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“Can we please go do something?” Hyde snaps at his brother, chucking his empty takeout box at his face. “Anything?! All we’ve done for like the past month is marathon Netflix shows and contemplate the sweet, cold embrace of death so that we don’t have to go through with this semester.”
“We are doing something,” Kuro says, a hand coming up to bat away the incoming styrofoam container. It gets knocked back onto the table and the bounces to the floor, coming to rest right below their feet. “We’re sitting here.”
“I swear to god, Kuro,” Hyde snarls, ducking under the table to retrieve his makeshift weapon. “I’m going to smother you in your sleep with your beloved pillow.”
“S’fine by me,” Kuro yawns, slumping forward onto the table. “Going to class is troublesome anyway.”
“Why couldn’t I have had a normal family?” Hyde groans, staring up at the ceiling. “Why does God hate me?”
“It’s your sense of fashion,” Kuro tells him, glancing up at his sibling through his eyelashes. It takes every ounce of patience in Hyde not to fling the takeout box back at Kuro. Instead, he pushes himself back from the table, snatching his bag up from the floor. “And where are you going?”
“Anywhere that isn’t here!” Hyde says, sticking his tongue out at his older brother. “There’s got to be more to college life than bad food, stress over grades, and boredom.”
“No, I think that’s about all there is,” Kuro says, but Hyde ignores him. “You’d better have your key!” His older brother calls after him. “I’m not going to let you into the room if you’re locked out!”
Hyde chucks him the bird and goes off in search of adventure.
*
As it turns out, there is not much adventure to be had on a college campus on a Friday evening. In fact, there’s not much of anything to do on a college campus on a Friday evening, except maybe suffer a heatstroke because the sun is an asshole who has nothing better to do than make poor college kids sweat.
“Stupid fucking sun,” Hyde grumbles to himself, nearly tripping over his own two feet. He’s hot and he’s cranky and, worst of all, he’s still bored. “First free night in like two weeks, and all I’m gonna get out of it is sunburn.” With a groan, he ducks into the nearest building in the hopes that it has a water fountain somewhere in sight.
The first thing that hits him as the door swings shut behind him is a merciful blast of cold air to the face, and he nearly weeps in joy. The second thing that hits him is the realization that he has zero fucking clue which building he’s in. Hyde blinks and takes in his surroundings; there’s a lobby that has a couple of old chairs and an overstuffed sofa with coffee tables at the ends, and just beyond that is a dimly lit hallway. It forks both ways at the end and when he squints, Hyde thinks he can just make out a door off to the side on one of the paths.
It’s nothing glamorous, but it is something unknown (and with air conditioning to boot) so Hyde hoists his bag further up his shoulders and heads off down the hallway, humming an action theme quietly to himself. He turns right when he reaches the fork, heading for the door he’d seen earlier, and presses his face to the tiny window. The lights are off, but he can see desks lined up against the wall and a whiteboard in the back of the room, so it’s got to be a classroom of some sort.
“Alright, a classroom means this isn’t an office building,” he mumbles, peering further down the hall. There are more doors that he assumes lead to more classrooms, and the hall ends with a large metal door. He glances around for posters, anything that might give him a clue of where he’s ended up.
A lime green flyer on a nearby cork board catches his eye and he wanders over to it. It’s an add for the orchestra performance being held at the end of the month, one that Hyde vaguely recalls being told about by Lily, who had gotten the information from his freshman introduction class while they had been trying to force the concept of campus involvement down his younger brother’s throat.
Hyde’s no genius (his quiz grades are proof of this, much to his shame and his family’s amusement) but he feels reasonably confident that he’s in the building where all of the music classes are held, if that flyer is anything to go by. It would explain why he didn’t recognize the building on sight; the extent of Hyde’s musical capability ended in third grade, when he was forced to take recorder lessons with all the other kids.
Interest piqued, he heads further down the hall, shoving his shoulder against the metal door. It opens with a creak and groan, scraping loudly against the concrete of the floor. The door leads to a stairwell and there’s a sound echoing down from one of the floors higher up, bouncing against the walls. Hyde strains his ears to try to make the noise out clearly.
It’s a piano. Someone on what seems to be the third floor of the building is playing the piano.
Hyde’s moving before he’s really thought things through, heading to track down the source of the sound. The door to the third floor leads to a hall almost identical to the one on the first floor, except one of the classrooms is ajar and the music is coming from inside it.
Now that he’s there, the awkwardness of the situation kicks in; Hyde’s in a building he doesn’t really belong in creeping on someone who’s probably just practicing a piece they have to perform in their class. He’s tempted to just head back down the stairs and head back to the dorm, but the thought of Kuro’s smug satisfaction at his failed adventure is enough to spite him into tiptoeing toward the open door.
Just a peek, he thinks. He’ll just poke his head into the room to see who it is, and then he’ll head back and no one will be the wiser. Hyde presses himself flat against the wall, cautiously peering around the doorframe to see into the room.
Seated at the grand piano in the corner of the room is a boy, one who doesn’t look much older than Hyde himself, with jet black hair and pale skin. He’s wearing white skinny jeans and a black hoodie, even though it’s hot enough to fry an egg outside, and Hyde takes a moment to admire his dedication to his own aesthetic.
His back is to the door, so Hyde is in no danger of being spotted; his quick peek turns into an extended observation. The pianist’s back is perfectly straight and his feet rest against the pedals of the piano, his fingers dancing up and down the line of black and white keys.
The tune is unfamiliar to Hyde; he thinks it may be a classical piece, judging by how it sounds. The other boy’s fingers don’t miss a note, don’t falter for a moment--the song continues on in a steady measure, and Hyde finds himself getting lost in the music. There’s something about the way this stranger plays, like he’s pouring his whole heart and soul into the music he’s creating, and it takes Hyde’s breath away.
He gasps quietly and the pianist shoulders stiffen. Abruptly, he stops playing, the song coming to a jarring halt and he twists around on the bench to stare at the door. “Who’s there?” He demands, voice loud in the now quiet of the room.
Hyde freezes. The other is staring right at him, his life is over, he hasn’t been this embarrassed since he let Kuro talk him into--
“Who’s there?” The other calls again, and Hyde’s brow furrows in confusion.
Then he notices the other’s eyes.
They’re blue. The pianist’s eyes are blue, but the more striking thing about them is that they’re clouded over like there’s a film clinging to his eyeballs and they’re unfocused on anything.
Blind, Hyde’s brain supplies helpfully. He’s blind.
“I won’t ask again, who is there!” The other snarls, pushing himself up from the piano bench.
Hyde flounders for a moment, opening and closing his mouth--and then bolts from the room.
*
He makes it back to the dorms in record time, not bothering to wait for the elevator. He sprints up the stairs, five flights to the room that he shares with his oldest brother, digging his key from his pocket as he goes. By the time he gets to their room and manages to fling the door open, it’s been about six minutes since he left the music building, a new personal record for him.
Two pairs of eyes look up at him when he dashes through the door. “And where have you been?” Lily asks from where he’s sitting on the floor, philosophy textbook in his lap.
“Doing things,” Kuro answers for him, sitting up properly on his bed. His oldest brother is swaddled in his blankets, and only his face is sticking out. “He’s getting the college experience, Lily.”
The younger siblings’ face twists in distaste. “Please don’t ever use that expression around me ever again,” he says politely, though both Kuro and Hyde know just how capable their brother is when pushed. “I hear it enough in my intro course.”
“Message received,” Kuro murmurs, before turning his attention back to Hyde. “And did you find something to do like you wanted?”
In answer, Hyde flings himself onto his bed face first and yells into his pillow. “So noisy,” Kuro groans, as Lily gets up from the floor to perch on the edge of Hyde’s bed.
“What happened?” He asks his brother, patting him on the back soothingly.
“I fucked up,” Hyde tells his pillow, unable to face his siblings.
“Gathered that much,” Kuro says, letting the blankets fall from his shoulders. “What exactly did you do?”
It takes several minutes for his siblings to pry the story out of him, but they manage it eventually. “And I didn’t know what to do, so, uh, I…” Hyde lets his voice trail off.
“You booked it,” Kuro finishes, ignoring the look Lily gives him. “Chicken.”
“Because you set the bar for bravery!” Hyde snaps, tossing a pillow at Kuro. The other snatches it out of the air and places it on top of his own mountain of pillows and plushies.
“You’re not getting that back,” he informs Hyde. “And I’m plenty brave, thank you.”
Lily steps in before an actual fight can break out. “Alright, alright; you didn’t handle the situation spectacularly, but it’s no big deal,” he soothes. “There’s no way this guy could know who you are and you don’t have any reason to go by the music building again.” Bless Lily, the one rational member of their dysfunctional family. Hyde can feel his pulse returning to normal as he considers what his brother has just said. “You’ll probably never see him again; the campus is pretty big, after all.”
“You’re probably right,” Hyde agrees, offering Lily a small smile. “Thanks bro.” Lily answers his smile with a grin of his own, and Hyde shoves all thoughts of the blind pianist aside as he focuses on the arduous task of recalling his pillow from Kuro.
*
Hyde sees him again the very next day. He’s lounging on a bench swing with Kuro, absentmindedly scrolling on his phone when he happens to glance up and catch a glimpse of a familiar looking black hoodie heading their way. He jumps up and dives behind the swing for cover.
“I would like to point out that you’re hiding from a blind kid right now,” his brother says, rocking the swing back into him. Hyde sways but manages to keep his footing, shoving the bench back forward. “A blind boy wearing an angel backpack,” Kuro adds, and Hyde can detect a trace of amusement in his voice.
“Say what now?” He asks, poking his head back over the top of the swing. Sure enough, there’s the boy from the other night and strapped to his back is a white backpack with wings jutting out on the sides. “Oh my god.”
“Boy, you sure know how to pick them don’t you Hyde?” Kuro’s not quite smiling, but he’s also far too pleased with the situation for Hyde’s taste. “An actual blind angel. That exciting enough for you?”
“Oh, shut up,” he mumbles, collapsing back onto the bench.
*
By next Friday, Hyde is an anxious mess.
Kuro banishes him from their dorm room with the reasoning that ‘it was impossible for him to get any sleep with his sibling pacing the whole time’ and tells him to go sort himself out before he’ll be let back in. Hyde’s tempted to beat on the door until Kuro relents, but he doesn't’ want to get in trouble with the RA, so he has no choice but to go for a walk.
He ends up back outside the music building before he realizes where his feet have taken him, and he curses under his breath when reality kicks back in. There’s a window open on the third floor, and he can hear music drifting out from it; he has a sneaking suspicion that he knows exactly who it is.
As much as he doesn’t ever want to admit that his brother is right, Kuro has a point; he can’t spend the rest of this semester freaking out over a kid whose name he doesn’t even know. It’ll be awkward as hell, but he can solve it all right here and now; head back up the stairs, apologize to the kid, and go on with his life.
With a groan, he shoves past the door of the music building and heads back up the stairs to the third floor. The same door as before is propped open and Hyde walks over to it slowly.
The same boy is sitting in the same spot, completely engrossed in the song he’s playing. On the ground by his feet, Hyde spots the white angel backpack and lets out a quiet huff of laughter before he can stop himself.
The boy whips around on the bench. “Who’s there?” he calls out for the second time in as many weeks, and Hyde flinches back, breathing in sharply.
“Oh, it’s the intruder from last week,” the boy says, turning back around to face the piano.
“And how do you know that?” Hyde, taken aback by the comment, momentarily forgets his resolve to be apologetic and blurts out the question. A split second later he’s clapping his hand over his mouth, but the damage is done.
“Because you sigh like a swooning schoolgirl,” comes the blunt answer. “And your shoes squeak. Kinda like a hedgehog,” the boy adds, nodding his head to himself.
Hyde snorts. “A hedgehog,” he echos in disbelief, taking a cautious step into the room. The other boy’s head tilts slightly in his direction.
“That’s what I said,” the other boy snaps, pressing down on a key. The note rings out and fades away in a matter of seconds. “Or are you stupid as well as rude?” Hyde lets out an indignant squawk and the other’s turns back to smirk at him. “Yes is obviously the answer to that question.”
“I’m the rude one? I’m not the one going around calling people stupid!”
“And I’m not the one interrupting people’s practice and then running off without a word!” The boy returns with venom laced in his tone. The wind is taken out of Hyde because, well, it’s not like he’s wrong.
“I’m sorry about that,” he says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I heard a piano and followed it here and I…”
“Barged in on me practicing and then left like a criminal?” The other suggests, abandoning the piano to turn around fully on the bench.
“Yeah,” Hyde admits grudgingly. “I guess I did.”
“You did,” the pianist says matter of factly, standing up from the bench. He reaches for something on the other side of the piano and stretches it out before him. It’s a cane, Hyde realizes. The boy sweeps the cane out in front of him, making his way over to where Hyde is standing. It brushes against the tip of his sneakers, and the other comes to a halt, scarcely a foot from him. “So, do you have a name, or should I just refer to you as a shitty hedgehog?”
He can’t help the bark of laughter that escapes him. “I’ve been called worse,” he admits. “But my name is Hyde.”
The blind boy hums. “Hyde the hedgehog,” he mumbles, and Hyde raises an eyebrow that the other can’t see. “Do you make it a habit of crashing people’s practices, or am I just special?”
“You’d be more special if you told me your name,” he points out, and the boy blinks.
“Licht,” he says. “My name is Licht. Now, I think you owe me an answer.”
“I was bored,” Hyde admits, “and I wandered in here just for something to do. I heard you playing and didn’t meant to disturb you, but I did, and then you turned around and I dunno, I panicked and took off.” He fidgets anxiously under the other’s stare. “I didn’t think you’d actually be able to pick out who I was, so I just kinda was gonna forget about the whole thing.”
“Because I’m blind.” It’s a statement, not a question, and Hyde balks at the bluntness of it. Licht snorts, sensing his discomfort. “Shockingly, I’m well aware of this fact.” He pauses for a moment, and Hyde gets the feeling that even without sight, Licht is examining him intensely. “But you came back.”
“To apologize,” Hyde says instantly. “I’m sorry,” he says again.
“Is that all?” Licht asks bluntly, quirking an eyebrow at him.
“Uh...yes?”
“Fine. You’re forgiven then.” And with that, he turns and begins to make his way back over to the piano. He places the cane back by the side and settles down onto the bench. “You still there?” He calls and Hyde starts.
“Yeah,” he says uncertainly.
“Then either come in and sit down or leave,” Licht grunts, and his fingers resume their previous position on the keys and he starts to play. The music swells around them and Hyde finds himself moving forward automatically, sitting down cautiously on a desk right by the piano. He tries to be quiet, he really does, but the chair scrapes slightly against the floor and he winces. Licht’s fingers don’t miss a beat.
For an hour, he listens to Licht play, never once looking away. The music rises and falls, is loud and then soft, and it never stops; for an hour, Licht plays and Hyde listens and neither of them says a word.
Eventually, Licht stretches upward and pulls his hands away from the piano, letting the final notes of the song echo around them before they evaporate into the air. He glances over to where Hyde is sitting, cloudy blue eyes staring directly at him. “I’m done for the day,” he says, as if that wasn’t already apparent. “You can go ahead and leave now.”
It’s as clear a dismissal as Hyde as ever heard, so he gets up from the desk and mutely makes his way out of the music building, pausing only to glance back at Licht. He hasn’t moved from the piano yet, but he’s staring out the open window as if he can sense something there that Hyde can’t see.
When he gets back to his dorm room, Kuro gives him a strange look but doesn’t say anything. It’s for the best; Hyde has no answers to offer his brother anyway.
*
The next week, Hyde is back in the music building, standing outside the room that Licht practises in, feeling beyond awkward. It’s not like Licht had expressly told him to stay away, but it wasn’t like he’d been invited back either.
“That you, shitty hedgehog?” Hyde is starting to think that Licht has a built in radar that specifically programmed for being able to detect him. The other is leaning against the piano; he had been staring at the window again, but when Hyde had spoken his head had turned to stare in his direction.
“ S’me,” he confirms, walking into the room fully. “Kinda thought you’d be playing by now,” he says, just to break the silence.
“I do more than just play,” Licht says scornfully, pushing off from the piano. His cane is dangling loosely in his hands, Hyde notes.
“Like?” Hyde asks, moving to stand by the other. Licht tenses as he approaches, but Hyde doesn’t make any move to touch him and he relaxes after a moment.
“Stuff,” he says vaguely, and Hyde grins.
“Me too,” he says casually, hopping up onto one of the desk. “I also do stuff.”
“We’re so similar,” Licht deadpans, and Hyde chokes on his own spit. “How have we not ever meet before?”
“Might have to do with the fact that all my classes are on the other side of campus,” Hyde chokes out, trying to regain his breath. Licht looks confused, so he elaborates. “I’m a theater major.”
“Should’ve known,” Licht says, shaking his head. Hyde bristles.
“And just what is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that only a theater major could make a small situation like bothering someone during practice into a whole crisis,” Licht says tartly, and Hyde blushes.
“Can we move on past that?” He groans.
“Sure,” Licht says. “You were talking about the stuff that you do?” He prompts, and Hyde is grateful for the easy way out.
*
It becomes a weekly routine after that.
Late on Friday evenings, Hyde shows up to the room on the third floor of the music building where Licht is waiting for him. Most of the time, Licht is leaning against the window or the piano, waiting for his audience to arrive. Those days, the two of them talk for a while before Licht settles down to begin his practice.
Hyde learns that Licht is in fact a music major, which does not surprise him at all. He learns that the other is a sophomore and is a year younger than he is; he learns that Licht has a terrible weakness for animals of all shapes and sizes and, despite whatever he says to the contrary, he has a particular soft spot for hedgehogs, which amuses Hyde to no end.
In exchange, Hyde tells Licht about his crazy family and the latest production that the school is putting on, or he complains about the lines he has to learn. Licht has a nasty tendency to take a swipe at Hyde with his cane when he thinks he’s complaining too much; Hyde asks him about it once, and Licht starts off on a very passionate rant about dedication to anything that someone is passionate about and the drive to do something with those passions.
“Is that why you play the piano?” Hyde had asked, and Licht had paused mid-rant.
“Yes,” the other had said simply. “That’s why I play.”
Secretly, Hyde agrees with everything Licht has said; he’s just never had the words to properly express himself like that.
Sometimes, Licht is already playing by the time that Hyde arrives, and that’s his cue to settle down into what’s become his usual desk and let the song wash over him.
Licht is an amazing pianist. Hyde knows just enough about music to recognize talent when he hears it, and Licht is on a level all his own. He thinks he might be able to watch the other play for hours on end; time seems to cease to exist when the two of them are alone in the room and only the sound that Licht creates pierces the stillness.
“Is it hard for you to play?” He asks, as Licht pauses in his playing to readjust his position on the bench.
“Because I’m blind?” Licht returns, before shaking his head. “No.”
The other has a very blasé way of referring to his own disability, something that had been jarring at first but Hyde is slowly learning is just a part of the other’s personality. “When did you start playing?” Hyde asks, leaning forward slightly in his chair.
“When I was five,” Licht answers. “Both of my parents are musicians, and I can remember wanting to play since I was little.” He pauses for a moment, tilting his head in Hyde’s direction. “I wanted to play, so I learned to play.” He shrugs. “It never occurred to me that my blindness would stop me from doing so.”
“You’re one of a kind, Lich-tan, do you know that?” Hyde asks affectionately.
Licht quirks an eyebrow at the nickname but doesn’t respond. There is a small smile on his face as he resumes playing.
*
“You know,” Licht says one day while he’s absentmindedly plucking at piano keys. “You’re one of the only people who doesn’t treat me differently because I’m blind.” He snorts softly. “Well, apart from the time that you ran off because the blind kid couldn’t report you for...being socially awkward.”
“Thought we had gotten past that,” Hyde grumbles, and Licht shoves his cane in his direction. Hyde knocks it aside easily. “People probably treat you differently because you go around proclaiming yourself an angel; the most violent, temperamental angel I’ve ever met, if that’s true.”
“Fuck you,” Licht says, but there’s no animosity in his tone. He snatches his cane back away from Hyde, setting it back down on the floor.
“Do people really treat you differently because you can’t see?” Hyde asks, and Licht stiffens.
“Yeah,” the other says. “My professors and classmates mostly.” He hesitates for a moment. “They keep trying to talk me out of playing a solo piece in the orchestra performance because they’re afraid I’m going to embarrass myself.”
“The one at the end of next month?” Hyde questions, before what the other has said truly sinks in. “Have they heard you play at all?” Hyde asks, brow furrowing. “Because you’re amazing.”
“Of course I am, you shitty hedgehog,” Licht says, and Hyde rolls his eyes in fond exasperation. “But try telling them that.”
“I will, if you want me to,” Hyde offers, and he’s surprised to find that he actually means it. “If anyone deserves a solo piece in the orchestra performance, it’s you.” Things click into place abruptly. “That’s why you practice so intensely, isn’t it?”
“I’m going to play in the performance,” Licht says, and that’s as good an answer as any. Hyde doesn’t know what to say to that, so he changes the topic.
“Were you born blind, Lich-tan?”
Licht hums. “Yes.” A few notes accompany his answer, ringing out crystal clear. “My eyes didn’t develop right and so, I can’t see.”
“Doesn’t seem to bother you,” Hyde notes quietly, moving to stand behind Licht. The other doesn’t react; Licht had stopped flinching weeks ago when Hyde got close to him.
“It is what it is; nothing I can do about it, so why should I let it ruin my life?” Licht counters. He jerks his head to the spot next to him on the bench in a clear invitation and Hyde stiffens in surprise. He’s never been allowed to sit next to Licht as he’s played before, and he feels out of place as he sits down next to the other.
“Sit still,” he orders, and Hyde’s joints immediately lock together in an attempt to obey. Licht’s arms stretch past the two of them, fingers finding their place on the piano keys, and he continues playing.
From then on, Hyde’s spot shifts from the desk to the bench next to Licht.
*
Hyde realizes he’s in deep when he finds himself calling out to Licht when he comes across the other on campus. The blind boy’s head shoots up at the sound of his voice, and Hyde stands up from the bench he’d been on with Kuro to help guide the pianist over.
“Lich-tan, this is my brother Kuro,” he says, and Kuro grunts in acknowledgment. “Kuro, this is the last angel on this earth.” The remark earns he a whap on the knees from Licht’s cane, and he hisses in pain. “Also one of the most violent.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Licht nods, the picture of politeness that directly contrasts his violent outburst seconds ago.
“Likewise,” Kuro deadpans, glancing over at his brother. Hyde shrugs.
They chat for a while about nothing of importance, and Hyde is pleased by how well his brother and Licht get along, before Licht asks for the time and informs them that he has to get to class. Licht heads off towards the music building, and Hyde reaches into his bag for his water bottle, popping the top and taking a sip. His brother is watching him closely, and it’s making Hyde a bit uncomfortable so he makes a questioning noise.
“So….you two dating or…?” Kuro asks, and Hyde snorts his water up his nose.
“Why the fuck would you ask that?” He sputters, spitting out the water that’s just tried to force its way into his lungs.
“Oh c’mon, have you looked at yourself around him?” Kuro says. “You stare at him like he actually is the angel he thinks he is; the only reason he hasn’t called you out on it is because he can’t see you doing it.”
“I do not!” Hyde squeals, voice pitching higher than it has since puberty hit all those years ago.
“You do too,” Kur counters, staring his sibling down. “And he’s all you talk about lately--it’s ‘Licht this’ or ‘angel-chan that.’” Horror is starting to dawn on Hyde, and it must show in his face because Kuro asks, “Did you really not notice?”
“Oh my god,” Hyde whispers, slumping back against the bench. “Oh my god.”
“You are so gay for him.” Kuro says, observing his brother as he goes sheet white.
Hyde buries his face in his hands and groans. “I’m fucked,” he gasps out. “I’m so fucked.”
“Yep,” Kuro, ever the supportive sibling, agrees. “Sucks to be you.”
*
The realization that his feelings towards Licht might not be strictly platonic anymore makes it remarkably difficult to act normal during their weekly meetings, to the point where Licht, who is far more observant than anyone Hyde knows, is getting concerned. As concerned as he’s capable of being, anyway.
“The hell is your problem?” He barks, and Hyde jumps on the bench next to him. “You’ve been acting funny for a while now.”
“You’re imagining things, Lich-tan,” Hyde says, trying to brush the whole thing off. Licht’s sightless eyes level him with a fierce glare.
“No, I’m not, you shitty hedgehog.”
“I’m fine, really,” Hyde tells the other. Or I will be when I figure out how to stop thinking about how pretty you are, he adds mentally. Because Kuro may have had a point, damn him, and now Hyde is hyper aware of just how much he enjoys spending time with Licht, and talking to the other, and staring at his eyes which he’s starting to think are pretty in an otherworldly sort of way, one that suits Licht, and--
He cuts that train of thought off abruptly, shaking his to clear his thoughts. Unfortunately, the motion shakes the bench and Licht’s heightened senses catch the movement. His hands come down hard on the piano keys, creating a cacophonous jumble of notes that ring harshly in Hyde’s ears.
“Hyde,” he snarls. “Stop lying to me.”
“I’m not,” he protests weakly, but Licht cuts him off.
“You are!” His face is contorted in anger. “You’re probably making a big deal out of nothing and you won’t tell me about it and you’re pissing me off!”
“And what makes you so sure of that?!” Hyde snaps back, his own temper flaring.
“I can hear it in your voice! I can tell by the way you keep fidgeting!” Licht spits back. “I’m blind, not fucking stupid you asshole!”
“Well you sure could fool me,” Hyde says, and the instant the words leave his lips he knows he’s made a mistake.
“Then you should probably go and leave the stupid blind kid to practice alone,” Licht says coldly, shifting away from the other. Immediately, Hyde feels guilt gnawing at his gut and tries to apologize for what he’s just done.
“Licht--” he tries, but the other silences him with a sharp look.
“Get out.” Licht’s voice is still frigid, though there’s an undercurrent of hurt in it that Hyde can just barely pick out. “I don’t want to hear any more lies from you.”
Licht turns back to his piano and resumes practicing, though the melody isn’t quite right and his fingers are shaking slightly. He refuses to pay Hyde any attention despite the other’s efforts to call out to him, and Hyde is left with no choice but to grab his bag and head for the door.
The melody coming out of the third floor window by the time Hyde is heading back to his dorm has a melancholy feel to it, and Hyde ducks his head in shame as he shuffles back to his room.
*
“I never thought that the mandatory freshman intro class would ever be useful,” Lily says, as he and Hyde file into the auditorium.
“Oh, shut up,” Hyde tells his younger brother, bopping him lightly on the head. Lily takes it in stride, grinning innocently at Hyde.
“Thank you big brother for coming with me to this mandatory event,” he says, his voice sugary sweet. “Even if it is just so that you can patch things up with your boyfriend.”
“Licht’s not my boyfriend!” Hyde denies loudly, and a few people turn to look at them. Lily laughs as Hyde turns bright red. “He’s not!” He insists, much more quietly and Lily rolls his eyes with a sigh.
“But you want him to be,” he points out, and Hyde doesn’t have response to that. Lily takes pity on him, grabbing his sleeve and tugging him forward. “C’mon,” his brother urges him, “let’s go sit up front.”
“You sure?” Hyde asks, narrowing his eyes at his sibling. Lily nods.
“If he’s as good as you keep telling us he is, it should be a great performance. And it’ll make it easier for you to stare without being obvious.” He sneaks through the crowd up to the front of the auditorium before Hyde can argue with him on that point, so he settles for following after him and settling down in the seats Lily has chosen in the middle of the front row.
Most of the orchestra show is a blur to Hyde; the only moment he can recall with clarity is Licht’s solo piece. He had tensed up the second the other had walked onto the stage from behind the side curtain, cane stretched out before him.
He can hear Lily breathe in sharply next to him when Licht starts to play, and, despite his own nerves, he grins sideways at him. Lily’s eyes grow wide and his lips part slightly and he lets out a soft, dreamy sigh as Licht continues to play.
Licht’s weeks of practice show; he’s playing better than Hyde has ever heard him play before, which is nothing short of remarkable. Hyde lets go of all the stress and tension that’s been welling up inside him since his fight with Licht; he focuses on nothing but the song, letting the high and low notes wash over him, letting the emotions that Licht pours into his performance envelope him in a warmth that blossoms deep within him and vibrates against his ribs and bounces around his chest.
The song concludes with a grand crescendo, and the audience claps just a tad bit harder than they have for all the other musicians, Hyde notes with pride. Licht stands, bows slightly, and disappears backstage again.
When the show is finished, Lily is on his feet in an instant, eyes shining brightly. “You need to go apologize to him right now,” he says breathlessly. “Oh my god, Hyde, he’s amazing, he’s perfect, go apologize right now!”
“Damn, Lily, I get it. I’m going, I’m gone,” he says, standing up to walk by his sibling. “You don’t have to wait up for me,” he adds as he heads towards the entrance to backstage, “I’ll catch up with you later.”
He hears Lily call ‘good luck!’ after him, and then he ducks through the door that leads to the back half of the auditorium.
It’s pretty easy for him to track Licht down, being fairly familiar with the layout of the auditorium; the pianist’s not the only one to have performed on this stage, after all. Licht is making his way slowly towards the back exit of the building and Hyde clears his throat loud enough for the other to hear him. Licht starts and whips around to face him.
“That you, shitty hedgehog?” He asks hesitantly, and Hyde is struck by a sense of deja vu.
“S’me,” he says, echoing their previous conversation and Licht’s lips twitch slightly. “I’m here to apologize,” he says softly, though he knows that Licht will hear him.
“You seem to do that a lot,” Licht says, taking a step towards him. Hyde moves forward to meet him, stopping right in front of the other boy.
“It’s because I’m a theater major with a flair for drama,” he says, and this time Licht does smile.
“A dramatic idiot,” he agrees, and Hyde shrugs good-naturedly. They lapse into silence, things still a bit uneasy between the two of them before Hyde steels himself and speaks again.
“You were amazing,” he says, and Licht’s eyes widen in surprise. “You were amazing, and anyone who doubted you was dumb, and I’m dumb for lying to you, and I’m sorry.” He says, words escaping him a rush. If he doesn’t get them out now, he’ll never be able to say them, and so he presses on. “I’m a dramatic idiot and I shouldn’t have lied and I shouldn’t have called you dumb.”
There’s another heavy pause. “You finished?” Licht asks, and Hyde blinks. The other’s body language is still relaxed though his face is expressionless even with his eyes are trained in Hyde’s direction.
“Yeah,” he says, and Licht tilts his head.
“I forgive you,” the pianist says, and Hyde releases a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “You should probably kiss me now,” Licht continues quietly, abruptly, and Hyde chokes. Licht laughs softly as Hyde sputters and squeaks. “You really have to stop assuming that just because I’m blind I can’t read you like an open book you moron.”
“Oh my god, you knew about….about,” Hyde can’t bring himself to say it, but Licht has no such qualms.
“About your huge crush on me? Yeah, I knew.” He pauses for a moment, and when he speaks again his tone is judgemental. “I’m also pretty sure it’s the reason you were having a meltdown a few weeks ago.”
“Kill me,” Hyde groans, shoving his face into his hands. “Please, just kill me now and end my suffering.”
“Did you think you were being subtle?” Licht is even more amused than Kuro was when he first brought the issue up to Hyde. “Because I don’t think you’ve been subtle a day in your life.”
“Lich-tan!” Hyde whines. “I’m a very passionate, sensitive person and you’re hurting my feelings!” Licht takes a step towards him, and Hyde is suddenly less concerned with his own feelings and much more interested in the warm body pressing against him.
“Just shut up and kiss me, you idiot,” Licht breathes and, well, who is Hyde to refuse such a blatant command?
*
“Next year, I want Lily to be my roommate,” Kuro announces to the room. Three pairs of eyes turn to look at him, though only two can actually see him. Licht and Lily have joined Hyde and Kuro in the time-consuming activity of pretending to do homework, which has become the norm for them every night. His brothers have adopted Licht into the family, and sometimes Hyde can’t help but wonder if they like his boyfriend more than they do their own brother.
“Well fuck you too,” Hyde grumbles, collapsing on top of Licht’s legs. He gets a knee to the ribs for his action, but Licht doesn’t shove him off, so he counts it as a victory. “And where am I supposed to go?”
“You can room with Licht-kun,” Lily says brightly. “You two spend all your free time together anyhow.” Licht turns a pretty shade of pink and Hyde buries his face into Licht’s leg.
“It’s not a terrible idea,” the pianist mumbles, and Hyde’s head shoots up to look at him. Licht is staring down at the floor and the pink color is traveling up his cheeks, creeping along his neck. “I don’t like my roommate now anyway.”
“And you think Hyde is a better choice?” Kuro asks, and Hyde chucks him the bird.
“Again: fuck you too,” he says. “And aren’t you the one who wanted me gone to begin with?”
“Oh, I absolutely want you gone--Lily is a waaay better roommate than you,” Kuro agrees. “But Licht has already been tricked into dating you, and I just don’t want him to make a choice he’s going to regret in life.”
Lily laughs brightly and Licht doesn’t even bother to hide his smirk as Hyde glares daggers at his older brother. “I think I can handle him,” the pianist says, and Hyde collapses back onto this legs with a bit more force than necessary. “Ouch, you fuck!”
“Can’t deal,” Kuro says, burrowing under his blankets.
“My own boyfriend is a bully,” Hyde sniffs, curling up on top of Licht’s lap.
“I just said that I want you to room with me,” Licht says, voice flat. “Which, honestly, is making me question my own sanity.”
“You’re bullying me again,” Hyde says, rolling over to face his boyfriend. “Do you really mean that Lich-tan?” He asks, trying to keep his voice casual. “You wouldn't mind sharing a room with me next year?
The other three in the room groan in unison. “Oh my fucking god, Hyde,” Licht snaps, shoving the other off his lap. He pushes himself up onto his knees, holding his hand out expectantly for the other to take. Hyde obliges, grasping his boyfriend’s hand tightly. “Hyde. My partner. My one and only. The light of my life.” Lily is trying his best not to giggle, but he’s failing miserably and Kuro has retreated entirely under his sheets. “Would you do me the honor of sharing living quarters with me next year, so that we may never be parted?”
“And I’m the dramatic one,” Hyde says petulantly, even as his face burns with heat and his lips pull up in a broad smile.
“Just answer the question, you shitty hedgehog.” Licht’s tone is harsh but his face is soft and his cloudy eyes seem much brighter in this moment.
“Angel-chan, I would be honored to share a dwelling with you next year,” Hyde says, tugging Licht forward. Caught off guard, the pianist topples forward into Hyde’s waiting arms. He opens his mouth to say something but Hyde cuts him off with a quick kiss that leaves his siblings gagging.
“Oh my god, get a room, you two,” Kuro whines, poking his head out from the safety of his blankets. Licht tackles him to the ground and all pretenses of doing homework vanish, though it’s not like any of them care. Fondly, Hyde thinks that this right here and now, this strange group of people bound together by fond exasperation and genuine affection, is what college is all about.