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1.
Yuu stomped hard on the bass pedal, hands crashing down onto golden cymbals with all of his remaining strength— the final bang to finish off Kouji and Ito's riff. Closing the performance loudly and directing attention to him was one of many reasons drums were his favorite. Stealing the last second spotlight from vocal and keyboard was always good.
With that, the boy fell forward, leaning his little body onto his large drum kit as he panted in just felt exhaustion, sweat rolling off his chin. The tiredness reciprocated by the satisfaction of a successful play.
“Nice,” Kouji called from the front, similarly out of breath. He turns around and walks over to pet Yuu on the head, which earned him a grumbled protest. Yuu however was too tired to move an arm to slap Kouji’s hand away so he leaves him be this time. Ito only shakes her head and smiles at them. “I’ll go get drinks,” she says before walking off.
Sighing, the boy opts to close his eyes for a short rest, when suddenly he hears the sound of a single man applause echo throughout the studio. His eyes immediately shot back open.
“That was great!” a familiar voice says, bright and cheerful. Yuu sits up properly and scans the room. There, in the view below the elevated stage was a boy clapping his hands. Black coat with a fur lined collar, blonde hair, brown eyes, and the most recognized face in all of Tokyo.
To this, Kouji’s attention is instantly pulled. "Hiro!" he shouts. As if forgetting he just finished performing an entire set, he practically sprints over to the edge of the stage and kneels down on a knee to lower himself to Hiro’s level, guitar still loosely wrapped around his waist.
Hayami Hiro was someone Yuu had only seen on screens and printed papers back in Hokkaido. But after a few months of moving into Tokyo, he knew very well now that this Hayami Hiro was just as dazzling in person, as frustrating as it was to admit. But it was the reason Yuu considered him to be his (future) rival in the first place.
He’s already settled into the reality that his sister was friends with famous idols and prism stars (namely, most importantly, Renjouji Bell.) Even far more than realizing Ito was also one herself, but then again it wasn’t something he had particularly ever thought about, considering his father was also a rock star in his prime. The celebrity status in the family never really occurred to Yuu, so hanging around his sister’s friends had always been such a casual and trivial matter.
Yet for some reason, Hiro was still a presence he couldn’t get used to.
The little prodigy stayed on his chair and watched the two from afar, his hands idly playing with his drum sticks. He couldn’t make out what they were saying from here aside from the sounds of laughter and the sight of their smiling faces. And Yuu had to admit, he couldn’t take his eyes off Hiro’s smile.
It was different from his smiles on magazine covers or billboards. The expression he had on right now was so… tender. It was softer. Just as dazzling, but different in a way. If his smile on stage was the shining sun in the day, then this smile right now would be sunset; his eyes were gentle, his smile was kind, and Kouji was looking back at him in the same way and-
-Oh.
Yuu threw a drum stick in the air, casually catching it in his hand. Oh.
So this is the person Kouji writes about in his songs.
2.
Yukinojou has had a feeling for a while now.
True, he might be a bit of a romantic. And as kabuki royalty, Yukinojou prided himself in being able to see through the subtlest of gestures and expressions.
The especially soft quality in their voices when they’re talking to each other, the light look of adoration they held in their eyes, it couldn’t be missed. At least not for Yukinojou.
How sweet it is for your love to be so pure and strong that it doesn’t need words to be known.
3.
Getting praised last week made him happy. But Minato still wasn't satisfied. Something's still missing.
It’s been a month since Kouji agreed to take him on as his apprentice in the kitchen. He's using the exact same recipe, exact same measurements, yet how is it that his results are so different? He still had a lot more to learn from his senior and he understood that well, but curiosity still bothered him, for even the most patient boy in Edel Rose had the impatience for improvement.
“You take cooking a lot more seriously than prism shows, you know?” Kouji would always tell him.
Kouji could always tell him how well he was doing and the others usually gave him positive reviews, but Minato wanted to trust more honest feedback. Eventually he started watching the way his friends eat instead of the way they compliment him.
He found that it was much easier paying attention to their behavior now that everyone else had moved to Schwarz, and as half of the residents would always spout protests when he purposely puts in food they hate and the other half would be grateful for any food at all, this time Minato found his eyes set on Hiro.
Hiro was the only one in the house known not to have a disliked dish, and contrasting his absolute idol persona- he was actually a pretty simple boy. The honest and pure reaction from someone like him was what Minato wanted to see. But after weeks and weeks of observing him during meals he couldn’t help but notice that there was a significant difference between Hiro’s response to his dishes compared to Kouji’s dishes.
Tonight as it was Kouji’s turn to cook, he was prepared to pay extra attention to every detail of the dinner, from the plates on the table to the people sitting around it. Most of the kids had already finished eating, all hurrying out with the clamor of pushing back chairs and saying their thank you’s.
All except for Minato, who stayed seated munching on his lamb steak slowly. A bit too slowly, some would say. He always takes his time on meals, each one was a lesson he could learn from after all. Soon enough, the dining room emptied out, leaving Minato with only Kouji and Hiro sitting across the other table. Minato always makes sure to watch from the corner of his eye, but something about Hiro’s expression right now was pulling at his gaze, he’s pretty sure he’s past staring at this point.
He never knew someone could look so beautiful while they eat.
Hiro had delicate movement, everyone knew this, and it wasn’t only restricted to the rink, oh no he was elegant everywhere and the dining table was no exception. You could see it just by way he carefully holds his silverware, a quality not surprising in a prince. But that common knowledge wasn’t what caught Minato’s attention, right now it was his expression. It was almost like Hiro’s mouth was being pulled up by a slight smile. He closed his eyes while he chewed slowly and he looked so peaceful, it was as if the food was so delectable that he just had to take his time on it. It was like the look of pure happiness.
And after weeks of watching and comparing such different results day after day, the last detail Minato noticed that night finally gave him his answer. It was like the missing ingredient he had left out this whole time. When he shifts his focus and looks over to the man sitting next to the blond, he finally realizes: Minato wasn’t the only one with his eyes on Hiro.
He looked down on his plate, smiling to himself upon the realization he should’ve noticed a long time ago. How silly of me he thinks. He’d have to start picking somebody else to watch now. Hiro couldn’t be fair judgement even if he wanted to if he was in love with the one who cooked his food. Minato gets up from his seat, quietly telling himself that one day he would make someone smile like that too.
4.
If asked, Kakeru would say he owes it to his observance. Reading people was something he was practically taught since he was young. He owes it to his youth, an upbringing of an heir to the largest company in Japan. Before long he figured out how to watch people and trust his numbers before he trusted their words. And even though all of it may be true it would still count as yet another lie.
Because the real reason Kakeru knew was because he too held the same heavy feeling in his chest.
He knew because had the same look in his eyes for a certain boy who liked to nap on trees as Kouji did for Hiro and Hiro did for Kouji. He knew how it tugs at your heart when you watch the one you love and everything he does is endearing to you, he recognized it right away when he saw that reflected in their eyes.
5.
Taiga never paid much attention, nor did he really care- with his apathetic personality that was what one would expect. And that much was true, but he knew very well himself that he wasn’t that dense either. Dense people irritated him.
He probably caught on long before he actually realized it, just bits and pieces that he never bothered to put together. From the everyday conversations he overhears below him during his tree naps, from all the stories Kazuki told him that he listened to with utmost attention. Eventually he understood what was going on and simply proceeded to treat it casually (although maybe he did blush a bit upon realization).
And surprisingly, he thinks everyone else knows about it too, even though no one has said anything about it. As if it were all some sort of tacit knowledge they all shared. But there was one thing that Taiga wouldn’t admit out loud:
He thought it was sweet.
Which was opposed to his general opinion on couples. There was something about Kouji and Hiro's subtle romance that made Taiga's chest feel warm. And of course none of this will ever be leaving his mouth.
6.
Leo was infamous for lucky accidents, but he swears that wasn’t how he found out about them. It was on his favorite sunny day, out tending gardens when he asked Hiro about the roses.
“They’re so lovely!” Leo beamed, taking a step back to admire the flowers he’d just watered. The roses stood strong and tall on their stems, basking in the warm sunlight as they showed off their colors with beautiful pride, little droplets of sparkling water complimenting their petals.
“Aren’t they?” another voice suddenly responds. Leo let out a startled sound before turning around only to see his senior, Hayami Hiro smiling gently at him. “H-Hiro-san!” he exclaimed, quickly transitioning into a low bow which made the older boy raise a hand back up to his chest with a troubled expression, as if he thought that he wasn’t someone worth such act of respect. Leo thought that couldn't be more farther than the truth.
Leo wasn’t very close with Hiro, not as much as he would like. Half the time he’d be too nervous being around a person whose beauty rivaled Yukinojou, his existence just always seemed beyond his reach. But today, somehow, they casually chatted away under the sun, talking about their innocent wonders of this and that.
“There are an awful lot of yellow ones, aren’t there?” Leo asked.
It was true, from afar the garden would probably look like a sea of gorse with just small touches of other colors here and there. Hiro looks at his junior and smiles. “That’s because the roses planted here are the ones I get from my fans.”
“Oh! No wonder there’s so many of them. You get like trucks of them!”
“It was Kouji’s idea,” he laughed softly, “before I knew it he made a whole garden for me.”
And then Leo is silenced for a moment, his fuchsia eyes twinkling like little stars as he looked at the prince.
7.
Shin stared at them in utter disbelief, eyes widened and mouth agape.
“They’re dating?!”