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it’s truly a day like any other. calm, with the same relative routine and behaviors. nothing really different or odd, at least nothing that usually wasn’t already accounted for with the day-to-day unpredictability of their lives.
even so, this, particularly wasn’t unaccounted for.
their study time in class went on as normal. suo hayato never really had anything to complain about. even the unpredictability of his classmates was as expected, no strange significant shifts in behavior—everything’s normal.
simply, the issue was that once again, his body decided it hated him. shame, really. he actively tries to treat it well and make compromises with it.
no matter, he kept his normal attitude going, quietly observing, listening, and working—every now and then, chiming in, teasing, and pushing things along.
and like usual—for the most part,—he was left alone.
which was good. especially in times when his body, once again, decided to hate him that moment.
it’s truly odd, how it works. he doesn’t even know. he can simply say it was the evil spirit sealed within his eye. but, he, himself, obviously knew that wasn’t true — and there was no point in trying to tell himself that.
somedays, the very same noises he was more than alright handling on any other day grated against his ears. made his head feel as though it was rattling. made him want to rip off his ears. to curl up, and cover them, tightly, to fend off whatever bullet of sound decided to attack him—but that was childish.
his master trained him consistently and well in schooling himself not to act in such a manner.
he was currently working on writing down notes, studying, or—trying to. it was something to do, which helped in some regards.
it was frustrating, he will admit. if his smile was tighter and more stiff, no one noticed it. and if they did, no one could pin point why the reason was. which is good, it means his master’s training was paying off.
apparently, not enough, though.
the seat besides him was empty. was. he almost didn’t notice it, for the noise of the rambunctious classroom was far more blaring and foggy in his head than usual. kiryu had casually shifted his location to languidly lean against the back of the desk’s chair. dressed as he usually was, focused on his phone in hand, and headphones only covering one of his ears, as the other was left uncovered to still listen to their peers.
so, suo supposed that the seat was actually still empty.. just, now, there’s someone besides him. that’s all. no matter.
it was a bit jarring, how quiet kiryu’s movements had been — usually, on even a day that wasn’t so great, suo could easily pick out the specific sounds—suo would notice it. alas, it seemed, everything else was too much and too loud. and usually, kiryu wasn’t intent on moving from his spot in the room—what made the other boy decide to move? why did the other boy move?
suo’s fingers just twitched slightly against the pen in his hands. he continued work on rewriting his notes in order to simply focus on something else. it wasn’t working so well — but, hey, it looked like he was doing something and no one seemed to be intent on bothering him, directly or intentionally, as a result.
he even switched back and forth from writing in chinese. he has been meaning to work on his written chinese, freshen up on how to do so—his master would appreciate the upkeep of practicing it.
seriously, how did he not notice kiryu’s movements—? even the scratch of the pen in his hands against the paper decided to be a tad annoying—
suo wasn’t one to flinch, or jump violently, or really—be phased by anything.
yet, here he was.
wasn’t that just lovely.
he nearly snapped his poor pen in half, as—headphones—? were apparently placed on his head and snapped over his ears.
his back straightened, even more so than it already was—and he blinked rapidly.
the initial placing of the device on his head definitely hurt. the sides of his head stung, especially his earlobes. but—something else changed—he heard the boy besides him mumbling—? an apology, something about forgetting his earrings—
suddenly, everything was.. not really quiet, but..? muffled. he can hear. but.. different. it was different. really different.
suo realized kiryu wasn’t mumbling. it was just muffled—he looked towards the other boy, and apparently, his expression may have revealed his shock and confusion. kiryu let out a laugh, waving a hand,
“they’ve got noise cancelling.”
“what?” oh. his voice feels—sounds—weird, too. its odd he could feel it, in the first place—
“….” kiryu raised a brow, leaning closer.
“noise cancelling.” the other boy bluntly stated, more clearly and a bit louder.
oh. suo blinked a few more times, looking back at his notes. huh.
”want me to play some music?” kiryu moved to sit down besides suo, scooting the desk closer so that he could lean his elbows and head upon the other’s desk—pushing suo’s notes a bit to the side as a result.
kiryu looked up with an expecting expression, phone out and ready to —play some music?
“ah.. no, it’s alright.” suo placed his pen down, putting his smile back on. it felt and sounded so weird. as he reached his hands up to remove the headphones, kiryu glared at him—shooting a hand out to stop him.
”just—sit, okay?” kiryu removed his hand from suo’s wrist. “you don’t have to always listen to every single thing, y’know.”
“besides, you can still hear, no?” he shrugged, “you don’t gotta take ‘em off yet.”
suo stared. hm..
it was.. more manageable. whatever noise had decided to come off as grating, staticky, and blaring, causing his head to feel prickly and foggy—was.. dulled. decreased, eased, tamed.
he can still hear them, for the most part—but.. it was quieter. a bit funnier, too—but..
huh.
suo put his hands back on the desk, and hummed. his own voice, even, sounded weird. these.. headphones, were odd.
but.. helpful. he’ll give them that. the added weight and pressure against his head was interesting, too..
“one moment,” suo hesitated, not wanting kiryu to grab at him again, “just—“
his fingers nimbly unfastened and plucked out his earrings from beneath the paddings of the headphones. carefully, suo reverently placed them in the pocket of the bofurin jacket he wore. and, back on the desk both his hands neatly lay.
kiryu rose a brow, but gave a smile, nodding. “alright.”
and, back to his phone, the pink haired boy went. and suo just.. sat there. it was different, odd, but not bad. adjusting himself to the sudden.. relief, he supposed. it was odd, something he still had to get used to—but..
suo was surprised he had accepted kiryu’s insistence—and.. aid, — so easily. even more surprised that kiryu had spotted his.. er. distress, may be the right word..
maybe he’s been too obvious about it. he has to work on that- his master wouldn’t be too pleased if suo became dependent on something.. like this. the headphones. even more so, because it dulled one of his senses—something so important, that he needed in order to keep track of what’s around him, something he needed to keep clear and focused as per his training. he already had enough issues with it—he didn’t need more.
but..
..noise cancelling headphones. hm.
perhaps, just for this moment, suo can let himself turn off that part of his focus. just.. focusing, on something other then the loudness of everything and scratching as a result.
just.. quiet.
suo took in a deep breath, soon breathing out with a bit of a sigh he couldn’t quite hide.
okay.
it was like a switched had been flipped in his head—what bothered him so much before was.. so manageable now.
this.. was okay.
okay.
he stared blankly, and unimpressed, toward’s kiryu’s phone, as the other boy obviously had been trying to snap a quick picture of him.
“what?” kiryu grinned. “it’s cute. you should see it.”
suo just raised a brow, smile firmly back in place—but, this time, without the tension of strain. one of mild, lighthearted annoyance, however. but, still one nonetheless.
kiryu turned his phone screen out towards suo, leaning back just a enough to do so. the pink haired boy hummed, quirking a brow, too, urging the other to look.
suo opened his eye, admittedly curious. usually he didn’t look at his phone when around others—however, this wasn’t his phone, so..
in the photo, suo could see what was behind him—the class was still in the midsts of doing their own, usual things of mild rough-housing and banter—tseugera laughing, anzai shouting—nirei, however, having clearly noticed the exchange between suo and kiryu, was excitably fumbling for his notebook- and sakura stared awkwardly, yet directly, at the phone’s camera.
that’s a little funny.. their captain was cute.
suo, himself, had been looking down at the desk when kiryu took this photo. the headphones were bulky and kind of.. amusing, to see on his head, as opposed to the elegant earnings he typically donned. he noticed the tousling of his hair, as a result of how the headphones had been placed on his head, and suo subconsciously and quickly moved his hand up to fix it— kiryu let out a laugh at that. suo just looked away, ignoring the warmth he felt creeping up his skin.
it was only then suo remembered that kiryu didn’t usually bring headphones—or wear them. they were usually these white, square earbuds—how had suo not notice that, either—? why did kiryu bring headphones, this time, too?
”you were too focused on the noise, maybe.” kiryu shrugged.
he asked that out loud?
kiryu chuckled, shrugging again, and returning his attention to his phone.
suo wanted to huff, but just turned his own attention back to his notes. huffing was childish.
and his lacking sense of awareness.. was also bad. he was better than that, he had to be.
perhaps kiryu was right, even though suo had tried to not focus so much on the noise—he couldn’t.. he could not stop focusing on it. today was an off day. an off day shouldn’t be an excuse to slack off—even if it was a very off day—but.. the headphones were helping him manage the, frankly, painful noise.
he can perhaps.. let himself off the hook. just this once—it isn’t like his master would do anything, at least not now, because he wasn’t here—
a ‘DING!’ along with some jumbled—sounding—music—? a sound track—blared directly into his ears. he had jumped, rather violently, too—and kiryu quickly turned the volume of his game all the way down- apologizing- frantically—?
the two sat, staring, in some.. rather tense silence, now.
suo stared. kiryu started looking more nervous and guilty, perhaps—? but the other also just.. stared. the two still tense—still with the stiff and awkward postures of having made small and quick movements before.
and suo breathed out, shakily, but—with a laugh, too. and he couldn’t help himself from—giggling—? the two eventually relaxing their postures, and calming down from that.. frankly, mild and amusing moment.
kiryu, too, shared his sentiment, it seemed—letting out a fit of laughs, as well, especially towards his own absent-mindedness of the moment before.
suo covered his mouth with one of his hands, leaning his arm atop the desk, and kiryu shaking his head. if anyone else brought their own attention towards the two boys by the front of the room, they didn’t notice, much less find it in themselves to bring attention towards it and break the moment.
it was the first time in awhile that suo hayato didn’t feel stricken with fear for the heavy moments following after such a loud, startling barrage of noises — and the first time in awhile that suo let his face go, letting himself laugh without fearing being too loud, or being thought of weirdly. the first.. time in a long while.
it was nice.
and kiryu seemed glad and relieved, as well, laughing along with him.
and it’s nice, he finds.
letting go, and giving in. it’s.. new. but not something bad, it seemed. as no one brought up an issue with their antics—and.. it was fine.
this odd, little environment of theirs — even if they don’t get along all the time, even if they all clash and tend to be all prickly and brash—quick to noise, quick to be loud, quick to act— it was.. a forgiving, warm environment. gentle, at times, too. it was.. different, but—accepting.
even if it was odd, even if it was different, that didn’t mean it was bad. and suo.. found himself, okay with that—even, easing into it, it seems.
eventually, kiryu calmed down enough to ask, “you okay?”
suo put his hand down, not even questioning why he wasn’t so.. guarded, now, he supposed.
and he smiled, nodding.
the headphones shifted only a bit with the movement.
“i think so.”
kiryu smiled back, nodding as well.
“good.”