Unyielding Devotion

“Hmmnnn… well, there’s nothing wrong in knowing your faults so you can improve, but you should be proud of what you have done as well” he finally acknowledged, blue eyes gently rolling away from those beautiful double colored eyes, as his staring seemed to do nothing but scare the boy more.

“Heh, that’s a cute hobby to have. You have pics of them?” Ah, this boy was really hung up to Shu, wasn’t he? It was quite endearing to see, and it made him just a bit jealous. It should be nice to feel loved and cared for in such a special way. To have someone look at you and only you. Even though he had tried to avoid direct eye contact with Mika, he couldn’t help but look at him again.

“… say, don’t you have anything you do or want to do for yourself?”

             “Ah...?” As he had just about gone to pull up photos of some of his finished projects involving the stuffed animals he “rescued” and then patched up, the other’s question caught him off guard. Eye contact broke once more as he felt his hands shake the slightest bit. For himself? Something to do for himself? The idea made his heart sink. He... wasn’t really sure what he could do all for himself. There wasn’t much out there keeping him going now aside from the work Shu got them as performers.

             “I...” Swallowing thickly, he knew this was something that he never did well answering on interviews, either. Whenever anyone asked what aspirations he had, he froze up. Typically he’d nudge at Shu in some effort to get out of it, or just say something that fans ate up such as ‘I only dream t’ perform wit’ Oshi-san forever~’ But, well, Shu wasn’t here, and it wasn’t a question for the fans. What was he supposed to say? What was the right answer? What was the honest answer?

Send ♡ + a word for a headcanon based on that word!;

( Mika typically rides a bus from a corner stop only a block or so from Shu’s home, but this typically depends on Shu more than anything. If Shu would prefer they walk that day, he’s more than willing to walk, but they are more likely to take the bus, due to the convenience and it allows them to leave without needed to be up at obscenely early hours. This is especially good for Mika since he has a hard time sleeping most nights.

At Kagehira’s guilt made clear with the breaking of their eye contact, Shu pulled back and away from the boy, falling into a distance that was more socially acceptable.

Admittedly, Shu almost hadn’t seen it.

Whomever had helped Kagehira apply the concealer under his eyes certainly knew what they were doing. Shu could only assume it was the work of that Narukami that Kagehira was usually with when not in his own company. The only problem was that Narukami had a fairer complexion than Kagehira and while he had done a very good job with mixing and blending to get his concealer to work for Kagehira’s skin, Shu spent much too much time with the boy. He handled the boy’s maintenance after all, it was to Narukami’s credit that Shu had almost missed it. But the feel of makeup on his thumb from running under Kagehira’s eye was unmistakable.

“Hard to sleep…” Perhaps it was the temperature at which the house was kept? With the changing seasons that could affect Kagehira’s sleeping patterns. Kagehira’s next words gave Shu pause.

Nightmares…

“Are you daft? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

How is he supposed to help you if you don’t tell him these things?

             The moment Shu asked the question, he practically shrunk as he tried to not start crying. “I-I’m sorry, Mentor, r-really, I jus’... y-yer always s-so busy, an’ I didn’ wanna i-interrupt ya ‘er... ‘er wake ya when y’need yer sleep, M-Mentor...” Sniffling, he bit his lip as he was trying desperately to not fall apart. Admittedly, he thought he could simply get by, maybe just endure the nightmares and force his way through it. He couldn’t tell if his lack of complete sleep had been showing in his performance yet, though, and he was sure Shu would take notice if he began slipping up.

Send in 💬 + a rumor for Mika to react to it;

              “Ah...” Was it possible? After all, it’s not as though Nazuna talked much when he was in the unit, and it’s not like he ever broke his silence when Shu wasn’t around and it was only the two of them... Had... Nazuna really hated him? Was it because Valkyrie fell after he had joined? Did Nazuna think he was as useless as he felt, even though Shu had specifically scouted him out before he’d joined Yumenosaki? Maybe... Maybe he should have turned him down. After all, it had been an awfully good luck that someone would have desired him out of no where, even if it had lead to only being a dancer to begin with.

Send in 💬 + a rumor for Mika to react to it;

Send in 💬 + a rumor for Mika to react to it;

Send in 💬 + a rumor for Mika to react to it;

            The last thing he wanted to do was confess that he’d read some things in the notebook. He didn’t want to admit he’d been just curious enough to give into Wataru’s words, only to upset himself in the long run. He knew he shouldn’t get his hopes up, he should simply be thankful Shu even offered to give him somewhere to live close to the school. Shu so much as took him into his unit on top of that, and he should have been grateful for that much.

            Yet, he craved more, something more than simply being Shu’s doll. He... wasn’t sure what he craved, but he just knew that what Wataru had told him hurt when he realized he was probably lying. “Oshi-san... wouldn’ say stuff like that... would he?” Taking a shaky breath after he’d stared at the almost pristine notebook ( how Shu kept it this nice looking, he’d never know ), before he set off to meet up with Shu. Once he finally found the third year, he bit his lip before making his way over to him. It seemed he was packing up his things and getting ready to leave, so he assumed it was soon to be time they walked home.

“You’re going to go home tonight, aren’t you?” Wataru made sure to ask pointedly. While Shu would stay up late into the night doing work, he always did make sure to peak in on Mika’s room to make sure he was in bed. The absence would surely be noticed.

“We aren’t in the same class and I hardly see him as often as you do. Besides, he’ll probably be needing these sketches soon.”

“Tch, and here I thought you’d be happy to see his innermost thoughts.” Wataru shrugged and sighed, making a move to pick up the discarded notebook from the floor. If the binding was damaged when it was returned Shu would not be happy.

“Would you be a dear and give this back for me? He left it at my house a few nights ago.”

“If I was lying, then why would I have Shu’s poetry notebook?” Wataru cheered, tossing it towards Mika. Granted, it wasn’t really his poetry notebook. It was more or less a notebook in general that just so happened to have poetry in it. Nevertheless, this is what happens when you leave your possessions in the Hibiki household.

He was just giving it to Mika to give back. It wasn’t entirely a lie. He hadn’t seen Shu all day. He also hadn’t looked. Regardless. The notebook contained several fashion illustrations, both finished and unfinished, as well as class notes, reminders, recipes, and the aforementioned poetry.

“Quite the romantic, is he not?”

           “H-Hey!” Given that he hadn’t been looking up, the toss caught him entirely off guard when the notebook connected with his head before falling in front of him. “O-Oshi-san doesn’... h-have a poetry b-book...” Sniffling and rubbing at his eyes, he reached over to pick up the book though, looking it over to confirm for himself if it was really one of Shu’s notebooks. Little characteristics he noticed when seeing Shu draw out designs for performances, the little quirks in his handwriting...

Was he actually crying? Well, Wataru couldn’t say he was ashamed of himself. He pulled out a lovely embroidered handkerchief and handed it over as well.

“Shu is a very shy creature. He likes to keep his appearance up. He tries to make everyone think what a tough guy he is. Wait until I tell you about the poetry he writes…”