense.” Shu sounded just as desperate and frantic, either from not understanding Mika’s slurred words and sobs or because of his sudden knowledge of the missing Mademoiselle.
Mika’s head was in his hands as he cried into them, not wanting to face his Oshi-san. Shu shakily gripped both of the weeping boy’s wrists trying to remove them. All Mika did was continue babble broken muffled “‘m sorry’s” through his fingers, trying so hard not to witness the broken and panicked expression he knew Shu would be wearing.
The older boy was finally able to pry Mika’s hands away and look directly into his tear-filled eyes. Trying to calm himself down, so as to not frighten Mika further.
“Mademoiselle… what? If this is some kind of prank this isn’t funny. What happened to her?” Shu firmly grasped Mika’s hands, coxing out a straightforward answer. It calmed down the younger boy enough that he could speak in coherent sentences.
“She… Flew out the w-window when we t-turned.” Mika softly answered through hiccups.
The grip on his hands tightened, “How long ago? When did this happen.” Shu’s softer worried tone wavered, trying to stay collected and not mentally fall apart at the thought of Mademoiselle being gone forever.
“Jus’ now, really I swear, I just had to say something’ Oshi-san ‘m worried she’s not ok an’ it's all my fault.” Tears threatened his eyes again.
Shu took no time to quickly spring out of the car, and walk along the road side in search for his Mademoiselle. He guessed by how slow they were going down the road and the sharp turn they just passed, that she was defiantly around in the soft grass waiting to be found. In how many pieces, he didn’t know.
Mika slowly followed behind him, keeping distance, fearful of what they could find. His faint cries could be heard alongside the patter of his footsteps. The two walked past the road bend and frantically began to search in the grass and against the tree line.
Mika’s mind raced with worries, they’d probably never find her broken body hidden in the grass. Or maybe she fell into the road and was shattered against an oncoming car. Mika’s tears fell from his mismatched eyes and down his cheeks, he couldn’t help but start balling at the thought. The thought of a devastated Shu, holding the pieces of his precious Mademoiselle in his hands. This was supposed to be a fun family trip and Mika ruined it.
Until, he spotted blue amongst the green. And there she was, sitting sideways in the grass. Mika staggered over, knees failing and falling onto the dirt. He immediately picked her up, cradling her with more care than he ever had in his entire life. Her dress was wrinkled slightly with a few stains of green from her wet grass bed. But she was safe, not a single scratch on her.
Mika finally breathed, it felt like 10 tons of weight was lifted off his shoulders. Mado-nee was safe and sound.
“Oshi-san! Oshi-san! I found her! She’s all safe and in one piece!”
“Oh thank the heavens,” Shu sighed in relief as he rushed over to Mika’s spot in the grass, kneeling down to his level. The two sat in the wet grass together, finally calmed by the sight of the doll. Shu reached out his shaky hands as she was passed over to him. Mika noticed the tears welled up in Shu’s eyes as he was finally reunited with Mademoiselle.
“Mado-nee 'm so sorry, you musta been so scared out here all alone.” He tried to make up, “if ya don’t wanna forgive me I get it, I gave ya and Oshi-san a real bad scare.”
“Oh Mika-chan,” Mademoiselle spoke, the first time since graduation, “I understand you just wanted me to sit up front with you and Shu-kun. You’re alway so careful with me, it isn’t your fault.”
Mika was understandably startled by hearing her voice, but felt soothed by hearing her forgive him personally.
“Ahh, I just feel bad for kinda ruinin’ the trip, it's always my fault these things happen,” he nervously laughed, brushing it off for the sake of his self.
“I’m sure Shu-kun would say the same right now if he could, but the trip isn’t ruined, this is just a setback in the journey. And if anything it's a funny story we can tell all our friends when we get back home. But now let's get back into the car, we are almost there after all.”
Mademoiselle's kind words made him feel better as always, and he finally smiled his signature toothy grin, “Yeah! Let's go!”
And the two made their way back to the car and continued their journey. Mademoiselle was put back into her seat in the back and would stay there until they reached their destination. Mika was thankful, and too afraid to handle her for the foreseeable future.
Shu remained quiet- either choosing not to speak or just wasn't able to yet- but he gave Mika a soft smile, signaling he wasn’t giving Mika the silent treatment as some kind of punishment. They sat in silence together, only the hum of the car’s mechanical parts could be heard. Mika knew better than to poke and prod speech out of Shu, he knew he wasn’t cross with him and he would be willing to wait an entire lifetime for his Oshi-san to come back. So until that would happen, he’d be patient and re-hype himself up for their vacation.
—
Hour 4, the last hour. Mika was exhausted, this early rise had caught up to him, and adding to the extra fatigue from the “event” he could probably fall asleep standing up. Instead, he slumped into his seat ready to pass out for the rest of the ride. And that’s exactly what he did.
He dreamt of the crystal clear water at the vacation home, the glistening pool he would play in as Shu watched and sun-bathed atop some fancy poolside chair, probably under an umbrella to “protect his perfect skin”. Mademoiselle (all in one piece of course) sitting next to him in one of her fancy summer dresses and matching sunhat. It was the perfect fantasy that would soon come true. Mika’s worries melted away into his dreamscape, anything that could be thrown him and his Oshi-san's way would be squashed under their heels. Together they could brace even the toughest challenges and come out the other side unscathed and stronger.
Mika smiled and giggled in his sleep, until a gentle tap to his shoulder awoke him.
“Ngyaa?” He sat up and rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. When they adjusted to the awake world, Shu was above him, holding Mademoiselle in one hand and his luggage in the other.
“We're here, go get your bags and I’ll show you around the house." Shu directed.
Mika gasped and smiled excitedly, his family vacation was really ready to start and he couldn’t be happier. He jumped out of the car and grabbed his bags from the trunk. Shu stood by the front gate, waiting for Mika to catch up. Mika smiled wider than he had the entire trip, he noticed the pool peeking out from the backyard and couldn’t contain his excitement. He giggled loudly, skipping over to Shu, ready to start their next adventure together.