Master led Kaito into his room and moved his hand from Kaito's shoulder, and sat down on the bed next to the blue-haired Vocaloid male, not touching him. He watched Kaito quietly for a moment as Kaito tried not to fidget.
"Kaito..." Master began, "Is there something you want to tell me?"
Kaito's body was tense and he fearfully looked down at his hands, clasped together to give him something to hold on to. Did Master... no, he couldn't know... could he? Could Master have guessed?
"N... no," Kaito said, barely more than a whisper. He was scared. He couldn't look up at Master.
"Kaito." Master stated flatly, then sighed and ran his hand through his short brown hair. "You were quiet all through our party. Were you thinking about the things that my friends said? About the pictures of you, on the internet? Did you, did you see them?" Kaito's eyes widened and his body tensed further, he looked religiously down at his hands.
"Listen, Kaito," Master said, finally, "I'm sorry. This is my fault."
At that, Kaito snapped his head up to look at Master with shocked eyes. What did Master mean? How was /any/ of this Master's fault?
"N- no, Master, it's not..." Kaito tried to say, but his courage failed him and he just stared at Master with a trapped expression, feeling dirty and worthless.
"Actually, it is," Master sighed. "I didn't think you'd find out about it really but... the fact of the matter is, ever since you have come here to my house, you were never as popular of a Vocaloid as I expected you to be. I wanted that for you, so much. So, I have to come clean to you now."
Master mused for a moment, his chin in his hand as he leaned and put his elbow on his leg, holding himself up in a thoughtful position.
"Those images that are on the internet, those were actually... uh... started by me. I knew that if others could see you in the same way that I see you, that they would fall in love with you, too. And I was right, they spread like wildfire, and before I knew it, more and more pictures that people created of you had gone viral. Your popularity is rising rapidly now, Kaito. And I wanted that for you but... I didn't really think about how you would take it, when or if you found out about it. Are you upset, Kaito?"
Kaito stared, gaping. His face was a picture of horror. Master had..? Master? Then, the things that Len had done to him... Master was the creator of that? No. No. Just, no. NO.
"Why? ...Master?" Kaito numbly asked.
"Kaito, I... to be completely honest, I," Master started to say, and he moved his head off his hand and looked at his hand. Master gently touched Kaito's knee. Kaito jerked, eyes wide and staring at Master. "The fact of the matter is, I've... always wanted to do those things with you, Kaito. Ever since the day we first met."
It was a nightmare. It had to be a nightmare. But here was his kind Master, touching his leg and leaning towards him, saying these horrible, unbelievable words. Kaito thought his heart would break and shatter into pieces, but he wasn't sure if it was from the strain of the utter, mind-numbing terror that was gripping him, or from the soul-crushing feeling of betrayal.
"Mas... Master..." Kaito stuttered. He couldn't think straight. He couldn't find words. He wanted to run away, far away, far, far away into the arms of his... of his loving Master. Even though it was his Master who was saying these terrifying things to him right now. There was no one else he could think of to run to for safety. Kaito began to cry, completely silent. The tears rose in his eyes unbidden and spilled down his cheeks without his consent.
"Master..." Kaito didn't even know what he could plead for. "Please..."
Master reached a hand up to Kaito's face and touched Kaito's cheek with his palm. He reached out his thumb and rubbed it very gently on Kaito's trembling lower lip. The pink color was beautiful against Kaito's pale, perfect skin. But the touch, though it was gentle, reminded Kaito of something else, and Kaito wondered wildly, was Master going to gag him? It was too much. Kaito's world was breaking apart. He was breaking apart.
"I'm sorry!" Kaito shouted suddenly through his tears. His face was a mask of confusion and mental agony. "Master, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, please, I'm sorry!"
"Kaito?" Master paused his hand, a little surprised at the response he was getting. Was he... scary, to Kaito? He tried to calm the blue-haired Vocaloid down. "Shh... shh, Kaito."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I don't know what I did, I don't even know what I did, but please, just tell me, and I swear, I /swear/ that I will never do it again! Please, Master, please! I love you. I love you. Please, don't do things to hurt me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Kaito cried out. "Don't hurt me!"
Master's eyes closed slightly as he thought he understood what Kaito was going on about. Some of the pictures online were so very graphic. Kaito must have come across some of those, and was scared now. He was misinterpreting what Master wanted from him.
"Kaito, Kaito... shhh," Master said softly, moving his hand from Kaito's cheek to his hair, ruffling it gently and pulling the blue-haired Vocaloid gently to rest against his chest. "You aren't understanding me right. You don't have to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise." Kaito shuddered against him like a frightened puppy.
"You must have seen some of those more graphic images, and you're thinking of them, isn't that right? Kaito?" Master kept talking softly, and held Kaito to him, feeling the comfortable warmth of his body against his own. "I didn't mean those kinds of things, Kaito. I would never hurt you. I love you. Don't you know that? I would never hurt you. I only want to do nice things to you. Won't you make your Master happy?" Master murmured softly down into Kaito's ear.
"I'm scared," Kaito admitted, his eyes terrified and refusing to look up at Master's. He wanted to believe the things Master was telling him. He wanted to believe that Master wouldn't hurt him, but this was right after Master said that he wanted to do those things to him. The painful things Len had done. Which was it? Kaito didn't understand whether Master loved or hated him after all. He wanted to understand. He wanted his loving Master back.
"I love you, Kaito, I love you the most, out of anybody," Master said softly and touched his blue-haired Vocaloid underneath the chin, gently forcing Kaito's head up to look at his Master. Master moved his hand back down to Kaito's cheek and his thumb back to Kaito's lips and stroked there lightly. He stared kindly into Kaito's eyes and smiled gently at the frightened Vocaloid. "Don't be scared of me. It's just me. Your Master."
Kaito's eyes shimmered tearfully at Master as he allowed himself to be touched, mentally cringing away from the point when the pain would start. But Master just sat there and gently caressed his face and his lip. Kaito was shaking, but the tension from his fear gradually started to fade just a little bit.