Music of Life - Second Movement
~人生の音楽 ♪~
~Jinsei no Ongaku~
Second Movement: Secrets of the Unknown
“WAIT, who’s your section leader?!” Chinen practically ordered Ryutaro to repeat his sentence.
“Daiki Arioka… Is that bad?” Ryutaro answered meekly.
Chinen immediately turned away, arms crossed angrily in front of his chest. “NO! Of course not!”
“Right… which would explain why you’re getting all riled up over nothing,” Ryutaro raised an eyebrow at his suspicious friend, and turning to Ryosuke, who had been standing by in an utmost silence, he questioned, “Do you know him or something?”
Ryosuke flinched at the mention of Daiki, hidden pain gnawing furtively at the inner crevices of his aching heart. “Nope, and I could care less, CHINEN. So why don’t you stop freaking out over nothing?” he asked, stifling his inner turmoil with a composed retort.
“Fine… But you said it, not me,” Chinen muttered bitterly.
“Said what?” Ryutaro asked, evidently confused. “Is there something going on that I should know about?”
“Just forget about it, Ryu,” Ryosuke glared daggers at Chinen.
Ryutaro frowned. There’s seriously something going wrong here…
“So, Chinen,” Ryosuke began, abruptly changing the subject before Ryutaro could demand an explanation for their odd behavior. “How’s your section in band?”
“Fine,” Chinen huffed, irately taking a bite of his lunch.
“Isn’t there anything else you want to say about your first experience in the upper level band?” Ryosuke inquired listlessly, inattentively drumming his fingers on the cafeteria table as he spoke.
“Well… I guess our section’s pretty nice. The guys are all pretty welcoming, and our first chair flutist was very friendly towards me.” Chinen scratched his head, forcing himself to think of a more protracted answer.
“I wonder if they’re all told to be that way then… my section leader was very welcoming, too,” Ryutaro noted.
“That must’ve been pretty nice…” Ryosuke murmured quietly. Coming from Daiki, though… I’m not surprised.
“You’re right, it was. I think it helps to make us sound better if we all know each other and get along easily. That way, we’re more able to bond and coalesce better as a group,” Ryutaro smiled.
“Yup,” Chinen agreed disinterestedly, not bothering to add anything more to the conversation.
“Are you sure you guys feeling alright today?” Ryutaro asked, a little worriedly.
His two friends merely nodded, not willing to let their eyes meet, then went back to eating their lunches in silence.
~~~~~
“So what did you think?” Kei smiled as he approached Kota in the backroom after band class had ended.
“It was fun,” Kota nodded, gently setting his alto sax back into its case.
Beside him, Hikaru Yaotome their friend and Kota’s fellow sax player accorded, “Yeah, it was really interesting; we had a new guy in our section, his name was… Shoon, right?”
“Yeah, it was Shoon Yamashita.” Kota laughed wryly. “You could at least try a little harder to remember one guy’s name, Hikaru.”
Kei laughed. “Well at least you only had one new member to bear in mind. We had four! But I guess the flute section is usually bigger than the sax section… we now have eight flutes!” he grinned.
“Sounds like fun,” Kota smiled, resting his arm contentedly around Kei’s shoulders after he had finished putting his instrument away. “It doesn’t seem like you’ve been this ecstatic about anything in a long time…” he whispered softly into his boyfriend’s ear.
Kei frowned. “I’m excited every day I get to spend with you, Kota,” he insisted.
Hikaru coughed loudly, drawing their attention away from each other. “Anyway…” he continued uncomfortably, ignoring the sore aching in his chest. “So who’s up for some lunch now?”
“Me!” Kei and Kota answered simultaneously.
“Great…” Hikaru sighed to himself sadly. It’s been years… but you’re still in a relationship with him. When will you ever realize my true feelings for you…?
~~~~~
The next day did not bode any better for Ryosuke. He was still stuck across the room from Daiki, and he still hadn’t found a proper time to approach the older boy with hopes of renewing at least their friendship.
“Keito…” Yuto whispered, trying to get the older boy’s attention. “Keito...!” he tried again, but to no avail. “Keito!” he pulled on the older boy’s arm, tearing his gaze away from the other side of the room. “Who the heck are you staring at?” Yuto asked in wonderment.
“N-Nobody,” Keito answered quickly.
Ryosuke smirked. “Don’t tell me you’re going to be staring at Ryutaro all throughout rehearsal even this year! Yuto’s always trying to get your attention, but he always ends up failing because you’re too busy gawking over at the French Horns!” he laughed, amused.
“Hey, at least my crush didn’t already reject me! Unlike you, Ryosuke,” Keito retorted.
“Stop it!” Yuto nudged Keito, cautioning him he had gone too far. “Don’t mention Daiki around Ryosuke, you know it still hurts him inside!”
Keito sighed. “How come he gets to mock me, then?”
Ryosuke drowned out the rest of the conversation from his negligent ears as he turned his gaze away, undoubtedly bothered at Keito’s painful remark. Everyone knew about his failure with Daiki, and even Keito could tell, Ryosuke had yet to get over his love for the senior. With nowhere else to turn to, Ryosuke slowly lifted his eyes to look over to the French Horn section where he knew Daiki would be sitting.
Suddenly, his skin prickled peculiarly as he felt the unfamiliar, aberrant sensation that told him, he was being watched.
As Ryosuke tried looking around to find out from whom the gaze was coming from, his eyes met another boy’s. He didn’t know who the staring boy was, but he was a senior. His eyes, narrow yet piercingly dark, seemed to bore tunnels straight into Ryosuke’s soul for a brief second, before the boy then turned away.
Was he… watching me?
Ryosuke jumped in a sudden jolt as Yuto elbowed him, warning him to pay attention. Quickly, he brought his awareness back to the conductor, who was now busy passing out their first piece of music to their section.
“On the second day, we’re getting music already?” Yuto inquired curiously.
“Yeah, I wonder what it is… Things seem to go by much quicker in the advanced ensemble,” Keito remarked.
Ryosuke nodded. “It usually takes us much longer to get started, but this seems like we’re just jumping right in!” he smiled, laughing off his inner uncertainties. Casually, he snuck another glance at the boy, whose eyes widened upon meeting his once more, before he again, turned away.
Who are you…? Ryosuke wondered guardedly. And why are you watching me…?
~~~
A/N: This is kinda random, but is anyone else super IN LOVE with Arashi's new song, Lotus?? ^^ UWAAHH I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! X3 *obsesses* Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the update! Who knows who's stealing Hikaru's thoughts!? and who can't keep their eyes off Yama-chan?! o.o (yushh jessicaluthien, it's the one your amazing description is going to be coming from!! ^^) haha I put Shoon in there for fun, but he's not really an important character.. at all. xDD (i'm sorry, shoon!) Oh well.. on the bright side, Hikaru made his appearance! ^^ So now that all ten of them are here, the fun (and despair!) can truly begin....