Author's Note: I'm not really partial to portraying any of my favorite characters as contestants in singing or dancing or any other type of mainstream competitions, but I couldn't stop thinking about this one. Hopefully, you wouldn't find this fic annoying or just plain stupid, like I initially thought it would.
This was originally supposed to be a two to three chapter fic. I actually have the next chapter's first half written already, but when I re-read this chapter, I realized that it would be much better as a one-shot since I fell out of love with the idea of writing about how the actual competition went because it might seem too contrived, and I wanted to focus on the history of our favorite couple's relationship more than the competition itself. Also, I personally like the idea of open endings because it leaves room for me to imagine how the rest of the story went.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this! Don't hate me too much. Haha
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, or any of its characters. Nor do I own all information regarding the competition indicated in this story and its mechanics. I also do not intend to tarnish the reputation of any of the celebrities who are mentioned here. This is being written solely for entertainment purposes only.
Definitely Unexpected
A One-Shot
To say that Kamiya Kaoru was annoyed would be the understatement of the year.
She was currently on the passenger seat of her boyfriend's black sedan, and they were driving towards the venue that was she was directed to go to when she finally confirmed that she will be auditioning for the esteemed singing competition. Although the having Himura Kenshin—her boyfriend of three years now, sitting right beside her managed to calm her frazzled nerves down, she still couldn't help but hate the current situation she was in.
She never wanted anyone to know about her underground singing career—if that's what you can even call it. Career-wise, she didn't focus on finding gigs or sending out demos to help her and her band gain more of the music industry's attention. It was something she never really wanted, and she was extremely thankful to the universe that her bandmates felt the same way. They all had their own respective careers that they focused on developing, and the only reason that they played for select underground clubs was because they wanted to have fun from time to time—which is why they were seldom seen in the music scene, and that was just the way they liked it.
She couldn't help but feel a tinge of anger towards the person who felt that it was his or her responsibility to upload a video of her singing live in front of a crowd. She didn't mind their few fans' obvious show and appreciation of their music, but what really cut the cake on this person was the fact that he or she sent the video to the show's producers—thus making the show's staff feel like she was qualified enough to appear on national TV in an effort to win one of the four celebrity coaches' favor and support. When she called the producers to say that she appreciated their appreciation of her talent, but she—in all honesty—had no desire to participate, she was informed that she would no longer have to go through the on-ground auditions, if she was so uncomfortable with doing so. She said she would think about it, but she was really already dead set on not joining the show.
But alas, she was here now and there was nothing more she could do about it. She could perhaps run out of the building as fast as she could without warning anyone once they got there, but she doubted that Kenshin and her Executive Creative Director's family would appreciate that—especially since they took the time to support her on this day. Okay, so that wasn't completely true. The fact is that they were here to ensure that she wouldn't do anything stupid in front of all the competition's hopefuls.
"They're going to murder me." She said to the redhead while he was driving her to the venue of today's set of auditions, referring to her officemates who were busy working in their office.
He smiled amusedly at her statement without looking away from the road they were on. "No, Kaoru, they're not. You have Saitou there to back you up. You have nothing to worry about."
"You're right." She sighed. "They're not going to murder me. They're going to murder us."
"I highly doubt that they're going to kill of one of your agency's top three executives. He's far too valuable."
"Which is why we're back to everyone killing me." She looked out the window nervously. She's never missed a day of work before and to do so just to take part in one of the silliest events known to mankind was just absurd. What's worse was that she was dragging their Executive Creative Director, Saitou Hajime, along with her and Kenshin. Never mind the fact that it was Saitou who forced her to attend this thing and who refused to give her a choice on his attendance of the day's event. No one would understand the sheer irresponsibility of it all—especially since they had a lot of deadlines lined up for the week.
As an Account Manager for an independent boutique agency, her life was mostly colored with ensuring that their Creative Team would get clear and concise briefs, managing Client relationships and expectations, and enforcing deadlines that would be set by their Clients based on the Agency's lead times—which no one really followed anyway since most of their Creative staff loved to cram. Already she was thinking about the three submissions she had to accomplish for the day, and the presentation that they were supposed to attend the next day. She wasn't sure if the Creative Directors and Junior Art Directors that were assigned to her accounts were working on the marketing materials that they were due to submit, and she so desperately wanted to call them about the status of their progress, but she knew that her calls would just be ignored. They always came up with absurd—and entertaining, though she hated to admit it—excuses whenever she'd berate them about the urgency of her calls.
"Nobody is going to get killed, Kaoru." Kenshin chuckled as he turned towards the exit that would lead to the auditorium. "They can try, but I think you're forgetting that your lover is one of the country's best trauma surgeons."
"What did I tell you about calling me or yourself lover?" she scolded.
"And what did I tell you about calling me your boyfriend? That word just seems so… immature." He grimaced.
"It's better than sounding like being a character in one of those erotic novels." She retorted. "Anyway, I'd really rather not be placed in a position where you'd have to put your scalpel anywhere near me. I'd like it better if you stab Saitou with it."
"You know I won't be doing that anytime soon. You don't want to admit it, but you love that man—in an entirely different fashion than you do me, of course."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that. I swear there are some days when he just wants to torture me. Remember the time he caught me with a hickey that you so gallantly placed on my neck?"
Kenshin laughed as he remembered the memory that Kaoru brought up. He honestly didn't mean to leave that mark on such a visible place on her body, but at the time, he wasn't really thinking rationally and he wasn't able to control his body's actions to their rather… delicious activity. When he arrived at her office to attend the little alcohol-filled get-together that they were having the next day, Kaoru's face and Saitou's countless jabs were what greeted him. He wanted to feel guilty about it, but after seeing his girlfriend's red face and the unmistakable glee that Saitou was feeling, he couldn't help the amusement that filled him.
"It was all in good fun, love. You should be happy you had the chance to make your officemates laugh that much. Everyone had a lot of fun—even Katsura was chuckling." He reminded her happily.
"Not if they were doing so in my expense! I had to live through three weeks of teasing! And you should've seen Kamatari's and Katsuhiro's faces whenever you'd pick me up. It was disgusting."
"Believe me, Kaoru. I saw everything. So you weren't the only one who was traumatized. I've learned my lesson well."
"Good." She huffed.
The drive was silent for the rest of the way to the venue, both of them thinking about how they should be feeling about the upcoming event. Twenty minutes later, Kenshin parked his car under the shade of a tree that was located across the auditorium's entrance.
"So," he began. "Are you ready for this?"
He turned to face her so he could hold her gaze in his. Kaoru knew that he knew she was very much against the idea of exploiting herself in a competition like this one, but he also knew that though she may force herself to believe that she was only being suckered into it, there was a small part of her that wanted to go through with this—both for her family, and for Saitou Tsubame, the six-year-old girl that she treated like her little sister ever since she met her. Tsubame was a huge fan of the show and of Kaoru that finally getting the chance to see both things at once almost burst her blessed little heart with joy.
"I'm going to have to tell them about me, aren't I?" she asked the redhead quietly, worry lacing her features.
Kenshin nodded sadly at her. "If you decide to do this, then I doubt they won't recognize who you are. And there's no way they're going to let you just walk away without telling them your story."
"I really don't want to do this. I don't need this. Nobody in the office knows about who I am except for Saitou, and now they're all going to find out."
"I know." The redhead replied quietly before sighing and smiling at her warmly. "Whatever you decide, love, I'll be here for you. I don't know what your officemates will say once they watch the episode, but I do know that they won't think any less of you for not deciding to tell them about yourself sooner. They all love you too much for that. You're all basically a family, after all."
He paused and let her digest what he said. He was fully aware of the close relationship that everyone in his girlfriend's agency shared. As a boutique agency, they were significantly smaller than the other multinational advertising firms that were scattered all over Tokyo. Since they only had twenty employees, they all had to interact closely every day in order to finish the work that was required of them—especially since the brands they handled were very active and had a lot of requirements for their marketing campaigns. It wasn't long before he too was dragged into their tightly knit circle courtesy of Saitou wanting to meet the elusive boyfriend of their new employee. Since then, he's been invited to every social function that the company had, and he's even been out with some of her officemates without Kaoru's presence.
Among all of the people in her office, though, it was Saitou whom the couple felt the closest to. Kaoru met the esteemed creative director during the second interview for her application to the agency. He recognized her instantly from the countless number of TV appearances she made a year prior to her application for the company, and he confirmed that she was indeed who he saw when he pulled her aside after the interview was done. Once she was employed, he and Kaoru have always shared a special relationship since Saitou was the only one who knew of what she dealt with in the past—and he knew that it was something that the younger employee was not very comfortable with sharing. Eventually, their connection evolved to something similar to what a father would share with his daughter. Saitou introduced Kenshin and Kaoru to his family a year later, and they all fell in so much love with each other that they ended up celebrating most of the major holidays together.
"Kaoru," he began seriously after a couple of minutes passed. "Are you ready for this?"
Kaoru closed her eyes for another minute as she thought about the answer to his question. Once she stepped out of that car and into the auditorium, there would be no going back. This was a test of courage, and Kamiya Kaoru was nothing if not brave.
"As ready as I'll ever be." She answered, opening her eyes and leaning in for a chaste kiss before leaving the vehicle. She heard the click that signaled that the doors were locked, and watched the redhead as he walked towards her to hold her hand as they entered the auditorium together.
The moment they got to the floor where all aspiring contestants were being held, they were immediately submerged in chaos. Members of the show's staff were running around like headless chickens, trying to get everything in order. The people who were lined up to audition, on the other hand, were scattered across the floor; some were rehearsing what they were going to sing onstage, some were praying, while some were trying to ease their nerves by joining in on the mindless chatter of their friends and families who were circled around them.
The couple was busy trying to find a quiet corner where they could settle themselves in before Kaoru was called onstage when they heard a booming voice echo from the other side of the room.
"Kamiya!" they heard Saitou call out. "Himura! Get your asses over here!"
Kenshin and Kaoru smiled and walked towards where the small family of four was, their humor increasing as they overheard the conversation that was going on between husband and wife.
"Hajime! What did I tell you about cursing in front of Tsubame?" Saitou Tokio said angrily. "I swear one day you're going to hear her saying something you said and you'll regret not listening to me."
Saitou scoffed. "Of course she's not going to do that," he said before crouching down to meet Tsubame's smiling eyes. "My little girl is smart enough to know when Daddy's saying something stupid, isn't she?"
They saw Tsubame nod and whisper something to her father, which made the latter laugh out loud in response.
"Hey Tokio, Tsubame." Kaoru greeted warmly when they were close enough. "And hello little Yahiko! My, he seems to be getting bigger and bigger every day, isn't he?"
Tokio smiled at the raven-haired account manager. "Bigger and heavier, I'm afraid. My arms feel like lead. I've been holding him since we got here since all of the people here are making him uncomfortable."
"Why don't I just take him, then?" Kaoru suggested helpfully. "I don't mind. Besides, I've missed cuddling with this little piglet. And I'm sure he's missed me too, haven't you, little cutie? Oh yes you are, my darling schnuckums." She gushed as she took Yahiko into her arms.
"I missed you too, Kaoru-neesan!" Tsubame squealed, pulling on her skirt as she did so.
Kaoru crouched down and smiled warmly at the pig-tailed little girl who was wearing the floral dress that she gave her for her sixth birthday. "Me too, Tsubame-chan. Have you been a good girl?"
Tsubame nodded. "Uh-huh! I got an A on my test yesterday! And I didn't say any of the bad words that Daddy said I shouldn't ever ever say."
The account manager's eyes shot up to Tokio's, who was busy glaring at her husband, looking like she wanted to explode. Before anything happened though, Kaoru decided to intervene by standing up and turning to the two men who were conversing quietly beside them.
"Have you been here long, Saitou?"
The executive looked at his employee and nodded. "We got here half an hour before you did. You two are lucky. When we arrived, there was a girl screaming and begging for the producers to give her another shot at auditioning. It was pathetic." He scoffed. "I sure hope you wouldn't end up doing that, Kaoru. If you do, I won't hesitate in telling Tomoe and the others about it when we get back to the office. Then you'd end up humiliated and jobless all in the span of ten minutes."
"Jobless? If I remember right, you were the one who forced me to play hooky so I could be here. I never wanted to do this in the first place."
Another tug at her skirt made her look down… and made her wish she didn't. Tsubame's eyes were wide and sad as she stared up at her idol and said, "Is that true, Kaoru-neesan? You don't want to join the competition?"
Kaoru sighed and shook her head before looking back up at Saitou to give him a well-deserved glare. "You play dirty, Saitou. You didn't tell me you were bringing everyone."
The older man grinned at her. "It was a surprise. Tsubame wanted to watch her neesan sing since she had no clue that you could. Neither did Tokio. We're here to offer you our undying love and support. You should be happy."
"More like you brought them here for insurance." She scoffed. "I hate you so much right now. You don't know how much trouble I'd get in when I get back. I've never skipped work before."
"I know. And why the hell are you worrying about getting in trouble? I'm here with you, aren't I?"
"Yeah. You're here… while everyone thinks you're home sick; which they think I am too. Didn't you ever think about what would happen when this thing actually airs? I don't think Katsura and Tomoe are stupid enough to believe that we were both out sick when they see both of us on TV."
Saitou sighed. "Himura, control your woman, won't you? Isn't there some sort of drug you can give her to make her stop being so damn negative all of the time?"
Kenshin chuckled as he gently put his arm around Kaoru's waist. "Believe me, I tried. There's just no convincing this woman of anything once she gets her mind set on something. We've been arguing over the same thing on the way here."
Kaoru scowled, feeling as though the two men were ganging up on her. Before she had a chance to retort, though, she saw Saitou looking intently at something behind her.
"You might want to hold off on biting our heads off. The producer's here."
True enough, the group turned towards the direction that Saitou indicated and found a harassed-looking woman walking frantically towards where they were. She was speaking rapidly into the mic of the headset she wore, all the while looking intently at Kaoru.
"You're Kamiya Kaoru?" she asked.
Kaoru nodded warily at the woman to confirm her identity. "Yes, I am."
"These people are with you, then?"
Another nod.
"Good. Great. Follow me, then. We've been looking for you for an hour now. You'll be up in about half an hour and we need to interview you and your family before you go up onstage. The host is already waiting for you backstage, and the crew's ready to go. So when you get inside, just please answer all his questions. We have a dozen more interviews to do after yours." The producer instructed as she led the group past a couple of hallways and into a decorated and brightly lit room.
There were at least two cameras that were pointed towards a set of couches, and the lights were so bright that it hurt her eyes for a moment when she stepped into the relatively quiet area. Her hand automatically reached for Kenshin's when she saw all this, and he didn't hesitate in giving it a gentle and reassuring squeeze. She was briefly comforted by this, but it was short-lived since the frantic woman they were following suddenly turned to her once again with a pointed look.
"We didn't know you have a child." She said. "How old is he? Where was he born? Is this man the father? Is he legitimate? What's his name?"
Kaoru was stunned at the fast questions that were directed at her. Luckily, Tokio took that moment to intervene and introduce herself when the older woman noticed her discomfort.
"Oh no," she giggled as she took Yahiko out of her arms. "He's my child, and his name is Yahiko. I'm Saitou Tokio, this is my husband Hajime, and here's Tsubame. We're really close friends of Kaoru and Kenshin."
The producer nodded and listed everything down. "Okay. I was a bit surprised 'cause our background check never mentioned Miss Kamiya giving birth in the last two years." She paused. "I'm Cho Mizuko, by the way. You can call me Mizuko. I'm the show's producer—obviously."
"Ba—background check?" Kaoru stuttered.
"Of course." Mizuko replied. She turned away from the group for a few seconds so she could shoot out a command for one of the cameramen to adjust his angle. "We do it for all the contestants here. Saves us time for the pre-interview. At least this way, we'd know what to ask you in front of the camera." She continued distractedly.
Kaoru sighed. "Okay."
The producer looked at her again, her gaze stern and searching at the same time. "You are aware that we know of your… history, right? And you know that we will be airing that on national television in two weeks?"
The account manager nodded sadly. "I thought as much. Though actually seeing that it's about to happen is still a bit disorienting."
"If you want to back out now, tell me immediately. We can't afford to waste our time here."
Her grip on Kenshin's hand strengthened, and she drew her courage from his calming presence. She didn't want to break Tsubame's heart, and she wanted to do this because in a way, she knew that it would make her family proud.
"No. I'm fine." She replied.
As if on cue, a dozen people surrounded the group, fiddling with their clothes and applying a small amount of make-up to each of their faces so they could appear better on camera.
"Five minutes, people! Let's get Komagata-san in here, please!" someone yelled from across the room.
When the crew was done pushing the group around and arranging them on the couches in front of the camera, they saw an elegant-looking woman enter the room.
Komagata Yumi was nothing short of beautiful. Her dark brown, lustrous hair was held up in a complicated chignon, with a few strands left out to frame her heart-shaped face. Her make-up was subtle, aside from her signature bright red lipstick that adorned her warmly smiling lips. She was wearing a purple floor-length dress that flowed elegantly throughout her slim physique.
Kaoru immediately felt a strong wave of insecurity and inadequacy wash through her when the beautiful host sat beside her. It didn't help that she was only dressed in a black asymmetrical skirt—the front part hanging just above her knees as the back fell just an inch below her ankles, an ordinary white tank top with a beautiful wire necklace set just below her collarbones and ended beneath her chest; and a pair of plain nude pumps. Her shoulder-length hair hung around her face in waves, and her make-up only consisted of what the crew put on her. She blatantly refused to remove the baseball cap she wore, but now, she was starting to think twice about her decision especially a flicker of amusement fell on the host's face when her eyes landed on the nervous woman.
"That's a nice cap you have there." She commented, her smile growing wider at the obvious tension in the woman she addressed. "Don't worry, Kamiya-san. I don't bite; and I meant what I said about your cap. It seems oddly… fitting."
Kaoru smiled at the warmth that exuded from the woman beside her, and the tension she was feeling earlier lessened. "Thank you, Komagata-san."
"Please," the host giggled. "Call me Yumi."
"You can call me Kaoru, then." She replied.
The host nodded and looked away for a moment as one of the associate producers adjusted the way she sat. When she looked back at Kaoru, the same amount of warmth was still evident on her face, although this time, it was tinged with what seemed like pity.
"I'm very sorry for the losses you've had to endure, Kaoru-chan." She said gently. "I can't imagine having to go through what you did. I admire your strength."
Kaoru shrugged, but gave Kenshin's hand a strong squeeze, prompting the redhead to put his arm around her so she could subtly lean into him. "Thank you. Though I'm a lot better now than I was before, and my strength mostly came from the people around me. So it's not really something you should admire."
"Will you be alright with the questions we'll be asking?"
"I suppose so, I already have a hunch on what they'll be about, so I guess—in a way—I'll be ready for them."
The host looked like she was about to say something more when a booming voice announced that they would begin taping in five seconds. Yumi settled for giving her another smile before settling into her role for the next thirty minutes.
The room fell silent and they heard a brief countdown from one of the staff as the room fell silent and waited for the signal to start rolling. Once the red light behind the cameras clicked on, Yumi started her spiel brightly.
"And here we are backstage with Kamiya Kaoru, the next singer who will be going through tonight's set of blind auditions." She said cheerfully before turning to Kaoru. "So tell us about yourself, Kaoru-chan. You seem quite the enigma to all of us, and I'm sure the viewers would love to hear more about you."
"Well, I'm not really sure what to say, Yumi." She admitted shyly. "To be honest I wasn't even sure if I should come here today. I'm currently working as an account manager for a boutique advertising agency, and we have a lot of deadlines we have to meet this week. I'm pretty sure my officemates would kill me when I get back to the office." She chuckled.
"Oh? What made you finally decide to be here, then?"
Kaoru was about to answer when Saitou interrupted from his spot on the other end of the couch, his stance arrogant as he spoke. "That would be my doing. Kaoru's never been able to resist anything I say."
The twenty-five year old woman bristled, but held her scathing remark back as she met his laughing eyes. If the cameras weren't rolling right now, she wouldn't have stopped herself from throttling his neck. She was sure Tokio would forgive her for severely injuring—if not killing—her husband.
Yumi turned her attention to the man who spoke. "Really now? Then you must be her father?"
Once the question was asked, a shot of pain went through Kaoru's chest, making her give a sharp intake of breath as she tried to control herself. She saw Yumi give her a brief glance of concern as she feigned curiosity at Saitou, while Kenshin held her just a little bit tighter.
"You'll be okay, love." The redhead whispered quietly into her ear.
She nodded infinitesimally before smiling at Yumi, her eyes laced with the hurt she felt whenever her family would be talked about. "No, he's not. He's the Executive Creative Director in the agency I'm working in, but he and his family are really close friends of ours. Actually, he's more of a… father-figure to me. He always has been."
The host smiled warmly upon hearing her answer. "That must be nice to have Kaoru-chan." Upon saying that, a concerned look sprouted on her beautiful face. "Though, I'm wondering now about where your father is? Is he out of the country?"
Kaoru took in a deep breath before she answered. "No, actually. He's… well, he passed away five years ago. Along with the rest of my family."
"Oh, dear. I'm terribly sorry to hear that." Yumi paused before continuing. "If you don't mind, can you tell us what happened?"
The raven-haired woman felt a reassuring squeeze on her shoulders, giving her the strength to answer the host's question. "They uh…" She cleared her throat before continuing. "They got into an accident on their way back here from vacationing in Nara. A drunk bus driver hit the car they were all in, which made the car roll down and crash down the highway. I was studying for my finals back at the university, so I wasn't able to join them for the vacation. I found out about it when one of the policemen on the scene called me to tell me about what happened to my parents and four younger siblings."
There was a dramatic pause, and Kaoru watched as Yumi's eyes softened in pity while the other crew members that were in the room with them were in varied states of shock. They couldn't believe that they didn't recognize the girl who practically took over the news for a month because of her suing of one of the biggest bus lines in Japan.
"You mean… Kaoru-chan… that you were related to the Kamiyas who went against the JR Bus line five years ago?"
She nodded. "Sadly, I was. I know a lot of people say that I'm lucky—that it was a good thing that I wasn't in the car with them, that I managed to shut down the bus line, and that I got a huge settlement off of the case that's, admittedly, more than enough for me to live by for the rest of my life. But, to this day, there are days when I miss them so much that I end up praying that I went with them to Nara. It was more than devastating for me to have been on the phone with my Mom one minute, then be told that I was orphaned and without a family a few hours later. I'd gladly give up all that I have now if I could get a chance to get them back."
"I can't imagine how you survived that." Yumi commented sadly. "Though I'm curious as to how you managed to achieve all that you did at the time. You were only twenty years old, correct?"
"I was, and well… I was forced to survive by my friends from college. I owe most of what I have now to them because if it weren't for them, I probably would've just given up. They dragged me to my classes every day, they practically force fed me and made sure that I'd eat on time, and it was because of them that I had the ability to actually sue in the first place. Since I was only twenty years old and studying under the Communication program in Tokyo University, I had absolutely no clue on what I should do, nor did I have the means to do something like what I did—not to mention that I was still grieving at the time so I didn't really want to actually do anything."
Yumi was genuinely surprised at what she heard. She used to think that Kaoru was able to proceed with such a big case because their family was… well, to put it bluntly, rich. It was natural for her and the rest of the country to believe that her inheritance from her parents' sudden death would've covered all the expenses that her succeeding actions would incur. "What do you mean? Did something go wrong with claiming your inheritance?" she paused thoughtfully. "I'm sorry for asking, Kaoru-chan. I didn't mean to be insensitive. You don't have to answer that."
The woman in question shook her head and smiled ruefully. She was at this point already and there was no point in keeping secrets. She didn't mind talking about this part because it was mostly about her friends than her, after all; and she didn't feel uncomfortable with telling everyone about her friends' generosity.
"That's a common misconception, I think." She chuckled. "The truth is, our family didn't have much in terms of wealth. We had a house, yes, and we were all very comfortable; and none of us had to stop studying just so we could work to help support our family instead—like most of the more less fortunate families have to endure. My parents had stable jobs, and what they earned was enough for us to live by. But it still didn't stop them from having to acquire loans from the bank every now and then. When they all died, the money they had left in savings went straight to paying for the loans they left behind. So I was basically left with nothing. I became a penniless orphan all in the span of one month."
"And your friends sustained you until you graduated?"
"They did far more than that. Not just my friends, but their families as well. You see, one of my friends' parents were both lawyers—so they were the ones who did all the work during the trial period, and they gladly took my case on pro-bono. I'm really grateful to them, especially since they lived in Kyoto at the time and they flew in to stay here in Tokyo for months just to help me out.
"My other friend's dad was a private investigator, so he took the lead in gathering evidence—which was actually wonderful since apparently the owner of JR Bus line was trying to bribe most of the public detectives to get rid of the evidence that would prove that the driver was drunk. I had another friend who had doctors for parents, so they took care of the autopsies of both the driver and the conductor. Finally, I also had a friend who kept a really close watch on me." She grinned at the memory of Sano's over-protective nature, and the way he made it his responsibility to keep the press and other gossip mongers at bay. Although she didn't approve of the way he didn't think twice about beating someone up whenever they'd so much as look at her in the wrong way, some of the ways in which he told people off were very entertaining.
"Ah, it must've been very comforting for you to be surrounded by such great people." Yumi mused. "I know you don't like being told that you're lucky, but it seems to me that it's the only thing that could explain you meeting all the right people beforehand."
"I guess so," Kaoru shrugged. "Though I'd like to believe that it's more of the universe telling me that everything happens for a reason. I turned to Buddhism a year after what happened, you see. It helped me a lot with getting through the grief, and I felt like I could really relate to the principles and teachings they shared."
"It makes it difficult for us to prepare food during the holidays," Tokio intervened, laughing as she did so. "We always have to make sure that there would be at least two vegetarian dishes on the table. We can't have her suffering through seeing all of us enjoying our meals, while she just sits there."
The group laughed good naturedly at what the gentle woman said, the darkness that seemed to shroud over the room's environment easing slightly as they moved on to a lighter topic.
"Thank you so much for sharing all these with us, Kaoru-chan." Yumi said gratefully. "But… before we part ways, there's something else I'd like to ask you."
Kaoru saw the host smirk, and at that moment she already knew what was coming next. She laughed, "We've already come this far, Yumi. I don't think there's anything I won't be willing to answer at this point."
"Well, if you put it that way…" Yumi said mischievously. "You and Himura-san are absolutely adorable! I mean—even the way you two move seem like you're both so attuned to each other. How did the two of you meet?"
Kaoru turned to smile at Kenshin, silently telling him to be the one to tell the story. He was, after all, the one who initiated what they have now. He fortunately got what she wanted to say, and cleared his throat as a signal that he would be the one to speak next. All eyes turned on him, and Kaoru was amazed at how unfazed he was by all the attention. She knew he was confident, but this was taking that confidence to a whole new level.
"We had a rather… unorthodox start to our relationship." He began. Yumi smiled encouragingly at him, urging him to expound on what he just said.
"Kaoru and I actually met in college. I was a couple of years ahead of her, and I was about to graduate from med school." He chuckled at remembering the moment he was talking about. "I was on my way out from getting coffee from the coffee shop across the university when all of a sudden, this blithering mess knocked right into me and crushed the cup I had between us. Things basically went like how instances like those normally would. She apologized, I apologized, we made sure each other was alright because that coffee was hot, we laughed a bit at our misfortune, then we went our separate ways. I didn't even bother asking her for her name since I thought we'd never meet again, and that if we would, it wouldn't go beyond exchanging a few smiles and awkward hello's. Obviously, she thought the same way."
Everyone in the room was enthralled with listening to his voice—though some of the women in the room paid attention to more than his vocal cords. Himura Kenshin was not a bad looking man—in fact, some would even go so far as to say that he was beautiful; not handsome, but beautiful.
His long auburn hair hung neatly behind him in a low ponytail that almost reached his waist. At first glance, you'd think that he was a woman since he had a lean and relatively petite physique compared to other men; a fact that Kaoru often teased him about since he was only slightly taller than her, while Sano easily towered over the two of them. But she knew that what he may lack in height, he more than made up for with his agility and strength—which is something that people wouldn't really expect from a man like him. So woe be to those who would cross the redhead and those he holds dear.
What made women swoon and other men secretly jealous were his striking facial features. His jawline was well-defined, and his eyes were a dark shade of violet—a color that was rarely, if never, seen in people from their country. His gaze was so expressive and intense that Kaoru always felt like she could drown in it, but she was also well aware of the dangers behind those beautiful orbs of his—especially when they would turn a frightening shade of amber whenever he'd burn with rage.
These, along with his tan skin and the cross-shaped scar on his left cheek—which you'd think would mar his gentle features, but most people thought it was oddly fitting for him, made women he'd interact with claim that his mysterious aura can easily make someone fall in love with him at first sight.
Kenshin sighed before continuing his tale. "The next time we met, it wasn't quite as… cheerful as the last time we did. I was working as a surgical intern at Tokyo General Hospital at the time. It was around 1 AM when we got a phone call from the police about six bodies that would be arriving at the hospital in about an hour. None of us wanted to take the case, since we knew that phone calls like those usually meant that the bodies that would arrive would most likely be dead and that we'd have nothing else to do but call the time of death; although we did find it weird that they were going to send the bodies to our hospital considering that there was bound to be a nearer one to wherever they were.
"Anyway, the resident who was in charge of us assigned me to take care of it since I've been up for 48 hours already. He told me that right after I was done with it, I was free to go home, so I didn't have any qualms with doing what he said. One of the nurses told me that the patients' family was in the waiting room. When I got there, though, I was surprised to see the same girl who poured her coffee all over me two years before that time. I had no idea how I remembered her then, since we didn't even have a proper introduction, but I decided to approach her anyway to ask if there was anything I could help her with."
"Hey." The redhead greeted warmly when he approached the woman he recognized.
She didn't look up at his greeting, and he thought that he had mistaken the person for someone else. Embarrassed and blushing bright red, he apologized and was starting to move away from her when he noticed that her hands were shaking violently.
"Excuse me, Miss?" he asked, his identity as a surgeon rising to the surface. "Miss, are you alright?"
The woman refused to look up at him, and along with the shaking that was starting to crawl through her entire body now, he noted her pale skin and wildly disheveled appearance.
He crouched down to try to catch her eye from underneath her bangs since her head was still bent down. Gently and not wanting to surprise the woman with his actions, he slowly reached for her clasped hands and was surprised at how cold it was.
"Miss?" he tried again. "I'm Dr. Himura Kenshin, if you're feeling unwell, please tell me. I can help you."
She looked up when she heard the last words that he spoke and locked her sapphire gaze with his. Tears were falling freely down her face, but she didn't seem to notice since she wasn't doing anything to wipe them away. He flinched at the emptiness that filled her eyes, but he didn't relinquish his hold on her cold, clammy hands. He was a doctor, and he knew this girl—although he didn't know her name yet. He felt that it was his responsibility now to care for her, seeing as she wasn't there with anyone else.
"Hey," he said softly, wiping her tears away with his thumbs. "Hey, you can tell me what's wrong. I can help you, but you have to tell me what's wrong, okay?"
The girl nodded shakily and took a deep breath in an effort to try to calm herself. "I'm here to—I'm here to see my family. Could you help me find them, please?"
"Sure." He confirmed. "Though I have to make sure that you're fine first, okay?" He sat beside her and gave her a brief work-up, checking the dilation of her pupils, her breathing, and her heart rate. After doing so, he went back to holding her still tightly clasped hands.
"You're going through a panic attack. I need you to try to stand up and come with me now. We need to calm you down, otherwise you might end up fainting." He said gently.
When he received no response, he pulled her hands up until she stood shakily beside him, her head still bent down as she tried to catch her breath. Her panic attack was reaching his peak now and he had to get her somewhere private and quiet until she could ride it out. "I'm going to lead you out of here, okay? We're going to a quiet place so you can calm down. It's okay." He assured her.
He led her quickly through the hallways of the hospital that he knew like the back of his hand, pushing her gently through his hand that was placed on her back, all the while murmuring quiet reassurances to her. When they reached the door to the on-call room, he quickly guided her into the room and caught her right as her legs gave out because of the violent shaking that her body was being subjected to.
"Try to breathe, Miss." He whispered into her ear as he held her. They were on the floor now, his arms wrapped around her as she sat sideways on his outstretched legs. He was trapped, so he couldn't move her without pushing her off of him. Ideally, he would've had the woman lean against the wall and stretch out her legs so her body's circulation could return to normal faster. Given his position now, though, the best he could do was to hold her as tight as he could—especially since she didn't seem to react violently to his touch. It was amazing how much this woman already trusted him despite not knowing who he was; generally, people undergoing panic attacks don't let anyone touch them aside from their most trusted family members or friends; so to have her not thrashing against him was odd and strangely heartwarming.
"It's okay," he breathed into her ear. "You're okay. I'm here."
He murmured countless words of comfort to her, filling her senses with the sound and feel of him. A few minutes later, he could feel her starting to calm down. "I need you to try to breathe like me, okay?" he instructed gently. "In through your nose, and out through your mouth. Okay?"
She nodded and did as she was told, though it took a few more minutes before her shaking lessened significantly and her breathing came close to normal. His hold on her shifted so he could put his right arm under her knees and his other arm against her back. He supported both of their weights as he stood up using his left leg that was released some time during the peak of her anxiety attack.
He laid her down on the bed and was about to rise up so he could sit beside her when she clutched the cloth from the polo he was wearing under his lab gown.
"Please…" she whispered. "Stay."
He nodded and took off his shoes so he could lie beside her, his left arm sliding under her neck and his other arm holding her against him. It was a very intimate position and he was starting to feel worried that one of the hospital staff might catch him. It would be pretty hard to explain why you have one of the hospital's patients in bed with you, and he doubted that whoever he would have to explain himself to would believe him. However, he didn't want to let go of the woman in his arms, either. He knew that at this point, reassurance was what she needed most, and he didn't want to deny her that. He took an oath to heal and to do no harm to his patients, and if that meant he would have to risk his job, then so be it. There are other hospitals out there.
When her shaking stopped completely and her breathing was as close to normal as possible, he felt her push herself slightly away from him. His arms tightened around her in instinct, but immediately gave in to her silent request when he realized what he did. He was too deep in thought that he almost forgot that he had no right to be touching this woman. 'What the hell is wrong with you, Himura?'
"How are you feeling?" he asked her softly, brushing a few strands of hair away from her sweaty face.
She took a deep breath before giving him a soft chuckle. "Like shit, to be honest. Like… like I just had a heart attack."
"I figured as much." He smiled. He lifted himself sideways, his head supported by his shoulder as he raised his torso by his left elbow. "That was a pretty rough anxiety attack," he said concernedly. "Have you been having them often?"
"No. This—this is the first time that happened to me."
He nodded slightly. Her eyes were closed and it was obvious that she was trying to hold back tears, but why? "Is that why you're here? Did you think you were having a heart attack? How long have you been feeling disoriented?"
The woman fell silent again and he internally berated himself for asking those questions so fast. She was still in the process of calming down and shoving question after question down her throat would definitely not help move things along.
He watched her gulp a couple of times before opening her eyes and looking at his worried gaze. "I di…I didn't start feeling like that 'til I arrived in the waiting room." She sighed and closed her eyes again. "I'm looking for my family. Is there any chance that you could help me find them, Dr…?"
"Himura." He replied. "Himura Kenshin. You can call me Kenshin." He reached out to hold her hands that were fidgeting with each other on top of her stomach. "Sure, I can help you do that. But first I'm going to need your name."
"Kaoru. Kamiya Kaoru."
His eyes widened. She was the person he was looking for? The contact of the six bodies that were coming in? Whether the bodies were of her friends or her family, it didn't matter at this moment. All he knew was that now was definitely not the time to tell her about what happened. At least, not yet. He had to make sure that she would be calm enough to handle what he was going to tell her first. Suddenly, he was so thankful that her eyes were closed because he didn't think she would've missed the shock that shone bright in his eyes.
Schooling his expression and his entire body to fit his purpose, he lied back on the bed gently and told her, "You know, we've met before."
"Huh?" she asked, surprised at the announcement. Her eyes opened and she turned her head to look at his rather relaxed position. His head was resting beside hers on the two pillows that were provided along with the bed in the dark room. The moonlight shone on the two of them from the window that was across the room, giving her enough light to study his features.
He chuckled. "I figured you wouldn't remember. We didn't exactly meet properly the last time I saw you." He turned to look at her, subconsciously reaching for her left hand so he could intertwine their fingers. "It was back when we were both still in Tokyo U. I was walking out of a coffee shop with a scalding hot cup of coffee when you crashed into me."
Kaoru's eyes widened in recognition and remembrance of the memory. 'Oh God,' she thought. 'Someone just shoot me. Shoot me now.'
"I remember that." She managed to reply. "I had to skip the rest of my classes so I could go home. The burn was pretty bad for me. What about you?"
"Same. Though I still had to go back to school. I had a huge exam that day and I couldn't afford to have missed it."
She grimaced. "I'm sorry. I was in a hurry back then 'cause I was late for meeting my friend. She has a tendency to yell—no, screech out at me whenever she'd get mad. I was scared she'd cause a scene at the shop, so I had to hurry. I really didn't see you from outside, and I thought there wasn't anybody by the door, so I just barged in like the idiot I am. I'm really sorry. I mean, I know it's been years since it happened, but now that I know it caused you so much hassle, well… I'm really… I'm just… I'm sorry. And I know I'm babbling now and I don't even know if I'm making any sense and oh God, I'm embarrassing myself even further just rambling on and on like this so I'm going to… stop… now."
Kenshin smiled at her rambling, clearly entertained at how much she said in the span of a few seconds. He remembered thinking that she was cute when she got herself together two years ago, and now that he's had enough time to observe her features, he realized that what he originally thought of her evolved since the last time they saw each other. She was beautiful.
"I didn't know anybody could talk that fast." He chuckled, his eyes glowing as he watched her cheeks brighten in embarrassment.
She huffed at him, though it wasn't nearly as forceful as she hoped it would be. Then again, she was currently recovering from what she now knows was an extreme episode of a panic attack, so she guessed she could forgive herself this one time. "Are you laughing at me?"
"Of course I'm not."
"Now you're just patronizing me. Some doctor you are." She mumbled. "What kind of doctor are you anyway? Are you a shrink?"
He grimaced. "Please don't ever tell anyone that you thought I was a psychiatrist. I'm way more hardcore than that. I'm a surgeon—a cardiothoracic surgeon, if I'd be given the chance to be one."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm just an intern now, so I have to pass the exams at the end of our internship period before I can be a resident. Then, I'd be allowed to choose a field I'd like to specialize in. Although that doesn't mean I won't be allowed to not participate in any other surgeries they'd want me to be in."
"Ah." She said, looking back up at the ceiling.
"And you? Have you graduated yet?"
"No, not yet. I'm on my senior year, though, so I should be able to get out of there in a couple of months. I'm a communication major, so I don't think I'll be doing anything as hardcore as you."
They spent the rest of the hour talking about mundane things, reminiscing about the different experiences they had in the prestigious university and talking about their lives in general. It hurt him to hear how close she was to both her family and her friends. He truly wished that the bodies that the police would be bringing in fell into neither category; although the rational side of him already told him what the answer was. Still, though, it didn't hurt to hope.
His pager beeped a couple of times and he looked down to check what he was being paged for. His hand squeezed hers when he realized that he had to tell her now. The police were here, and the bodies were already settled in at the morgue.
He sighed, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. "Kaoru, I have to tell you something."
The woman was silent, and for a second, he thought that she was going to have another panic attack. He was about to sit up to look at her when he heard her speak softly, as if afraid that if she made her voice louder, the world around them would break.
"You don't have to." She whispered. "I already know."
Shocked, he couldn't help the question that bubbled out from his lips. "What? How did you know what I was going to say?"
"The police called me earlier. That's why I came here, and that's why they're bringing the bodies to this hospital instead of the one near the outskirts. When you started babbling on and on about random shit after I told you my name, I figured you'd know something about what happened."
"Oh." He cringed. "I guess my attempt at subtlety was pathetic, huh?"
She smiled ruefully. "Yes." She turned to look him straight in the eye. "I'm not mad at you for not telling me sooner, though. I know you were just trying to make sure that I wouldn't go crazy again. Besides, it helped to talk about something other than what's about to happen."
"You're not crazy, Kaoru." He reassured her gently. "It's normal for you to react the way you did. I know it hurts."
The woman beside him sat up suddenly after hearing what he said. She shoved his hand away from his, and for a moment, he thought that she was going to hit him. Sitting up and watching her warily, he knew that to help her get through this, he would have to reopen his own scars that were just beginning to heal.
"How could you possibly know how it feels?" she hissed angrily at him, her eyes blazing in fury. "How could you possibly understand what I'm going through? My whole world's been torn apart and I have no idea what to do now. I don't even want to see them, but I know that I have to, and it scares me. It scares me so much I feel like I'd rather die than go down that room. They're my family for fuck's sake! They're all I had. How could you possibly tell me that you know what I'm feeling right now?!"
"It helps to be angry." He said gently, his voice as soothing as possible. "If it would make you feel better, I wouldn't mind if you stay angry with me. I'd understand."
"Stop talking to me as if you know what I'm going through! You don't! You don't know how—"
"I know."
Kaoru stopped at his soft admission. The words she was about to speak were immediately blanked out from her mind. "What?"
"I know. I know how it feels. I know what you're thinking. I know." He paused to look meaningfully up at her. "I know because I lived through the same thing."
She remained silent, but her eyes were starting to go blank. He took this as his opportunity to continue speaking to try to stabilize her emotions. She needed something to focus on right now, and she needed as much support as she could get if she were to get through the night. If telling her what happened to him would make her accept his help, then so be it.
"My parents died last year. They're both doctors and were in Liberia for a medical mission at the time when Ebola took down half of the city. They contracted it too, and I didn't even find out until the UN published a list of all the casualties. Their bodies weren't allowed to be sent back here since it was too dangerous and they couldn't risk the possibility of infecting anyone from the plane or the airport. Bringing them back would've posed a lot of danger, and they couldn't afford to risk all that for something as little as my closure."
"It's not little." She whispered as she looked away from him and towards the door of the room they were in. "Closure over something like that isn't little."
"I know; but I understood them too. I knew all about the virus, and when I eventually got to see the big picture, I guess it helped me process things."
They paused for a while. Kenshin felt that it was time for them to go down to the morgue, but his movements were stilled by Kaoru's next question.
"Does it still hurt?"
He was silent as he regarded her tense form. He didn't want to burden her even more with the answer to her question, but he didn't want to lie to her either. She deserved more than that.
"Yeah."
There was another pause, but it was shortly broken by Kaoru's whisper.
"Did you have siblings too?"
He shook his head. "No."
"Relatives?"
"My parents were only children, and both sets of my grandparents died when I was still a kid, so no." He stopped talking when he realized what she really wanted to ask. "I'm alone too, Kaoru."
She nodded and closed her eyes again. She was trying to keep her breathing as normal as possible because she didn't want to break down in front of the doctor again.
"I don't know if I want to see them. I don't think I can."
"You have to, though. Trust me. The only way you'd be able to take the next step would be to prove to yourself that what happened was real. Don't give yourself the opportunity to keep hoping for something you know won't happen."
"It's going to hurt."
"I know."
"I want—I want to die, too." She said brokenly.
"I know."
Taking a couple more deep breaths, she turned towards the doctor with unshed tears glistening in her eyes. She didn't want to be any more pathetic than she already was, but she just knew that if she'd have to go through this alone, she wouldn't be able to survive it.
He stared back at her, understanding her need to have someone there to support her—at least for tonight. She didn't even need to say anything else. He's already been through what she's going through—the pain of knowing that the people closest to your heart were all gone. Just like that.
He reached for her hand again and molded their fingers together. "I'll stay with you. I'll be here. I'll stay for as long as you want me to stay."
She nodded at him shakily and thanked him for his presence by giving his hand a gentle squeeze. With a last deep sigh, they both stood up and made their way to the morgue.
Kaoru leaned further into him as he told their story, and she turned to check on the reactions on each of the faces of their surrogate family. Tokio looked like she was about to cry, and she was holding Yahiko close to her a little tighter than she normally would. Saitou was quiet throughout it all, his face in an emotionless mask as he listened to the story while Tsubame sat silently on his lap, holding her father's hand in her tiny ones. The little girl may not have understood most of the story, but she could feel the grief that was settling around the room's atmosphere once more.
The account manager felt immensely guilty at having to subject her friends through this, but she knew that it was inevitable. Perhaps she should've told them the story of how she and Kenshin met before, but in all honesty, she didn't think she could have done it back then. It's been five years since it happened and she was still healing, and she was sure that Kenshin was too.
"I brought her to my apartment that night," Kenshin continued with a sigh. "I couldn't leave her alone, and it was obvious that she didn't want to be alone either. Like I said, I knew what she was going through so in a way, I knew what she needed that night.
His face suddenly got a mischievous expression. "I know what most of you are thinking." He said to Yumi and the rest of the crew. "But that's not what happened that night. I couldn't possibly have done anything to her that would be seen as dishonorable. Not that I regret it though, since we've been making up for that night for a few years now."
The occupants of the room chuckled as Yumi's voice rang out.
"Himura-san!" she admonished. "This is a family show! We're going to have to cut that out."
The surgeon shrugged, but smiled at the host all the same. "I don't mind. I just figured I'd tell you guys to set things straight."
Kaoru laughed at her boyfriend's antics and decided that now would be the perfect time for her to butt in. She didn't want the producers tearing Kenshin's tongue out once they got out of the room, after all.
"Anyway," she began, still chuckling at what happened. "I've been living with him since then. After the case was settled, we paid for the apartment we're staying in fully—since his parents had only managed to pay for half of it back then,." She paused, a serene smile gracing her features before she continued again. "I know a lot of people judged me for it—some may even still be frowning upon the decision we made. After all, I was only twenty-one when we moved in together, and he was only twenty-three. We were both still very young and just starting out on our careers. But it didn't matter to me, nor did it matter to any of our friends. Kenshin and I tried to live away from each other for a while when the trials were still ongoing because we both felt that we were being too dependent on each other—which is never a good thing, especially when you're dealing with that much emotional stress. We haven't sold our parents' houses yet, so we had places to stay in aside from the apartment. But eventually I moved back in with him because… well… as cheesy as this may sound, I realized that we were much better together than if we were apart."
A series of 'aww's went around the room, and both she and the redhead beside her laughed at the horribly clichéd reaction—though they doubt that it was scripted. Nobody knew of their story so none of the crew should've been able to predict what they would be saying on air.
"You're right," Kenshin whispered into her ear as they laughed. "That was horribly clichéd."
Kaoru elbowed his side, and she was very satisfied when she heard a brief grunt of pain and surprise echo from the man beside her.
Yumi dabbed on the tears that gathered in her eyes with a tissue that was handed over by her already crying make-up artist. "That was simply beautiful, Kaoru-chan." She said softly. "So, based on your story, you and Himura-san have been together for five years now?"
Kenshin shook his head. "No. Kaoru and I started off as roommates and very close friends for two years. It wasn't until our third year of living together that we realized we were both in love." He turned to look at Kaoru with a gentle expression on his face. "And I'm really glad we did. I don't know what I would've done if I kept my feelings to myself any longer."
Kaoru blushed and looked away from the redhead. She heard the people in the room laughing at his admission, and she was so embarrassed to have her private life so exposed to so many strangers. Even Yumi was chuckling beside her!
She saw the host turn amused eyes at the surgeon before asking, "Pray tell, how did you realize your feelings for each other?"
Kenshin chuckled. "I think that would be giving too much of ourselves away, Komagata-san, don't you? I'm afraid we've already put the viewers through so much drama for one night."
Yumi laughed again at his playfulness. "Alright, then. Thank you kindly for your consideration."
A loud buzzer interrupted their conversation, and everyone turned to see the bright white light shining from the overhead lamp that read "STAGE" in bold, block letters. It meant that the next contestant should go up on stage to go through with the audition. The room was immediately filled with noise and movement as the interview concluded and preparations were made for her upcoming performance.
Kaoru stood along with Kenshin, Yumi, and the Saitou family and walked towards the stage's entrance doors.
"Thank you so much for your honesty, Kaoru-chan." Yumi said as she reached towards the younger woman for a warm embrace. "I know it's against the rules, but I hope you know I'm rooting for you one hundred percent. You just gained yourself a new friend." The host whispered into the petite woman's ear.
Kaoru chuckled. "Don't worry, Yumi-san. Your secret's safe with me."
With one last encouraging squeeze, Yumi let go of the younger girl and moved away from the group to give them a bit of privacy as they wished her good luck.
"We believe in you, Kaoru." Tokio said warmly. "Even if you don't make it, know that we'll still be here for you. We didn't even know about your singing until last week, so I can assure you that we won't think any less of you if you don't make it to the next round."
"No!" Tsubame yelled loudly to get everyone's attention. She hugged Kaoru's leg, and the singer laughed as she petted the younger girl's hair. "Kaoru-neesan's definitely going to make it! Just do it like the way we practiced, okay, neesan?" she reminded the woman she was holding onto. "And remember everything I said, okay?"
Kaoru bent down to Tsubame's level and hugged the little girl. "Of course, Tsubame-chan. I never forget anything you say."
"We already gave your keyboard to one of the crewmembers earlier. It should already be up on stage when you get there. The band has the sheet music too, so just worry about playing and singing." Saitou instructed.
"I'm still not sure about this, Saitou." She sighed. "I don't even really know how to play the keyboard. You just made me learn the notes for this song through the YouTube video you showed me."
"Nonsense," he scoffed. "Everyone loves a singer who can play an instrument. Now go up there and do what you've been practicing with Tsubame. I'm curious as to what your screeching will sound like onstage."
Kaoru playfully pushed her tongue out at Saitou before turning to the last, and most important, person that she had with her. The couple stepped away from the crowd so they could speak in relative peace.
"You ready for this?" Kenshin asked, gripping her hand in the process.
"As ready as I could be." She replied. "I just really hope I won't let Tsubame down. Or that I won't end up embarrassing myself out there. I mean, I know the coaches are really nice and the producers did say that they'd take care of me when they start putting the episode together but—"
Her ranting was stopped when the redhead gently placed his index finger over her lips. "Your babbling never gets old, love." He said amusedly. "You won't disappoint Tsubame, and you won't embarrass yourself. Just do your best out there, okay? I love you."
"I love you too." She said as they both leaned in to share a chaste, but very meaningful kiss. Her arms went up to go around his neck, and one of his hands was holding her gently on the back of her neck, while the other was placed on her back—effectively caging her in his embrace, not that she wanted to move away anyway.
"Kaoru-neesan! Stop making gooey faces at Ken-san! You have to go up there now!" The couple heard Tsubame announce loudly. They laughed at the little girl's antics, but settled with just holding each other in their arms to appease the six-year-old.
"Okay, Tsubame-chan. I'm going, I'm going." She said cheerily.
She turned around to face the now open doors to the stage and gave Kenshin's hand one last squeeze before walking out onto the brightly-lit platform. She could see a dozen or so cameras placed around the stadium, and the number of people in the audience stunned her. For a set of auditions, this was a lot of people. She saw the four chairs were facing the audience, and the names of the celebrity coaches were printed clearly on the back of each chair.
Kaoru walked towards the keyboard that Saitou bought for her the week before, and her heart pounded harshly when she saw the microphone settled above it, high enough to let her sing comfortably without having to adjust it anymore.
With one last sigh in an effort to shake of the millions of butterflies that were zooming around her stomach, she stood behind her keyboard and placed her hands on the appropriate keys.
"Ready in five… four…" a deep male voice counted down from beside her.
Her hands were placed gently on top of the appropriate keys that Saitou pounded into her the week before, and her legs were starting to shake because of how nervous she felt. She recited the lyrics in her head once again, and tried to remember the melody and she practiced secretly with Tsubame ever since she found out about her neesan's upcoming blind auditions the week before. She was supposed to sing her own rendition of the little girl's favorite song, and she didn't want to disappoint the adorable girl.
"Three…"
'Okay. Okay, I can do this. Just take a deep breath and… okay, your fingers are on the keys. I know the lyrics. I can do this. I can do this.' She thought to herself as she tried her best to let go of the butterflies in her stomach. She never got this nervous whenever she'd perform with her band, but maybe that was because she knew that if she'd fuck up, Soujirou and the others could easily cover for her mishap. Now, though… she was all on her own—and that was something she didn't ever want to be.
"Two…"
Her breathing was starting to get frantic now. She knew she had to calm down. She couldn't afford to succumb into a panic attack in front of this many people. She'd surely embarrass herself, her friends, and most especially, little Tsubame. She couldn't do that. She wouldn't.
"One…"
Okay, here goes nothing.
"Rolling!"
Author's Note: Well, there it is. It was unbelievably fun for me to write, and I hope you had fun reading it. :)
In case you don't know, the competition that was mentioned here refers to The Voice. I am fully aware that the show does not have a Japanese franchise, but like I said in the disclaimer, this is only being written for entertainment purposes only. So I hope you won't hate me too much.
I'd love for you to tell me what you thought about this.
Cheers!