A Summer Together (You make me feel like I'm alive again) [SOUKOKU]

Path to Light

It had been a day since the piano had arrived, and Dazai's reaction was not one that was wholly unexpected.

He didn't seem as upset as Chuuya thought he would be though, which was a good thing at least.

"So, Dazai-Chan, when are you going to let me hear you play?"

"Don't call me that! Anyway... well, I will do it when I feel like it."

"Seriously? I thought you were a man of your word."

"I am a man of my word."

"Hmm... sure doesn't seem too much like it if I'm going to be honest."

Dazai lets out a sigh and a tut, "Fine, if you insist. Don't forget your end of the bargain, though."

"Don't worry, I won't."

—--------

Dazai lets his fingers brush past the familiar keys of the piano. Although it's only a little over two weeks since he last played, it felt like ages since he had last touched it. Maybe it was because he had to play it everyday at home.

It was oddly quiet in here, compared to all the sounds of nature outside. They had agreed to move the piano into Mr. Nakahara's office, as he was away

The piano had a thin layer of dust, but other than that it looked quite new, probably because it was so well maintained. It was, after all, from a very expensive brand.

It was an upright piano with a coating of black paint. The pedals and lettering on the piano was a gold colour, but the most important thing, of course, was the sound.

He taps a few keys and listens as the sound echoes around the interior of the piano.

"Hmm...a bit out of tune, but it'll do."

After adjusting his stool a bit, he sits down and rests his hands on the keys. He runs through some scales as warmup, making sure to have the correct posture and finger placement.

He's never really cared much about these things before, but he can't let Chuuya notice anything that will get him teased.

After the warmup, Dazai starts to play his piece. It's a piece he's practised many times before, he didn't even need sheet music to know where the notes went.

The piece was a fast one, with a level of difficulty. It isn't anything that's too complicated for him, though. His hands glide over the keys, methodically striking each note at the right time.

All of Dazai's teachers had been impressed with his abilities in music theory and sight reading, ability to play even the hardest of pieces with minimal errors. Some even called him a prodigy when he was younger.

One thing they had always commented on, though, was the lack of emotion in his playing. They've always stuck to fast and intense pieces to make up for the missing feeling.

He had no idea how to change that, perhaps it was because he had no passion for music in the first place. It was more like typing out a line of code than an artistic expression whenever he played.

Following a set of rules to do something, how does he add emotion into that? The answer certainly didn't lie in the dynamics or the tempo, as he had always played those perfectly.

It was always missing.

That feeling that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find music.

He looks up for a moment, and accidentally makes eye contact with Chuuya.

They hold that position for a split second, before Dazai turns his head back down to the piano.