Piano Practice

"I don't get this at all."

Cheren sighed for the umpteenth time that day. "Bianca, you've barely written anything since I got here."

"I know, but it's so hard and I just don't know what to put down."

Putting his hand to his forehead, he reached over and took her paper. He was in the process of trying to help Bianca with her English homework and it wasn't going well at all. Their class was assigned to write a short essay and she'd barely written a paragraph when he first sat down next to her. Eventually, he'd had enough of watching her struggle to write a sentence and started giving her advice and tips. But after ten minutes of offering assistance, Cheren was starting to regret jumping in to help.

"It's an opinionated piece!" Cheren said as he fought to keep his tone level. "It's about the people you admire most. How hard can it be?"

"What's 'opinionated' mean?" She asked.

"It means, you can pretty much write whatever you want. Didn't you read the instructions?" He said, feeling his eye twitch.

"I did," She said as she twirled a pencil between her fingers. "But I still got stuck. Why is this so hard?"

"It shouldn't be if you did an outline like the instructions recommended," He emphasized. "Were you even paying attention in class? And where's your supporting details for this thing? How am I supposed to believe that you admire your mom if you don't give me any evidence to back it up?"

"You just take my word for it?" She grinned.

He slapped her paper back down. "Write your outline. And put some effort into it, are you even trying?"

"I am," She grumbled as she took out a fresh piece of paper. "But it's hard to focus with you peering over my shoulder every two seconds."

She scribbled something that vaguely resembled a topic sentence as Cheren instructed her to write bullet point notes. "Did you write yours yet?" She asked.

He was about to reply that, yes, he finished it last night, but was distracted by the sound of a piano. It was a little choppy in places and there were a couple of pauses, but it still sounded so sweet and gentle that Cheren found himself instantly relaxing.

"Ah, it's three o'clock," Bianca said absentmindedly as she added more to her outline.

"Is that Touko playing?" He opened his eyes again.

"Yeah, you never knew she took lessons?" She said. "She's been getting a lot better lately. Now could you be quiet? I'm trying to concentrate."

"Keep working on the outline, I'll be right back," He called over his shoulder. He was already walking over towards the open window where he could see Touko sitting at the piano.

He'd always known Touko's family had a piano in their living room, but he'd assumed it was more for decoration than anything else. He had no idea anyone was still playing it, but as he watched her fingers move lightly over the black and white keys, he thought it was nothing short of amazing. There were moments where she hesitated or made mistakes, but she looked so calm and serene throughout that Cheren was utterly enchanted by the sounds she elicited from the piano. It was singing beneath her touch.

She finally glanced up as the song ended and saw him staring through the window, cheek resting in his palm. "Cheren!" She said, blushing. "Er, how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," He grinned. "Why are you embarrassed? That was incredible."

"I didn't notice you there," She mumbled. "Sorry."

"Sorry? What are you apologizing for? I thought it was great," He said. "How come I've never heard you play before?"

"The subject never came up," She shrugged. "And I guess maybe I thought you'd laugh. Did you really like it?"

"Why would I laugh at you?" He said. "I loved it. It was really, I don't know, expressive."

"You think so?" She said with a smile on her face. "I've been taking lessons for a few years now, so I'm glad to hear that. All the practice really pays off in the end, huh?"

"The song you were playing was really nice," He complimented. "I'm not familiar with a lot of piano music, but what's the title?"

She laughed, almost apologetically. "It's not a famous piece," She said. "It's a Touko original."

His eyes widened. "You wrote that?"

She nodded. "I wrote it for my dad."

It was common knowledge that Touko's father had passed away three years ago, and Cheren knew how much she loved him. "He'd be proud," He smiled.

"I started taking lessons a few months before he died," She said. "And he would always love to hear me practice, even though I was just a beginner then. I thought it would be nice to dedicate my first song to him."

"Would you play it again?" He asked.

Touko looked surprised at first, but nodded and reoriented herself at the piano. Her hands lay suspended over the keys for a moment and then –

Music. It felt more familiar, now that he was hearing it for the second time. There were slight nuances he hadn't noticed the first time around; the way some parts were loud and then soft, the way she held one note just a bit longer than another, and the way she pressed the keys with a slight pressure, not over-exaggerated or rough. And he felt the emotion behind the music, the sweetness of everything she wanted to convey.

"That was… beautiful, Touko."

Cheren returned to check on Bianca's progress shortly afterwards. "There you are. Where were you? Doesn't matter, here, check it out!" She held up her finished outline triumphantly. "How's that?"

He took the paper, looked it over, then calmly said, "You forgot the conclusion."

"What!" She snatched the paper back, scanning it fiercely. "Darn it," She said as she picked up her pencil and started writing fervently.

"Can I have a sheet of paper?" He asked.

"Sure," She said as she thrust her folder at him, refusing to look up from her work. "What for?"

"I'm revising my essay," He said as he took a mechanical pencil out of his pocket.

"What would you do something crazy like that for?" She asked, still not looking up.

He smiled to himself. "I realized there's someone else that deserves to be in my essay."

If you've read my story Epilogue, this oneshot takes place a few years before that. However you can read it as a separate oneshot and not miss out on anything. Thanks for reading!