"Midnight Celebration"

“Well, you’ve survived this far. You even seem to have found your niche as a jester.”

“And you’re, what? Too big to fit in the bin?”

Kaoru claps with amusement.

“Hoho! How observant. Now help me up!”

I actually reach out to help him up, then realise I’m stuck on the ground too.

“How’s this meant to work? We both need a hand up. I am too drunk to think this through.”

“You think? You get up first, then help me. I’ve been here ages.”

I sigh and push myself up using the wall. My knees loudly pop like an old man’s. Kaoru takes my hand as soon as it’s offered, pulling himself up just as quick.

He really is light.

He gives himself a once over, patting down his slightly wrinkled coat, while I stagger off to the bathrooms.

“Where are you goin- Oh, nevermind. I’ll just wait, again.”

He sighs to add emphasis to his statement. I shoot him the old finger guns, wink, click combo, while falling through the toilet doors; his laughter comes wafting through, long after they shut behind me.

When I come out, Kaoru is just coming off him phone, shoulders still shaking a little.

“Was it really that funny?”

His smile starts to twitch at the edges, threatening to start the laughter again.

“Back the battlefield?”

“I have a better idea.”

“Oh?”

“Follow me.”

He walks us back toward the booths.

“Go in, grab the drinks you ordered, and pay. Then get your stuff from the other booth. Everyone thinks I’ve already gone home.”

I blink in confusion.

“My group will think you’ve gone back to yours. You tell yours you’re joining mine. They’ll both think you’re with the other for now, and went home before everyone gets back together as a single group. No need for excuses, and everyone fills in the gaps themselves. I’m long gone, so it doesn’t reflect badly on anyone.”

God, he really is an evil mastermind.

I nod and follow through with the plan. It takes a few minutes from all the cries of protest and attempts to make me stay. Guess I really made lasting impressions.

“So what’s happening, senpai!”

“Drop that. Carry this.”

He hands me one of my beers and takes a drink from the other.

“I booked us a booth, so we can sing something more fun… as funny as it was hearing you croon with your lovers.”

I get a second wind from sheer excitement. I still get to do karaoke with Kaoru!

“LETS G-ooooooooo~”

He hushes me for getting too loud in the hallway as we make our way up a level to our private room.

The smaller booth is more comfortable than the larger group ones. I flop down on one side of the table and start looking through the song book.

Kaoru picks up the pad, queues up a couple of tracks, and breaks straight into song.

They’ve got Z Japans, Miyaovi, Crackt, even some Tuck-Bick. I hate that this is probably considered “Dad Rock” over here now, like Emo and Punk Rock are back home, but it does mean they’re pretty common names to see on karaoke lists.

Supply and demand.

The teens that were the fans at the time are all middle-aged managers and parents now, so of course this is what they want to sing to blow off steam.

I’m honestly tempted by the insane inclusion of the 20-min-long/no-piano-solo version of l’arte de vie, but I opt for Gardener by Mischief Mister as an easy start.

Kaoru breaks into the chorus of PRAYERS by JEKYLL and his light husky voice fits the tone of the original perfectly, his English obviously better, and with more emotion than the studio version. It’s a great track, but nothing beats a live when the singer connects with the song and gives it their all.

His personal concert for an audience of me lasts only two more tracks before my first comes up. My beer untouched, my jaw unhinged the entire time. I miss my cue for the first few lines, trying to have a quick drink to wet my whistle and get on beat.

He was absolutely born in the wrong decade. His sister should have been the younger one.

Kaoru would have had the style and the skill to be more than just a model. He could have been the vocalist in a Visuel Kei band, a big one, for sure. One of my idols!

Ok, maybe I’m overstating things a bit. Drinks gone to my head or whatever, but he really does have a good voice.

Gardener fades out to a mixed reaction of both dismay and hysterics from Kaoru. He is so drunk. I was too distracted by my thoughts to do anything but butcher it.

I go to put down the mic, but he blocks my seat by putting his feet all the way under the table.

“It’s still your turn. I queued up something special for you to murder.”

Bemused, but emboldened to prove him wrong, I gulp some of my drink, burp out the excess fizz, and focus on the screen.

“Hey, I love this one! Did not expect it on her- oh, it’s starting!”

Ruby by DespairBeam.

I NAIL IT… for a drunk.

Exhausted, I sink into my now free seat, and finish off my drink.

Nothing is queued up, so the room falls into a well-earned quiet. Time to relax and see what other gems they have on the list.

“You never told me you could sing.”

Startled, I look up quickly and almost bump into Kaoru’s face. I was doubled over the table and hadn’t noticed him lean forward. What is that expression?

Was he that impressed!

“Ugh… I’m not very good, so what’s there to tell. What I lack in skill, I make up for in enthusiasm, though!”

I throw up some devil horns and flick to the next page in the song list.

“Does it not hurt to do that?”

“You mean the screaming? Nah, it’s safe so long as you practice. I had loads of time to learn useless things when I was a kid. Hence, the sewing and singing and screaming and cooking and yeah… Mom made sure to teach me everything she could while I was homeschooled, so I picked up a lot of practical stuff from her.”

“You’ll have to cook for me nex- wait, homeschooled? What’s that?”

The almost unflappable Kaoru actually balked at that one.

“Yeah, I’ve said before I was sick a lot. I had to study at home to keep up with school, and during lockdown.”

I go to take another drink but realise my glass is empty. Mid-sip, Kaoru notices, and offers the last of the beer he stole from me.

“Well, I did pay for it.”

He pulls back before I can reclaim the drink.

“If you’re gonna be like that about it.”

“Ok ok, thank you - oh, gracious one - for your generosity!”

He chuckles and twirls his finger around the rim of the glass.

“More.”

With a smirk, he stares me down, intently.

What is this? That weird mood is back again. Is he flirting with me? I’m too drunk for this…

“Please let me finish your drink! To taste the same liquid, to feel where your lips have been, I could not dream of anything sweete-”

“Alright, alright… take it.”

Got him!

It’s so easy to freak people out by being grandiose and fawning. Just say a few things poetically, and even the strong will bend in the face of flowery words.

As the glass meets my own mouth, and the first of the beer touches my tongue, it hits me through my drunken haze… this is an indirect kiss!

I’d unintentionally - maybe instinctively - turned the glass to where he had been drinking from.

The last mouthful is mostly flat, with that slightly thicker feel from being part backwash.

I wouldn’t have even noticed, or cared, had the mood not changed. Now I can’t stop thinking about it.

I both gross myself out and become coyly embarrassed.

Kaoru seems to be feeling much the same.

Well, this got awkward.

Maybe I took it too far…

…

We sink into a tense silence.

God, I’m warm.

Our eyes meet and dart away.

I think we’re both a bit flustered, is all.

He shifts in his seat.

It’s just the booze talking.

We catch each other’s gaze, smile, giggle...

I thought we were just bros?!.

But mayb-

BZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!1!

“20 minute reminder. Last orders please.”

Saved by the bell!

…

We sheepishly bury our faces in the folders in front of us.

I set about keying in a couple of songs, and Kaoru orders us a few snacks to sober up.

The last of our time is spent pleasantly basking in each other’s increasingly strained and waning vocals, before stumbling back to the dorms.