Rain pounded harshly on the windows of Domino High, the overcast clouds making it appear later in the day than it was. There was a bit of rumbling and then an immense roll of thunder.
Kaiba sighed and glanced at his watch. It was getting late, but driving in this weather would not be a very wise choice. He cursed inwardly at himself for deciding that this was a reasonable time to collect his schoolwork. If only he had come earlier and left the duel disk designs for later.
With a start, Kaiba began walking along the corridor again. His shape was too foreign, too mature, for these halls and it made him uncomfortable.
He made his way quickly down the hall and towards the stairs, but began to slow his pace. The slight sound of music drifted down the hall and swam in his ears. Something about the sound was different; unheard yet familiar. And Kaiba's interest was piqued.
Kaiba glanced down at the newly waxed floor beneath his far-too-expensive shoes. Wet footprints marked a trail around the corner and into the music room. Accepting that the weather would not permit his travels, Kaiba followed the sloppy imprints down the hall.
As Kaiba neared the end of his expedition, his steps slowed. The footprints had led him to the music room. The sound was quite clear now; someone was inside playing the piano. Kaiba leaned ever so slightly into the room and stifled a gasp.
Hunched over the piano was Jounochi, damp from the rain. His fingers trailed along the keys as he played intently, as if his whole life depended on it. Kaiba was entranced. Surely this had to be way too cliché to be true. Here was that underdog bastard in the music room dripping with rain playing the piano. It was far too romantic, too dreamy. Yet, Kaiba couldn't fix his attention elsewhere. Couldn't come up with anything sarcastic to say. Although it pained his prideful heart to say so, it was beautiful. Kaiba shifted his weight to get more comfortable as he watched the spectacle, trying to figure out how he was going to talk his way out of this one.
The squeak of his shoe, however, broke Jounochi's trance and his hands fell heavily on the keys. The cacophonous sound scared Kaiba out of his reveille.
Jounochi turned quickly around. "What the hell are you doing here!?" He screeched, visibly embarrassed.
Kaiba cleared his throat. "I, uh, I could ask you the same thing. How do you know how to play that?"
Jounochi scoffed. "I don't," he replied. "I was just messing around. "
"You came all the way to school in order to 'mess around' on the piano", Kaiba asked. Jounochi narrowed his eyes.
"I do play it, okay? But not all the time. Only once in a while," Jounochi used the blue tip of his indoor shoes to trace a line on the floor. Kaiba raised one eyebrow. Jounochi snorted.
"Alright, so I play a lot. What's your beef?"
Kaiba shook his head and took off his coat, draping it over his arm.
"It's a strange sight…" kaiba leaned against the doorframe and coughed uncomfortably. "You're so hectic and stupid. I would never imagine you as a piano playing type."
Jounochi narrowed his eyes. "Listen, fuck ass. If you're done, you can go. I was fine until you came in. Don't you have some important business thing to get to?"
Kaiba stiffened. He never was good at interacting with people. After a sharp inhale, he spoke again. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I want to be out of this building, but the, uh, the weather is hindering me."
As if demonstrating his point, thunder roared, shaking the windowpanes. The lights flickered and gave way, leaving the back ups to attempt to fill the dark space. Jounochi sighed. Kaiba could hear him turning around on the piano bench. Kaiba stood straight and cleared his throat again.
"Would you stop doing that?" Jounochi groaned. "And get out of the doorway. You look like a ghost cause you're so pasty. There are chairs in here ya know?"
Kaiba took cautionary steps into the room and stuck his arms absently in front of him in search of a chair. He felt one beneath his fingers and slowly lowered himself into it.
A long and painful silence followed.
Finally, Jounochi sucked his teeth and began to play again. Again, kaiba was entranced. It was such an unbelievable idea, that idiot on a piano.
"There's some kind of explanation for this right? Surely you didn't just take it up when you were a child…"
Jounochi paused for a brief moment before he continued. "Uh… yeah, I was in second year, middle school." He pounded on the keys lightly, his silhouette bobbing in time with his playing. "I had this teacher, Pinot. She was part European; a real doll!"
Kaiba could hear Jounochi's grin in his speech.
"She caught me with blood on my knuckles. I had been fighting. Some bastards from third year. She looked real sad. And I remember she gave me a bandaid that looked like a slice of bacon. She said 'now, now, this isn't good'" Jounochi raised his voice to sound feminine. " 'Why are you fighting? What makes you so mad?'" Jounochi chuckled. "Maybe it was because I just loved her curls or something, I still don't know, but told her. I told her everything. And she listened you know. Like, she really listened. And you know what she said? She said 'well maybe you need to do something with your hands when you're angry instead of hitting people.' And she took me inside and she taught me how to play."
Jounochi stopped the intricate melody he was playing and played "Mary had a little lamb". Over and over. Each simple, one-quarter note laced with nostalgia. Kaiba could almost touch the emotion.
"She taught me that one. She taught me a bunch. I played piano with her all the time." He layered a harmony with the tune until it became something much more. "I still do, sometimes, when I need someone to vent to. Like when my dad gets really dr-" Jounochi cut himself off. "She's a really reliable woman, Pinot."
Kaiba shifted in his chair. He didn't expect to learn so much about that bastard in one sitting. It was strange.
"Is… is it hard?" Kaiba strode over to the piano, his eyes newly adjusted to the dark.
Jounochi shook his head. "You put your fingers like this- hey stupid sit down. You put your fingers like this and you can play it."
Kaiba obliged and placed his hands awkwardly on the keyboard. He felt like a fool.
"You can play a scale if you tuck your thumb under your middle finger," Jounochi said, demonstrating. " That was the first thing Pinot-San taught me."
Kaiba followed Jounochi's example and played each note. He did so awkwardly, but he did it. The amount of pride that welled up in his chest was immeasurable. It also must have shown on his face because Jounochi chuckled.
"That's the simplest thing to play ever. You'll never get as good as me of you get excited about shit like that!"
Kaiba felt his face grow hot. "I'll learn you idiot. I bet I'll be able to play better than you in no time!"
He began to pound furiously on the keys while Jounochi exploded with laughter.
The pair hardly noticed when the rain slackened, and the lights came back on.
But Kaiba did notice, between each childish insult and horrid note drawn from the instrument, that he felt a little less foreign to the building. And he thought that maybe, just maybe, this stupid bastard was an okay guy.
He also decided that maybe he'd invest in a piano of his own.