"Let's walk together, yay?" 

.

.

.

.

.

.

Kai

"...Please keep your arms slightly raised, thank you,"

Kai gave a curt nod, while the professional secured the yukata around him with swift, practiced fingers. The dark indigo fabric brushed against his skin—smooth, soft, traditional. Too much effort, he thought. But at least this professional wasn't talkative like the other one fussing over Tyson and Max in the adjacent area.

Ray was standing by the door, the first one to finish dressing up. He brushed his sleeve to remove creases before heading toward the door, "I will wait by the car,"

"Hn,"

Soon enough, his yukata was also done, the stylist stepped back nodding once, "There, all done," he said, before going to his accomplice helping him to get the yukata around Tyson and Max too. Kai rolled his shoulder once, testing the feel of it – he had worn a yukata only once before and that was years ago when BladeBreakers had just come into existence.

Traditional. Restrictive. But manageable.

He picked up the folded haori from the table and draped it over his shoulders before moving to the door.

This was Ahana's idea– the whole traditional clothing thing, the hiring of professionals for tonight. She had mentioned that if they were here, they might as well enjoy the festival and gain more supporters from them and certainly, wearing the traditional outfits was one of the main steps.

He stepped out before heading straight to the cars waiting for them, ready to escape the noise.

It was quiet in the hallways.

And quiet gave him enough time to ponder.

How did I end up here?

This wasn't rhetorical. He genuinely didn't know how he'd gone from a lone-wolf champion with carefully guarded solitude to a cramped tatami room in Hakone, being roped into ceremonial wear and team festivals.

Maybe it was right from the moment where Tyson had held his hand when he was sinking in the abyss of cold water both literally and figuratively. How despite knowing of his betrayal to them, these idiots had stayed around him, saved him, gave him something he can call his. His team, his friends, his family.

His one true family.

Maybe it was from the moment when he truly started to see them as something more than dispensable teammates, from the moment he decided that maybe at end he can never please his grandfather, that maybe he had to let go of the wish to please him, let go of the dream of him seeing Kai with proudness; maybe it was when he had truly opened his eyes and looked back...where all he can see was darkness, where all his grandfather had given him was abuse and pain and the feeling that he would never be enough for anyone.

It wasn't true though, was it?

He knew this team, these people, they hold him dear. Despite how he acts or talks, they still hold him dear. And that same excuse of a grandfather was now someone who wanted him back. It was almost funny, wasn't it? How he only saw his worth when he was far away from his claws, how he only realised that he wanted him back when he had left for good.

But he was not going to leave again. He is not going to leave this team, these people anymore. Not until they ask him.

Never.

He looked up as soon as he reached near the cars still deep in his thoughts.

But then his eyes caught her.

And for a moment, his thoughts just—stopped.

She stood beside Ray adjusting the sleeve of her yukata, the streetlight above casting warm light on her as if she was the one in the spotlight. She gave a polite smile to something Ray had said, completely unaware of the breath she had stolen from him.

The soft sky-blue yukata hugged her frame in gentle, elegant folds. Pale embroidery swept across the fabric like clouds, the floral patterns faint and tasteful. But it wasn't the yukata that made something twist in his chest.

It was her.

All of her.

Her hair, usually left down or tied in a quick bun during work, was styled—half pinned, with soft strands framing her face. A golden hair pin shimmered against the black strands, delicate like something from a dream. Her makeup was subtle but precise—soft blue eyeshadow that dusted over her lids, mascara that fanned her lashes just so, lips with a slight gloss.

And those eyes.

Still the same fire and ice. Still framed by dark lashes and sarcasm.

But now...

She looked breathtaking.

Wait, what?

Kai stiffened.

No.

No, no, no.

Kai stiffened.

Since when did he think that? Since when did he stop long enough to... appreciate if someone looked beautiful or not? That wasn't him. He didn't think like that. He never did.

People were distractions. Pretty ones could be even worse. He had never cared.

So why now?

Why her?

And still in that second, for some reason he couldn't name, Kai Hiwatari couldn't look away.

She shook her head at something Ray had said before looking up her eyes meeting him.

Kai watched as she blinked twice, her gaze sliding down his body with slowness before meeting his carmine gaze, and he watched with surprise as her lips formed a smile, not the small polite one she normally used nor the sarcastic one when they were bantering. This one seems warm, this one seems real.

"You clean up good, cap," she said lightly, though her gaze didn't leave him for even a second.

"Why," Kai said, with a half smirk, his eyes once again looking her over once again even when he resisted, "you don't look terrible either,"

Ray—being Ray—had the gall to grin as he looked between them before turning away. "I'll... go and check if Max and Tyson are ready,"

Kai stepped forward, his geta clacking softly against the wooden floor, but his eyes didn't leave hers. She tilted her head, hand brushing down her sleeve lightly as she gave him a once-over, this time slower.

"Dark blue suits you," she said, voice quieter now, "makes you look less like someone who'd threaten to destroy a whole stadium when he's annoyed,"

"Why, thank you," he said, his lips curving, "Light blue suits you too, make you look less like someone who would have our heads if we messed up press briefings,"

***

"Alright, everyone, get into groups of two as much as it is preferable for the whole team to be together, interests will clash and this place is too big with a crowd for all of us to move comfortably. So, pair up," she said, clapping her hands in front of her twice as they all finally made it to the peak of the mountain after a ten minute ascent.

"Yaahoo! We are finally here! Kai, you be- hey Ray! What are you doing, man?" Tyson yelled as mid sentence Ray ushered him toward Kenny before grabbing Max hand.

"We all are paired up," he said grinning a bit too much, "so we will go now,"

"HEY– but this is the perfect and only chance to annoy Kai even more or get him to participate in the games..." Tyson whined while Ray dragged them all away.

Kai blinked twice before running a hand through his face, lips twitching into an amused smile.

This boy.

"Well," she said, and his gaze found her face, eyes trailed forward, "I guess you are stuck in good company, Cap,"

"Good company?" he raised an eyebrow, "are you somehow talking about your insufferable company, Miss Manager?"

Kai almost laughed when she looked toward him, her brows drew up and eyes narrowed looking as offended as she felt, "Would you rather have Tyson drag you to 'balance a lemon' games and push you into game pools, your royal captainship?"

"Are you trying to prove you are better company, Sidorov?"

"I am just trying to prove that you should be grateful,"

"O, wondrous fate! The stars themselves must dance with glee to bless me with thy most radiant presence, miss—what a rare and humble delight,"

"Did you just go into a Shakesphere mood just to insult my presence, seriously?"

"Let's just move along before you start threatening me, Sidorov,"

He watched as she huffed a sigh before smiling and rolling her eyes and soon their steps fell in sync as they entered the festival.

The mountain was lively with colours, bright orange lanterns were hung over strings and crisscrossed almost all the sky. Various shops were set up in lines with various colours splashed across them, everything from food to clothes to games and souvenirs were arranged while people bustled around them.

Ahana's step flattered just for a second when a young girl passed by laughing and running while holding the hand of even a younger girl, probably her sister, both of them dressed in traditional red kimonos. The falter of her steps as well as the sudden moisture in her eyes before she looked away would have been missed if Kai's attention wasn't on her.

Did she have a sister?

"Hey, cap, let's get some souvenirs, yeah? My friends will have my head– well some of them if I don't bring anything back,"

"Hn,"

Soon, a bag was hanging from her hand filled with earrings, badges and small statues that they had brought. And his wrist was adorned with a bracelet glinting with black beads– it was some kind of stone, he didn't remember the name of– that she had insisted on buying and forced upon him with a 'you can throw it or keep it'.

He should have thrown it away.

But, now-a-days it has become normal for him to defy logic when it comes to her.

God, save him.

A gift.

His first gift.

She had insisted on going and eating after that, dragging him gently but firmly from one food stall to another, sampling spicy skewers, syrupy dango, and fried mochi with a gleam in her eyes. And he followed—silent, hands in his pockets, always a step behind.

It wasn't like he didn't want to try new things or food or experiences.

But when all your life all you had known in a cage built with thorns, it feels like a betrayal to think about petals.

When all you've known is suffocation, reaching for air feels wrong—like you're cheating the part of yourself that learned to survive without it

It feels like a betrayal to the part of you that had died in those places to think about something else.

It feels like a betrayal to that discipline and aloofness that had kept you alive all these years.

It was a trauma response. God, he knew that.

And still, even if he had been free from those places now, even when he stand beneath an open sky– it still feels like some invisible barbed wires are keeping him in place.

"Come on, cap, at least try something," she said with a sigh, holding out a small plate to him—sweet soy-glazed rice cakes, still warm from the pan– which his hands won't move to accept.

Her eyes found his, her sapphire gaze holding his carmine one for some moments as if testing the depth of a river before diving in, slowly and calmly.

Before her gaze softened and she turned away, her gaze fixed on the bright moon whose rays illuminated the ground beneath. There were very few clouds today.

"I know that it's a difficult thing... to enjoy such places where you have longed to go once but weren't able to, To be in places you once dreamed of when you couldn't leave the ones you were trapped in...but Kai–"

Kai.

This was the first time she had called him by his name.

Nothing else. Not 'Cap' or 'Captain' or any other nickname she uses for him.

Just Kai.

"--You know, while we have time we should enjoy the things we have missed out on, it's not a betrayal to your inner child neither it's about feeling awkward in such settings. It's about looking back when you have grown up and being able to say that you didn't missed out on the chances life gave you, that you enjoyed the things others did,"

How can she take one look in his eyes and one glance at his habits and unravel everything so easily?

How?

And be right at that.

He doesn't like how she can see through him, or get to through his walls. And yet, everytime instead of pulling away or pushing her away he only feels himself seeking her presence. Her words.

"Since when do you give philosophical lessons?" he said, his voice steady despite the way he swallowed hard, finally grabbing the plate she was forwarding with a roll of his eyes.

"My bad," she said, her eyes lingering on his hand, though a small smile betrayed her, "Now, eat up fast, there are still foods I want to try on and then there is the lantern hour too,"

Maybe being here wasn't so bad after all.

Kai didn't know this at that time though, but hidden among the crowd were eyes that were tracking their every move and planning something despicable enough that it would leave his heart thudding with panic in future.