Hello, guys~ Just a little note that I have posted this one shot on the Mekakucity Actors amino app under the name Danchou~Kido. Also, I will be also posting it on Wattpad with the same title and a #kanoharem, and/or #kanokidoayanomomo, so check it out there! Enjoy and maybe leave a review?
I don't own Kagepro.
A couple days after Ayano and Hiyori came back from the daze, the Dan got invited to a formal party. Kano straightened up his black jacket, taking one more look in the mirror before leaving his room. As he waited for the rest of the members to finish changing, his mind started drifting to thoughts of two certain girls…
I wonder if I could snag a dance with Kido. He snorted at the thought. As if. But what about Nee-chan…
Kano's face turned sour. Most likely not. Seto, Haruka, and Shintaro would probably get to her before he ever could. Seto wouldn't be that much of a problem, since he would probably dance mostly with Marie, and Haruka would mostly likely dance with her a couple times out of fun. But Shintaro was a different story…
"Oi, Kano!" A voice called out, breaking him from his depressing thoughts. He looked up, seeing Kido marching over to him with an annoyed, red face. She was covering her top with a purple hoodie while she tried to extend her skirt's length by stretching it down. Her hair was tied up in a long ponytail with a thin, black ribbon. Kano's eyes widened for a millisecond before returning back to normal.
"A-ah~ Kido! Ready to go?~" He cursed under his breath for his stutter, hoping she didn't notice. Luckily, she didn't, too busy fretting over her appearance.
"Y-yeah! The rest of the members are already in the car!" Kido started walking faster in front of him, while muttering, "I want to go home…"
Chuckling, Kano followed after her, with a grin plastered on his face.
As soon as they got in the car, Kano immediately noticed everyone was sitting next to their required date for the party, except for Momo. Shintaro was sitting in the driver's seat, since he was the only one that got a driver's license after the daze. Ayano sat next to him, a sweet smile on her face. Momo sat behind Shintaro, threatening him that he "better drive us there and back in one piece or else!" Hiyori and Hibiya sat next to Momo, arguing as usual, while Haruka sat behind them, trying to calm them down while holding Takane's hand. Behind Kano, who sat next to Haruka, was Kido, who sat next to Marie, and finally, Seto.
Once they got in the party room, people were already dancing. Momo went off to speak to a girl, who had hired her to perform for the party. Haruka ran off to the buffet table, with Takane chasing after him. Hibiya trailed after Hiyori, who was after Momo. Before Ayano dragged Shintaro off, she looked directly at Kido, Kano, and Seto.
"Alright, Kousuke, look after Marie-chan, okay?" She nodded at him, who gave a salute. "And Tsubomi, look after Shuuya." Finally, she gave a teasing wink towards Kano. "Shuuya, don't get into trouble and make sure that Tsubomi doesn't disappear!" And with that, before he could even say a word, she was gone.
"Nee-chan!" Kano's eyes scanned over the crowds of people, attempting to go after her before realizing it was too late. Seto gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder, and then left to go with Marie to the dance floor. He sighed. Of course, just as he thought, Shintaro is going to be with Ayano for the rest of the night, even if he was unwilling.
"You wanted to dance with her, didn't you?" Kano jumped, realizing that Kido was next to him. He averted his eyes, not wanting to look at her dark, narrowed ones.
"...It doesn't matter anyways…" He muttered, not wanting to seem bothered. Unfortunately for him, Kido knew him too well.
"You know, if you said that earlier, I could've asked Ayano to switch with me so she could be your partner while I go with Shintaro." Somehow, her statement gave his heart a little stab. He wondered why.
"By the way," he changed the subject quickly, as well as his bitter smile to a teasing smirk. "Why aren't you taking your hoodie off?~ Is it because Kido, the scary leader of the Mekakushi Dan, is embarrassed? How cute- Ouch!"
"Idiot!" Kido growled, as she elbowed his ribs before stomping off with a bright red face.
Kano gave a little laugh before continuing to search for Ayano. Finally, he saw her. But what he saw happen next made his heart drop. Shintaro was leaning towards her and their lips were getting closer…
He turned away, not wanting to see what happened next.
Of course, He thought bitterly. Nee-chan would never love me as she loves him. No matter how I helped her with her suicide mission, no matter how I did everything she told me me do, no matter how he was a jerk for leaving her, she will always love him more. I will always be only her brother.
Suddenly, there was a loud burst of noise. It was time for Momo's performance. The crowds of people started moving towards the stage and Kano followed. He didn't want to see Ayano and Shintaro right now. But as he tried his best to cheer on Momo as she sang, he couldn't help but look back to the corner where they kissed.
"You saw them, didn't you." He didn't have to turn around to know that it was Kido. And he knew that she was asking.
"..." Kano didn't know how to respond, but just gave a little nod. Kido sighed.
"Stay here," she ordered, and then started to walk away. Not knowing what else to do, he obeyed. A Moment later, he wished he didn't.
"Shuuya." Kano's eyes widened. He turned around, surprised.
"Nee-chan?!" He looked around, searching for Shintaro. Why is she here?
As if noticing his confusion, she explained,
"Tsubomi had just pulled Shintaro aside to talk to him about something." She gave a little smile. "So I decided to do some catching up with you!"
"Nee-chan…" All his anger faded as she started chatting endlessly to him. He laughed at her over enthusiasm, but still felt a heavy weight on his his shoulders. He interrupted her chatter and slowly asked,
"Nee-chan, can I ask you something?"
She paused. "Huh? What is it, Shuuya?" Ayano tilted her head, a confused yet gentle smile on her face.
"Can we first go to somewhere more private? It's just…" He didn't know how to explain it, but she seemed to understand him.
"Ah… of course!" She nodded, and started walking to an abandoned room. "Follow me!"
He started walking after her, and turned his head for a moment to take one more look at Momo. Before he turned back to leave, a corner of his mind noted that she seemed to be looking directly at him with a slightly sad smile as she sang,
"I believe in you because you're you!~"
He then continued following Ayano, tucking the thought away.
Once they got to the room, Ayano stopped.
"So, what is it, Shuuya?" She asked curiously. Then she added on teasingly, "You didn't get in trouble again, did you?~"
For a moment, he was silent. He didn't know how to say it. Finally, he blurted out,
"Why do you love him, Nee-chan?"
Ayano stared at Kano, her face flushed. "W-W-what are you saying, S-Shuuya?!" She stammered. "I-"
"Nee-chan." He cut her off, and looked at her seriously, hoping the hurt won't show in his eyes.
She looked back at him for a moment, then sighed, but without any hints of annoyance.
"Love is a strange thing, you know, Shuuya?" She started, her voice a bit louder than a whisper. "When you first meet that person, you may have no feelings for them, but as you gradually start spending more time with them, you start falling in love. It doesn't matter how, or why. It's unexplainable, really. Once you fall for them, you don't need a reason why."
"But how do you know that feeling is love and isn't just kindness, or friendship?" He argued back, unable to accept what she was saying. "What if-"
"Shuuya." He grew silent at the sound of her stern voice, which then softened. "I just know." By now, her voice was barely hearable.
Kano stared at her before sighing. "I understand…" He muttered. Then, he paused, thinking whether he should add it or not. "... Thanks though."
Ayano gave him a sad look. "I'm sorry."
"... Don't worry about it," he replied, with a bitter smirk. Then, he left the room, along with Ayano.
As soon as he got out, Kido was waiting for him.
"So? How did it go?" She asked him hesitantly.
He gave a sheepish grin and laugh, though without humor. "As I thought, Shintaro-kun has Nee-chan's heart."
Kido paused, not knowing what else to say. "Oh… Well, at least you tried…" She finally said, with a touch of sympathy and… another emotion?
"By the way, where's Kisaragi-chan?" He asked, changing the topic. Once again, he noticed Kido's expression shifted to something else. What was it?
"Ah, she's taking a break right now. You could probably find her at the vending machine," she replied, almost cooly? "I'm going outside for a while, so later."
"Ah, Kido, wait-" But she was gone in the sea of people.
"... Well, guess I might as well search for Kisaragi-chan…" He muttered, and started shoving through the many dancing people, while giving a little wave to Marie and Seto in the process. Finally, he found her at the vending machine, just as Kido said.
"Ah, Kisaragi-chan!~" He called out to her, causing the idol to turn around in surprise.
"O-oh, it's Kano-san," she sighed, attempting to give off her usual enthusiasm, but failing.
Kano looked at her, confused. Were those tears in her eyes?
"... Ne, Kisaragi-chan, are you okay?" He asked, trying to not seem concerned. When it didn't work and she continued her failed attempt at acting like she was fine, he tried another tactic.
"Did they run out of red bean soup soda or…?"
"Argh! No, stupid Kano-san!" Momo finally burst out angrily, and the tears finally coming down. "It's Onii-chan!"
"Huh?" At first he was confused. What did Shintaro had to do with this? But then, he realized that Momo must have seen he and Ayano in the corner at the same time he did as well. Oh…
Wordlessly, he started to grab a tissue and wiped the river of tears that was flowing down her cheeks rapidly.
"Don't worry, Kisaragi-chan. I know." He said quietly, surprisingly out of character. "I saw them them too."
"B-but I don't understand!" She sobbed uncontrollably. "I-I mean, I know about Onii-chan's feelings for Ayano-chan, and I fully supported him, but why?! I don't understand why I'm upset!" Momo collapsed on the ground, furiously wiping away the tears that wouldn't stop falling and Kano hurried to calm her down.
"Sh, sh, stop crying, Kisaragi-chan," he awkwardly soothed her. "Once you stop crying, then you can start to properly think it through." He reached over to give her a comforting hug until she stopped crying. Ah… How funny to think that I once did this to Kido…
Finally, Momo started to calm down. "T-thank you, Kano-san," she muttered, her cheeks red probably from her crying.
Kano grinned. "No problem~ Now you can think better about your feelings!" He thought for a moment. "First of all, may be you should consider how you truly felt seeing them together…"
"How I felt seeing them together, huh..." she mused. "I-it's guess I did feel a bit happy for him, but not completely though. At the moment, I felt angry, and sad, and maybe even a bit jealous."
He was confused yet again. "Jealous? Why?"
She paused, and then continued, this time in a pained, whispered voice.
"When I was young, I always thought that I wished to be at the center of attention. But once I got my eye ability and started to grow up, I started to realized what I had truly wanted: to be noticed, acknowledged, seen by Onii-chan. But even with the drawing eyes ability, he never even noticed me." Tears started welling up in her eyes again, but she refused to let them fall.
Kano felt a sudden pain in his heart. He had felt that way to, towards Ayano. Except for him, his feelings of love and jealously were a different form. What he said next shocked Momo.
"I don't think that's true, Kisaragi-chan," he smiled at her and started explaining. "You might not know this, but every time you have a new concert, Shintaro-kun is always the first to plan the after show party for you. Not to mention, did you ever notice how he's the first to praise you after you receive an award? Also, before each timeline in daze ended, he would always jump in front to protect you." As he spoke, her eyes grew wider.
"Onii-chan…" She whispered, her voice wavering. Momo wiped her tears and gave Kano her brightest smile. "Thank you, Kano-san."
He grinned, for her sake. "No problem," he winked. "Besides, even if it seems like no one notices you, I'm sure that I always will, Kisaragi-chan~"
Momo's face turned crimson. "W-what are you talking about, idiot Kano-san?!" She spluttered. She stood up abruptly, and Kano followed suit. Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
"What are you guys doing?"
Fighting back a scowl, he turned around.
"Ah, Shintaro-kun~" he smirked.
Shintaro looked from Momo to Kano, suspiciously.
"... Is something going on?" He glared at them, though mostly at Kano.
Ignoring the question, he started walking away, not bothering to look back. "Kisaragi-chan has something to tell you, so I'll just leave it to you to talk it out, sibling to sibling. Later~"
As he left, he heard Shintaro mutter under his breath,
"First it was Kido, and now Momo… What the hell's going on?"
As Kano was pushing his way through the crowds of people, he heard the loudspeaker turn on and called,
"FINAL DANCE! EVERYONE TO THE DANCE FLOOR AND FIND A PARTNER!"
He groaned at the sudden announcement, before realizing that someone was tapping his shoulder. He turned around, and was surprised to see Hiyori standing there, emotionless.
"Be my partner for the last dance until I find Hibiya," she ordered him, glaring. "I don't want to dance with you, but I don't want to dance with a random stranger flirting with me either."
Kano chuckled before grabbing her hand.
"Yeah, yeah, Miss Tsundere," he teased, and she stomped on his foot. Hard.
When they started dancing ballroom style, they were silent, until Hiyori broke the silence by grumbling.
"Thanks…"
He was confused, for the hundredth time that day. "Hm? For what?"
"For everything. For creating the Mekakushi dan. For saving Hibiya and me. For acting like that annoying older brother I never had."
"Hm…. Well, I should apologize to you as well," he replied thoughtfully. "I mean, I had blamed you for killing Kido back in one of the timelines, but in the end, it wasn't you. So sorry for jumping to conclusions back then and blaming you."
Hiyori smirked. "Well then, now we're equal." She looked around and spotted Hibiya. "Oh, there he is. I'm going to switch with his partner, so-" She was gone before she could finish, and now, dancing with him was Takane.
"Well, well, well, Cat eyes-san," she grinned at him devilishly. "You disappointed that you're not with Ayano right now?"
"Eh~ What about you, Ene-chan? Couldn't find Haruka-kun?" He counterattacked her taunting, and it worked. Takane's face was red.
"H-huh?! S-shut up, stupid Cat eyes-san!" She splutttered.
"You know, I can tuned into him for you if you want~" He took another hit.
The former cybergirl glared at him. "If you dare do that again, this time, I won't be so easy on forgiving you," she threatened.
He chuckled. "Just kidding~"
Suddenly, Takane spotted someone behind them and grinned with relief.
"Hey, Marie-chan!" She called out. "Switch with me!"
Without giving the poor albino girl a choice, she grabbed Marie's partner's hand, who just happened to be Haruka.
"E-eh? Kano-san?" She stammered nervously. "Where's Seto?"
He laughed. "Why don't we dance around to see if we can spot him?" He suggested. "Then, you and his partner can switch just like what Ene-chan did."
Her face lit up. "Really? Thank you, Kano-san!" She enthusiastically cheered. He laughed again.
"No, thank you, Marie." For giving me this eye ability to hide my true emotions.
"Heh? Why?" She gave him a confused glance.
"Haha! Not telling~" Marie pouted at him until they finally spotted Seto in the crowd, who was with Momo. The two of them smiled and made their way towards them.
Marie almost jumped into Seto's arms when they switched. Momo was more calmer, but still just as quick as the medusae.
"Thank you, Kano-san," the idol whispered, once they held each other's hands, her cheeks dusted pink.
"Hm? No, it's fine. It was Marie-chan who wanted to switch with you anyways."
"No, not only for that," Momo looked up at him, her eyes now holding the upbeatness and strength she once lost when she had broken down into tears. "For giving me the peace in my heart once I knew what was going on between Onii-chan and Ayano-chan, and for comforting me."
Kano grinned at her, which grew even wider when he realized he was taller than her. He gave her a little pat on the head and replied,
"Don't worry about it, Kisaragi-chan. After all, you're an idol, and I shouldn't let an idol stop smiling, right?"
She beamed back at him, her cheeks even more pinker. "Thanks, Kano-san!" She smiled. A corner of Kano's mind noted that Momo looked cute when she smiled, but he brushed off the thought.
"Besides," she continued. "Now, I can fully support Onii-chan and Ayano-chan with a peaceful heart! After all, they would make a really good couple!"
At her words, Kano felt his heart stabbed again. "... Yeah, they would, wouldn't they…" he smiled back at her, though a bit weakly. He hoped she didn't notice. She did.
"What wrong, Kano-san? Was it something I said…" Her voice trailed off as if she just realized something and her cheerful mood seemed to darken. "Oh… You like Ayano-chan, don't you…" She quietly asked, though it was less of a question and more of a confirmation.
"Huh? What are you talking about, Kisaragi-chan? Of course I don't! We're only siblings, after all!~" He changed his tone, but the bitterness wouldn't leave his voice and he knew he wasn't fooling anyone.
"Kano-san, you know, you don't have to lie all the time," Momo's angry, yet sad tone shocked him. "You don't always have to hide your emotions from us. It's not healthy to just smile all the time. Sometimes, when you feel upset or angry, or you want to break down crying, it's fine to just do it."
"... My bad…" Kano wasn't sure what else to say.
Momo smiled sadly. "I'll just pass you to Ayano-chan now," she stated as she danced out of Kano's hands. To his surprise, when he looked back up, his hands were holding the hands of his hero.
"N-Nee-chan!" He exclaimed, a mix of feelings bubbling inside him. Ayano giggled at his dumbfounded expression.
"Hello again, Shuuya~" she replied back teasingly. "Momo wanted to have one dance with Shintaro, so we decided to switch!"
Kano looked around to search for the idol. When he saw her, he noticed that the siblings were back to arguing with each other, with Shintaro wincing when Momo accidently stepped on his foot, and his sister pouting at him.
"Besides," she continued, bringing back his attention. "I wanted to have one last dance with one of my heroes before the mission is over!"
"Nee-chan…" He was speechless. At her words, he realized how much she meant to him. Ayano has always been his hero ever since he was young. Ever since she put on her trademark red scarf and proved that red is the color of a hero, Kano started to follow after her. He admired her, despite her horrible grades, and loved her, the hero, for loving them, the monsters. He loved her for that glowing smile she would always save for them, her twinkling, non-red eyes, her infinitely growing heart, and her upbeat, cheerful voice that brought them out of misery. She sacrificed herself to save them. She supported them with her all. And now, it was time for him to return the favor, and support Ayano with all his heart and soul.
"Nee-chan, thank you."
"Huh?" Ayano looked at him, surprised. "For what?"
He gave her a smile. "For being my sister."
When he saw her still confused, he laughed and gently shoved her towards the siblings' direction. "Now go be a hero and save Shintaro-kun from his sister's foot!~"
"E-eh?! S-Shuuya, what are you doing-" Kano waved her off, standing in the midst of dancing couples, alone. Despite the smile on his face, he still couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness once knowing that he accepted Shintaro and Ayano's feelings for each other. He walked out towards a door that led to a private garden, hoping to clear his mind. Kano sat down the nearest bench and immediately felt something was wrong. He looked next to him, and noticed a large empty spot. Smirking, he leaned his head towards it, forcing Kido to become visible again.
"What do you want, Kano?" She scowled.
"... Just clearing my head..."
Silence. The wind blew the trees and grass, making them rustle. Fireflies twinkled to and fro, as if dancing. A little cricket on the steps made a soft chirping sound. The moon shone in the blanket of stars, illuminating its glow into the pond.
"Hey, wanna dance, Kido?"
Kido looked at him, who was now sitting up and looking at her with a strange expression.
"If you want to dance, why don't you go inside?" She pointed out. "Besides, K-Kisaragi looks lost; she could use a partner."
"Ehh~" Kano whined, pouting. "But I already danced with all the girls, except for you~"
Kido looked at him, suspiciously, searching his face for motives, but got nothing.
"Fine-"
Before she could finish, Kano was already grabbing her hands and leading her off the bench. He put one of his hands holding her waist and the other holding her other hand. He started to lead the dance, with a flustered Kido.
"W-wait! Shouldn't we be doing this inside?!" She protested, stammering.
"It's fine, isn't it? After all, we can still hear the music and it's less crowded here."
Kido stopped arguing, only giving out one last sigh and went along with him.
~.~.~.~
Later, when they were about to leave, Shintaro and Momo were sent by Seto to find Kano and Kido. The siblings went into the garden, finding the two dancing underneath the moonlight, unknown of their watchers. Not wanting to interrupt them, they left the scene, though Shintaro couldn't help but notice the pained, wavering smile on Momo's face.
Thanks for reading~