Waaah! B-but Chiaki-senpai... [She slowly goes up three notes, then down three notes, before spinning in the chair to find him.] That was a week ago... Nodame already missed it.
[Sad face. She looks down for a moment, and brushes her fingers against the keys.]
W-well... I was very serious... but the competition was the day after I came here... I missed it. And... you're not going to leave Japan, so I don't need to win...
[She just stroked the smooth ivory delicately, then set her fingers to rest. Minutes before arriving at Discedo... what had she been told? Something from Chiaki-senpai... and Stresemann...
Her lips puckered out, and she slowly began playing the beginning notes of Schubert's Piano Sonata No.16. She'll be serious this once...]
[Say what you will about Nodame, but when she really plays... there was nothing Chiaki could do but drop what he was doing and listen, slowly moving a little closer. He'll keep his comments to himself for now and just enjoy the music. ]
[Even though her playing showed signs of relaxing back into its Chopin-like style, with some notes coming off short, tempo speeding and volume every now and then, Nodame still had the actual piece memorized. It was a nice piece, she thought. Where Schubert wasn't truly a stranger, but rather, someone she hadn't been introduced to yet, not fully. But as she kept going, he grew more and more familiar...
She had spent all day playing this song before...
Once finished, she moved her hands back, then instantly turned to Chiaki, a hopeful look on her face. Praise? Pretty pretty please?]
[Chiaki's quiet for a moment, taking it in. She really had been practising, hadn't she? And that mouth, the one true sign that she was deviating, improvising, composing - she still hadn't changed that much.]
Paperfan-sensei, huh... I suppose he's one of the few who could get you in order.
[A sigh slipped out as she hugged him, but he didn't push her off immediately. That piano looked very tempting though so after a moment he made an attempt to pry her off - we have more important things to do, woman!]
He and his wife were letting me stay with them, too!
[She clung in joy, inhaling against Chiaki's arm in sheer pleasure of just being in his presence, still, but ended up letting go, as he asked about the sonata. Four hands...?]
[The frown is back but quickly disappears again as he sits down by the piano, letting his fingers hover over the keys for a moment. It's been a while... much too long, actually. He's almost tempted to take on Rachmaninoff or Tchaikovsky to flex his muscles a bit but he was the one to bring up Mozart so that is what they'll play.]
It's a duet. [And with that he starts, playing as well as he can from memory. It's accurate enough when you don't have the sheet music in front of you.]
[A Duet... that made more sense. Nodame plops down next to him, watching him curious. So professional... she had to smile, admiring the view while her ears absorbed the music.]
[A duet... in Renaissance music it was used as a teaching instrument, designed to be played by the master and his pupil so that they could grow and learn from each other side by side. This impromptu lesson isn't that different from the first time they played - even the same composer - and Chiaki's starting to understand what Tanioka-sensei really had in mind with that constellation.
After a few minutes he stops, satisfied that she listened all the way through. This will do for now.]
You play that part. I will take the second melody.
[He scoots over to give her some more space, waiting for her to get ready.]
[It was a cute piece. Not too complicated, but if she messed up, Chiaki was liable to hit her. More determination to not screw up horribly.
She slid onto the bench next to him and placed her hands on the keys, then smiled broadly at Chiaki.]
Okay!
[Such a warm and gentle feeling began to grow from just sitting here next to her. Her two favorite things, piano and Chiaki... today was going to be a good day.]
[He might just throw a bit of trash at her from wherever he's cleaning today.]
If you got time to do things like that you should practice! Didn't you have a competition coming up?!
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[Grin?]
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[Frown. He shouldn't have expected any better.]
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W-well... I was very serious... but the competition was the day after I came here... I missed it. And... you're not going to leave Japan, so I don't need to win...
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[Sigh. A little disappoint actually, he thought she was going at it for real for a while.]
Eh? What does me leaving Japan have to do with it?
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[She just stroked the smooth ivory delicately, then set her fingers to rest. Minutes before arriving at Discedo... what had she been told? Something from Chiaki-senpai... and Stresemann...
Her lips puckered out, and she slowly began playing the beginning notes of Schubert's Piano Sonata No.16. She'll be serious this once...]
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[Say what you will about Nodame, but when she really plays... there was nothing Chiaki could do but drop what he was doing and listen, slowly moving a little closer. He'll keep his comments to himself for now and just enjoy the music. ]
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She had spent all day playing this song before...
Once finished, she moved her hands back, then instantly turned to Chiaki, a hopeful look on her face. Praise? Pretty pretty please?]
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Still sloppy.
[He does crack a smile - good work, not!gf.]
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Eto-sensei helped a lot! It's not thaaaat sloppy... just a little bit.
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[A sigh slipped out as she hugged him, but he didn't push her off immediately. That piano looked very tempting though so after a moment he made an attempt to pry her off - we have more important things to do, woman!]
Do you know Mozarts four-hand sonata?
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[She clung in joy, inhaling against Chiaki's arm in sheer pleasure of just being in his presence, still, but ended up letting go, as he asked about the sonata. Four hands...?]
...But I thought Mozart only had two hands.
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[The frown is back but quickly disappears again as he sits down by the piano, letting his fingers hover over the keys for a moment. It's been a while... much too long, actually. He's almost tempted to take on Rachmaninoff or Tchaikovsky to flex his muscles a bit but he was the one to bring up Mozart so that is what they'll play.]
It's a duet. [And with that he starts, playing as well as he can from memory. It's accurate enough when you don't have the sheet music in front of you.]
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After a few minutes he stops, satisfied that she listened all the way through. This will do for now.]
You play that part. I will take the second melody.
[He scoots over to give her some more space, waiting for her to get ready.]
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She slid onto the bench next to him and placed her hands on the keys, then smiled broadly at Chiaki.]
Okay!
[Such a warm and gentle feeling began to grow from just sitting here next to her. Her two favorite things, piano and Chiaki... today was going to be a good day.]
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