Work Text:
He got past the point where live performances made him nervous a long time ago, now mostly feeling the rush of adrenaline whenever he was getting in the right mindset. And when he boarded the plane earlier he was thinking it would be just as usual - travelling wherever they were supposed to, doing his job properly and making their fans happy, then coming back to his life and usual work.
Except this time it was a bit different and the feeling of nervousness was back as he was flying to the other side of Japan, where a large-scale event was happening. And the idea of performing in front of such a big audience added to it, it wasn’t entirely why Kaoru was so nervous.
It wasn’t just UNDEAD who were invited to perform, and he spent a good hour at the airport sipping on his morning coffee and trying not to fall asleep as Chiaki talked a million words per minute, telling Kaoru how he was so excited about performing along with them soon that he wasn’t able to fall asleep the night prior.
He told him about the movie he watched to keep himself busy and Kaoru was sure he already saw that one during one of their movie nights, but he didn’t stop Chiaki from talking, letting him summarize the plot. Adding an obscene amount of details and fun facts and whatever came to his mind, Chiaki’s voice rang in his ears as they stood in the long line for security check and he let him talk, nodding and humming along, but still intently listening to his every word.
And when they waited to board the plane, Chiaki moved onto a different topic and said how proud he was of their juniors, how both UNDEAD and Ryuseitai got along well during practice despite the differences in their styles. And this time their live wouldn’t end up separating them and making them perform as the villains and the heroes, instead letting them sing together.
And Kaoru was happy about it too, it was a nice change from practicing with UNDEAD only, especially with how busy everyone has been for the past few months. It was good to just hang out and spend time with them all, even if it was still mostly for their work.
But as they flew Kaoru became more nervous, not because of the performance that got closer with every minute, but because the second their airplane was in the air, Chiaki fell asleep. And honestly, it was a bit impressive, it was rare to see even Rei fall asleep that quickly. But he knew Chiaki stayed up all night, so he should have realized that soon his batteries would run out, though he didn’t expect him to use his shoulder as a makeshift pillow.
So he tried to stay still and not move around too much, despite the fact that it was a longer flight and the idea of not moving even his finger made him sweat nervously. But he didn’t want to wake Chiaki up, keeping his breaths shallow so that he wouldn’t feel it too much in his sleep.
But he could smell his shampoo from being this close and his nose twitched as he tried very hard not to overthink it all, how easily Chiaki just fell asleep, trusting Kaoru, but of course he was overthinking it all. Even if it probably wasn’t anything special to Chiaki.
At that moment he didn’t know if he was thankful that the rest of UNDEAD chose a different, earlier flight to adjust and prepare for the performance while Kaoru had to attend a scheduled interview in person. At least no one was there to witness the blush, probably visible even from under his face mask, because he was sure Koga wouldn’t let him live for the next half a year.
And Chiaki slept comfortably, unaware of Kaoru’s inner monologue. He could feel the caffeine from earlier thump in his veins and he cursed himself for drinking a cup of black coffee right before the flight. He could have been asleep too, unaware and not getting a headache because his stupid crush was napping on his shoulder. He switched between looking out of the window and sitting with his eyes closed, praying for the plane to land finally while sitting still like a mannequin so that Chiaki would at least get some proper sleep.
He couldn’t wait to excuse himself once they landed, to hide in his hotel room to breathe and overthink more than he probably should. Maybe he should have cancelled that interview and fly there with the rest of UNDEAD, exchanging one headache for another, but one that wouldn't make his heart skip a bit whenever Chiaki moved a bit in his sleep or sighed.
But then they landed and Chiaki blinked up at him sleepily, still tired and the fact that he pulled an all nighter clearly visible on his face. But he was still cute, so Kaoru looked straight ahead as he said that they were here, hearing Chiaki yawn and feeling him stretch next to him.
“Wish I could get at least five minutes more,” Chiaki said as he cracked his knuckles and rubbed his eyes, turning his head to give Kaoru a bright smile. “Your shoulder is so comfortable, Hakaze”.
And Kaoru stood up on stiff knees, not wanting to say anything stupid. Instead he picked up Chiaki’s backpack and handed it to him, already thinking that maybe it wasn’t a mistake that he booked them seats next to each other on the flight home as well.