x//❝ お い : FUJIWARA & TAKEHASHIxxxxx
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xTeiji pushed off one of the trees he was leaning against, noting the numbness in his fingertips, the chill on his exposed cheeks. He could feel the strange simulation of what he could probably best describe as television static flickering through his limbs. Teiji raised a brow to the startled rabbit, and without his doing, he started smiling faintly. “Hearing him play” felt like a understatement, but Teiji kept the urge to spew critiques under his tongue. Last thing Teiji wanted to do was kick the boy while he was down. He walked closer to the figure but made sure to keep his distance.
He understood the need of extra space when meeting strangers, especially in the woods at night.
“I’m, Teiji.” Between words, he raised his mask over his mouth, feigning a cough to show it was in fact for medical reasons and not a poor excuse for a robbery disguise. “I think the better question is who plays a violin in the woods, in the middle of the night no less.” He stuffed both hands in his pocket, kicking a bit of dirt off his boots before drawing his eyes back to the rabbit.
“I'm Kyou, nice to meet you.” Kyou replies blandly. “I play in the woods because my parents think music is a waste of time, and would have my head they knew I was a musician.” He snaps, a little (more than a little) on edge. “And I'm out here at night because I couldn't sleep.”
Teiji almost tilted his head at the sentiment; suppose he wasn't surprised they were hesitant to let their children play music, perhaps even parents of the city would be so too. Had his mother not been a free spirit, maybe he'd share the feeling, so he just nodded, as if he understood the restriction. But he could see the frustration, the snap of his words, so he refused to push any further.
"Well then, uh," He spun his finger at the violin case, "Let me help with it; Your forms all off." Teiji had never picked up a violin before, but with all the time he had to himself, he read, a lot. Whatever book his mother brought for him, it'd be done within a few days. He'd picked up odd tricks and tips along the way, only putting some of it to use, like knitting or how to throw a proper dart. Where would he need to know morse code? He'd hope to find out one day. But as she ran out of ideas on what to get him, she'd bring random subjects. Music was her personal favorite, one she still had a youthful grip onto.
"First, you need to hold yourself properly." Teiji mimicked the stance, keeping his wrist straight and his shoulders relaxed. "A good posture will make changing chords much easier."
Kyou frowns at Teiji. “I don't need advice from a stranger. I've been playing since I was in elementary school.” He says, clearly unwilling to take criticism from this tourist.
Teiji lowered his arms, drawing silence between the two of them. There was no way the last 10 minutes were a construct he’d made up for his own mental torture, the local was awful. “Right, from what I heard, I swore you were playing with the wrong side of the bow.” He gestured to the case, “You know it’s the one with the strings, right?” Teiji didn’t know if it was the boy’s arrogance or the lingering whatever that sat on his shoulders, but he couldn’t help but criticize.
“I'm just out of it today, alright? I don't need you to tell me how bad I was, I already know, and it was on purpose.” It really wasn't, but it's not Kyou had actually tried to play well. And Teiji doesn't need to know. “Now, if you don't mind, I'm going home, and you should too. It's cold out here and you look like you get sick easily.”
Wow, it wouldn’t have been so rough if it wasn’t so painfully true. There was a lingering chill left by the local’s jeer, but he was more amused than he was hurt-- suppose he deserved that one didn’t he. Teiji laughed, releasing the tension in his jaw, he felt guilty for his earlier comment. “I was just trying to help,” he added, “but it would have been nice to hear you play.” Better, but he managed to hold back his tongue. Maybe he was right, maybe he should head back, but the mud under his shoes almost acted like glue, even if it was all in his mind.
Kyou stares at Teiji with uncertainty. If he were the female protagonist of a shoujo manga, surely he’d be blushing right now, because a handsome stranger is expressing interest in something that means a great lot to Kyou. Not that Teiji is handsome. By your average woman’s standards, maybe. Not his.
“One day, perhaps.” He says, not really meaning it. It’s unlikely a tourist will be around long enough for Kyou to even see him again after tonight, much less long enough for him to have found a way through to his parents and convinced them music is good and not a waste of time. If that’s even likely to happen, which is something Kyou’s brain actively avoids thinking about. “Well, good night.”
The invitation felt hollow, something you say out of courtesy, but it was one he genuinely wished to redeem one day. Perhaps it was a selfish thought, to have a performance all to yourself but that didn’t stop him. The thought alone beamed to his cheeks; thankful he had the mask to hide it away. “I’ll be looking forward to it, have a good night.” Teiji waved off Kyou, perhaps a little too much excitement in his voice-- at least for him.
Teiji stood there for a moment, listening to the compression of brush as the local walked away, before suddenly realizing something. What part of the damn woods was he in anyways..? He was so hyper fixed on locating the noise, that he ran himself into a spatial maze. He looked around to see what he could only identify as mother nature’s copy and paste...He had no idea where he was.
“Uh,, wait.” Panic, another slip of his tone. He reached out for Kyou before he got too far, slightly speed walking to catch up with him. “Would you mind if I joined you? At least back to the road.” Translation: lost. Completely and utterly so.
Kyou blanks. “You’re lost, aren’t you.” He says, more as a statement than a question.
“No.” Dead tone, only muffled lies.
“Hm.” Wow. How mature. Without saying anything more, Kyou turns on his heel and starts on the path to town, gesturing behind him for Teiji to follow and not bothering to see if he would. The footsteps behind him said enough. When they finally make it to the edge of the forest, town now clearly in sight, the moon has shifted behind some clouds and Kyou’s grateful it happened only after they were out of the trees.
“Well, town is that way,” He says, gesturing vaguely in the direction of town. “If you get lost again, just scream incoherently and eventually someone will come to retrieve your frozen corpse. Good night.”
And with that, he heads for home, waving to Teiji with what he hopes is a reassuring smile.
"t's been a pleasure.." His tone said otherwise, quietly, as if he didn't even care if Kyou caught it or not. The silence during their travel back thoroughly solidified the eighteen-year-old clown he made of himself, the local really knew how to rub it in. He made sure to wait a few minutes before taking into account the vague, yet insulting directions back to town. Perhaps there was something in the water that made the locals so… viciously bitter.