Archive of Our Own ^beta

Despite once ‘quitting’ her job, Mai actually liked being an actress.

There was something comforting about being able to easily transform into another person, someone who still (regrettably, at times) had your face but who did not have to have the weight of your own issues. Usually, this other person had their own set of issues, but it was different. Those issues weren’t real, so they didn’t hurt the same way.

It was just like disguising yourself- and it was a safer way to be invisible than what Mai had once managed to fall into.

And now that she had gone back to work, under fresh management this time, a safer way to be invisible was exactly what she needed. Of course, she didn’t have to worry about being forced to wear revealing swimsuits anymore- this stipulation was practically word for word in her contract- so there wasn’t as much of a direct issue with fading away from the world, but there was still a possibility that the Adolescent Syndrome might come back. Even with little bits of discomfort, the fear was still in the back of her mind. It could always return, and it could always be just as bad as before.

Kaede, Sakuta’s sister, was living proof of this.

It seemed that no matter how many times Kaede tried to move classes or even schools, the bullying came back. Sure Kaede could be a little (very, at times) eccentric, but Sakuta had honestly never understood why people were constantly so cruel to her. Especially when their cruelty lead to those gashes opening up before everyone’s eyes. How they could laugh at her cuts and scrapes, Mai didn’t understand.

No one seemed to understand what Kaede was going through.

Well, no one except for Sakuta and (by extension), Mai. Mai and Kaede had a bit of a rough start back in the day because of how sky Kaede was, but these days they were almost as close as Kaede was with her own brother.

Living all together would do that to a group of people, it seemed. (But that was obvious.)

The whole idea of them all living in the siblings’ apartment had (not shockingly) been Sakuta’s suggestion. Though Mai had berated him for it the first time he brought it up (it felt too forward…), they had gone through with it. After all, it knocked out several bird shaped issues with one stone.

Firstly, Kaede didn’t have any friends at school. At all. She loved her brother and he loved her, but Sakuta was insistent that she needed a female friend- someone who might be able to relate to her a little bit better and make her feel less lonely. Being so devoted to each other after all they had been through, he was convinced that Mai was the perfect candidate. That was one of the bigger issues that could be fixed, but it was only the first of many.

Another, Sakuta and Kaede still needed to pay for their apartment without their parents supporting them. Even if Sakuta and Kaede both worked (which wasn’t an option for Kaede because her arms kept opening up in giant gashes in front of mean customers), the apartment was expensive. Extremely so. Mai didn’t mind chipping in some cash too, just so they could keep their apartment. She had sort of started doing that even before they all moved in together, but Sakuta had felt bad about ‘making her’ pay when she didn’t even live there. (Even though she was doing it on her own fruition.)

Yet another issue that could be solved; Mai was extremely lonely in her own apartment. She had basically cut contact with the rest of her family and, as a result, lived alone. (Joining their homes would also further decrease their total money wasted, which was connected to the second issue as well.)

Even though Mai was decently wealthy due to her successful career, she had chosen a small apartment not so different from Sakuta and Kaede’s after ‘quitting’ the first time. The goal had been that she, a) wouldn’t have to pay too much money when she wasn’t working and, b) wouldn’t be found as easily by reporters and creeps. Of course, she was eventually found out. Therefore, moving into the other apartment would also solve the most pressing issue of them all: the people standing outside of her apartment at all hours of the night trying to get a picture of her sleeping.

The concern wasn’t just about the creeps. It was also that Mai might start to freak out and turn invisible again if she didn’t get time away from her job. So Mai quietly moved out of that apartment when she was supposed to be on holiday in another city (all the stalker fans followed her wherever she supposably was), and checked into Sakuta and Kaede’s.

It was a tiny bit smaller than her old apartment, and certainly felt like it with three people, but it worked out. All of the aforementioned problems were able to be smoothed out (like she was the last missing link in Sakuta’s life, which she supposed was probably one of his points). And, as long as they lay decently low, they were safe from creepy fans.

That was no problem at all for Sakuta. He had been doing that for ages!

In the beginning, Kaede was too shy to share her room with Mai and Mai was unwilling to share with Sakuta because it was “too early for that”. So for a little while Sakuta slept on the couch and Mai slept in his room. After a few weeks, though, Kaede offered to share with Mai.

Mai soon discovered that Kaede was very clingy.

Even though they bought a second bed for her to sleep on, Kaede somehow ended up in Mai’s bed almost every morning. Sakuta had mentioned this to her, once. Kaede was both desperately in need of affection and constantly plagued by night terrors that made bruises form all over her face, so even though she was in high school she usually needed to share a bed with someone in order to sleep at all.

It had taken some getting used to, but Mai wasn’t about to complain. She actually had some trouble sleeping alone, too. (They both had Adolescence Syndrome, after all. They both had issues with these sorts of things.)

With Kaede finally comfortable around her, the deal was cemented. Unless Mai was somehow found by her stalker fans (and now that she could go out dressed in Kaede’s old sundresses and a ratty blonde wig that was unlikely), she would stay here with them. 

That worked out very well for Sakuta, too.

Practically whenever he wasn’t at school or at work, he would be home. Things were similar for Mai, too. They had other friends, but those meet-ups were few and far between because any time Mai was outside there would suddenly be cameras and people wanting her signature. It was nice to be appreciated, but it was also a lot of work. Because of that, they usually just hung out with their friends at school.

Kaede’s days were mostly made up of going to school and then hiding at home for the rest of the day, but Mai had managed to get her into a book club made up of mostly older women who didn’t know or care about the things Kaede was bullied about. On the evenings where Kaede would go out to meet with the book club, smiling and looking almost like she might have when she was younger and not constantly harassed by her classmates, Sakuta and Mai would have some alone time.

It wasn’t the type of alone time Kaede jokingly teased them about, though.

They were dating, that was for sure, but Mai wasn’t very good with sexual situations. Part of her old issues working for her mother had come from being overly sexualized, and the idea was still incredibly daunting even now that her contract was updated. Sakuta was more than willing to wait because he loved her, and Mai was thankful for that.

He made weird jokes quite often (didn’t really have a filter, Mai had discovered, similarly to Kaede), but he wasn’t pushy. In that way, he was very different from the other teenage boys Mai dealt with.

And of course, there were so many other differences. In her eyes, he was gorgeous like no other. He worked hard, and actually cared about his little sister- he meant everything to her. And now, he was starting to mean everything to Mai. Mai was genuinely convinced that they would end up together forever: after all, Sakuta had already practically proposed in front of the entire school. His love was quite literally stronger than her out of control invisibility. Mai would never be able to repay him for that.

So on the nights where Kaede was out with her book club, Mai and Sakuta would sit together on the couch and simply hold each other. Like proud parents, they might remark that they were happy Kaede was finally going out, or gush over how she was so into the new book she was reading. Even though they weren’t far apart in age, they cared for her and they were proud of her progress.

Sakuta also held particular joy in doing Mai’s hair. She had thought it a little odd at first, and even slapped his hand away, but now she liked it. Kaede’s hair was short, but Sakuta had apparently done her hair all throughout their childhood’s- even when their parents were still in their lives. He knew how to do cute double ponytails, braids, and more- even some weird weaving together of braids which he proudly called ‘princess hair’.

Mai liked when he did her hair, humming a song as his hands ran gently through the long black strands. She often closed her eyes and just enjoyed the sensation.Plus, even if the princess hair looked kind of goofy, she felt twice as pretty whenever he was done with her hairstyle.

Then they would hurry to the bathroom mirror to check out what the style looked like, ooh and ahh, and then quickly undo the hair style in order to try another one. Mai liked the feeling of his hands in her hair, so careful and un-forcing.

Sometimes she fell asleep when he was in the middle of a long plait, and then he would finish it up with a cute pink ponytail, kiss her on the forehead, and let her sleep on his legs. Sometimes she woke up from this pose and he had fallen asleep, too.

She liked spending time with him.

They didn’t do sexual things, not yet- not when they were still both too young, but the occasional kiss on the cheek was nice. They had both agreed that this was a romantic enough action to be acceptable, and it was actually really nice.

Mai liked how Sakuta actually asked her if he could kiss her before even learning it. It was so very different from some of the acting roles she had gotten in the past- where she was anything but in control. Sakuta liked being able to ask, and he liked being about to follow what she wanted.

Kaede teased them about their quick kisses, but it was all light hearted and joking. She didn’t mind that her brother had a girlfriend at all- she was actually really happy for him- especially because she and Mai now got along so well. 

So they lived together like one big happy family, and they were all devoted to each other. Living like that, it was no wonder that Mai didn’t feel like she was endangering them, why Kaede didn’t feel like so much of a bother, why Sakuta no longer had to feel like he was putting in all the work. Being together balanced out all their issues, and Mai was happy she had found the exit from her old life when she had.

She never wanted to leave this life behind.