Leo had been hit by his inspiration. Of course he had been, he was Leo; not much of a surprise there.
However, what was a surprise was that Leo was located in the student council office.
With a marker in his hand.
Writing his brilliant compositions on the walls.
Eichi saw himself as quite a composed person; being the heir to a large company and a popular idol, he deemed it necessary to keep a serene expression on his face in place of any emotions that ruined his image. However, not even he could mask the look of shock at the sight in front of him.
He took an instinctive step back, stumbled, and nearly fell. Leo had been gone from school for what felt like forever. He had heard of news of Leo's return from the others, news going back a few days. However, he had yet to see the king; until now.
To return to school and see the former-former leader of Knights kneeling to the side of the room, trapped in his own dreams, scribbling away like it wasn't the wall of his former enemy's office was certainly not what Eichi had been expecting that fine Tuesday morning. Then again, this was Leo "I do what I want, when I want, even if that means walking into the student council office and defiling it" Tsukinaga, and 'expected' didn't fit within his niche.
Giving an airy laugh, Eichi looked up at Leo again. His hands were still moving in time with the beat his mind set for him, an internal rhythm no one else could follow. The marker in his hand giving off a coloured stream that formed the many notes decorating the walls of the office. Hisoffice, Eichi thought. Leo still hadn't noticed Eichi's presence (or his earlier blunder, thankfully). Was he pretending, or was he just that filled with "inspiration"? Eichi didn't have to think much to answer that question; ever since Leo's return students had been commenting on his renewed ability to act like a madman.
Looking behind Leo's curled-over body curiously, Eichi sees the notes that the other boy had so messily written out. Leo wasn't famous for nothing, it seemed, and first humming in approval and then along with the notes he could see, Eichi found himself quite entranced. An upbeat melody that held the sounds of a spring breeze opened up to him, a tune of fresh beginnings and new life. Catching himself producing sounds that may have caught the other's attention, Eichi snapped back to attention and stopped himself from nearly singing along with the music in his sight.
Leo, however, was still quiet and lost conducting the orchestra existing only within his fascinating brain. It was nice seeing him like this. All the rumours painted him being an obnoxious, loud man, but while in this state Leo seemed to be possessed by a foreign spirit filled with poise and focus.
The school had been quiet for some time now, with only hushed whispers here and there about the disappearance of the king. Eichi didn't actually know how he managed to win against the quiet genius sitting near the wall of the office, marker still moving. He definitely did want to get Leo out of the way upon accepting his request for a competition at the time. All he wanted was to make Yumenosaki, his wonderful academy, a better place, but he never meant to hurt anyone to the extent that he did. Especially not Leo.
Wait, what? This is new. "Especially not Leo"? What's so special about Leo, anyway?
He was just a confusing mess. A confusing mess who had stillnot noticed him, even with his slow approach. Eichi was now a just a few steps behind Leo, and the concentrated boy had not moved, save for occasionally readjusting his body to make writing down the music in his head easier.
"Nice to see the king of legend has made a return to his holy kingdom."
No response. At this point, Leo's lack of connection to reality was starting to grate on Eichi's nerves. As if to annoy him on purpose, Leo just murmured something probably related to the next prose of his song.
Walking forward, Eichi neared the orange-haired boy and leaned over him, slamming his hand on the wall beside Leo and drawing his lips to the other's ear.
"Leaving a legacy behind for your dear knights, are you?"
Leo doesn't even flinch.
So hewas ignoring me on purpose. What an irritating boy…
Back still turned to Eichi, Leo's expression seemed to turn cold.
"What do you want?"
"What do Iwant? You're the one in the student council office"
Of course, now of all times his inspiration had guided him into the one room he always tried to avoid! Leo turns around to face Eichi, not giving him a remark to his previous statement. The other was smiling down at him, face warm but insincere. Still wearing a sour expression, Leo met Eichi's gaze, not looking away. As if locked in a silent competition, the two studied each other for one moment too long before Eichi broke the silence with sickly-sweet words.
"How was your break from school?"
"Fantastic, no thanks to you."
Eichi let out what could be called a giggle, before leaning in.
"I didn't tell you to run away like a coward."
Leo gave a huff before turning his head away to look at the corner to the side of Eichi's face.
"Is this what you came here for? To fight me? To rub in whatever victory you may have had in my face?"
"I came here to do work," Eichi replied with a smile in his tone.
Right. Student council office. You idiot.
Both boys wait for the other to talk, to break the now uncomfortable silence filling the room. Eichi relaxes his arm so that his forehead comes to a rest on the wall above Leo's shoulder. Getting to school earlier than usual that day had been rather tiring, and seeing Leo had been enough of a shock for him to listen to the Keito inside his head and take a short break. What meets his eyes are crochets, minums, and rests drawn on the wall in marker pen.
Eichi pulls his body up slowly, leaving Leo sitting against the wall, expression still set in a half-hearted glare. Walking over to the drawer in the desk, Eichi pulls out some spare sheets of paper for the transcription of music. Walking back over to Leo, who now has a questioning (albiet still irritated) expression on his face, Eichi reaches behind the other's ear. He pulls out a pen that's half-entangled in Leo's hair.
"Just how long has this been here, Tsukinaga-kun?" Eichi says, amusement clearly showing on his face.
Leo doesn't bother replying to Eichi's comment (although he too was confused at just how long the pen had been making a home in his hair), opting instead to observe Tenshouin who was already copying down the notes written earlier on the wall.
There was a peaceful silence as Leo observed and Eichi copied. No matter how fast Leo seemed to have written his music down, Eichi noted, the notes all remained clean and legible. Looking up at Leo, the leader of Knights got the hint and moved over to the side so that the student council leader could see behind him and copy the remaining notes. The end of the song was slower than the rest of the piece, a sombre finale to the cheerful-sounding song. How lovely.
To Eichi's surprise, it was Leo who broke the silence this time.
"…while I was away…how did they get on?"
What a surprise, the irresponsible king still retains some dignity.Eichi chose not to make fun of Leo's uncharacteristically grave question. He assumed even though Leo had met with them already, the leader would not have asked his unit such a serious question, given how the other students spoke of him.
"Your Knights? They fought on bravely, even without their king."
To that Leo only brought his knees towards his chest in what seemed like guilt.
"Knights only exist to serve their king, however. They still need you, no matter how many battles they fought without" Eichi said with a tone of finality, wandering over to Leo's side once more.
Handing over the neatly copied sheet music, Eichi looked at the clock. Ah, nearly time for class. Looks like the wall will have to be cleaned later.Meeting his eyes, he held Leo's gaze before turning around and walking out of the student council room.
This was their last year.
They could make it work.