Ryota Takasugi
When Ryota arrived at school that morning, he hadn't expected to find the yard already filled with people. There were no morning classes on the first day of school, but everywhere he looked there seemed to be students, not just freshmen, hanging about and checking out the many stands the different clubs had set up to attract new members. Just looking at that many people moving around and hearing all that noise made him agitated. He wasn't like his sister, who woke up bright and early every morning even when she didn't have school, and being forced to wake up earlier than he'd liked made him irritable and tired. Unfortunately, he had no choice, since Kyouya had made him promise he’d help with the stands (it was scary how he couldn't say no to that man), so all he could do was suck it up and push through the crowd.
Some of his fellow upperclassmen who recognized him smiled or waved at him in greeting, and he made an effort to respond in kind, even if the smile did come out a bit forced. The freshmen often stopped their chatting to stare at him before remembering their manners and looking away. Most of them probably just wondered if he was foreign. He supposed it was unavoidable, what with the way he looked, although that didn’t make their behavior any less annoying or excusable.
He passed a lot of stands, some more popular than others, including the broadcasting club where Matsunaga-san was being his usual eccentric self (he almost fell over when the blonde started yelling), before spotting the musical arts banner. There was only one member there and most of the students walking by barely spared it a glance. To be frank, that didn't really surprise Ryota; while lacking any sort of bad reputation that some clubs had (if you don't include Kyouya's compulsive flirting, that is), it never was a particularly popular group.
“Good morning, Minami-chan,” he greeted his fellow club member, stifling a yawn as he laid his trumpet case on the table where the pile of flyers rested, seemingly untouched. The club's Secretary, a sturdy looking girl, had been concentrating on tuning her guitar and almost shouted in surprise when he spoke.
“Takasugi-kun! Good morning.” The girl smiled, brushing the long dark bangs away from her face. The expression turned to one of concern when her eyes settled on his face. “You look... tired?” 'Awful' would've been the more appropriate word, but Minami, bless her soul, was too polite for that.
“Yeah, I know.” He rubbed his face and looked around, frowning. “You’re here alone? Where’s Nakazuki-san?”
“Oh, I think I saw him talking to someone on the swimming club stand.” She paused to stare at his less than friendly expression before continuing with a strange smile. “But I’m sure he’ll come here eventually.”
Ryota scoffed at that. “Great club leader he is, letting us do all the work.” He tried to convince himself that was why he was so pissed off, but deep down he knew it was really just the disappointment of not being able to see Kyouya-san after a whole summer that was making him angry. He knew his club leader, the pervert was probably too busy flirting with the freshman right now. It was ridiculous, it made him question why he even liked the man in the first place. Love is blind, deaf and doesn't know any better, his mother used to say.
Sighing, he plopped down on a chair next to Minami, throwing his head back and closing his eyes to try and block out the students’ chatter. When he heard familiar scales sounding from the girl’s guitar, he began to relax.
“Any freshmen interested?” he asked, opening his eyes to stare at clear blue sky.
“Not really. I've been handing out a few flyers away but... You know how it is… “
“Hum…" A plane soared across the blue, making almost no sound. "In that case, why don’t we play something?” He turned to the Secretary, not surprised to see a blush spread across the girl’s cheeks.
“P-play?” she stammered. “With you?” Her eyes dropped to the guitar in her hands, fingers brushing the chords. “Like what?”
Ryota asked her if she had listened to the CD he’d given as a present on her birthday. She told him that she did and that she really liked it, specially the second track.
“The second track... Perfect. Then let’s play that,” he said, opening the case and taking out his trumpet.
“The ‘Blue Moon’? Are you sure?” she questioned, the English title sounding strange coming from her mouth. He could almost picture his mother cringing at the accent.
“Yeah, maybe someone will know the lyrics and join us. At least it’s better than sitting here doing nothing,” he said, shrugging his shoulders and lifting the mouthpiece to his lips to warm up. They wouldn't be any louder than the broadcasting club, that's for sure, and besides, he rather enjoyed playing duets with the energetic guitarist. And it might get Kyouya to actually come to the stand and do his job.
Minami thought for a while, listening to him warming up while tapping her fingers against the guitar in her own nervous way, and then slowly nodded, giving him a big smile. “Alright. It’ll be fun.”
“Great. We'll try a faster tempo. Let’s make it a little more lively and upbeat, okay? Ready?”