Just a little AU one-shot I wrote featuring Sesshomaru and my OC, inspired by my own musical trials and angst back in college, though I myself am not a pianist. Constructive criticism is appreciated, thanks for reading!
"Oh my gosh is that him?"
"Next to you?! No way!"
"Trade me rooms! Please! I'll help you with all of your theory homework!"
"Yes, yes it is, and No! I'm not trading!" Kohana held up her hands exasperated. Sure, she was the 'luckiest' girl in the entire music building, but did everyone have to know?
You wouldn't think it was so lucky if it were you, she thought sourly, how am I supposed to practice when the room next to me is the flipping piano god himself?
One of the best pianists from her high school, Kohana faced a harsh reality when she entered college: she was actually only average at best. Students from all over Japan came to study music at this university; the once proud fish wasn't as big as she thought when thrown into a larger pond.
Angry with her pathetic skills, she practiced every chance she got her entire first year, sneaking through halls and hiding in classrooms to use their pianos until the wee hours of dawn. By the time second year auditions came around, she was finally good enough to be assigned her very own private practice room.
Which would've been perfect, except for the fact that she'd been placed in the hall next to the graduate students. Her neighbor, whose fingers must've been blessed by the Buddha himself, played the piano in a way that was practically inhuman. Bach, Mozart, Chopin, all flowed from his room with ease, filling the hall with an aura of wonder and awe.
He never played a single wrong note. Ever.
And if Kohana could hear everything he was playing through these 'sound proof' walls, then surely he could hear all of her sour plunking and awkward chords. She could hardly bring herself to practice when he was there, which was, you know, all day every day; she spent half the time lightly fingering her notes and cowering on her bench.
To top the whole awful thing off, the entire first week of school there was constantly a gaggle of girls creeping around his door cooing and awing at the new grad student like a flock of dumb pigeons. Not only insanely talented, the man was apparently unearthly beautiful. Kohana had glimpsed him a few times, flowing silver locks and amber eyes that stared like yellow chips of ice. Was this guy even human?
Not that she disagreed with the beauty assessment, (the word 'hot' just didn't seem to fit, especially when he had hair that looked like it came straight from a shampoo commercial) but she wasn't about to lower herself to skulking in a herd outside his door.
Fortunately the flock didn't stay for long. Apparently one of the girls had grown bold enough to knock on his door mid-song to try and invite him to a party. His response was described as icy at best; he'd opened the door, gave the poor girl a death stare and berated her for interrupting his practice, before shutting the door right in her face and going straight back to his piano. She'd fled the building in tears.
See? He's not perfect, the man has personality issues, so there's at least one flaw, Kohana would tell herself as she cowered on her piano bench. If anything though, it only seemed to up his intimidation factor and worsened her ability to practice.
"Kohana, you've earned the right to be in that room, you can't let your neighbor scare you off! He doesn't own the music building!" Kagome would berate her over lunch.
"He doesn't…scare me," Kohana lied, "It's just…uh, you know how am I supposed to practice when he's so loud? I mean jeeze, I can hardly hear myself against that loud banging all day!"
"So then why don't you ask him to stop?" Kagome asked, seeming to enjoy watching her friend squirm in her seat.
"Well I uh…well, I mean there's no need for that. I'll just go to the office and file a request for the wall to be fixed, who built that anyway? It's like they just slapped a roll of carpet on the walls and called it a day!"
Kagome just shook her head and rolled her eyes.
Kohana's roommate was a good friend, but she wouldn't understand. There weren't as many oboists as there were pianists, Kagome never had to worry about competition.
Months passed like that, day after day Kohana listening to Mr. Perfect Fingers lilting away next door while she sat in a puddle of her own cowardice and accomplished absolutely nothing. Before she knew it, midterm assessment had rolled around and she barely managed to make it through her piece without losing her place.
"Kohana," her professor had scolded, disappointment written clearly on her face, "Last year you improved by leaps and bounds. I thought you were ready to have your own room, but it seems I was mistaken. If you still haven't improved by the end of the semester, then I'll have no choice but to give your room to someone who deserves it."
She'd gone home for break, fat tears of shame rolling down her cheeks.
Damn him! Damn that man! Why did I have to be put next to him in the first place? Anger was easier than facing her own cowardice, which she knew deep down was the root of her entire problem.
No more, she vowed, No matter what, I won't let him scare me. I'm done. She spent her entire holiday locked up in her room, practicing and making up for lost time. Two weeks later when she returned to school she felt she'd gotten at least a little better, though she was still months of practice behind.
She was assigned her piece for finals, a rather difficult song whose title and composer she didn't recognize. Slinking quietly to her practice room, she steeled herself for the beautiful inhuman sound to be flowing from next door, but was surprised when she was met with silence. Curiously, she stepped forward and peered into the window of his door.
He's not here, she noted, finding it peculiar that her perfect neighbor wouldn't be there practicing on the first day. Not wanting to waste time, she immediately rushed to her room and set to work familiarizing herself with her new piece. Hours later, she left the room feeling accomplished and productive.
Her neighbor had never shown up.
An entire week passed. Kohana spent every day practicing the song; writing in fingerings, counting rhythms, practicing runs over and over. The piece was difficult, far more so than anything she'd ever played, but as she worked on it and the song came together she slowly began to recognize it as one of the songs her neighbor played every day as a warm up.
Great. Just great. He gets to hear me butcher it, she thought, That is…whenever he gets here.
The whole week he'd never once come to his room to practice. At first she took it as a gift from heaven, but slowly worry began to creep in. Several times she'd take a break for water and found herself peeking into his room, surprised that she was disappointed to find it empty.
It wasn't until the next week that gossip finally caught up to her. Over break there'd been an accident involving one of the music students and a family member, something about an argument with a brother. She heard a name tossed around, one she was certain that she'd heard whispered before, and for the first time she walked next door and read the name plaque:
Room 10
Taisho, Sesshomaru
Oh my god, she'd nearly fallen to the floor in shock, it's him! This whole week she'd felt blessed that he wasn't around to out-do her, and now it turns out he'd been in an accident!
Oh my god, what if he's dead?! She thought, horror struck. How selfish she was, happy that he was gone! That moment right there she prayed for her neighbor, prayed to every kami she could think of.
Please, please let him be alive! She'd been unable to practice that day, feeling like an absolute piece of shit.
A few days later he was finally spotted in the music building. When Kohana heard, she'd bolted from her practice room, hoping to spot that familiar silver mane and icy golden stare. Three floors down she saw him walking down the hall, head held high as though he were king of the world. She couldn't help the smile of relief that spread across her lips; until she looked at his shirt and nearly choked.
His left sleeve was rolled up all the way to his bicep, because beyond that there was nothing. From the elbow down Sesshomaru's left arm was completely missing.
For a pianist, it was a fate worse than death.
The students watched in horror struck silence as he quietly strode into the music building office. A few minutes later he walked out and promptly left the building.
That day Kohana tried to practice, desperately needing to fill the void of silence, but it was no use. Her clumsy awkward playing was nowhere close to the beautiful melodies that once echoed through the hall. Even though Sesshomaru was alive, without two arms he would never be able to play the piano as he once did ever again.
Her neighbor's music was gone forever.
A few more weeks passed, Kohana desperately trying to learn her piece before finals, but she was finding the treble clef runs to be almost too difficult. She'd always been pretty good with the left handed part and could hold rhythms pretty well, but when the right hand had too many grace notes or fast runs she often tripped over her own fingers.
It's no use, she thought, frustrated, there's got to be an easier way, but I just can't figure it out. Normally Kohana would be able to go ask her professor, but currently she was away at a conference and wouldn't be back until next week.
Great. That's it. Two weeks left until finals, and there's no one who can help me. Might as well start packing up my room right now, she angrily smacked her head on the keys and rested it there. Perhaps if she lay very still, the piano would whisper its secrets or just play the damn thing for her.
As she lay there listening, she suddenly heard it. A simple noise, just one C-Major chord, but it came from the next room. She sat up, looking over her shoulder waiting for more but heard only silence. Curiously she stepped out of her room, peering into the open door next to hers.
Sesshomaru stood there, his hand gently touching the keys. His face was stony and unreadable.
"Oh, you're back." Kohana blurted and immediately wished she hadn't. Sesshomaru stepped away from the piano and turned to her, yellow eyes narrowed as though he were annoyed by the intruder.
"I er, sorry. I just heard the piano and was surprised that someone was in here," She babbled for a second, "I didn't mean to bother you or anything so I'll just…" She trailed off as she looked around his room. A single cardboard box full of sheet music and a metronome sat in the center; the room was dusted and clean, just as they all were before they were assigned to a new student.
"…Are you leaving?" She asked quietly, surprised at how much the notion saddened her. Sesshomaru gave her a hard stare, and she realized that her question was probably insensitive and stupid.
"There's no reason for me to remain," he answered after a moment, "These rooms are reserved for those who play piano."
"Oh," Kohana said quietly, "I…I'm sorry."
"I don't need your pity, the matter doesn't concern you."
Offended, Kohana was about to shoot back a retort, when she caught the look in his eyes. He always seemed to act cold and glared at others, but in that instance she suddenly realized that it was a front. Though he would never outwardly show it, Sesshomaru was most likely grieving at the loss of his talent.
The talent's not lost, Kohana thought, once you learn something, you can't unlearn it. He still knows how to play. Besides he's still got one arm, he's only lost the bass clef, that's all.
That was when an idea suddenly struck her. An insane and probably insensitive idea, something that the coward inside her instantly shied away from, but she knew that if she didn't take the opportunity now she might never get another chance. Swallowing her fear, she decided to ask.
"Well um, before you go…maybe you can help me with something?"
Sesshomaru continued to stare, she couldn't tell if he wanted her to leave or not, but he didn't say no.
"Wait here just a sec," Kohana said, before running to her room and grabbing her sheet music and returning to Sesshomaru, "I was…well I have to play this piece for finals, but I've been having some trouble with the right ha…er the treble clef. The runs are a little difficult and I keep tripping over myself, but I've heard you play this before. Do you think you could give me a few pointers?"
For a moment Kohana thought her question annoyed him and he might turn her away, but to her surprise he huffed, mouth becoming almost a faint smirk. Quietly he turned and sat at the bench, indicating for her to sit next to him.
Trembling slightly, she sat on the bench and spread out her music on the piano.
"Show me what you know." His voice was soft, it was a simple command, but it was still enough to unnerve her.
Crap. What am I doing? This is insane, I suck and now he's going to know it and tell me to get out! Shaking her head she realized it was already too late. She'd already come this far, she might as well let him have it.
She inhaled, putting her hands in position. Giving herself but a moment to count the beat in her head, she exhaled and began playing.
"Your rhythm is incorrect."
His voice startled her, her hands landed on the wrong chord, a jarring sound that smacked the ears.
"What?"
"Your rhythm," he pointed to the music, "is incorrect. You hold these notes too long."
No I don't my rhythm is fin- Her thought stopped as soon as she saw he was right. She sighed. Lovely, I'm not even to the part I had questions about and I'm already wrong.
"Try again," he said. She nodded and restarted, using his suggestions to correct her mistakes. Together the two of them worked through the piece, pausing every now and then to correct mistakes or to change a fingering that made playing the piece a little easier. Even so, something was still off and it didn't sound quite right when Kohana tried to bring it together.
"I don't understand," Kohana huffed, "I mean I feel like I'm playing it right but it's just not coming together."
"Play the bass clef, I will show you the treble."
"Huh?" Kohana looked over, and saw that Sesshomaru had already placed his hand on the keys and was waiting for her to start. Nervously she nodded, and placed her left hand leaving her right to hand limp at her side. Counting off, she started the piece, playing by herself for a full measure before Sesshomaru entered.
The sound was like magic. Even one-handed Sesshomaru's skill far surpassed her own, the runs and trills sliding through his fingers with ease. She kept up the bass clef, remembering everything they had just fixed, and surprised herself by how good it sounded. Their sound filled the entire room, neither one overpowering the other as their fingers danced across the keys, rhythms matching and fitting together as they were meant to sound. For a brief instant, Kohana had the faint sensation as though she were flying, the music lifting her spirits into the sky and beyond, and she laughed.
She was almost sad when the piece came to an end.
"Do you see now, Kohana?" Sesshomaru asked.
"Yes, I get it! The rhythm of the treble isn't quite the same as the bass, they're not exactly on the same beat. I keep anticipating the top and bringing it in early, that's why it sounded wrong…how do you know my name?"
"There is a plaque on the door."
"Oh." Duh, Stupid. "Well um, thanks. For helping me out."
"Hn," Sesshomaru nodded, and looked at the piano, flexing his right hand, "Now that you have overcome your fear of playing in front of me, there is no longer any excuse for you not to practice."
"Wait, what?" Kohana stared at him wide eyed. He knew?!
"The walls were poorly constructed. I could hear you hesitating to play, attributing your shortcomings to my 'loud banging'."
…Shit
"That's not what I meant!" Kohana countered, "I mean, your playing was just so good, I felt like I couldn't play anything or it would sound worse than it already was!" Why am I saying this? "Wait, if you could hear me complaining, didn't it bother you?"
"Yes."
"Well then why didn't you come say anything?"
"I thought that if I played louder you might confront me. You would be facing your fear; the root of your problem would cease to exist and there would be no more need for you to complain." He said it as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
This…this guy! Kohana's jaw dropped as her face grew red. His yellow eyes bore into her, that faint smirk gracing his lips once more, and she realized that in a weird way he was teasing her.
"If that's all you needed," Sesshomaru suddenly stood and grabbed his box of things, getting ready to head towards the door.
"Wait," Kohana called out, "Are…are you leaving for good? As in you're not coming back?" Sesshomaru paused and turned to look at her.
"If I can no longer play piano, then there is no need for me to have this room."
"That's not true though," Kohana argued, "You just played for me, you still know what you're doing, and you still have one good hand!" She noticed her blunder, embarrassed that she brought up his injury, but he didn't wince at her words so she continued.
"I could still use your help you know, there's still so much more you know than I do. It would be a huge loss to everyone if you never touched the piano again."
Sesshomaru stood in the doorway, as though he were thinking over her words.
"Four."
"Four? Four what?" Kohana raised an eyebrow.
"I will be at your room by four tomorrow. If you are not there, then I will take it that you aren't serious and I will not return." With that he walked out the door, silver hair flowing behind him.
Kohana blinked. A moment later she grinned, cleaning up her music and returning to her practice room. Just as promised, Sesshomaru was at her room the next day at exactly four P.M., and the next day after that. For the next two weeks they met every day, working on Kohana's piece and improving her mistakes.
The day of finals, Kohana walked onto the stage without a trace of fear. She played through her piece, memories of Sesshomaru's hand guiding her along as she made it through the song smoothly, and she passed with flying colors. As she walked out the door, Sesshomaru stood there waiting, asking to see her comments sheet and nodding in approval.
At the start of the next semester, music students walked past Kohana's room surprised to hear the beautiful sounds floating from her piano and into the hallway. Many stopped to listen, pausing to enjoy the melodies and harmonies that graced their ears and followed them throughout the day. Students could see through her window though, and one thing became common knowledge throughout the building:
Kohana Nomiya never practiced alone.
FINE