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It was a chill load-out. Taking inventory of the equipment and waiting for everyone else to finish up. Naoya had been sound the past weekend, so he was checking the equipment. Kou? She was 2nd AD, meaning she didn’t really have any equipment she was entrusted with, so Nao asked her if she wanted to help him check sound.
To be completely transparent, Nao didn’t need help checking sound. The way Kou was fumbling with the same XLR cable told him everything he needed to know. Something was distracting her and she needed something to quiet the torrent of thoughts in her head. He knew how she could get sometimes, getting trapped in your own head was an awful thing, and Nao hoped that he could at least stave off the anxiety just a little bit.
She had been staring at the recorder for five minutes now. He had to do something. “Kou-kun, can you look here?” Nao waved his hand over the top of the boom mic which was now pointed at her mouth. It took her a moment to acknowledge him before she snapped up and looked to where his hand was.
“O-Oh…yes?”
“I need to test the levels. Can you say something into the mic?”
“Uh…something?”
“Hmm, I need you to talk a little more. What did you have for dinner?”
“Just some leftovers…”
“Leftover what?”
“Pasta…”
Nao frowned. “Hmm…I still don’t have a good read, I need you to talk a little more. Tell me how you’re doing.”
“Huh?”
“How you’re doing, just ramble a bit.”
“Uh…I’m alright…finals are…uh, finals…”
“Finals, huh? What about ‘em?” Nao’s voice softened. They were getting somewhere.
“There’re so many…” She mumbled, staring down at the table. “I have so many tests to take and projects to finish but I just…I try to plan it all out so it all gets done, but then I have no energy and all my plans go down the drain because I’m too much of a nervous wreck to get my body to move and I miss home and my meds aren’t working and I just–” Kou suddenly stopped. She and Nao stared at each other in horror. Her, because she had overshared so much, and Nao because he knew things were bad, but he was never prepared for how much hurt she was going through.
Kou sat frozen in her seat. She couldn’t stand up and leave, because then everyone would know something was up, but she couldn’t bear looking him in the eyes.
“Do you…wanna come to my place tonight?” Nao knelt in front of her, putting the boom pole down on the table.
Kou hated how quickly she nodded.
Nao rubbed her shoulder. “We’ll get some snacks and watch some TV, okay? And if your brain is too loud, Yokkun and Ken-chan can join us. They’re plenty loud.” Kou chuckled softly at his joke.
“I don’t deserve you.” She spoke softly.
“Don’t say that, Kou-kun…you make me happy. Whether you’re struggling or not, you make me happy.” Nao paused, glancing at the table. He smiled softly and picked up the connected set of headphones, sliding them on his girlfriend’s head.
“There! Now you have to hear me when I say…” He picked up the boom mic and spoke directly into it, “I love you. And I will be there for you when you’re not feeling good. This is a hard moment, but it’s also just that. A moment. You will be happy again and until you are, I’ll help you through it all.”
Kou leaned her head on Nao’s shoulder, causing the blonde to wrap his arm around her and pat the side of her head.
“Uh…did you guys check the lavs yet? Or are you too busy being a cutesy couple?” Yokkun huffed, having just finished checking out his equipment.
“Oh! Sorry, we were just getting to them!” Nao laughed in embarrassment, opening the case.”
After checking everything, they were off to his place after stopping at Kou’s so she could get a change of clothes. That night, he took care of her. And despite everything, despite how hard it was, Kou thought that maybe she could believe him.