#we dooooooooo

What happened next was all but interesting and frightening at the same time. Several people piled into the bar from the outside seating area, causing a somewhat claustrophobic situation to occur for you. You hadn't expected something such as a performance to cause so much excitement as several of those now what you would have considered "scary" and "frightening" people were mingling before you discussing how they were excited for the performances tonight. Were you on mars or in a bar? That was indeed a good question as you stared straight ahead.

"Have you ever been here before?" Someone asked you, your head slowly turning to them.

"No."

They nodded their head, "You're in for a treat tonight."

Humming in acknowledgment that only caused you to wonder the meaning of that statement.

"Our first artist, Kakucho Hitto, please step on stage."

There was small applause from the crowd. However, you held your own in favor of watching said "Kakucho Hitto" step on stage.

You weren't sure what surprised you more about the man that all but floated onto the hardwood floor above the crowd. Perhaps it was the fact his figure seemed nearly see-through with how little of a presence he possessed, or the scar that wrapped his face in a way that caused you to want to look at him rather than away, or his raven locks that gently brushed against his cheeks as he walked. Leaning forward on your knees, your eyes watched his every movement as he quickly adjusted a microphone, giving it a couple of taps. It was when he looked down to adjust the base, both of your eyes met for the first time.

His gaze was piercing.

There was something about it you couldn't exactly put your finger on. It felt as though sound ceased to exist in this plane of reality when he looked into your eyes. You considered it a primal fight or flight response; having been caught staring is a bit embarrassing after all. But, even if this lasted for mere seconds, you could tell there was an amount of stress, anger, fear...You wondered what this "Kakucho Hitto" lived through. As his gaze broke from your own, your eyes caught on something.

Was that a smirk?!

"Riiight, so Kakucho here is going to be singing...Hey, Kakucho, how do you even say this-"

"Just turn on the music, Sanzu." The man on stage replied annoyedly, his eyes rolling slightly as he refocused on the crowd in front of himself.

You noticed that was a different voice from earlier; in fact, you were sure that was the same voice as the one guy your friend had been all over. Raising a brow at the oddity of the situation, you focused on the gentle music that flowed in from the speakers.

"Hope all of you will enjoy this," Kakucho spoke gently as the music rose, the crowd clapping once more before settling down, your eyes drifting to how the man had unbuttoned his black button-down shirt slightly to reveal a tattoo on his chest. The music lulled slowly into silence before a bassline picked up, and Kakucho took a small breath.

His somewhat cold gaze almost seemed to soften as he began to drawl out the lyrics to the song, as his eyes seemed to fill with the emotion behind the song rather than his own. His hands slowly reached up to the microphone in front of him, grasping it in a longing manner as his eyes became half-lidded.

He reached a hand towards the crowd as he continued singing, causing a minor uproar around you. Internally, you wished they would stop clamoring because all you wanted to hear was his voice.

As he reached the pre-chorus of the song, his extended hand met the tattoo on his chest, not so gently pounding out every beat. You felt yourself hinge on each action as he leads into the chorus, only to realize his gaze was once again meeting your own. Heart sinking into your stomach as he smirked and once again looked away, you felt as though you were just a piece in his game for the night.

As the song continued, there were other instances of the man named "Kakucho Hitto" looking your way only to look away with an amused look on his face. Eventually, you tried to stop looking. But, that…seemed to be the wrong answer? He only seemed to up his strategy at getting your attention by taking the microphone off its stand and walking around the stage while he quickly belted out the lyrics.

Deciding to look up once again was likely one of the most significant mistakes of the night, as the man's face had become slightly reddened from the stage lights and exertion, and his shirt seemed to reveal more and more of his jutting collar bone. You wanted, no needed to look away, but once again, he caught you staring. Red-handed. This time, however, he smiled.

Oh no.

You were not going down like this.

You were going to shove down the feelings you were feeling in your chest, stomach, head…You were until he began whispering the lyrics like it was some ASMR Youtube channel. Wanting to be mad but realizing how contradictory that would be, you kept your eyes on the stage for the outro. The man seemed to be having a good time with himself, the gentle smile returning to his face as he slid the microphone into its holster before whispering the final lyrics, his eyes slowly making their way to your form.

Blinking, you thought the best idea you could pose was pointing to yourself and mouthing a "me." Sometimes, you wondered if your humor would get you killed. Though when you saw his shoulders rises and fall with what looked to be a laugh, you felt a bit better about things.

"Alright, that's it for Kakucho Hitto tonight. Folks next up is Kaji Mochi and his…Who even let him play the banjo…"

A couple laughs could be heard in the audience as you moved from your seat, your escape plan beginning to sound like the idea of the century. You came, saw a cute guy, alright, time to ditch before your night goes down the tubes. The only problem was finding your friend; the only clue was that guy's voice.

"Hey."

"Not now, trying to figure something out."

There was a pause in your head before you turned around, seeing the raven-haired man behind you, blinking in shock. Yet, you could only laugh at your accidental refusal to talk to him.

"I'm sorr- I'm sorry, that's really funny."

He seemed perturbed by the comment, though you figured he might be used to it by now, "It's not."

"Oh, trust me, it is." You assured, your anxiety slowly fading as you watched his facial expressions shift from one of annoyance to softened amusement.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to drink, but…" He looked at the phone in your hand, "You seem busy."

It was your turn to blink. The offer genuinely caught you by surprise as it seemed relatively low stakes, "I'm just trying to find my friend." You explained with a laugh, "I think they wandered off with the person who talked earlier…Sanzu?"

Sighing heavily, the dark-haired man shook his head, "Sanzu…"

Tilting your head to the side, you pursed your lips at the tone of his voice, "Oh, is that bad?"

"They'll be fine, probably." He shrugged.

Thinking a moment before pointing, "Does this mean I need to go beat him up?"

Kakucho snorted at the thought, "You?"

"Yeah, me!" You huffed triumphantly.

"Sure, I'll put my money on you…uh…" He thought a moment, "I don't know your name."

"Secret." You joked, "Buy me a drink, and maybe I'll tell you."

The raven-haired man shook his head before the rare smile appeared again, "Sure."

As the bartender poured your drinks, you laid eyes on a physical copy of the flyer that had been on your friend's phone. Then, sliding it over to yourself as Kakucho seemed to busy himself talking with other patrons.

Bar Bonten

Performances this weekend

And listed below were a couple people, though what caught your eye was the symbol at the top. You'd seen it before on the news. Specifically attached to crimes about homicide, drugs, and prostitution. You almost laughed, though holding it in. This was a bar owned by one of the top gangs, and you were likely sitting with one of their top members…who liked to sing in his spare time.

"Everything okay?" The man next to you asked.

"Yep, though I'm going to hit the bathroom." You stated, pushing out your chair and starting to walk towards the bathrooms until you saw the back exit wide open. Your thoughts went to your friend, was there actually a way to help them. You could contact the police, but would they do anything?

"You've been standing there a while, you okay?"