KIRO’S STORY / CHAPTER 26 OF 36
Concert
by hasira · about 10 min read
The first thing Kiro noticed was the heat.
Not the music.
Not the lights.
Heat.
The second the door closed behind them, cold evening air disappeared.
People.
Jackets.
Bodies.
Old wood.
Beer.
Something sweet he couldn't identify.
And underneath all of it, bass.
Heavy enough that he felt it through the floor before he properly heard it.
Kiro stopped.
Susie stopped with him.
Her paw was still holding his.
“You okay?”
Kiro looked around
The venue was smaller than he'd imagined.
Also somehow more crowded.
A narrow room opened ahead of them.
Bar along one wall.
Small stage at the other end.
Dark ceiling.
Posters everywhere.
Most of them layered over older posters.
Maybe a hundred people already inside.
Maybe less.
It felt like five hundred.
Someone brushed past Kiro from behind.
He moved closer to Susie automatically.
“Sorry.”
Susie looked at him.
“For what?”
Kiro realized.
“Nothing.”
“Good.”
She squeezed his paw once.
“Come on.”
They moved deeper inside.
The opening band was already playing.
Kiro didn't know them.
Didn't matter.
The sound was completely different from speakers at home.
Messier.
Bigger.
The drums hit his chest.
Guitar filled everything between his ears.
Bass traveled through the floor and up his legs.
Kiro stared at the stage.
“Holy shit.”
Susie leaned closer.
“What?”
Kiro turned toward her.
“What?”
She laughed.
He could barely hear her.
Kiro realized he was smiling.
A lot.
Susie pointed toward his ears.
“What?”
Kiro frowned.
She leaned closer again.
“YOUR EARS.”
He touched one.
They were standing almost completely upright.
“Oh.”
Susie laughed.
“Fuck you.”
He couldn't hear whether she answered.
Probably something rude.
They found a place slightly off to the side.
Not right against the stage.
Not trapped near the back either.
Susie had probably chosen it deliberately.
Kiro noticed.
Didn't mention it.
His paw was no longer on hers.
He noticed that too.
Immediately.
Don't.
He shoved both paws into the pockets of his jacket.
The red plaid shirt underneath was already getting too warm.
He should have left the jacket in the truck.
Too late now.
At first, Kiro didn't know what to do with himself.
Everyone else seemed to.
Heads moving.
Bodies swaying.
A few people near the stage jumping.
Someone behind them knew every word.
Kiro just stood there.
Watching.
Listening.
Thinking about the fact that he was standing there watching and listening.
You look fucking stupid.
His shoulders tightened.
Everyone can tell you've never done this.
Someone bumped him.
Kiro moved.
Then another person stepped in front of him.
His thoughts kept trying.
You're just standing there.
Do something.
Not that.
That's worse.
Then the drummer hit something hard.
The entire room seemed to move with it.
Kiro's thoughts vanished.
Just for a second.
Another hit.
Guitar.
Bass.
Noise.
His tail moved once behind him.
Then again.
Kiro didn't notice.
Susie did.
She looked over.
Kiro's foot had started tapping.
Then his shoulders.
Small.
Barely anything.
The next song was faster.
Something about it caught him.
Kiro stopped watching what everyone else was doing.
For the first time since entering, he wasn't thinking about whether he belonged here.
He was listening.
Actually listening.
His head moved with the rhythm.
His tail started moving properly now.
Susie smiled.
Kiro caught her.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Nothing.”
He leaned toward her.
“What?”
“I SAID NOTHING.”
Kiro narrowed his eyes.
“You were looking at me.”
Susie leaned closer to his ear.
“YOU'RE HAVING FUN.”
Kiro opened his mouth.
Stopped.
Looked toward the stage.
Then back at her.
“YEAH.”
Susie's smile got bigger.
Kiro looked away before his face could betray him further.
By the end of the opening set, he was sweating.
Kiro pulled his jacket off.
Susie took one look at his red plaid shirt.
“Better.”
He frowned.
“What?”
She leaned toward him.
“I SAID IT LOOKS BETTER WITHOUT THE JACKET.”
Kiro stared.
Susie looked innocent.
His ears heated immediately.
“Fuck you.”
“What?”
He knew she heard that.
She smiled.
Kiro tied the jacket around his waist.
“You're awful.”
Susie cupped one paw beside her ear.
“CAN'T HEAR YOU.”
“GOOD.”
The break between bands felt almost too quiet.
Almost.
People talked loudly enough to compensate.
Kiro's ears rang slightly.
He rubbed one.
Susie handed him a bottle of water.
“Drink.”
“Bossy.”
“Drink.”
Kiro did.
His heart was beating fast.
But not wrong.
Not panic.
Not that burning, trapped feeling.
This was different.
His whole body felt awake.
Susie watched him.
“So?”
Kiro lowered the bottle.
“What?”
“You hate it?”
“No.”
A smile started before he could stop it.
“No, this is fucking great.”
Susie laughed.
“Told you.”
“You didn't tell me it feels like getting hit by music.”
“That's the selling point.”
Kiro looked toward the stage.
People were changing equipment.
Someone tested a guitar.
A sharp sound came through the speakers.
Kiro's ears twitched.
“I get it now.”
“What?”
“Why people keep doing this.”
Susie smiled.
“Wait until the actual band starts.”
Kiro looked at her.
“That wasn't the actual band?”
She stared.
“I told you there was an opener.”
“You told me a lot of things.”
“Do you listen to anything I say?”
“Sometimes.”
“Great.”
He drank more water.
Then looked around.
Still crowded.
Still loud.
Still too many people.
But somehow...
Okay.
Susie noticed him scanning the room.
“You need outside?”
Kiro thought about it.
Actually thought.
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
He smiled faintly.
“I want to stay.”
Susie nodded.
“Okay.”
That little word again.
No praise.
No I'm proud of you.
Just okay.
Kiro liked that.
The main band came out ten minutes later.
The room changed immediately.
People moved forward.
Kiro wasn't ready.
The crowd shifted around him.
Someone pushed past his left side.
Another body crossed between him and Susie.
Their shoulders separated.
Kiro looked over.
Susie was there.
Then someone moved again.
Not there.
Kiro's stomach dropped.
“Susie?”
Nobody heard him.
He tried moving toward where he'd last seen her.
Someone stepped backward into him.
“Sorry.”
Kiro barely heard himself.
More people moved.
Too close.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Hotter.
His breathing changed.
Where is she?
He looked toward the door.
Couldn't see it.
Where the fuck is the door?
Someone's shoulder hit his chest.
Kiro stepped back.
His ears flattened.
“Susie?”
Nothing.
The band started.
The crowd shouted.
Sound exploded through the room.
Kiro couldn't find her.
His paws tingled.
Fuck.
Then something grabbed his paw.
Kiro flinched hard.
Turned.
Susie.
She was pushing between two people toward him.
“There.”
Kiro stared at her.
She pulled him closer.
“Lost you.”
He couldn't hear her properly.
Didn't matter.
He understood.
Kiro closed his paw around hers.
Hard.
Probably too hard.
Susie didn't complain.
She moved them slightly farther to the side.
Away from the thickest part of the crowd.
Kiro followed.
His breathing slowly started working again.
Susie leaned close.
“You okay?”
Kiro nodded.
Too quickly.
She kept looking at him.
He tried again.
“Yeah.”
She couldn't hear.
Kiro brought his mouth closer to her ear.
“I'm okay.”
Susie nodded.
Then she started to loosen her grip.
Kiro's fingers tightened automatically.
She stopped.
Kiro noticed what he'd done.
His face heated.
“Sorry.”
Susie looked down at their paws.
Then back at him.
She didn't let go.
Instead, she adjusted her grip.
Fingers properly between his.
Kiro stared.
Susie looked toward the stage.
Like nothing happened.
His heart did something stupid.
Again.
The band was louder.
Much louder.
Kiro expected his head to hate it.
Instead, there wasn't enough room inside him for anything else.
No Evan.
No Jamie.
No father.
No old messages.
No gun.
No:
You pushed me away.
Just drums.
Guitar.
Bass.
Heat.
Susie's paw in his.
Kiro smiled.
Then laughed.
He didn't even know why.
Susie looked toward him.
He shook his head.
Nothing.
He started moving again.
Less cautiously now.
Nobody cared.
That was the strange part.
Nobody fucking cared.
Nobody was watching him.
Everyone was too busy being loud themselves.
A woman beside him was screaming along.
Someone farther ahead was dancing terribly.
A guy near the wall had his eyes closed the entire time.
Nobody cared.
Kiro's shoulders loosened.
His tail moved freely behind him.
He bounded slightly with the rhythm.
Susie joined him.
Not exaggerated.
Just enough.
Their joined paws moved between them.
At some point Kiro forgot he was holding her.
It just became part of everything.
Several songs passed.
Kiro had no idea how many.
Three?
Five?
Maybe eight.
Time didn't feel particularly useful anymore.
During one slower song, the crowd settled slightly.
More space opened between people.
Nobody was pushing them apart now.
Kiro finally looked down.
Their paws were still together.
He stared.
Susie's fingers rested between his.
No reason anymore.
They weren't getting separated.
There was plenty of space.
She could let go.
So could he.
Kiro looked at her.
Susie was watching the stage.
Then she felt him looking.
Turned.
Her eyes moved down.
Their paws.
Kiro waited.
Susie waited.
Neither moved.
Kiro's thumb brushed against hers.
Small.
Deliberate this time.
Susie's expression changed slightly.
Not a smile exactly.
Something softer.
Her finger tightened around his.
Kiro looked back toward the stage.
His ears were burning.
Okay.
He smiled.
Okay.
The next song was fast again.
Kiro recognized nothing.
Didn't need to.
He moved with everyone else.
Susie moved beside him.
At one point she shouted something.
Kiro leaned toward her.
“What?”
She shouted again.
Still nothing.
“What?”
Susie grabbed the front of his red plaid shirt and pulled him closer.
Kiro nearly forgot where he was.
Her mouth beside his ear.
“I SAID YOU LOOK HAPPY.”
Then she let go of his shirt.
Kiro stared at her.
Susie smiled.
Kiro felt his entire face heat.
“FUCK YOU.”
She laughed.
Kiro started laughing too.
The next hit of bass went straight through his chest.
For once, his heart racing didn't scare him.
The final song ended too quickly.
Kiro genuinely thought there would be another.
People shouted.
Clapped.
Someone called for one more.
Kiro joined without thinking.
Susie looked at him.
He realized what he'd done.
“What?”
She smiled.
“Nothing.”
“Stop fucking doing that.”
The band came back for one more.
Kiro grinned.
When the lights finally came up properly, everything felt strange.
Too visible.
Too normal.
People started moving toward the exit.
Kiro stood still.
Sweaty.
Hair messy.
Ears ringing.
Red plaid shirt sticking slightly to his back.
Susie squeezed his paw.
Only then did he realize.
Still holding it.
Kiro looked down.
Then at her.
“You know we're not going to get separated anymore?”
Susie looked around at the thinning crowd.
“Probably not.”
Neither let go.
Kiro raised an eyebrow.
Susie raised hers.
He smiled.
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
They stared toward the exit.
Still holding paws.
Cold air hit Kiro like water.
He breathed in sharply.
“Jesus.”
Susie laughed beside him.
People gathered outside.
Smoking.
Talking.
Trying to hear each other over ears that were probably just as destroyed as Kiro's.
He rubbed one of his.
Everything sounded slightly distant.
Susie said something.
Kiro frowned.
“What?”
She stepped closer.
“HOW WAS IT?”
“You don't have to scream anymore.”
Susie stared.
“What?”
Kiro laughed.
“Never mind.”
They walked away from the entrance.
The music was still audible through the walls.
Muted now.
Kiro looked back once.
Then again.
Susie noticed.
“So?”
Kiro looked at her.
He thought about everything he'd expected.
Crowd.
Panic.
Wanting to leave.
Feeling stupid.
And some of that had happened.
But then.
The floor moving under him.
His thoughts disappearing beneath the music.
Nobody caring what he looked like.
Susie finding him.
Her paw.
Kiro smiled.
“I want to do that again.”
Susie's expression softened.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Then immediately.
“Not tomorrow.”
She laughed.
“My ears need to recover.”
“Old man.”
“I'm three months older than you.”
“Ancient.”
Kiro pointed at her.
“Your knees are permanently broken.”
“Your neck is permanently broken.”
“Fuck.”
She smiled.
They kept walking.
The Ranger was still a few blocks away.
Their paws remained together between them.
Kiro looked down at them once.
This time he didn't overthink it.
Not much.
After a while, he said:
“Thanks.”
Susie looked toward him.
“For what?”
“For taking me.”
She shrugged.
“You wanted to go.”
“Still.”
Kiro looked ahead.
“I probably would've kept saying someday forever.”
Susie stayed quiet for a second.
Then:
“I wanted you there.”
Kiro's steps slowed.
Not stopped.
Just slower.
He looked toward her.
Susie was looking straight ahead now.
Maybe deliberately.
Kiro swallowed.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Something warm moved through his chest.
Not adrenaline anymore.
Something quieter.
He squeezed her paw.
Susie squeezed back.
Neither said anything else.
They walked toward the old green Ranger together.
Kiro's ears were ringing.
His throat hurt from shouting.
His whole body felt tired.
And underneath all of it, the music was still there.
So was her paw.