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it was late, akito more than well knew that. he also knew he had practice bright and early tomorrow by ken's command but he just couldn't bring himself to fall asleep. it was quiet, even ena had seemed to tucker in for the night and that was saying something (or maybe it was just the fact that she had gone out with mizuki earlier and had promptly passed out as soon as she got home).
his mind was buzzing and raving at him, he tried kicking off his sheets then ended up too cold. put them back on and he ended up too hot. take of the long pants he was wearing and then the fabric of his sheets was too scratchy on his bare legs. he just couldn't get comfortable.
he felt wound up and tense and all he wanted was to get some fucking shut eye. so in a moment of desperation, in nothing but a tank top and some pj pants, he grabs his phone and presses play on ready steady.
the flash of white is jarring, but he quickly regains his senses and he realizes he should have at least worn socks because the rock underneath his bare feet is not ideal but it's not like the walk to the cafè is far anyways.
the second thing he notices is that it's night, not as if the was sun was setting or the colors in the sky were blending into late evening, but night. pitch black if not for the light coming from the cafè. he knew time flowed in the sekai but he's just simply never been here at night.
he pushes the door to the cafè open and is instantly greeted with the warm smell of coffee. kaito and meiko are there as well sitting and chatting but they both whip their heads around at the new presence.
"akito? is something the matter?" meiko questions and kaito tilts his head.
it's then he realizes what he's just done.
"ah..i um, i can't really sleep? and we have practice really early tomorrow and i just can't...i'm tired," he mumbles, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck in some sort of self soothing motion. the vocaloids soften at his words, less alert than before and kaito smiles at him.
"do you want a drink or something to eat?" meiko asks.
akito shakes his head softly.
"do you want to be small?" kaito questions and akito nods shuffling on his feet.
it's only been a month since he began this whole regressing thing and the vocaloids can already tell when he needs to drop...embarrassing is what rings out in his mind but he can't bring himself to care as he shuffles towards kaito.
"uwah! up we go," he smiles, lifting akito onto his lap. he gets his hair pet as meiko shuffles around. she dims the lights, switches the music to a lullaby and begins work on a drink and akito can't help the way his shoulders sag.
the vocaloids have no concept of weight, a fact which akito has actually known for a while because he was being stubborn once and luka simply lugged him over her shoulder and carried him to the cafè so he would talk it out with his teammates.
"mommy, cold," he mumbles, burying his face into kaito's shoulder.
"ooh you're cold? let's get a blanket for you hmm sweetboy?" kaito coos at him, getting up with him in his arms and padding around to a more secluded area of the cafè where there's a closet with washcloths, rags, towels and blankets.
kaito picks out the fluffiest light blue one in there and shuffles back over to the main area. sitting down and wrapping it around akito's shoulders.
"is that better sweetheart?" akito lets out a sigh and nods, he can already feel sleep creeping up on him and he welcomes it with open arms.
meiko finishes the drink, pouring it into a bottle and securing the lid. she wasn't sure when bottles had manifested into the sekai, somewhere around six months before akito started regressing, around the time the group had started preparing at the venue akito had...memories with. she doesn't dwell on that, setting the bottle of warm milk in front of the two boys and setting off to clean up.
"mama made you a bottle hun, do you want it?" kaito questions, already picking up the bottle when akito nods.
it was embarrassing the first time akito was offered a bottle, he rejected it for a good two weeks until after a particularly stressful practice session he dropped far and all he wanted was to be held. much too young to hold a cup he realized after he had dropped a glass.
he had a meltdown and meiko simply picked him up and fed him the bottle. he didn't have it in him to reject it.
he doesn't have it in him to reject it now either, eyes lidded and drifting in and out of consciousness. he accepts the bottle happily, eyes fluttering shut when he realizes meiko added vanilla and cinnamon. maybe sugar too? it doesn't matter, it tasted good, it was warm and akito was falling right asleep.
kaito laughs when he realizes akito barely finished half the bottle before he dropped asleep. he takes the bottle from him, wipes his face off with a clean washcloth and replaces the nub of the bottle with the pacifier meiko had left for him.
he makes a little sigh and his lashes flutter but he stays asleep otherwise.
"so how do we send him back?"
"just stop the song on his phone, he'll go back to where he was before which was probably in his bed, but we don't have to send him back now," meiko smiles, brushing the boys bangs out of his face and cooing softly at him.
akito wakes up in his bed, to his alarm blaring. his thumb is lodged firmly into his mouth and he feels well rested.
a little too well rested.
he wonders if he dreamt up all of last night's events but as he throws a shirt on kaito appears on his phone.
"sleep well?"
"yeah, thanks man," he hums, washing his face. he has to get to weekend garage by 5 and it's currently 4:15 so he has time.
"are you ever going to tell them?" meiko questions, suddenly appearing on screen.
akito laughs, or tries to, it comes out more like a rasp,"not anytime soon, and don't hit me with the 'they're your teammates.' this is personal."
"we weren't going to, we were talking about how we shouldn't push you to tell them until you showed up. if you ever do tell them we'll be here, and if you never do that's also ok. your regression is vulnerable and intimate, but at the same time it doesn't harm you."
akito is quite frankly shocked by meiko's words. usually when he had a problem and he confides in the vocaloids he gets a 'tell them, they're your teammates,' or 'you can't hide this forever,' which is fair because most of the time it's self deprecating thoughts and actions.
but his regression isn't self depreciating, it stops him from being just that.
"thanks," he whispers, switching out the dangly chain earring he had fallen asleep in for a simple silver stud.
"no problem, you'll be late if you chat to us anymore so we're off akito. good luck!" kaito smiles, and then the holograms are gone.
he slings his bag over his shoulder and mentally prepares himself for whatever grueling training ken could have planned so god awfully early in the morning.