♦︎ᵁᴺˢᵀᴬᴮᴸᴱ ᴱᴹᴼᵀᴵᴼᴺˢ♦︎ ⇒ one-shot collection

Songs of Soulmates ♦︎ rei x nagisa

Ever since he was young, Nagisa had used instruments to express emotion, rather than simply telling anyone. He found that bundling his feelings into something creative would be a good way to cope with unwanted ones. He wrote songs when he was upset or angered, just to let off steam without burdening anyone else with rambling. Nagisa had started expressing feelings through music after his classmates as a child would scold him for talking too much.
Now he's sixteen, and still writes songs that represent feelings.

After weeks of not having inspiration, something finally had hit him. Recently, Haruka and Makoto had started dating, which led to Nagisa and Rei awkwardly third-wheeling at events and training. Nagisa was really happy to see his friends together, but he felt as if he was missing out on something; an emotion he'd never experienced before.

Love was a mysterious feeling. It came at the most random times, even when you didn't want it, and can drastically affect other emotions. It can impact on sadness or bliss, and loneliness. Love was fascinating. Nagisa had wanted to write a song about it, but he had never experienced it before; having had trouble finding a love interest - until now.

Practice had ended, and Haru and Makoto had already left. Nagisa and Rei were sitting with their legs dangling into the pool water, talking about whatever came to mind as the cherry blossoms fell around them. For a few weeks they had been talking more and more often, and Nagisa had begun feeling a slightly deeper connection to the butterfly swimmer. Eventually their conversation drifted to music, and Nagisa thought it would be a good time to admit that he wrote songs.
"Um... Sometimes I write my own songs... I mean they aren't that good but I've been composing them for guitar for a few years," Nagisa said, slightly hesitant to hear Rei's reaction.
"Really?" the blue haired boy asked, "that's really cool," His eyes sparkled brightly behind his glasses.

Nagisa found himself getting temporarily lost in those lilac eyes, gazing hopelessly. Rei's eyes were like galaxies, filled with deepness and beauty. They were like pools of clear water, with a purple sunset reflecting onto the miniature waves. They seemed to pull him into a trance, begging him not to look away.
"Nagisa-san?"
He snapped out of his dazed state and glanced up at Rei, who's expression read a mix of confusion or concern. The orange haired boy quickly sat up and tried to hide the obvious blush on his face by fake coughing. He pretended to check his watch, which he wasn't wearing, and stood up at an alarmingly fast pace, luckily not slipping against the pool edge.
"Ah, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow, Rei-chan." And with that, he rushed to the lockers to get changed, leaving behind a dazed Rei behind.

Later

At home, Nagisa got out his song book and sat on his bed with his guitar. He hardly ever wrote full songs, so the pages were just occupied by random lyrics, chords and tunes. Tapping a pen against his lip, he quickly jotted an idea down.
The eyes behind your glasses are like galaxies,
"No, that's too cheesy," Nagisa mumbled, starting to erase it, then deciding it could be used later.
You say there's beauty in the world, but I see it in you,
"Still cheesy,"
But this feeling resurfaces whenever you're near,
Maybe I'll come to accept the fact that I've fallen for you,

He stopped writing at that, feeling as though secretly writing about his teammate was wrong. But when Nagisa was with Rei, he seemed to be filled with more emotion - all the more reason to write a song. The feeling he was experiencing was similar to happiness, but deeper. Was the emotion love? Was he in love with Rei? Makoto and Haru seemed to show a lot of love when they're around each other; maybe that's what Nagisa was feeling?

But there was no way Rei would like him back.

He packed away his guitar and notebook, getting into bed and thinking over what he had written.
"Why aren't I good at romance?" Nagisa muttered, feeling a blush spread onto his cheeks. Recently, this love-like feeling had been reappearing a lot whenever he was with Rei, but he chose to leave it alone to avoid humiliating himself.