Vivid Bad Squad Polyship Fluff

Try it again!

Ships: Akikoha, Anhane, Akitoya
Summary: Kohane is having trouble with a group song and Akito tutors her.

{ •♡• }

"No, no, Kohane. From the pick-up."

Kohane nodded. VBS was in the Street SEKAI, using the acoustics in Crase Café to practice a new group song. Everyone was supposed to practice it individually, but they ended up breaking into pairs with the Virtual Singers every wrong turn to iron out individual parts. KAITO spotted Akito, MEIKO, Toya, Luka, An, and Miku, Kohane. They had just gotten back together for the second time and Akito'd internalized the song "Cinema" to the point he's suddenly choir director. They proceeded.

"An! An! Keep up, keep up!" He shouted in the girls' part, turning up the volume on the backing track. "Azusawa, what the heck is this? You aren't in sync at all."

Kohane suddenly stopped singing. Everyone sighed.

"Spit it, shrimp," Akito coaxed.

"Oh! Uhh. I was just thinking that I could use some more practice with Miku-chan," she whispered, "if it's not too much trouble for the rest of you..." She wrung her hands, disliking the attention to her failure.

"I don't see why not," Toya commented.

"☆Saaáăããmmêèh☆," An sang.

"Sure," Akito conceded. "You might as well practice here if you didn't practice at home." Everyone shot him a couple of eye-daggers for that one.

Miku and Kohane went to the parlor. "Hmm. What do you think he meant..?" Kohane asked. "I was pretty on tune and I put the accents in the right place. I don't know why I'm still messing it up."

"Are you sure he's not just being too harsh on you?" Miku responded.

"No!" she shot down. "Shinonome-kun isn't mean like that. If he's ever angry he's harsher to himself. I feel it. There's something really different about how I sing this song next to An..."

"Maybe the fact that you two are separate singers with different skill sets and tones explains it???" Miku tried. She sensed a block between the unity of the group, which affected how they sang together. She was grasping at straws trying to figure it out. But if Miku couldn't quite say, how could Akito expect Kohane to know?

"No, something isn't right..."

"Kohane, you're overthinking," Luka said, lying on top of a table.

"Am not!!!" she suddenly burst, tears quickly springing into her eyes. Embarrassed, she tried to stealthily wipe them away.

"Ugh, women."

"Luka shut up," Miku robotically commanded. "Let's go back inside now! Just pay more attention to An and try to see her feelings about the song too."

Almost boiling with frustration, Kohane just quietly nodded and followed her back in.

Surprised at the short amount of time they decided to get right back into it.

"Toya! You're slurring and cutting into An's part," MEIKO warned.

"Kohane, sweetie..." she sighed. "You really do need some work to mesh with the group. How about you and Akito split and practice syncing your parts before singing with everyone?"

They didn't protest, because it's MEIKO.

"Oooooh~," Len cooed from the corner. "Private lessons with ~Akito~." Everyone just stared at him with varying levels of disgust, surprise, and irritation.

{ •♡• }

Kicking Luka and KAITO back into the café, the two stood at the railing. Instead of singing, the two were in silence for a little, thinking and recovering from the overwhelming practice.

"Azusawa... I don't know what happened. Today is just not your day."

Tears unwillingly welled up. "I know," she whispered to try to hide them. He turned to her, knowing this song and dance.

"Don't try to Ena your way outta this one, shrimp."

"W-wha?" Kohane lifted her head in surprise, but quickly lowered it again when she saw his face, as vaguely annoyed and judgemental as ever. Tears began to fall.

Akito's eyes widened. He told himself he wouldn't be swayed by crocodile tears... no woman was gonna freeload off him, but...

"W-what do you think you're doing? D-don't cry over something like this..." he stuttered.

Kohane sniffled, pulling most of them back in. She looked up at Akito, his face softer. "I'm sorry..." she croaked, a couple more escaping. "None of this is your fault. It's just, so overwhelming."

She moved one of her hands to compose herself, but was interrupted. Her soft hair flew as Akito's arm pulled her by the shoulder into his warmth. He embraced her, tucking his chin onto her head to protect her from the world. Turns out those three hoodies can be useful. Kohane snuggled into the softness, making Akito blush from the cuteness.

He heard another sniffle. "Don't you dare stain the yellow one..." he warned, hugging her tighter.

A couple more minutes passed before Kohane pulled away. "Great," Akito said. "You ready to try it again?"

"A-again..?!" she repeated, fidgeting with his hoodie string. "S-Shinonome-kun... I'm not sure if--"

"It'll be okay, Azusawa. This is how you'll get better. So, how about you sing An's part and I sing yours? We need to gain a fresh perspective on this song."

"R-right!" she said, determination returning to her eyes. She stepped a few feet away from him.

He motioned, and Kohane began to sing. It was soft, and lonely, as she looked at the ground in front of her.

"Look at me," he said. Hesitantly, she looked up to see his smirk.

Reassured, Kohane kept singing. To try to make her voice reach him, she sung with a little more bass and volume. He nodded. It came time for him to join in. She tapped her foot to play him in. Akito came in confidently, matching her stride. His eyes eventually wandered to hers and he sang more richly, ending the section with a giggly, close-eyed smile.

"Okay, not too bad. It started off a little rocky but I think we made it to the same goal in the end."

"R-really?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, shrimp," he cooed. "Let's switch now, and see what you've got."

"Yeah!"

After some more time, the two came back in.

"Kohaneee~!" An cried. The blue flash fell onto her, clinging. "It was sooo~ boring in here without you!! And KAITO-san was no help at all."

"T-There, there, An-chan..." Kohane commented, suddenly flustered. An pouted. "I'm back, and better than ever," Kohane gloated.

"I wouldn't say that," Akito commented, picking his teeth. He caught glares. "W-what, I'm just saying that one time I saw her sing was... showstopping..." he trailed.

"Kohane-chan stops my heart!"

"A-An-chan, you're crushing me..."

"Where do you get this energy, Shiraishi?"

"The return of my loves. Now let's try it again!"

The practice continued on a while more. Kohane still sometimes had shaky footing, as did everyone else, since this was a new song, but her partners by her side helped her focus on the true feelings the song was trying to bring and push through the exhaustion. Together, they got it to a point of future workability.

Later, An treated Kohane to some sweets and the boys returned home.

"I do hope you weren't too hard on her," Toya commented.

"Nah, not any harder than I am on you," Akito teased.

"D-don't let her get away with that much..." he stuttered, blushing in the street lights.