July 21 / I Say Fever / PG / Closed

[true]

Characters: Chiaki Yuzuru and Kenji Takuto~
Time: after school.
Location: the music room.

Chiaki had slinked into the practice room a little bit earlier than the others got out of school; he had a free period and had nothing better to do with it. The piano inside was gorgeous, its keys felt great beneath his fingers. An hour had easily passed by as he messed around, improvising as well as belting out the songs that he knew by heart. It’d been a while since he’d simply sat down and gotten in to his musical talent—he’d almost forgotten how good it felt.

Judging by the time on the clock, Kenji would arrive at any moment. Chiaki could still remember the key signature and the chord progression of the song they were going to work on, even after a day; it was good that they were going to do an acoustic cover because he wouldn’t know what to do, otherwise. It’d been an interesting song, and he was excited to give it a whirl.

Might as well make the most of it! Chiaki thought to himself before launching into his best cover of Utada Hikaru’s ‘First Love’—it was corny and stereotypical but he loved it anyway.

[nezumi]

Kenji felt awful, his stomach churning as he ran to the music room. He was late - unbelievably so - to meeting Chiaki, and he with every minute that ticked past, he felt even worse.

The bluish-haired boy had been all the way across town when he remembered that he had made plans with Chiaki only a few days previous, and, after walking uneasily back to campus and a hasty goodbye to the beautiful girl he had been with, Kenji had taken off - at full sprint - toward the opposite side of the little universe of Aozora.

His breathing was heavy and his face was slightly flushed when Kenji burst through the music room doors, his eyes landing on Chiaki at the piano only a few seconds too late.

Figuring he had already interrupted the song his friend had been playing, Kenji said, "Sorry to keep you waiting!" Then, taking a few steps in to the room and a few deep breaths to calm himself, Kenji added, "I was... across town," he left out the part about being with Asuka - Kenji would tell him later. After another deep breath, Kenji looked down at his empty hands. "And I didn't stop to grab my guitar."

Kenji frowned at the floor, annoyed that he had nearly forgotten about his plans with the other boy.

He sighed again, looking up at Chiaki but still frowning and waving toward the piano in front of his friend. "What were you playing just then?"

[true]

Kenji was tomato-faced and almost completely out of breath - it was apparent the he'd been running for quite a while to get to the music room. "Sorry to keep you waiting!" he exclaimed, taking a few steps further into the room. "I was... across town." Chiaki smiled and nodded, taking his hands off of the keys. "Don't worry! I know how to occupy myself~"

"And I didn't stop to grab my guitar." Kenji looked down at his hands, coming off as uncharacteristically scatterbrained - he was usually so put together, collected. Chiaki wasn't sure what was going on, but whatever it was, it had certainly deviated from the norm. He was frowning at the floor, still flushing a little. "Oh, don't worry~ I'm not in any hurry!" Chi laughed easily, unfazed by the vaguely awkward atmosphere.

"What were you playing just then?" Kenji asked, motioning toward the piano.

"First Love by Utada Hikaru~ ☆" Chiaki sang, swiveling around on the piano bench so his body faced the other boy. "Well, I finished right before you got here, and then I just sort of started improvising."

Cocking his head to the side, Chiaki looked inquisitively at Kenji. "Are you okay? You seem a little scatterbrainy - did something weird happen?"

[nezumi]

It took a moment for the other boy's words to register in Kenji's mind - "Are you okay? You seem a little scatterbrainy - did something weird happen?" - and he blinked in response, noting just how "scatterbrainy" he really was at that instant.

He took another deep breath, composing himself enough to give Chiaki a weak, apologetic smile. Kenji watched as the boy turned to face him and cocked his head at the blue-haired boy.

Tossing his heavy backpack from his shoulder, Kenji plopped himself down on a nearby stool. He wondered if it would be normal to talk about a girl he had just met with a boy that - although Kenji considered Chiaki a friend - he had just met.

"I... uh, kind of literally ran in to the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Kenji said, tapping a finger on his knee. "Well, she hit me with a door, then we went for coffee," Kenji stopped himself before he began to babble.

They were there for practice - combining Chiaki's piano playing with Kenji's guitar and voice - but suddenly, Kenji only wanted to talk to the other boy. He figured that feeling was what having friends was supposed to me.

He hadn't known it for a long time, mainly because he looked too intimidating and, when he spoke, he often sounded intimidating, as well. It was a curse.

The dark-haired boy pushed himself over to a lone, school-property guitar and placed it in his lap, plucking the first few chords of the song they'd planned to practice. "We really don't have to discuss it if you'd rather we not, Chiaki," Kenji told his friend. "I met Asuka today and we kind of hit it off, that's really all."

He purposefully down-played it, feeling guilty for taking time to even mention it.

[true]

"I... uh, kind of literally ran in to the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Well, she hit me with a door, then we went for coffee," Kenji said, acting as though all of these events were utterly ordinary, hardly worth mentioning. Was he still hung up on practicing? Because at this point, Chiaki was far interested in learning more details than practicing - and besides, there was no way Kenji was going to be able to concentrate like this. "Ooh, well that's always a decent reason to be late~" he said, beaming. As far as he knew, Kenji didn't have many friends other than him - it was good that he'd found himself a nice girl.

"We really don't have to discuss it if you'd rather we not, Chiaki," Kenji said, sliding over on his stool to grab a rental guitar, plucking a few practice chords. "I met Asuka today and we kind of hit it off, that's really all."

WHAT?! ASUKA?!?

Chiaki couldn't believe it - the Asuka he knew was far too abrasive for most people to tolerate. Other than him, she had no friends, and showed no desire to make any. The concept of it being a different Asuka - one who was also careless, violent, and incredibly pretty - was laughable, it wasn't like her name was common in the slightest.

"A-Asuka? Asuka Tomoe!?" Chi managed to stay, shifting into body basics atop the bench. He gawked for another moment or so before he decided that it must have been true; Kenji wasn't a liar, and she'd physically harmed him at some point. "Asuka-chan went out with you? WHAT? I mean, it makes sense, kind of. You both like books and are smart... but... wow. I've known her forever, and dating's never been.. her thing, y'know? How did it go?" Chi was bouncing up and down, now, eager in every sense of the word. "Tell me ev~ery~thing!"

[nezumi]

"A-Asuka? Asuka Tomoe!?" Chiaki stuttered, moving around where he sat. He stared at Kenji for a moment, gears visibly turning behind hie eyes. "Asuka-chan went out with you? WHAT? I mean, it makes sense, kind of. You both like books and are smart... but... wow. I've known her forever, and dating's never been.. her thing, y'know? How did it go? Tell me ev~ery~thing!"

To Kenji, it seemed as if the boy hadn't even stopped to breathe during that rant. He also had no idea that Chiaki knew her, and he was growing steadily more embarrassed about calling her beautiful to someone she was clearly friends with.

Deep in thought, Kenji took a moment to respond, plucking a few more strings. "She kicked a door open after classes and I happened to be on the other side of it." Kenji smiled fondly, looking down at the instrument in his lap. He was still immeasurably glad she had done that. "We talked for a bit, then we went to go get coffee and we talked some more and I asked her out on a real date."

With his smile still playing on his lips, Kenji righted the guitar and played the beginning of a song he'd had in his head since he sat down at the coffee shop with Asuka.

"She wants to hear me play, too. And I think I know what I'm going to play for her." Kenji told his friend. He started to hum the song, too, but stopped himself before he got too far. "I feel like I'm babbling -- and just tell me to shut up if I get too annoying, Chiaki -- but I don't think I've ever felt anything like this before."

He smiled again - wider this time - and folded his lips to squash it. The bluish-haired boy was acting like a smitten child, but he liked the feeling.

"I like her a lot already."

[true]

"She kicked a door open after classes and I happened to be on the other side of it," Kenji said, his smile tinged with fondness. Chi thought it was weird and cute at the same time - he was so obviously smitten with her that somehow the fact that she'd hurt him was irrelevant. "We talked for a bit, then we went to go get coffee and we talked some more and I asked her out on a real date."

Chi blinked slowly for a moment, letting that last sentence sink in. Oh, boy, was he going to tease Asuka about this later. Kenji was still smiling as he strummed his guitar, beginning a song that he'd never heard before - of course, their music tastes were pretty different, so that wasn't all that surprising. "She wants to hear me play, too. And I think I know what I'm going to play for her." he said, beginning to hum the song, but he stopped somewhere in the middle.

"Haha, yeah, Asuka-chan loves boys that play the guitar - oops, don't tell her I told you that." Chi smiled, shaking his head as Kenji said something about being annoying. "Nah, I like talking about this sort of thing~ I love romance."

"I like her a lot already," Kenji said, smiling bigger than he'd ever seen him smile before.

"I've been her friend for a long time, so be nice to her, okay?" Chi said, looking at his friend over his shoulder as he swiveled his body back to the piano, fingers idly pressing down chords to go with the song Kenji was playing on his guitar. "And... well..." he paused, both in speaking and in playing. He'd considered giving Kenji a few superficial details as to her past and how it was the entire reason she was the way she was, but thought better of it. "Nevermind. It's not my place to say."

"But if you promise to make her happy, I'll put in a good word for you!~" Chi sang, finally getting fully into the song. "I mean, I'd do that anyway, but.. yeah. Haha."