Chapter 5
"Guess we're recording two songs today," Kaito laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
Gakupo only looked miffed at him.
"You know, gotta stay on schedule and all," Kaito continued.
"So you're well now? Not going to have another episode?" Gakupo asked.
"Yeah, no," Kaito sighed, feeling a little stupid. "That whole thing yesterday was, uh, low blood sugar. I forgot to eat."
"How the hell do you forget to eat?"
Kaito blinked in surprise. Gakupo had never spoken like that before. "Uh," he said. "Sorry. I...don't really know...Just kind of slipped my mind, I guess."
Gakupo furrowed his brow. Then he sighed and decided to let it go. "Okay. Then let's just get to work. We'll practice both songs, and then record both of them. I think that will save time."
"Right," Kaito immediately agreed. "Oh," he said, remembering. "And today my manager is stopping by to make sure we both eat."
"I'm not the one who forgets to eat."
"Yeah, well..." Kaito trailed off, feeling a little stupid. "...Right."
Gakupo looked up at him. "Let's get to work."
"Yeah." Kaito sat down and picked up his songbook. "My butterfly song, right?"
"Yes."
Kaito began to sing, and Gakupo hit his mark. Then they harmonized the next lyrics and chorus, and decided that it was good. They quickly moved on, trying to make up for lost time.
"This entire song is sung by the both of us," Gakupo needlessly pointed out. "Like Matryoshka."
Kaito nodded. "I'll try to keep up with you."
Gakupo snapped a few pre-beats, and on the fourth they began together: "Oh, father, mother, I'm so sorry for what I've done. / Still slobbering on my thumbs, / knees trembling, I'm so scared. / Oh, brother, sister, it's time to wave farewell. / Lace up the beat-up shoes, / I dashed out for the wild!
"Everything that I present / is more than I can create. / Anything that seems so right / could just
be a nail in the shaft. / I silently asked myself / "Could you love without looking back?" / Scissors in my hand, / colors in your face, / let me take it all apart!"
Gakupo stopped. "Actually, that's pretty good."
Kaito smiled a little. "Actually, this is a pretty popular song. It's always on the radio."
Gakupo gazed at him. "I see...Ready to record?"
"Yes. Shall I-"
"Knock knock, cuties!" said Meiko, who entered without knocking.
"Just because you say it-!" Kaito snapped, but he was interrupted when Meiko tossed a pint of ice cream at him.
"There you go! Lots of sugar for your weak-ass blood."
"Hey," he said half-heartedly. Kaito looked at her expectantly. "Spoon?"
"Yeah, yeah," Meiko dug into her bag until she found it and handed it to him. She saw Gakupo's look of concern as Kaito immediately started shoveling the ice cream into his mouth, seemingly forgetting his surroundings. "He really likes his ice cream," she explained. "Especially chocolate chips and mint...Which I think is what he's eating. I didn't know what flavor you liked, so I just got plain vanilla and chocolate. Whichever you don't eat, I'll take."
"Err," Gakupo said.
"You do like ice cream, don't you?" Meiko raised an eyebrow.
"I do, it's just," Gakupo glanced at the clock on the wall, "it's eight in the morning."
"Ah, so it is," she replied, looking at her own watch. "In any case, the ice cream is melting, so which flavor would you like?"
Gakupo still looked to be at a loss for words, so Meiko studied him.
"Hm, you don't look like a vanilla person." She pushed the chocolate pint into his hands, forcing him to take it. She placed a spoon on top of it, then plopped down on a chair and took out her own ice cream. "If only I had some alcohol," she said wistfully.
Kaito swallowed his last bite and looked at Meiko sideways. "Remember what mom said about drinking," he said.
"Shaddup," Meiko replied.
Gakupo looked between Kaito and Meiko. "Siblings?" he asked.
"Step-siblings," they replied in unison, as though perfectly used to the question.
"Dad got remarried to this loser's mom," Meiko elaborated.
Kaito narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't retort.
"I see," Gakupo said, although he was bewildered by this information. "So you work for him?"
"Nah, I do it for free," Meiko said. "I manage both Kaito and another girl named Luka."
"You just implied that I'm a girl!" Kaito accused.
Gakupo took a bite of his ice cream, which really had begun melting. He watched the argument between them. It was actually kind of...cute?
"Anway," Kaito was saying, "you need to leave because we're working!"
"No, Gakupo's still eating," Meiko said, gesturing to him before taking a bite of her own ice cream. "He sing and eat at the same time, jerk."
Kaito blushed. "No, but you're distracting!"
"From his eating?"
"Yes."
"No," she replied. "You're just mad because you finished yours already."
"Gah!" Kaito ran his hands through his hair in frustration, making it stick up again. Meiko looked completely unperturbed. "Do you see what I have to deal with?" he said, giving Gakupo a pleading look.
Gakupo's heart skipped a beat at the look, but coughed and put it off on the cold lump of ice cream he had just swallowed.
"All right, all right," Meiko said, standing up. She stuffed another bite into her mouth, then stuck the spoon into the remainder of the vanilla treat and handed it to Kaito. "I'm leaving."
"Yeah, good riddance," Kaito said, scooping the ice cream into his mouth.
Meiko shut the door behind her without looking back.
"Do you two really hate each other?" Gakupo asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"Huh?" Kaito furrowed his brow at him. "No. Why do you ask?"
"The way you speak to each other?"
"Oh. That's playful banter," Kaito shrugged. "Sarcasm, mostly."
"...I see," Gakupo said, though he didn't really. "Ah, I forgot to thank her for the ice cream."
Kaito laughed. "She'll be back with more later, most likely. You can thank her then."
"Oh."
They sat in silence for a while, eating casually. When they had both finished, they met each other's eyes and mutually agreed that they should start recording before the dairy got to their vocal chords.
A/N: song is Tokyo Teddy Bear.
I was so excited when I found out that Kaito and I had the same favorite ice cream! ^-^ Gosh
Anyway, thanks for reading, as always!