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It was Kaito’s anniversary, the first one they actually got to celebrate with him himself.
Honestly, the difference between their Kaito and the virtual singer was outstanding. The virtual singer smiled every other minute, laughed sometimes.
Meanwhile,
“Kaito~ why don’t you join us a for cat’s cradle?”
He glared at her smug expression. “No.”
Luka pouted, “Why not? We’re celebrating your–well, your other self’s– anniversary!”
“No.”
Mafuyu watched from a distance with indifference. It was rare to see Kaito around them, and she was expecting him to disappear for the entire day. The sound of someone entering the Sekai played, someone softly stepped up next to her, and she turned her head.
“Amia.”
A grin met her face, “Yo! Yuki.”
Amia’s carefree expression turned into a slightly exasperated face. “Is Luka bothering Kaito again?”
They looked back onto the scene. Len and Miku were in between Kaito and Luka with faces akin to lost animals. Meiko, far from their little group, watched with them. Kaito somehow hasn’t left yet.
She nodded.
Amia sighed, a small smile on her face. Mafuyu watched as she gently set a hand on her hip to continue watching their current show.
“I wanted to wish Kaito a happy anniversary, but it looks like he’s a bit busy, huh?”
Mafuyu nodded again.
The sound of people entering played for the second time, and she heard two people walking towards them. Both of them turned their heads to greet their members.
“K, Enanan.”
“Hey! Nice to see everyone here.”
“Ah, Yuki and Amia are here too.”
“I didn’t expect all of us to be here at once, especially you, Amia.”
Amia’s face turned into a frown as her eyebrows knit up in fake disappointment. “That’s not at all how you greet a friend, is it?”
A huff. Silence. K smiled a little worriedly. Then their focus shifted to the people in front of them.
Enanan hummed, “It’s rare to see them all in one place, are they all here for Kaito’s anniversary?”
“Huh, I didn’t know they knew the date. Did anyone tell them?” K asked.
Everyone shook their heads. Maybe it was some kind of Sekai logic or inner virtual singer telepathy. The group continued to watch from a distance as Kaito grew more and more irritated at Luka. At one point, Meiko had even joined them.
A sigh, “I’m shocked Kaito hasn’t stormed away yet.”
Everyone agreed. No one made a point to stop them.
“If Kaito does walk away, I hope he comes back. I bought ice-cream popsicles for everyone to share.” Amia groaned softly.
“How are you sure that he’s going to like the ice-cream?” Enanan asked.
The girl shrugged and shook her head. “If Virtual Singer Kaito likes ice-cream, he must too right? They’re the same people!”
“You have a point,” K said, smiling. “But I don’t think he’s going to easily accept it from us if we watch him.”
Several nods. Then, out of nowhere, a mischievous grin emerged from Amia’s face. Ena narrowed her eyes immediately, suspicious of her.
Amia’s hands motioned for them to come closer. After some moments of deciding, she abided. They looked like a group of huddled penguins with how close they were. It was almost comical.
“Okay, so my plan is…”
He managed to get away from the pestering, but a call in his chest made him want to go back. He scowled, angry at the fact that this call was merely for something insignificant. Nothing major had happened, so he wasn’t needed.
But the call in his chest only strengthened as he walked further and further away from where the majority usually met up. He paused, wondering if it would weaken over time or only keep getting stronger.
Kaito thought it over. This feeling was uncomfortable at most, and it only fed his irritation.
“Kaito, do you know what day it is?” A quiet voice asked him. Monotonous at first, but clearly held some curiosity and wonder.
He stayed silent, already knowing what was to come. “Yes, what of it.”
Miku tilted her head, her uneven ponytails shifting. It was akin to a confused cat. He sighed, waiting for her to speak.
“You…don’t want to do anything special?”
He stayed silent. Then– “I have no use for celebrations. I have one job, and nothing else is as important.”
It seemed like those words were the wrong words to say because Miku’s demeanor quickly changed from a curious cat to one that looked like it was kicked in the gutter.
“Ah…okay.”
Something felt wrong about this entire calling. First of all, it was completely unnecessary. Nothing of significance had happened lately, and he was supposed to be content with being left alone. But here they were, insisting that he needed to be with them.
He sighed, turning back and walking to the usual place. He stayed out of sight for a few minutes, observing their actions.
All of the virtual singers, with the exception of Meiko, and Nightcord were sitting on a picnic blanket. Kaito kept watching them with an impassive face.
Then, with a devilish laugh, Mizuki brings out a box of popsicles.
Kaito’s eyes widened a fraction before being forced back to normal. He was not jealous, he decided on this.
The pink-haired girl gave popsicles to everyone, and then made a show of shaking the box aggressively. It was empty.
Kaito twitched in place, but didn’t move.
The group eagerly ate their popsicles at different places. Luka had a smug expression on her face. She knew he was watching them. This was an elaborate farce.
He heard someone approach him from behind, and turned his head. It was Meiko.
He looked at her hands, which held a popsicle, a little too long because she immediately noticed. Kaito wondered where she got it from, because she wasn’t there when Mizuki opened the box. He didn’t ask though, because it didn’t matter. The two didn’t say anything. He turned his head back to the group, crossing his arms.
Eventually, Meiko started to speak. “Do you…want this?”
His hands twitched again while his face remained impassive.
“No, you’ve already started eating it.”
“I see.”
Another bout of silence. Then she spoke again.
“I’m afraid they ran out. I’m sorry, Kaito.”
He suppressed a groan. “There’s nothing to it. If they want to celebrate a pointless holiday, then that’s their choice. Leave me out of it.”
Meiko’s mouth opened again as if she wanted to refute his claim, but she stopped. He heard an exhale, and he looked at her again.
“If you say so.”
She walked away, heading to the picnic. Miku and Len noticed her arrival, and greeted her quietly. Luka seemed to ask her a question, to which she shook her head.
(“Did he want the ice cream?”
“It looked like it, but he didn’t accept the one that I had.”
“Ah, stubborn bastard. Would it kill him to be a little bit human?”
A laugh, and a look.
“Do you really think he’s going to come here himself?”
A shrug.
“It would be nice…but he’ll probably come long after we leave.”)
Kaito immediately walked to a different place, close enough to not be bothered by the insistent call, but far enough to not be seen. He continued to watch them enjoy their time together.
…
Even though everyone’s pace of doing everything was slow…he was content to watch them be happy and enjoy each other. There was no place for him there. Slowly, they finished their meals and started leaving one by one.
First, it was Ena, who said she had something to do soon.
Then, it was Mafuyu. She was always busy, and oftentimes, he had the urge to confront her head on and ask her if she truly enjoyed the things that took up her time.
Then it was K, who wanted to continue composing music.
The first virtual signers to leave were Meiko, Miku, Rin and Len. Meiko went off on her own, while Miku, Rin, and Len walked together quietly discussing something.
The last to leave, which was a long time, were the two pink-haired girls. Luka and Mizuki seemed to be waiting for something. It was probably him, from his guess. But he wouldn’t budge from his place.
Soon enough, Mizuki had to leave soon and left Luka on her own, who got bored immediately and left. He waited and waited. Then, he decided to clean up their mess. The picnic blanket was taken of course, but there were some wrappers and sticks that were left in place as the amount of people who could travel to a trash can disappeared.
They left the cooler too, how forgetful. He gathered their trash, deciding to put it in the cooler for the next time Nightcord visited. They could take the cooler out and the trash at the same time.
He went to open the cooler, trash in hand.
…There were popsicles.
He paused, staying in his frozen position for several seconds. He discreetly looked around. There was no way this was an accident, right? This had to be on purpose. Luka and Mizuki had to be behind this. There was no way he was going to take the bait.
Kaito put the trash in the cooler, almost closing it. And he hesitated.
If they truly left it for him, then this must be why he felt them calling.
If they did forget to bring it out, then these popsicles would melt into a sticky mess, leaving the cooler and the trash harder to clean out.
For several seconds, he debated his choices. Kaito didn’t want to seem…desperate. He didn’t want them to see him as human, because all he was was a guide. There was no room for his emotions with how volatile the others’ feelings could get.
Kaito sighed, long and hard. With a steady hand, he took the popsicles out of the cooler. There were three, in different flavors. Honestly, who is going to finish three popsicles before they all melt. Briefly, he thought about going to find the others to ask if they wanted the extras.
They were probably too far away, so he decided against it. Kaito quickly finished cleaning the area before leaving. As soon as he thought he was far enough, he opened one of the packages.
It dripped a little, but he didn’t mind. The edges of Kaito’s mouth quirked up, just a smidge. Barely noticeable. He enjoyed his popsicles peacefully.
…
(“Did you see that? He took them!” A small but incredibly happy smile exclaimed quietly.
“No way…I can’t really believe this.” Their counterpart muttered.
A small, knowing smile appeared on the other person’s face. “Happy anniversary…Kaito.”)