umisabaku:

After he moved into
the Kasamatsu household, Kise began to make all kinds of discoveries about
Kasamatsu Yukio that he would have never known otherwise (thus solidifying his
sense that this move was the right one to make).

For example, he knew
Kasamatsu enjoyed music, and even knew the older boy played the guitar as a
hobby, but he hadn’t known that Kasamatsu is actually a very good
guitar player.

And he hadn’t known
that Kasamatsu sometimes likes to sing while he’s playing.

*

The thing is, Kise has
to try very hard not to make a big deal about this. If Kasamatsu knew how
fascinated Kise is by his playing, he might not do it. Kise has learned that
Kasamatsu is rather shy about the fact that he plays the guitar. And he
definitely doesn’t like it when other people are around when he sings.

The first few times,
Kise overheard him when he was out of their room; in a rare glimpse that was
like a lightning-strike, he never knew when it would happen next. But gradually
Kasamatsu has come to accept Kise as a presence in their shared room, and
sometimes he will play without acknowledging Kise’s presence at all. (Kise lies
very still the entire time, on the idea that if he doesn’t draw attention to
himself, then Kasamatsu will keep playing. It’s little things like this that
Kise has learned the value of from Kuroko).

*

When he feels more
confident that Kasamatsu won’t abruptly stop playing, Kise finally has the
courage to venture, “You’re really very good at that, Senpai.”

“I don’t need to hear
that from you,” Kasamatsu says, rolling his eyes. “It just sounds
condescending.”

“What do you mean?”
Kise says, and he pouts about it in his usual way to mask the fact that he’s
genuinely stung by the comment.

Despite his attempt at
masking the hurt, Kasamatsu looks at him questioningly, like maybe he senses
something is wrong anyway. “You’re amazing,” Kasamatsu clarifies. “I’ve
heard you at karaoke, you match the singers perfectly.”

“I Copy the singers,”
Kise says, and he feels a little incredulous that he even has to have this conversation
with Kasamatsu, who should know better than anyone that there’s a difference.
“With my Latent Overflow.” He smiles wryly. “It’s not like I could actually create
anything. I’m only ever just a Copy.”

That was far too much
of the truth, and Kasamatsu looks at him sharply. “You’re not. Copying
just means you’re finding your own style, that doesn’t make it any less real.
You’re incredibly talented, Kise.”

Kise has to glance
down, because otherwise his emotions will show and he doesn’t want Kasamatsu to
see how happy that made him, not yet. When he’s composed himself he manages to
smile again when he looks back up and says, “Oh, well, yes, I am
amazing, which is how I know you’re a very good musician, Senpai, and you
really should play in front of a wider audience—”

“Stop, stop flattering
me, it’s still weird,” Kasamatsu says, and the tips of his ears are red, and
Kise thinks maybe Kasamatsu just doesn’t know how to handle praise.

All in all, maybe it’s
best if Kasamatsu doesn’t play in front of a wider audience. Kise rather
likes being his only fan.

A/N: Thanks for the
prompt, anon-friend! This is a follow-up to this prompt here, because I thought
the two would work well together in terms of why Kise in particular might be
fascinated by the creation of music. Hope you enjoyed!