"syn·co·pate
transitive verb \ˈsiŋ-kə-ˌpāt, ˈsin-\
to modify or affect (musical rhythm)"
He had always marched the beat of a different drummer. In fact, you could properly describe Ryuuya as a down-beat. Notice we say "a down-beat", and not that he is downbeat. To clarify, if you were to sum up his personality into a musical comparison, it would be a steady tempo. The beat that begins the music, and that doesn't falter, it keeps time for all the rest of the notes around him. No matter what was going on around him, he'd keep on that steady pulse.
He could also be described as straight forward; as frank and direct; even as blunt. He was not adept at nuances or feelings or the finer, more subtle aspects of human relationships. It was something he regretted, at times, because contrary to his otherwise no-nonsense personality, he was not particularly aggressive. He had a natural coolness of reserve that held him back.
It was why he didn't know how to deal with Sho's hero-worship of him. It was why people like Jinguji annoyed him. They both required an empathetic response, and it was hard for him to do that.
A good word for Ryuuya (though he'd never use it himself) was "prim".
An outsider might think that Ryuuya, therefore, was a stoic. This wasn't true. It was just hard for him for form relationships because of his personality. Ringo was too bubbly by half, but that kind of personality ignored Ryuuya's reserve. Shining Saotome was not exactly a friend, and was also not exactly a boss. He was larger than life and bypassed mundane social norms.
In short, Ryuuya wanted the other guy to make the first move. He wanted to be pursued, though he didn't look like the kind of guy who would want that. He was macho, he played tough characters on TV. His unfortunate reserve made him seems like the strong, silent type.
And until someone picked up on that, he was willing to continue in his usual steady pace, only able to act freer while dancing and acting.
It was the acting that really caused it all to happen, most likely.
Natsuki approached him one day, asking him to tell him about acting. Sho had finally been able to make him sit down and watch some Prince of Fighting, and Natsuki wanted to know about all the fun stuff he got to do. Ryuuya started out harsh in his explanation, telling Natsuki about the hours of rehearsal and work that go into each show. He had to deflate a lot of star struck students. They were on the path to become idols, that was true. But Ryuuya was a movie star as well. He had to show over and over that it wasn't gala events and it was serious work, so his steady beat of a personality was more relentless than usual when educating the masses.
But this only confused Natsuki. He knew it was work, he wanted to know why Teach enjoyed it?
"Teach?" he was more used to being called "Sir," if not "Mr. Hyuuga".
"It's so much cuter!" he cried out, clapping his hands in excitement. He suddenly looked around him wildly. "I'm going to be late for class! I'll talk to you later, Teach!"
Natsuki's beat was erratic, but light and cheery. Ryuuya wondered what his next set of questions would be. He pondered this as he came across the most erratic beat of all. It was so forceful, so random it was almost its own class of music by itself. In short, Shining Saotome swung from some of the surrounding trees and landed on a certain spot on the grass, which was actually a trampoline. And few front layouts later, he was standing next Ryuuya.
"Ryuuuuuuchin," he started. Saotome had given him this nickname soon after he started working for him, and though it confused him he never said anything. It was the pet-name he used when they were alone together. "Ryuuuuchin, I'm glad you're giving your all to the students, but I want you to be careful. Keep your strength for your work~"
"I'll try to keep that in mind, sir."
"And remember, don't let any EROS get in the way of your career~Keep it friendly~AGAPE~"
"You don't have to worry about that, sir. I'm married to my work at the moment."
Shining flashed him a million-watt smile, adjusted his sunglasses and just kind of…vanished.
Ryuuya went inside and taught his class.
A day or so later, Natsuki asked if he could watch Ryuuya rehearse.
"I want to see your fun up close!" he had said, and might possibly have hugged him if Ryuuya hadn't side-stepped away.
"You can watch for a few hours," he agreed against his better judgment. And that was the arrangement that continued for about a month. He would come to watch Ryuuya practice, everything from blocking to choreography to memorizing lines. His lighthearted beat fell right in sync with his steady one. Natsuki didn't notice when Ryuuya was more stiff or awkward than he should be. Which was often, because Ryuuya had no idea what Natsuki meant half the time.
He liked to sit next to him during lunch.
He waved very cheerfully to him from across the campus.
He was much too loud about calling him, "Teach".
For the most part Ryuuya didn't let it bother him, however. The only person he worried about was Shining Saotome, who tried to keep an air of class about his students and staff. If Natsuki or he crossed the line, he would be informed.
Instead, Saotome suggested that Ryuuya include Natsuki in a mock-battle scene he was practicing.
He agreed.
"It's a lot like dancing," he told Natsuki. "It's a choreographed routine to a certain beat. Instead of music, it's the rhythm of the other actors. Ready to try?"
Natsuki nodded, and though Ryuuya noticed the different gleam in his eyes, he didn't yet know what that meant.
Even though they started off slow, Natsuki kept slipping and falling over onto Ryuuya. It was irritating even to his steady-beat personality.
He had in his hands a special microphone: it was heavily weighted to help keep his arms toned while he practiced dance moves. But he liked to practice everything with it.
He pointed this at Natsuki now and chided him. "I'm not doing this for fun, Shinomiya. Be serious."
Natsuki suddenly took off his glasses and threw them aside.
"Whatever you say, Teach." Was that a different tone? A…mocking tone? Had the beat changed? No longer erratic and airy. It was almost like his now, steady. But it was much more insistent and punctuated with wild bursts of discordant energy. Natsuki almost flew through the air and launched perfectly into the routine, almost as good as his co-stars. Punch, twist, kick, roll. They were working wonderfully together and Ryuuya grinned at him.
"Now you're getting it!"
"You know," Natsuki said during a break. "I didn't know at first why the little shrimp liked you so much. And then he showed us that show of yours, and I watched your fight scenes and I thought you weren't so bad after all."
Ryuuya just continued to drink his water. Natsuki walked up closer to him.
"But you're pretty dense, aren't you? Natsuki likes you. And you don't know."
"…I'm not sure what you mean, Natsuki."
"I'm Satsuki. I sleep inside Natsuki, I help him get things done. And right now, it's making you less uninformed."
Ryuuya believed him at his word, and was prevented from commenting by a hard kiss on the lips.
He started to give into it, in spite of himself, before he pulled himself out of it and took a step back from the strange boy.
"Natsuki—Satsuki—Both of you. This isn't appropriate behavior between instructor and pupil."
Satsuki smiled. "I'm here to help Natsuki—and myself. And," he said, licking his lips. "I think you, too. Playing hard to get?"
Ryuuya almost thrilled at those words, but his face betrayed nothing.
"You'll find out if you can win, won't you?"
It began.
They both struggled against each other; struggled because this was no longer about practicing. Natsuki—Satsuki?—was blessedly direct about what he wanted. It was what Ryuuya wanted. But that didn't mean that he could suddenly stop what he was doing and give in. He had his pride. Ryuuya also had a feeling that this Satsuki would be disappointed to win that easily.
The fight had turned real, in any case. Satsuki was actually trying to beat Ryuuya with force. Satsuki had animal instinct on his side and a crazy gleam in his eyes. Ryuuya had years of choreography and stunt work behind him.
Satsuki lashed out once with a kick that Ryuuya took the full force of, right at the beginning of the fight. He had thought he could absorb the shock. It nearly cost him the fight, round one. He hadn't been expecting such a powerful kick. He had recovered just in time, however, and defended himself from Satsuki's finishing blow. They both smiled, as a boring ending had been avoided. After that he dodged more, and many trees died in his place.
"Not too bad, teach," the nickname was uttered again. Can a tone be both condescending and admiring? There was no time to think about it, because the attacks started anew.
Slowly, they pushed each other deeper and deeper into the woods, until they started coming out into the middle of the forest, where a lake was. This lake was so deep in the campus grounds that nothing had been done to it to make it more modern, or make it look like it was school property.
All this time, Ryuuya had kept his practice mic and had been using it like a very short baton, or sometimes like brass knuckles. It gave him a slight bit more reach and he been using it against this boy in front of him.
But once they stepped onto the shore of the lake, Satsuki had seen his chance. He left the perfect opening for a right cross—but as Ryuuya swung, he felt the sand giving way beneath him and the microphone's weight and his momentum hurled him forward and towards his admirer. Satsuki caught him by the wrists and pulled him onto the ground, pinning his teacher under himself with a quick twist.
Satsuki sat on top of him, smiling derisively, before leaning over and taking big, open mouthed kisses from him. They were more like nips, and he pulled at Ryuuya's bottom lip almost painfully. Ryuuya gave them willingly. There was still a small, prim voice that was saying something, but he knew deep down it wanted this, too. In the back of his mind, Ryuuya decided he quite liked whoever this kid was.
He worked hard, had musical talent, got to the point when he wanted something, was good with his hands—It was too hard to think. He just couldn't. He also couldn't breathe. Satsuki was on top and he was heavy. He tried to shift so the weight moved, but Satsuki thought Ryuuya was trying to run away from him again and growled, and then just started his lovemaking more forcefully.
Ryuuya was thrilled to make that discovery, and started experimenting with different ways of struggling to increase different sensations. Satsuki figured that out pretty quick, and smiled to himself. But he continued with the same intensity.
This experimentation lasted only a few minutes; the more passion Satsuki poured into his actions, the harder it was to resist and then all he could do was just relax into a near catatonic state of bliss.
Satsuki could feel the almost shudder of complete surrender, and stopped briefly to look at his teacher, who was enjoying himself even if he would never say so.
I'll soon fix that, he thought to himself. Then he noticed that Ryuuya was still somehow holding on to that stupid little microphone, as if he'd gather enough willpower to fight back again in the near future.
Satsuki took it from his hands with no resistance and threw it into the lake, where it sank like a stone.
It wasn't even a minute later, however, when they both realized that the wet sounds they had been hearing wasn't coming from their continued kissing. The lake was bubbling—boiling, right where the microphone had sank.
As they watched, the bubbles became more violent and a dark shape rose from the depths, revealing itself to be a giant clamshell. It opened up and there was an amazing, real-life replica of Botticelli's Birth of Venus, though instead of Aphrodite there was a toga'd Shining Saotome.
It was amazing how close he somehow was.
Just his appearance swept away their own rhythm and merged it with his. Shining Saotome swallowed all around him by sheer force of personality. He was his own symphony, yet somehow never with anyone else.
Ryuuys wondered vaguely if his life had always been this strange, and then the next instant was trying to figure out how to explain why he and a student were lying half naked on a beach together, and why they were probably violating some rules that were written somewhere—which he would read again one he remembered how.
"AH!" yelled Saotome, who walked on top of the water to the two young men.
They had both stood up and stepped a pace apart by the time he got over to them.
"Good day, sir," Ryuuya started out, his voice completely normal. The reserve had come back the instant trouble came, and had decided on the ridiculous course of action to pretend like nothing was wrong.
"Mr. Shinomiya," Shining started, ignoring Ryuuya. "I simply just could not sit idly by any longer. There's nothing wrong with a little violence, but with FINESSE~It was too much to bear~"
Whatever this sentence meant, it shattered Ryuuya's reserve again and he could only stare at Shining Saotome. Shining gestured towards Ryuuya.
"How can he rehearse tomorrow if he's covered in bruises, Mr. Shinomiya?"
When did he put those glasses back on? Why is he nodding like he understands?
He could feel their rhythms, both totally different, yet complementary. They both pulled him in a direction that was new, dangerous, exciting. It was the pulling part that was the best. He didn't want to lead. He wanted to follow.
"This situation calls for a delicate touch~"
"Oh, I agree, sir. But I'm afraid I don't have much experience."
But the beats clashed as a duet. They needed another part. A steady foundation.
Shining snapped his fingers and spun around twice before facing Ryuuya.
"Ryuuuuchin. I think it's our duty to have a special class for this student, don't you think?"
Ryuuchin? His shock must have leaked into his eyes, because Shining Saotome came even closer.
"A special class, Ryuuuuchiiiin~It can only be taught by you and I~Nooooooone else has the right quaaalificaaations~"
"I—"
But he was cut-off by a kiss. Not on the mouth, where one would expect. Since this was Shining Saotome, the expected never happened. The kiss was on the forehead, and worked its way down the bridge of the nose.
"I just couldn't watch any more, Ryuuchin~"
And then the mouth, somehow even more rough then Satsuki.
They needed a strong down-beat.
Then they both looked at him expectantly. And he knew what he had to do. He doesn't understand what has just happened, but he goes with it. He's Ryuuya.
"I'm not sure this is an appropriate place, Shiny. The sand would get everywhere." They both like a challenge, and he likes being one.
Saotome laughed at an even more fevered pitch than usual, and back flipped into the water and swam to the clamshell, which upon further inspection was some kind of bed. A floating bed.
"Class will begin in ten seconds, and there's a penalty for tardiness~"
"C'mon, teach!" Which personality said it? He couldn't tell. It didn't matter.
He swam after them both, making sure to arrive last.