Archive of Our Own ^beta

“It wasn’t your fault you know?”

Eichi, dressed in casual black--a striking contrast to the snow that clung to his coat-- tilts his head at him

“What wasn’t my fault?”

“Everything” Izumi says wistfully, watching as the cold breath that came from his lips fan into nothingness “That idiot wouldn’t blame you”

Just like he didn’t blame me

“I see” Eichi chuckles, lightheartedly “Tsukinaga-kun was always too kind for any sort of remorse wasn’t he?”

Izumi doesn’t reply to this, only watching the snow continue to fall, A white Christmas, One that Leo would have begged to see.

“You still miss him don’t you?” Eichi asks curiously, not really one to be able to read the room, Perhaps he thinks that because its been one year, he will not be able to trigger any negative emotion of Izumi’s.

At least, that’s how Izumi sees it, Not that he couldn't care less about what Eichi thinks, trying to read the mind of a genius composer is one thing, trying to read Eichi Tenshouin’s is another.

“I do, I already did once you know?” Izumi huffs, “And I’ll keep on doing it all over and over again for him”

Inspiration, It's come, It's come! From the way his ears ring, the way his fingertips tingle at the sensation, the way he starts seeing notes fly in his own small world.

Music, Music, Music

Music is everywhere, the rhythmic pattern of his breathing, the sounds of the breeze, the chirping of the lovebirds, Sound is Music, and Music is Sound.

Music is loved by Leo, and Leo is loved by music, some might even say he loves music more than his own family.

Not that they weren't off the dot, Leo does love music, be it his own or not, but he loves his family just as much.

Maybe, Just Maybe, but he does think he likes, no that wouldn't do his own feelings justice, love something else above his own family, above music.

Scribble, Scribble, Scribble

Silver Hair greets his peripheral vision, followed by a nonchalant but nonetheless caring voice

Speak of the devil and the devil comes, or more like think of the devil in this scenario

"Leo-kun, what are you sitting there writing for...with a chalk??" Disgust can also be heard loud and clear in the phrasing, But Leo couldn't care less.

"You should join me Sena, Wahahaha! It's fun"

Izumi eyes him with disdain but doesn't say another word as he continues to scribble his new genius composition in front of Yumenosaki Academy's gates.

Love, Praise, write write write, The melodies are in the air, The rhythm whispers in his ear, and write he does, write write write

"Whatever, if anyone asks if you are associated with me, tell them I don't know you"

He hears the soft rhythmic pattern of foot step follow these words tip, tap, tip, tap

Leo lets his concentration break at this, and looks up, his neck groaning from the strain of looking down at cement floor for far too long "Hey no Sena, Don't Leave me, I love you don't leave meee"

The slow rhythmic pattern that was Izumi's footsteps come to a halt as the said boy turns around to look at Leo.

"I would never leave you" Izumi huffs in what appeared to Leo as feigned annoyance "Though I would appreciate it if you stop throwing words such as 'love' carelessly, What if people get the wrong idea?"

Leo tilts his head in confusion as he stands up from his crouched position to look at Izumi in a fairer height "But I do love you, you are my friend after all so I don't see what's wrong with saying that?"

"We aren't 'friends' and I don't 'love' you back" He says, a little harsher than he had intended to, But words can never be reclaimed once they go pass your lips and with this in mind Izumi resumes his walk, much faster this time around.

"Hey no you said you wouldn't leave me!!" Leo shouts, he couldn't care less about the other students in the campus, much less their reaction to his words "Hey Sena!! Come Back!! Senaaaaa"

But Leo's short legs can't outmatch Izumi's, and soon the taller boy was out of his sight.

"Ah, he always comes and goes as he pleases" Leo pouts in disappointment "But that's fine, That's what I like about Sena, he's so pretty"

The cool autumn breeze replies to his own sentiments, which he gladly welcomes.

He'll reach Sena's heart one day, he'll be able to let Sena open up his heart freely, with no remorse and regret. One day, Someday, He will-- no-- He's sure he will be able to do these and so much more.

Leo was a fool, an annoying fool that was given the capabilities of a genius. And that makes it harder for Izumi, How do you even know if a genius like Leo is just playing the fool? Too many questions and no answers.

But first classes, then practice, then Leo can just screw off or something, Izumi would say he can care less what happens to the genius composer of Backgammon (or do they officially go by Knights now...?) but that would be a lie.

"Ah Izumi-chan!!" A voice calls out, another annoying voice per say, one to which Izumi already knows who it belongs to without sparing a glance "Its a quite a rare sight to see you without that noisy boy no?"

"Noisy Boy..." How ridiculous it was to refer to their leader by such a horrendous nickname "Leo-kun is doing... his own stuff I suppose, he did tell me to pass you the message for the practice this afternoon, after class."

That was a lie. Their irresponsible leader had tasked them with no such practice, but someone in their battered-up unit has got to pick up the slack.

"Aww, How horrible... You do know that I only joined your unit for the privileges right?" Arashi pouts "And besides I only wanted to talk to you about Mr. Kunugi, You talk to him in your free time right? come on don't be shy tell me about your conversations with him more~~"

"I'd rather not really, we're not even that close in the first place, We just happen to cross paths to each other from time to time" Izumi replies curtly, trying to keep himself from saying words that could offend the sensitive girl standing in front of him.

"That's very mean of you," Arashi says in feigned disappointment "If Leo-chan was here you'd all be smiley and lovey-dovey like 'Leo, My Leo, Please be careful or you might get yourself hurt' Have you ever noticed that you smile a lot in his presence?"

"I do not act like that" Izumi replies, offended that Arashi made him sound like a love sick teenage girl "And I definitely don't smile around with Leo, He makes me have a migraine"

Arashi giggles at this and lets the topic go... for now, at least "Ah still, you're really lucky and all you know? Being able to cross paths with him sometimes, aaaaahh, let's switch places, wait no he should be here right now, I could get the first-hand experience myself"

Izumi rolls his eyes as he spots a brown-haired man running from one side of the campus "I think that's your guy right there Naru"

"What?" Arashi asks, as she takes a look over her shoulder to see what Izumi meant "That's definitely not Mr. Kunugi, he walks with a little more grace you know and--"

"IIIZUUMII-SAAANN!!"

"--and that's Mikejima-san" Izumi finishes for Arashi, the two of them watching Madara with concern as the boy continues running to their direction

"IIIZZUUMII-SAAAAN!!" Mikejima continues to shout, despite being well within ear shot, clearly the boy has been running around the campus for some time now judging from his labored breathing and the way his had clutches to his knee as he does.

"What’s going on Mama, Are you okay?" Arashi asks, concerned for the brown-haired boy's well being

"I'm fine--" Mikejima replies curtly, not bothering to be polite in this case. "Its-- just Leo--"

"Leo-Kun??" Izumi feels his heart skip a beat, anxious to hear what Mikejima has to say, Did something happen to Leo? was he hurt? was he alright?

"Yeah- He's bought to- to the hospital and-- Room 203-- broken bones" Madara says in between tired weavings of his breath

"Nearest Hospital?" Izumi continues, Madara doesn't bother replying this time, giving out a nod instead, Izumi gives him a small smile of gratitude as he scampers out of the scene

"Where do you think you're going Sena-chan??!! Do you even know the room?!!?" He hears Arashi call to him one last time, but he doesn't bother responding, he better save all the breath he can if he wants to get to the hospital as fast as his feet can take him

When Izumi finally arrived at his destination, he wasted no time into rushing to the lobby, asking for the room and the patient, before proceeding his trudge to Leo, not being able to run in the cramped space of the hospital this time around.

Room 203… 203… There it is, standing near the staircase of the second floor, was a door numbered 203.
Wasting no time, He turns the knob of the door, only to be met with a rare sight.

The said injured boy was recking havoc, clearly bothering his blonde-haired roommate that was unmistakably the one and only Eichi Tenshouin.

“Ah! Senaaaa!” Leo greets, throwing his whole body towards the former model as he does, Izumi would normally dodge these straightforward attacks, But he’d rather not get Leo injured any more than he already is, The whole reason he was here was to check on Leo after all, not to further injure Leo. “I reaallly misss youuu”

“Ugh, Aren’t you supposed to be injured?” Izumi says, trying to hide his astonishment as he notices Tenshouin’s gaze towards the two of them. “How did you even get injured? Did you get into a fight? You know you shouldn’t get into fights, You’re an idol”

“I…am?” Leo asks as if he wasn’t aware of his own cast that hung on his left hand, Which knowing Leo, it isn’t unlikely for him to “You’re not my mom Sena, stop scolding me and I’m not even injured anymore since you’re here, You’re all I need Sena~!”

Leo was clearly avoiding his questions, but he doesn’t press on the matter, Figuring Leo would tell him all about it at some time if he’s ready. He finds himself sighing instead as he feels Leo’s arms on his torso tighten, but he doesn’t find the will to push the composer away, rather; he finds Leo’s warmth comforting, like the sun itself was trying to share some of its cordial sense.

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Izumi says as Leo finally let’s go of him, genuinely, Even Izumi himself was surprised to hear how soft his voice can get, But he supposes softness is all that Leo should get, This innocence of Leo’s… He will protect it, no matter the cost.

“It’s rare to see you this affectionate Sena-kun” Izumi nearly forgot the presence of the student council president until now, maybe he should continue pretending Eichi isn’t there. “Normally you’d be the type to give off aloofness”

“Ah, Sena isn’t always aloof” Leo defends, “Sena would do anything for me, isn’t that riiiight?”

That puppy eyes of Leo again, Izumi sighs in resignation, suppose its better to know what the job is as soon as possible

“What do you need this time?”

“Get me out of hereee see I’m fine, they just needed to cast it” Leo pouts, clearly going for that cute factor of his that somehow always gets Izumi “And I really hate Hospitals you know, It’s too clean, too white, It doesn’t give me inspiration at all it’s booooring”

“Well you’re gonna have to put up with it, It’s not my fault you have a broken arm, you’re lucky you’re ambidextrous or you’d be having a hard time”

“Well It’s your fault now” Leo sticks out a tongue at him, “Stupid mean Sena”

Izumi gasps, flabbergasted at Leo’s actions, though it was nothing he hadn’t seen.

“How is it my fault that you get involved in some stupid childish fight?!” Eichi, now sitting on the corner of his bed laughs at this.

“You two are a very interesting pair” He states, in that intimidating demeanor of his despite the gentle smile that envelops his lips “I’d hate for anything to happen to you two”

“Nothing will happen between us!!” Leo’s voice, filled with genuine passion and belief, with the light of the room reflecting on Leo’s autumn orange hair, Izumi sees a completely different person from the man-child that Leo was just seconds ago.

“Isn’t that right Sena?”

If only it were as easy as how you used to say it Leo...

Leo tilts his head to get a better view of Izumi, a bright and genuine smile plastered on his face.

“Yeah” Izumi finds himself agreeing as he looks down to those Emerald eyes of Leo, earnest and filled with unspoken promises, he feels his heart flutter at this, why it flutters every time he looks at the eyes of the genius composer he’d rather not know.

What they share, this bond, this friendship between them, That’s enough for now, at least, It was for Izumi.

Because what if the moment Izumi crosses a line their entire bond shatters, What then?

Nothing would good can come out of being honest with emotions.

That was what being a model is all about, be stoic, strong, and ambitious, never let yourself be caged.

So that should be enough. He has to believe it’s enough

Leo intertwines his un-casted hand with Izumi’s and raises it for all to see, “Me and Sena will always be together no matter what!!” Unspoken words, hung in the air, mixing with the cold breeze that came from the open window.

Easy, light-hearted words of a teenager, so easy to place faith in, and so easy to forget.

“Of course” Izumi rolls his eyes “No one else would be able to put up with your personality”

Their once perfect bond, the string that held them together, sliced cleanly and thoroughly, all but replaced with pain, agony, and resentment.

When did it all turn into that? Their perfect childhood, His warmth glow… gone, forever out of Izumi’s yearning arms.

“I have to go you know? Practice and all” Izumi interrupts, staring at their still intertwined hands

“Ah right right!” Leo coughs, disguising the embarrassment he feels “Don’t tell me the details, I want to be able to guess it as vividly as possible… Like uhh, hold on give me a sec”

“See you soon then Izumi-san?” Eichi politely says instead, since Leo was clearly too far off in his own world to politely send his own visitor goodbye

Leo, who noticed Eichi’s statement, waves a goodbye like an innocent child he acts as “Bye Bye Sena!!”

“Yeah, see you.” Izumi smiles fondly, before closing the door tight behind him

Looking back at it now, that was their last and proper goodbye, at least before they lost everything

---
--
-

Fall has turned to winter

Leo-Kun

You haven’t seen my messages yet, where are you? Did you lose your phone again? Knights performance is in a few hours

Love| Sena

Winter has turned to spring,
---

Leo-Kun

You’re not answering any of our calls? Are you alright? Be safe, Take care

Sena|

---
But Izumi remained in statis, never being able to let go, still clinging to that one hope, even If his fellow knights have long given up; Saying kinds of stuff like how they’re kingless knights now, but not yet, He’ll cling on to hope more, Their king will come home.

Leo-Kun

Where are you? Knights need you.

I need you

Your mom won’t tell me anything, did you transfer schools?

Come back to us, Come back to me

You promised we’d be together forever right?

Sena|

---
Spring has passed through, like the breeze of the autumn day he shared with Leo in the hospital, and now Summer was here, greeting the people with its fresh and simmering light, very similar to the light that he had shown him

King

I’m sorry

Sena|

---

Izumi isn’t aware of when time started to spin for him again, but it did, and now he has to deal with the time he lost moping over simple promises, ones that were easily broken as they were easily made.

He turns the knob to the practice room Knights book frequently, an action he hasn’t done since the damnation of their group.

Small steps, Baby steps, But steps nonetheless, steps that will be recognized as his improvements.

Shocked gasps greet him the moment the door is opened wide enough, Not a surprise considering how he himself had abandoned, leaving the Knights with no King and no general, a bunch of samurais too frightened by the disappearance of their lords.

That was Knights now, long gone is their golden era, now they have to grasp at straws, like farmers at the mill, weak of old age until one day they’ll find their peace and head off, to a land far away from their reach, Heaven.

Do fallen knights like them even deserve a place in heaven? Knights that have abandoned their King? Perhaps we may never know.

But it’s not like their King himself didn’t abandon them, So in a way, this was a fair trade.

It’s time to move on

“Sena-chan!!” It’s Arashi this time, who comes greeting him with a warm hug, not the orange-haired composer he still longs to get answers from.

Was it I, Who finally broke? Or was it you? Or was it neither

Maybe it was His, for being blinded by his own emotions, yet hiding them from other people’s view, Maybe it was Leo, for allowing himself to be used as their weapon, always insisting that he can handle everything, that as long as he was there everything would be fine

But now Leo wasn’t here, and somehow everyone is fine except for him, so maybe it was his fault instead for allowing Leo to be used as he pleases, all for his dream, all for his sake

Or maybe they were just meant to be broken, stupid dull swords that will never be able to sharpen on their own without feeling pain, suffering, remorse…

Without losing love

And so the dull sword that was Izumi now grew rough, finally accepting, albeit slowly, his own fate. To cling onto promises is to be damned

“Secchan” Izumi doesn’t even know how long it has been since he last saw Ritsu, a few weeks after Checkmate if he remembers correctly.

“Welcome Back”

Time passed since then.

A lot of things happened, Knights was still Knights, they still participate in Dreamfests and events, though they face decline and frustration from the fans that solely focus on their king.

Knights were still Knights, But Izumi wasn’t Izumi anymore, Without their royal king’s hands all over him, commanding him, instructing him—albeit indirectly—of what he should do, He feels lost.

Perhaps that was the reason Arashi and Ritsu decided to drag him to a well-deserved beach trip, in the guise of hanging out with trickstar.

“You mentioned Trickstar and I don’t see a single member of their group” The way they were cramped inside the small van Ritsu borrowed from his own parents wasn’t doing Izumi’s temper any good.

“Maa-kun says they have a scheduled practice coming up” Ritsu yawns “So this was more of a way to bait you…”

“Don’t think we haven’t noticed your obsession with Yuuki-Kun recently” Arashi pokes Izumi’s nose at this “But don’t worry your big sister Arashi is here and ready to help”

“Big sister my ass” Izumi mutters under his breath, low enough for Arashi to not catch his words despite their close distance

“Izumi chaan~ You muttered something”

“No I didn’t, How are we even supposed to go to the beach? None of us have a drivers license, If you wanted to bait me into going into this beach trip of yours you should have thought it better”

“Fufufu” Ritsu giggles, clearly amused, Arashi takes this as her sign to pipe in. “For someone who claims they’ve been baited into joining, you do sound very enthusiastic about the trip”

“Whatever” He waves a hand, dismissing any further teasing from the girl next to him. “So who is driving?”

“About that…”

This wasn’t how he expected their trip to go along, with Arashi in front of the wheel (despite her lack of license) and Ritsu sleeping on the floor of the van (which was to be expected) It was a bumpy ride, That became even lengthier due to their trusty driver, Arashi taking a wrong turn.

So when they arrived at their destination, The sky was tinted with a bright yet calming orange hue, glimmering on the surface of the body of water, which swept by the sand they stood at in a rhythmic pace.

It’s been a while since he willingly sought to look at the sunset, its hues were a painful reminder of the past he had, the past he still longs for, the past that may not ever return

“Come on everybody, Tents, put up tents” Arashi ushers them, “Quit dilly-dallying, Honestly we should have dragged other people with us, strong manly boys like Morisawa-Senpai would save us the effort” Her frustration only grew more evident as she sees Ritsu lay down on the sand

“I suppose he does need a few more winks of sleep” Arashi mutters as she places a cushion below Ritsu’s head, concerned that sleeping on the sand may be uncomfortable.

“Sleep is all that he’s been doing all day” Izumi notes, also somewhat concerned for Ritsu’s wellbeing, It could also have had to do with the fact that it’s summer and Ritsu is a self-proclaimed vampire, But it doesn't seem like that's all there is to it.

As if Arashi could read his mind, she proceeds to answer his earlier thoughts. “He was really concerned about you, you know? Even now he still observes you as keenly as he possibly can”

She takes a seat near the shore, knees wrapped tightly to her chest, and gestures for Izumi to follow, the two of them forgetting about their unorganized and unbuilt tent for now.

“There was nothing to worry about,” Izumi says, taking the free space next to Arashi as he looks up solemnly to the orange-hued sky that reminds him so much of that boy, his king.

“But there was” Arashi answers, opting to gaze at the sky as well. “You didn’t answer our calls for weeks, You disappeared like Ou-sama out of thin air, and then you came back and… and pretended you’re fine, when we know you're not ”

Izumi flinches at these words, but he can’t deny the truth that came along with it. Maybe it was a little unfair for him to cut Knights out of his life like that.

Selfish. He was selfish. He always has been and always will be.

His selfishness was the one that drived their precious king to the brink of insanity after all, Their anger was fair, well-directed in fact.

Get mad, Please get mad at me

But Arashi does the opposite, one of her hands slides into his back, pulling him into a one-sided hug as she does.

“What I'm saying-- no what we’re saying is, we, me and Ritsu-chan, we want you to rely on us, as our fellow knight, I'm sure our rookie feels the same way”

She tightens her hug, leaning her shoulder on his as she does so.

“And… We’ll support you no matter what, Just as you’ve always done for us”

I haven’t always supported you Izumi thinks back to the few weeks after his fallout with their king, when he pushed away everyone in the guise of trying to act like he wasn’t affected by it, But he was.

And maybe it was selfish, to lean into this comfort that he clearly doesn’t deserve, But that would be future Izumi’s problem.

“And your thing with Yuuki-kun” Arashi continues in a much lighter tone, clearly meant to ease Izumi “Don’t think we haven’t noticed that too”

"Hah??!" Izumi says, atsonished. "I mean sure he's a friend, a good one, but i don't have a thing With him I just--" Was he just using Yuu-kun's kindness all along? Or was he using Yuu-kun as a way to forget to move on-- Nahh that would be unhealthy Sena, there's no way "--We're just friends"

“But maybe try being less possessive?” Arashi suggests, raising her head from Izumi’s shoulder to look at Izumi directly this time. “You don’t need to keep protecting him, I’m sure Makoto-kun wouldn’t like being coddled like a baby you know?”

Izumi takes off his gaze at the sunset and blinks in confusion. “How else would you show that you care for them then?”

Arashi returns his confused blink at this “You know what, that’s a you problem, not a me one” She says in a lighthearted manner as she stands up, sweeping off stray sand on her clothes as she does, and teasingly kicking sand towards Izumi. “You’ll never know how to care until you let yourself experience being cared for, Now come on It must be uncomfortable for Ritsu-chan to sleep on bare sand”

He finds himself looking back to that person who has stated clear as day that he loved him, and how as clearly as that boy professed his love, he was just as clear in stating that he didn’t love him back, When he-- in fact, did.

Did Leo care for me... as I cared for him...?

“Izumi-chan” Arashi calls out, when she realizes that Izumi was still sitting by the shore.

“Coming” Izumi replies, finding himself painfully smiling at the sky.

There are times when Izumi dreams about what happened, sometimes it was just the good, sometimes it was just the bad, and sometimes it was a mix of both.

Tonight, it was the latter.

It started as a good one, It was about their first meeting.

His favorite song came up, and without further thought, he starts singing to it.

He feels his voice strain with the effort of singing along, but he could hardly care nor take note of it. It was to be expected; after all, He was a model, an excellent one at that, he isn’t one to indulge on idol activities

But Izumi thinks the idea of being able to sing is amazing anyways, and so learn to sing he does, albeit in a slow and painful manner

Nothing answered his obviously out-of-tune singing apart from the wind, He continues to sway his feet that hung dangerously to the railings of the school rooftop, Raising his singing voice as loud as he possibly can, as if he was conveying a message to a non-existent crowd.

And yet despite the lack of audience, Izumi has never felt content in his whole life.

That is, until a cheerful laughter came from behind him

“Wahahaha!” Izumi cranes his neck to the side, not bothering to mask his growing annoyance at this small boy that ruined his private time

Yet the said boy doesn’t seem too bothered by the stare Izumi was giving him, returning Izumi’s frown with a smile instead. “You have such a pretty face, but your singing is way outta tune! It was Hilarious!”

“I came up here to sing, not to have idle chat” He stands up from his former position, grabbing the bottle next to him and getting ready to leave the scene in favor of grabbing a snack

“Ah Ah, Hey don’t leave yet, I was going to tell you how pretty your voice is!!” Leo calls out in that annoying child-like voice of his, which did anything but soothe Izumi’s anger as the bottle from his hands get flung towards Leo’s direction without further thought

Rain starts pouring out of nowhere, He was still in the rooftop, That much Izumi is certain of, But instead of the same bright Leo in front of him, he was met with a weeping one, tears stained cheeks, bloodshot eyes from crying, hollow gaze.

Oh.

Oh

It was that day.

He wills himself to wake up, to stop this scene from replaying, He begs, he pleads himself to, But nothing happens.

Nothing happens and he’s still stuck in the same scene, with the same person in front of him, albeit a lot more different, a lot lonelier, a lot quieter.

“Why did we have to dream?” Leo’s voice so soft, so unlike the cheerful voice he has gotten used to, so wrong It was wrong for Leo not to smile, all Leo deserves is happiness

Wake up, wake up, wake up, Izumi can’t stand reliving—dreaming—whatever you call this, for one more second

“I became a weapon for you Sena” More tears slip past Leo’s emerald eyes that were devoid of its cheerful aura “So why is it still not enough? Why is it always never enough?”

“Maybe that’s just the faith of geniuses” He hears his own voice, his own reply from that day, and oh how he wishes to take those all back, to hug that despaired Leo from that day, hell, even kiss him, but he can’t, here; in this dream, he is but a mere spectator of all the mistakes he made, of all the mistakes he can never attain for.

Because Leo isn’t just a genius, he isn’t just their king, much less HIS king

Leo was Leo, careless, clumsy, loud, and childish, but he is Leo nonetheless, no matter what.

But young as he was, he overlooked everything that made Leo, Leo. He overlooked how much Leo meant to him, and he didn’t even realize all of this until he lost that one person that meant so much to him.

The scene starts fading from Izumi’s eyes, and darkness starts to overtake it, and soon he finds himself alone in the dark, just as he had been the past few weeks before his return to knights

“How sure are you that this plan of yours would work?”

Leo blinks at Mama, confused, “Plan…?”

“Don’t tell me you already forgot…” Mikejima sighs in disbelief, as he watches Leo ponder over his words.

Plan… Plan… Plan…

“Ah!! The one you were asking me yesterday about!” Mikejima nods in affirmation at this

“Yes, That! Really a year has passed since then you know~? Surely things would be different from how they were” From how he was Mikejima wanted to say, but he hopes he got the message across, considering how thick-headed his company could be.

“Of course, things would be different” Leo pouts at this, offended that Madara didn’t consider the fact that he thought of how things would change without him there. “You’re no better than Sena you know? You two treat me as if I am child” He blows a raspberry at Mama, as if proving that his own statement was far from the truth.

“That’s just one of your charms Leo-san”

Mikejima lightheartedly laughs as he pats the luggage next to him impatiently “But how would you know this would work?”

“What would?”

Mikejima sighs, not out of impatience, but of Leo’s short memory that may or may not be just his own personality or the cause of a third party.

“The plan Leo-san” Mikejima notes the glazed look in Leo’s eyes, as if he was looking back into something, or more accurately, someone. “I’ve heard that Knights went into hiatus a little while back”

“They did?” Leo frowns “That’s not something…” Leo thinks, really really thinks hard for the name to come to his tongue “Sena...would do..?”

Mikejima frowns at this, “We can postpone our flight if you’re having one of your… episodes” They’ve come to a mutual, though silent, understanding to not speak of his symptoms exactly as what it was, and while Mikejima would rather do the opposite and avoid hiding this secret, it wasn’t his to tell. It was Leo’s and Leo’s alone.

"No, no we don't postpone, It has to be now" The usual childish demeanor of Leo was dropped for only but a second, as genuine hurt flashed on his face in its stead. "Because if not now, then when right?"

"Okay, okay I see your point" Mikejima sighs as Leo's childish demeanor returns once more, as if nothing happened.

Leo gives Madara a grin as he takes the luggage off of the latters hand. "I'm not supposed to be letting you carry heave objects Leo-san!!"

"It's not carrying it's pulling!!" Leo retaliates, the same annoying grin of his still plastered on his face. "And you only live once, so come on!! Hasta La Vista Baby!!"

"AHH NO LEO-SAN!" But Mikejima's shouts fall on deaf ears as Leo scampers along.

"And there he goes..." Having Leo as your own companion sure does have its ups and downs, But Leo needs Mikejima more than ever now, with his friend's time running out so quickly. And with that in mind, Mikejima's patience grows for but a tad bit

"Saay Mama!"

A whine from the person next to him jolts him awake, his hands already thrashing the eyemask away from his face in fear of some sort of emergency.

"Leo-san" Mikejima rubs his eyes, willing the drowsiness to go away "Do you have another headache? The painkillers are on the bag above..."

"No, no i'm fine!!" Leo interrupts, shaking his hand as if to emphasize his point "I was thinking about Knights..."

Well that's a new one, Leo barely spoke of Knights in the past year they have been travelling together, Making Madara assume that this was a sour topic for Leo.

"No, No don't say it yet, i'm trying to imagine it" Leo blurts out when he notices Mikejima opening his mouth to answer. "They....uh, damn i must have hit a wall in my imagination, how boooriing"

Leo hasn't written a song in a while now, a concerning feat for someone like him, who was always buzzing with ideas.

It had been like this for nearly a year now, Leo trying to overcome his composer block, Madara watching him with concern, and neither of them calling out each other's behaviour at the end of it.

And judging from the dark circles under his eyes, When was the last time he had proper sleep?

"You don't need to force yourself Leo-san" Madara finally says, breaking the silence they shared that was getting suffocating the more they let it be "You can always lie low for a few days"

"I'm fine, I already know the reason why Inspiration hasn't hit me" Leo grins "Wahahaha!! I truly am a genius am I not?"

"Yeah, you truly are" Madara returns Leo's grin "But to fill you up on the details, Knights went on hiatus due to an incident"

"An incident huh..." Leo wistfully whispers, thinking back to a certain incident of theirs in the past "You're really cool Mama! You know all of these, and so much more I bet!"

"That's what happens when you make use of your connections" Mikejima mutters, mostly to himself

"So... I'm betting they've recruited a new member?"

Madara blinks in surprise "From what I've gathered, They did. It seems like your sense of imagination never really left you Leo-san"

"I was just thinking about how poetic it would be for them to crown a knight, delegate him as their crown prince, someone who they would shape into their new king in the absence of the former"

"Hoohh, you're looking for a fight with this 'crown prince' then?"

"You completely missed the point of my poetic piece Mama!" Leo scolds, and Mikejima takes note of how Leo's emerald eyes glimmer in the darkness of the plane, so full of life unlike how it was just a few months ago.

"Then do indulge this commoner of your new poetic masterpiece" Mama plays along, a wide smile plastered on his face

"I'll be playing the role of the tyrant king!!" Leo proclaims proudly "It would be a coronation test for this knight they illegally crowned in my absence, and the day I deem him to be deserving of the title, Well you get the whole point now don't you Mama?"

A coronation test for a 'crown prince'... A 'tyrant king' stepping down from his throne in feigned defeat...

Ah

The tyrant king is ripped off of his position, reduced to a mere ordinary Knight, an equal to the 'friend' of this Tyrant King

Mikejima chuckles in amusement as he was finally able to put the pieces together "That does make for quite a poetic piece"

Izumi closes the door of the practice room, careful not to disturb Ritsu's sleep as he does.

"Any news?" Arashi greets, sitting next to her was their group's 'rookie', Tsukasa, munching on his sweets.

“Nothing” Izumi sighs, slumping down on the floor next to Ritsu’s sleeping figure. “It’s such a bother, but Tenshouin told me that the plea was officially signed by Ou-sama, who and how he delivered it to the school council office, they don’t know”

“So Leader is really back?” Tsukasa interrupts, gulping down the sweets he has in his mouth

“Not quite yet” Arashi fills in, noticing Izumi’s worn-out expression

“Yeah well, all he did was sign us up for consecutive lives”

“He what??!!” Arashi and Tsukasa both exclaim in astonishment, waking up the sleeping ‘vampire’ in the process

“I tried talking about it to Tenshouin believe me, But he says the announcement has already been made and It would be too late to back down”

“But knights just got back from… hiatus” Ritsu cuts in, groggy from his sleep

“Yeah well too bad, as much as it’s a bother it seems Ou-sama, has something up in his sleeves”

“Jeez, It’s been a year he should have given a heads-up” Arashi shakes her head, and for a few minutes the practice room was quiet, The only sound to be heard was from Tsukasa’s munching

So Practice and Practice they did, Perform, Practice, Perform, Repeat, Practice, Perform, Repeat—

“ Jesus Christ” Tsukasa shouts during a practice, startling the other members in the process

“What is the matter, Tsukasa-chan? You’ve been in a bad mood lately. Unusual for you.” Arashi, always the responsible and understanding ‘sister’ asks

The member in question doesn’t respond, simply continuing to munch the sweets that rested on his lap

“Ahh, stop stress eating, please. The stress combined with fat and sugar will make you fat, you know. On top of losing your figure, it’s not good for your health, okay?” Arashi takes the sweets off of Tsukasa’s lap at this, causing the latter to frown in annoyance

“What’s the matter, Tsukasa-chan? You’re always such a good boy, right?”

“Yeah yeah good boy whatever” He rolls his eyes “Rather, why is it that everyone is so calm?” Tsukasa gives the sleeping Ritsu a look. “It is incomprehensible! Is it because I am a new member of “Knights” that I am unfamiliar with this style?”

“What I can’t stand is... for just us to be made to fight, while Leader is…. Our king does not even show his face at the scene! He hasn’t made a proper return for all we know, He could be anywhere while we do these lives daily—”

“Even if you don’t accept him, Kasa-kun, the reality is that that guy is named the leader of ‘Knights’ in the official documentation and all.” Izumi cuts in

“I just can’t stand this any longer!” Tsukasa continues, Ignoring Izumi’s disapproving face or Arashi’s concerned one. “Why is he not over here!? That person is a member of the “Knights,” too, right? He is our leader, right!? So where is he?! And why—”

“Look…” Izumi rubs his temple “I’ve been around him for a while, see, but long ago, he wasn’t this kind of… mysterious character, you know?"

Tsukasa stops his agitated munching.

“He’s become isolated since then…He went abroad shortly after the events... You could say he got totally broken." That we got totally broken "That “Emperor” and the “Five Oddballs,” in the era when they were exchanging fire...At the same time, ‘Knights’ began their decline. Only a few units survived, “Ryuseitai” and such… from before that age, like a dark age at Yumenosaki Academy, but… That ‘Knights’ continued to exist, overcoming that era of unrest was….” Izumi sighs “Was the result of that guy, Ou-sama's, frantic efforts, you know? He threw away a lot of things, see?” He threw away his everything, his very normalcy and humanity…

“And fought until he was totally broken… But, it's not like Knights came out unscathed either, and he also threw something like his humanity to the wind, so…. That guy as he is now, He would have changed...It’s been a year after all… Even I.. don’t really know. Even long ago, he had the temperament of a prodigy, you could say? He was a guy who you couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.”

Leo is dizzy.

Mikejima had already warned Leo not to overexert himself

'You should take it easy Leo-san, We just got back from a flight, so be sure to take some rest, and with that Adieu!

But since when did Leo ever listen to anyone?

So now here he is, crouching below what should be Knight's practice room, ready to pounce and make his entrance through the window like a cat, ignoring the way his head pounds as he tries his best to hear the happenings inside the practice room

"'Knights” should be a very important “Unit” to him."

"It was his place for which there was no substitute, in the protection of which he held fast until he was bloody and broken, got it? Even when he was inscrutable like an alien, that guy’s actions are all for the sake of “Knights”..... That’s what I want to believe, at the very least.

Leo's heart flutters completely out of his own will, Sena is defending him, something he hasn't done ever. If anything Sena leads the "Annoyed-constantly-by-Ou-sama-club" at least, Thats how Leo sees it.

"I don’t want to believe that guy’s become a tyrant who sacrifices everything for his own desires, you know."

'Ah, Ah a composition about broken yet frutuious love is coming forth, I must stay focus'

He shakes his head, willing the composition in his thoughts to say goodbye along with the worsening headache he has 'Now's my chance to make a grand entrance befitting of a genius'

He prances, a wide smile on his face as he did, clearly he longed for a thrilling feeling after being coped up in watchful eyes for a year.

He ignores the way his head pounds when his feet makes contact with the practice room's floor, bits and pieces of the shattered window littered on the floor in the process

He ignores the growing nausea he's experiencing, a side effect of his dizziness.

Clearly, Ignoring has become one of his well trained skills, from ignoring his pain to ignoring his own emotion.

But there's only so much ignoring can do.

"The King makes his entrance, Wahahaha!!"

He's met with confuzzled stares by the four people who were in the room prior his entrance.

Four? there should be three... Oh right focus, focus

"I listened to everything you guys were saying, you know!"

They continued staring at him anyway, agape, confusion, shock, and betrayal evident in their faces.

"No, sorry, I lied! I only heard the last half! But be at ease! I can deduce all that you guys were talking about with my fantasies..."

"No, No it's just you surprised us" Arashi glances at the boys, prolonging her gaze at Izumi's position in added concern

"Where did you appear from just now? You came flying in from out of the window, didn’t you? What is with that nonsensical action!? Are you like a wild cat now?!" Izumi scolds, Ritsu next to him simply gives out a prolonged yawn.

"Ohh, Sena." Leo tuts, bringing a hand to his head in the guise of theatrics as he wills it to fade away with no help of painkillers. "You’re nagging like a sister-in-law, same as always, aren’t you! But even so, you stayed in the “Knights” till the last and and held, and for that I am very thankful of you."

If Leo didn’t know any better, he could have sworn that Izumi blushed, But it could have easily been a trick of the light or the trick of his own brain, those kinds of stuff has been happening a lot recently for him.

But just this once, He knows somehow knows that this was real, and not a simple hallucination his own mind conjured up.

“What is this about? Suuuper annoying!” Izumi rolls his eyes, but was interrupted when a red-haired boy steps up. “Leader! Showing yourself now, at this time! Up until now, what were you doing, and where!? Please have some limits to your irresponsibility! No, right now, more importantly than that! Now, we’re finally meeting face to face! My humble self….. I, Tsukasa Suou, shall make just one complaint about your “ways!”

Leo blinks, “Who?”

The red-haired boy continues staring firmly back at Leo. “Is it on purpose? Are you provoking me? Even though I deliberately prefaced my speech with “I, Tsukasa Suou,” my full name~!? Today of all days I cannot stand it! I won’t say much about how you treat me at this point, but! But this alone, I will be permitted to ask! Leader, what do you think about “Knights!?” What kind of intentions did you have in doing the consecutive lives that have been crushing our schedule lately? Until I hear an answer that I can properly agree with, I will not let you leave this place, even if I have to tie you down fast!”

“Ahh! You’re the newbie” Leo clasps his hands together in a theatrical façade “For a newbie however, You sure talk grandly, but see, there’s no meaning to it if after you just make up all these excuses. Really, it’s not for me to say, but… You need to be able to put on your greatest performance on the spot, on the stage. After all, no matter how much hot air you blow, it just leaves me cold! My head is splitting! Wahahaha!”

His head IS splitting, and the world starts to go circles in his view, but no one seems to have noticed yet.

Leo figures that’s for the better.

“Calm down Kasa-Kun” Izumi finally steps in as he notices the rookie make another move to rat out Leo. “He has no intention of listening to what others say, so… you’re just going to build up stress trying.”

“Secchan, is right Suu-chan~~” Ritsu interrupts, its easy to forget his presence if you weren’t used to his silence and yawnings “You’re a first-year student after all, what you lack in experience, you make up for hard work and practice”

“Ugh, don’t spoil him” Leo pouts “Knights” have really become a bunch of wimps, haven’t they? Collusion obstructs growth, obstructs progress! This corruption! Sharpen your hopeless individual skills like a katana! Right! Complaining about the current situation won’t help anything, so let’s think about the future! That’s more constructive! I shall construct my kingdom for you here once again!”

“What?” Izumi searches for anything in Leo’s emerald eyes, duller than they had been since the last time he saw him.

“Do I have to spoon-feed you, my dear Sena?” He tries to meet wherever those azure eyes of his are, but his world is spinning faster, and any second now he’ll throw up.

Let’s make this quick then

“Um so!!” Leo leans his weight in to the wall behind him, willing his mouth to say what he wishes to say, and for his head to just cooperate with him for one more mere second. “I still haven’t made a final decision, but… around next week, we’ll have ‘Duel’”

It’s a miracle that his voice hasn’t shown any hints of the pain he feels, much less how no one has noticed yet, He’s sure by now that Izumi would have noticed something wrong.

“Du- “Duel?” Going off and deciding things by yourself again! We are completely exhausted from doing the consecutive live performances, you know!?” The rookie says, too loudly for Leo’s own pleasure as he now has to deal with the ringing in his ears.

‘I’ll never hear the end of this from Mama’

“Ou-sama” That was Izumi… or so Leo thinks, he’s too far deep in the ringing on his ear to hear properly “What’s wrong?”

Leo blinks, his eyesight starting to spin lesser. “Nothing, nothing… just fatigue from the flight”
He may not be able to see what’s happening properly, but he can feel tense and anxious gazes focused on him, Even after all this they’re still worried of me…

“Well It’s useless to tell that to my enemies, On the battlefield, could you say to the enemy ’I’m tired right now, so let’s have a truce?’ right?”

“Enemies? Ou-sama—” That was Arashi no doubt.

Leo closes his eyes, he finds it better this way, now he won’t have to deal with his vision swimming around. “Mm, mmm…. At any rate, the preparations for “Duel” have already begun, so… I can’t say “I guess we’re not going to do it after all” at this point. Sorry.”

He hears sighs, and everything goes quiet. For a moment, Leo fears that he’s gone completely deaf. That a year of trying to ignore everything has led to this, this precise moment, where he crumbles in front of everyone he wants to see be happy.

But someone speaks up after the silence, Sena. “You don’t have to say sorry you know? Duel is the specialty of ‘Knights’ after all” Noises of affirmation circle around the room “Which unit will we be destroying then?”

Leo wills himself to smirk at this “Ah Sena, you’re unexpectedly slow and belligerent today. Mm, that is, this time, I’m thinking of a bit of a special “Duel.” See, when I—no, when we were active as idols, they had these multiple times, too, right? A Duel for the purpose of an internal purge….. I’m going to hold a Judgement!!”

“That thing?!!” Izumi calls out, followed by Arashi’s squeaking ““Judgement” drags out grudges and makes a mess of things, doesn’t it…?”

“Internal Purge…” no doubt that was the newbie.

“Yeah!!” Leo rids his body of the wall’s support, by now the ringing in his ear has lowered into a much more tolerable volume “We Knights are a chivalric order after all, Those kinds of fighting groups often use internal purges on their enemies within. We’ll decide who’s on top and who’s on bottom by punching each other up. Under the school regulations of Yumenosaki Academy, I’m going to construct a suitable “unit” using the system of “temporary units.” That ‘unit’ and ‘Knights’ will have a match, you know. I still haven’t... called on anyone about it, but… If worst comes to worst, I’ll perform alone, so… “Judgement” is fundamentally the same as a “Duel.” It’s a duel in which you take each other’s chess pieces. Even solo, if I destroy all of the enemies…. It’ll be my victory, won’t it?”

“Aren’t you getting carried away Ou-sama” That was Izumi’s voice no doubt, but it hurts to hear him be referred to by a title than a name, by his long time partner nonetheless. “You’ve spent a lot of time away, right? Do you think you can take us all down alone, Ou-sama?”

Leo cracks his eyes open, finally meeting Izumi’s azure ones albeit sluggishly in Leo’s end. Azure eyes that are filled with unspoken concern, Azure eyes that didn’t change at all, even when he himself had in so many ways. “No, of course I'll gather up some people as comrades, but, see... Just whoever, like classmates, and stuff…”

“But that would be a fight amongst comrades?!! What would be the meaning in that?!" Newbie rats out once more.

“Ah do I really need to spell it out for you, okay listen here” Leo points an annoyed finger to where the newbie should be, in this slow swirling eyesight of his. “Like I said, it’s an internal purge. For the future of “Knights”... If you guys win, I’ll listen to whatever you say. I’ll behave properly, in a leader-like manner for you. If you can’t stand me no matter what, you can even make me leave ‘Knights.’ But… If I happen to win… If “Knights” have fallen so far as to be a wimpy group that can’t even beat an instant “temporary unit”... Then I will disband them on the spot. If the “Knights” that were my youth itself have been reduced to a pitiful group I can’t stand to look at, then…. That kind of worthless thing, I’ll wash my hands of it and throw it in the garbage can.”

Silence filled the practice room once more

Ah… I want my role as the tyrant to be over quick, I want to write! Write! The false claims of an idiot king…a liar one, a false one…

“If you have a complaint about it, then come at me, Let's have a duel that will leave a mark in history!!” Leo smiles sheepishly before he exits the room in the same way he entered it.

Where Leo ended up after his conversation with Knights, he doesn't know, nor does he find it in him to care, here, in this cold tiles of the yumenosaki academy, he'll be fine.

"Ah!!" A voice calls out in surprise, Leo snaps his eyes wide open at this. Shit! He can't be caught in this suspicious position by a knights member, especially Sena.

He wills himself to get up, but his body doesn't listen to him. For the first time since Leo could remember, he feels trapped in his own body.

Fine, if you won't let me get up, then we'll do this the hard way He forces himself to focus on the person in front of him, if he shuts down the ringing, if he sees past through the color distoration, He should be fine, at least until the symptoms hit him again...

Leo blinks, and this time he is greeted by the sight of blonde locks

"Oh, It's you Tsukinaga-kun" The emperor greets the commoner with a smile becoming of a true angel. "I've heard about your departure from France with Madara, but I didn't expect you to return to school quickly as you did... given your circumstances"

Leo blinks again, absent mindedly watching as his vision starts swimming all over again, how the colors of the world start merging with each other, and how as each seconds go the ringing in his ears go louder and louder despite his desperate attempts to ignore them.

He doesn't know if he was the one spinning or if the world was, or maybe both were at the same time.

"Yuzuru...painkillers...if you would... student council room" He somehow manages to hear a part of Eichi's statement before the world turns black on him.

Befitting of a fallen composer.

When Leo returns to consciousness, it wasn't by the cold tile of the academy anymore.

"Tsukinaga-kun" Eichi greets, sitting directly in Leo's right as he tries to get the latter's attention the moment he notices him stirring in the couch. "The painkillers are there on the coffee table"

"Thanks~~!" Leo replies with no hesitation as he gulps down the pill along with the glass of water positioned next to him "Where do you even get those stuff?"

"The painkillers?" Eichi raises an eyebrow, unamused yet entertained at the same time "Well given my body's own circumstances Yuzuru here has a kit filled with them" Eichi kindly points to the direction of the blue-haired boy who stands attentively at the door of what Leo presumes os the Student Council's Office.

"Oh, Hello!" Leo greets in a make-polite gesture as there was no hiding the fact that he hadn't take note of this Yuzuru's presence in the slightest bit

To his surprise, Yuzuru doesn't greet him back.

"At any rate" Eichi starts, placing a hand on the coffee table that stood as a gap between the couch Leo currently lays at and the chair Eichi currently sits on. "How did it go with the negotiation with Knights?"

"It worked well if I say so myself!!" Leo places the now glass gently down the coffee table with a smile on his face, the pounding in his head resuming into a more tolerable pace. "I'm not quite sure about the group members to gather though... I figured i'd just wing it"

An awkward silence hung between them, reminiscent of the day Leo had broken his arm and had to share a hospital room with him.

But even then, conversing came easily between them, so maybe the problem wasn't their clashing personalities after all, but the gaps that have weaved their way through the feeble friendship they had.

"You aren't going to ask me?" Eichi finally says

"Ask you what?" Leo returns in confusion

"To join this temporary unit of yours?"

"Hah?!" Leo blinks, did he hear that right or was he actually going deaf this time around.

"You heard me" The emperor replies, as patient as ever "I figured if Mikejima-kun is busy, and you won't seek help from your own unit, then i'm the next candidate to sort you out then"

Leo's mouth hung open in a gasp "You're insane... but if you're offering... who am I to say no right? Wahahaha!!"

And in a flash, Leo stands up from the couch, feeling good as new as the painkillers continue running in his veins "Now if you dont mind me grabbing some more of these~~"

"Hold on just a moment Tsukinaga-kun" Eichi grabs Leo's outstretched hand that were just about to grab some of the spare painkillers. "The Temporary Unit, I recommend you looking through your class, they have oustanding reputations of their own."

Leo nods impatiently as Eichi finally releases his hold from his hands, allowing Leo to grab some spare painkillers in the process, his own ones having been lost in the jungle that was his luggage.

"And you shouldn't rely too much on that" Eichi calls out before Leo had the chance to turn his back on him "Call this a friend's advice, or a sick person to another, But there's only so much that Painkillers can do."

"Pshtt, I'm not sick and yeah yeah ya da ya da" Leo blows a raspberry towards Eichi at this as he takes his leave from the student council office. Leaving a somber blonde boy alone.

"Things are about to get more interesting now that Tsukinaga-Kun is back Yuzuru"

Three days till judgement, and Izumi is still angry, happy, confused, all at the same time.

Sure, The king is back, and yeah that's great, he should be happy, he is happy, he just didn’t expect Leo to come back this soon, despite the fact that he had hoped that Leo would come back.

“Argh, this is all so confusing” Izumi mutters to himself as he closes the door behind him “Really, who does he think he is barging right back into our lives and acting like nothing happened” That doesn’t even begin to cover how he acted weird during the conversation with Knights, ’Really is that just how he acts now or is something going on that he won’t tell me about’

It doesn’t help that there hasn’t been any sightings of the king recently, and it hits too close for comfort…

We should have confronted him more gently… we should have--

“Huh? You're pretty early, Izumi-chan.” Arashi greets, snapping Izumi out of his own thoughts.

“Huh? Oh yeah” Izumi rubs the back of his neck anxiously “Yeah, well, you see… Yuu-kun wanted to get away from me so badly that he went crying to Nazunyan. And Nazunyan is a softie, so he spilled everything we wanted to know”

‘Maybe I should have gone directly to the point, “Hey guys I think Ou-sama is seriously planning to annihilate us!!” But that wouldn’t do us any good and the worst that could happen would be… and it’s not like that king would ever…’

“Excuse me for interrupting, but did you get anything?” Tsukasa cuts in, next to him was Ritsu, from the looks of it it seems that they were doing practice together. ’Good for them’

“Ou-sama is way more serious than we thought. I discovered something crazy, so I was kind of in a mad rush to get here and tell you, you see~” The sweat that clung to his own uniform was proof enough, but for once he wasn’t bothered by it in the slightest

“Something serious…” Arashi echoes, terrified.

“Well, you know the temporary unit Ou-sama put together to fight against us? I found out who the members are.” He goes to loosen the tie of his uniform, “And they’re way overpowered, you know? They’re called Knight Killers apparently”

“Those who… Kill Knights…” Tsukasa murmurs, deep in thought.

To Kill Knights… To kill them…

“Seriously, Is he seriously trying to pick a fight?” Izumi groans in annoyance “If he thinks he can kill us so easily, he’s underestimating us.”

He earns a smile from Arashi at that, small yet comforting all the same.

“Well, we shouldn’t make light of them either, though. With just the songs Ousama makes, it's already gonna be trouble for us… I happen to overhear that a bunch of big-shot leaders from the strongest units are gonna be in Knight Killers…”

Tsukasa pulls out a snack at this, munching anxiously “C-Could we really win against such a strong enemy? Would I not hold everyone back again…? Because I lost my temper with Leader? I-It got this bad?”

“Ughh… I didn’t train you for nothing you know” Ritsu sighs

“And besides” Izumi pipes in “It’s all that stupid Ousama’s fault. Seriously, that guy… He’s cooking up something and its such a nuisance”

“But we’ll be fine” Arashi places a comforting hand on Tsukasa’s shoulder “We’ll take it easy and win like always. You can rely on this big sister of yours”

“The day of Judgement has arrived!!” Leo proudly shouts, his hands resting on his hips as if he were a true and regal king. “Judgment, thee civil war between us chivalric order of Knights”

In the left corner of the backstage, stood the temporary unit that is ‘Knights Killers’ coined by the one and only Emperor of Yumenosaki academy,the same boy stands at the far most front of the group, Hands crossed around his chest and an unreadable look on his face, a silent reminder for Leo to not push himself, that they need to end this Judgement as quickly as they possibly can lest they lose their advantage

’Ah but the painkillers are still kicking in, so it should be fine!!’

“For these few hours, we will bare all our disgraces to the world - please enjoy yourselves to the fullest! Watch us sing, dance, throw our punches and our love at each other in our own lovers’ quarrel...” He grins at this “Enter, the fools who chose to start such selfish quarrels…!”

His beloved Knights enter from the right side of the stage—or they should be entering from the right, but instead only Izumi and Naru came.

“Instead of what Judgment is, most of the audience is probably wondering who the hell's that idiot making a ruckus onstage. How about introducing yourself? You impolite, arrogant fool…?” Izumi scolds, Arashi—who was standing next to him, lets out a laugh.

“Sena, Naru!” Leo greets with a wave, trying not to act as childish as possible, using his childishness as an idol was one thing, ruining his reputation because of it was another. ’Make no mistakes’ “Where're the others? They didn’t turn tail and run away, did they? That’d be so boring! Wahahaha! There’s no way you’d hold back just because we're close, right? My Knights aren’t some lukewarm unit like that.”

“Yeah, yeah we know that, There’s a general outline… You’ll see, It should all go smoothly from here if things go to plan”

“Who are you and what have you done to Sena?!” Leo exclaims in feigned surprise. “You’re usually so annoyingly full of yourself, That’s what makes you shine, That isn’t like you at all~~”

’ But I guess there’s no helping it, it’s not the Sena I know… or the Knights I know. It’s been a year after all, That’s how it is, okay okay! It’s getting exciting!’

“Wahahaha! Now let’s unfold this improvisation theater, this human drama! This operatic jewel, the greatest tragic comedy… I am but the one and only current king of knights, Leo Tsukinaga-sama, wahahahaha! To those who know of me, long time no see! To those who don't, remember my name! But it's fine to forget, I’ll carve it into you over and over and over again! My name! Our story!”

Eichi, who is still standing at the same spot he is, gestures for him to exit. And Leo finds himself with no choice but to obey

“Wahahaha... Well then, amuse this king of yours as I terminate these Knights of old age”

Leo, along with the representative of Knights—Arashi and Izumi step back from the center of the stage at this

“He’s getting way too cocky, That stupid Ou-sama” Izumi state once they’ve returned to Knight’s side of the backstage “But I guess it’s to be expected. For a group he just threw together, it sure is a vicious lineup…”

“We really are in trouble” Arashi continues, her voice filled with remorse “We Knights pride ourselves in strength - every single member is a fighter capable of taking on thousands of opponents… Just by ourselves, we’re all quite distinguished students at this school. But Knight Killers is the same…”

Arashi shakes her head, correcting her previous statement “No no, Did you see The emperor standing on their side? It was spooky” Her unspoken worries hung in the air, Could we win.

“Natchan is nervous~~” Ritsu’s attempt at lightening works, as to be expected.

“No need to get all worked up. All we have to do is stick to Kuma-kun’s plan alright?”

They barely had any time to go through Ritsu’s plan one last time before the lights designed to blaze down the stage start flashing different colors in a slower manner

“That’s that” Ritsu says with a stifled yawn that the others dare not question as Tsukasa and Arashi stepped on to the center of the stage.

The plan was simple, according to Ritsu at least. Naru was to lead the first half of the war, with Tsukasa acting as her support. What Tsukasa lacks, Arashi would return double. It was an easy plan in theory, But Arashi had been in Knights the longest apart from Izumi, If anyone can make up for a rookie’s mistakes it was her, and her elegant style of dancing.

“Still, this plan of yours surprises me Kuma-kun” Izumi states, eyes not focused on the war wagering between Arashi, Tsukasa and Nazuna and Kiryu, nor on Ritsu, But on someone further, The same green eyes stare back at him, not with empathy or kindness as he would have usually done, but with mischief. “This was Kasa-kun and Ou-sama’s fight after all, there’s no point in dragging me to and placing me into the position of king”

“Maybe” Ritsu answers “But you know Ou-sama the most out of us, and while that goes the same for him too, I have… a vampire’s instinct, Our tricks may be out in the open because Ou-sama knows us well, but you also happen to know him well… And if there’s anything Ou-sama would hesitate on attacking it would be you”

“Hah? Vampire’s instinct, tch what a weirdo”

Ritsu laughs at this “…I don’t think Suu-chan, no matter how many times he practiced this, could take down Ou-sama… so it has to be you, It all started with the two of all after all… so maybe… If knights do end, at least it ended the same way it started”

Izumi takes off his gaze from Leo and places a comforting hand on Ritsu’s shoulder “What a bunch of phooey, listen here, knights won’t end today, nor anytime soon. So stop saying that sentimental crap it’s getting to me”

“I know you’d say that Secchan” Ritsu smiles, genuinely for a change before he changes the topic, a somber look overshadowing his smile. “…You know, Natchan was against the plan when I first told her about it”

Izumi answers in a hum, that’s unlikely of Arashi to disagree

“She’s worried for you a lot, I think… she says it might be tough for you, given you only just started functioning again recently… so I… It’s my mistake, sorry… even though it’s my job to think up strategies for us. I’m sorry if I didn’t really… take into consideration your feelings…”

That was a new one, Ritsu rarely opens up about himself, much less his own thoughts. “Yeah, yeah ya da ya da, I’m fine now”

Ritsu cracks up a smile at that. “You’re really strong you know Secchan…? Even though we’re fighting against Ousama you can still raise your chin up like that… That strength, I’ll be sure to carry it with me in the battleground, If even I, who’s frozen in time forever, can be of help in creating a new future.... then for once I’ll show Ou-sama what makes the current Knights, Knights.”

Izumi couldn’t help but stare in awe, at Ritsu’s words, proud, true, and genuine as they were. He could feel all of his inner doubts—doubts about his capabilities of defeating their king, doubts about his skill, of failing, of everything—disappearing

“Don’t make a face like that” were the words that came out of his mouth instead, yet he can still see that pride in Ritsu’s face as the crowd announces Arashi and Tsukasa’s fall along with the Knight Killers they’ve slain, pride in being a Knight.

“We believe in you Secchan” Ritsu says one last time, a hand on his outfit’s cape before he disappears into the stage, leaving all of Knight’s dreams and hope into Izumi’s scared and trembling hands.

“Heya Sena!!” He feels the way his hand shakes when he waves it, he pleads to the god, if he ever exists, that Sena didn’t see it, that he let him keep up this guise of normalcy a little longer. Just a little bit more “That’s a nice face you got there.”

Izumi bites his lower lip as he forces himself to stare at the same emerald eyes he’s longed to see for a year… And yet in this stage, he can’t help but notice a lot of things, like how Leo’s lips look more purple the more he looks at it, or the bubbling anger he has for Leo just ignoring his texts albeit a dumb reason to get angry for.

When Izumi doesn’t reply, Leo takes the matter in his hands. “Ritsu, Newbie, Naru… They’ve all fallen. They fought with all their might, but their turns are now over. And everyone here besides me has been annihilated too. Well, the guys in Knight Killers cooperated with me out of their own good will.”

"Are you capable of taking me down Sena?" A hint of mischief flashes on Leo's emerald eyes, that was returned by Izumi's smile, gentle, warm and caressing yet threatening all the same, very much like Izumi indeed.

"If it's a challenge you want then its a challenge you get" Izumi states proudly his hands skirming to the hilt of the fake sword that rest on his belt, Leo feels his heart skip a beat at this, blood slowly rushing to his cheeks.

"Oh no, a challenge isn't the only thing I want here" Leo returns Izumi's smile. "I want a new beginning and some finality"

Izumi blinks in confusion, "We shall avoid prolonging this any further shall we?" Leo finds himself agreeing at this, once more taking note of how his fingers were shaking out of his own will.

A little more time, just a little more

The music drops out of nowhere and soon Leo and Izumi both find themselves performing with everything they've got, It had been a while since they've performed together like this, movements and voices in perfect sync and harmony, Izumi's perfect and calculated steps matching his reckless yet energetic ones, They were two pieces of a puzzle, complimenting each other in ways that make up for what the other lacks, And god, Leo would be lying to himself if he says that this wasn't one of the best and exhilarating moment of his life.

A litte more time, just a little more

The music goes faster and higher by the seconds, signifying its nearing end, A smile forms in Leo's face as he raises the fake sword that rested on his hip mere moments ago.

Just a little more...

Sena echoes this action, and soon they continue performing with their entire soul and being as they flaunter these swords of theirs, the show of their valor, albeit fake swords they may be.

The tempo goes faster, and faster and faster-- if this keeps up Leo is absolutely sure he would lose his balance on way or another, but he could hardly care, he spins, he sways, matching every elegant movement of Izumi's with his own energetic ones.

Tap, Tap, slide, spin With this, the music that seemed never ending for the two exhausted performers come to a halt, with Leo's sword laying on the ground, a sure tell of his defeat.

The tip of Izumi's sword stayed pointed on Leo's chest that only served to beat faster and faster, On normal circumstances he supposes he'd be upset over his defeat and throw a tantrum over it despite not taking it whole heartedly at all.

But from the way those azure eyes of Sena's search for something in him, He knows truly, and with no doubt that no act of tantrum whatsoever can hide the blood rushing to his cheeks, nor the way his body shakes, in awe or something else He doesn't know, and hardly finds any part of him to care, too captivated in searching for sort of emotion in Izumi's eyes as well.

"I'll hear out your request.. Ou-- no, Leo-kun"

His name being said by Sena shouldn't have this much of an impact on him, he used to do this everyday after all, but it did anyway, and the blush on his cheeks only darkened at this

"The name is Sena, Izumi Sena" Izumi states with a warm smile, and for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Leo feels as if he and Sena were finally seeing each other eye to eye again, the only thing standing between them was the sword that Izumi still holds tightly.

"Then... You can call me Leo!!"

Izumi's warm smile doesn't waver for even the slightest second, nor did they break any sort of eye contact. The only thing that did change in the scene was the soft clutter of Izumi's fake sword as it hits the ground, allowing Izumi to give a proper bow-- a hand behind his back and a hand in front-- before stretching out a hand in a friendly manner

Leo watches as Sena's mouth move to form words, yet he doesn't hear any of it come out. Strange

"I can't hear you" He goes to say, and even then he himself can't hear his own words.

In fact, now that he ponders more about it, He can't hear anyone at all, not even the crowd, nor the music, anything.

He can't hear anything.

"Sena" He tries again, but he still doesn't hear anything, only the ringing in his ear that goes louder and louder by the second as his eyesight once more starts meshing in.

"Sena" He tries to say, but the world turned black on him. The last thing he feels as he slips out of consciousness is the soft arms that were wrapped around him, holding him tenderly so tenderly as if they were afraid that he would break if they weren't careful enough.

The first thing he notices when he wakes up was his right ear still ringing, louder, more painful than ever before.

The next was how plain the ceiling was boring, monotonous, soulless

Last was the iv that connected him to the machineries that hung next to him.

He shouldn't be surprised that he landed himself back to a hospital mere weeks after finally leaving one, it has become a somewhat daily routine for him after all, but no amount of preparation can prepare him for the realization that struck him next.

He collapsed in front of Sena The one person he’s been trying to hide everything from since he came back, and now all those white lies come crumbling down in front of him.

And to make matters worse, that person was there, sitting at the edge of his bed, his back turned from him, rendering Leo unable to see his face, nor his expression.

“Why didn’t you say anything” To think that Leo was the reason for the raw pain in Izumi’s voice was unthinkable yet a fact all the same.

“I was gonna tell you…”

“When?!” Izumi snaps, regret quickly settling in. “Look sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

“No it’s fine, I was at fault” Leo interrupts, his orange hair shrouding most of his view of Sena as he looks down in shame. “I just, I don’t know… I wanted to start a new beginning… move on from the somber yet nostalgic melodies of the past and go back to cheerful notes and I just…”

The bed shifts as Izumi turns around to finally face Leo, a hand reaching out to stroke the back of his un-injected hand, a comforting gesture, one that’s a surprise considering who it came from “Look if you don’t want to tell me yet…”

Leo takes in a sharp breath cutting off whatever scolding Izumi had brewed up. "No, No its fine Sena!! I'm glad your worried about me, really!!"

Leo raises his head, finally meeting Izumi's concerned gaze. "I'm just glad you're talking and meeting me at the eye that's all"

Izumi continues caressing the back of Leo's hands, gently, with care and affection until the movement suddenly stops, followed a teaseful smack from Izumi in the same hand. "Well i'm not glad, Ah, listen here you're such a handful, but how do you not feel yourself get faint, You should have said something was wrong at least"

Leo rubs his neck guiltily, He never really did realize how frequent Izumi scolds him, nor how scary he gets during it ’He really is like an annoying mom’

“Leo-kun” Izumi waves a hand in front of his face, worried. Leo smiles at that, for the weirdest reasons, for some sort event, he’s glad that Sena is worried about him, as selfish as it may seem. “Can you hear me?”

“Wahaha! Of course I did!” A half-lie, not the truth but not a lie, But the ringing in his right ear is a story for another day, really Leo is starting to have a knack for lying blatantly “I couldn't know I was in any actual pain becaaausee I may or may not have—”

“Accidentally overdosed in Painkillers, yeah the doctors told me, but I’m asking you Why” Izumi states sharply, though he doesn’t seem that mad like how he usually would… just concerned. “You’ve been acting weird since you first appeared at the practice room”

It’s so easy to get lost in those azure eyes of Izumi’s, especially when they show emotion that it normally would hide, but the same goes for being intimidated.

’Inspiration…Inspiration, blue ocean…’

’Focus, Focus’

’Should I tell him?’

’It wouldn’t hurt…maybe’ He’s already here in the hospital anyway… might as well, right?

“Hmph, what if don’t want to tell you” comes out of his mouth instead

“Ah, you stupid--” Izumi sighs, calming himself down “Look…it’s fine if you won’t tell me, that’s your right, but you should really take care of yourself better—”

The door clicks open.

“We’re back!! Oh Ou-sama you’re awake!!” Arashi greets, next to her was Ritsu and the newbie. “We’ve informed your parents about the incident, they should be here soon--”

Silence, no one bothers to utter a word, Leo being annoyed by the sudden intrusion and Izumi silently pleading Arashi to read the room.

“Did I interrupt something…?” Arashi asks, her nose scrunched up in confusion.

Ritsu’s yawn was the only response she receives, earning a face palm from Tsukasa.

More awkward silence resume, followed by a hearty laugh from Leo.

“Ah Ou-sama has gone nuts” Ritsu teasingly says, earning a grin from Leo.

"No, no just... I missed this feeling" It feels like I can write a million songs just like this

"Thee~~n Welcome back!!" Arashi claps her hands joyfully, Izumi only rolls his eyes at this change of pace.

The smile on Leo's face though, was priceless in Sena's eyes. That one smile he had longed for in so long.

It took everything in him to stop staring, to keep the words affection that hung on the tip of his tongue stuck there for now.

So he coughs instead, opting to look sideways in order to hide the pooling blood that is making his cheeks heat up. "...T-that doesn't mean you're forgiven or anything"

Still, Leo laughs at this, melodic-- like the chimes of a bell.

"I'm glad to be back"

The rest of the day went by smoothly for Izumi.

For Leo? not so much.

Its midnight, and here he finds himself staring blankly at the window, looking back to the events that proceeded after Knights short but memorable visit.

"Its a miracle you're still able to hear properly in your left ear Tsukinaga-kun" The doctor had stated, clear as day. "Circumstances such as this are rarely observed "

Leo didn't know what to answer and simply hums instead, he need not reply though, his mother did it for him. "How long then?"

The unspoken words of his own mother hang awkwardly on the air, words Leo knows his mom is surely thinking but has no guts to say so. Because saying is believing.

'How long until he can't hear', 'How long until he's bed ridden'

'How long until he's dead

The doctor sighs, mournfully-- yet answers truthfully all the same "I estimate up until the end of this year"

"That close" He heard Ruka murmur despite his apparently declining ability to hear

Winter

He didn't even realize how cold the climate is already becoming to be, signifying the end of summer and the beginning of colder times.

He's getting cold, and he shouldn't be, he's inside after all.

No, it's not that he's getting cold-- he's lonely.

The exact same feeling during last year.

Lonely. Alone. Despair

But he isn't alone anymore, nor should he have any reason to be despair.

But lonely... he's so lonely, and bored and he's too restless-- the entire happenings of the day replaying on his mind like a broken dvd Judgement, collapse, apology, forgiven, start, repeat

He finds his hands skimming through the phone that sad idly on his lap, It wouldn't hurt to message him now would it?

'Ah but I'm just starting to get along with the current Knights... is this really okay-- If boredom hits me harder than it already has I can always just--'

Ah. He cuts his inner monologue short with a groan, But this room is so plain and boring, I want to go out but these stupid Iv's aah i'm boreeed

Against his own better judgement, he finds his own hands mindlessly skimming through his phone, going through contacts to get in touch with the text messages from that one person he's been ignoring for a year now until recently.

R u awake?

He taps the floor with his feet, a rhythmic pattern setting in as he waits anxiously for a reply. Its eleven pm, three hours after visiting time of course he'd be asleep, not to mention I intentionally ignored his messages for a year--

His phone buzzes, snapping him out of his thoughts.

I still am, why?

Leo ponders absent mindedly over the message. How do people chat in this thing

R u mad?

More rhythmic tapping, never ending and repetetive, unlike most of his compostions-- then a buzz.

Abt u? sort of.

Oh. Leo feels his heart drop at this, his rhythmic foot tapoing coming to an abrupt halt.

Another buzz.

But that doesn't mean I don't care, is something up?

That earns a smile from Leo.

Nothing, just lonely and bored, sneak in would you? I can't compose anything like this

Tap, Tap, Tap.

You want, ME, to sneak in on a hospital for your sake yeah goodluck with that

Tap, Tap, Tap

Please?? Seeeenaa

A minute or so passed, with the only sound to be heard being Leo's rhythmic tapping that has gone a tad bit faster due to nerves Tap, Tap, Tap

Buzz.

What do you even want to talk about? We can just call if its important

Tap, Tap, Tap.

It wouldn't feel the same waaay

That was a half lie, again. Leo just sucked with technology for absolutely no reason.

Through text then

Leo sighs impatiently, though there's no point in sighing if no one could see you.

Nooo I want to talkk to youu

A few seconds of impatience past, with Leo considering just sleeping this boredom off if he can't convince Izumi to sneak in.

You aren't in the hospital for no reason, Just sleep it off

Wow. How dare he. Leo rolls his eyes at this, which again serves no purpose but to fuel his imagination.

I'm fit as a horse!! And it's just this once come oooonn, There's a window and all you can probably climb into secretly

Seened.

Probably. You're making me risk my career for a possible trespassing.

"Duhh" Leo doesn't help it as the words unconsciously slip past his lips, Ah well who cares, not that anyone can see him... except if there's a security camera... which would be unlikely given its a private hospital room...

Yes.

No reply came from Izumi's line, a little longer than how Leo would like it to be, Perhaps Sena has already fallen asleep?

The buzzing of his phone mere seconds after his thoughts prove him wrong however

You owe me this one

Leo cracks a smile at this.

Don't forget to bring a rope

Member of the rising group 'Knights' that hail from the one and only prestigious school that is Yumenoaki Academy, One of the original members of the said unit-- Izumi Sena, finds himself climbing a rope (borrowed from his dad's stash in the attic) to get to the hospital room of no other than the leader of the unit he belongs to.

"He'll be the death of me" He mutters as he continues his laborous task, climbing.

Surprisingly, he met no obstacles, and was simply greeted with a wide smile from Leo the moment he reached the room, The aching of his palm momentarily forgotten as that cheerful melodious voice speaks up "You actually came!"

Izumi takes the hand Leo offers with a scoff. "Well you asked for me and now you're questioning my arrival?" which is basically Sena-talk for 'Why would I not come if you ask for me?' Not that Sena himself would admit it aloud.

Leo seems to have gotten the gist if it though, as his smile did not waver for a single bit. "Come on Come on, bed to my bed" He gestures a confused Izumi to follow him out of the windowpane, which he does so.

"Why did you call me here for?" Leo may be irrational and reckless, but Izumi knows the boy well enough to be aware that Leo would not just call him for a prank at this time of the night.

"You asked me a question a while ago right?" Leo has positioned himself to the corner of his bed, Iv hooks idly sitting next to him as emerald eyes focus hazily on him, When did Leo start looking this haggard--? with eyebags creeping under his eyes that seem to be illuminated even further by the moonlight that enters the window.

At the back of his mind, he idly remembers his own words from earlier

'Accidentally overdosed in Painkillers, yeah the doctors told me, but I’m asking you Why'

Leo nods at the flash of recognition in Izumi's face and takes this as his cue to continue. "Its Acoustic Neuroma"

Leo had said it so blatantly and simple, yet Izumi blinks in confusion all the same. "Acou-- what?"

"A tumor." Izumi blinks at this, the gesture being echoed by Leo in return.

Neuro...oh...brain, a brain tumor

Oh

Silence ensued, a little too distant for Sena's taste. They had just crossed over the gap between then after all... seeing them be rebuilt again albeit in a temporary scenario this time still makes him feel...

He coughs it out, no need to stress on the negative part of their past, just focus on the future. A tumor is just a tumor, theres numerous surgeries and with the hold Leo's name has due to his idol career he's sure to...

But the look in Leo's face says a lot otherwise, dull emerald eyes devoid of emotions, similar-- no exactly as it was that day.

That look on Leo's face crashed all of his budding hope.

But he doesn't press on the matter, seeing as it could potentially break the already fragile Leo. That or it was an excuse to move on and forget Leo had mentioned anything at all, even he himself isn't sure.

So he focuses on the shadows that creep under Leo's eyes instead. "When was the last time you had slept properly?"

"Huh?" Leo breathes out, confused, and definitely drowsy.

"Sleep." Izumi rolls his eyes as he scoots over to Leo's side, gently laying the boy down as he fixes the iv's connected to him, Through his peripheral vision he takes note of the way Leo's eyes droop groggily, whether it was from the drugs or genuine tiredness or a mix of both, Izumi couldn't tell.

What he could tell was that Leo needed sleep, badly. But from how he perseves it, its either Leo doesn't let sleep come to him, or sleep won't come to Leo. Maybe even both.

"Don't want to" Leo says with a groan, yet doesn't fight Izumi's tender hands guiding him to lay down. Yep that's definitely the drugs doing whatever they are supposed to do.

"Well, you need to" Izumi counters patiently, running a hand through Leo's sunset-colored hair once he had finally tucked him to bed. "You look like a zombie"

"Then why didn't you notice it this morning" Leo says weakly, as if he hadn't meant to say it aloud, which would be a surprise given Leo's nature.

Yeah...Why did he not notice it this morning... perhaps it was selfish of him to think that Leo is okay despite the scene in the practice room.

Ahh, but Leo is an individual capable of taking care of his own... He shouldn't keep forcing himself to protect Leo like this... Does Leo even want to be protected? Should he really protect Leo?

He misses it when feelings were just straight forward, easy heart felt things like 'I love you' and no complicated strings of thoughts and fear to back up those words.

He finds himself mourning second year, their loss, the distant that grew, that time Leo just stopped saying those 3 words, with 8 letters, That time Leo closed himself off, That time Leo disappeared without a single word of goodbye.

If only everyone were like the old Leo...

Ah but there's no really use to mourn for something--no, someone that returned to you after all no? Sure, he's more fragile, and sickly maybe, maybe even more emotional than he was then... But he still is Leo, the same Leo whom he had shared his everything with, who had crushed his entire being with but a single goodbye.

So he resumes to run his hands affectionately through Leo's hair instead, a small smile tugging at the edges of his lips.

"Sorry..." Leo breathes out, and this time Izumi is completely certain it was the drugs from his iv doing their work. "That's what I wanted to call you for..."

"You shouldn't be" Izumi replies, knowing exactly what Leo had meant to say. "It was both our fault, we had our own shares... If we handled it a lot differently, things could be a lot better, but all we can do now is to try to heal from it right?"

"Mhmm" Leo hums in agreement, leaning in to Izumi's touch

Izumi welcomed the silence for a change, who knew he could be this affectionate? maybe there's a first time for everything after all.

"Don't want to sleep" Leo finally speaks, for what felt like a little too long of silence.

"You look exhausted" Izumi points out, and most certainly drugged out.

"Still don't want to" Leo stubbornly answers, earning an eye roll from Izumi.

"Nightmare?" Izumi offers, still running his hand through Leo's hair as he lays his eyes on the shadows under Leo's droopy eyes, concern taking over.

"Yeah" Leo simply answers, and Izumi fights the will to say 'Me too'

Instead, he offers what sympathy he could give at most. "I'll be here" not the best comfort you could give someone, but that's all he could think off at the moment.

Another prolonged silence came, making Izumi assume that Leo had drifted off to sleep, at least until a groggy voice spoke up. "Sing me a lullaby Sena"

"Do I have to?" Izumi teases, yet indluges Leo anyway, Sure this would be embarassing but If this could get him to sleep then who was he to complain? "What song do you want me to sing?"

"A little sena" Leo answers with a small smile that Sena couldn't help but return, albeit more bashfully.

"That song huh?" Izumi says wistfully, nostalgia flooding his thoughts.

Well, here goes nothing

The first notes come out roughly due to not warming up, but he continues anyway, watching Leo in adoration as he hums the melody along with his singing

Sena, my little Sena...

He wasn't aware of when he had reached the end of the short composition, or when Leo had finally drifted off to sleep as he sung, But here in this small hospital room, where they had created their own world, where only the light from the bright new moon spill inside, here in their world he lets himself be honest just this once.

He leans in and places his lips on Leo's forehead, gently, so as not to wake him, tenderly, full of affection and longing and silent I love you's.

Goodnight Leo

"How did your visit with Tsukinaga-kun go?"

The emperor of yumenosaki academy sat directly in front of him, with a smile that can hardly be described as arrogant yet gives off the same aura. The only thing that separated them was the chess board placed neatly between them.

"Fine..." Izumi grumbles as he moves a chess piece forward. "Could be doing better i suppose"

Eichi hums in affirmation, moving one of his pieces in return. "I'm asuming Tsukinaga-kun finally told you the truth and you did your research afterwards"

There really is no hiding anything from Tenshouin, Izumi sighs "Yeah, I did" Not that he saw anything positive to note in his researches.

He moves his Knight, and Eichi chuckles at this. "Checkmate Sena-kun"

Izumi blinks in confusion, Eichi hasn't even gotten near his King yet. "Huh?"

"I meant that life itself has you in a chokehold that can be described as checkmate Sena-kun" Eichi chuckles as if the whole ordeal was amusing to him, for Izumi it did the complete opposite. "Adamantly, you can also apply this to our current game"

Izumi releases a huff of breathe that wasn't really a sigh nor a simple exhale. "What do you mean life has a chokehold on me?"

"Oh my should I have said 'you two'?" Izumi doesn't know if Eichi was feigning innocence or if Eichi is innocent, but at this point he could hardly care, That's just the way a mind of a genius works he supposes.

"Nevertheless, I think you know what I meant Sena-kun" Izumi watches carefully as Eichi moves a piece.

"Well...I don't really see how i'm defeated here, so i'm not gonna give up?" Izumi offers, unsure where the conversation is leading

"Hmm, well I suppose I understand you view, it could just be because I'm not really one to waste such meaningless time on a victory I am guaranteed of"

"Speaking of meaningless time" Izumi switches the topic to a territory he's more familiar with "Why did you call me here? I doubt its just for a silly game of chess"

Eichi watches Sena intently as he moves his knight. "Ahh, about Judgement, it was quite a sucess despite its somewhat dramatic and chaotic end"

Sena silently watches in awe as the great tenshouin makes his move with little eye contact to the board. "It is?" That is quite a shock considering the ruckus that followed the end of Judgement.

"I wouldn't be offering Knights to perform in the upcoming Christmas Fes now would I?" Amusement fills Eichi's expression as he watches Izumi take another move, another useless one that would do nothing to stop the checkmate that he could feel in the tip of his fingers.

"Why are you asking me this?" Izumi frowns "The King of Knights is back after all--"

"That's precisely why I'm asking you of this" Eichi cuts in, silencing Izumi "You have quite some time to think it over"

That night, Izumi came by the hospital once more, this time without Leo calling for him.

This is gonna become a weekly habit if they keep this up, but neither of them seem to mind as Izumi taps on the window of Leo's room, to be greeted by a smile from the latter.

“Whoa, What’s with the visit” Leo teases, raising the window to allow Izumi to enter. “It’s only been a few days did you already miss me~~”

“It’s been a week technically,” Izumi says, rolling his eyes as he steps down from the window. “And to answer your question, no I didn’t miss you” That was a lie, and Leo seems to have easily caught up to it as he gives a laugh.

“Yeah, yeah but I really missed you Sena~~” Leo’s words quivered at the end, and he prompts to cross his hands to his chess, For a second—just a second that Izumi would most likely never say aloud, he feared that it was the symptoms kicking in, at least until Leo speaks up again “Ah can you close the window for me it’s too chilly”

Sena internally sighs, glad that his suspicions were incorrect. “What am I, your slave?” still he does close it in the end, concern winning over as he watches Leo shiver.

“I c-can’t believe it’s only early fall, screw you climate change” Leo plops down at the edge of his bed, feigning anger over a phenomenon he could do nothing but observe. “So why did you come here?”

“Figured you were freezing cold or something” Izumi shrugs, it wasn’t a complete lie at least, Leo has his own tendencies to forget how to take care of himself, but he was also here for another matter entirely.

“Ahh, stupid Sena, I wouldn’t freeze THAT easily” Emerald eyes observe him keenly, as if Leo could tell that Sena wasn’t telling the whole truth, which given their long-standing connection, he probably does. “But ah, winter is coming bye sooner than I had expected, that means Christmas is coming soon too, Hey sena what gift do you plan on giving me?!!”

’Me Giving Gifts?’ Sena sighs, nope nope, we should think this over more rationally, Its funny that Leo himself did the work of opening up the topic he’d been meaning to talk about. “Seriously, do you really like Christmas that much?”

Sena finds himself a seat next to Leo, opting to watch blankly at the moon that peaks over the window as Leo leans his head on Izumi’s shoulder.

“Who wouldn’t like Christmas?”

“Normal functioning teenagers who are growing in to adults?” Izumi replies sarcastically.

“Boohoo, that’s exactly why I’m never growing into an adult” Leo blows a raspberry, earning a laugh from Izumi.

Comfortable silence came to engulf the room they shared, the only warmth to be felt being Leo’s head still pressed gently on Izumi’s shoulder, broader than they had been the last time they sat like this idly, without a single care for the world.

‘Leo likes Christmas’Izumi summarizes in his mind, still looking silently over the moon that loomed over them through a window, if he closes his eyes… he can think of this as a romantic scene, with him and the person he loves the most.

Christmas…

Izumi makes a mental note to agree with Eichi’s proposal, because if this was one of the few ways he can make Leo happy, then he’d do it.

He welcomes the silence that comes with his thoughts, and the rhythmic rise and slow of their shoulders.

Christmas...Gift...Performance...Surprise

“The moon is beautiful isn’t it?” Izumi says without much thought, still looking longingly at the moon.

The only response he meets was Leo’s soft snoring, having drifted off to slumber without Sena realizing.

“Good night then” He mutters instead, raising Leo’s head from his shoulder so as he can be more comfortable in bed.

I love you.

Mid fall.

Izumi didn’t know when and how time flew that fast between his practices, term-end exams, and just life in general… But due to all of this, the mess his life has somewhat become, he had forgotten the most important thing in his life, that one person he had sworn to stick by and protect… all for a way to make him smile…

Mikejima’s call one noon, during practices, was his wake-up call in more ways than one.

“Hello…?” He mutters to his phone, not having bothered to check who the caller was.

“Izumi-san!!” The rowdy voice that was unmistakably Mikejima greets

“Ah…Mikejima?” Izumi slings a towel in his shoulder as he takes note of the worry in Mikejima’s voice. “What’s wrong?”

“I—Aaah, It’s better if you see for yourself” Mikejima states, clearly agitated despite his cheerful tone.

“See what?”

“The hospital” Mikejima deadpans and it doesn’t take long for him to put two and two together.

‘Fuck’

“I’ll be there as soon as I can” Izumi replies curtly before hanging up and saying his short goodbye’s to the other members of Knights, leaving them confused and worried all the same.

“I’ll give you some privacy” Mikejima states the moment Izumi arrives in front of Leo’s hospital room, Ruka—Leo’s younger sister exits silently as well.

He can hear his heart beating faster and faster in anticipation and nervousness, nervousness over what he may see, and anticipation to see him again, after so long of putting his visits away simply because of his practices. That was stupid looking back to it…

He turns the knob-- a nice change from entering the room through the window—only to be met with a scene that looks like it were taken straight out from one of his nightmares.

The floor was littered with musical compositions, untidy, all of them looking like they were written by a six-year-old, Which was unlikely because Leo always writes his compositions neatly despite his childish nature.

Sitting in the middle of the web of unkept compositions, was the genius composer himself.

In the little time—about a few weeks or a month give or take—since Izumi had visited Leo the latter had clearly loss a few pounds, maybe more. His cheeks were more hollow, the shadows under his eyes more prominent, his orange hair unkept and all over the place.

If he knew… just how much he’d affect Leo by prioritizing stupid idol works, If he knew that creating the most perfect possible performance Knights have ever done wasn’t the only thing he could have done to make Leo smile… If he knew… If only he knew…

’Stupid, stupid, Sena, You haven’t changed at all’

“I’m sick” Leo finally says, still staying in the same position he had been when Sena entered the room, his hands flat on the cold floor, his knees tucked tightly in a praying position, and his head hung low.

“I’m sick” Leo utters again, as if the realization has just dawned to him, the realization of how things could change so fastly, and oh that pure pain in his voice, the pain that Izumi just wants to take all for himself but he just can’t

“I’m sick!” Leo utters again, more hysterically as he finally locks his gaze on Izumi, who was still standing stiffly by the door.

“I know” For some reason that’s all Izumi’s dried throat could allow him to mutter, the rest of the words being choked tight on his throat

“I’m sick!” Leo practically bawls as he raises his trembling hands, frantic emerald eyes searching for something in Izumi’s bright azure ones. “I can’t write, I can’t—I’m”

Izumi slowly takes a step toward Leo, not wanting to scare the latter as he does.

“I’m dying Sena. I’m not going to get better”

“You’re not” Izumi swiftly counters, taking one more step closer to Leo. That was a lie, he knows it’s a lie Both of them know it, it’s just Izumi would rather keep living and fool himself than admit it right now.

“I can’t write anymore—the upcoming event—the Christmas event—I can’t--”

“It’s fine” Izumi cuts in once more, his voice sweet to the point he’d never imagine he was capable of speaking that way, Never mind how Leo found out about his surprise himself, the flyers and promotion ad’s are everywhere after all.

One step.

“It’s not!” Leo objects, bringing his shaking hands to eye level. “It’s not okay it’s not fair—”

One step.

“Because Sena” Leo mutters, his words dripping with his own sorrow “This is all just a viscous cycle, test after test, specialist after specialist.” His voice hitches as it rises an octave “Nothing is improving. Nothing is changing. Eventually, I’d just lose his hearing completely—And then what? I'd eventually be unable to write songs…No, no I can't even write songs any more”

One step.

Izumi stays silent, for fear of saying the wrong thing, like how he always seem to do, or say, or both.

“…What happens when I can't write any more songs?” Leo continues, his voice more softer and lower, yet the sorrow all remains the same. “What happens when I can't-- when I can't keep on living, What happens then Sena?"

“I’ll keep living for you” Izumi states, finally close enough to Leo as he envelops his hands around the latter in a gentle hug, wishing the action could convey all his regrets. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry

“Listen Leo…” Izumi starts, unsure, as Leo leans into his arms, silently—Leo was trembling, from the cold or from the tumor he doesn’t know. “You don’t need to… do all this for a song, a song for knights, we love you all the same, genius composer or not”

I love you.

“And this was supposed to be your surprise and…” Izumi finds himself laughing bitterly, sadly “And I’m sorry that I made you feel like you had to be a weapon for Knights… for me… because Leo, you’re more than a king, more than a weapon, You’re You”

Izumi gently pushes away Leo from underneath his arms, urging the shorter boy to look at him straightly.

Azure meets Emerald, calmer emerald orbs, closer to how they looked like beforehand yet similar all the same.

It was in this moment, that Izumi feels his thoughts flutter away, Because really, who cares about thinking straight, when you could just say what you want, do what you want, be what you want

“When you left, you took parts of me with you that I thought I’d never get back.” Izumi states… “And I’m just—I don’t like the feeling of having lost that part, of having lost you

Izumi takes in a sharp breath as he feels his heart thrum. “And all I ask is of you to believe, that this—that you… that you can keep on living, that you will fight it because Leo…”

And as he stares at those emerald eyes of the boy he adores so much, as he stares at the tears forming in them, he knows that no words can describe just how truly he loves him, his sun, his moon, his stars, his everything.

So without much thought, he leans in and presses his lips onto Leo’s, softly, gently, careful not to be too passionate, to not break Leo any further.

And to his surprise, Leo kisses him back, and if there was one thing that Izumi could describe his first ever kiss, it would be that he was kissing a cloud, soft, gentle, warm, childish, cold, everything.

Leo was his everything.

They find themselves sitting at the edge of Leo’s hospital bed, having calmed down considerably enough from what could be described as ‘the heat of the moment’

“Can we go somewhere?” Leo suggests “The hospital room is starting to feel… suffocating”

Izumi knows that he should probably not be taking someone sick out for a walk, But he does so against his own better judgment, having taken the courtesy to borrow a wheelchair before all that.

Izumi knows that he should probably not be taking someone sick out for a walk, But he does so against his own better judgment, having taken the courtesy to borrow a wheelchair before all that.

"So, that's why I had been gone for a year" Leo explains as Izumi pushes his wheelchair to a nearby bench, concluding his tale of 'aliens' that Izumi assumes was Leo talk for 'doctors'

"Had a rough year huh?" Izumi states, handing Leo a cup of coffee he had bought from one of the stalls in the Hospital's grounds, feeling a little more guilty about his actions during Leo's absence.

Leo gladly takes the coffee from Izumi's hands with his own shaky hands, flashing his signature bright smile that was so unlike the Leo that was trembling on the floor just mere moments ago, unable to walk, unable to write, yet still willing himself to all the same.

"Nah I got used to it pretty quick" Leo pipes in, sipping his coffee as he hums a tune, one Izumi is sure he hasn't heard of until now.

"New song?" Izumi asks out of curiosity, absent mindedly watching the autumn dyed leaves fall from a nearby tree

"Hmm, yeah, the song i was... trying to write ago actually" Leo says sheepishly, which was so uncharacteristic of Leo to, but then again it was also unlike Izumi to be this openly affectionate even towards Leo, so you could say this is just one of those weird scenarios.

"It sounds good" Izumi compliments with genuine awe. "But my statement from earlier still stands"

"What statement?" Leo blows a raspberry, like how a snotty 6 year old would with their annoyed mommy.

"I took on the christmas fes offer without consulting you...sorry" Izumi adds, still eyeing the autumn dyed leaves thag fall from the trees, so similar to the hair color of the boy sitting next to him, the boy he had kissed. "It was originally... my surprise for you, so there's really no need for you to worry" Oh god. Why is he acting like a high school boy who is talking with their crush for the first time.

"Me? Worry? Wahahaha!"

"Haah?!"

"Wahaha! You should see your face!" Leo hollers in laughter. "The song I wrote just now was for an entirely different reason"

Izumi raises an eyebrow, not truly believing Leo's words.

"Oh Sena, You'll see" Leo stated with a smile that suggests that he wouldn't really see what the song was about, at least any time soon

And then Leo's face turns into that of somber, not that Izumi had taken noticed for in that day, in the heat of the moment, Izumi had let himself freely hope that eventually, fate would give them mercy.

If only there was a way to stop time during that day, to be able to marvel over how the autumn leaves share an uncanny resemblance with your hair... I'd do it all, again and again

That day... That was his last solace, before everything that had gone right went wrong.

Practice, visit, Practice, conversation, hang out, Practice, visit, repeat

That seemed to be all that he kept on doing prior Christmas.

Practice, visit, answer "He's fine" whenever someone asks how he's doing with Leo even though it is anything but fine.

Because, Izumi may not be a medical expert, but even he knows how concerning it is that Leo's weight keeps dropping no matter how much he eats, how his cheeks are more hollowed, his skin seemingly more brittle...

Christmas eve, the night before, would be memorable to him in more ways than he expected it.

"The doctors from abroad suspects that I had it as a child... just that we weren't aware of it" Leo's voice came out as hoarse, so unlike the melodious tune it carries every time he speaks

Izumi doesn't voice his worry though, having been used to Leo's voice a few weeks ago prior his current visit, instead he hums, trying to show his interest in the conversation as best as he can

"They think... that the tumor was the reason i 'tingle' every time i get an inspiration..."

"So how did you find out about the tumor?" Izumi asked, immediately regreting it because it felt a little too personal for some reason

"After the fight" Leo answers, tiredly, like he'd rather not go through thinking about it again. "I went to Mama right after, and my ears... were ringing badly... I collapsed after that..."

"Oh" Izumi had blurted, a pang of guilt hitting his chest at not being there at Leo's side--

"It's fine, you're with me now anyways" Leo tries to go for a more optimistic tone, but his hoarsed voice wouldn't let him.

The soft chime from a nearby church that signified the start of christmas interrupted their heartfelt conversation

"Merry Christmas" Izumi had greeted Leo, but he recieved no reply, letting Izumi assume that Leo had drifted off to sleep until Leo tilts his head to meet Izumi's

Emerald eyes were wide with... shock?, confusion? a mix of both?

And that was when it dawned to Izumi.

Leo couldn't hear him.

It still bothered Izumi to this hour, despite having promised to himself that he would give this performance his everything.

It bothers him, how little time he has left with Leo, how it could be any day now, how he could slip by his fingers and disappear in the plane of existence, only to be remembered by memories, whether good or bad ones they may be.

"We should visit Ou-sama after this" Arashi had suggested, straightening the cape of her outfit.

"Yeah!" Tsukasa chimes in agreement, his eyes landing on Izumi, who was sitting idly lost in his own thoughts.

"Are you okay Secchan?" Ritsu speaks up for the rest of the Knights that chose to keep their words stuck in their tongue

"Hm? Oh, yeah fine"

"Look alive Sena-chan, we're the next performance in line" Arashi states instead.

"Yeah, yeah" and Izumi forces himself to forget about his concerns for a moment as he stands up from his seat, a smile forming on his face "Let's break a leg!"

This is fine, nothing I haven't done, nothing they haven't done

So they stepped into the stage the moment Trickstar had taken their leave, in their order of entrance.

"It's been a while!" Izumi calls out to the audience as he makes his entrance "Merry Christmas to everyone watching!"

To you... who is watching

"Merry Christmas!!" Ruka greets, carrying a tray filled with food, behind her were the nurses, there for their annual checkup.

"Merry Christmas!" Leo greets back as optimistic as he possibly can while he ignores the pounding in his head along with the ringing in his right ear.

"Oh, It's already time for Knights performance?" Ruka says, setting down the tray of food in his lap as she takes a seat next to the edge of his bed, the nurses silently doing their work of changing his iv and filling in some papers as she does so.

"Yeah apparently" Leo answers, his voice sounding rough even on his own single working ear. Still, he watches intently as Izumi steps into the stage, greeting the fans a merry christmas as he does.

A few more pep talks from the other Knights members, and the music drops, slow and very charol like at first, until it becomes slightly more upbeat.

Ritsu sings the first lines, the stoplight following his every movement as he does.

Suddenly... the gentle wind flutters your hair
As if... beckoning to me to come closer

I know I would never be forgiven, but my heart is in disarray...

From the vessel of my loyalty to you

Ah... it spills

Dear Moon Light

Don't shine your light upon me

Moon Light

Because I will disappear

wear the pitch black night.

I want to protect you like a shadow nestled close

"This song is catchy" Ruka notes with a smile "Did you write this Oniichan... before uhh...?"

"Hm?" Leo diverts his gaze from the television for just a moment. "Ah, I didn't, but it is a pretty song isn't it?"

A "Silent Oath" here in an eternity of purity

Never being expressed... these words hidden in my heart

Together with this sword I have offered to you, this key I have locked myself with

Is a proud and painful oath

As time passes...

For now...

That's right... I need only stay by your side, never leaving

This... loneliness, I'll carry it as I walk along

From the window of a castle

surrounded by a deep forest, in the night sky

I only want you to see the beautiful stars

Staying pure as you are

Dear Moon Light

Don't shine your light upon me

Moon Light

This world filled with struggle

Lady, please stay in peace.

I shall invite you to a place the sunlight touches

You, who are suited to an eternity of purity

Your soft smile... it moves my heart, but

I close my heart like the moon reflected in the water

This proud and painful oath

I'll bear it today too...

The moon reflected in your eyes...

The scenery disappearing into the dawn...

Time only flows on...

It is not even permitted to be put into words

The name of this flower that will never bloom... forget it

My Dear

So that from that kind voice

My Dear

My feelings don't overflow

My Dear

This key I've locked my heart with

My Dear

It sunk to the bottom of the water...

Dear Moonlight

Don't shine your light upon me

Moonlight

Because I will disappear myself

When someday

Happiness comes to you...

A "Silent Oath" here in an eternity of purity

Never being expressed... these words hidden in my heart

"Oniichan, are you okay?" Ruka's voice snaps Leo's eyes open, when had he even clsoed them?

"Mm fine" He answers, a bit slurred, he blames that on the drugs though

Together with this sword I have offered to you, this key I have locked myself with

Is a proud and painful oath

You, who are suited to an eternity of purity

Your soft smile... it moves my heart because

The key I threw into the moon's reflection created ripples

These faint emotions I have stowed away

As time passes...

For now...

I'll bear them forever... The light reflected in your eyes...

Only this proud and painful oath, forever...

The camera pans in on Izumi as he sings the last few lines of the song, granting him the chance to be the 'ending fairy' in idol slang.

"I love you" Izumi says with a wink, clear as day, call it fanservice or whatever you could describe it, but for Leo, he knows, somehow, that those words were meant for him and him alone.

"I love you too" Leo murmurs with a big smile on his face as he gives in to the darkness in the edge of his vision that had been greeting him since last night.

Why was the bed empty.

He barely registers what happens next, other than the arm wrapped around his shoulder and Arashi's words "Call Ruka-chan for me will you Ritsu?"

At some point, the tears he held back came flowing rapidly to his cheeks, He should be here Naru-

"I know" Arashi replies, rubbing circles in Izumi's shoulder. "I'm so sorry Izumi, i'm sorry"

No amount of sorry's can remove the void in his heart, the dam that threatens to spill everytime he thinks about him

The rest of the events that followed were fuzzy at best, like he was watching his own life from someone elses perspective, Was that his own sobs that filled the room? Was it him pleading for all of it to be a dream?

He doesn't know, and doesn't find the will to as he registers Arashi guiding back home

The rest of the days were just as fuzzy, static, and soon it was the day of the funeral, fake smiles being sent from here to there, not one genuine one, or one targeted to the person they were all here to gather and mourn for.

"Condolences"

"My Condolences"

'Your condolences won't change anything!' He wanted to snap, he's losing his cool, the prime image he has built for himself, but he is sick of hearing the same words again, because sorry's won't change anything... and Leo... Leo wouldn't want people to feel sorry for Izumi, to feel sorry for his own death...

He wouldn't like seeing him this miserable...over him of all people...

Home, when he had arrived he doesn't know, he goes on autopilot mode, letting his feet lead him to his room.

He sighs, finally plopping down on his bed after a tiring day.

Good night...

In all technicality it had only been 40 days since christmas, since Knights performance, since his death, but for Izumi it may as well have been years.

The knock in his door had been his first sign of change, in the repeated cycle that have been his life for the past weeks.

It was probably Arashi, or someone else from Knights, finally checking in on his home after their repeated messages and calls, ones he intentionally ignored.

"Leave me alone" He whines, its 10 am in the morning, and the person knocking on the door seemed intent on doing so until he finally comes to answer it.

And he can't let this keep going on.

So he stands up from the couch in a frown, the first time he had done so in weeks.

"You can leave--"

Autumn hair greets him, a striking contrast to the snow all over the street, autumn hair so strikingly similar to his hair

"I uh... Goodmorning?" Ruka starts, fidgeting uncomfortably by the door step. "Sorry for the bother, My parents were cleaning up my brother's stuffs and they told me to hand this for you...?"

She hands an envelop and an ipod with a sheepish grin, making Izumi realize how much of a mess he must look like right now.

Seeing as Izumi doesn't bother replying to any of her words however, she hides a nervous sigh with a cough. "I'll uh... I'll take that as my cue to leave"

She turns awkwardly, and Izumi--in the heat of the moment, calls out her name.

"Ruka-chan!"

The person referred to turns around, meeting his own gaze, a solemn expression filling in its once cheerful facade. "He died smiling... you know?"

Izumi shakes his head, he doesn't even know why he had halted Ruka's exit, just that he knows it feels wrong to let her leave just like that without even uttering a word to her.

"Thank... you, for this" Izumi croaks out, his voice coming of as rough from the lack of speech he had went through for weeks.

"No problem" Ruka replies with a smile so uncannily similar to his brother's "Thank you for taking care of him in return"

She bows and takes her leave, and that was that.

Izumi finds himself closing the front door with a sigh, his heart lighter than it had been since weeks ago.

An envelop and an ipod...

He sets them down by the coffee table gently, eyeing the words 'To Izumi Sena' plastered on the still sealed envelop.

He rips it open, as careful as he can lest he break whatever it may contain.

To my Inspiration, Sena It states, with a horrible handwriting that was without a doubt the cause of Leo's trembling hands

It's been a while hasn't it? Wahahaha!

You know, I never really knew how to write letters, I figured I should write them in a form of music, But I think that wouldn't do you justice enough, so I did both

There's so much I want to tell you, yet so little time I may have left.

I think I'll start with our first actual conversation, after our meeting at the rooftop

You asked me a question then right? Do you remember that? 'Why do you hate Mozart'

Izumi finds himself nodding, tears brimming in the corner of his eyes despite the absence of the person who wrote the letter himself.

I told you that day that I hated Mozart because he composes money right?

But, then I found the courage to speak out about it in a different day, And I told you I was jealous of him.

But you didn't really ask any further, and I thought... that was that.

But to answer your question...

I was just jealous of Mozart for the most part, just like how I used to be with you

You're the prettiest person I've ever laid my eyes on Sena, and when you smiled, it was the prettiest thing ever

And I used to think a lot of how I wanted to protect that smile of yours, which is kind of Ironic looking back at it don't you think?

Hey, Hey Sena, do you know the saying about songs reaching the angels, the beings of heavens themself?

Then I hope...that the song in that ipod, could reach you, the words even I couldn't bring myself to say aloud

I'm sorry

I'm sorry for making you feel alone, I'm sorry for leaving you like that, I'm sorry for breaking your smile

I'm sorry for doubting you, for not believing in your words when it came to Chess and Tenshi, Because those mistakes led to this right? this mess we're in...

I'm sorry you felt like you had to protect me

I'm sorry I couldn't protect you back

I'm sorry that I'll be leaving you again, so soon after all that happened

I'm sorry for everything

I tried Sena, I tried, I don't want you feeling alone, I don't want you sad

So please keep smiling for me, please look forward, never look back

Please look after my sweet little sister for me

Please keep singing 'A little Sena Izumi for me' Even if I'm not there by your side, even if you already have someone else.

That was a selfish request on my part, but I think I should allow myself to be that from time to time

Love, your annoying leader

-Leo

"You Idiot!" Izumi says, breaking into tears "There would never be anyone else like you...even if I wanted there to be"

He sniffs, wiping the stray tears from his chin and cheeks as he reaches out for the ipod this time, The familiar tune of 'A Little Sena Izumi' playing.

His crying doesn't cease at this however, only somehow rekindling his tears as newer melody comes in to join, most definitely claire de lune.

"You idiot..." He mutters again, too lost in his grief and tears as he clutches one of the last few things Leo had left for him tightly to his chest, fearing it would disappear if he were to ever let go of it...

"You idiot..." Izumi mutters, drifting off to sleep, absolutely spent over crying.

At some point, Eichi had left the cemetery, leaving Izumi alone with Leo's grave.

"It has really been one heck of a year huh..." Izumi huffs out, watching dubiously as the smoke from his own breath come out in white puffs.

Obviously, no one answered him, and Izumi only sighs, really what was he thinking

He plops down to the cold snow in front of Leo's grave, ignoring the chills he get in the process and the frostbite he could possibly face as an after math.

"I would have bought you a present, but it's not like you could really open one"

Again, his statement is met with his own huff of breath.

"So, argh I'm not really good with all these feelings, but I came here to uhh give you another form of present"

So he starts humming the tune of Leo's rendered version of 'A little Sena Izumi' His voice coming out as a little croaky due to the cold, but heartfelt and thoughtful all the same.

He smiles to himself as the song reaches the end, thinking of the tales that Leo would have loved to hear and experience for himself. "Our newbie became the new king, Quite funny to think about as it is, but its a fact all the same..."

He switches to a more somber tone, "We still continued as knights, it's great, its as fun as ever, it's still the same group you had created and formed for yourself, but it isn't the same without you..."

Leo was his everything, and still is his everything, forever

"So Leo...Merry Christmas" Izumi says, with a sense of finality as he feels the last bit of his grief flutter away, here, in the cold white land in christmas day... At the scene Leo would have loved to see the most

"So yeah, the saying was right Leo, songs do reach heaven, but more importantly, they reached me, my own very heart"