Tanned fingers flitted across the monochromatic bars all in a line. Words poured from his lips, old but not worn. Each syllable on his tongue sprouted wings, bringing to the world something from deep within. It was his song, his heart. It was a bright melody in the solemn night. It was the call of love - a call to gather like hearts.
Some of the students who didn't do their homework might have been surprised. Each note flowing from the carefully controlled body of their headmaster was nothing short of smooth and flawless. Shining Saotome, who hadn't been notable in the mainstream for quite some time (at least in idol years) had talent in spades. He hadn't stopped due to a lapse in interest or ability; he had quit the game early before the burdens of age or controversy could warp his perfect image. He continued to shine on the world vicariously, and share his wisdom every day. He had his apprentices carry on his skill in ways even they didn't realize. His school and agency were the culmination of his every talent.
The more perceptive of those around him were drawn to him. There was no other way to describe it. No other way to describe why Natsuki Shinomiya's cat-silent feet slid into the music room, why he so nonchalantly strolled to the violin sitting in wait. It wasn't the first time. It had become a habit.
Natsuki balanced the wooden body, leaning into the chin rest and closing his eyes. He brought up his arm, and brought down the first note.
Only he, who knew every millisecond of the song by heart, noticed the slight stutter in the piano keys. It hadn't thrown off the beat, hadn't been off-key; he just knew. It didn't faze him, nor the strong voice resonating off of each wall and filling his ears with song. Natsuki's shoulders swayed with the subtle build of tension. He closed his eyes, feeling the friction of the bow hairs against the strings shoot up his arm. The vibrations of sound infiltrated his pores and drove his instincts. He knew the song not by notes on a page, but by feeling.
As the song faded away, so did the outside energy flowing into him. He calmly opened his eyes and set his violin to the side. "That was another fun jam session, wasn't it, Headmaster?" Natsuki asked as he clapped his hands together, turned towards Saotome with a bright grin.
Saotome flipped around to face Natsuki. "Oh, yesssss," he hissed in agreement. "Your technique has come a long way, Mr. Shinomiya. I feel as though a herd of water buffalo has just trampled the snowdrops in my heart! Beautiful and tragic!" Shiny crooned, grabbing ahold of his chest dramatically. "The bitter aftertaste has faded into a heartful melody!"
Natsuki gleamed with pride as if he understood. "Wow, thank you!" He giggled, twirling closer to the piano seat. "It's all because of your lessons. I hope you'll give me lots more tips from now on." He bent down, a small, shy smile gracing his lips as he reached for the bridge of his glasses to get a better look at Saotome.
The clearing of an impatient throat broke the silence of the room. There, Ryuuya stood with arms crossed. "What are you two doing? Do you know how late it is?" He pointed towards the door. "Get back to your dorms before I issue citations."
Ignoring the warning, Shining Saotome leapt from the piano stool and wound up in front of Ryuuya. "Ryuu-chin," he mumbled in his mysterious tone of voice that tended to leave one wondering if not fearing. "Someday, I must show you the dance that goes to this song."
"Dance?" Ryuuya found himself parroting foolishly. The video and subsequent performances had been well choreographed for certain, but did not contain anything the average individual would dub a dance. Ryuuya, as an idol, had no particular strength to add to these late night music sessions. A decent voice, sure; his career had quickly molded to fit his natural talents of acting and dancing, however. He was a sucker for those words, too.
"Oh yeeeeees," the eagerly sinister voice of his boss replied. "Mooolto beeello! Mooolto diffiiiicile! One of my colleagues was so inspired by watching us record the song, he choreographed it in two days, but it was deemed too HOT and SPICY for the public auuuudience."
Ryuuya's interest was piqued. He hadn't thought the song needed a dance; Shiny was enough to sell it. But there was more? Back in the day, Shining Saotome wore some question outfits; the sensual dance wasn't too big a surprise in that context. It made him all the more eager to learn the moves; so different from his usual macho choreography as well as the sweet boyish stuff he'd started out with.
Satsuki's derisive laugh penetrated the man's far-off thoughts. "He doesn't have the guts to try to pull that off. He's so pampered through his little hero fantasy series, he can't fathom putting anything real into his work, let alone something vulgar."
"You think it's fun to taunt me, you little snot?" It had come out on impulse, and he tensed as it hit him just whom he had said that too.
Satsuki stepped closer, until he could confirm with his own senses that Ryuuya was holding his breath. His lips lifted in a proud smirk. "My my my." The voice coming from the boy with the smoldering green eyes resembled the innocent glasses boy much too much, with only a hint of a darker undertone betraying it. "Looks like you haven't learned your lesson yet, teach."
Ryuuya didn't like the way Satsuki's hands trailed up his sleeve, didn't like the way he pulled himself up, didn't like the way he whispered that nickname - the one which in itself was a taunting reminder of what kind of person he was. His suspicions (knowledge, really) were confirmed when a hand pulled him roughly towards the pretty boy's lips and proceeded to roam over his body. Ryuuya pushed his hands against Satsuki's chest in vain; as unlikely as it was, there was an inherent possibility of being found out in the music room. It was never locked, and while a jam session could be explained away, the fact that he was halfway towards missing his shirt couldn't. It was his own fault though; moonlight and music (and Satsuki) were always a recipe for trouble. He stopped resisting.
But Satsuki's mind-reading abilities were at full power. He slammed his fist into Ryuuya's shoulder. "How fucking precious of you to act self-righteous. You're the one who interrupted us; what vile manners. Jealousy really isn't becoming of you. I'll have to make sure you don't forget your manners next time," he promised with a threatening scowl.
Ryuuya's eyes narrowed. "I didn't say anything!" He couldn't deny the accusation; he was definitely jealous. It had taken him a while to notice these meetings. How long they had been occurring, he had no clue. It wasn't so rare for Shiny or Natsuki to disappear on a whim. He'd just happened to cross by one day, heard a familiar melody, and stumbled into a scene of a medieval bard, something like a disco knight, and a milk maid (who was Shiny's pet tiger) making quite the deranged and inviting scene. He had little to bring to these instances but his captive attention and a harmony which served only to make it more difficult to hear Shiny's beautiful voice caress the inner walls of his ears, though.
Satsuki was quite irritated at losing his hold on Ryuuya's attention. A quiet growl welled from within him. "You don't think you can ignore me." There was no question, merely a comment of annoyance. It was all the warning he gave before he attacked with the voracity of a hurricane.
The door was on the hinge, not quite closed. Ryuuya had seen a couple of students pass by on his way there. He had a meeting in the morning. None of these defenses would prove successful against a determined Satsuki. Ryuuya bit down on his lip as he felt Satsuki's teeth dig into his shoulder, precisely where his trademark outfits would cover.
Satsuki wasn't doing it to be considerate; it was because it wasn't worth the bitching he'd get for it otherwise. It wasn't a matter of pride; he was not prideful, first and foremost, nor did he aim purely to antagonize and beat others - he was just there to get what he wanted, and aggression was usually the way to get it the fastest. Few understood his intentions despite the simplicity of them. It was what made certain people's company more bearable. That and reducing the school's manliest hero into a bright-red, nail-scraping shell of himself. Plus Shiny's unexpected tendency to -
Satsuki pulled away, his eyes narrowing as Ryuuya's consciousness streamed back into him.
A small moment ticked by as an ominous dread swept over them.
Their eyes met in a moment of clarity. Where was Saotome?
The two jumped apart when a loud screeching shook the room, their palms flying up to cover their ears.
"What is the meaning of this?" Satsuki growled over the head-splittingly painful ringing.
All the two could see through their eyes pinched closed were flashes of a faint white; in fact, red and blue spotlights trailing the area of the room. The megaphone feedback ceased with a burst of static.
"Break it up!" the spectator, Shining Saotome, breathed into the megaphone, sitting on what looked to be a lifeguard post when one leg over the other. He slid down one side of it like a fireman's pole, his feet landing on the ground with an ankle-breaking slam. Though small cracks appeared in the ground, Saotome strolled away unaffected. Somewhere in this movement, the megaphone had disappeared.
Saotome stared at the two with disappointment. "I don't know what you were trying to accomplish. This is not the place for such violence!"
Ryuuya could refute that only to a certain extent - everything Satsuki did was tinged with violence. "Sir, I can assure you you're misinterpreting the situation," he said with a practiced diplomatic presentation.
Saotome clicked his tongue and shook his head. "NO excuses. This is just despicable. Ryuuchin," he said, the nickname being the only affectionate addition to his harsh speech, "straighten yourself out. And you calm down, Mr. Shinomiya. My office, chop chop!" He clapped his hands, waiting for the pair to walk ahead of him like good cattle before stepping after them.
It was all about keeping up appearances. Ryuuya held himself in rigid stance, his face revealing nothing outside of a professional air. Natsuki, whose glasses had reappeared when nobody was looking, walked obediently alongside him, a slight distress in his expression. Shining Saotome was always himself, which was too much trouble for anyone to analyze. Students in their slumber remained unaware of the suspicious trio trotting down the hallway, the hidden compartments of Saotome's office, and the dangerous romance playing out under their noses. Because nobody asked why Ryuuya was five minutes late for class the next morning - and seemed to blame the students for it, why Saotome's morning announcement was peppered with even more flamboyantly exclaimed words from languages nobody knew - perhaps not even him, or why Natsuki's ramblings had switched from sparkling spring to romantic evening metaphors. In some way or another, it had merely become their reality - their normality.
People were quick to catch onto mistakes, but a perfect harmony never stood out to anyone who wasn't looking for it.
_Fin_
Cheers to Saikou-sama for introducing the world to this beautiful pairing!
Now it just needs a shipping name or something.