Title: The Second Meeting: Sweet Melody
Pairing: YuuTari
Disclaimer: not mine, cool? cool.

"Yuushi, when you listen to music, do you listen for the lyrics or the sound?"

Oshitari wondered if all Yagyuu ever did was change the topic. "Probably the sound - I listen to a lot of techno - but what does that have to do with what just happened?"

"Why the sound? Why not the lyrics?" Yagyuu pressed. He probably had some deeper meaning in mind, Oshitari figured.

"Well, music is good for the feelings it conveys through the sound. Words can be lies, sound cannot." He didn't know where this was coming from, but it sounded plausible. It was true, anyway. He didn't really pay attention to lyrics when doing homework, but he definitely listened to the music.

"The human ear can only hear sound between 20hertz to 20 kilohertz - that's only about 120 pitches. To be literate in Chinese, you need to know more than 2000 Chinese characters. Don't you find it amazing how those 120 pitches can convey more truth than the thousands of words in our daily vocabulary?"

By now, they had started walking again, if only to make sure they didn't miss the entire match. Oshitari found his gaze focused on the trees lining the sidewalk as he thought over what Yagyuu just said. He still wasn't sure of its relevance, but he was sure there was something there. Yagyuu would never waste so many words on something unimportant.

"Would my explaining everything make things OK? Lyrics are easy to say, but truth is not as easy to convey. Regardless of what words were spoken today, does that change the feelings between us? You and Atobe once dated - does that matter anymore, even though he still has the keys to your house and I've never even met your parents?"

Oshitari didn't say anything as they stopped for a red light. Yagyuu was right, of course, and besides, he only had a month before Yagyuu left. At the opposite side of the street, he reached for Yagyuu's hand again, this time confidently grabbing onto it. He returned Yagyuu's faint smile with a twitch of his own mouth. They would be OK.

They didn't speak the rest of the way to the courts. By the time they finally reached the match, doubles one was already playing, but neither of them were really interested in the match. "Will you be coming back, or is it permanent?" Oshitari asked, breaking the silence. They weren't holding hands anymore, but they definitely stood out as the lone pair standing a little off to the side in the contrasting uniforms of the opposing teams. Even Atobe had refrained from searching out Yukimura, opting instead to talk with the senpai on the Hyoutei team.

"It's still unclear. You know how it's because the company just opened up a new branch in Shanghai? His main job is to oversee the hiring of personnel, so they'll either have him come back or leave him there to manage things." Oshitari glanced at Yagyuu. He was taken aback by how attractive Yagyuu actually was - it was kind of odd that he hadn't noticed that fact yet. Wisps of sun kissed hair danced in the wind, contrasting with, yet matching, the green backdrop of trees surrounding the court. Rikkai's striped tie enhanced the fact that the white shirt was buttoned all the way even outside of school. His arms were folded over his chest, the perpetual black power wrists resting against each other reminding onlookers that despite his lanky frame, Yagyuu was an accomplished sportsman. The only flaw to his appearance was his untucked shirt, except it somehow only served to make him more impeccable. "Is there something wrong?"

Oshitari blinked, realizing that his glance had turned into a thoroughly admiring stare, and the mild lilt in Yagyuu's voice indicated that he had been caught. "No, nothing's wrong," he muttered, quickly looking back at the courts. Were he one to gamble, he would've bet that a smirk was probably gracing Yagyuu's face at the moment - despite his reputation, Yagyuu did have both a vain and a sadistic streak in him, both probably remnants of Niou's influence.

"I'll apply for college here though, regardless."

Oshitari caught his breath as his back stiffened. The sheer hope that washed through his thoughts betrayed exactly how upset he had been that he may never see Yagyuu again, which he had effectively hidden even from himself up through now. He congratulated himself on keeping a seemingly stoic face, though. "Oh? Why's that?" As soon as he said it, he wanted to take it back - those words made it sound like he didn't want Yagyuu to return, which was far from the truth.

"Japan is my home," Yagyuu replied, voice just a little colder than before. Had Oshitari's words left the wrong impression on him?

"Of course," Oshitari muttered, slightly disappointed, raising his head to look at the game. With what he had said, did he really expect anything else? With his own indifference, hadn't he guaranteed Yagyuu's as well? "I'm sure you'll make it - you're such a great student and athlete, which college wouldn't want you?"

"Can I ask you to wait for me?"

Oshitari blinked, then turned to look at Yagyuu. A long heartbeat later, he gave a slow nod. The slight upturn on the corners of Yagyuu's mouth was matched on Oshitari's own.

Yagyuu's random trivia ramble is actually true - I've been doing a lot of signal processing (I'm an EECS major), and that was one of the things I had to measure and deal with. I'm also a Chinese minor, and that was one of the first things I learned in my first class (it's actually 3000, but eh). P