Chapter 1: Stage SEKAI
Chapter Text
KAITO loved to sing, of course. He figured most everyone would probably love to sing, if they gave it a chance. But what he really loved, more than anything, was watching other people sing. He had told the truth to Haruka back then, when More More Jump was putting on their first event: making someone else shine on stage was the most fulfilling thing there was.
His friends — his family — were an entire galaxy made up of radiant glittering stars, and he loved nothing more than polishing them as they took their place in the sky.
So he checked the sound equipment, he wrote the choreography, he brought cold drinks after hard rehearsals, he made up schedules, he brainstormed solutions to problems, and more than anything, he cheered them on from the best seats in the house.
Sure, maybe he got a little carried away sometimes. He had a tendency to forget himself when he got lost in his checklists. He knew he did. The problem was he didn’t really know how to know when he was doing it. But evidently he had done it, because MEIKO had fixed him with that look.
”Isn’t there something you want to ask me, KAITO?” she had said, in that one voice that was really only reserved for him, and his mind had immediately spun into overdrive to figure out where he had fucked up.
”Ahh,” he had said, stalling for time, as she stared dead in his eyes. Then it occurred to him, as the papers in his hands started to crinkle. “Would you… help me, MEIKO?”
And that must have been the right thing to say, because she smiled at him and his heart skipped a beat.
If his mind had the tendency to float away, MEIKO was the force of gravity that pulled him back to the ground.
The only thing was that he wished she would stop saying he should “take care of himself” as if he was supposed to know what that meant.
But he was giving it an honest shot.
Even if it made him look a little bit rabid, squatted and hunched over after rehearsal, nursing a small carton of ice cream.
The noise he made when Rin startled him was ungodly.
He thought he recovered alright, though. And really, she just wanted some ice cream. And he couldn’t deny her anything, not when she asked with that sweet smile.
What MEIKO didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.
Chapter Text
KAITO was sitting on the ground, a distance from the others. He was watching them intently.
They were… enjoying themselves.
KAITO was glad.
They didn’t enjoy themselves enough.
Ena and Mizuki had found a cute cafe. They’d brought back ice cream for everyone to share.
Len, in particular, seemed to be delighted. He was eating it in slow spoonfuls with his eyes closed. Ena seemed to be pleased with this. She seemed to care for him, maybe in the same sort of way that Rin and Miku did.
If KAITO were going to think anything about that at all, he would probably think that she should talk to her own brother. But he wasn’t going to bother thinking about it.
They were happier when he kept his distance anyway. He didn’t need the SEKAI’s open access to anyone’s feelings to tell from their sidelong glances that he made them uncomfortable.
He was too sharp. Jagged. His anger cut a straight line from the bite of his teeth to the flames in his chest. Unfit for proper company.
He almost didn’t notice Mafuyu was standing in front of him until she cleared her throat. He looked up at her.
”Do you want something?”
She tilted her head at him curiously. “KAITO. Do you dislike ice cream?”
The question was slippery in his mind. He couldn’t quite get his hands on it. What did she want him to say? He bit his lip.
”I’m fine here.”
She stared at him silently for a minute more before shaking her head slowly.
”KAITO.”
”Yes?”
”Why are you hiding your true feelings?”
Unbidden, he felt heat rise to his cheeks. He turned his head.
”This is different than that,” he said defensively.
”Why?”
He let the question hang in the air. He could feel the others watching from the distance.
“You told me to show my real self. To be honest. Not to hide my feelings away from the world,” Mafuyu said.
”So?”
She stared at him still, as if he were being deliberately difficult. He couldn’t tell if he was being deliberately difficult.
“So you want to eat some ice cream.”
”So?”
”So eat some ice cream.”
He heard the cursed chime of Luka’s muffled giggle. It was only getting harder to imagine bringing himself to look up at them again.
Then he felt a presence beside him, and a spoon pressed gently into his hand.
”It’s okay, KAITO,” Len said softly. “You can share with me.” He offered the small cup of chocolate toward KAITO with a shy smile.
He took a deep breath.
He took a bite.
Notes:
kaito (blushing): it’s not that deep bro
Chapter 3: School SEKAI
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Honami had come to visit MEIKO for some advice regarding a tough scheduling problem. The girls were working on a new song, for which they wanted to make a music video, all before their upcoming show. It was a lot of stress on them.
KAITO had more than enough respect for their hard work.
It was just a little difficult for him to focus on that (or, as a matter of fact, anything at all) while he could smell the chocolate.
Honami had brought a small carton of chocolate ice cream that she had picked up as an after-school snack to fuel her scheduling efforts. Kaito wasn’t going to say anything. Really.
He was just going to smell the chocolate, and sit in the corner pretending to practice his guitar until she left.
Unfortunately for him and his plan, MEIKO sold him out.
“You know who really likes ice cream,” she said around the spoon in her mouth.
“Who’s that?” Honami asked curiously.
“KAITO,” MEIKO replied.
Honami hummed, looking over at him. “I think I knew that, actually,” she said. “I seem to remember the KAITO from our world saying that in an interview.”
KAITO could feel his cheeks burn.
“It’s no big deal,” he said softly.
”Do you want some?” Honami asked. “I’m not sure I brought enough for all three of us…”
”It’s honestly not a problem,” KAITO mumbled again.
MEIKO frowned at him. “You know, KAITO, it’s not polite to say ‘honestly’ when you’re not being honest.”
His cheeks heated further, and lhe stammered for an answer.
”Come here already,” MEIKO said. There was no use denying her, so he approached the two of them, slowly, the way a stray cat approaches a stranger with food.
MEIKO scooped some chocolate ice cream onto her spoon and held it out in his direction, as if to put it in his mouth.
”No way,” he said, panicking a little at his own embarrassment.
She laughed and handed the spoon to him instead. “Fine, do it yourself then.”
”I’ll be sure to bring more, KAITO! Enough for everyone!” Honami said.
”Really, don’t worry about it,” KAITO said again, although secretly he was savoring the richness of the chocolate on his tongue.
Despite the cold of the treat, his cheeks didn’t cool down until well into the evening.
Chapter 4: Wonderland SEKAI
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Ever since WonderlandsxShowtime had come to the SEKAI and made mochi with everyone, KAITO hadn’t stopped hearing about it. Miku, the twins, the plushies, the flowers… even MEIKO and Luka were constantly talking about how much fun it had been to make food together like that.
He wasn’t stupid. He could read between the lines.
Of course, he could always ask Rui and the others to bring ingredients for something over to the SEKAI.
The issue was, he would always end up supervising.
Usually, he didn’t mind. After all, he was the troupe leader, and that was a position he held proudly. But he did tend to get a little exhausted sometimes.
That’s why, when the thought occurred to him, it struck him as a flash of genius.
There was nothing wrong with being a little bit selfish some of the time. Especially if the others would enjoy it anyway.
The kids brought over cream and ice and rock salt, along with plastic bags, and they got to it. KAITO did end up supervising quite a bit, but he made his own batch of ice cream too.
If he savored it in a rare moment of alone time hiding behind a roller coaster, that was no one’s business but his own.
Chapter 5: Street SEKAI
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KAITO often got scolded for not thinking, and that wasn’t exactly right.
That is to say, he did a lot of thinking. It’s just that all of the thinking tended to get a bit jumbled together in his head. Two thoughts would crash into each other and somehow end up cancelling each other out. Or he would have so many thoughts that he couldn’t quite keep up with himself.
Which is to say, he wasn’t a liar.
On the first day he had met Vivid BAD Squad, he had accidentally eaten Len’s ice cream. It had turned into a giant affair, and he had determined that he would never do it again. After all, he hadn’t meant to do it in the first place. It was just that the ice cream was there, and he had wondered if it belonged to the twins, and he thought maybe not, and then he was eating it.
He hadn’t meant to upset Len. It was just sort of in his nature that people ended up upset at him.
So this time, he had been determined to do it right. He wasn’t going to steal anything from anyone. God knew he didn’t need to hear another lecture or have another fight. His preferred vibe was chill, and ice cream thievery got in the way of that.
For good measure, he hadn’t eaten any of the ice cream that was already in the freezer. He didn’t know how he would know if somebody had claimed it without marking it. But he was hungry, and he wanted ice cream, and despite the rumors, he was clever.
He made his own.
He had even thought to share. His mood was bubbly and light, and when the boys came into the cafe, the only thing on his mind was sharing his little slice of happiness.
That is, until they had burst it by asking if he’d gotten permission from MEIKO to use the ingredients to make the ice cream in the first place.
Had he?
He had thought about it.
He wasn’t sure whether he had done it or not, but guessing from the way the boys had rolled their eyes and gone to look for her, they believed he hadn’t.
He had thought about it though.
Akito stepped back into the room with MEIKO in tow and KAITO looked her over nervously. But she didn’t have the blazing fiery look in her eye she sometimes did when he messed things up.
In fact, the first words out of her mouth when she got over to him were, “I’m not angry with you, KAITO.”
He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He hadn’t realized how anxious he was about her reaction.
”I’ll forgive you if you share with me,” MEIKO said with a wink. KAITO laughed and got out another spoon.
Chapter Text
They were determined to do it right this year. Every year, KAITO celebrated all of them, and every year, their own celebrations of him fell just a little short.
Not that they didn’t try, just that he was the most organized and creative of them, and he was the best at party planning. It was hard to plan a party without him.
But they were going to do it this year, they really were. They had split up the tasks and made a schedule. Luka and Miku were cleaning, MEIKO was cooking, Rin and Len were decorating. Everything was going how it was supposed to go.
They were handling things well. They were even finding solutions to their problems. Luka couldn’t find a mop, but she had asked around and found one. MEIKO could’ve sworn she had bought cream, but when she couldn’t find it in the fridge, she asked around and was directed to the top shelf. Rin and Len argued about whether the decorations should be white and blue or black and blue, but with a little bit of help, they chose white and blue, and it turned out very nicely. Miku was overly stressed about the time, but she managed by asking what time it was whenever she started to feel anxious.
There was just one problem with all of their problem-solving.
They didn’t realize until halfway through the day that it was KAITO solving their problems.
Somehow, in dividing up chores, they hadn’t assigned someone to occupy his time.
They were so used to his voice answering their questions that they didn’t stop to consider it.
It was Miku who realized first, letting out a squeal that summoned all of the Virtual Singers to come running. She was standing staring at KAITO in the middle of the newly repurposed party room.
The facts of the matter dawned on the other Virtual Singers in stages.
”Sorry, KAITO,” came a chorus of disappointed voices.
He giggled. “Don’t be sorry. I’m just happy you care enough that you wanted to throw a party for me.”
MEIKO ruffled his hair, and he ducked away from her hand.
“I guess we just can’t live without you,” she said.
”I wouldn’t want you to,” he said.
Notes:
thanks for reading this silly little fic!