"Ojiro! Ojiro, guess what! I have some cool news!" you exclaimed, rapping on his door. You heard shuffling and a yawn from behind his door, and when it opened you had to admit that he looked a little funny. His hair was messy from sleep and his tail drooped lazily to the floor.
"What is it, Y/N?" he asked.
"They put a piano in the commons! Like a real piano! It's a beautiful, black, shiny baby grand! Come look at it with me!" you squealed, pulling him by the hand towards the location of the piano. He laughed awkwardly behind you and let you lead him. He knew how much you adored a good piano, especially since you had been classically trained on it since you were 7. Nowadays, you didn't have the time nor the means to sit down and practice with your busy schedule and school, so that's why it was so exciting to you.
Once you got to the commons, your heart nearly exploded with excitement. All you had to play on was Jirou's keyboard, and while a keyboard was okay, nothing beat the sound of a real piano. "So what are you going to play for me, Y/N?" he asked.
"How about a popular one?" you stated, sitting down on the black bench which matched the piano. He stood behind you, observing you stretch out your arms and hands. His heart was moved as you started playing Fur Elise, one of Beethoven's most well-known pieces. A ton of stress lifted off of you as you reminisced of simpler times, when you still lived at home and could play on your mother's piano that she had salvaged from the 1920's. You had learned Fur Elise when you were about 12.
As you finished the song, you were met with silence. You turned around and saw Ojiro's jaw completely dropped. "Woah, you had that completely in your head? How did you do that without music?" he asked.
"It takes months to prepare a song, so you could say that it was drilled into me or something like that."
"C-could you play another?" he requested.
"Of course." You started to play L'avalanche, followed by Fantasia in D Minor, and then Romance by Sibelius, and finally Clair De Lune. The whole time, he stayed silent and in awe.
"Wow... I knew you could play piano, but not like that," he mumbled.
You laughed, not sure how to accept his compliment. "It was a lot of years of work. Sometimes I would practice for over an hour a day just to get two measures right. It was my whole life."
"Why did you quit?" he asked. You looked down at the hole in your jeans and pulled at a thread. "I mean, if you don't mind me asking. It's just that you're talented and I don't know why you would quit."
You sighed a little and started to explain. "Life got busy. But for the real reason, one year I tried out to be in a choir, the best one in all of Japan. Everyone was sure I would make it, but I didn't. They rejected me because I couldn't sing well enough. So I said to myself, 'Okay, if I'm not a singer then I'll prove I'm amazing through piano.' So I did. I practiced Fantasia for three hours a day for six months for a piano contest that I was determined to win. I was only 14 man, and I dedicated my whole life to this one song. So when I won the contest and I didn't need to practice that song anymore, everything lost meaning. So I stopped playing piano because it was too hard to convince myself that I could ever do something that amazing again."
He stared at the back of your head. You had told him a deep secret about yourself. You told him the story of how you couldn't accept your own failure so you burned yourself out over it. "I guess I just thought..." you started.
"Thought what?"
"I just thought that winning that contest would prove to someone out there who rejected me for the choir that I am amazing. Instead, I ruined myself. I turned to being a hero instead. I trained instead of practicing piano. Piano is just like an old friend now. I still love it, but throwing myself back into it would be too painful."
He felt sad for you. He didn't really know what to say, especially since he wasn't a musician himself. He thought you were the most talented person he knew, but he knew that saying that wouldn't improve anything. "Can you teach me?" he asked simply.
"Huh? Teach you?"
"Yeah. I mean, just a song or something. A part of a song. Maybe Fur Elise? Out of all of those, that one seems the easiest," he requested.
"Yeah, why not?" you said. "Sit next to me." he took a seat on the bench, which was rather cramped with both of you on it. "Okay, first you gotta know the notes." You pointed to each key, naming the note, and telling him the corresponding sharp and flat of that note. He was a quick learner, and before long he could name all of the notes without your help. "Amazing! Alright, let's get into the song."
"Okay, just go slow so I can actually understand," he said. You laughed and began to teach him the main part, avoiding the other parts that no one actually knew. Hours went by, and he progressed slowly. Occasionally, people walked by and watched, but you were mostly undisturbed. It was 9 o'clock, and the lights in the hallways were being turned off. By now, he could play it fairly smoothly. You were proud of your student.
He beamed as he played it correctly one last time before you made him go to bed. He waved goodbye as he walked off. You stay seated at the piano, running your fingers gently over the fake ivory keys. You held your breath and looked around you, relieved that everyone else had gone to their rooms. Reluctantly, you started to pour out a melody that you had written all those years ago. Your piano teacher advised against composing a song like the one you had, but you never forgot it.
The song you wrote was one that had words. You sang along quietly at first, letting all of the notes come back to you. As you felt more sure, you began to sing louder. You played the notes and sung out the lyrics shamelessly, letting them warm your heart and fingers from years of disuse. The words were personal, and if you knew that Ojiro was crouched in the hallway out of your sight so he could listen, you would have never performed that loudly.
He smiled to himself and let his eyes fall closed as you sang, he thought, like an angel. His heart swooned once again with admiration and love. He would never tell you that he heard your song, but he would never forget it. He stood up, shot one more glance at your back, and finally went up to his room. He hoped that your love for piano had been rekindled, because he could listen to you play forever.
As you ended the song, a heavy quiet fell over the room. A gruff voice behind you said, "Very nice, L/N." You turned around and saw your teacher, leaning on a doorway.
"Mr. Aizawa, what are you doing here?" You asked, shocked.
"Just listening. You know, your mother called the school and set up an appointment to see me. She told me about your history with music, and even played me a video of your performance. She said it might make you happy to get a real piano, so I did. The school bought one by my request," he said, walking closer. You were left wordless.
"Why would you do that for me?" you questioned.
"Because you're good. Goodnight, L/N. Go to bed," he demanded. You smiled to yourself and wiped your eyes. Maybe going back to your old friend wouldn't be that bad after all.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Hey y'all, thank you so much for reading. This one is actually fairly personal for me. I was classically trained on piano for my whole life. I lost my love for it after a contest which I had won in order to spite some vocal judge in the past, but I recently found my way back to it. Music has been both crushing and lifting for me, so this was good for me to write.
In other, more happier news, WE GOT 100K READS! ON THIS BOOK NO LESS! I honestly can't believe it. I started this book a year and half ago as a way to alleviate summer boredom. I never dreamt that I would be able to go anywhere with it. So thank you so much. Every single person reading this has gotten me here, and I can't thank you enough.
If you have a suggestion, any at all, even Character x Character x Reader, any combination or theme at all let me know. Just call it my way of repaying you all for getting me here. Just PM me or leave a comment.
-Liv
