The Heart Thief Who Played Chopin
Chapter 1- A Nocturne in the Twilight
The melody kept on haunting him; trapping him inside his arabesque dreams; it awakened him to the world of imagination and wonder, and yet it held him asleep; covered in layers of grey, isolating him from the real world.
His eyes cringed and tensed, forming sharp creases along his smooth, gingerbread skin. Deep inside the crevasses of his mind, his subconscious formed a sweet illusion of an old town with stone houses, and street lamps. Beyond the houses lay a foreboding clock tower that was veiled in the misty glow of the moon, giving it a mysterious aura that was almost…sacred. However, this has been no surprise to him, for each dream he has experienced had scenery that shifted and changed right before his eyes. But the music remained the same, almost as if it was a part of him; never bending, never hindered by transformations of time, space, and everything in between. Hayner stood in the old, misty town and heard the same melody that played in all his previous dreams. It was beckoning him to follow it; to find its source and perhaps gain some sort of merit upon discovering it. Truth be told, the boy has never heard of such a melody before. After hearing the nocturne for the first time, the town in which he grew up and lived in all his life suddenly felt so….two-dimensional; like a portrait without an expression, or words without any meaning. The music seemed to wrap its invisible arms around him like a giant scarf that warmed and soothed his heart. It made him wonder: how could pure sound feel so tangible; so solid, like a face he can reach out and caress? It seemed to speak in a universal language that doesn't need any translation because it simply is. Shaking those poetic contemplations aside, Hayner dashed towards the clock tower in his dream world. Of course, he knew what was going to happen. He would run towards the music, and once he has almost reached the source, the origin of light; the music would stop, and his surroundings will completely vanish, leaving him in a barren, lonely darkness; and at that point, he would wake up, this time in the real world. Even knowing so subconsciously, he desperately ran towards the music, hoping to catch the phantom musician before it flees after a brilliant performance. But before he knew it, the town was fading, as it quickly disintegrated into black shreds of nothingness, and Hayner fell down into the abyss until his eyes suddenly flew open to catch the full gleam of sunlight. ...It was morning in Twilight Town.
'Three weeks….last night marked three weeks of having the same dream over, and over again…' The hazel-eyed teen thought in his bed. He was fully awake now, sitting on his bed, and looking out the window towards Twilight Town's very own clock tower. The ginger-skinned boy knew that his dreams must be some sort of message; perhaps a blessing or a curse? Or maybe a greeting or a warning. Of course, most people in the town would never suspect Hayner, of all people, to be such a deep thinker. He never thought of himself as a 'mature' person either…until he started having 'the dreams'. On the first night he had it, he was so mesmerized by the music, that he completely zoned out in class, and later accidentally dropped his ice cream bar after taking the first bite, which, of course, resulted in his gang bursting into a fit of giggles while Seifer relentlessly bombarded him with adolescent taunts such as,
"Stop thinking about the porn you read last night, Hayner!" and "Hey Hayner, I heard you just hit puberty; go easy on Roxas tonight, eh?"
…which were always said with the same irritating smirk followed by supporting remarks from Seifer's two pet gorillas, as Hayner's gang called them. And of course, he'd fall for the bait every time, erupting into a full-blown argument with the bulkier blonde that eventually ended with both of them spending time in detention.
Three weeks later, things haven't changed a lot.
"Argh! That goddamned Seifer, he always pisses me off!" Hayner shouted in frustration in front of his group of four. Pence and Olette patted him on the back, and consoled him with their usual words, "Seifer's just a bully; he's just scared that us younger kids are gonna whoop his butt in a match one day,". On most days, Hayner would give in to their words of sympathy and carry on with his daily plan. But today, he felt unusually peeved.
"I don't know why he always insists on picking on me, of all people. I never did a single thing to him; as far as I could remember, he was the one who acted like he was boss of this town and began bullying the younger kids. I swear…one of these days…" Hayner growled, balling his right hand into a fist.
"Just let it go. Besides, it's not like he's going to get anymore friends. Every time little girls see him, they run away. " Roxas pitched in the middle of Hayner's rant. Olette and Pence gave a nod.
"Plus, the girls in my class hate his cocky attitude…and compared to you, he's got few to none admirers—" Olette cut herself off with an embarrassed blush, realizing that she had said too much. But it was too late; Hayner already heard it, and gasped in utter surprise, along with Roxas and Pence.
"Did you just say…that I've got….an admirer?" The dirty-blonde asked, shocked from what he had just heard. It's not like girls have never liked him before. Back in elementary school, when everybody was still young, he asked a fellow classmate to marry him, and the girl agreed. She later asked the teacher about her decision afterschool. Hayner remembered seeing his teacher bursting with laughter and muttering something about kids being cute, before telling the girl not to worry about it. After that day, Hayner never asked a girl out again and instead immersed himself with friends, sports, and well, being rivals with Seifer. Turning back the gears of his memory, Hayner recalled his first encounter with the bully in grade 5. It was after school when his friend got into a fight with Seifer, and Hayner joined the fight to support his friend. He managed to punch Seifer in the nose, leaving the blonde bleeding in that area. However, it didn't take long for him to strike Hayner back with two punches in the stomach. Suffice to say, their rivalry began that very day and stayed with them to the present.
"I'm not gonna talk anymore!" Olette whined stubbornly, feeling guilty for accidentally letting a friend's secret slip out of her mouth.
"Aw come on, Olette…you can tell me, I'll set them up" Roxas joked, and Pence laughed. Hayner slightly blushed at the comment and playfully punched the two in the arm.
"Well, it's getting late now, I need to get home early to study for the math test tomorrow, so I'll see you guys later," Hayner said in a casual tone, slinging his arms back to rest his head on them.
"Alright. Have fun studying, and don't stay up too late!!" Pence said, as Roxas and Olette waved and said "see you tomorrow!" to their departing friend. With that, Hayner gave them a nod and ran off towards his house. He appreciated their attempt at cheering him up; really, he did. But there are some times when one needed to cool off alone…away from one's friends.
After several minutes of jogging, the hazel-eyed boy finally slowed down to a walk. He was treading in an area slightly outside of Market Street, where the residents are more silent, a big change from the busy square of Twilight Town. A fountain sat in the middle of a small intersection surrounded by flowers and shrubs. To him, this was his sanctuary; a small quad that nobody really pays attention to-- a place he can call his own. Hayner sat on the edge of the fountain and let out a sigh of relief.
'Finally, some peace…'
"Didn't expect to find you here, puberty boy,"
'…spoke too soon.'
He heard footsteps approaching from beneath the stairs.
'Oh god, please don't let it be Seifer,'
To his dismay, the familiar black beanie and silver coat emerged from the stairway. Seifer, the class bully, aka. Hayner's eternal rival, arrived, with his usual 'don't touch me if you know what's good for you' attitude. His muscular arms were crossed, his blonde hair sticking out beneath his beanie, and his piercing blue eyes sizing Hayner up. The dirty blonde simply responded with a roll of his eyes.
"What do you want? It's half past seven, I haven't had dinner yet, and I'm not up for a fight." Hayner spoke in one breath, trying to send Seifer the message that he isn't wanted. The message may have not gotten through, or it may have; but Seifer just decided to ignore it. One way or the other, the blonde didn't budge from his standing position.
"Who said I was picking a fight? Don't get yourself too excited, puberty boy," he countered, with a smirk. Hayner bit down a growl.
"Would you stop calling me that?" he spoke, surprised by how tired his own voice sounded. "I need to get home…test…tomorrow—" he droned, yawning at the end of the sentence.
"Sounds like someone didn't sleep well last night. What's keeping you up?" Seifer provoked, fully knowing Hayner knew what he meant. That comment broke it.
"Goddamit, would you shut up about the stupid puberty boy stuff?!" Hayner shouted all of a sudden, unable to constrain himself any longer.
"Well what else would you be dreamin' of, pub—Hayner?" Seifer stammered, caught off guard by Hayner's sudden outburst.
"It's not something you would understand…or even try to." replied said boy in the camouflage shorts. Seifer snorted.
"Don't get all philosophical on me, smartalecks. Now spill it because I won't stop calling you names until you prove your case." Seifer had to admit—he was a little curious. In all of his previous brawls with Hayner, the other boy would usually insult him back with some smart remark, or even just plain old yell at him. But lately, Seifer had noticed that something has changed within his rival. Eversince three weeks ago, Hayner had been acting like a different person. He kept on staring into space, usually with such a serious expression on his face that Seifer never thought it existed. At other times during class, he would see the dirty blonde closing his eyes, and hum to himself. At first he just thought Hayner didn't wake up on the right side of bed, but now his rival has just confirmed that it was because of his dreams.
Hayner stopped moving for a second…Seifer was acting a little suspicious, was he not? All of a sudden it almost seemed like he was interested in his life. An inner voice seemed to snort inside his mind. Seifer? Sympathetic? Maybe when Rai actually grows a brain. …Okay, maybe he'll give it a shot, and see if Seifer would really understand.
"I had a dream….it was about music. And it wasn't the music that we listened to growing up…it was something different…something…beyond this world." he said, watching the older boy's facial expression turn from cynical to confused…..and then to angry.
"Are you trying to fuck with me?!" Seifer shouted, stomping his foot on the concrete floor. "Seriously, that was the lamest story I've ever heard. I didn't have any respect for you in the first place, but this just pushes it to a whole new level," Seifer ranted, blue eyes blaring with white fire. Hayner felt red flaming fire ignite his veins at the other boy's comment. How could he ever have expected Seifer to understand? And even so…how cold Seifer think he was lying? Hayner was always a man of honesty and now…now, he felt so misunderstood.
"Fine! If you don't wanna believe the truth then go ahead! I don't give two shits about what you think!" And with that, Hayner stormed off, swearing an oath to himself to never even think of trusting Seifer again. Seifer was left speechless as he watched the other boy exit the quad.
'What he said can't be the truth….that's not….Hayner…'