A/N: I own nothing. Written for my friend Fen. Blame them.
"Leo I can't I'm going to be late for work, and you know that I can't miss my meeting today." Xander spoke, grabbing the last few folders from the kitchen table and his travel mug filled to the top (minus two sips) of strong black coffee. "You should've gotten a ride with Elise and Sakura."
Groaning, the blonde-haired teen donned his school uniform of deep blue navy and silver. He was already late for school, so why couldn't Xander be late for his meeting. Maybe Camilla could give him a ride. "But they always leave so early!"
"Then you should've gotten up earlier, gotten ready earlier, and been out the door earlier." The eldest sibling found himself reprimanding, calling up the stairs for Camilla to hurry.
"Camilla can't you—"
"So sorry, little brother. You know I'd love to, but I'm due in court at nine." She responded, grabbing her briefcase and following Xander out the front door and into their car, the two of them pulling away.
Sighing, he grumbled as he grabbed his bag and textbooks, his phone going off to reveal a message from Takumi, a classmate.
'Where are you? Class starts in five!'
"I know, genius…" He groaned, hitting the call button on screen.
'Where are you?! She's taking attendance, and you know your bro will freak if you get marked as absent or late again.'
"No shit, Takumi… Look, it's their own fault. Xander and Camilla took off before even giving me a proper answer, so now I have to get the spare driver out of bed so I can get there. As for me being late, it's Xander's own fucking fault I'm always late. He's always, and I quote, going to be late for a meeting, or some other fucked up excuse." He rants on, sighing as another black car with tinted windows pulls around the front driveway to his family's estate. "Look, I'm getting into the car right now, so I'll be there soon. Let the instructor know for me?"
'Yeah yeah, I got you covered. See you soon?'
"Yeah." Leo finds himself replying, hitting 'end' and shoving the phone back into his pocket before crossing his arms as the vehicle pulls away from his family's home to endure another day of studying.
Takumi packs his bag, shoving his math textbook on top of biology, heaving a sigh as he pushes a few loose strands of his tawny hair back behind his ears. "Well, at least she didn't take off any points today."
"Yeah…" Leo sighs, staring outside to the school ground below. "I just don't get it. I'm 16, I have more money than half the people in this fucking building, why won't Xander and Camilla just let me drive?"
"Maybe…" Takumi thinks as he trails off, shouldering his bag and he moves to sit on the desk facing Leo, swinging his legs back and forth. "Maybe they're afraid of having what happened to Selena happen to you and Elise. I mean… Look at Hinoka. Ryoma hates that she joined the military, but, I dunno. I know it's not the same thing, but he'd hate to have her go overseas for some operation of something."
Takumi stares at Leo, who still stares outside. Lost in his thoughts, he seems to forget where he is.
"…Leo?" Takumi calls, poking at the blonde's cheek. Bringing him back to reality, Takumi laughs a bit and grabs for Leo's bag, starting for the door. "You know, I could start giving you rides in the morning if you like. That way we can go straight over to my place and start practicing. Corrin's been going on about it for two weeks now since we haven't met up at all."
"That's cool. Should we meet up today then? I don't have anything planned. Is Corrin free?" Leo asked, already knowing she was.
"I'll call her once we get to my place. Let's go."
"Kagero, please cancel the rest of my meetings for the afternoon." Ryoma rumbled, poking his head out behind the large oak door. Retreating back to the safety and solitude of his executive office at the top of the Hoshido Publishing Group's main office, his long brown hair swung behind him as he fixed his black suit and sighed. "Damn migraines…"
Surprised at the sudden request, Kagero did as asked, and then waltzed inside, telling an intern by the name of Setsuna to hold all calls until she returned. The lights were low, and the window coverings had been lowered.
"Is everything alright?" Kagero asked, watching him lean back in his black leather chair, head hanging off the back of it. "Is it your migraines again? They've been getting worse and worse for the past month… You should go see Dr. Nacht again."
Staring up at the ceiling, he spun around in his chair. "Probably. Do you…mind leaving me be for a bit, love? I need a few hours."
She smiled half-heartedly at him, nodding, hair flying back over her pale shoulders and plum dress. "Sure. And Xander called earlier, about the email you sent him. Do you want me to call him back and tell him to come another day? He had mentioned coming to see you this afternoon."
Craning his neck downward, eyes now level with the ground as his grey eyes met her brown, he cracked a smile. "No, tell him to come. We've got a lot to discuss."
She bowed to him, smiling. Turning away, ready to leave, she paused as he got up and stepped closer to her. Wrapping his arms around her still form, hugging her from behind, he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek and rested his head against hers.
"Thank you for worrying."
Giggling to him, she leaned into his embrace for a moment, only moving away once he began to let go. "Of course, love. You need to take better care of yourself, but if you'll excuse me, sir, I've got a phone call to make to Mr. Nohr." She chastised, walking away and out of his office, leaving him there with a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets.
"Heeeeey! Takumiiiii! Leeeoooooo!" A girl called, running up the stairs behind them as they went to enter the tawny-haired teen's home. "Why didn't you call me sooner? My mom almost didn't let me come…" She mumbled, dejected that her friends hadn't thought to alert her of their meeting.
"You always come anyways. Why does it matter that it was short-notice?" Takumi asked her, earning himself a scowl.
"He's not wrong, Corrin. And it was impromptu anyways."
Crossing her arms, she marched ahead of them, and began making her way through the grand halls of Takumi's home to his basement, where three different guitars sat, only of them Takumi's, the other two his sister Hinoka's for when she was around, Leo's drum set and sticks, alongside Corrin's microphone and mic stand. "I don't care. We haven't gotten together for weeks. I'm ready to rock out, are you guys?" Corrin called back to them, fixing her shoulder-length platinum blonde hair held back by a simple hairband, similar to Leo's. "Let's go, let's go!"
A/N: Hey so. Sorry for all the jumping around. Moreso setting the stage than anything. R+R?