For once in a very long time, Kaito slept a full night without being disrupted by nightmares or an alarm, or both. He slowly flutters his eyes open, blinking two or three times before his vision focused as it should.

The room was dark – curtains closed and lamp turned off, sunlight barely seeping through the curtains. He gets up, scratching his head and rubbing his eyes. His cell phone was on the surface of the drawer beside him – he was grateful to Gakupo for leaving it on an easy-to-see location. Reaching for it and unlocking the screen, he learns that it was a bit passed noon already. He couldn't have gone to sleep that late – perhaps at nine or ten in the evening, for just how long was he asleep? It was no secret that he was very behind on his sleeping, getting an average of four hours a night usually because of work or restlessness, so in a way it wasn't a surprise that he had slept for so long to make up some of the debt.

Not only did he learn the time, he also took notice to the various messages he had gotten from Miku.

Unknown

9:54 P.M.

I'm sorry, I didn't hurt your feelings, did I? That wasn't my intention, I meant to send that to my manager.

11:31 P.M.

I understand if you don't want to work with me anymore, what I was saying about you was a bit rude, but that was just my opinion on you stated bluntly. I didn't really mean any offense on a personal level, so if possible I'd like to keep working with you. You're kind of popular so it'd be really beneficial if you disregarded what I said.

1:56 A.M.

Fine, whatever, since you're ignoring me I'm guessing that's a no.

He didn't know how to respond to her, really. He took what she said about him very seriously, ended up in tears, even, but should he still take her up on her offer? But... She was right, after all. He was sure Gakupo was better suited to the role in Cendrillon, both in voice and figure. Gakupo's voice was so smooth and handsome, not too deep like Kaito's. Not only that, he had very broad shoulders and was a bit muscular, not to mention a lot taller and more handsome, in Kaito's opinion. He had made up his mind on that thought, and the accidental message only reinforced it.

Sighing, he steps into the closet and changes into his clothes that had been cleaned, leaving the one's Gakupo had lent him folded neatly on his bed. He slips his phone into his pocket and glances over to Gakupo, who was seemingly fast asleep, leaning over on his desk from his chair. His usually picked up hair was let loose, beautiful strands of purple stretched throughout his back. His sleeping expression was peaceful, calming even, that Kaito couldn't help but stare. He shakes his head, remembering Miku's words – how she called the way he looked at her creepy. He decided to refrain from gawking anymore.

Kaito reaches for the door knob, trying to twist it as quietly as possible as to not wake Gakupo but failing as a deep, husky voice called out to him, "Where are you going? Don't you at least want breakfast?"

He turns around to see Gakupo staring at him, peaceful expression replaced with a frown. He yawns, awaiting Kaito's answer.

"N-No, I should really be going now…" Kaito says, an awkward smile on his face as he scratches his cheek. He didn't want to burden the man anymore – he had caused him enough trouble already and thought he didn't deserve such kindness.

"You're… not hungry?" Gakupo questions, raising an eyebrow. There was no food at the video shoot the day earlier, and as far as he knew Kaito had gotten mugged on the way home and never ate anything throughout the evening and night.

"It's fine, really! I'm not really hungry." Waving his hands in rejection, Kaito responds modestly, although a few seconds after that lie, his stomach rumbles loudly. Of course he was hungry. He didn't have breakfast yesterday because he was late to the video shoot, and failed to eat anything throughout the rest of the day. But he didn't want to bother Gakupo even more and overstep his boundaries; Gakupo had been nice enough to him – a mere stranger – already.

He feels his face redden after his lie was exposed, and quickly turns around again and puts his hand on the doorknob. "A-Anyways, I'll be going now."

"You really don't take care of yourself, do you?" Gakupo asks, sighing softly. He tucks a strand of his purple hair behind his ear, closing his eyes momentarily. Kaito stares at him – he had just woken up and yet he looked so… handsome. His hair was just beautiful, it looked so smooth and, although it was a bit embarrassing to think this, his bedhead made him look very handsome.

"No, not really…" Kaito mumbles, lowering his gaze before he was caught staring, a bit ashamed. But it's not really like he thought he deserved to be cared for…

Gakupo was expecting this answer. There were quite a few experiences to reinforce this fact. From when they first met and he dismissed a near-death, to the little interest for his own wellbeing, not to mention the visible eyebags under his eyes now that his make-up faded after he cried a waterfall and fell asleep…

But what really stood out amongst all those experiences… must've been the phone call. "I don't think I can do this anymore…" The desperate, broken voice that barely made its way to the other line, wrecked with heart-wrenching sobs… Although he acted so normally now, just after the incident he had been so… broken. He looked… almost lifeless, so vulnerable. It reminded him of when he saw his younger sister, bedridden, hospitalized, eyes lacking their usual gleam as she cried her eyes out when she thought no one was watching.

"Why…?"

"…Why… me…?"

The mere memory of it enraged Gakupo, but mostly… it made him sad, broke his heart to millions of pieces every time the memory found its way back to him. The way Kaito was the day prior… reminded him so much of that horrible day. He didn't want anyone else to end up like his sister… Because not only was his sister effected, so was his family. His father had cried into his wife's shoulder, shaking her with sobs, and though his mother tried to appear strong and kept her cheerful act going, when she was alone in her room she would weep uncontrollably. And Gakupo… Gakupo never let his emotions shake his outward appearance after that. That had only happened once, after he saw his sister crying. He had nearly destroyed his room, bed and drawers and clothes scattered and cut to pieces by his sword.

And Kaito… He was sure there were people who care about Kaito and wouldn't want to see him that way. He was sure Kaito didn't realize it, but… His life was not only his. The person he meant to call… Meiko? He had recognized the name belonging to a very famous, popular, and beautiful singer… Unless he was making things up, she even had a collab with Kaito, singing "Wintry Winds". The song and music video was present in Gakupo's music gallery – he found the song to be very beautiful and their voices to blend very nicely together. Kaito's voice was… enchanting, if he had to describe it. It was one of the deepest voices he had heard before, and yet equally, if not more beautiful to listen to than most higher voices. He loved Kaito's voice and had man of his songs in his music gallery. He was much too embarrassed to say that to Kaito's face, although he figured Kaito already knew how beautiful his voice was. It was no doubt Gakupo knew his own voice was pretty nice, which was the reason he was so sure of himself to pursue a music career and halt his dojo leadership.

Whatever the case, he found that he wanted to help Kaito. Although, of course, having a collab together with him to make more profit from his music career came first, he wanted to help Kaito in between it all, if he could. Because he knew there was people who cared about him, who would be hurt to see him hurting himself like this.

Gakupo had been staring at him for quite a while that soon Kaito came to the realization that his make-up had faded, shock overcoming his senses as he starts to rush into the bathroom to reapply some. Without make-up, he must look so ugly, just disgusting. His pimples must be clearly visible scattered across his face, large eyebags repulsing whoever came near him… He was so distraught that Gakupo saw him.

"You look fine." Gakupo states, deducing why Kaito seemed to be in such a dilemma.

Kaito hadn't heard those words in quite a while, not because everyone thought he looked ugly without make-up – rather, because he never went anywhere without make-up. Even if it was to visit his best friend Meiko's house, or to discuss future music videos with Yuuki, there was no way he could go anywhere naturally. Because when he woke up in the morning, when he looked in the mirror, all he felt was disgust. The pimples, the eyebags, the uncanny resemblance to his father when he fell to alcoholism, he couldn't stand it, it made him want to smash the mirror.

"Thank you, but you don't have to say that just to be nice." Kaito answers, immediately regretting saying it. He had just made things awkward. "A-Anyways, really, I'm very grateful for your kindness but I should really go now."

"Are you going to reject Miku's offer for Cendrilon?" Gakupo suddenly asks, changing the subject. "I got messages from her asking for me to take part in the song instead of you."

A brief silence overtook the room before Kaito smiles and says "Of course I am. You're much better suited to the role than I am."

Gakupo raises a questioning eyebrow. "How so?"

Blinking twice at the unexpected question, Kaito frowns. "What do you mean?"

"How am I much better suited to the role than you?" Gakupo repeats himself, sitting up on the chair and gesturing for Kaito to sit on the bed.

"What…?"

"Go on… Explain your reasoning." Gakupo says, taking hair pins from his drawer and beginning to brush his hair.

Kaito fidgets a bit, embarrassed to say his thoughts aloud to someone he didn't even know that well. He sits on the bed and starts to explain nonetheless. "Well… Your voice is nicer. Mine… Mine is too deep and doesn't go well with Miku's, you know?"

"Our voices are just different in tone. Yours goes just fine with Miku's." Gakupo responds, grabbing the spare hair pin he had kept handy between his lips and starting to pick his hair up in a ponytail.

"W-Well… You have a… nicer…" Kaito trails off, not knowing how to word it without embarrassing himself. He couldn't just say, "You have a really nice face and body and you're really, really handsome."

"A nicer…?" Gakupo repeats, urging for him to continue. When Kaito doesn't continue, and instead lowers his gaze to the floor, he sighs and says, "What, a nicer face? Is that it?"

Kaito's eyes widen, so Gakupo knows he had hit the nail right on the head. He sighs, pulling his hair into a final ponytail and looking at Kaito. "Believe me, you're quite attractive yourself. Why do you think you have such a large fanbase, besides your voice?"

"But that's only because…"

"Because of make-up?" Gakupo interrupts him, raising an eyebrow. "Don't feed yourself lies. You're plenty attractive without the make-up. You can get rid of the pimples by trying out different kinds of ointment, I could recommend you some. As for the eyebags… Well, you should take care of yourself better. Then you wouldn't have to spend so much on make-up trying to cover them up."

"You're right, but…"

Even if he did try to take care of himself better and fix his sleeping schedule, the nightmares wouldn't leave him alone. He didn't want to bother Gakupo with his problems, so instead of letting him know he just responded with "Nevermind."

He makes up his mind to leave once and for all, getting up but tripping over his own foot and beginning to fall. Gakupo sees this and, with fast reflexes, stands up and tries to catch him. However, he's halfway through steadying himself before Kaito collides with him, and they both fall back onto the chair. Kaito's arms are pinning Gakupo back on the chair, their noses brushing.

Kaito's face heats up at the closeness, and in shock he is unable to move for a while.

"Gakupo! It's late enough already, how long are you going to sleep in?!" A feminine voice yells, swinging the door open to reveal the two boys in close distance of each other. It almost looked like they were about to kiss if someone were to see them without knowing the situation.

"Oh… Am I… interrupting something?" The middle-aged lady asks, blinking twice to process the situation. "Gakupo… Care to explain why there is a guest in this house without my permission?"

Immediately, Kaito gets up, face flushed in complete embarrassment at being caught in such a compromising position.

Gakupo straightens himself, sitting up on the chair.

"S-Sorry, I'm very sorry," Kaito says quickly, bowing down to the lady guessing she was the owner of this house. "For intruding, that is… I've taken advantage of my stay here for much too long… I-I'll be going, then!"

"Kaito, hold on." Gakupo says, sighing. "Mother, this is a someone I'm working on something at work with. He came over to discuss some matters."

"Oh, the workers here have told me all about him… Looks like he slept over, huh? You could've asked for a spare room, Gakupo, I know your father and I were out late at night yesterday but I'm sure they would've given him the guest room nevertheless. Sleeping on a chair couldn't have been all that comfortable." Gakupo's mother says sternly, shaking her head and directing her next statement at Kaito. "Gakupo rarely brings friends over, though, so this is kind of a shocker. He's always been more of a loner."

"Mom." Gakupo says, glaring at her. It was embarrassing for her to tell him that.

"Well, anyhow, I'm Kamui Ai. Nice to meet you!" Ai says, extending her hand for a handshake.

"I'm Shion Kaito. N-Nice to meet you." Kaito responds, shaking her hand timidly. "Thank you for your understanding, and I'm very sorry for imposing…"

"Oh, you're not imposing at all, dear! It makes me happy to know Gakupo has more than one friend!" Ai says, smiling widely. "Now, you must be hungry, yes? I've made some breakfast! I was already aware there was a guest, so don't worry about there not being enough."

Kaito bows, "Thank you for your generosity, Kamui-san."

"You don't need to thank me so much, it's fine!" She says reassuringly, heading to the dining room.

"Well?" Gakupo asks. "Aren't you coming?"

After she had already prepared a meal for him, it would've been rude to decline her offer, so reluctantly Kaito took her up on her offer. He was starving, after all, even if he had been severely modest and continued to deny their tempting offers.

When they arrive at the dining hall, Gakupo takes a seat at the table surrounded by many people. It seemed the majority of them were workers hired by Gakupo's parents, and yet… They all ate together? Timidly, Kaito takes a seat next to Gakupo, a delicious-looking miso soup and bowl of white rice waiting for him. He almost began to drool at the scrumptious aroma that trailed from the soup, tempted to start eating it right then and there.

"Oh?" A man says, peeking from above the newspaper he was reading. "Is this the guest everyone was talking about?"

Kaito wonders if perhaps they also knew about how Gakupo had carried him inside, dirty and face filled with tears and all… He was embarrassed at the mere thought of them knowing. "Y-Yes, I suppose so… I'm Shion Kaito, a… co-worker with Gakupo-san… Nice to meet you."

The man raises an eyebrow. "A co-worker, eh? Interesting. I'm his father, Kamui Daichi. You would do well to watch yourself in how you treat Gakupo."

"Dad." Gakupo says, stopping him from continuing any further. He knew how overprotective his father was and didn't want to scare Kaito away.

"Y-Yes…" Kaito responds, lowering his gaze and cowering away from the conversation. The man was very intimidating, his glare strong, and not only that Kaito just felt very awkward in general, like he didn't… belong here. He didn't deserve this delicious food, the kindness he was being given, the generosity… He deserved –

"Aren't you going to eat?" Ai asks, tilting her head from her seat next to Daichi. "Don't worry about Daichi, he's just very overprotective. In reality, he's one of the sweetest people ever!"

"Ah…" Kaito mumbles. "W-Well… Thank you for the food." He says before taking a sip of the miso soup. He's alarmed at the surprisingly delicious taste of the soup, and is driven to take another sip. Since his mother had died around middle school, he had already forgotten what home-cooking was like. Ever since her death, he had resorted to eating microwave meals and takeout. Yuuki offered on various occasions to cook for him, or even to teach him how, but Kaito declined every time. Who was he to burden her with his wellbeing?

About halfway through the meal, he can't eat anymore. Gakupo glances over at him curiously, wondering why he had stopped so suddenly. He himself ate both the miso soup, white rice, and some fried pork with ginger on the side. He and Kaito were around the same age and figure, so he thought they'd eat similar portions. It seems Ai thought the same, too, as she speaks up and asks, "Was it not to your liking?"

There is an evident look of hurt on her face, and immediately Kaito responds with, "Oh, no, it was one of the most delicious meals I've had in a while. I'm just not used to eating so much, is all." He laughs a bit awkwardly, trying to ease the tension.

Ai frowns, knowing a man in his nearly in his twenties really shouldn't be used to eating so little. She thought she had served him too little, actually, and was expecting him to ask for seconds. "Is that so? Well, then maybe Gakupo should invite you over more often so you can get healthy with Ai's ultra-nutritious cooking!"

"Ah, no, I don't think –" Kaito starts, but Gakupo interrupts him.

"Maybe sometime next week. We should discuss what we're going to do for our collab, after all, I think here would be the best place." Gakupo says, taking another bite of his food.

That answer was unexpected. Kaito thought Gakupo disliked him when they first met, from the small insults idiot and irresponsible, to the stern gaze he had when he was watching him perform on stage. And yet, from that evening forward when he saved him from the mugger and been so generous to lend him a place to stay, and how he reassured him he was right for the prince role in Cendrillon… He couldn't understand what was going on in Gakupo's mind. In the end, he figured Gakupo was just being polite and a good person. In reality, he probably still thought lowly of him…

Excusing himself from the table, he washes his dishes in the kitchen sink, thinking blankly to himself before Gakupo appears beside him, also washing his. "So, you're going to accept Miku's offer, right?"

"Well…" Kaito trails off. In all honesty, he was thinking of refusing her offer despite Gakupo's attempt at reassurance. He was just being nice, he didn't actually think his voice was all that nice, right?

"Kaito, I already told Miku I wasn't going to replace you in the song. If you also refuse the offer, who knows what would happen to the song?" Gakupo explains, drying the last dishes off and looking at him. "Besides, they already made your costume for the music video, with your exact measurements and all. You've already practiced it with Miku various times, I even helped you. You're just going to let all of that go to waste? That's a bit rude, don't you think?"

Kaito doesn't respond, so Gakupo continues. "Listen, I think we both know Miku isn't all smiles and kindness as she portrays herself to be. I know she can be pretty mean and insensitive, trust me, I know. And… I don't know if the reason you were so distraught yesterday on the phone was because of something Miku said to you, but you shouldn't let her words get to you. I'm sure she just has an inferiority complex and takes it out on people. Trust me when I say your voice goes magically with hers, and is perfect for the song. The costume looks great on you. Stop doubting yourself over something she said and being so critical to yourself. You're okay."

When Kaito looks up at Gakupo, he notices the smallest hint of a smile on Gakupo's lips, an expression of sincerity and honesty. It dissolves into seriousness as soon as it came, though, so Kaito thinks maybe he imagined it. But his smile… was so beautiful. He was always so serious all of the time.

'Stop doubting yourself over something she said.' He frowns at hearing that, because he had been doubting himself much before Miku had said anything to him. He doubted himself every time he took the stage at concerts, wondering if he deserved all of his fans who came to see him, who asked for his autograph and to take a picture with him. When he did video shoots with other singers, he wondered if he was worthy of working with them. Was he really as good as everyone said he was? Was it okay for him to be where he was?

He didn't know, but at that moment he realized that… All this time, he longed for reassurance and praise from another singer. Real reassurance, not the polite words Miku and others spout after the end of a shoot. He longed for someone to tell him he was okay, that his voice was okay, his appearance was okay, that it was okay to exist. And somehow, Gakupo was starting to do just that.

"T… Thank you." Kaito mumbles, gaze averted to the floor.

"What?" Gakupo asks, as he hadn't heard him clearly.

"Thank you." Kaito repeats, much louder this time, smiling a real smile – something he hadn't done in a while – directed right at Gakupo. "I really needed to hear that."

It was clear – the difference between his forced and his real smiles. Gakupo stares in awe at how cute Kaito looked, smiling happily like that. He could feel his cheeks heat up a little before he turns around to hide it.

"Right."


A/N: I know updates have been really slow recently, sorry about that, but I was trying to catch up on a videogame before a new episode corresponding to it came out, so now that that's over updates should be somewhat quicker. As for the guest who left a review earlier, I'm just used to writing in present tense and only use past tense when characters are thinking or when a past event or memory is being explained. Sorry if it isn't to your liking! On a side note, flustered Gakupo is so cute, I love writing him getting all embarrassed. More about Gakupo's sister and Meiko should be explained in the next chapter, so stay tuned if you've still stuck around. Thank you for reading and please leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter or want to leave constructive criticism, I really appreciate every one!