Rei was walking in the lobby of the abandon fourth floor when he saw one room slightly open. He was surprised for no one used that room. Coming from that room was a soft melody lingering on his ears. It's too late for him to realize that he's already inside.
He saw a girl of sixteen softly pressing the keys of the piano. Her hair was long and pitch-dark.
"What do you want?" asked the girl.
Rei didn't answer the girl. Instead, he sat beside her and looked into her face. Her eyes were round and her cheeks were blushed by pink. But her face didn't show any expressions. It looked like they were taken away and were compiled in her composition.
"If you are just going to sit there all the minute, you've better go." said the girl.
But Rei didn't listen. He watch her fair fingers with pinkish nails and said, "You're composition is very pleasing to my ears."
"Really?" the girl asked.
"Yep."
"You're flattering me."
"Nope."
"I don't believe you."
"Why?"
"You are the only one who said that."
"Kindah odd."
"Do you really think?"
"Aha."
The girl smiled and it was very different. That was the first time he saw that kind of smile.
"Would you mind if I ask your name?"
"My name is Aya, Aya Hoshino."
"Nice name. By the way, I'm Rei Otohata."
There followed a long time of conversation. Rei always waited the moment where Aya smiled. He likes her smile very much. It gave him an unexplainable happiness. He didn't even knew that him, was drawing already a smile in his face.
Rei always visited Aya on that room. They talked. Then Aya would play the piano and Rei was there to listen. There grew a wonderful friendship between the two of them.
Rei thought that Aya was very different from all the girls he'd met. She was gentle, kind, and beautiful.
Since Rei met Aya, everything on him was changed. He rarely listened to his proffesors. He didn't like to pose anymore for the magazines. He always looked at the window vacantly and the worse was, he lost his appetite in eating.
"What's wrong with this picture? I mean, what's wrong with you? You don't like to eat, you're always absent-minded, and you don't go to pictorials anymore." Yuya rebuked Rei.
But Rei didn't listen. He just let Yuya rebuked him again and again.
"You are showing symptoms of love," Yuya said and smile foolishly.
Rei looked at Yuya for a long time. "Do you think so?" he asked him.
"Yup. Who's that unfortunate girl?"
Rei didn't answer Yuya. He just bit his nails. He talked with himself, "Can this be love I'm feeling right now? This can be and I'm sure of it!"
"Yes I love her…" he said in an undertone manner and ran towards the fourth floor. He's going to see Aya and tell her what he felt.
He was surprised when he didn't saw Aya there. Instead, he saw on old man cleaning the aged piano.
"It's you again." the old man said. "Are you going to play the piano?"
"You must be mistaken. It isn't me. I don't know how to play piano."
"So you mean you are not the one who plays the piano everyday?"
"Yep"
The old man stopped wiping the piano and said, "So she visited again."
Rei was confused. "What do you mean, she visited again?"
"Every after four years, she came here to play this piano."
"Are you referring to a girl with long hair and…"
"Yes. Her name was Aya."
"Let me get this straight. Is she a student here?"
"Yes, but she's already dead ten years ago."
Rei felt a total fright on his nerves.
"What was the reason of his death?" he asked the old man.
"They said she committed suicide. But others said there's a foul play and Mr. Nakamura, his teacher, was the suspect."
Rei felt the dropping of the temperature inside the room.
"But the investigators said that she really committed suicide."
"Basis?"
"They found a letter under the piano. It said there that no one appreciated her piece even his teacher."
Rei went home bringing the old man's story. He couldn't believe that he fell in love for the first time with a ghost. And her smile? He already knew what that mean. That was a smile of appreciation for he was the only one who appreciated her piece.
From that day on she never seen Aya but she thanked her for teaching him how to love.
