A/N: My first attempt at a Nodame fic. Forgive any inaccuracies. And I most definitely don't own anything here except the plot, so don't get any ideas.
Also, breaks between the scenes are determined by: -Nodame Cantabile- so please don't get confused! Thanks and happy reading!
Pianoforte
A Nodame Cantabile Fic
By: Rei Tomiyama
He wakes up on the first day of February to the sound of a piano playing. It must be Nodame in a frenzy again, he thinks dismissively, and makes a mental note to check later (not that he really cared) if she has taken a bath in the last few days or eaten something decent aside from those riceballs of hers. In the meantime, he can just enjoy a few more hours of---
It's not Nodame.
Frederic Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu rings clear as a bell, no alternate renditions or unnecessary notes, flawless in accordance to the score.
Damnit, he'd forgotten to turn off the audio system when he'd fallen asleep yesterday, he realizes with a start. He tumbles clumsily out of the sofa to switch the speakers off and sits heavily back down.
He's been in France for half a month now. The conductor of Paris Philharmonic is excellent, as seen in a recent performance, and has given his approval for Chiaki to watch their rehearsals. With luck he will soon get a chance to conduct as well. This is Europe, after all, where the roots of classical music reside.
But every morning, it's all too easy to bring himself back to that old flat, with its ever-present music and a girl who had a dream of becoming a kindergarten teacher.
The silence, which he has coveted for so long, is slowly driving him crazy.
He heads for the kitchen and mechanically beats two eggs into a creamy froth before coating the frying pan in a thin layer of oil. He barely notices that one side of the omelette is burnt when he shoves it into his mouth.
In the end, Mozart's Concerto Pour Deux Pianos filters through the walls even after he's left, locking the door behind him.
-Nodame Cantabile-
The cellphone in his pants pocket is ringing. With a silent groan he retrieves it and flips it open.
"Hello?"
"Shinichi, how are you?" Only two people have regularly called him Shinichi, he knows. Saiko and his mother… and perhaps Nodame, but that didn't really count because she had been calling him 'baka Shinichi' back then. An eyebrow twitched at the memory. As if a 'gomi onna' like her had any room to criticize…
"Shinichi, are you there?" The female voice on the other end sounds genuinely worried, and now he recognizes it as his mother's voice.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you. How is Mother doing?" He can't very well tell her that he's afraid he's losing his mind, having burnt a simple omelette du fromage the other day carelessly, and forgetting where he had placed the house key yesterday. Or that said omelette didn't even have the 'fromage' when he'd attempted to make it…
"Oh, very well, thanks for asking. Listen, I have a surprise for you!" A surprise from his mother…why is it that he can't help but think it sounds suspicious?
"A surprise?" He says faintly. There is a giggle from the connecting line.
"Yes, a surprise for Valentine's Day. But of course it's a secret! Talk to you later then!" Before he can ask whether Nodame's exams are over (because hadn't she said her examination for the scholarship was in February? unless she had been lying again--- but no, her eyes weren't averted when he'd pulled her into a hug and---) she hangs up.
Females are impossible to understand, he concludes, his mother included. For the first time (and probably the only time in his life) he finds himself sympathizing with his father. What could have possessed him to marry? Probably the same bout of insanity Chiaki is experiencing.
His eyes flick to the phone's screen again, and with a sigh he closes it. The ninth of February…five more days until the fourteenth.
He really should get his act together.
-Nodame Cantabile-
It's Valentine's Day. Chiaki has received a very pleasant surprise as he steps inside the rehearsal room of the Paris Philharmonic Orchestra. Vincent Poitier, current conductor, has assigned him the role of 'guest conductor' for the night's charity concert to take place in the lobby of the Eiffel Tower.
"Tonight?" He repeats disbelievingly. While it is true that he has, in effect, studied the orchestra's pieces in the off chance that a miracle like this would happen, having only until this afternoon to accustom himself to the piece is a little presumptuous on the Maestro's part, he thinks. Although, of course, taking the challenge and rising beyond expectations is a given.
"Yes, yes. I'd like to see you conduct The Beautiful Blue Danube. A very fitting piece for this Valentine's Day, no?" A waltz made by the Austrian composer, Johann Sebastian Strauss II, also called Johann Strauss the Younger, the piece was originally named An der Schönen blauen Donau op. 314, On the Beautiful Blue Danube. Until now, it remains one of the most popular pieces in the classical genre, having been adapted into an orchestral version for the World's Fair in Paris in 1867 and a traditional encore piece for the annual New Year's Concert in Vienna. But with this information, he still fails to understand why the Maestro declares it a 'fitting piece' for Valentine's Day.
Strange.
Hours later, the answer still eludes him. He calls for the orchestra to take a thirty minute break, humming the opening bars of the waltz absentmindedly under his breath as he takes a seat outside the room and reviews the score. The tune brings an image of the nobility to life, dancing the waltz with the one-two-step one-two-step (just as he had taught Nodame that cold winter morning, the only music to be heard their muted footsteps and puffs of warm air when his counting had stopped and she was no longer so awkward and new) and smiling at each other in wordless happiness.
It will be the first performance he has away from Japan. There will be no ridiculous quips from Nodame this time about how Mozart's music is pink, nor some distorted lesson learnt through a video of Puri Gorota. If she was here, he muses, she might have nicknamed the fifth waltz "The Carnival" due to its playful nature and spoken of clowns and cotton candy, and the entire piece a "fairy tale waltz" considering its consistent major keys, the idiot. His lips quirk at the thought. Fairy tale waltz isn't too far off though…
-Nodame Cantabile-
It's a common custom in Japan for girls to buy chocolates on Valentine's Day and give it to the people they like. In return, the boys give them chocolate on White Day, so February and March are reportedly the months where a quarter of the year's earnings from chocolate are garnered.
Chiaki is not a girl, and he has no plans to give any boy chocolate now or in the foreseeable future, but he chooses a box of truffles anyway and pays for them in fresh, crisp euros before he can change his mind. There is something about this night that makes him feel nostalgic, he thinks. Whether it is the lively waltz that had bystanders smiling and even a few deigning to dance with their companions or the sight of all the lovey-dovey couples taking advantage of the holiday through various activities ranging from clingy arms and open-mouthed kisses to full-blown makeout scenes that positively shout something along the lines of "spirits-sex-me-now" (for which Chiaki hastily murmurs an apology to Shakespeare in twisting Lady Macbeth's lines) or if it is either of those at all, he isn't certain, but he has the feeling he's forgotten something. Something pertaining to the ninth…
"The first performance of The Blue Danube was on February 9, 1867," he says aloud as he walks down the path leading to his apartment. On a sudden impulse he takes out his cell phone.
One message received from Mother…he opens the message and begins to read it, but his attention is quickly diverted by the bulky mass waving in front of his door.
"Chiaki-senpai! Happy Valentine's Day!" An all-too familiar voice is shouting. This is a mistake, he chants frantically in his head. I should read Mother's mail first…
Shinichi, Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you like my surprise!
A body immediately clamps on to him. He is unable to repress a cry of sheer panic.
"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
"Nodame…passed the exams, senpai!"
Mother…precisely how is Nodame my Valentine's Day gift?!?