A/N: Uhhh, I couldn't stop writing. This chapter, haha. I feel for you, Haru. Nagisa's a little shit. Kimi's a little shit. And Makoto is just.. Makoto.
Chapter 2 – A New Friendship
Laughter filled the chilly air as Haru attempted to regain his cool composure. A light touch of pink crept up onto the raven's usually pale cheeks as he pursed his lips together in a pout and looked away; his usual reaction to being embarrassed. After what felt like an eternity, the gentle chuckling stopped and Haru heard a few quiet footsteps on the slightly damp grass, knowing that the tall male was coming closer.
"Ah, I'm sorry," the man said, smiling as Haru let his gaze slide over to meet the captivating green. Before he knew it, he was lost in those eyes, sinking, drowning, in the emerald orbs. It was only when the man blinked that Haru managed to pull himself back to reality. He huffed, eyes darting away to prevent him from being caught, earning another bubble of laughter.
"I heard you playing and couldn't help but listen, I'm sorry for intruding." Haru couldn't help but think that the male's voice was familiar, in a way. Gentle, caring, the perfect tone to fit a perfect body- wait, stop right there. Haru quickly rid his mind of those thoughts, and shrugged one shoulder.
"S'fine," he mumbled, still attempting to hide his tiny blush with his fringe, but the black hair barely did a good job of that.
"I hope it's not too much but... can you play it again?"
Haru's gaze instantly shot back to meet that same green, this time it was full of a kind of excitement, anticipation almost. He forced back a snort, before his eyes fell to the violin still on his lap, fingers still tightly gripping the neck from the jolt his body did earlier. It took a few minutes for the male to make a decision, but eventually, he nodded slowly, and brought the instrument back up to his chin.
After taking in a deep breath, Haru let the bow rest on the strings ever so lightly, before beginning to play the tune again. It felt odd, knowing that someone was watching him play, but it wasn't exactly a bad feeling, either. Stealing a glance at the strange brunet, Haru's eyes widened. The male was swaying from side to side a little, eyes closed as he listened. Before the annoying blush could return, Haru tore his eyes away, forcing them to stay glued to his fingers on the strings, watching them fly from string to string, a multitude of notes emanating from the instrument as he continued to play.
A minute or so later and Haru had his eyes closed, once again lost to the music. But something brought him back, eyelashes fluttering as his eyes opened again. He could hear a voice. Not your usual speaking tone. No, someone was singing, or at least humming. His performance stopped, and he turned to the source of the noise. The man immediately stopped and rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.
"S-Sorry, I got carried away there, huh," he stammered, and Haru narrowed his eyes. That sing-song voice was so familiar, yet Haru still couldn't put a name to it.
"Who are you?" the raven asked simply. The brunet in front of him blinked a few times in disbelief. Was Haru meant to know who he was? It sure seemed like it, from the reaction he was getting. Nevertheless, the male just shrugged it off and held out his right hand.
"Makoto. Tachibana Makoto." The reply was in that gentle tone again, the one that made Haru want to melt into a puddle on the floor, but somehow he managed to put his bow gently to the side. He gripped onto his violin with his right hand and with his left, shook Makoto's.
"N-Nanase Haruka." Haru mentally cursed himself for the sudden stuttering, but Makoto didn't seem to mind. Of course his hands were trembling, even as he began to put away his precious instrument. It was him. The well-known pianist and singer, Tachibana Makoto. The thought rose a question in Haru's mind, however. What was he doing here in all of places? Some dingy park in the middle of the big city. It didn't make sense.
"I'm here on a tour," Makoto answered, and Haru jumped up from his crouched down position, looking up at the tall male with wide eyes.
'How the hell did he just do that?' he thought, before adjusting his hoody and looking away. Makoto simply laughed, but didn't say anything else. All it did was make Haru even more awkward.
After a few minutes, the silence was broken, again by Makoto.
"I'd like to hear you play more," he said, and deep blue eyes rose to meet forest green.
'Why would he want to hear my crap?' Haru thought, frowning slightly. However, all he said in the end was, "yeah," and shoved his hands in his pockets, sighing. He couldn't get over the fact that Tachibana Makoto wanted to hear more of his tunes, despite how much the male hated them. It still made no sense. Nothing did at that moment in time.
"Well, I'll let you decide some other time, alright? I've gotta go." The brunet's voice pierced through Haru's ears, making him fully alert as curious sapphire watched as large, calloused hands reached into the inner pocket of a jacket. Eyes were still glued to them as a number was scribbled down on a ripped piece of paper. "I know it's weird but, I really like your stuff. Make sure you don't give this number out, 'kay?" That gentle smile again. It was enough to make Haru's heart skip a beat, but he took the paper and, not even glancing at what was written, shoved it into his pocket and picked up his violin case.
"Yeah," he replied in a deadpan tone, acting as if he weren't interested. Makoto gave a quick grin before waving and jogging off. Now Haru was alone with his thoughts. The thoughts that were whirling around his head, repeating themselves over and over and honestly getting quite annoying.
"Shut up," Haru mumbled to himself before heading back.
For some reason, the walk back to his apartment felt a little different. The piece of paper in his pocket felt like it was boring holes into the thick fabric, even though that was clearly just in Haru's head. The wind felt odd. It had a strange crisp to it that Haru hadn't noticed before. Nature's sounds surrounding him felt that little bit more sharp. He shrugged. Probably his imagination.
A loud mewl greeted Haru was he opened his door, a hungry kitten soon clawing as his shins as she was unable to reach any higher. Haru sighed in response, dropped his violin into his worn-out bed, and padded into the kitchen, Kimi trotting happily after him.
"Here." Haru shovelled some wet food into a bowl and placed it onto the floor, barely having time to pull his hands away before Kimi had darted forward and began to scoff the food down. "For how much you eat, you don't grow much..." the raven muttered as purring filled the room.
-x-
With his own stomach and the cat's hunger very satisfied, Haru was sat on his couch, staring at the blank screen of his old TV. He hadn't moved to turn it on yet. Instead, his head was full of the previous events of that evening.
Why did Tachibana Makoto of all people give me his phone number?
Why does he want to hear more?
Do I need to write a new tune?
Why did he begin to sing along?
Was he thinking of taking the tune to make it his own?
Why did he have to be so good-
"Shut up," Haru blurted out suddenly, and Kimi jumped from his lap and hissed in annoyance. The raven blinked, returning the glare his kitten was giving him, before reaching over and flicking the TV on.
None of the programmes really interested the violinist. It was the usual rubbish for a Monday night, he supposed. Random documentaries he had already seen five times before. Old films from over thirty years ago. Repeats of shows he didn't care about.
A rustling brought Haru out of his bored state. It was probably Kimi rummaging around in places she shouldn't be, but as he caught sight of a certain piece of paper, the male jumped off the couch and grabbed the kitten, holding her up. Why did he buy a cat, anyway? Oh. Nagisa. Of course. His eyes narrowed as he glared at the feline again, seeing a corner of paper sticking out of her tiny mouth.
Haru made a sound of disgust before prying Kimi's jaws open, ignoring the razor sharp teeth, and somehow managed to retrieve the paper.
Stupid cats.
Grumbling to himself, Haru came to the conclusion it would be a good idea to copy the number down somewhere in case a certain very annoying little kitten decided that paper was to be its next snack. He pulled out his phone and, after having to squint to see the smudged numbers properly, successfully added the contact. Which reminded him of a hyperactive blond that would probably want to know everything about what happened.
-x-
A rather long, irritating conversation later, and Haru was completely and utterly exhausted, which was a first. Chatting to Nagisa always took all the energy out of him. The violinist flopped back onto his bed with a heavy sigh, glad to finally have some time to himself. Kimi hopped up to join him, curling up next to his head and falling asleep.
Haru scoffed. If only it were that easy for him. Cats had a hard life, really. Sleep, eat, claw at things, eat some more, then just sleep for the rest of the day. Rolling his eyes and then closing them, Haru pulled a thick blanket over his slim figure and after a brief moment, found the slumber he had longed for.
-x-
"Haru-chan~!" Haru held back a groan as the usual sing-song voice of his annoying childhood friend rang through the small bakery, thankful that no customers were there yet to hear such a nickname. "How did last night go, huh?! Did you call him? Please say you called him!"
"No, I didn't call him. I fell asleep like normal people do at 3 o'clock in the morning," Haru snapped, glaring daggers at the blond. The expression didn't seem to affect Nagisa at all, as he was soon giggling again before rushing into the back room for God-knows-what. It was then that Haru let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead as it ached from lack of sleep. Thanks to Nagisa, he had gained a massive four hours sleep, and now had a pounding head as a reward.
The bell ringing was the signal for Haru to try and straighten up, but as soon as he the face of the person, he decided he wouldn't even bother.
"Good morning, Nanase-kun," the male with glasses said, and he pushed the spectacles up his nose, which seemed to be a bit of a habit.
"Reeei-chaaan~!" came the excited cry from Nagisa, the blond, as usual, running over and throwing his arms around the blue-haired male. Haru groaned.
"Can you be quiet, Nagisa? Not everyone can survive on barely a few hours sleep," the raven muttered but was ignored. It was barely 8:15 and Haru knew he had already talked way too much for it to be healthy. He was a person of few words, and wanted to keep it that way if possible.
Another chime from the door bell, and tired oceanic blue eyes lifted from the till to see who the new customer was. Haru's stomach dropped.
Fluffy yet wild brown hair, striking, forest green eyes, and looks that could seriously kill.
"Ah, Haruka, I didn't know you worked here?" that same, gentle tone spoke. Haru swallowed the lump in his throat, before realising something. Since when were they on first-name terms? He had only just met the pianist last night! Maybe he was crazy. Yeah. Definitely crazy. Haru stared with lidded eyes, too exhausted to care past that.
"Yes I do," he mumbled as Nagisa finally peeled himself off a very flustered Rei. 'Oh, God Nagisa, please don-'
"Oh my God it's you!" the blonde squealed, and Haru swore that if Makoto wasn't here he would have face planted the counter. "It's you! Haru-chan told me all about you last night!"
'Nagisa stop i-'
"He totally loves you already!"
'Nagisa, I'm warning yo-'
"I mean, he didn't exactly say those words but- Haru-chan? Why do you look so scary?!" Nagisa tried his best to look scared, but the expression was completely transparent. If Haru's glare could kill, he would be a serial killer. Multiple times over.
"Shut. Up." Haru's voice was deep, and a lot rougher than it had ever sounded before. He was tired, he had a pounding headache, yet Nagisa still seemed to think that squealing like a little girl was a perfectly good idea. Makoto, however, was looking as if he understood the situation a little, and put a hand up in half-surrender.
"I'll.. come back later," the brunet said, before placing a hand on the counter and leaning in to the fuming Haru.
"What?" Haru spat out.
"Play for me later."
A/N: Pissed off Haru, anyone? Sorry if he's a little OOC. I'm too used to writing as Makoto.
Gwynhafra: omgIloveyourstoryToMakotoWithLove. Thank you! Your review made my day, ehe.
Ashira23: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. :)
Reviews, yeah? :D I don't mind criticism, but no flaming please.
