Chapter 3

Kaito shakes him away from his grip, and grumbles, "You should get back to the set."

"Don't be ridiculous." The man says. "This is your set, you know."

"Oh! You've already met, I see!" A man says, smiling. He was the director of the video. "Let me introduce you. Kaito, this is Gakupo. Gakupo, this is Kaito."

Gakupo. Kaito hadn't heard of him.

"He came to request a collaboration with Hatsune-san, you see, and since you were running late we asked him to replace you momentarily so she could practice." The director explains. "It'd be great if you could work together in the future, so please try to get along."

The director runs away, going to say something to Miku.

Kaito quickly shakes his head and crosses his arms, "No way."

The man was just too rude, too inconsiderate.

Gakupo says nothing, arms crossed.

"Kaito! You made it!" A girl says. They both turn towards the voice and notice Miku running towards them, sweat beading down her forehead. "I'm glad!"

"Right, uh, s-sorry about being late. I had overslept accidentally... I'm so sorry. I hope I-I didn't delay anything." Kaito mumbles, his heart beating quickly in his chest at the absolutely gorgeous girl before him. He was overwhelmed. Such nearly flawless people before him, absolutely beautiful, talented… He, in contrast…

"No, you didn't." Miku quickly responds, smiling.

"I beg to differ." Gakupo says, shaking his head and narrowing his eyes at the boy.

Kaito's breath catches, intimidated.

"Now, now, Gakupo. No need to be so harsh. You're just joking, right?" Miku asks, laughing a bit nervously at the tension between the two boys.

"Right." Gakupo answers, though Kaito has a hard time believing him.

"Alright, well, Kaito, try to get ready quickly. Gakupo is wearing your outfit, though it was stretched due to his broader shoulders and such. I'm sure there's another in the dressing room. Think you can do his hair for him?" Miku asks Gakupo.

"Yeah." Gakupo replies, sounding a bit downhearted. He had done his own hair, and it looked amazing, but he wasn't very happy about helping such an irresponsible guy.

"Well, don't get too excited, you might pull something." Miku jokes, rolling her eyes.

Gakupo begins to walk off towards the dressing room, stopping when he realizes Kaito wasn't following him. "Well? Aren't you coming?"

Kaito blinks, "U-Uh, yeah…"

Once they're in the dressing room, Gakupo pulls a chair back for him, and Kaito sits down a bit awkwardly. He begins to work on his hair.

"Wha— Ow! Can't you be a little gentler?" Kaito yells, surprised at the man's lack of gentleness.

"No." Was his quick answer. He grabs some kind of sprays and fluids and works on Kaito's hair.

After that, he grabs some eyeliner and starts to work on his eyes. He leans in real close to his face, and Kaito finds himself blushing. His heart was beating a bit quicker than usual, and when Gakupo leaned in super close, their noses practically touching, he snapped and pushed him away.

Gakupo's grip on the eyeliner stick staggered and he smeared some below Kaito's eye. He curses, "What the hell? You can't even stay still?"

"Wh— You were super close!" Kaito retaliates, blushing out of embarrassment.

He didn't get so embarrassed when Yuuki got close to work on his makeup, but that was because he was comfortable around her. Her presence calmed him. Plus, he didn't have any, well, attraction to her.

This man, somewhat rude, quiet, and blunt, intimidated him and put him on edge. Not to mention he was very handsome, too...

"So what? It's not like I'm going to kiss you." Gakupo says, sighing at the his childish reaction.

The mere thought and image of them kissing pops into Kaito's head, and he finds himself embarrassed to no end. No way he would ever want to kiss that bastard, bisexual or not. His gorgeous appearance didn't excuse anything.

Gakupo wipes away the stray eyeliner. "Stay still this time." He uses the eyeliner stick to work on his eyes, staring straight at him.

Kaito stays as still as he possibly can, with his heart beating quickly.

Gakupo turns away, much to Kaito's relief, though he comes back for the other eye. He continues to work on his makeup, until he's nearly finished.

"What happened to your lip?" Gakupo asks, running a finger through Kaito's scathed bottom lip.

Kaito winces a bit at the direct contact with the trivial cut he had caused earlier, pausing. "I—um, it was an accident."

Gakupo grunts, and mutters, "It's going to be hell putting on any kind of makeup on that." He gently puts gloss on his lips, being awfully cautious around the cut.

He grabs Kaito's Cendrillon outfit from the hanger on the side and hands it to him. "Put this on." He says, also handing him a mask. "Take your clothes off. Scarf included."

Kaito takes the outfit, waiting for Gakupo to leave so he could change in comfort. However, he stays.

"What, do I have to change you, too?" Gakupo says sarcastically.

"W-What, no! I just—" Kaito stumbles from word to word. He blushes deeply at the thought of Gakupo removing his clothes for him. "Waiting for you to leave."

"I don't see why it should bother you." Gakupo says. "It's obvious you have a crush on that Miku girl."

Why would he think that...? Kaito asks himself, finding himself to be very embarrassed.

"No, I— I don't..." He wanted to explain himself and clear up any misunderstandings - what he felt for her was not love but admiration. After all, he barely knew the girl.

"Whatever. I could care less." Gakupo says, waving his hand as if to dismiss the subject.

He grabs his clothes from the corner of the room, and begins to undress, unbuttoning his shirt.

Slowly, Kaito's face begins to turn red as he stands frozen, staring at Gakupo's bare chest. He was beginning to unzip his pants. "W-What are you doing?! Go change elsewhere!" Kaito yells, flustered and turning around, holding his blushing face in his hands.

He was so pale; it was easy for the blood that rushed to his face in embarrassment to be visible.

"You're such a baby." Gakupo mutters, grabbing his clothes and heading to the room next to the one they were in.

Kaito sighs, leaning back on the chair he was sitting on. The image of Gakupo shirtless continued to appear in his mind, so he shook his head as if to get his head out of the gutter. He shouldn't be thinking about that right now. In a swift motion, he gets up and carefully changes into the prince outfit set up for him for the video.

He looks at himself in the mirror. Being a bit scrawny, he only had height and a heavily altered by makeup appearance to his advantage. In all honesty, the outfit and role was better suited to Gakupo. Even his voice was…

"What're you standing around for? You've already delayed the video shoot enough. Don't make Miku wait even more." Gakupo says, entering the room once again after finishing changing.

"O-Oh, you're right, sorry." Kaito says quickly, sighing as he tears his gaze away from the mirror.

Gakupo purses his lips, and after some thought at seeing Kaito's troubled expression, he asks, "What's wrong?"

"It's just…" Kaito starts, lowering his gaze to the floor as he felt a lump in his throat. I look horrible compared to you. "Someone like me…" … Doesn't deserve this video shoot. I've already messed it up. I'm probably more trouble than I'm worth.

Suddenly, he dismisses the subject, smiling brightly at the taller man, "… Nothing, I was just a bit nervous." He laughs, hating that he almost opened up to a someone he had just met.

Gakupo narrows his eyes. Nothing, huh? He knew something was up. From the night before to when he dismissed near death with a "So what?", the quiet sobbing he heard, the troubled look on his face as he was looking at himself. He may have just met him, but there were obvious signs. However… It's not like he cared much about him. He barely knew him. "Right. Well, just make sure not to mess up too much."

He opens the door for him; Kaito is a bit surprised at the polite nature from the somewhat rude man. He smiles awkwardly, but Gakupo avoids eye contact.

"Ah! Kaito! You look great!" Miku says after noticing them come out of the dressing room. "Great job, Gakupo-san! I knew I could rely on you!"

"You're welcome." He replies, cutting any chance for conversation.

Miku leads Kaito to the stage, making idle conversation as she smiled and laughed with the awkward man. However, Kaito saw Gakupo beginning to leave in his peripheral vision. He didn't know why he even cared, so he shook his head and dismissed the thought.

The shoot started, and with a deep breath Kaito side steps and turns around, circles around her with a serious expression, and holds her hand as she arises, slowly stepping back to the edge of the stage as she sings in the center. His heart was beating quickly, nervous that he would mess up somehow. He had practiced the dance and lyrics for the song countless times, he was ready – and yet the mere thought of messing up overwhelmed him with fear. The thought that Gakupo had already left made him feel at ease that he wouldn't be looked down upon by him when he exited the stage if he messed up or really did just not fit the role, yet it also made him a bit downhearted – he kind of wanted his approval. No… He longed for approval, for someone to tell him he did great and mean it, not just say it to be polite.

Then he saw him. As he was opening his eyes to begin to move, he saw Gakupo watching, expression serious, watching his every move with keen eyes. His eyes widen, but still he continues the dance, skipping over near the stairway in a swift motion and reaching out to Miku, letting his voice fill the room. He got closer and spun around, standing next to her as they sang and danced in sync. He was worried his voice didn't go well with one as high and amazing as Miku's, worried that Gakupo really was better for the song after all.

Miku stood some ways from the stage as he stood on the center, singing brilliantly and reaching out with dramatic motions. Gakupo watched from the sidelines, acknowledging how amazing the man's voice was and how attractive he looked under the spotlight. It was no wonder he was gaining popularity at such a quick pace. Why he was so harsh on himself, Gakupo didn't know, but he knew he had made the right choice when asking his manager to work with him.

Kaito spins towards Miku, reaching out to her as she circles away from him and begins to sing again. He walks over to her, taking her hand in his as he kneels down and sings, looking deeply into her eyes as he stands again and takes hold of her other hand. However, there with their faces so close together and holding hands, he suddenly remembers Gakupo's face so close to him as he put on eyeliner on him, how the brilliant curve of his jaw complimented his narrow bright blue eyes, how very attractive and alluring he was. He faltered for a second, and because of that as he let go of her hands and turned to spin and circle her, he tripped over his other foot and fell on his butt on the floor.

"Cut!"

His face turned bright red in embarrassment as he heard the muffled laughter throughout the room. Laughing, laughing… Laughing at him. Suddenly, that was all he heard, he couldn't acknowledge how well the rest of his singing and dancing was, he could only acknowledge the mistake, the humiliating, stupid mistake. He didn't realize he hadn't moved from the floor until he saw Gakupo's hand reaching out to him.

He's going to replace me, Kaito thought. It's for the better, it's for the better…

"Hurry up, we don't have all day. I'm going to help you practice to get that part right." Gakupo says as he helps the shivering man up. "You're so nervous because you're in love with her, right? Well, if you practice that part with me, maybe it'll be easier next time."

Kaito's eyes widen as he processes what Gakupo was saying. "You… I thought…"

Gakupo raises an eyebrow at him, "You thought what?"

"… Nothing. Thanks for the help and sorry for any trouble I cause." Kaito says quickly, though in actuality he was more nervous than before. The reason he had messed up that time wasn't because he admired her, but was Gakupo himself. He would probably mess up more if he practiced with him, but he didn't want to let the man's efforts go to waste or make the situation awkward.

The music started from the beginning. It was an understatement to say Kaito was nervous. Near the part where he had messed up before, he was at the center, spinning and reaching towards Gakupo as Gakupo took it as a cue to circle away from him and start singing himself. He side stepped and retrieved his step, hands on his chest as he sang with a powerful, attractive voice. He looked away before turning his gaze on the approaching man, reaching his hand out.

Kaito's heart was beating quicker than it was when he was dancing with Miku, but he wasn't about to embarrass himself again. He took hold of Gakupo's hand; it was surprisingly cold compared to his warm one with sweaty, nervous palms.

"I tried to remedy her falling sadness." He sang, kneeling down and gazing into Gakupo's cold, serious eyes before standing up and taking hold of his other hand.

"Impulses running up my body like electricity, suddenly…" He felt a bit embarrassed singing this to someone like Gakupo, but did it nevertheless, stepping back and spinning without fail unlike last time.

They circle each other and reach for each other again, continuing to dance and sing even though the practice should've been over. As they face each other, Kaito wonders how and when the man could've possibly learned the dance. "The lone prince in love with the princess…" They danced side by side until the lighting dimmed, the spotlight on Gakupo as he sang by himself. "I still feel his warm breath rubbing up against my skin, but now it feels like a dream from long ago."

Kaito felt fidgety and embarrassed hearing Gakupo singing that, but obliged to singing his solo part after Gakupo finished his. They circled and danced beside each other again, "Rip the dress, you won't need it again. Throw off your crown, it's well past its use. I connect with you by gazing into your eyes, and I feel a flame now ignite."

They side stepped and slid, spreading their arms out in the opposite direction and getting closer. "As long as I do my duty and stop your tears, I'll make sure you stay here with me."

Kaito reaches his arm to the camera and switches his gaze back to Gakupo, hands almost touching but quickly turning back and dancing facing each other again. "This sensation fills me with such joy. Our deep love can surely never fail. My whole body feels like it's been forever changed, almost like we're in a fairy tale."

They face each other completely, and walk towards each other. Usually, Kaito and Miku pass by each other and end up opposite, ending the video there. However, right when he and Gakupo were next to each other as they were passing by, Gakupo took hold of Kaito's hand and spun him around, hand on his waist and noses brushing as he looked deep into his eyes and felt his warm breath, intertwining their fingers before turning around, back against Kaito's as he closed his eyes.

Kaito did the same. However, when the director signified the end of the filming, he held his face in his hands, knowing it was red from being so flustered.

A/N: I used the dance moves from the Project Diva video as a reference, as well as Zoozbuh and TBOE's lyrics from youtube. You should really give both videos a watch! Thanks for reading if you've stuck around; comments are always appreciated so thank you for leaving any! If you have an ideas or constructive criticism to give, don't be afraid to do so.