Notes – For the gx_100. Set during season one after the events of the Seven Stars.

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"I haven't slept for two days…" a tired Ryo muttered to Asuka as they stood at the lighthouse.

"It could be worse." The doubt in her optimism could be heard clearly through her voice.

"It iwill/i get worse," Ryo pointed out. It was hard to tell a scowl from his usual stoic face but there seemed to be one to Asuka.

After a moment's pause she said, "You could always just tell him not to."

"He's missed me, and we haven't seen each other for a long time. Really he's just trying to show his affection," Ryo pointed out.

"But serenading you from below your balcony is a little… unusual. Even for Fubuki," mumbled Asuka, shaking her head at the mental image, "You need to make him understand how it feels for you to be put in that situation."

"That's not possible, there isn't anyone else on the island that can play a ukulele," Ryo pointed out.

Raising an eyebrow, Asuka replied, "You think my brother can play that thing?"

"He… tries his best," mumbled Ryo, but after two nights of listening to it he was sure that Fubuki could not play the ukulele at all.

"So really, anyone could do it," said Asuka, and with a shrug they left the discussion there for the night.

At first Ryo didn't put more thought into that suggestion, but when he returned to the dorm that night Fubuki still came. Even after Ryo had politely told him he had to go to bed Fubuki didn't let him leave. On the forth day Fubuki didn't even stop iafter/i Ryo went to bed. By the fifth night Ryo knew that he had to put a stop to it and this was his only option.

Finding a ukulele wasn't easy, and he had to be cautious about having one imported because if someone saw a package like that going to Ryo's room they might get the wrong impression. But when it was there Ryo sat the ukulele on the floor and looked it over. As far as stringed instruments went it didn't seem very notable.

He tried strumming a few of the strings. It made… the same sound as he'd expected it to make. He tried a few chords. And when he was feeling adventurous he played a short song from a book that had come with it.

It should have been easy, but when he'd finished Ryo had to accept that it was possible to be worse at playing the ukulele than Fubuki was – and he was it.

As he left for the balcony in front of Fubuki's room he considered how lucky he was that their rooms were so close together – that way if anyone heard the noise they'd just think it was Fubuki playing for Ryo again. Regardless of this he waited until it was as dark as possible before he put this into motion.

Looking up at the room he saw the lights were on so that should mean he was there and awake at least.

He plucked a few notes on the ukulele quietly. No response.

He tried the same notes louder. But not loud enough apparently.

It came down to a song didn't it? Ryo would have to play a tune to get his attention. And preferably one that was as long as possible so that Fubuki could understand how it felt.

Striking up on the tune he memorised earlier Ryo realised that even a memory as good as his did not help to make the sound any better. But it seemed to cause some movement from the room. After the footsteps there was the sound of Fubuki battling to draw back his curtains then the boy ran out on the landing.

He froze when he saw Ryo standing there in mid-tune.

"Ryo? What are you doing?"

"I…I'm…" He really hadn't thought this through to the point of talking to Fubuki. Perhaps this idea was not so good after all, "I'm taking a leaf from your book. You've been so nice to play for me these past few days, so it only seemed right for me to do the same for you in return."

So now came the point where Fubuki would listen to Ryo play, and find it flattering but notice how bad it was. The playing would last for as long into the night as possible, even if it meant Ryo was playing the same tune repetitively, and after Fubuki had gone to bed it would not stop. Only-

"Ryo, I had no idea! Just give me a moment." He disappeared into his room again.

This was not part of the schedule.

After a few minutes Fubuki hadn't come back. Ryo had stopped playing to glance up at the closed curtain.

Then Fubuki came into view – running across the grass waving a ukulele in the air. He stopped when he reached Ryo, grinning broadly.

"You should have told me you were into the ukulele," he said, "Now you can become an expert under the wise teaching of yours truly and together we can roam the island at night playing our duet."

One thing Ryo was certain of at this point was that next time Asuka suggested to discourage Fubuki by acting like Fubuki he would not take her advice.