There he stood, looking at a beautiful black piano through the music stores display windows. The instrument seemed so luxurious and therefore, hundreds of dollars over what he could ever afford. But still, he couldn't help but admire it's simple, yet elegant structure and it's glossy surface that seemed to reflect the store lights like a precious stone would. For the first time in a little over a year he yearned to play an instrument, to play a piano, to feel the keys under his fingers and get lost in it's sweet music. It had been so long, since he had enjoyed that, maybe too long. He looked around noticing the hustle on the streets due to it being the weekend before Christmas. For him, society's obsession over compulsively buying presents for their loved one's seemed very superficial. "They all think that shit's important" He thought. He looked back at the piano and then focused on his reflexion on the glass. He seemed so tired, well it's only because he was. Levi hadn't slept well for a long time which caused him to have heavy eyelids and dark circles under his eyes. "I look like crap" He thought. The dark haired man scanned inside the store for a moment and finally convinced himself to go inside just to play that amazing grand piano for a while. And so, he opened the door to the store and walked straight towards the instrument he had been contemplating. Levi was quickly approached by a young woman that worked in the store.
-May I help you with anything, sir?
She kindly asked.
Levi just stared at her with cold eyes and a harsh expression.
-No, I'm fine.
He responded distantly.
The girl gave Levi a strange stare and proceeded to walk away from him to help another customer that had just walked in. The dark haired man took a seat in front of the luxurious piano and glared at it for a moment. He wasn't even sure if he remembered how to play and that piano had many more keys than he was used to, damn it, he couldn't even remember a song. And then, it hit him, one of his favorite pieces. It wasn't extremely difficult, but he knew it by heart, he knew it enough to not play the piano in seventy years and yet still be able to perform this piece to perfection. The man pressed the first key with a level of insecurity, the first note was somber and dense, just as the rest of moonlight sonata was. Then, he continued, slowly at first, but without even the slightest mistake. After regaining his self assurance he picked up the pace and added a few complimentary notes in between, that made the song even more beautiful. While in his musical trance, Levi felt someone staring at him from close, but he decided to ignore them. Suddenly, he heard a note coming from a second piano, complementing the song he was playing. He was almost completely disconcerted by how beautiful the two pianos sounded together, but didn't allow himself to become unfocused. He continued playing, sharper, more precise and with every ounce of passion he still had in his heart and upon hearing the second piano sounding almost perfect, he let himself get lost in the moment. Suddenly, he forgot all pain, all sorrow, all remorse and the world...it was just him and those two pianos, the world, it was beautiful. Him and the stranger, together they played fiercely until the very last note that seemed to echo in levi's mind for a few moments after hearing it, and there he sat, with his eyes glued to the glassy piano keys, transfixed by the intoxicating euphoria that could only come from playing music. Until a voice abruptly pulled him down to the ground.
-That was amazing!
Levi slowly looked up and saw a tall young woman with striking brown eyes and oval shaped glasses. He was still so disoriented that he couldn't bring himself to say anything and so the woman continued, bringing her face a little closer to his.
-I was overwhelmed with excitement!
She expressed energetically.
Levi, dumbfounded by her strong approach, just looked at her with a confused expression. "That must've been the person playing the other piano" He thought. There were several seconds of awkward silence until the man noticed he was the cause of it.
-Thanks.
He finally responded.
The girl smiled kindly and Levi could've sworn that he saw her eyes glisten.
-My name is Hange, Hange Zoë.
Said the brunette while extending her hand towards Levi. The pale man just stared at her hand for a moment, avoiding all eye contact, and then slowly extended his hand to greet her.
-Levi.
He responded in his deep monotone voice. Hange gave him another sweet smile and quickly proceeded on their conversation.
-Well Levi, that's some skill you got there! Where did you learn to play like that?
-My...-Levi cut himself off for a moment, bringing his gaze to the keys of the grand piano.- I learned by myself.
-Are you serious?!- Exclaimed the lively woman.-That's amazing! It took me a long time to play like that, and that's that I had help.
Levi, now uncomfortable by the conversation started pressing random keys to unleash sounds that would hopefully calm his noisy head.
-Well Levi, I see you want me to leave-Joked Hange.-But before I do I just want to invite you to our music classes. My friends and I are a group of musicians that teach music every Friday near the theatre, Rose st. 2455 to be exact. We have piano classes, guitar classes, violin classes, and many others. You should come if it interests you, I was really surprised with your talent and I would love it if you could play music with us sometime.
The dark haired man looked at Hange once more, a little stunned at what the woman before him had just offered, but of course his expression remained unchanged. He once more only sat silently wishing for the woman to walk away. Hange persisted undisturbed by Levi's peculiar personality, she kind of found it interesting. Suddenly she opened a brown hand bag that hung on her shoulders and searched between dozens of receipts, candy wrappers and pens until she found what she was looking for.
-Aha!-She expressed before taking out a small card.-Here, have this.
Said the woman while she handed the card out towards Levi. The silent man took it hesitatingly and read the first line: "Stop! Music time!"
-If you're interested, all the information you need is on the card.
Advised the bright eyed woman.
Levi simply looked up and nodded as an answer.
-Ok, well that would be all. Nice meeting you Levi, take care. I'm looking forward to seeing you there!
Said Hange before walking towards the exit of the store without expecting a reply from Levi. The pale man watched her as she left and began walking down the street.
"What a weird person" He thought. He saw her get into her car and drive off and only then did he stand up and exit the store. It was a cold and gloomy afternoon as winter days usually were. Levi didn't mind, if anything, he slighly enjoyed that kind of weather, he wasn't a big fan of heat or sunny days, so as long as it didn't snow he was content. His mind suddenly drifted off to what had happened some minutes ago. He had forgotten how amazing it felt to play the piano, he had really missed it. Maybe he should start thinking about playing again...no, it just wouldn't be the same. Levi violently returned from his self-absorption upon realizing that he was crossing the street on a red light and had time to react before a car quickly drove by honking at him multiple times. He has to stop being distracted by his thoughts, he always did stupid things when he was, and although he'd been having a bad time lately he had no intentions of dying. he walking towards the bus stop and waited for public transport, it was getting late and he started to crave his evening tea. Once on the bus he sat down on the least dirty seat he could find, for he was a bit obsessive when it came to hygiene. He leaned his head on the grafittied window beside him, causing his head to bounce against the glass with the bus' movement, he didn't mind it though, it distracted him from having negative thoughts. The trip home was long, which was expected since he practically lived in the other side of the city, the more dangerous side, the least visually pleasing side, the side where nobody lived by choice. The raven haired man slowly opened the door to his small apartment located inside an old building in bad conditions. His door creaked loudly as he walked in and closed it again, it was silent as expected, although it still felt strange to not be greeted by anyone. The man put the kettle to boil and changed his clothes into something more confortable and waited until the lonely apartment was filled with the pitchy noise made from the boiling kettle. After he made his usual black tea, he sat by himself at the small in his tiny kitchen. His mind suddenly wandered off to the grand piano at the store, how happy he felt playing it and much it moved him when he heard a second piano playing along with him. That strange woman sure did know how to play the piano, there was no doubt she was a teacher. He recalled the gleam in her brown eyes when she spoke to him, he was kind to him despite his shitty attitude towards her and it had been a long time since someone acted friendly towards him. He took out the paper that the woman, Hange was her name, had given him. Staring at it he thought that maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to go to one class, it wasn't like he had something else to do. It could work as a little distraction and he did yearn to play the piano again after the earlier events of that day and if he didn't like the stupid classes he can just not go again. "Rose St. 2455" He read again "Friday at 7:00 pm".
Hi! Well, this is my very first story so sorry if it's a little rocky and short, I promise that later chapters will be longer. This first chapter is kinda like a pilot, so any if you guys have any reviews that would be awesome. I chose my first story to be a Levihan fic, because it's just such a wholesome and underrated pairing that definitely needs more love. I feel that there's just not enough Levihan content, therefore I just wanted to contribute with this story. I hope you guys liked this chapter and will stick around for more! :)