A/N: wiwdheenrfiruiwfude ichisaki akikasa

the holy spirit of akikasa possesed me to write this thank you goodbye indsunehbewbewuiewueebuwebuwfbufubrf}}

the plot is moving along. if theres no upload on monday dont be surprised love yall bye

—

"...So?" Saki said, sounding nervous. Ichika broke free from her train of silent thought.

"Oh, sorry. I was thinking. Hold on, let me gather my words."

"Okay."

In truth, as a certified music nerd, Saki's playing was outright angelical. Ichika should ask her to play some of the songs she likes sometime— maybe once her birthday or Christmas rolls around, even if they don't really celebrate the latter.

But, while it sounded good, it didn't sound Saki.

That's it. That's where her subjective opinion as one of Saki's closest companions came in. Whenever Leo/need got together for band practice, there would always be a run of the song where Saki would change something on the spot and everyone would be forced to adapt. For example, that one time Saki changed the entire pitch of Lost One's Weeping to be higher by a considerable amount and Ichika, Shiho and Miku had to change their playing entirely. She's fairly sure Honami changed her drum pattern a little, too.

Those times were fun, of course, even if Shiho countlessly complained with a badly hidden smile. Her personal touch was what made her noticeable in songs where her instrument wasn't the main focus, even if she didn't do such huge changes in their actual shows or proper recording sessions.

Point is, Saki never followed a music sheet the exact way it was originally written. Even small things like letting a key linger longer than originally intended or adding one or two in places not previously specified was what made every time playing with Saki as their backup different.

That's why seeing her play Stella so normally was weird. Everyone knew how much that song meant to her, so she'd be twice as likely to just make it up as she went a little. Nothing Saki added was ever weird or unfitting, so she was encouraged to do so and bring some fresh ideas for better changes to the rest of the group.

Right now, however, she had just been playing as Saki herself originally composed. For lack of a better word, it felt stiff. In a way, her inability to do things "as intended" or "normally" was what made her such a valuable asset.

She always brought new things to the table. Saki's improvisation skills were just as good as her brother's, and he was aiming for world fame as an actor.

Her brother.

It clicked.

Saki had mentioned way too many times that her brother used to play for her. So that meant she probably associated it with Tsukasa— and, as far as Ichika knew, Tsukasa had been put in the hospital for several days, something that would clearly make her antsy.

"I got it." Ichika walked over to Saki, gently taking her hands into her own.

"E-eh? Icchan?" Saki blinked, surprised at the sudden action.

"Saki, forget the piano." She said, determined. "Sing with me."

—

"In the end, you never told me what Rui wanted you to tell me..." Tsukasa hummed from below him, the sound (unfortunately) calming to Akito's ears. He whined.

"Do we really have to talk about that?" Akito complained, burying himself further into his pillow.

The pillow responded, "Is it something bad?"

Somehow, despite being considerably taller than him, Akito had ended up being the one laid on top of Tsukasa while his fingers, used to play the most beautiful sounds on the grandest of instruments, gently combed through his hair in a way that made Akito genuinely have to fight to not fall asleep. It didn't help that the blinds were literally shut down until they couldn't be shut anymore, and it didn't look like it was day if he closed his eyes.

"A little, I guess." He responded, unsure "I'm supposed to lie to you about some things."

"Well, doesn't telling me you have to lie to me defeat the point of lying to me?" Tsukasa chuckled, shifting his position so he could lean against the headboard of the bed and still wrap his arms around him. Akito shrugged.

"Rui-senpai didn't say I had to lie to you about lying to you."

"It's sort of implied, though."

"I don't want to lie to you." Akito corrected. "But I also think Rui wouldn't like it if I didn't. Then again, I probably don't know the full truth of his plan anyways. Probably no one knows except him and maybe Akiyama."

"Well, now you're just stalling. Come on, I won't get mad." I don't think he can, anyways, Akito thought at Tsukasa's statement. Or well, I don't know if people with little-to-no apparent emotional reactions can get mad. Though, he seems to be a lot more... what's the word... expressive? Right now than how he was when I saw him at the hospital.

"I'm not quite sure what Rui wants, but he's trying to set you up with Asahina Mafuyu. Not like— in a date way, more like in a friends way, I guess. I was supposed to tell you Asahina-san's going to be taking care of you as a nurse or something like that." Akito gave in, finally. "She's— well, from when I've met her she's fairly nice. I'unno why he's so interested in getting you two together."

"Asahina..." Tsukasa hummed. "The purple-haired Miya student?"

"Yep."

"Strange."

"Is there any moment where Rui isn't?"

"Fair point." His fingers gently tapped on his head, then gently rubbing his scalp. If Akito was capable of turning into a liquid, he would have melted ages ago.

After a moment of silence, Tsukasa mumbled. "I'm not sure why he's so interested in you."

"Huh?"

"There's very obviously something special about you..." He continued. "I don't know why he wants you so much. It's weird. He usually only interacts with new people for a little while and then gets bored of them fast. There are a few exceptions— myself included— but I atleast know why. You, however..."

"Waitwaitwait. Rui what? And we've only really known eachother a few months, I mean, I don't think it's fair to say he won't get bored of me..." Akito muttered, trying to seem nonchalant. It sort of hurt Tsukasa thought he wasn't interesting enough for Rui to keep him around. Because that's what other people had said about him with Vivid Bad SQUAD too, about him with Touya... and while he acted like he didn't care, it was still insulting.

"He's been talking about you for ages, Akito. Hasn't he told you?"

"Eh?!" Akito was truly and utterly surprised at that. Apparently Rui had had his eyes on him for longer than he thought. "He has?"

"He has." Tsukasa confirmed, and then he lightly tugged on Akito's hair to get him to look upwards, into his eyes. There was some sort of strange, evil glint in them. 

"So why don't you go ahead and show me what makes you so much more special than the world's future star?"

—

A/N: THAT ENDING HELPME,LERKOEROIRNERRIEAOINER