Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Leo cursed himself again for not investing in an air conditioning unit, the temperature was sitting in the low 40′s and showed no signs of cooling as the sky darkened. He couldn’t seem to get comfortable, every position getting sticky after only a few minutes. Caving, he threw open the window and settled down on the sill, bringing his knees up and settling into his book. It was a quiet night, cars had long since been parked and children were sleeping soundly.

That’s why when the singing started, he heard it perfectly. Leo was always a piano player, not a singer, though he could hear the notes he could never produce them the same way his sisters could. He was entranced by the rumbling tenor that seemed to come from his neighbors house, he sat there captivated, until a familiar bell chimed outside.

“You sing soooooo beautifully! You should come over sometime and my brother can play for you! I’m sure you’d sound even better with him accompanying you hes a beautiful pianist me and my sister sing for him all the time.” Elise was hollering up at the open window of their neighbors house. The singing stopped, promptly followed by a grumble and the sound of a window slamming shut. To his surprise, someone actually emerged from the house, he probably would’ve just stayed indoors until Elise went away. Leo strained to hear the conversation, but only managed to make out fragments of Elise’s excited squealing. He eyed the singer curiously, his hair was pulled into a high ponytail and fell down to his back, he blushed furiously as Elise complimented him and lowered his eyes whenever she mentioned him coming over to sing with them. Apparently Elise had persuaded him though because she bounced into the house and straight into Leo’s room informing him that they would have a visitor tomorrow and that he should probably get some sleep tonight instead of staying up to read. Elise stayed in the room until Leo had tucked his book away, seemingly appeased with that she bounced off to tell everyone else the news.

Takumi couldn’t quite believe what had just happened, first the neighbors had heard him singing and then that girl, Elise, had basically forced him to come over tomorrow to sing with her and her brother. He’d never really taken it upon himself to meet the neighbors, busying himself with other things. He decided it was in everyone’s best interest if he got some sleep tonight rather than staying up to paint, he wasn’t the nicest when he was tired.

“Uh, hey, sorry I’m late, I slept in. The heat makes it almost impossible to fall asleep but once I do I could sleep through storms, sirens, you name it.” Takumi was stood on his neighbors porch awkwardly babbling out his apology. The woman who answered the door wasn’t Elise, much to his dismay, but instead her older sister. She introduced herself as Camilla and invited him inside with a warm smile. She ushered him to a table and set about making drinks.

“How do you take your coffee dear? Or do you prefer tea, I’m sure we have some somewhere around here.”

“Tea please, if its not too much trouble.”

“Not at all, I’ll go pester Leo to find it for us. You just sit tight, Elise will undoubtedly be down soon to say hi.” Camilla swept out of the room, leaving Takumi alone to take in his surroundings. The house was well furnished, if a bit gloomy. Books were scattered about the kitchen and dining area, the most concentrated area of clutter being the end of the breakfast bar, Takumi stood to get a better look at the titles. This was a pretty impressive collection of history books, some of which he himself hadn’t read. He had picked up one of the volumes when Elise came bounding down the stairs and capturing him in a crushing hug.

“I hope Camilla has been nice to you! I’m so excited to hear you singing again! Leo won’t admit it but he’s excited to play for you, he’s never been able to sing so he’s always appreciated a lovely voice more than the rest of us.”

“I’ll never understand how you have so much energy in the mornings, Elise.”

“Leo! Leo, this is Takumi hes the one we heard singing!”

“Um, hi Leo. So you play piano?” Takumi wanted to smack himself, that was obvious that is the whole reason he’s here after all. Elise hadn’t mentioned that her brother was cute though.

Leo looked the other up and down, his hair was longer than he’d first thought. He was also much, much, more attractive than his peeking at the window had let on. Struggling to find an answer despite the simple question, Leo tried to signal to Elise to throw him a bone. Which was, to put it lightly, a huge mistake.

“I’ll go see how Camilla is doing with finding the tea, you two should better acquaint yourselves!” Elise left, winking and giving Leo a thumbs up.

Now that they were alone, neither seemed to want to break the silence. Since Elise had grossly misinterpreted what he had tried to say, the pair probably wouldn’t be back anytime soon. Leo awkwardly stood up and gestured for Takumi to follow, they left the dining area and entered an entertainment space. Leo seated himself in front of the piano and patted the seat beside him.

Both far too embarrassed to sing or play anything they just sat there, blushing furiously and staring straight ahead at the piano keys. Seemingly out of nowhere, a shirtless mass of blonde curls interrupted them, still groggy from sleep.

“Good morning, little brother. Is this the neighbor Corrin seems to think you’ll end up dating? I’ve heard about him from Ryoma, you two are perfect for each other.”

“Xander, come back to bed it’s barely noon.” Ryoma appeared behind him, a white blanket wrapped around his shoulders. “Oh, hello Takumi. This is a little awkward isn’t it, I wish you and Leo all the best!” Xander and Ryoma departed, disappearing back into Xander’s bedroom.

“Gods that was embarrassing.” Leo pressed his forehead against the piano keys for emphasis. Takumi chuckled, loosening up a little.

“Would you play for me?” Takumi scooted himself a little closer to Leo, deciding to take a chance on what their brothers had just loudly declared to them.

“Only if you’ll sing along.” Leo flashed a grin at his companion and started playing, a sense of calm washing over him as he heard that beautiful singing voice once again.

Chapter Text

DING DONG. Leo had been forced out of the house to ask the neighbors for sugar, yet again. He silently hoped that it was Ryoma who answered the door, seeing as he was the only one who Leo interacted with regularly. His siblings regularly decided to bake without first checking for ingredients and today was no exception, and since Elise and Camilla were covered in flour, he was the one who had to ask.

“Ah, Leo. Is everything alright?” He wondered what it said about his personality if Ryoma’s first response to him at the door was, disaster.

“Yes, everything is fine. Elise and Camilla were baking again and need sugar, I can run to the store if it’s too big of a hassle but I’d much rather just borrow a cup.” Ryoma grinned, gesturing for Leo to stay put as he disappeared back into the house.

“Hey, Takumi! Leo’s at the door, wanna come down and say hello?”

“Uh no? I barely know him.”

“I-I think you should go, big brother. You always mention you t-think he’s cute.” Sakura blushed and tilted her head so she could hide behind her bangs, refusing to make eye contact. Ryoma grinned and pulled Takumi by the arm to the doorway, not that he put up much of a fight. Ryoma pushed Takumi outside the house, hurriedly sounding off about sweet company while he finds the baking supplies and locking the door shut.

“You aren’t exactly a cup of sugar.”

“I’m not exactly sweet company either, especially not when I’m locked out of my own house.” He called loudly through the door before slumping to sit on the porch steps. “You might as well sit, they’ll probably let us stew for a while.”

“If you think your siblings are bad you should spend a day with Camilla and Elise, they’d probably name you an honorary slumber party attendee so they could braid your hair. I know a lot about braiding hair and yours would be perfect for it.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“That depends on how much you enjoy sitting excruciatingly still for long periods of time while girls flit around you and make you look pretty.” Takumi chuckled and scooted closer to his porch-bound companion.

“Speaking from experience I take it?”

“There’s a reason my hair is short.” Leo threw the hood of his sweater back and shook out his hair, which fell down to his jaw at its longest point. “Short hair doesn’t save you from makeup though.” At that Takumi let out a full bellied laugh, contorting his face in such a way that Leo made a silent vow to see him smile like that again.

“How does Ryoma spend so much time around them then? Surely they almost died of excitement seeing him.”

“His hair has layers, it’s shorter in some parts than others and is harder to braid. They have given him some embarrassing updo’s and makeup jobs though. Xander has had to deal with it too, no one is safe.” The two chatted for a while, forgetting that they were stuck out here at the hands of scheming siblings, until Ryoma appeared with that cup of sugar.

“Here you go, Leo, I do hope Takumi was pleasant with you.” Ryoma chuckled and walked back inside, leaving the door slightly ajar this time.

“I should take this back, I completely forgot about it. You could-” Leo stared hard at the ground, “-you could come over if you’d like? My sister’s baking is a treat, and we ha-”

“I’d love to, Leo.” Takumi cut him off, offering a warm smile as an apology. “Shall we then?”

Chapter Text

Leo was sat in his desk, ten minutes before the bell rang to end lunch, reading like he always did. Takumi slid in as quietly as he could, wanting to just watch the blonde read for a moment before asking him for help, like he always did. Takumi was never very good with girls, and no one had ever really taught him guys were an option, never mind how to deal with them. So he settled for admiring from afar and pestering routinely. He remained as quiet as possible as his eyes roamed over Leo’s relaxed form, he’d noticed that once others were present, he stiffened and his entire demeanor changed. Like this, when he was reading and waiting for the inevitable presence of others, Leo was breathtaking. There was a liquid peace in his eyes that hardened as soon as the room filled. Takumi noted how his hair fell into his eyes, and how an irritated look would briefly cross his face as he moved it behind his ear before continuing to read.

“Uh, hey.” Takumi nervously brushed his own hair back from his face, even though most of it was tied back.

“Hey yourself.” Leo cornered his page, and looked up at his visitor. “Need help with something?” When they locked eyes, Takumi felt like he was staring at a brick wall.

“Yeah, I uh, I didn’t quite understand one of the concepts in the homework.” The two chatted idly and Leo helped him out as best he could. Leo had a sneaking suspicion that Takumi didn’t need help and was just looking for an excuse to talk to him. At first Leo thought that was a stupid thing to do, but he also didn’t know what else they would talk about if not the one thing they have in common. Soon the classroom began to fill and Takumi said his thanks before sitting at his own desk, next to his friend who could definitely use some of Leo’s help. Leo watched the two of them interact, noting how Takumi seemed far away at times, but Hinata could always tell and reel him back in. They must have been friends for a long time, Leo was lost in his thoughts as the class started.

After a few weeks of daily visits, Takumi thought he was ready to take it a step further, maybe a lunch date or a study date. He’d talked to his friends and none of them knew a whole lot about Leo, only that he was part of a rich family and spent a lot of time in the library. They had two things besides school in common, so that was a good start, right? He made his way into the classroom, running a little later than usual.

“Hey, Leo!”

“Hey, whats with the rush, you’re right on time.” Leo chuckled and smiled up at Takumi. Part of Takumi’s brain was registering the fact that Leo just laughed and smiled in the same sentence, part of his brain was thanking the gods Leo hadn’t noticed his loitering, and a very large part of his brain was overanalyzing the fact that Leo’s eyes still reflected a golden waterfall, rather than the stiff rejection of stone. “Need help with something?”

“Yes, I have a rather puzzling question for you.” Leo quirked his eyebrow in interest, encouraging him to continue, “would you like to go out with me?”

“That’s not puzzling at all, Takumi. I’d love to.” Takumi was redder than a tomato at how blunt his reply had been, he was also very unprepared for what came next. He hadn’t expected to be in this position, thinking he’d chicken out as usual. What did his brother do on dates? Dinner and a movie, but there wasn’t anything good out right now.

“Dinner?” Takumi went even redder, “Would you like to have dinner, I mean. Tonight possibly? We could meet up after school and head to a little strip I eat at with my friends, there’s a bookstore there I think you’d like too.”

“It’s a date, Takumi.” Leo was blushing, Takumi was blushing. Both of them were kind of a mess at this point and people were starting to fill up the room.

“A date.”

“Relax! You’ll do great. He’s lucky to be going on a date with someone as great as you, don’t worry.” Hinata was excitedly chirping away ignoring the faint blush that stained Takumi’s cheeks. “If it goes poorly, you can just hang out with me and Oboro.” He flashed a cheek splitting grin and gave a thumbs up as he dashed away, no doubt in search of Oboro to tell her all about Takumi and Leo.

“He seems… energetic.”

“Something like that yeah,” Takumi swept his backpack off the floor. “Good to go?”

“Lead the way.”

The two chatted idly as they walked, until they came to a stop.

“Okay so this is the bookstore I wanted to show you, but please don’t listen to the cashier she’s… a family friend.” Takumi took a deep breath before opening the door, “Anyone home?”

“Takumi! It’s been so long, you and your friends don’t come by as often anymore. I’ve missed you, Kagero has too.” Orochi moved from behind the counter to pinch at Takumi’s face. “You’ve gotten taller, and skinnier. Who’s this?”

“This is Leo, he’s in one of my classes at school. He reads an awful lot and I figured he’d enjoy your place. Leo, this is Orochi.”

“Its nice to meet you, this is a nice store I’m only upset I haven’t been here before.”

“Oh aren’t you darling. So are you two friends or am I detecting something more?”

“Orochi!” Takumi buried his face in his hands, looking out from his fingers at Leo who was, as ever, stiff and calm.

“Well, this is only our first date but, I’m hoping it will be one of many. After all, Takumi has been working up the courage to ask me out for weeks.” Leo chuckled at the look of excitement on Orochi’s face, deciding at the last second to try and bail his date out of the pit he’d just, unintentionally, dug. “Lets look at the non-fiction books, there’s a book I’ve been needed for one of my other classes, maybe it’ll be here.”

“Nope, not today. I actually brought you here for a reason, we can come back another day for that. What’s your favourite book, Leo?” Leo prattled on about books he loved and Takumi did the same, as the two chatted Orochi returned with two books in hand.

“Here you go,” she handed Leo’s book to Takumi and Takumi’s to Leo, “I’m assuming this was your idea, Takumi?”

“Y-yeah, Orochi. Thank you.” Takumi followed her to the till and she rang them up. “You hungry, Leo?”

“What’s a date without dinner?” Leo chuckled and looped his arm through Takumi’s, they both said their thanks to Orochi and found their way to a small diner. “Sorry for how I acted in there, I get a little over-confident when I’m in unfamiliar situations. I meant what I said though, I really would like to go on another date with you.”

“This one isn’t over yet and you already want another? Man I’m good.”

“Heh, don’t flatter yourself too much, it only took you over a month.” The two sat and ate, the owner of the diner, Mozu, came over to say hi and chatted with Takumi for a small while. Apparently he knew everyone around here. As they finished up and left, they found themselves wandering around the strip not yet wanting to part ways.

“I could walk you home if you want? I’m not sure what the etiquette is, my older brother generally dates girls and you’re the first person I’ve ever taken out.”

“You’re the first person to ask me out so, I’m on equally unsure footing. I think I can manage to walk myself home though, Takumi. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Five minutes before class, as per usual.” He grinned and turned to head home, a warm bubbly feeling overflowing in his stomach. Once Leo was out of earshot, he sat down and giggled for a good ten minutes before calling Hinata to tell him how it went. He could feel heat in his face through his entire journey home but he was much too happy to care.

Leo, upon reaching his home, hurried to his bedroom to bury his face in his pillow. He hoped he’d get a moment alone before his sisters realized he was home, so he could recollect himself. Seeing Takumi’s friends, Leo had assumed he would never ask him out, given how frighteningly straight Hinata seemed. But no, Takumi had asked him out and he was even cuter than Leo could’ve imagined. Leo felt as if he was drowning, suddenly being smothered and overwhelmed by just how much he had grown to like his daily visitor. Resisting the urge to scream into his pillow and instead, taking a deep breath, Leo called for his sisters who were waiting eagerly outside his door.