"Can I get a break sometimes!" Growling and barking was heard as two teens stumbled their way through Heartland, searching for their school building, but ending up getting lost. Not only that, but they were being chased by an unreasonably large amount of dogs. It was hard to run, let alone try to navigate through the many buildings. The heavy rainfall did not help them either, but was actually a horrible disadvantage. Simply due to the fact they could slip easier and get caught.
Yuma met up with Shingetsu, to take the usual shortcut to school. However, just as every morning, their shortcuts proved to be longer than the actual road, also, way more painful. Water splashed in every direction, as they ran from the dogs, trying their best to escape. Shining Violet eyes glanced behind at the animals, encouraged to run even faster.
"I'm sorry Yuma-kun! I only meant well!" Shingetsu panted as he tried to catch up to Yuma who was running a small distance ahead of him. The black-haired teen only rolled his eyes at that sentence, one he heard too often, and began to run at a quicker pace. He grabbed on to Shingetsu's hand and helped him along. He was not going to allow them to be late.
The two teens had arrived somewhere around lunchtime, soaking wet and out of breath from the run. They had clearly missed their first couple of classes, but at least they were well and ready for P.E. The rain poured down, almost as brutally as hail, while thunder filled the silent corridors. Shingetsu went to meet up with Tetsuo for lunch, and advised Yuma to follow along. However, the young duelist was going to grab some books for studying, during lunch. So he decided to head over to his locker. When he and Shingetsu parted, Astral appeared out of the key, looking out of the windows along the corridor, not having the slightest clue of what rain was, but knew it passed right through him. He felt the need to ask Yuma about it, but the boy was clearly focused on something other than the weather.
"Do you…hear that?" Eyes by the color of rubies darted in different directions, searching for the source of a continuous sound. Astral leaned closer towards Yuma, thinking it would help him hear the noise. It should not have been called a noise, but a tune, a sort of simplistic melancholy melody. Astral closed his eyes and smiled, it was rather pleasing to hear something of this nature. He could not touch objects, sense their texture or feel the temperature of them, yet something of this nature actually made him feel something. It was a strange tingling sensation of satisfaction, which he could not identify.
"What is this called?"
"It's music. I think someone is playing an instrument, but where is it coming from?" Astral leaned back and tilted his head, to try and determine where the music was coming from. After they had stood there in silence for a while, trying to sense in what direction to go, Astral pinpointed the location of the music source.
"It is coming from the room, down the hall, to the right." Yuma looked up at Astral and blinked in confusion.
"That's where my locker is. I wonder who's playing this melody." This was one more reason to get to his locker and then hurry off to meet up with Shingetsu.
As he walked down the corridor, he could hear the melody turning darker and clearer than it was before. Astral was humming along to the tune, enjoying every bit of it for as long as it lasted. Yuma on the other hand, was more interested in who was playing such a melody. He knew almost all the people in the music club, but never heard anyone play this sort of instrument. It felt different and more experienced, it was the main reason he was so curious of who it was. Could someone so skillful really be a student?
Once he reached the room, he opened the door and took a peek inside. His eyes widened when he saw a familiar figure play on a black, lustrous violin. He held a calm pose, playing the instrument with great precision and care. The person's eyes were closed, as he pulled the bow down slowly, to draw long and powerful tones. The atmosphere seemed to have changed, now all that Yuma could focus on was the tune, once he knew who the person was. It was the one he least expected it to be.
"S-…Shark?" The way Yuma had whispered his name made Astral worry. Was this music something dangerous? Before Yuma had the time to answer, the melody stopped abruptly. The young duelist covered his mouth and rushed over to the room next to them, hiding inside and out of view from Ryoga. Astral joined Yuma and simply remained quiet to observe their behavior. In a short moment, the other door opened, and Ryoga exited, leaving without noticing the fact someone was watching from afar. Once the footsteps faded away, Yuma sighed in relief, absolutely overjoyed that he was not caught.
"That was unexpected. I never imagined Shark…to play such an instrument." Astral waited for Yuma to elaborate on his statement but he never did. Instead, he freaked out and rushed out of the room to go to his locker and grab the books. He was already late for a numerous amount of things, why not attempt to be somewhere on time for a change? Astral shook his head with a sigh, unable to understand Yuma's reasoning and why he acted so childishly.
"Shark played such a wonderful tune on the violin! I wonder why he hasn't shown anyone or even mentioned it. Right… maybe he doesn't want to talk about it, or he doesn't think he's good enough." Thoughts like that rushed through the young boy's mind. It made him more curious, and willing to ask questions. However, those questions would not be welcomed. Ryoga would most likely not care enough about him to reply, or he would attempt to hide it. Who knows?
Their P.E class proved to be more fun than what everyone expected, at least for Yuma. He could not get over the fact Ryoga actually knew how to play a violin. Perhaps it was not only that fact, but also because he was amazingly good at it. Was he the only one who knew of this? Did Rio know? If so, why had no one ever mentioned it? His friend's class was in the school's pool, practicing long-distance swimming.
Ryoga was standing close to the edge, looking rather bored of waiting for his turn to come, and that gave Yuma an idea. He got up from his seat and snuck up behind Ryoga, then, when he noticed his friend did not see him, hugged him from behind very tightly.
"Shaaaakuuu, that was wonderful!" The absolutely random physical contact startled Ryoga and caused him to slip into the pool along with Yuma clinging on to him. Shingetsu and Kotori who were only a few meters away in the pool gasped and decided to swim towards them, just to make sure if they were all right. The two boys sunk deep down in the water, and once they pulled away from each other, came up to the surface, coughing.
"All right. Yuma, what the actual hell?" His pushed his soaked, vibrant purple hair back behind his ear and looked over at Yuma, demanding an explanation. Said teen blushed with embarrassment and dived down into the water, to avoid Ryoga's stare. That did not exactly go as planned.
"Are you guys all right?" Kotori said once she reached the two boys. Shingetsu pulled Yuma up to the surface again and patted his back. He wanted to ask if he was all right, but Yuma simply grinned. Ryoga could still not understand why he said something so random and was trying to make sense of it, but came to no reasonable explanation. He pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing and swam to the edge of the pool to get back up. Before he got out, he turned to look over at Yuma, who had his full attention on Kotori and Shingetsu at the minute. His red bangs ended up falling straight to the side of his face, yet his deep black hair continued to keep some of its volume. The young duelist punched the air in happiness over something the other two had said, and got pushed underneath the water by Kotori. These sorts of actions were always comical, there was no reason for Yuma to act in such a way, yet it was intriguing to observe.
"Idiot."
"Yuma? Aren't you going to eat lunch with us?" Kotori asked along with Takashi and all their other friends. She could not believe her best friend's attitude. He always ate with them and then challenged Tetsuo to a duel, right away. However, lately, he was acting very strange. He refused to be near them around lunchtime and said he had to be elsewhere, but when asked where, he would not reply. They respected his privacy enough to not follow him and find out exactly where he was going, but were worried with all the new Barians showing up, especially Vector. For Yuma to be alone, even in school, at this point in time, was dangerous.
"I'll be right there!" Yuma sprinted off to a different part of the building and left the gang behind. Kotori puffed her cheeks and folded her arms across her chest.
"That's what he says every time, but he's been vanishing around every lunch break now. I'm worried." Tetsuo placed one hand on her shoulder, patting her for comfort.
"Don't worry. He's got Astral by his side! Come on now, let's go! I'm starving." She smiled and nodded. It was true that Astral was by his side, yet one could not help but to worry.
Yuma was walking down the corridor again, down and straight towards the right. This was where he began spending his lunch breaks. It was because Ryoga always came to the same place every single day to practice the violin.
Sometimes, he would hear him curse when he was trying to learn a new song, or improve it. He would also hear him hum and talk to himself at points about how to work the violin, and at other times about the song itself. He had come to know some of Ryoga's favorite composers this way, and also a few of his favorite songs. Most of them were only names Yuma could not recognize, and had very complicated pronunciation. However, there was that one melody that he could never forget. It was the one he heard for the first time when he figured out it was Ryoga who played on the violin.
After that day, he went into the room to see if there was a safe spot to hide, and still hear the music clearly. There was a small room inside where they kept equipment, such as baseball bats, footballs, and things for the sport club, but that was it; a very small area possibly only fit for one human. It was still better than standing out in the hall, listening, in an open area where he could get caught. Yuma always snuck inside before Ryoga had the time to arrive, and through several weeks, the other teen noticed absolutely nothing. This day was no different. He closed the small doorframe and leaned against it happily, wondering what his friend might play today.
It never crossed his mind to tell him, in a way, he did not want Ryoga to know. It felt as if he knew something, a secret of some kind, which made him feel special. Perhaps this was something only Ryoga's family knew about, but never mentioned. Whatever it was, Yuma wanted it to last. He felt guilty for leaving his friends, but they did seem to understand he wanted to be alone, so he did not mind it all too much.
Soon, the large door opened and Yuma listened carefully for Ryoga's footsteps. He could not see anything, since there was no light in the small room he was in, but he tried not to move around or cause any noise that might give Ryoga a hint of him hiding.
Soon, he heard the same melancholic melody as he heard the first time when he made this discovery. Even if it was a couple of days ago, it felt nice to hear it again.
'No, this is not creepy or stalkerish at all,' he thought to himself as he was locked away with the pleasant music and his own thoughts. A lot of things rushed through his mind when he heard Ryoga play. Since he was standing in silence, it gave him free time to think. Most of his thoughts were about the Barian and Astral world, the conflict and how to solve it, but once in a blue moon, he would actually think about Ryoga. Were they not friends? Should friends keep secrets from each other?
'Well, I am sort of keeping one right now…' Yuma pondered some more, but got sidetracked when he questioned himself of why he thought about Ryoga so much.
'He's a great duelist, good friend, even if we had a rough encounter, we're still friends, and… He makes me smi-' His concentration broke when the music suddenly stopped and the small closet door opened, causing him to fall out, straight into Ryoga's arms. The violin was placed down on the round table at the corner of the room. Ryoga probably expected someone to be in the small closet, and so, was ready to face the person.
"I thought I was just imagining things all this time, but I guess I was wrong. Just how long have you been back there, and why are you here to begin with?" Yuma's face heated up as he tried to speak, but those dark blue eyes saw right through him, and he could not lie. He was caught, and most likely would not get away with this, unless he explained himself.
"I-…I-uh…" He stood up straight and twiddled his thumbs, looking away.
"I sort of- you know, the music and all, and then, the pool, and youplaytheviolinverynice-" He was spouting random gibberish, but when he mentioned music, Ryoga blinked in surprise.
"Wait, you came here to listen to me play the violin?" Yuma nodded happily and smiled.
"You're really great! Honestly! I don't know why you wanted to hide it by playing in this room." Ryoga chuckled at the sudden change of attitude.
"Says the person who hid himself to listen to me play in secret." That comment discouraged Yuma slightly and made him blush even more.
"Well, if you want to put it that way… I-…I guess it's true." Yuma mumbled and continued to look away. Ryoga admitted that it was far better to have Yuma spy on him, than to have a random stranger do so. In fact, it was not very unpleasant either. Yuma had taken time from his lunch break just to come and listen to him play. In a way, it was comforting to know that he liked the music enough to come back and listen each time.
"So, that is what you meant by your comment a while ago? The one before you nearly drowned us both?" Ruby eyes continued to avoid Ryoga's, hoping he did not mind it. The taller teen walked over to the table and picked up the violin.
"So, you wouldn't mind if I continue? I was sort of in the middle of something." The comment made Yuma finally look up, finding Ryoga smiling. If he stayed quiet, he could listen all he wanted. Yuma sat down on the table and watched Ryoga with curiosity. Now that he did not have to hide, it felt more relaxing to listen. When Ryoga began playing, he did not bother asking for the name of the sorrowful melody. He did not need to know it. All he knew was that he would recognize it each time Ryoga played it, and it would be equally as beautiful every single time.
Ryoga assumed it would be easier to stay focused like this, but it proved to be more difficult than when Yuma was hiding. It was not uncomfortable, but he was not used to getting this sort of attention, especially not from Yuma. While dueling, it was different; they were both taking part in it, and having a conversation. This time around, it was only one person, watching the other's movement and skill. Even if it was someone he knew for a while now, it felt strange. He eventually paused and walked over to his friend, placing the violin down next to him, to lean on the table.
"Do you ever plan to take your eyes off me?" He had moved so close, it was impossible to stare back without feeling nervous. Yuma looked down in his lap, not bothering to reply. What was the point of allowing him to watch if he was going to complain about it? Ryoga leaned the bow against Yuma's chin and tilted his head up so they were looking straight at each other again.
"There we go. You looked away. That's a first."
"You said I could watch." He stated as a defense, getting mildly flustered.
"No, I said you could listen." Ryoga twisted the bow around to tilt Yuma's head to the side, smirking.
"I can still not get over the fact you've been here every single lunch break after that day. Was it really worth it?" Was there a need to answer that question? Ryoga could obviously tell Yuma did not regret coming to this place, or even staying after that. His eyes always seemed to shine brightly whenever he took interest to something, or someone. Now that they were looking straight at each other, and enjoying each other's company. Something they never would have done, unless Yuma decided to act this way. It was a confusing but pleasant friendship. He never had the time to pause and have some alone time with Yuma, even if he considered him a good friend. This is when he noticed all those little features he most likely would not notice from far away. The dark thick eyelashes, as well as his round cheeks were only a few qualities, which made him appear younger than he actually was. Not only that, but it made him seem charming. His clueless and blunt behavior complimented that at times, but at other, made Ryoga highly annoyed. While Ryoga was distracting himself from what he actually came to do, Yuma was growing slightly impatient and awkward due to the silence and how close they were to each other, and the space between them was slowly decreasing.
"Shark… My neck…Ow." He stated, as the bow was still tilting his head to the side this entire time. That gave the other teen an idea.
"Mind if I join?"
"Shark, wait, wha-" Yuma was silenced by Ryoga's lips colliding with his. It was startling and made him tense up completely, as if he was frozen. The kiss came very unexpectedly and he had no time to think over how to react before Ryoga pulled away, chuckling.
"You are so very inexperienced, it's almost comical." Yuma's face flushed madly after that sentence, now that he could think clearly. He motioned the bow away with his hand and looked at Ryoga with determined eyes.
"If you wouldn't have had that stick in my face and maybe given me a heads-up, it wouldn't have been so bad!" It was not exactly the reaction Ryoga expected, then again, he was not sure what to expect. He never assumed Yuma liked him in this way, and would never have, until now.
"It's not a stick, and are you saying you would like to do it again?" Yuma cupped his friend's cheeks and leaned closer, still somewhat doubtful over what he was about to do. The kiss, even if it was sudden, was rather pleasurable. The question was, what would this lead to if he did kiss Ryoga again? The nervousness grew the longer he stared into Ryoga's eyes. His hands began to shake slightly, yet he could not look away. It was as if Ryoga could read his mind at times.
"Why don't you Kattobingu on this one?" He joked. That was the last straw in this situation. Yuma was not the type to think ahead. Just like in duels, you never really know what will work unless you try everything, and staying silent right now was not going to accomplish anything. Doubt slowly faded from his mind as he closed his eyes and allowed his lips to gently brush against Ryoga's. The kiss was more fitting this time around, also calmer. Ryoga placed the bow down and tilted his head to the side slightly, seeing as Yuma still did not understand why that needed to be done. However, the fact he was prepared this time around did seem to change things slightly. The kiss felt mutual, and sweet. It started off simple, but grew more intense. Yuma's soft lips sparked Ryoga's interest, and caused him to nibble on his friend's upper-lip. Yuma shivered, feeling a weird sensation rush through his entire body. He tensed up slightly, but relaxed when Ryoga wrapped his arm around his waist. Despite how close the other teen got, he pulled away from Yuma, but still held his arm around him, tightly.
"You know you can breathe through your nose, right?" Ryoga was amused, but Yuma still failed to comprehend how he randomly just decided to share a kiss. What gave him that idea? Was it just something he wanted to do a long time ago but never got time to?
"…Shark, I don't understa-"
"Then we'll practice, a lot." Instead of asking why he was kissed again, he decided not to question it. It was pleasant, as well as heartwarming, but most of all, it felt so perfect. His face felt warm, and his heart was beating fast. He was too distracted by the kiss to feel Ryoga's hand gently sliding under his shirt. Why here? Why now? Why did it feel wrong to ask for Ryoga to stop, even if they should not be doing this in school? Soon, he felt Ryoga's slender fingers stroke his spine, and shut his eyes tightly at the unfamiliar touch.
"Yuma, relax, I'm not going to do anything bad."
"I know, but, it's not that. I can't enjoy this when I keep thinking someone will-" A voice spoke up and interrupted Yuma. Both teens looked over towards the door to see Kotori standing there with a questioning look. She tilted her head in confusion and narrowed her eyes in disbelief.
"Oh…so this is what you two have been up to during lunch?" Both had frozen in the act, absolutely unaware of how long she had been standing there, watching, and listening. The young girl blushed madly but had her eyes locked on both of them. Yuma wanted to defend himself straight away, but ended up stuttering out gibberish. Ryoga had no reply, and was equally as shocked as Yuma to find Kotori standing there, for who knows how long. Eventually she clasped her hands together and smiled.
"Ahhh, that's so sweet! Secret dates are the most adorable!" At this point, both boys blinked in confusion and looked at each other. They had absolutely no idea what she saw, but they were going to make sure what she saw was only a product of her imagination. They pulled away from each other, hid their faces and uttered a synchronized "Hell no." leaving Kotori baffled by their childish behavior.