Chapter Text
Akito shoves his phone deep into his pocket, knowing he’s not going to get a response. It’s fine, he knows where Kotaro lives. He still doesn’t know what to do about Taiga, what to do about RAD WEEKEND. The lights are blinding as he takes off in the direction of Kotaro’s house. Toya would stay back with Kohane to watch over An, but he can’t shake Kotaro’s crying from his brain. Sure, he fucked up his performance bad—but they all did. None of them could win against that bastard, but Kotaro had taken it so personally.
Akito knows the feeling. How many times did he have to return to someone who had completely humbled him? The Vivids… Crawl Green… Taiga in front of the entire town… he can barely keep track of how many times he’s been knocked to the ground. But he gets it. It’s easier to lie there instead of crawling your way back up.
As he rounds the corner, he sees Kotaro sitting on the front steps of his apartment building, staring off into the distance. Despite making no effort to disguise his approach, Kotaro’s head whips up when Akito kicks his shoe with the toe of his own.
“I’ll get out of the way—Akito?” Kotaro’s eyes are red from crying, but Akito doesn’t bring it up. Instead, he shoves his hands in his pockets, looking down at him.
“Vivid BAD SQUAD needs to regroup, but we’re not giving up,” Akito declares. He continues speaking, even when Kotaro looks away. “When we call you for an event—I don’t want to see you back at square one.”
“Dude, it’s over. You saw—”
“I did see. And you can keep feeling sorry for yourself or,” Akito lets the rest of his thoughts go. Some points don’t have to be reiterated. He knows that Kotaro understands why he’s here. He should give him more credit. He says, fondness creeping into his voice, “I’ll see you around, okay? If you give up now… it would be a shame.”
He turns to leave, but Kotaro reaches up, grabbing his wrist. He clears his throat and Akito waits.
“Thank you,” he says. Then he nods, squeezing his eyes shut. “See ya around… definitely.”
The resolve is enough for Akito. He can’t stand to watch it go to waste.