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Only the sound of footsteps—soft, almost indiscernible—can be heard as it reverberated intermittently against the walls of the relatively empty staircase.
A mass of emerald tresses appeared at the foot of the last flight of stairs, hands inside his pockets as usual. He continued ascending the stairs, aiming for his private leisure spot—the rooftop. Although there was no reason for him to talk, or make any unnecessary noise as he was currently alone, it was still strange how he looked so silent. He was silent but he looked so silent—as though he was pondering over something.
Which, in fact, he was.
Because of this unusually listless demeanor, Echizen Ryoma belatedly realized the presence of another entity on the rooftop—only taking notice of them when he had flopped himself on his back on a platform at some corner of the rooftop.
Fortunately for him, that person—oh wait, I know her—didn’t seem to be aware of him either as she looked equally preoccupied in her own way.
The Prince struggled to remember her name as his gaze absently followed the ends of her twin braids like a feline as they flowed freely toward the direction of the blowing breeze.
Ah, Ryuzaki.
The coach’s granddaughter.
Since she didn’t look like she was going to feel his presence anytime soon, Echizen decided to let the situation go, opting instead to lie back down and doze off.
“S—Sakura saku hi ni…”
The boy was about to rest his head on his folded arms but paused. He smirked beneath the cap he put to shield his face beforehand. She stammered at first—which was to be expected, given the negative level of her self-confidence—yet it still held gentleness.
The Prince realized it was his first time hearing her sing.
“Omoi no hane wo todokete negai wo,” she paused for a breath. “…sora ni hanats—suu.”
Echizen forced down a guffaw. Her voice just cracked. Cracked. He held his sides, sniggering to himself because of the inside joke that only he found amusing.
“Uta yo todoite shouri no hana wo sakasete itsu made mo inotteru…”
He suddenly shut up, blinking blankly at the pause. Rolling on his stomach, he leaned on his elbows to look at her once more—not brief this time, because a minute had passed and he was still staring.
“Kono akogare ga umareta basho e…”
There was another short pause, and the boy discerned the small smile making its way across her face. His mouth parted open slightly—his version of a gape.
It seemed as though she was never that clumsy, insecure girl he knew. Ryuzaki looked confident, and a small voice at the back of the Prince’s mind whispered, “She’s more appealing like this.”
“FENCE-goshi ni tatazumu…”
Echizen found her voice beautiful.
-
Golden, catlike orbs blinked once as he heard the door to the rooftop open and close. He never stopped twirling his CD around his fingers even though he started listening to her footsteps, and he knew she was now padding across the rooftop.
He had long recognized the sound of her steps, as he always came up here whenever he knew she would—just so he could listen to her practice.
No, I’m here for a nap. He silently corrected himself as he became aware of the strange direction his thoughts were taking.
Despite that, however, he moved closer to see Ryuzaki clearer, fully knowing that she wouldn’t notice his presence even though it was glaringly obvious that he was there—after all, she hadn’t known for the last week, so why would she now?
It kind of worried him that her naiveté would get her into trouble someday—oh she’s starting now.
Her voice… really is beautiful.
Ryuzaki had her hands clutching the railing. She was looking up as though gazing at something unseen as she sang—unlike last week, she wasn’t stuttering anymore, though she still couldn’t hit some of the notes, and her voice still cracked sometimes.
Further, unlike last week, the Prince now found her cracking voice amusing, but not to the point that it drove him to laugh. It was amusing—in a charming kind of way, and it made him vaguely wonder when he’d developed appreciation for flaws.
“BALL wo oikaketa hibi,” the braided-haired girl paused, “muda ni wa dekinai tsuyoku naritaiiii.”
Echizen blinked, leaning further into his elbows in anticipation.
“Hanabira MAI—cough.” Ryuzaki’s voice cracked, and she coughed, face reddening in embarrassment. She proceeded to giggle to herself afterward, bopping her head because she found her voice and self incredibly stupid. But it didn’t stop her from singing that part again, only to fail—and she dissolved into peals of laughter once more.
The Prince couldn’t help it—it wasn’t his fault. It was her smile that drew him in. It was her damn smile that made his own lips quirk upward at her current behavior. He tugged the brim of his cap down to hide his face, but not before glancing at her yet again—
Ryuzaki had let go of the railings and was about to drop on her knees as she poorly held herself steady. She was still giggling, and in that particular angle, her blush was pleasantly accentuated by the afternoon sun, making it seem like she was emitting a strange glow.
Echizen suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe. He blinked, feeling weird. And then, with face flushed, he leaped off the platform and dashed out of the rooftop, closing the door with a loud bang that startled the lass, completely stopping her laughter. She gazed at the rooftop door, which was now slightly ajar, extremely baffled.
Meanwhile, the Prince had never thought that Ryuzaki can be that beautiful.
-
“O—Ouch.”
Echizen was suddenly snapped out of his trance.
He had been thinking about his project in Music, which he had rushed the night before. It wasn’t due anytime soon, but the boy wanted to take his mind off things—sadly, tennis alone couldn’t do it. Yes, it made him really tired to move around but it seemed as though his mind has its own impeccable stamina.
To be straight, he couldn’t sleep, so he did his Music. It was rather simple—just composing their own lyrics and coming up with the tune that’d sound okay with it. It was really simple.
Not, he grunted.
He had managed to write half of the minimum stanzas required, and was currently assessing what we finished and brainstorming ideas about what to write next.
Then he remembered why he was pulled out of limbo all of a sudden.
The Prince glanced down, blinking as he saw the tennis coach’s granddaughter on the ground. “What are you doing there?” the need to tease bubbled up.
“R—Ryoma-kun,” Ryuzaki looked up at him, lips absently forming a pout. She wanted to tell him that he bumped into her, but decided against it. She stood up, dusting her skirt. “Mou.”
Echizen smirked, which made the girl avert her eyes and bite the inside of her cheek. “I’ll go now.” She said a bit shyly, walking past him and suddenly the boy felt like he didn’t want her to.
His thoughts, honestly, were full of Ryuzaki and he didn’t know what to do about it.
Echizen made sure that it wouldn’t show in his face though. The only thing he gave away was how his teasing had increased tenfold—albeit subtle and entirely unobvious.
By now, he had also developed of staring at her until she melted—and he perfectly knew the meaning of her reactions. He wondered if he had gotten too far.
Furthermore, he had also stopped coming to the rooftop to watch the rare display of her self-confidence (also to listen to her endearing voice but he found himself unable to admit it). His reactions last time still perplexed him. It was the first time his emotions had gone unleashed, and he didn’t want that to happen again. After all, he hated not being in control—in tennis, or in abstract things like feelings.
There was a time, though, that he found himself before the door to the rooftop, about to twist the knob.
“Hanabira maite kokoro wo ao ni someage negai wo sora ni hanatsuuuu.”
The Prince withdrew his hand and flashed a rather strange smile before leaving quietly.
Ryuzaki had perfected the chorus, and that was all he needed to know.
The boy sighed, then caught himself and abruptly pulled off his bored expression before anybody noticed. He looked down at the paper in hand, running a thumb across a certain line. He wondered why he decided to entitle it like that. He didn’t want to start over, though, so he decided to just string together words that’d look like they mean something.
He’ll just charm the teacher with the tune and with his voice—after all; he had recently discovered that he could sing well. Well, not that well, but okay. Honestly, though, he thought the only thing he could be good at was tennis.
I'm dreaming on the radio
Even now I'm looking at tomorrow there
The boy snorted at what he wrote. He still continued anyway because, to hell with this project.
Dreaming on the radio
His mind drifted to a certain braided-haired girl, and he thought of her voice. He kind of wondered whether she was also doing her Music. She looked like she was exerting a lot of effort than necessary with this project, seeing how she goes around practicing every day up there.
Tonight I want to hear your voice
The Prince shook. He realized his thoughts were taking a dangerous destination, and it would influence his lyrics if he didn’t put a stop in it then and there.
He didn’t.
I fell in love with you, DJ
My heart went Rock & Roll
That phrase you suddenly spoke
Echizen cradled his head in his hands, feeling stupid and a lot like an utter sap.
I fell in love with you, DJ
-
“Eh, what…?”
Ryuzaki blinked, surprised at having something shoved rather rudely at her face. It was a CD. She looked past it and saw those familiar golden eyes staring right at her. “Um…”
The Prince rolled his eyes. “…just take it, stupid.”
The lass’ face heated up at being called stupid, but it was Ryoma-kun and raging at him (i.e. staring up at him with eyes brimming with tears and anger and then walking away) will only leave her wounded instead, because he’d just brush her off.
Her hands slowly wrapped around the CD case. She glanced up at him, inquiring. “What’s this?"
“Use it.”
Woah, Echizen Ryoma was being nice now? Lending me a CD like it was nothing. Woah. Tomo-chan will throw a fit. Apparently her thoughts and mannerism contrasted appallingly.
“You want me to… listen to it?” Ryuzaki asked, the words rolling slowly out of her mouth in disbelief.
“Che,” Echizen ignored her as he pocketed his hands and walked away without another word.
-
Later that night, she called him.
“What?” he asked, not concealing the irritation from his tone.
“Anou…” Ryuzaki drawled out. “I’m sorry for calling this late, Ryoma-kun, but…” she paused momentarily, and faint shuffling replaced her voice.
“Spit it out already,” the boy growled dangerously.
“H—Hai!” the lass was effectively threatened. “W—Well, I think you gave me the wrong CD.”
The Prince blinked. “How so?”
“Eh…um, it’s blank?”
Pause. Then, the boy replied, his voice strangely soft. “It is.”
“Huh? Why?”
“…use it.”
“E—Eh…?”
“…"
“R—Ryoma-kun, sorry, but I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
There was another pause, and Ryuzaki felt so awkward she wanted to cut the line.
Echizen cleared his throat, startling her. “Sakura saku hi ni omoi no hane wo todokete negai wo sora ni hanatsu—”
“Eh—wha—”
He didn’t hit some of the notes—that didn’t surprise her. What she didn’t expect was how nice his voice sounded. And, HOW ON EARTH DID HE KNOW THAT.
“R—Ryoma-kun…”
Echizen was imagining her face—it was beet red, and she was probably clutching her phone, extremely agitated. She was currently stammering, and he kind of smirked involuntarily at that.
“Um… h—how did you—”
“I…” Echizen started, cutting her off. He raked a hand through his hair, glad that she couldn't see him right now.
“Y—Yes?”
“…I’ll give you mine tomorrow.”
The other line was silent for a while, and then the Prince suddenly felt that she smiled, even though there was nothing to indicate it.
“…okay.”