Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The heat of an afternoon in July didn't faze Kaito. While the people around him were fighting for their lives to get water and fans, he calmly finished his grocery shopping and cashed out.

He wasn't the only one unfazed by the heat though.

“Kaito!” called the iconic girl in twin tails. It’s quite obvious– She's Hatsune Miku.

“Fancy meeting you here.” said Kaito. “What brought you to this part of town?”

“I’m off to the park to meet up with Fukase! He said he wanted to discuss something important…” replied Miku.

Then she had a bright idea. “Do you wanna walk with me? It's on the way home!”

Kaito smiled. “I'd love to.”

Miku is a bit younger than Kaito, and the two go way back. Their moms were friends, so they naturally spent time together surviving the boring hangouts their moms had planned.

Nowadays, they have a tight sibling bond and often do all kinds of things together.

Kaito decided to wait with Miku for their red-haired friend to show up. “Did Fukase tell you what he wanted to talk about?” he asked.

“No, but I’m also not stupid. He's gonna talk about love!” answered Miku, confidently. “He's not that slick!”

“Love?” asked Kaito.

“Not that I expected you to notice it!” remarked Miku. “You’ve never fallen in love before, if I recall correctly!”

“It doesn't matter that much, does it?” responded Kaito. “It's okay if I haven't yet, I don't feel like it's necessary to rush things.”

Miku sighed. He was right, but she also secretly knew that he wanted to find love and wanted to see him happy.

She jumped when she felt a finger poke her back. “Hey.” said Fukase.

“I'll let you two get to your business.” said Kaito, who began to walk home. Miku nodded back.

“What was that for?!” Miku lightheartedly snapped at her friend.

“To get your attention!” responded Fukase. “This is serious, okay? I need your full attention and maybe some advice…”

It's quite unusual for the redhead to hesitate. Miku almost asked him about it before he spoke.

“I'm in love with Len.” spoke up the redhead. “There, I said it! I need help with winning him over!”

“Called it.” answered Miku. “You weren't exactly slick about it.”

Fukase looked away. “I don't need your input, popular kid! I need your HELP.”

Miku nodded. “Well, let's start with what Len likes! Bananas, being an asshole, video games…”

Meanwhile, the yellow-haired boy was watching for Kaito coming down the street. Flower was with him too.

“He’s about to pass house 65.” said Flower.

“Sweet, thanks!” replied Len, readying a pebble in his hand. “Day 786 of hitting Kaito with a rock is a go…”

The blue-haired man continued walking towards his house, looking all around him to be sure he wouldn't get hit.

“I KNOW YOU'RE HIDING BEHIND HOUSE 71, LEN!” shouted Kaito, not angry but instead just making sure his voice was heard.

Len stepped out from behind house 71. “I can't believe you knew exactly where I was…”

“When you've been pulling the same trick for over two years, it gets easier to predict your every move!” smiled Kaito. “You won't get me today!”

Len sighed. “Oh well…”

Kaito turned his back and continued walking.

SMACK!

Len hit him on the head with his rock the moment he had his guard down. “YOU CAN'T WIN, OLD MAN!”

He smirked as he watched Kaito let out an annoyed groan. “He seems like the type you shouldn't anger, just sayin’...” Flower commented.

“Kaito doesn't have it in him to hate me. Besides, if I really hated him then I'd use something bigger than little pebbles.” laughed Len. “I'm gonna cut off his electricity next week!”

“Isn't that too far?” asked Flower.

“I put sour milk in his birthday cake once, he'll be fine!” answered Len.

Kaito took off his favorite coat and flopped on his couch the moment he put the groceries away. “That Len, always unpredictable…” he sighed.

A majestic yet default ringtone began to play. That was the sound of Kaito's phone. He hoped it was a scam call he could just ignore, but it was instead Meiko.

“Hello?”

“I'm having a slumber party tonight with our close friends, wanna join in?” asked Meiko.

Kaito felt tired, but he never misses events like this. “Of course!”

“Great, does two nights sound good?”

“Sounds good to me.” smiled Kaito.

Meiko went on to explain a few more details before hanging up. She planned to invite Miku, Luka, Yuuma and of course, Gakupo.

Gakupo– One of Kaito's friends who was always in the same classes as him back in school. These days, he usually practices combat in his backyard with his roommate Yuuma.

They were close in school, but haven't talked much over the past year.

Kaito's thoughts of him only lasted for a few moments, as he was more focused on getting ready for the sleepover (or as Meiko called it– “a two-night long slumber party”).

The brown-haired girl knows a lot of the same things Miku knows about Kaito. They're both well-aware of his thoughts on love, and other little things about him. 

It makes sense, considering he's known Meiko since he was a baby and Miku before either of them were school-aged. He's known Gakupo almost as long as Miku, strangely enough, but he usually forgets that fact.

That night, Kaito showed up to the party in his favorite pajamas– Specifically his ice-cream print boxers paired with a very basic and boring T-shirt.

“Well, you're not as late as Gakupo!” laughed Meiko. “Seriously, where is he?”

“I didn't see him, sorry…” replied Kaito. “Maybe he ran into a problem at home?”

“Yuuma would've told me if that were the case.” said Meiko. “Whatever, he'll eventually crawl out of hiding! I'm chugging that expensive beer I bought today!”

“N-Not so early into the night, please!” panicked Luka. “Your last hangover had you in bed for a week!”

Kaito looked around for somewhere to sit. He decided to take a seat at the kitchen table, where Yuuma was.

“Sup blue-hair?” greeted Yuuma.

“Where's Gakupo?” asked Kaito.

“He disappeared by the beach earlier this evening, couldn't tell you what for…” answered Yuuma. “He'll show up eventually.”

Kaito sighed. He found himself wanting to reconnect with his samurai friend after being nearly silent for a year.

It left him unable to enjoy the party as much as he would've liked, only sharing a few chats with Miku and Meiko before Luka beat the shit out of him in Smash Bros. for a few games.

The clock read 11PM. Meiko was passed out and Luka was getting ready for bed. It was clear the other two were considering on hitting the sack too.

That's when there was a knock on the door. Kaito smiled as he ran to answer it– He'd recognize that knocking pattern anywhere!

“GAKUPO!”

“Oh, hello…” responded Gakupo, a bit confused by Kaito’s excitement. “What did I miss?”

“Not much, I really wanted to reconnect with you though.” replied Kaito. “Perhaps we could hang out tomorrow morning?”

“I'd love to.” smiled the Samurai. “I'm assuming we're sleeping in the basement as usual for Meiko's house?”

“Yep. I think everything's been set up already.” said Kaito.

The two went downstairs to prepare their makeshift beds. They decided to put theirs next to each other.

While Gakupo passed out instantly, Kaito wasn't ready to go to bed just yet. He went back upstairs for food.

“What's this?”

He pulled an envelope out of his pocket. His eyes widened when he saw a heart-shaped sticker sealing it shut.

“Dearest KAITO,

For years, your deep-blue looks reminded me of the vast sea, more beautiful than anything we could see at our local beach. The way you're so gentle is what keeps me warm on freezing nights, someday I shall tell you this upfront…

Violet Razor”

Needless to say, the blue-haired man found it more than intriguing. His blush said more than any amount of words ever could.

“You look terrified.” said Miku, passing by.

“M-Miku, do you know who sent this?!” asked Kaito anxiously, showing her the letter.

Miku read it over. She smirked a bit at first, but that smirk grew wider and wider as she continued reading. “IT'S A LOVE LETTER! I DON'T KNOW WHO VIOLET RAZOR IS BUT THEY LOVE YOU!”

Kaito couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by the fact that the sender kept their identity secret. He was quite curious about the letter's origins.

“I’M MAKING IT MY MISSION TO HUNT DOWN THIS VIOLET RAZOR! YOUR ANONYMOUS DAYS ARE NUMBERED!” announced Miku.

“It's quite late though.” responded Kaito. “I'll ask Meiko about it tomorrow. If anyone knows who Violet Razor is, it's her!”

The fast-paced, eventful day finally came to a close as the two went back to the basement to drift off to sleep.

Tomorrow, they're playing detective.

Chapter Text

“RISE AND SHINE! LET'S GET OUR ASSES OUT OF BED!” shouted Meiko.

Yuuma threw a pillow at her while Kaito was startled by her voice.

“Don't be so loud this early! You startled Kaito and I!” responded Gakupo.

“I'd like to talk to him, Miku's waiting upstairs.” said Meiko.

The blue-haired man nodded and slowly got out of bed. “Miku must have told her about last night…”

He froze, and felt his face heat up a bit.

That letter wasn't a dream.

He didn't realize just how unnatural he looked like this, it got Gakupo’s attention and it was enough for him to raise his voice. “Kaito?”

“I-I'm going now!” chuckled Kaito, nervously.

“Are you okay?” asked the samurai.

“We'll talk about it after.” answered Kaito. “It's a bit of a long story…”

He didn't express it as he walked up the stairs, but Kaito was just hit with a small yet painful dose of reality.

The mysterious Violet Razor had him swooning with only one letter– But he also felt a familiar warmth in his heart towards Gakupo. He did his best to push that thought aside for now, as he really wanted to start figuring out Violet Razor's identity.

“I told Meiko all about last night!” grinned Miku. “She's gonna help us out!”

Kaito knew that by this point, but still couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. 

Meiko chuckled, she recognized that look too well. “Don't worry, I'm not gonna laugh at you!” she smiled. “I'll make sure anyone else involved doesn't bully you too much about your little crush.”

Kaito didn't like the idea of telling the others, but trusted her enough to know she'd actually get the others to show a little bit of extra empathy towards him.

“Sounds good.” responded Kaito. “We should reread the letter, maybe there's a hint somewhere between the lines…”

They looked through the letter again together. “There isn't much to work with…” said Meiko. “But I have one theory…”

“What is it?!” asked Miku, excitedly.

“We all live close to the beach, but maybe the writer lives in one of the houses right on the water?” pondered the brunette.

“I can only think of Luka and Haku…” sighed Miku.

“I know a few more people we could ask.” said Meiko. “We'll just corner them in a dark room for a friendly interrogation!”

“That sounds horrifying.” frowned Kaito.

“That's it!” exclaimed Meiko. “I'm ending this two-night long slumber party early to investigate!”

“WHAT?!” cried Miku.

“Arrange your own party Miku, this is an urgent situation!” responded Meiko.

“We don't have to do that!” sighed Kaito.

Meiko shook her head. “Oh yes we do! Just give me a minute to kick everyone out!”

It wasn't long before the three headed out. 

Meiko told them that Luka likely wasn't the sender, claiming that she “knows who she's interested in.”

Being a few years younger than Miku, Una was quickly eliminated from the list.

The same is true for Oliver.

This left four possible people on the table– Haku, Gumi, Galaco and Miku's cousin Mikuo.

The brunette drove them down to the beach, nearly crashing her car several times because she can't drive.

“LEARN TO DRIVE, OLD HAG!” groaned Mikuo. “YOU NEARLY CRASHED INTO MY GARAGE!”

“And you wished you crashed my party last night.” replied Meiko, giving the younger boy a somewhat condescending smile as she fixed her parking position.

Kaito wanted to prevent an argument, but Miku cut in first with the opposite intention. “ALRIGHT CUZ, WE KNOW IT’S YOU!”

Mikuo gave her a blank look. “Of…Course you know it’s me– Hatsune Mikuo? We’ve known each other our entire lives? I literally live five minutes away from you?”

His similar looking cousin sighed. “Not that! We know that you’re the infamous Violet Razor, the romantic poet writing to Kaito!”

“...The violet what?”

Kaito pulled out the letter and showed it to him. “Sorry for our intrusive behavior, someone under that name wrote this to me.” he explained in a much gentler tone. “If you could be honest and tell me if this was you or not, we would appreciate it…”

Mikuo looked over the letter. “Yeah, no. That perfect handwriting is beyond my wildest dreams.”

The older blue-haired man sighed. “Thanks anyway, any clue on who could’ve written it?”

“Probably someone who’s good with writing, like Kyoteru or something.” answered Mikuo, clearly uninterested in the mystery.

Miku suddenly had an idea. “Hey cuz, why don’t you help u-”

…And her similar looking relative was already inside with the front door closed shut. “...Us?”

“Now what?” asked Kaito.

“Kyoteru is a great idea, as he’s definitely great with writing, having teaching experience and all.” replied Meiko. “But we best stick to our original plan of asking the seaside locals before reaching out!”

The blue-haired man nodded.

Miku led the way to Gumi and Galaco’s houses, though both had nothing to say. The former wasn’t even home and the latter was busy playing “evil killing murder dragons” with her younger brother, Ryuuto.

As the three were about to walk up to Haku’s door, Miku was particularly stopped by a girl in yellow. She had some resemblance to her, but appeared much more stubborn. “The hell are you doing here, Popular Girl?”

“Popular?” asked Miku. “Neru, your insults usually make no sense but this one is just-”

“Answer the damn question.” grumbled the yellow-haired girl. “Why are you trespassing Haku and I so early?!”

“Crap, I forgot she lived here.” sighed Miku under her breath, referring to Neru.

Kaito tried to step in. “Come on you two, get along for a few minutes please. We have a-”

“I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU’RE UP TO!” shouted Neru. “THIS ARGUMENT IS FOR MIKU, NOT YOU!”

“Haku’s got nothing!” shouted Meiko from further up the driveway.

“I suppose we should get going, then.” sighed Kaito. “Come on, Miku.”

He then noticed that Miku was in a rather violent staredown with Neru. He couldn’t help but feel intimidated. “Um, you can find us closer to the beach when you’re ready to go…”

On the local beach is a small area that’s often overrun by tourists, containing a gift shop and several small cafes and restaurants. While Kaito and Meiko were closer to the neighbourhood, Gakupo found himself in one of the restaurants.

He bumped into a brown-haired man donning glasses as he was walking to a table. “What brings you here, Kyo? It’s unlike you to be in a place that sells alcohol…”

“I can say the same to you.” responded Kyoteru. “Did something bad happen at the sleepover?”

Gakupo shook his head. “I’m worried about Kaito.”

Kyoteru nodded. “Kaito seems like the type to push aside his own issues for others, he’s a bit too selfless for his own good sometimes…”

“Yuuma’s said that hundreds of times.” replied Gakupo. “Kaito told me that his situation is a long story , which worries me.”

Kyoteru began to ponder. That was also the exact time Lily decided to surprise him at the table, though Gakupo already knew she was on her way. “HOW’S PROJECT-”

“SHUSH!” shushed Gakupo, loudly. “We’re in public, and Kyo doesn’t know about this!”

“Know about what?” asked Kyoteru.

“ORDER 0806 IS READY!” shouted the cashier, to the samurai’s relief. “I’ll get that.”

“...Know about what?” asked Kyoteru, once more.

“Nothing important.” answered Lily, faking a nonchalant exterior. “You don’t need to know about it.”

Kyoteru didn’t look too convinced, but decided to just accept the answer he got. “I see. Well, he always has me and his other friends to talk to.”

Gakupo arrived back at the table with the food. “ You didn’t say anything, right? ” he whispered to Lily.

“ Nope, our secret stays a secret. ” the blonde whispered back.

Kaito and Meiko were still standing around on the beach, waiting for their younger friend to show up. “I’ll just text her to meet us back at my place.” shrugged the brunette.

To no one’s surprise, Miku and Neru were still on Ariel’s Beach, the former not even hearing the sound of the text message, sent thirteen seconds ago.

“Just don’t be so loud in the morning.” groaned Neru, who finally broke the tension.

“That’s all you have to say?” laughed Miku. “To stare into my eyes for thirty minutes, only to say the least harsh thing yet…” she pondered. “Is there something you’d like to admit?”

The yellow lookalike fumed at the question and smacked her rival on the head before running back into her house, shouting every last swear word in the dictionary.

“What a weirdo.” thought Miku.

The rest of the day wasn’t too eventful for the search party, who all decided to just chill at Meiko’s place when they were reunited.

As it was the evening, Kaito was about to leave, until he remembered something very important. “What about Kyoteru?”

“Right!” exclaimed Meiko. “Nearly forgot about him…”

Miku began dialing his number, and handed the phone to Meiko when it began to ring.

“Greetings.” greeted Kyoteru.

“Hello, Kyo!” responded Meiko in a scarily enthusiastic tone. “Mikuo said that you’re so good at writing, perhaps even good enough to send a love letter ?”

“This is the voicemail box for Hiyama Kyoteru. Please enter your message after the beep.”

“DAMN IT!” shouted Miku and Meiko in unison.

Where was that teacher? He was on another line, calling someone else.

“Hey.” answered Yuuma.

“You and Gakupo are roommates, right? Close friends, even?” asked Kyoteru.

“Well, duh .” replied Yuuma, dryly.

“Is he okay?”

“Gakupo?”

“Yeah.” said Kyoteru. “He was hiding something from me when we bumped into each other today, and he looked a bit stressed out about it.”

“I…didn’t know about that.” frowned the pink-haired man. “I’ll try to talk to him about it.”

“Thank you.”

“Say…” spoke up Yuuma, somewhat suddenly. “I have tickets to see Gumi’s concert this Saturday, would you like to go?”

The brunet was a bit surprised. In fact, he couldn’t help but blush a little. “S-Sure! That sounds fun!”

“Great.” smiled Yuuma. “I’ll find Gakupo right now.”

Upstairs, the samurai was busy with something. He held a pen in his hand and a paper sat in front of him on his desk. “Kaito’s beautiful voice…What bird could I compare it to?” he sighed to himself, thinking about the blue-haired man.

When he came up with an idea, he began writing it down as his mind was scrambling to get his thoughts out on the paper.

“Gakupo?” called Yuuma.

But he didn’t hear him, he was too focused on his work. “How could I hint him this time, it mustn’t be too obvious…”

“HEY!” shouted Yuuma, directly in front of his door.

Once again, Gakupo was too lost in his own world. He wrote down the next thing that came to mind, hearing his own heartbeat over anything.

“OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR!” yelled his roommate, busting the door open. “KYO SAID THAT- What’s this?”

That’s when the samurai froze, and slowly turned towards him. He finally heard him this time.

Being stubborn, Yuuma walked over and took a look for himself. “Ah, that makes a lot of sense.”

“IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!” panicked Gakupo. “IT’S-”

“A love letter to Kaito?”

“Look.” sighed Gakupo. “If he or anyone asks you about it, don’t say anything about how it’s me!”

Yuuma sighed. “Can’t you just ask him on a date? You don’t even have to call it that.”

“You sound so experienced.” grumbled the samurai.

“Well, I am in love with someone myself.” replied Yuuma. “But unlike you, I actually asked him to come to a concert with me.”

Gakupo sighed. “Can you just keep this a secret between us?”

The pink-haired man shook his head, then smiled slightly. “Of course. I think you’re kind of an idiot for this, but I’m not evil enough to expose you or anything.”

That made Gakupo let out a huge sigh of relief.