Checkmate

Knights

Context: Tsuki  is "Moon" (Hence the joke on Leo's last name, Tsukinaga) ☆

Also a "Live" is a concert 

As Leo stroked the cat's snowy white belly, Izumi couldn't help but feel slight exasperation. But then...Why should he? Leo was just a kid with a cat, really. Under all that responsibility and strange behavior, Leo only loved everyone and wanted everyone to love him back. Innocent. 

Then, Izumi remembered the mess that was Chess, and his anger returned. He needed anger. It kept him focused and kept the pity for Leo out. He huffed, crossing his arms.

"You really do only live in the moment, don't you... Ugh, it's pissing me off—do I need to kick you?" Of course, he wouldn't have actually kicked Leo. That would have made him feel terrible afterwards. 

Leo threw his hands over his face and curled around Little John, who let out an indignant mrrp as he was slightly squashed. "Ahhh! Stop it, Sena! I don't agree with violence!" He frowned, narrowing his glass-green gaze. 

Rare was the occasion when Leo got angry, and Izumi knew from experience that this wasn't it, so he refrained from interrupting. When Leo was actually angry, he channeled it into his music, then threw away the result. And when he got angry, he was sad too.

"It's because you have that attitude that everyone misunderstands you, y'know.~" Leo explained in a logical tone, rubbing behind one of Little John's charcoal colored ears, "they say you're scary or unpleasant or that you're hard to approach!" 

There was a mischievous look on his face. Like he was going to speak, but held back his words for a second or two. "When in fact, the truth is you're actually such a nice, caring guy...?"

Izumi looked entirely unimpressed. He raised a disgusted eyebrow. The wind ruffled his silvery hair, and the look on his face was daunting. Immaculate and poised as a knight, he gave an almost invisible shake of his head. 

Sighing, Leo pulled the cat closer in his arms as to not drop him. There was that tired look on his face again though, something that worried Izumi slightly. "Ahh, poor Sena... Everyone hates you, huh... There, there, this nice Leo-san will give you a biiig hug"

Leo leaned over the cat and wrapped an arm around Izumi's shoulder, which Izumi promptly threw off with an irked glare. 

A crow streaked across the sky overhead, squawking loudly as it went, then landed in the hedge and watched the pair with its beady black eyes, clutching a dandelion in its beak. Izumi shifted in his uncomfortable metal chair, hot from the sun. "I'm gonna kill you." He declared flatly.

At once, Leo scrambled back, shaking his hands as if to rid them of something nasty. Little John rubbed his head against Leo's shoulder without a care in the world, seemingly unbothered by what was unfolding around him. Life had to be simpler when you were a cat. "Eek, that's why I said you're scary! Don't glare at me, that's a nasty look in your eyes!" Half teasing, Leo poked Izumi.

Izumi looked like he was going to just take it at first, but apparently not. "Excuse me? You've got a problem with my face?" He asked with yet another glare, standing and walking over to a different table in the shade. It was cast in a light green glow from the sun filtering through leaves, and small clusters of wildflowers sprouted all around it. 

Little John jumped off Leo's lap, and Leo sprang up to follow Izumi, who had settled on one of the chairs. Leo wouldn't stop talking, it was like he just needed to fill up the quiet with something to say. "Not at all!" He exclaimed, pulling the gray tabby cat back up with great effort, "You're always pretty no matter when~ just like the moon!"

It wasn't quite a fair comparison. Izumi was hardly ever kind to Leo, at least directly. Yet still, the kid saw good in him and didn't question his perpetually grumpy demeanor. Izumi was taken aback by the last statement. Moon. The first part of Leo's last name meant that.

"You're the one who's the moon..." He sighed. They really should get to the matter at hand. Everything was so tense with another live approaching yet again. It was like the performances never stopped. There wasn't time to be tired. Stop with the chatter and start with practice already, he told himself.

"The 'wars' continue tomorrow and the day after, too, so it's nothing but lives day after day, you know?" Leo hadn't really been listening. He had picked up a bright green leaf and started shredding it methodically between his fingers. For the first time, Izumi noticed how troubled Leo looked, absent of that youthful glow that was always present in him.