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The free day felt almost unreal after the last few months, and he enjoyed finally being back in his room again.
Since everything would continue as usual tomorrow, there was no point in returning to his own apartment. And with both of his roommates busy themselves, he had the entire room to himself.
In HiMERU’s eyes, the day could not have started any better.
Leaning against the small kitchenette in the room, he waited for his cup of coffee to finish brewing while already flipping through the mystery novel the vice president had recommended to him.
After a little over a minute, his beloved drink was finally ready and he made his way over to the sofa.
Sinking into the soft cushions, he paused for a moment. With the steaming cup in hand, he enjoyed the quiet surrounding him. He remained still for a brief while before taking a sip of coffee and opening the book.
Even though the mystery novel was genuinely interesting and he had already begun making notes about which characters seemed suspicious, he read at an entirely leisurely pace. At times, his citrine eyes lingered on the same page for several minutes while he thought over what he had read. Nobody was rushing him.
The day belonged entirely to him.
Truly, a perfect day off.
Crash.
The door slammed open. Straight into the wall.
“Naru~”
HiMERU flinched and found himself staring directly into the face of his personified sudden headache.
He only had himself to blame. He had clearly spent too much time thinking about how peaceful and perfect the day was.
His eyes continued to follow the walking natural disaster as he stepped into the room, only to stop in confusion a few seconds later upon noticing how empty it was.
The blue-haired idol cleared his throat softly and placed the mystery novel onto his lap.
“Narukami is not here, Tsukinaga-san.”
Leo turned around as though he had only just noticed the other idol sitting on the sofa. He immediately walked closer as if he had never heard of the concept of personal space before and dropped himself down beside HiMERU.
“Hmm, then I’ll wait here for Naru~ … I brought something back from Italy for her~”
The emeralds in his eyes sparkled as he spoke, and the older idol paused for a moment.
It surprised him that the orange-haired idol had never tried modeling before. He had an undeniably attractive face, and his eyes alone were enough to completely captivate someone.
HiMERU stiffened slightly the moment he realized what exactly he had just been thinking and quickly tried to distract himself.
“HiMERU cannot stop you, but he would appreciate it if you remained quiet while waiting.”
Demonstratively, he opened the mystery novel again and took note of Leo’s agreeable hum with satisfaction. He did not actually believe him, though. Oukawa had already told him far too many stories about the former King of Knights’ personality for that.
Still, a man his age was allowed to hope.
To his surprise, it really did stay quiet.
The knight did not make even the slightest sound, and the older idol frowned faintly. It bothered him. It was the kind of unsettling silence that happened when a child suddenly became too quiet in the next room.
Except this hypothetical child was sitting right beside him and simply staring at him, as he realized after finally lifting his gaze from the book.
“Can HiMERU help you with something?”
Leo immediately shook his head.
“Nope.”
And then continued staring.
“Is there a reason you are watching HiMERU?”
A grin immediately spread across the orange-haired idol’s lips.
“I’m just watching~”
“For ten minutes?”
“Mhm!”
“.....”
His gaze lowered back to the book as he flipped another page. The emerald eyes remained fixed on him while time slowly passed.
“You know … you sit weird.”
“HiMERU is simply sitting on the sofa.”
The mysterious idol had absolutely no idea what the knight was getting at, but he still looked back up curiously.
“No, no.” Leo waved his hand dramatically. “You’re way too quiet. Humans make noises even while sitting … maybe you’re an alien.”
“HiMERU apologizes for not falling off the sofa on a regular basis.”
“You’d probably even fall elegantly.”
“Of course.”
Leo burst into laughter as though the other had just made one of the funniest jokes he had heard in a long time.
After that, it became quiet again, and the blue-haired idol actually managed to focus on the mystery novel once more. It did not last long before he felt the younger idol staring again.
This time even more intensely than before.
“What is it now?”
“You’re pretty.”
The answer came so quickly and honestly that HiMERU looked up and paused.
Leo appeared completely unaffected by his own statement.
He knew he was attractive, and it certainly was not the first time someone had told him so. Even so, hearing it from Leo somehow felt different.
“....You say things with frightening directness.”
Leo merely smiled crookedly before throwing himself over the backrest of the sofa. It seemed as though something else had finally caught his attention now.
At least HiMERU hoped so.
The rustling of paper made him lift his head curiously and it appeared that the composer had actually found himself a new activity.
The orange-haired idol was sprawled halfway over the backrest of the sofa, his legs dangling down while HiMERU could not imagine any universe in which that position was comfortable.
A soft hum escaped the younger idol’s lips as more and more musical notes filled the paper.
Without realizing it, the two of them seemed to coexist naturally and even though the blue-haired idol would never admit it aloud, he relaxed. The air was now filled with quiet humming, the rustling of paper, and the subtle shifting of the sofa beneath the dangling legs.
His citrine-colored eyes drifted repeatedly toward the orange cat beside him while he continued reading his mystery novel. He paused proudly once he realized he had guessed the murderer correctly. Once again, he had solved the case before the police had, despite the distraction sitting right next to him.
However, his already disturbed peace finally came to an end when the door opened once more.
This time slightly quieter than before.
“I’m home, HiMERU-chan.”
HiMERU slowly lifted his gaze from the book while Leo continued hanging over the backrest of the sofa, humming softly. Several sheets covered in musical notes had already slipped off the couch and onto the floor. The knight remained completely absorbed in his composition.
The blonde paused and for a moment, nobody spoke. Arashi’s eyes merely wandered between the two idols.
HiMERU completely understood her reaction. This truly was not an everyday sight.
“I have questions.”
“HiMERU does as well.”
“I’m composing~” Leo’s cheerful voice rang out without him looking up even once.
“That answers absolutely nothing, Leo-kun.”
The orange-haired idol finally paused and looked over at Arashi while his legs continued swinging happily from the backrest.
“Naru, look!”
He jumped off the sofa to finally complete the mission that had originally brought him into the room in the first place and pressed the souvenir into the younger idol’s hands.
“Ara, how sweet of you.” She smiled softly before slowly raising an eyebrow. “But why didn’t you text me that you were waiting here?”
Leo tilted his head slightly to the side. His hair fell loosely into his face as he simply shrugged.
“I lost my phone, but Hime and I had lots of fun~”
The younger idol’s grin immediately caused both of them to react.
“Please do not call HiMERU that.”
He could already feel the headache forming while a quiet, thoughtful “Hime?” escaped Arashi beside him.
Next to her, Leo hummed happily until the youngest person in the room took him by the hand.
“Please forgive him for disturbing you, HiMERU-kun … we’re leaving now. The others have actually just been waiting for me and apparently for Leo-kun as well. Please enjoy the rest of your day off.”
“Bye Hime~”
HiMERU watched the two leave the room while rubbing his temple and listening to the door slowly click shut behind them.
The book still resting on his lap, his gaze drifted across the now empty room.
It was suddenly quiet.
Far too quiet.
He stood up and placed the book onto the table before noticing the scattered sheets of paper on the floor.
The only evidence left behind from the last few hours.
His brow furrowed slightly before he gathered the papers onto the table and reached for his cup.
“HiMERU needs coffee.”