Music of Life - Fourth Movement
~人生の音楽 ♪~
~Jinsei no Ongaku~
Fourth Movement: Realizing the Truth
Stepping into the music suite the next morning, Ryutaro Morimoto shivered. Why is it so freezing in here today? He pondered, silently cursing himself for forgetting his jacket by his bedside that morning before he had left his house.
“Hey Ryu,” Chinen walked over with a content smile that emulated a hidden warmth that had stolen from Ryutaro’s body.
“Hi Chinen,” Ryutaro waved back with lesser happiness. “Does it seem a lot colder in here today, or is it just me?” he inquired, wrapping his arms around his own body in an effort to help preserve some precious heat.
“I don’t think so… are you feeling alright, Ryu?” Chinen asked, concern reflected in his eyes as he tried to study Ryutaro’s face for any signs of misgivings.
Letting out a deep breath, Ryutaro decided to try and push away the frigid coldness and simply pretend as if nothing was wrong. He muttered, “Yeah, I think so,” before turning away to avoid the last apprehensive glance Chinen gave him before leaving in order to get ready for class to begin.
“Good morning, Ryu,” Yuya greeted as soon as Ryutaro approached his section.
“Good morning,” Ryutaro answered, a slightly frozen smile cracking upon his lips.
“Are you feeling okay?” Daiki asked, his voice wavering with worry. “You seem kind of… stiff today.”
“Stiff?” Yuya raised an eyebrow. “What does that even mean, Daiki? How can someone seem stiff?”
Daiki laughed lightly, as if shrugging off his friend’s question. “All the same, Ryu, so how are you today?”
Ryutaro smiled softly hearing the tenderness in the senior’s voice. “I’m okay,” he answered in a quiet murmur. “Thanks for your concern,” he added.
“Of course, we want to take care of our juniors, to the best of our effort. Right, Yuya?” Daiki grinned.
“Yup,” Yuya replied distractedly, his eyes obviously fixed elsewhere.
Daiki elbowed him teasingly. “You should try and be more serious in showing your concern for Ryu, then!”
Ryutaro laughed. “It’s alright, I’m really happy you guys are both being so nice to me,” he admitted gratefully.
“No problem,” Daiki smiled. He gestured for Ryutaro to follow him as he turned to walk off. “Come on, let’s go get our instruments.”
The younger boy simply nodded, following behind timidly. Daiki soon looked back over at him and laughed. “You don’t have to keep your distance from me, walking so far behind. It’s alright, don’t be afraid.” He reached over and took Ryutaro’s hand into his own, pulling the younger boy forward so that he could walk beside him.
Ryutaro felt an unfamiliar warmth flutter in his heart as the older boy’s soft hand enveloped around his for a brief second. Looking up, Ryutaro gazed admiringly at the senior, the older boy’s smile shining brightly as his eyes reflected what could only be described as simple happiness. But suddenly, Daiki broke his grasp, stopping in his tracks to stare wide-eyed at his junior.
“Ryu, what’s wrong? Your hand… it’s so cold!” he asked, deep worry glimmered from his large brown eyes.
“I-I…” Ryutaro sputtered incomprehensibly, his mind still in shock from the unknown warmness that the simple act of holding Daiki’s hand had somehow managed to awaken in his chest.
Without receiving an answer, Daiki frowned. Reaching up, he touched his hand to Ryutaro’s cheek, but immediately contracted as his fingers lightly grazed against the icy surface. “Ryu, you’re so cold…”
Ryutaro found himself speechless as a flush of pink began to softly brush over his cheeks at the senior’s touch. He merely watched as Daiki then took off the jacket he had been wearing and offered it to him. “Here, I want you to wear this, okay?” he flashed the younger boy a cute smile.
Ryutaro’s heart pounded from the closeness of Daiki’s breath as the older boy’s arms wrapped around his shivering frame, closing the distance between their bodies as he draped the jacket over Ryutaro’s shoulders. Daiki’s warmth enclosed around Ryutaro and he couldn’t help but smile back thankfully.
“Thanks,” he nodded, his voice a soft, bare whisper.
“Of course,” Daiki nodded back. “Anything to help,” he beamed.
~~~~~
Ryosuke’s jaw dropped as he witnessed the scene before him. Ryutaro… why does he get to cherish Daiki’s tender warmth?! He wanted to scream in frustration. Unwillingly, he stopped himself before his mind got carried away, imagining himself racing over and ripping the jacket off of Ryutaro’s body.
Jealousy and guilt both clawed at his conscience, but he took a deep breath and tried to simply suppress his conflicting torrent of emotions. I can’t… Ryutaro’s my friend. And Daiki… there’s never going to be anything more between us… I have to learn to accept this… Don’t I?
From a distance, Yuya Takaki found himself glancing over at Ryosuke, his eyes mysteriously drawn to the younger boy’s hauntingly good looks, even though the Ryosuke’s countenance was currently being marred by a frown of anguish and disgust.
Ever since the first day of school, Yuya had noticed and warily observed the younger boy from a distance, but even he couldn’t explain why. To him, Ryosuke Yamada was a boy that could only described using one word: pretty. He was so pretty that Yuya couldn’t not keep his gaze from continually returning to him. With his pale, unblemished skin and soft features, Yuya believed that Ryosuke could easily have been mistaken for a girl. Maybe it was because of those large, brown eyes that seemed capable of gazing into the depths of Yuya’s soul or cutting Yuya down in one glance, or perhaps it was the younger boy’s long, stylishly-cut hair, with his bangs that Yuya just desperately yearned to brush gently out of the way so that he could better see those soulful eyes, that attracted him. Maybe it was those full lips that could unexpectedly and suddenly transform from a mocking smirk to the purest smile known to man that drew him. One could never be so sure. The only certain thing Yuya knew was that Ryosuke was beautiful.
Who is he…? The gazing senior asked himself incredulously as he found his eyes being lured into watching Ryosuke once more. Why can’t I… look away?
~~~~~
Kota glanced at his watch, reading 12:02 off the ticking face. Where is he…? He grimaced, not knowing why his boyfriend was now over a half hour late.
“Kota, are you waiting for someone?” Hikaru waved as he approached his friend with a grinning smile on his face.
“Yeah… Kei said he’d meet me here half an hour ago so that we could go eat lunch together, but he still hasn’t shown up yet…” Kota scrunched his nose in disappointment.
“Ah, that’s not good,” Hikaru commented apathetically.
“Hey, well that’s not helpful at all!” Kota raised an eyebrow at his friend. “Why are you here in the art wing during lunch?”
“Just passing by,” Hikaru answered casually. “But then I saw you here and wondered what you could possibly be waiting here all lonely by yourself for,” he smirked, his words seasoned with a tone of taunting.
“Well now you know, so now you can leave,” Kota huffed, not appreciating his friend’s poorly hidden mockery.
Hikaru frowned. “You don’t like my presence being here with you?”
Kota turned away so that his back faced his friend, showing him that he was still miffed by his indifferent attitude.
Seeing this, Hikaru’s lighthearted happiness collapsed, in longing for his friend’s attention. “Hey, Kota…” he began quietly. Pausing, Hikaru realized what he was about to say; he gulped nervously, but forced himself to continue. “…what would you say if I ever told you the truth?” he asked in a serious tone, one that Kota had never heard his friend use before.
A little scared by Hikaru’s sudden change in persona, Kota turned back around to face his friend. Studying his expression, Kota’s heart jerked to see his friend looking so miserable and disheartened. His voice instinctively dropped down to a gentle whisper. “The truth about what?” he questioned, wondering what was going on in his friend’s obscured mind.
“The truth about you… what if I told you… I-”
“Kota!” Kei’s vivid voice pierced the air surrounding them as the lanky boy ran over, panting heavily as he leaned his weight on Kota’s side for support. “I’m so sorry I’m late!” he coughed, still trying to catch his breath. “One of the new flutists, Yuri Chinen, he needed my help unscrewing the head joint from his flute, it was so tightly stuck, Mr. Kamenashi had to use this strange tool to wrench it out! It was so bizarre; I have never seen anything like it before!”
Kota laughed, patting his boyfriend tenderly, in an effort to comfort Kei’s frazzled mind. “It’s alright, Kei,” he murmured with a loving smile. “I don't mind waiting... it sounds like you’ve had a pretty hectic morning. Besides, Hikaru’s been here keeping me company, so I didn’t feel too lonely waiting.” Placing a soft kiss on Kei’s forehead to help calm him down gently, Kota then turned to smile at Hikaru, but his friend’s eyes had looked away, overcast in shadow.
“Hikaru, you alright?” Kota asked, worry emulating from his words. “Oh yeah, did you want to tell me something?”
Hikaru shook his head. “No, it was nothing. Just forget about it,” he answered quickly, shaking away Kota’s question.
Kei grinned, “Well, come on, Kota, let’s go have lunch, I’m starved!” He pulled on the older boy’s sleeve as he led him away, and at last minute, remembering to call back, “See you later, Hikaru!”
Kota bit his lip as he watched the slowly vanishing figure of his friend shrink into the distance. What did you want to tell me, Hikaru…?
~~~
A/N: Written with the help of jessicaluthien for Ryosuke's description by his secret admirer! ;) Thanks so much for helping me!! :3 I hope you like the pairing I wrote it for... ^^