Chapter Text
Kanade's gaze moved back and forth the two monitors set on her desk. Her hand shoved the mess of tangled wires that blocked her mouse from moving to the side. The sounds of the tapping of her keyboard and mouse alongside the occasional shifting of Kanade's chair filled her otherwise dead quiet room. The light from the screen illuminated Kanade's face and slightly lit up the other parts of said room. She doesn't know how long she's been composing for after Niigo's nightly meeting was over, maybe it was an hour or maybe it was three. Time is usually the thing that escapes her mind when she dives into her work like this.
Kanade felt a little bad about staying up, she worried the lights and the sounds of her chair would disturb the purple haired girl peacefully sleeping in the bed behind her. But then again, Kanade needs to do everything she can to compose a song. She'd do it over and over again even if it meant having the slimmest chance of saving Mafuyu. Kanade corrected the placement of her headphones that were about to fall off ; the action messing up her already frazzled long hair.
"This part.. It's off compared to the others..,"
The composer mumbled. She gritted her teeth, that part gnawed at her brain, she tried everything yet nothing stuck. It's a bit uncommon for her to get frustrated like this but when it does happen, it always gets her mind spiraling into certain thoughts that kept her down. If she can't even get a part in a song right, would she ever be able to compose one that could save someone?
The time passed by her with every strike of the clock's hands, Kanade's eyes begged to shut close but she kept herself awake ; she forced her body to keep going through her obsession, it's always been like this. Composing was one of the only things keeping her alive yet it led to her wanting to disappear in the first place. When Mafuyu or the other members brang forth their concerns about her lack of sleep to Kanade she'd always say that she'll try to get some sleep today but it's almost always a lie. It's not like she can help it... It's as if she adds one note and suddenly a whole sleepless night had passed.
The girl's eyesight began to fail her, the screen began to split into two, she had begun misreading the labels for instruments and her movement had become sluggish. Kanade attempts to muster up more energy, occasionally rubbing her eyes and tapping her feet on the wooden floor. No.... She has to stay awake.... She had to finish this...
"Kanade,"
A firm but harsh voice filled her ears.
"KAITO..!?"
KAITO's sudden interruption startled Kanade causing her body to jolt in her chair, moving it backwards. It wasn't unusual for him to randomly check in from time to time, their conversations usually were made up of him asking how Mafuyu's doing. Kanade didn't mind it at all. She's quite glad their relationship is getting better now, much better than the tense one they had before. Because of that, the girl would always gladly give him details and the other in turn would reply with a simple nod.
"Ah, Mafuyu's doing fine today. Today was a weekend so Mizuki invited her to go shopping with them... She's been eating well and feeling more comfortable these days,"
Kanade replies with a soft smile, facing KAITO's hologram popping up from her phone.
"You're not sleeping again?"
Kanade pauses for a moment, not anticipating KAITO asking about her. His voice felt a little softer than usual. It was almost like he was... Concerned? She looked at the unfinished song on her monitor and back at the hologram of KAITO crossing his arms with a neutral expression. Well, neutral for him atleast, the man always had a permanent scowl fixed upon his face ; this combined with his attitude, Kanade gets why the other vocaloid's in the sekai get a little intimidated.
"Mm. I'm stuck on part of this song,"
She nods. Kanade continues tinkering with the notes and occasionally taps the keys on her synthesizer. The composer attempts to make some harmonies but ends up deleting them in the end. It was as if she was immediately put back into her composing trance, her eyes glued to the screen.
"...I can help you with that,"
Kanade froze and looked back at KAITO, her eyes widening a little. She honestly didn't expect him to offer his help to her. KAITO crossed his arms and looked to the side, gazing at the sleeping Mafuyu gently illuminated by the light from Kanade's computer, avoiding eye contact. His aura had become a little different than usual.
"Really...?"
"...Come to the sekai with your synthesizer and your music sheets,"
KAITO's hologram disappeared within a blink of an eye. Kanade didn't really know what to think of it but she felt obliged to go. She slipped off her headphones, waiting for a moment to adjust her ears to the unfiltered noise of the room before attempting to stand up and struggling to do so.. Ah, her muscles feel like mush from sitting for so long.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
The cascade of geometric shapes that flooded her eyes faded away in an instant, revealing the desolate landscape of the empty sekai before her. She held her phone in her right hand, her other hand placed on the synthesizer alongside a short stack of paper with the pen Mafuyu gave Kanade a few months ago. She was meant to give it back but Kanade eventually forgot and when she did remember to, Mafuyu decided to let her keep it. "You lost your other pens right? Just keep this one as a replacement," The empty eyed girl said. It was true, Kanade always ended up losing her stationaries one way or another. But by some miracle, this one never got lost.
Kanade looks around her surroundings, searching for KAITO. The sekai was quiet as usual, Kanade's mind wanders to the thought of visiting the sekai if she ever wants a change of pace when she's stuck on something next time...
"You are here,"
Kanade jumped as she was startled by the blue haired man's sudden appearance behind her. He simply stares at her with the same expression as always in reply, seemingly not caring about it. KAITO's gaze grazes over her synthesizer before looking back at Kanade. After a moment of silence, the other begins playing the part for him to hear. KAITO lightly taps his foot as he listens to the melody billowing out from the speaker of the synthesizer. Kanade had noticed the man's sharp eyes always softened at the sound of her music, part of her was happy to know he enjoyed her pieces.
"This part... It's empty, it's devoid of the warmth your music usually has,"
Well, Kanade knew KAITO would probably be blunt about it, so that was about what she expected. She finished playing the part and picks up the music sheet she transcribed it to reread the arrangement she wrote with her hand on her chin.
"It feels like you're pumping out notes for the sake of filling the void between the parts. It becomes clunky. Try to add slower harmonies,"
Kanade's ears perked up to KAITO's advice, she quickly got her fingers on the keys and began to experiment with the harmonies.
♪~
It sounded a lot better and carried the tone smoothly. Kanade felt a smile tug at her lips as she finally knew where to go.
"...The beat is weak, try adjusting the volume of the instruments,"
Kanade obliged and tried out every peice of advice the other had to offer. It was quite different from the help she received from the other members, usually they'd only give off handed and vague comments that gently nudged her in the direction to go, but with KAITO, it felt more like she had a mentor guiding her with absolute precision ; it was akin to a map guiding a sailor through the foggy waters. Kanade couldn't help but be reminded of when her dad would help her with her earlier pieces when she was still learning how to compose. The thought comforted her as much as it pained her to harken back to such memories. Her drowsy eyes closed for a moment as she heard the melody spread through her mind.
"You should put those changes on the music sheet,"
"Oh, thank you for reminding me. Mm, I almost forgot... The melody for the lyrics aren't quite finished yet either...,"
Kanade sat on the cool floor of the empty sekai and searched through her papers. Her eyes skimmed across the lyrics Mafuyu had skillfully written down, they were always nice to read ; her lyrics were like a letter from a dear friend she could read over and over again. The other kneeled down to her level, reading it as well. The two continued their work on the song, perhaps it was just Kanade's imagination but... KAITO's way of speaking was gentler than normal.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
After a while, Kanade's sleep deprivation had started getting to her ; she attempted to keep her mind awake but her exhausted body would not listen to her. Sometimes she would jolt herself awake trying to avoid dozing off. Everytime, KAITO would silently stare at Kanade, subtly raising his eyebrows or replying with a quiet "hmph". The combination of the comfortably cool floor and the soft music constantly entering her ears started to wear down Kanade's ability to stay up until eventually, she ended up sleeping on the floor, the papers left scattered beside her with gradually messier handwriting.
"...She's finally asleep... Tch,"
KAITO stands up and begins searching for something.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Kanade's eyes slowly fluttered open, the papers sprinkled beside her were now gone and... A blanket wrapped her body in warmth. As she moved her head she felt the rustling of the soft cushion placed beneath it. She looks to the synthesizer to see the blue haired man setting the tidied papers on it. His hums to the tune of Kanade's song buzzes through her ears, making her even sleepier.
"....KAITO...?"
Kanade weakly lets out, but it was loud enough for KAITO to hear. KAITO abruptly stops humming and turns to face her. He walks to the other before sitting beside her and covering her face with the blanket. Kanade couldn't quite make out his expression then, as her vision was blurry.
"Go back to sleep,"
Swallowed up in the warm darkness of the blanket, Kanade couldn't help but follow KAITO's order.