A/N: So, more Kaoru centric stuff. It's basically Kaoru being the MVP as an A+ wingwoman. This one roughly follows canonverse, at least for the first two chapters. I wrote this months ago when the phantom thief event had just come out on EN, but wasn't sure if I wanted to post it. I decided to try and revisit it since I love writing stuff for Kaoru now. How ironically fleeting.
TBH I thought Kaoru was pretty overrated as a character, but was pleasantly surprised at her possible character depth. My personal HC is that Kaoru is a more perceptive than she seems, but she still does some dumb stuff sometimes since she doesn't quite think things all the way through.
I always forget to do this, but shoutout to TheGreatZura for the beta. I know my writing can get crazy sometimes, so thanks for putting up with that.
Kaoru was many things: lavish, majestic, exuberant, awe-inspiring- qualities fit for a prince. But she wasn't stupid. Her fame brought around many girls, faltering under her princely gaze. She was used to seeing the nervousness that came with it; the blushing, the stolen glances, the stammering, the hopeful swooning. So it was no surprise that she could sense the seeds of attraction almost as soon as they were planted. It would be difficult to see to the naked eye, but Kaoru knew her bandmates well.
Kanon was a timid girl. She was easily overwhelmed and quick to bring to tears, but Kaoru saw the difference in her blush whenever she had her gaze cast upon Misaki. It would appear any time she would nervously ask Misaki if she needed help, an act of courage that she would otherwise need a push to follow through with. Perhaps the time she had spent performing live with the band helped boost her own confidence. That was certainly the case with Kaoru when she embraced the art of theatre years ago.
And Misaki. Kaoru could also sense that she too put up a facade, but unlike Kaoru's flamboyant act, Misaki's made her present as cold and uninterested. It was obvious that it wasn't such the case. She may not have shared the stage in performance with the rest of Hello Happy World, but her dedicated work behind the scenes as their manager and composer, even in Michelle's absence, showed that she cared more for the band than she let on. But there were cracks in that guise, fleeting moments of genuine care and enjoyment whenever Kanon encouraged her to partake in band activities.
They were awkward, yes, and yet fit for each other. Much like the calm eye in the center of a chaotic storm that was Hello, Happy World! The seeds were planted. Kaoru took it upon herself to cultivate those seeds until they bloomed into something more beautiful, but she also could not break her own guise. So she challenged Fate, hoping that her plan and princely persona would not backfire on her.
In hindsight, she could have approached the situation a little differently, but Kaoru could not help but give girls attention through the only way she knew how. She flourished in their happiness and simply wanted to—as Kokoro always put it—make the world smile. Unfortunately, her plan involved making Misaki jealous enough to speak up about her feelings. So Kaoru attempted to flirt with Kanon. Sometimes Kanon blushed and turned away in a nervous smile, but others resulted Kaoru's compliments would only go over her head. Kaoru knew how the blushes of physical admiration were different to those that stemmed from emotional attraction, but Misaki did not. Kaoru saw the internal battle that shone in Misaki's eyes as she looked their way, let out a grunt, and turned away in what looked like disinterest. While it was an all act for Kaoru, both she and Misaki knew that, there was still a tint of guilt deep inside Kaoru that she would never allow pass through her mask. Dealing with matters of the heart were always complicated, and Kaoru would be willing to take the blame if things went sour.
When fueling jealousy alone was not enough, Kaoru was hesitant to attempt anything more drastic, however it seems that the stars had aligned to lend her a helping hand. Kokoro had brought the band onto a cruise ship on an impromptu adventure, and the Suits presented an idea that could make the night more enjoyable. Kaoru was more than happy to accept the role, but with it came with more than just the reward of fun. It was her to suggest to the Suits that Kanon should be the one chosen to play the captive princess, and it was also under her suggestion to not reveal to the drummer the true nature of that night's event. She played it off as if it would bring out a more genuine response out of Kanon, which she did not entirely lie about, but Kaoru was smart enough to know that the dramatic irony would be ruined if the chosen princess knew too much.
Luckily, Kaoru was free to choose which games they would play that night. The first two were fairly straightforward, but it also gave Kaoru enough time to stall and finalize her plan. She was already betting so much on this game of love she made herself play that she wanted to minimize the chances of failure. Eventually, she would have to play her hand and hope that her poker face was good enough to pull the response out of the two lovebirds that she was hoping for.
After the act of confession, Kaoru was not entirely sure if her plan had been successful. Misaki's acting was indeed pretty bad, but not in the case of acting out a good confession, but rather hiding the awkwardness of how actual confessions usually went. It was plain to see that Misaki had given a genuine confession despite it all being under the guise of being one of the Phantom thief's games. Kanon also seemed to be touched by the act, as she was quick counter the opinions of their audience in an attempt to comfort Misaki about her performance. Perhaps she had gone too far with flaunting yet another theatrical confession of love, but she couldn't help it. Kaoru had done all that she can to nurture the seeds of attraction. The only thing she could do now was wait if those seeds would ever bud.
Nothing happened for a while following the night of the cruise. The majority of the band continued to reminiscence about the enjoyment they had chasing the Phantom Thief, but Misaki seemed to swallow those memories deep into herself. Even in a later attempt in offering acting lessons, it was hard to tell if the spotlight had helped Misaki open up or if the embarrassment made her close up entirely. As time passed, Kaoru feared that her intervention only proved to worsen the situation.
The game seemed all but lost, however Kaoru saw a ray of light pass through the storm clouds. It was during a night after one of Hello Happy World's live shows as they were preparing to leave the venue. The Suits were packing up the equipment up onto the tour bus—Kokoro made a point that they should all ride in a tour bus together to have the full touring band experience, since their show was in the next town over. The band minus Michelle, who Misaki said she would travel separately since she would get motion sickness if she went on the bus, was inside waiting for their departure. Kaoru was celebrating with Kokoro and Hagumi for another successful performance and was about to call over Kanon and Misaki to join them. It was then that she caught glimpse of their own celebration. Both were drained from the show and leaning on each other for support. Kaoru knew that drumming was a physically demanding activity, and she could only guess that Misaki's mental stress over making sure the show was successful from behind the scenes had caught up with her body. She was already content with the scene before her, yet Kaoru hadn't expected what had happened next.
Kaoru saw Kanon's lips moving as if she were saying something, but Kaoru couldn't make it out since Kokoro and Hagumi were still excitingly recounting tonight's events next to her. Misaki gave a tired chuckle and a slight smile in response, one so genuinely content that Kaoru almost missed their hands interlocking between them, as if it were a sacred exchange between them. It was then that she decided wasn't her place to intrude any further in their affairs, and so with a satisfied smile of her own, allowed the seeds to sprout on their own.
