note from the author: This was originally published as part of a series of drabbles (under my old name) a few years ago. Much like "kokoro no soba ni," I liked this one so much that I came back to it and made the decision to publish it again. It doesn't have much of a place in canon, but I still feel the world could use just a bit more Ayumu-Hiyono-Hizumi fic, so here it is.

As it was originally dedicated to another writer, I'm keeping the dedication intact. And if you are curious, this was somewhat inspired by the Anna Nalick song of the same name. Enjoy.

in my head
(for aya)

The three students gathered around the piano were quite a sight, and anyone passing by the music room's open door would have wholeheartedly agreed with this statement. There was a boy playing the piano, a girl perched atop the piano with her legs crossed and dangling off the edge, and another boy sitting on the floor, just to the right of the girl. The girl was singing, and although she did not possess a voice entirely suited for such a thing, the boy on the floor kept sending her appreciative glances which she returned with a smile. The first boy, meanwhile, kept on playing the piano, and did not seem to even be aware of his two companions. Yes, they were certainly a sight to behold.

"Classes are letting out, Narumi-san," the girl suddenly said to the boy playing the piano, and to this he only grunted and continued to play. The girl sighed and the boy on the floor laughed, his yellowish eyes gleaming in a way that wasn't completely comforting, craning his neck to look up at the first boy. The first then halted the music and ran a hand through his hair, meeting the second boy's gaze briefly before the girl began speaking again and his attention shifted back to her. "Should we go?"

"It's such a treat to hear Ayumu play..." The boy on the floor began to pout, the expression overdone enough to make the girl atop the piano giggle. "I don't want to leave yet. Play another song!"

"Hizumi-san," the girl said gently, "we shouldn't force him..."

"That's right. Don't force me." Ayumu, the chestnut-haired boy who had been playing the piano, eyed his green-haired companion on the floor with some contempt. "You're lucky that I didn't kick you out of the room when you barged in like that." The girl on the piano began to smile again and he promptly shot her a glance, frowning. "You too, stupid girl. I don't even know how you found out where I was."

"Well, when Narumi-san goes missing, there's only a few places he could ever be..."

"Aa, and osage-san is so good at narrowing down the list of places! I thought we were going to be searching the school FOREVER!" Hizumi's eyes grew rather large with his last words, all of his actions exaggerated. Yet again the girl with braids, whose name was actually Hiyono and not "stupid girl" (although one had to wonder whether or not Ayumu was aware of this fact), began to giggle at this, and if there had been any onlookers they would have been able to tell quite quickly that this kind of banter was common among the three of them. "Anyway," Hizumi continued, "it's worth missing a class to hear Ayumu play. I didn't know he was so good..."

Ayumu's nose twitched ever-so-slightly as he put on a blank expression and looked away from his two companions. "I'm not any good at the piano. I -"

"Don't be so depressing! Listen..." The boy on the floor was now smiling up at the back of Ayumu's head, but he didn't seem to mind all that much. "Just play one more song and then we'll go home, okay?"

The response was prompt. "No."

"Yaa, Ayumu is such a downer..."

"Sometimes he is, Hizumi-san... once someone has been around Narumi-san for a long time, they begin to expect these things from him. I bet Madoka-oneesan was perfectly well-adjusted to his behavior before she had to go stay in the hospital..." Hiyono sent a mischievous little smile towards the boy on the floor. "She probably never even asked him how school was or how he felt, considering how he ALWAYS frowns, even when he is having a good day..."

"Stop it, both of you."

"We'll only stop if you play another song, Narumi-san." Hiyono giggled as the pianist gave another groan, but somehow he didn't truly seem exasperated. Considering how quickly he repositioned his hands above the smooth keys of the piano at her bidding, not even an onlooker could have noticed this and thought that he did not give in far too easily. "Play something pretty," she said, and put a finger to her chin in thought, "and something... romantic."

"And make sure it's something that osage-san can sing to, ne?" Hizumi stretched out his legs and folded his arms behind his head, smiling sweetly up at the girl still perched on the grand piano he was currently leaning against. "I like her voice."

At this the girl blushed and fidgeted and began to protest, but the boy at the piano interrupted her with a chord and her protests were promptly forgotten. Ayumu eyed both of his companions with something that may have been either distaste or admiration - with him, it was difficult to differentiate between the two - and then played a second chord in a different key. "Fine," he said, "but this is the last one."

"Okay," his two companions said in unison, smiling at each other. Somehow that smile seemed sarcastic, unconvinced, as if these were words they'd heard spoken before, a promise that wasn't kept. Perhaps "just one more" meant as many as Hiyono and Hizumi could drag out of Ayumu before he simply became frustrated and stormed out of the room.

The pianist began to play and the girl atop the piano laughed as she recognized the music. The boy on the floor, though, tilted his head to the side in confusion and peered up at his two companions. "What's this?" he asked.

Ayumu chuckled as if the answer was a secret between he and Hiyono and said nothing. Hiyono, meanwhile, shook her head and looked knowingly at him before giving Hizumi an explanation. "It's a song I let Narumi-san hear a long time ago. He was the one who decided to learn it..."

"Only because you said it would be good if I played it for you, stupid girl."

"That's beside the point!"

"Hn. Sing."

She did, though not willingly, and as the piano continued to play on the words came from her lips softly, not hesitantly but without so much power that they would sound convincing. She closed her eyes as she sang this time and did not acknowledge the gaze that fell on her thanks to the green-haired boy who sat looking up at her intently.

Under the weight of your wings
You are a god and whatever I want you to be
And I wonder if truly you are
Nearly as beautiful as I believe

She stopped to breathe and Hizumi laughed, the sound prompting her to open her eyes and grant him a quizzical look. The piano played on and she missed her next cue, but no one seemed to mind because Ayumu kept playing regardless. "That's the truth," the boy on the floor said, "isn't it?"

"... what do you mean, Hizumi-san?"

"It's not just because Kiyotaka is his brother..." Hizumi drew his knees up to his chest and they served as a place for him to rest his chin. "You really think of him as a god, don't you... osage-san?"

The girl's face flushed and she stuttered and missed another verse. "Hi - Hizumi-san, he'll hear you -"

"Ayumu doesn't listen to us while he's playing. He won't hear a thing." The green-haired student chuckled. "It's because you love him that you sing things like that..."

"My feelings for Narumi-san..."

"Oi." The music stopped and the girl on the piano looked over at the pianist with reddened cheeks. He lifted an eyebrow at her, as if to ask why in the world she was blushing like that, then shook his head slowly. "Hizumi."

"Yaa?"

"Stop distracting her. It's not good if she doesn't sing. I can't concentrate on the melody if she isn't reminding me where to change keys."

"Narumi-san likes my singing that much?"

"Were you even listening? I need it to know where the changes in the song are."

"Oh... that's mean..."

"You two..."

The boy who had been playing the piano allowed his gaze to shift to the boy on the floor, and the girl atop the piano leaned down so that she could procure a good view of the mess of green hair and blue uniform that leaned against one of the wooden legs. Hizumi gave them a glimpse of gold before shaking his head and pulling himself to his feet, dusting off the front of his jacket and pants with both hands. "I'm heading back, Ayumu," he said. "Make sure you come home in time to make a nice dinner."

"Oi, Hizumi -"

"I'll see you tomorrow, osage-san." The green-haired boy gathered his things and left with a wave to the girl sitting on the piano, pausing for a moment at the open door of the music room to call over his shoulder. "And keep singing like that... Ayumu likes it more than he lets on." He winked and he was gone, down the hallway with the other students, the echoes of their voices drifting into the room and disturbing the silence that passed between the remaining boy and girl.

"Well?"

Hiyono looked at Ayumu and blinked once, then twice, tilting her head at him. "What?"

"Are you going to sing or not?"

"... Narumi-san isn't going to object to Hizumi-san's... ?"

The boy snorted and replaced his fingers on the ivory keys. "As long as it's you singing and not him, I don't care what he says. You're annoying and you steal my lunches, but he follows me home every day and demands dinner." He paused and wrinkled his nose, though slightly. "He talks in his sleep, too."

The girl smiled and scooted closer to the top of the piano, closer to where the boy sat on the bench and closer to the keys. "Narumi-san likes me better than Hizumi-san, then?"

"I never said such a thing." He grunted and looked away. "Sing," he commanded, and she did.

In my head
Your voice
You've got all that I need
And this make-believe will get me through
Another lonely night