Chapter Text
Yuuichirou Amane wasn’t one to be very patient or enjoy certain things thoroughly, especially when it came to all the boring performances the people at his best friend Shinoa’s university did. Shinoa attended a university harbored towards musicians, composers, and vocalists, and practically everyone that attended derived with some sort of high musical IQ in their genes, if that was even a thing, and it annoyed the hell out of Yuuichirou. You couldn’t blame him though; it seemed as though everyone at their semester concerts copied and pasted each others music sheets, always having the same mellow tone or jumpy beat to the rhythm.
Yuuichirou himself on the other hand, was an art student at an institute not too far from Shinoa’s. His attitude towards drawing, his life passion, was quite different than with everything else in his life. He took it very seriously, always making sure the shading was dark or light enough, the proportions correct, the drawing accurately capturing whichever still life he was drawing from, etc. He was very patient with it as well, and if Yuuichirou’s friends could commend him on anything in his life, it would be for his devotion and determination whenever it came to art.
That said, all Yuuichirou wanted to do at the moment was go home, but he was too much of a good friend to do so. Currently, he was sitting uncomfortably in the stiffy auditorium chairs the music school, Sanguinem was it?, provided for days such as today. The semester was nearly over, the performance today acting as a finalizer for scores and a show of improvement for each artist that presented their talent.
Shinoa would be performing during the second division, (the vocalist section), out of ten categories. Yuuichirou was just thanking whatever god was out there that he’d be able to leave right after that. He really did not want to sit through another shit show of the same melodies and chords being played by every student, even though Shinoa would argue that everyone’s compositions were very different, Yuuichirou still didn’t buy it.
“Mitsuba, I’m gonna go take a piss, make sure no one takes my shit.” Yuuichirou spoke in a hushed voice while standing up, his chair folding back upon losing its weight.
“Who would want your stuff, you literally just have like 200 yen and a gum wrapper. Really living that art student life huh.” Mitsuba snickered, earning a roll of the eyes from Yuuichirou.
“Yeah yeah shut up, I’ll be back.”
Squeezing his way through the row of legs that jut out at him and nearly tripping over purses and flower bouquets, Yuuichirou finally made his way out of the auditorium. Upon exiting, he squinted his eyes, the ultraviolet rays of the sun throwing daggers into his irises; a change in surrounding from the vast darkness he was previously in.
He peered up, looking for any sense of direction as to where the bathrooms could be. Taking notice of a sign with BATHROOMS written across, as well as an arrow pointing right, Yuuichirou began his trekking towards his destination. The floors in the university were polished and pristine; Yuuichirou’s reflection clear as day within them. The ceiling looked as if it were part of the Sistine Chapel; intricate designs and swirls of paint gathered to form meticulous figures and horizons. Yuuichirou hoped one day he could achieve that form of excellence with his art. Pillars lined the corridors leading to the bathrooms, and Yuuichirou felt as if he were in Harry Potter attending Hogwarts with the amount of gothic architecture involved.
After what felt like forever, Yuuichirou finally arrived in front of the men’s restroom, and pushed the door open, beginning to walk inside. The interior of the bathroom looked just as nice as the rest of the school, if not nicer. Everything was so elegant, maybe a bit too tasteful for Yuuichirou. He would rather have something more practical and comfortable than something so flashy and extravagant. Admiration aside, he began to make his way to one of the stalls when a flash of blonde hair passed him and a brush was placed against his shoulder. Yuuichirou furrowed his brows, looking up at whoever had just bumped into him.
The stranger was ethereal. Bright cerulean irises gazed into Yuuichirou’s viridescents, the former’s soft, alabaster skin becoming peach with the fact that he just bumped into Yuuichirou. Yuuichirou was honestly too awestruck to even form a word, so instead, he just measley stared at the boy who frantically bowed and then scrammed his way out of the bathroom, the only evidence of his presence being the sound of the abnormally large door closing and the water droplets lined on the sink.
“What… just happened.” Yuuichirou muttered to himself, gaze fixated on where the boy just was. Oh fuck. He was so cute.
“Yuu! What took you so long?! Shinoa’s about to start!” Mitsuba exclaimed upon Yuuichirou taking his seat in the auditorium.
He was sure his face was flustered, though it was dark in the auditorium so the blonde probably wouldn’t even be able to tell. “Uh, there was a long line for the bathroom.” He lied, sinking back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest.
“A long line? Yuu-”
An array of clapping overrode the sound of Mitsuba’s voice, Yuuichirou silently thanking the audience. “That was a lovely performance. Now, next up on stage will be Hiiragi Shinoa with her solo vocalist composition titled ‘ A New Day’.” The announcer spoke, the lights dimly lighting the stage.
Yuuichirou smiled slightly at the sight of Mitsuba completely forgetting about him and instead, focusing her attention onto her girlfriend that was now walking on stage. If only I could find a love like that.
Yuuichirou had known both Shinoa and Mitsuba for the longest time— ever since his adoptive father Guren took him home and introduced him to his friend’s children not only a few days later. At first, Yuuichirou was pretty shy; he didn’t want to get close to anyone ever again due to his past, but Shinoa and Mitsuba, as well as Kimizuki and Yoichi who he met later down the road, opened up his heart and mind once again.
Growing up with the four other kids was a rather interesting experience. Shinoa always managed to tease the shit out of him no matter what he did, Mitsuba always managed to make him look and feel like an idiot, Kimizuki was just, ew god no, and Yoichi was simply too innocent for the way Yuuichirou’s mind worked. Sometimes though, Yuuichirou feels like it’s all a facade the olive eyed boy puts up, but it’s just a hunch.
Apart from seeing their friendships become more and more intertwined with each other, Yuuichirou also observed through the years how romantically involved with each other everyone had become. Yuuichirou always knew from the start that Shinoa and Mitsuba had eyes for each other, but when it came to Kimizuki and Yoichi, he was a bit surprised. He didn’t know how such a soft and sweet guy like Yoichi would wanna date someone as gross and stupid as Kimizuki. But truthfully, Yuuichirou owed all his thank yous to Yoichi for calming Kimizuki down whenever he wanted to strangle Yuuichirou.
Even so, with his four best friends in relationships with each other, Yuuichirou always felt odd, out of place. Anyone else he ever ran into or talked to never caught his attention either, at least, up until he saw that blonde guy earlier. From the slight glimpse he had of his face before storming off, Yuuichirou already deemed him as the most gorgeous person in existence.
“Yuu, why aren’t you clapping?” Mitsuba elbowed him, startling Yuuichirou. He looked up, noticing that Shinoa was bowing and walking off the stage with thousands of claps echoing throughout the auditorium. She’s already done? I was too sidetracked to even notice she started singing in the first place. He slowly began clapping too in an awkward manner. “Ah, sorry, my hands are just, uh…” Yuuichirou mumbled, trying to come up with an excuse.
“Forget it, Yuu. Anyways, scoot over, Shi-chan will be coming to sit for a bit until she has to go back up when they announce the competition winners.” Mitsuba demanded. Yuuichirou groaned, having to haul all of his belongings (200 yen, a gum wrapper, and a wrinkled piece of paper towel in his pocket) to the next seat over.
Soon enough, Shinoa had waddled her way over to where the squad sat in her sleek black dress and obnoxiously loud heels, and squeezed past Yuuichirou to immediately hug Mitsuba. “Shi-chan! You sang so well! If you don’t win I’m literally going to go shove my fist up someone’s ass.” Mitsuba exclaimed, squeezing her girlfriend tightly.
“Hey, that’s reserved for me only.” Shinoa pouted, but then began to giggle into the blonde’s hair, the scent of lavender shampoo and the bouquet of flowers infiltrating her nose.
“Alright alright, can you guys sit down already? You’re causing a scene.” Kimizuki sighed, running his hand through his hair.
Shinoa stuck her tongue out at Kimizuki before pulling away from Mitsuba, dragging her down so they could sit together. Yuuichirou found himself smiling once again at the sight of their love; Shinoa’s head draped on Mitsuba’s shoulder and the latter twiling a loose strand of Shinoa’s hair between her fingers. A breath his escaped his lips as he realized he was now going to be ignored for the rest of the performances with no one to talk to since he sat on the edge of their friend group’s area.
Another hour or so passed and Yuuichirou was bored out of his mind. All the past performances had been so boring, and Yuuichirou was really tempted to just up and leave so he could go home and play some video games. He was so glad the semester was finally over and that it was time for winter break; hours of working on his art pieces had taken a toll on him. This student concert would be the last thing involving school that he’d have to deal with before fully relinquishing himself to the pure freedom from university.
However, even though he so badly wanted to leave, and that Kimizuki, Yoichi, and Mitsuba weren’t paying attention to him, a certain ashen haired girl was, and he knew if he even stood up to stretch, he’d feel a harsh kick from one of her heels against his shin, and that he did not want. That being said, he had no other choice but to just sit patiently and strive on throughout the rest of the concert.
Suddenly, claps were heard yet again, and Yuuichirou’s head perked up, his interest somewhat peaked about which instrument category would be played next. He had remembered seeing on the program that after the pianists went, it would be time for the violinists (which was one of the only noteworthy instruments in Yuuichirou’s opinion besides the electric guitar), and considering there was a grand piano on the stage, Yuuichirou could assume that the violins were up next.
Hearing the announcer confirm his speculations, Yuuichirou sat upright, leaning forward in order to get a better view of whichever artist would be up next. “Up next with the violin composition division, Shindo Mikaela will perform his composition titled ‘Spill’”.
In that moment, as Yuuichirou heard the heart-pounding footsteps pulse through his ear, the dead silent auditorium in awe just as he was at the beauty and benevolence exuded by the being walking silently on stage, the slight squeak of chairs from the anticipated audience in their seats, his breath caught in his throat.
Mikaela stood prim and proper in the middle of the stage, violin in one hand, bow in the other. He looked out at everyone who watched him, though Yuuichirou felt as if he were the only one in the auditorium, and Mikaela’s gaze was set strictly on him. That gaze sent daggers flying straight into Yuuichirou’s heart, pouring gasoline on the fire that insinuated itself throughout his veins and bloodstream.
Soon enough, the gaze was broken, and Mikaela fixated himself onto pulling his violin up, resting his face upon the chin rest and positioning his fingers into their rightful places. Yuuichirou took notice of the way Mikaela’s honeyed curls bounced and swayed with every twist of his head, gently settling down around the nape of his neck as he stilled.
The lights in the auditorium dimmed, and the sounds of the friction of a bow against steel began to echo throughout. Yuuichirou’s breath hitched in his throat as Mikaela’s fingers wandered over and about the strings planted on his violin, his other arm moving slowly at first, then moving in a mantra of motion.
Yuuichirou felt as if the world around him suddenly dissipated as the sweet, alluring music played. He felt himself falling back as if he was in a Kingdom Hearts opening sequence, his mind and body being enveloped by nothing but the turbidness the violin and Mikaela could grant. Yuuichirou let his mouth fall open, his lashes fluttering open and closed mindlessly as crescendos and diminuendos shattered his ears.
Mikaela’s nose scrunched, brows furrowing with a passion and desire that Yuuichirou had never seen on another human before. His lips parted, chest heaving with every stroke of his hand and nimbleness of his fingers that graced his instrument. His hair was ever bouncier than before, Yuuichirou thought.
Suddenly, Yuuichirou was struck with a relapse of his past, his childhood. The beatings, the bruises, the yelling, the knives. It seemed as if they were all coming for him, his now 19-year-old self. He didn’t want this! He couldn’t handle it all again! Just as they were about to break through his facade of adulthood, they dissolved into nothing, the music infiltrating his ears yet again.
He gasped for air, reaching out for the melodies that floating seamlessly around him, however, he was unable to grasp onto any of them. His viridescent eyes crinkled as a sudden light appeared, blocking out any other object in sight. Yuuichirou squinted as he made out a hand in the midst of the light, slowly reaching out towards him.
So warm.
I need...to touch you.
Please, just reach a little more.
As Yuuichirou stretched and twisted his body to get closer to the mystical arm, his fingers just had to stretch out and they could touch it. His eyes peered opened widely, slowly relaxing his fingers in order for the tips to touch the other’s.
Almost.
Just as he was about to gain the warmth of the other’s hand, Yuuichirou was suddenly back in the auditorium, his body leaned forward all the way on his chair and his eyes staring straight ahead in awe at the performer. The wailings of the violin began to dim out softly, and instantaneously an array of claps filled the auditorium.
Mikaela’s performance had ended, and he was currently bowing, a small, knowing smile placed on his lips as he began to walk back behind the curtains.
“Wow Yuu-san, you really enjoyed Mikaela-san’s performance, huh.” Shinoa quipped, elbowing the raven. Yuuichirou’s trance broke, and he realized that he was sitting on the very edge of his seat, and his mouth felt dry from not closing it in a while.
“N-No, my back just hurt from sitting back for so long.” Yuuichirou retorted, fixing his position on his chair.
“Yeah, okay, whatever floats your boat.” Shinoa smiled, turning her focus back towards the stage, and Yuuichirou soon followed suit.
“Now, we’ll announce the winners of the violin composition section. In third place…” The announcer trailed off. Yuuichirou could honestly care less about who was in third and second place, if Mikaela didn’t get first, then there would seriously be some issues. After babbling about who had gotten the other positions, the announcer finally got to the first place winner.
“In first place, we are lucky to announce Shindo Mikaela with his composition ‘ Spill’! Congratulations, and good job to all the composers out there for this section.” The announcer smiled, clapping her hands slightly as the university principal of the music school held a trophy and certificate in hand.
Yuuichirou smiled brightly, his cheeks warming as he saw Mikaela walk from behind the curtain he disappeared from and towards the principal. He was smiling broadly like Yuuichirou was, though it still seemed like Yuuichirou was happier about the blonde’s win than the blonde was himself. He deserved it. That performance was incomparable to anything else I’ve ever heard.
Mikaela shook the principal’s hand with a firm nod before taking his certificate and trophy in hand. He turned towards the audience, scanning them with his ceruleans, and givinging a thankful bow. His hair fell forward, cascading down his forehead as he bent over, god he’s so pretty, and then stood back upright, walking off the stage yet again.
“Alright, congratulations again to Shindo-kun. Now let us move on to the ukulele division.” Screw the ukuleles, I need to see him—talk with him.
“Shinoa, I’m gonna go get some water.” Yuuichirou uttered as he hastily stood up, fixing his tie which seemed a little too tight around his neck, and already leaving the row before Shinoa even noticed he was up.
“Wait, Yuu-san, we have water right here! Ugh, Micchan, I’ll be back, I gotta go get that idiot before he does something stupid.” Shinoa sighed, giving her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek and her hand a squeeze before standing up and making her way through the row of chairs after Yuuichirou.
Yuuichirou paid no mind to the heels that staggered after him— he only cared about the ethereal blonde who had his heart on a leash. He pushed open the auditorium doors and went out into the open threshold where he had been a few hours ago on his way to the bathroom. He looked around frantically in every which way to find the boy, but to his luck he didn’t see any sight of blonde.
“Ugh, what am I doing…” Yuuichirou sighed, coursing his hand through his hair. Now that he thought about it, he was acting very creepy, and definitely not like himself one bit. Then again, it’s not his fault-- he’s never seen someone so enthralling, and he can’t help but to long after them. Maybe him not being able to find him after his performance was fate telling him to screw off and leave the poor guy alone. He’s probably not even into guys, anyways.
Feeling disappointed, Yuuichirou decided to turn around on his heels, however doing so, he bumped into something hard, the vibrations of his head hitting the object echoing throughout the percussion. “Fuck.” Yuuichirou seethed, holding his hand up to his head where he could already feel a bump forming.
“Can you watch what you’re-” Yuuichirou stopped talking, his words dying in his throat. Oh shit. In front of Yuuichirou stood a frantic blonde with pale skin, but not just any frantic blonde with pale skin, it was Mikaela. He held his violin in one hand, his eyes full of worry as he peered Yuuichirou up and down, his brows furrowing in remorse. Before he could open his mouth, Yuuichirou spoke up.
“D-Don’t worry about it.” He smiled cheekily, lifting his bangs from his forehead to show the bump. “See? It’s not even that big, s-so you’re fine.” He lied. It was getting very big, but Yuuichirou didn’t give a shit about that right now.
Mikaela didn’t say anything, and instead, decided to show worry in his features still at the bump on Yuuichirou’s skin. The latter waved his hands back and forth, signalling for the former to stop his fretting. “A-Aside from that, which again is totally fine, um…” Yuuichirou stuttered, his eyes finding focus on Mikaela’s shoes. He felt his whole body seizing up, his palms becoming sweaty and his heart speeding up. “Your… performance was amazing. I’ve never heard anything like it before! Like, uh, it was way better than Beethoven! I-I mean not to say Beethoven is bad, but like, damn you outway him, by a lot, and like, uh...” Great, I’m embarrassing myself already. Fucking fantastic.
“Yuu-san!” Shinoa called, sounding out of breath as she caught up to where the onyx was. He turned his head at her, his cheeks ablaze as his lips quivered. Mikaela gazed over at her as well, his brows softening upon seeing her. “If you’re gonna talk to Mikaela-san, at least do it slowly so he can know what you’re saying.” She groaned, placing her hand on her hip as she leaned forward to catch her breath.
Mikaela placed his hand on her shoulder, and Shinoa glanced up at him. “It’s okay, Mikaela-san. I’m fine.” She spoke softly, giving him a reassuring smile, who in turn smiled back at her.
“Huh? Why would I need to do that?” Yuuichirou inquired, crossing his arms and looking at Mikaela then back to Shinoa. “I can speak just fine, you bitch, stop embarrassing and spouting shit that’s not true.” Yuuichirou huffed.
Shinoa slapped his arm with her hand, then, after catching her breath, stood up properly. “Yuu. I’m not saying that because you talk weird, although… nevermind, that’s not the point. I’m saying for you to speak slowly because Mikaela-san is deaf. If you talk slower he can read your lips for the most part.” She said.
Yuuichirou’s eyes widened. Mikaela is... deaf? But how could he play music if he couldn’t hear?
“Wait, what?” Yuuichirou asked, suddenly feeling a wave of embarrassment flood over him even more so than before.
“Yeah. So… he has no idea anything you just said since you were rambling so fast.” She snorts.
Yuuichirou scratched the back of his neck and turned to look at Mikaela. “S-Sorry… I didn’t know you were, um, that you couldn’t uh, hear.” He spoke.
Mikaela smiled softly, signing it’s okay. Yuuichirou felt extremely awkward at this point. What was he supposed to do? He didn’t know sign language so he wouldn’t know what Mikaela was saying to him, and now that Shinoa was here and had witnessed him fanboying, he really just wanted to dig himself a grave, if he hadn’t done so already.
“Mikaela-san.” Shinoa began, tapping lightly on his shoulder. His gaze shifted from Yuuichirou to her. “This is my friend Yuuichirou. Basically he’s a dumbass and what he was trying to tell you earlier was that he really liked your composition piece.” She sighed. Yuuichirou didn’t know whether he was thankful or wanted to die even more from Shinoa’s talking.
Mikaela raised his brows, his cheeks becoming a soft apricot. Thank you, I really appreciate it.
“He said thank you and that he really appreciates it Yuu-san.” Shinoa translated.
Yuuichirou furrowed his brows. “Huh? You know JSL?” He asked.
“A little bit. I’ve learned it from hanging out with Mikaela around campus sometimes.” She shrugged.
Suddenly, Mikaela began to giggle, covering his mouth his his hand coated by his sleeve. His cheeks were rosy and his eyes crinkled as giddiness filled his face. Yuuichirou cocked his head. “Why is he laughing?” He whispered to Shinoa.
She hummed, “I dunno, why are you laughing Mikaela-san?” Mikaela regained his composure and took a deep breath before signing. I just remembered I met Yuu-chan before. He—
As Mikaela continued to sign, Yuuichirou became more confused than ever before, especially when Shinoa started to gawk as well. “Oh my god! Yuu-san! That’s, wow. That’s great.” She laughed, holding her chest.
“What?! What did he tell you?!” Yuuichirou grumbled. Why does everyone always leave me out of shit.
“Nothing nothing. Don’t worry about it Yuu-san, I’ll tell you some other time when you’re older.” Shinoa pouted, patting Yuuichirou’s head like a puppy.
“What the hell Shinoa? I’m older than you!” Yuuichirou said. He was honestly getting so fed up with her.
Before Shinoa could speak, the intercom that resonated from the auditorium interrupted. “This concludes the 43rd annual Sanguinem Composition concert, thank you all for coming out, and congratulations to all our division winners and talented artists!”
Shinoa turned to Yuuichirou, “Well Yuu-san, time to go.” She said, grabbing his wrist and beginning to drag him away. “Bye Mikaela-san.” She smiled at him, giving a small wave before dragging Yuuichirou.
“B-Bye, uh, Mikaela, or I mean Shindo-san.” Yuuichirou croaked, and the only sign of acknowledgement he received in turn from the blonde before leaving the university was an elegant wave and lips quirking up.
“I’m so gonna kill you if you don’t tell me what he said.” Yuuichirou snapped, trying to pull his wrist away from Shinoa.
“Oh, well guess you’ll be weeping on my deathbed.” Shinoa smirked.
Yeah, Yuuichirou was so done with her.