Chapter 10

Kaito was surprised to see Gakupo waiting for him. He stood for a moment in the doorway, unsure whether to enter, until Gakupo noticed his presence and turned.

"...You left your scarf," Gakupo said, holding it out to him.

"Oh," Kaito uttered. "Uh, thanks." He moved forward and took it, but otherwise did nothing.

The atmosphere was thick and heavy. Kaito was beginning to regret showing up, although Gakupo didn't seem to be affected by his awkwardness. He looked completely normal.

After a minute or two that felt like eternity, Gakupo glanced up at Kaito. "...Should we get to work?"

"Yeah," Kaito said quickly, glad to have something to do. He sat down on the other chair stiffly, and opened his songbook. "Um, this is a, uh, dance song, really," Kaito said, seeing that his song was next.

Gakupo nodded. "I've heard this. Gumi played it at her wedding."

"Ah, did she?" Kaito replied politely. "That's...nice."

Another awkward silence ensued. Kaito felt jittery, and of course his mind took the liberty of thinking about the day before. He scrunched his eyes shut, trying to get rid of the memory before his body reacted. That would be even more embarrassing than his running out!

"About yesterday," Gakupo said abruptly.

Kaito looked up at him, but Gakupo's eyes were glued firmly to the page in front of him.

"About yesterday," he repeated. "I'm sorry. That was completely rude, and uh, weird of me, to...you know."

Kaito blinked in surprise. Was Gakupo blushing? "No, it's uh," Kaito trailed off, trying to think of what it was. He couldn't exactly say arousing, could he?

"No, I mean," Gakupo said, wincing, "I don't even really know where it came from. It's just, you were so close and I just...I don't know, did it. It's been a while since I've been close to someone, and my body just reached for the nearest person's touch."

"Oh," Kaito said. So Gakupo didn't like him after all. He was just feeling sexually tense. Kaito's heart throbbed in his chest, but he put it off. "That's alright," he said, though it really wasn't. "I understand," he said, though he really didn't.

Gakupo gave him a small, grateful smile. "Thank you...So let's get started, shall we?"

"Yeah," Kaito said, struggling to return the smile, "right."

Since they harmonized the entire song, they counted off and began together.

"Even within the midst of flowing time, / Look, indifference still goes round and round. / As for me, my heart has separated from me / I can't see it. Is it true? I don't know. / Even if I don't move, / I continue to be lengthened in the cracks of time / I don't understand the rotation / I am me. That's it.

"Am I seeing a dream? Am I seeing nothing? / Are the words that I'm speaking useless? / I'm just tired of the sadness. / "Feeling nothing" is best / Even if I were to speak these bewildering words, / My heart is just the upper sky / What if I were able to move / Everything would return and I would turn it black.

"Would this me exist in the future? / Do I exist in this world? / Am I oppressed now? Am I sad now? / I still don't know anything about me / Even when walking, I'm just tired of it / So how could I care for other people / If this me were to be able to change, / If I were to change, would I turn white?"

They stopped there and exchange a look that said they were ready to record. They did, and played it back, and deemed it good. There was nothing left to do that day. But neither of them left.

Gakupo took a seat in his chair and flipped through the songbook, though he wasn't really looking at anything. He wondered why Kaito didn't leave like he usually did, and whether he should leave. But that was ridiculous. Why should he leave? He didn't have anywhere to be, not at the moment, anyway. And nothing was stopping Kaito from going, so it was no sweat on his brow.

He glanced up to see if Kaito was getting ready to go, but then froze when he saw that Kaito was looking at him intently. "Uh, what?" Gakupo asked, narrowing his eyes in confusion.

Kaito blinked, his eyes flicking up to Gakupo's. Gakupo suddenly realized that Kaito had been staring at his lips. He was probably thinking of that kiss the day before, but he didn't seem disgusted by it. Then Kaito's eyes went back to his lips, almost thoughtfully, indecisively.

Before Gakupo could as what was up again, Kaito had suddenly crossed the room and leaned over him, lips less than an inch from his. Kaito was looking calculatingly into Gakupo's eyes now. They could feel each other's hot breaths on their lips.

After a long, intense moment, Kaito's eyes fluttered shut, betraying his intention and want. He pressed his lips against Gakupo's and waited for him to pull away for to push him off, but it didn't come. Instead, Gakupo's strong hands clutched his hair and pulled him against him, deepening the kiss. Kaito moaned into his mouth and climbed on top of him, raking his hands down Gakupo's chest. They pulled away after a few minutes, gasping for breath.

"You feel that?" Gakupo asked.

Kaito blinked at him.

Gakupo smirked. "You do exist."

A/N: song is Bad Apple!.

Thanks for reading, as always! I hope it's not getting to cheesy or just all-over bad. I was never good at writing romance .