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"Two-hundred six."
Seijuuro tilts his chin in Reo's direction without redirecting his gaze from Kotaro, who is in the middle of his drills. He doesn't give Reo any other means of acknowledgement, but Reo gets the picture.
(That's why he's the favorite.)
"That's how many eyelashes you have."
It's a jarring enough statement to make Seijuuro's glance flicker to and fro; he spots a twitch in the corner of Reo's mouth but he'll let it pass. For now.
"How do you know this?"
"I counted them," he says, like it's the easiest thing to have done. "Only in the left, though. The right one has a hundred eighty-five."
Kotaro's dribbling, so it's safe to assume he won't make a mistake then; Seijuuro feels confident in his decision to look away in favor of staring at Reo.
"And why exactly did you do that?"
Reo crosses his arms and his legs, and somehow it's not the closed-off gesture it ought to be. He seems even more inviting, contrary to logic and all Seijuuro knew of body language. "You're the one who said I should be more observant of my surroundings."
There's something in his tone that's akin to the one he uses to flirt, though without the slight menace, ready to turn itself into a weapon if the reaction is overtly hostile. Right now it's all fondness. Seijuuro doesn't look too deeply into it, since it's not yet a legitimate concern.
"You know what I meant, Reo," he says, then, without missing a beat, "I don't need the Emperor Eye to spot you cheating your way out of that, Kotaro. Do it again."
"Here you go." Reo slips into the seat next to his and slides over a bowl of Rakuzan's tofu soup. "It's on the menu, so I got one, but I don't really like it so you can have it."
"Oi, oi, why aren't you that nice to me, Reo-nee?" Kotaro chirps and waves his chopsticks around. Reo bats them away irritably.
"Only when you're not being a brat."
Seijuuro regards the second bowl of soup and nods once, still eating from the first. "Thank you." He doesn't need to look up to tell that Reo smiles at that, because Kotaro points it out and the two of them continue their bickering, with Eikichi occasionally joining in. Sometimes Seijuuro sees why Chihiro chooses to have lunch outside by himself; he understands the appeal in spending his free period surrounded by quiet air instead of aimless banter.
But most of the time, it's comforting, nostalgic, makes him think of two years ago, in a different cafeteria with different people, makes him feel in a way he no longer allows.
"Reo," he says simply, and it cuts through their conversation like a bloodless kill. "How many eyelashes do Kotaro and Eikichi have?"
Eikichi chokes on a bite of steak, and Kotaro slaps his back absently to help him out. Blinks. "Eh?"
"I wouldn't know, Sei-chan," Reo says, unfazed and saccharine. "I only counted yours."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Eikichi wants to know, while Kotaro's making wild gestures with his chopsticks again.
"Tell us, Akashi!"
"There's nothing to tell," Seijuuro replies. He eats a spoonful of soup and ruminates on the possibility that he may not have won this round, based on Reo's triumphant grin. It shouldn't matter - there's nothing significant about Reo's attempts to meddle with his emotions, nor is there any quantifiable method to measure his success either way - but. He can't help bit feel that it does.
It matters a great deal.
"What's going on with you two?" Chihiro makes the mistake of asking, and Seijuuro is compelled to explain, because he'd like to know too. He tells Chihiro, flatly, about the affectionate praise, the little favors. Reo tilting his head and wondering if he could paint Seijuuro's pinky nail red, to match his vibrant hair. (The answer had been 'Go ahead.') His voice inflects nothing and his eyes betray even less, but Chihiro scrunches his face and interrupts an anecdote by holding up a palm.
"Jeez, okay. I've heard enough. I never want to hear about this ever again."
Seijuuro waits for him to continue, not wasting words on it. Chihiro gives him an unimpressed scowl. "You could hold up your end of a conversation once in a while, you know. The world won't end if you do."
"I'd like to hear your input, if you please," Seijuuro says, ignoring his rudeness. Chihiro purses his mouth and snaps his light novel shut, tucking it under one arm.
"It sounds to me like he's courting you. What are you, fifteen?"
Well, actually.
He asks as much of Reo when the opportune moment presents itself.
"Are you courting me?"
Reo's brow crinkles, just barely, to indicate his astonishment. His recovery is remarkably swift as he tucks a stray lock of hair behind one ear; perhaps he hoped it would be charming. Seijuuro despairs to realize that it is.
"As a matter of fact I am. Do you mind?"
He weighs his options, and is surprised to find out how little he has to lose regarding this arrangement. He may even have more to gain.
"No, I don't." His only condition, "as long as it doesn't interfere with your playing."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Reo falls into step with him, and again Seijuuro is amazed by how well they synchronize without even trying. "Can I walk you to your next class?"
You already are, he says, though not with his mouth.
He has a foot in Reo's lap because the coach noticed his bad landing earlier, caused by the on the spot on the floor where someone spilled a drink. (When he finds out who it is, they're getting relegated to second string.) The coach threatened to have him sent to the clinic if he didn't have it checked, and upon removing his shoe they saw his foot mildly bruised.
Reo offered to massage it, with Eikichi testifying to the wonders that Reo's hands had done for his back and shoulderblades. So Seijuuro acquiesed.
Reo's fingers are quite the perfect pleasure, though Seijuuro is careful not to release any sounds that may convey this. Reo is happy to fill the silence with his chatter as he finds just the right pressure points and applies the softest of touches.
"The average human eye only has a hundred to a hundred fifty eyelashes, you know," Reo says, and levels Seijuuro with a gaze that delays his next inhale by a fraction of a second. "But I guess what I'm about to say is obvious, isn't it?
"You're no ordinary human, Sei-chan."