The question snapped Arashi back into reality, her gaze meeting Leo’s expectant one. “Yes I hear it, Leo-kun. It’s a beautiful song.”
Leo huffed and crawled over to Arashi, inches away from her face where she could smell the faint essence of coffee from him. “No, no! You aren’t listening carefully, Naru!” He huffed and paused the song. “Listen carefully once again. Do you not hear the story?”
A/N: here’s another one from my ao3 that I wrote a while back!
Papers scattered all across the rehearsal room floor, Leo paying no mind as his friends tiptoed over them— the ginger far too absorbed in what was about to be his next masterpiece.
As rehearsal came to an end, the rest of knights said their goodbyes as they dispersed… or at least that is what Leo thought they were doing, he wasn’t really paying attention anyways. It wasn’t until he heard Arashi’s voice wishing him a good night that he finally looked up towards the door;
“Naru, wait! Coulda come look at this for me?”
Arashi looked back as he gestured towards the scattered music sheets. Was she really the best person to ask to look over his work? Ritsu and Izumi would have made the most sense. However, it wasn’t every day that Leo reached out to her about his music so she was a little intrigued.
“I can’t really make sense of it like this, Leo-kun…” Arashi mumbled, taking a seat on the ground as she looked through the sheets with notes scribbled all over them. “Would you have an audio sample for me?”
“Oh! Yeah I do! I forgot you can’t imagine it like I do!” Leo laughed and crawled over towards his laptop, blindly hitting one of the keys to play the new melody he had been working on.
Arashi was well aware of the sleepless nights that Leo had pulled to put together this song and his efforts were evident as the beautiful melody flowed through the wires and into her ears. As expected from our genius composer. There was something comforting about the song— she couldn’t exactly put her finger on it but it was like it reached out to her, grasping her within a warm embrace. As if this song was written solely for her.
The melody had no words, yet it felt like it was speaking to her.
“Do you hear it, Naru?”
The question snapped Arashi back into reality, her gaze meeting Leo’s expectant one. “Yes I hear it, Leo-kun. It’s a beautiful song.”
Leo huffed and crawled over to Arashi, inches away from her face where she could smell the faint essence of coffee from him. “No, no! You aren’t listening carefully, Naru!” He huffed and paused the song. “Listen carefully once again. Do you not hear the story?”
Was she missing something? Had Leo provided them with lyrics that she may have missed? There were no words to the song just yet— she had assumed that he would be working on them with his little sister who was seemingly gifted in that department.
“You never told me the lyrics were done, Leo-kun—”
“No no no! I haven’t gotten to that point. Sheesh, don’t ya know how to use your imagination, Naru? I expected that from Sena but not you— shit, unless you’re getting tainted by him the more you spend time around him! Naru has been infected with Sena disease!”
Okay, now he had totally lost her. Just when Arashi thought she was finally starting to understand the former king, his eccentric ways and outbursts had her feeling more lost than ever.
“I’m not sure what you are talking about, Leo-kun..” Arashi blinked, going to remove the headphones but was stopped by Leo’s hands over her own.
“Try listening again… Close your eyes and I will tell you the story if you can’t imagine it. My imagination is endless.” Green orbs stared back at her, glistening with determination and not even giving her a chance to say no.
Sighing, Arashi nodded in agreement. “I would very much like to know what you’re talking about.”
Clapping his hands, Leo guided Arashi to lay down on the hard floor of the rehearsal room, who did so without any questions. Leo laid down beside her, shoulders just barely touching as he placed his laptop onto his stomach, finger hovering over the play button. “Close your eyes and just listen.” She did as she was told, her eyes fluttering shut and he played the song from the start, setting the device to the side yet again.
The familiar new tune filled her ears yet again— however it was nothing different than the first time she heard it. Without a doubt it was a beautiful song, one that seemed to reach out to her, filled her up with ease… but she couldn’t make out what it was conveying. What story was Leo trying to tell?
“The story takes place in a beautiful kingdom, somewhere far away…” Leo began. “Now the village and kingdom had its fair share of problems, as beautiful as they might appear. It was anything but perfect.”
Arashi kept her eyes closed, focusing on Leo’s words and the music as she tried to envision the kingdom that Leo spoke of.
“The kingdom was ruled by a Queen— not your typical evil Queen from fairy tales or a damsel in distress. No, she was a pretty awesome and strong ruler.”
“If she was as strong and awesome as you are saying, then why was the kingdom having so many issues?” Arashi hummed, only to be shushed by Leo.
“Well she was pretty strong and awesome… but she was still only human. Struck by grief from the loss of a dear comrade, self-doubt. Some may say she had her heart shielded for the longest time and wasn’t at all the kindest person earlier on in her life.”
Arashi paused. This story… What was Leo playing at with this? “I… I thought you said she wasn’t an evil Queen, Leo-kun. Your story already has plot holes.”
Leo chuckled softly. “There’s a difference between being evil and being hurt and closing your heart to protect yourself.” He reasoned as he stretched his limbs out like a little orange cat. “Now, back to the story…just as any person does, she grew from her experiences and slowly bettered herself. She started opening her heart to more friends, some of her closest friends being four knights.”
Her eyes opened as she turned to lay on her side, gazing back at Leo who laid there with his eyes closed and a small smile on his face.
“And then were things better for her and the kingdom after that?”
Opening his eyes, Leo turned to lay on his side so he was facing Arashi— her soft yet fearful eyes on him, pleading for an answer as if she had caught onto his story. “Things aren’t that simple, Naru. Despite the changes in her heart, things were far from perfect. Sometimes she felt like she had no control over anything. Life felt like an endless battle. As if everything she worked so hard for was falling apart.”
A soft silence filled the room, Arashi removing the headphones to set aside. “Then how did she fix things? Was she even able to…?”
“Well if she kept insisting to take everything onto herself, she would only be headed towards self destruction! Whenever any of her friends tried reaching out to her she would just brush it off insisting she was fine and laugh it off!” He exclaimed— he seemed far too into the story but Arashi found herself absorbed into it too. No wonder the song reached out to her… it was about her. No, stop being so conceited. It’s merely a coincidence. Leo-kun’s imagination just runs wild. “Now, her knights were the most frustrated with her behavior. At this rate she was going to drag herself to hell and for what? Not wanting anyone to feel sorry for her? For not wanting to appear weak? Heck, who knew what her motives were! I guess she wanted to seem reliable and strong for everyone. Protect them all so no one would have to go through the pain she endured… I dunno, her motives were confusing even for them.”
“Leo-kun… is this story—” No, she couldn’t bear to hear the answer for that question. Knowing Leo, he might play it off as nothing. But if there was the slightest chance it was about her without even a glimpse of a happy ending… “So what happened to her? Did she drive herself to madness? Or did her knights have to step in to save her?”
The fear in her voice was evident as Leo reached over to clasp her hand between his two. She seemed more intrigued than he could have anticipated. Ah, he definitely managed to strike something within her. “Nope, like I said, she wasn’t a damsel in distress that needed saving! But, that doesn’t mean they didn’t help her.”
Fingers intertwined, a gentle and reassuring smile on Leo’s face as if he were telling Arashi to relax and that everything would be alright. Arashi let out a soft and shaky breath.
“It took many interventions, given the Queen was a very stubborn woman. But, they managed to get through to her— not as her knights who wanted to protect her, but as her friends who wanted to support her, show her that she didn’t need to face the world on her own.”
Arashi squeezed his hand in relief, her lips curling into a small smile. “So it was a happy ending after all?”
“Hmm, I suppose you can say that! The thing with this story is that while it ended, it didn't stop there!” Leo explained. “Sometimes the Queen would find herself falling back into old habits, after all, she is only human. But her friends would always remind her that she was being a dummy. Now, whenever they conquer things together, they are invincible. Sometimes they fuck up too, but it’s something they deal with together if it ever happens.”
Silence followed with the exception of clothes shuffling as Arashi shifted closer to Leo and rested her chin on his shoulder, fingers still intertwined as they refused to part. Her heart pounded against her chest— a sound that caught Leo’s ears which had him squeezing her hand yet again in reassurance.
Taking a deep breath to level herself, Arashi finally spoke up yet again; “That sounds like a wonderful story, Leo-kun… it’s perfect for such a beautiful melody.”
Leo beamed at the praise, fingers unclasping to wrap his arms around Arashi in a tight hug. It was an awkward position, but neither of them paid much mind to it. They remained like that for what felt like minutes but in reality was probably a few seconds— for once the silence felt comforting rather than filling them with dread.
“Hey, Naru?” Of course Leo was first to break the silence, the ginger pulling back so he was facing her yet again. “Do you wanna help me with the lyrics?”
Usually Leo would only entrust Ruka with something like lyric writing. Songwriting was their thing so for Leo to suggest something like that was quite a big deal. With the way the song spoke to Arashi, it was truly an honor to be able to assist Leo with something as important as finding the perfect words for the song.
Once again, her arms wrapped around his shoulders in a tight hug. “I would love that, Leo-kun.”
