Heart Keys
I don't own Gakuen Alice, but I guess I wish I did.
A fourteen year old Mikan stopped in her tracks as a soft melody filled a vacated room. Soothing sounds drifted from the music room, catching her attention.
'I wonder who's playing,' she thought curiously, slowly changing her course of direction. Without noticing, she had approached the door to the music room, her heart racing. Peeking in discreetly, she spotted a raven haired boy, in a crisp white uniform.
Somehow, she wasn't able to avert her eyes, as the gifted pianist's hands glided across the canvas of keys. Her heart pounded incessantly with each rise of a note, until the music abruptly stopped.
Without a moment of hesitation she turned on her heels and ran, clutching her school books to her chest tightly. The startled brunette had just finished a make up Science exam, and was on her way out of the building and oddly- she had heard the sounds of the piano.
The piano in the music room was scarcely used. It was beginning to collect dust due to being discarded, and to hear someone- or even see someone at the piano bench was a surprise.
Especially someone that good.
When her heart had finally stopped racing and she had reached a safe distance away, she decided that she had to find out who that boy was.
.
As the final afterschool announcements finished, Mikan jumped out of her seat, and gathered all of her books in a mere ten seconds. With an animated grin on her face, she ran towards Hotaru.
"Hotaru!" Mikan called excitedly, stacking Hotaru's books into a small pile. "Hurry, hurry, hurry up!"
Hotaru cringed at Mikan's obnoxious tone, and sighed warily. The things she put up with. With a tight smile, she quickened her pace, knowing how important today was for her idiotic best friend. Sometime between watching anime, and listening to drama OSTs, Mikan had become fixated with the idea of becoming a famous pianist, and began to compose her own piece. Now, two months later, she had finally perfected the song, and was ready to perform for Hotaru.
As the brunette's best friend, she couldn't help but let down her guard for once. She knew that Mikan had loved the piano ever since she was little, and had been afraid to pursue it, for music wasn't quite appreciated at their school. The details of what had urged Mikan to disregard the opinions of others was still a secret to Hotaru. But whoever had helped the idiot go for her dreams had her respect; not that they would ever know.
After a few persistent tugs, and Mikan getting hit with Hotaru's infamous baka gun, they arrived at the music room which was always open for two hours afterschool. Mikan swung open the large door, and instantly a flood of harmonic sounds filled her ears, while she took in the sight of many other students playing instruments.
Feeling a bit intimidated, Mikan meekly walked towards the piano, at a rate so slow that Hotaru had to resist the urge to shove her. But, finally, Mikan sat down at the piano, hesitating for a moment as her fingers positioned themselves. Slowly, a soft, lovely sound filled the whole room, and Mikan's insecurities slowly flourished as the room became increasingly quiet. Finally, a few bold students approached the piano to watch Mikan play, which only served to jolt the nerves of the pressured girl.
One student became two, and suddenly the majority of the crowd had surrounded Mikan, to witness her beautiful playing. Slowly feeling more and more confident, she averted her eyes from the piano, and suddenly hazel met crimson.
That crisp white uniform.
That messy raven colored hair.
Could... it be...?
Mikan immediately froze up, playing stiffly, while trying not to make it seem nonchalant. Her heart pounded loudly, as if it were about to burst from her chest. Hotaru glanced at Mikan's face and noticed it was as red as a tomato.
She hadn't seen him since that day afterschool in the music room.
"Your face is all flushed up," whispered Hotaru. "Don't you think Natsume will notice?"
Mikan shot the amethyst eyed girl a questioning glance. How had Hotaru known the name of her mysterious, piano boy?
Once the brunette had heard that, her heart began to throb uncontrollably fast, and her face began to flush up even more, if possible. Mikan glanced at Natsume at the corner of her eye, and widened her eyes at the slightest hint of emotion in the normally stoic boy's eyes. Knowing this, Mikan took a shaky breath and began to grow a bit more confident in her abilities and song. Although calm and indifferent on the outside, in Mikan's heart she was screaming with joy and excitement.
Remembering the end was approaching, Mikan broke into a crescendo, ending the piece with a flourish. For a few seconds, the room was quiet, until a small applause filled the room. People began to walk away, while some stayed to give her compliments. Mikan merely scratched her head and thanked everyone. A warm hand on Mikan's shoulder made her jump.
"You did a good job," Natsume noted, a small smirk on his face. He patted Mikan's shoulder. "Don't lose your passion for music, all right?"
Mikan found it difficult to keep a straight face, but nodded, a large grin tugging at her lips.
Finally, Natsume left the room, and when the pigtailed brunette decided everyone had moved onto better things, she pulled her best friend aside excitedly. With a deathly tight grip, Mikan hugged Hotaru, feeling tears of joy build up in her eyes.
"This is the happiest day ever," she said happily. "I can't wait for the next time!"
"Do you think Hyuuga will come by again?" Hotaru asked quietly, slowly prying herself from her hyperactive best friend.
"He better," Mikan replied seriously, a small smile forming on her lips.
.
"He's the son of the old headmaster at that prestigious academy down somewhere," Nonoko recited, typing a few words into a wordpad.
"Very descriptive," Hotaru noted, sighing inwardly. After the whole piano spectacle, Mikan was dying for information. In the past year, she kept her feelings on the down low, only observing the renowned Natsume Hyuuga from afar. She rarely saw him, for their classes were in different sections of the school, but occasionally she'd hear that familiar song on the piano, which would trail off at the end, never sounding quite complete.
"Why is he here then?" Mikan asked, her brows furrowed in concentration. "And what do you mean by old headmaster?"
"I don't have much information about him honestly," Nonoko admitted, a frown on her face. She moved her hand to scroll down the page. "All that's disclosed in this file, is that his parents are deceased. He lives with his aunt, and his younger sister Aoi, who he is really protective of for unknown reasons. She plays the piano too, but both of them quit sometime last ye-"
"What?" Mikan interrupted. "But I heard him play last year," she said absently, pursing her lips in confusion.
"Natsume was the reason she quit," the blue haired hacker added. "He suddenly grew really cold after his parents death."
"That's to be expected," Hotaru nodded.
Mikan sighed unexpectedly. "So, he doesn't play the piano anymore?"
"That's what it says in the file."
And nothing seemed to make sense at this moment.
Hello, to who ever may be reading this! C: This is my first story, so please be easy on me. I think I need to improve, so please give me some advice if you have any! (: I'm always looking for ways to improve!
-Celi