I don't own any of the Kagerou Project characters! Or the cover picture which is on Pixiv here: . ?id=145719

Shintaro was not in a good mood. Not even a little bit. The music was too loud and there were tons of people, and why was it so dark? So they could flash those obnoxiously bright neon lights everywhere?

Shintaro scowled, sulking in the corner of the gymnasium. He tried to edge to the side, but he got his foot caught in a green streamer. What the hell?

Still frowning as he untangled his shoe, he heard a song of his sister's come on. His sister. Her voice rang out to… what was that song of hers called again? It had their last name in it… oh. He'd just heard some girl scream it. Kisaragi Attention.

Sullenly, he tossed his red plastic cup in the trash. He was pretty sure some crazy student had spiked the punch a few minutes ago, anyways. He shouldn't drink any more of that stuff.

Off-tune, too-happy singing was coming from all sides and Shintaro really, really wanted to leave.

And tell his sister she should ban her music from school.

A laughing boy in a white jacket spun a curly-haired girl into Shintaro, and he tried to slink away.

"Sorry," the boy called, smiling goofily in a way that made him look ridiculous. The girl giggled happily, spinning so that her blue and white dress fanned out. Why were they so cheerful anyways? This sucked. The school had clearly not put that much effort into raising money for and setting up the dance.

School dances were all their own kind of torture, he realized as he began to develop a headache from all the noise. And immediately afterwards, he thought, Why am I even here?

But he already knew the answer to that. She was dancing in the center of the room.

Ayano was having the time of her life, laughing like she was actually enjoying herself in the overly crowded gym. Every now and then, a green or red or blue light would shine across her face, setting her smile aglow.

Her laughter rang out loudly every time she paused from singing, no, screaming out the lyrics of Momo's song (And not alone, either. Her friends were all doing it, too, and, God, why would they even do that?). Even with all the yelling, the deafening music almost covered her voice, but she continued to sing at the top of her lungs, as though trying to overcome it. She was dancing like no one was watching, flailing out her arms and twirling so that her brown hair swung and the ends of her long, red scarf whipped around.

He couldn't see why he had to come when she was having so much fun without him, but she had begged with wide eyes, and he just couldn't say no. And now he was partially regretting it.

Yes, he had (accidentally) smiled a few times during the dance, but it was only from watching Ayano.

She was pure energy, seeming to practically fit seamlessly with the pounding music and the laughing, never-slowing crowd.

She was wearing a modest white dress for the dance, and below the waist, it hung loosely, swaying around her knees. And she was still wearing that red scarf. God, wasn't she sweating?

It was hot inside the gym from too many bodies and Shintaro tugged at the collar of his black button up, wondering if he could leave and sit outside for a few minutes. But his eyes stayed glued to Ayano, who had just thrown her head back in pure joy and laughter, just as a red laserlight skimmed the side of her face.

She was fast and bright, like a shooting star, and he had the sudden thought that she'd never slow down and so he'd never be able to catch her. She was a blinding light and he wasn't even on the spectrum. Her dazzling smile and sparkling eyes were the sun's rays, and he was hiding out in his room, running on the artificial glow from his computer.

He frowned at his annoying thoughts. It must've been the poetry unit they were on… yeah, that would explain the weird way his thoughts were comparing Ayano to light. She wasn't even that eye-catching. Not like he'd been staring at her for most of the dance, along with half of the gym.

He needed something to do, but he hesitated to pull out his phone and take his eyes off of Ayano for a single minute. Maybe she was that eye-catching.

He shuffled his feet uncomfortably, out-of-place and sure that everyone could tell. He felt a small girl staring at him and he sent a glare her way.

If it were class, he could pretend to be working…

God, he was so pathetic. Hoping for schoolwork to avoid socializing.

Awkwardly, he shuffled toward the drinks table, again, to see if they'd gotten more soda or anything, and somehow he got his foot tangled into another streamer.

"Damnit," he cursed under his breath, stumbling and shaking the offending strip of paper off.

Finally he kicked it away, annoyed, and headed toward the drink table, scowling as he once again saw nothing more than the now-alcoholic punch and cups lying all over the table and the floor. One rolled depressingly against his foot.

Sighing, he was right on the verge of leaving the stupid school dance when he heard someone next to him say loudly, "Hi, Shintaro!"

It was Ayano. Her face was flushed, beaded lightly with sweat, and her hair was messy, pieces flying everywhere. And… was she panting slightly?

But besides all that, she had a giant grin and her eyes shone with happiness. "I've been looking for you!" she exclaimed, beaming.

"I was here the whole time," he tried to say, but the music was drowning out his words.

"What?" Ayano asked. He could just barely over all the noise.

"Nothing," he replied, raising his voice.

Ayano shot him a confused look, and he thought perhaps she hadn't heard him again. He was about to repeat himself when she said, "When did you get to the dance?"

Shintaro lifted one of his shoulders in a half-shrug. "I think thirty or so minutes ago?"

Ayano's forehead crinkled and she frowned slightly. "I didn't see you!"

Shintaro shrugged again, and Ayano's face grew apologetic.

"Sorry, Shintaro!"

"It's fine." But he hadn't yelled and her face scrunched in confusion.

"What?"

"It's fine!" he repeated, louder. She nodded, before grabbing his hand.

"Let's go outside. It's too loud." She was already dragging him to the exit. He let her.

Even in the hallway, the pounding music resounded through the floor. A few streamers were strewn around the front and one or two balloons floated dejectedly against the ceiling.

Ayano grinned at Shintaro. "Isn't this fun?!" she asked loudly, before flushing slightly and lowering her voice. "Sorry," she chirped, "I'm so used to being inside."

"No."

"Huh?"

"I mean, no, this dance isn't fun." Shintaro tried to push his scowl down, keeping his face straight.

Ayano adjusted her scarf, and smoothed down her hair. "It isn't?"

"No."

"Why not?" She cocked her head, staring at him in confusion.

"Because… it's boring. The music's too loud. And it's hot. And there are too many people. And it's dark and somebody spiked the punch."

Ayano laughed lightly. "But everyone's having fun, though, right?" She looked at him hopefully.

"I'm not."

Ayano tapped her chin. "Hmm…"

"What?" Shintaro demanded, frowning.

"Oh, nothing. Sorry for making you come if you hate it so much." She looked down at her shoes, looking disappointed.

Some part inside of Shintaro, a void of darkness and negativity, thought angrily to itself, "You should be." But most of him felt bad for ruining her moment.

"It's fine, Ayano. Honestly. I'm fine with it."

"Really?" asked Ayano, her face brightening.

No. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."

The screams from the gym died down as a new song came on, slow and soothing. Ayano's eyes lit up. "I love this song!" she announced.

"Huh?"

She was yanking his arm, dragging him toward the gym again. "Dance with me, Shintaro?"

His face flushed as he stumbled after her. "It's a slow dance. For, like, couples," he tried to explain, but Ayano just beamed.

"I know!"

She kept pulling him, and, for some reason, he let loose a fond smile. And maybe it wasn't as wide or radiant as hers, but it was genuine. And that was something.

So, if Ayano was a shooting star, maybe she wouldn't slow down. But that didn't mean he had to catch her and stop her perpetual state of motion. He could always just trail after her and be there whenever she needed. He liked her brightness too much to let it crash to the ground, anyways.

A/N: Aw, the end. Crash to the ground. Why did I even put that there?! D:

I'm so sorry, Shintaro! But I almost never write even a half-decent ending, so I'll leave it there.

For some reason, it makes me feel like a bad person.

I'm going crazy. :O