Yuuri was not surprised at all when he received the text message from his music instructor from Japan, Serizawa Chieko that they will be meeting on Sunday afternoon at the Bakers' Keyboard Lounge situated somewhere in downtown Detroit. Well, it figures that Serizawa Chieko would choose to meet Yuuri at downtown instead of choosing somewhere closer to where Yuuri was staying.
"Yuuri, I'm heading downtown… do you need a ride?" Shinomiya Kanade called out to Yuuri just as they ended their latest acting training session at one of the school's dance studios.
The performing arts' center is easily one of the biggest spaces area building within the Detroit campus of UNIKII, probably because UNIKII centers on offering programs in the performing arts' section among other academic fields. The center now holds a total of five dance studios that is being shared among students under the school of performing arts' programs.
"You are heading downtown?! Whatever are you going there for?" Yuuri could not help but asks, not that it was strange for Kanade to head downtown. Being a part-time model, Kanade typically head over to downtown Detroit for photo-shoots. However, this was the very first time Kanade was actually offering Yuuri a free trip downtown.
"I am going to meet someone there… and since you mentioned having plans of heading downtown today a few days earlier, I just thought it would be basic courtesy to offer you a ride. So, do you want the ride or not?" Kanade prompted, his facial expression seems to resemble a cross between sheepish and awkward(?) Whatever it is, Yuuri was having trouble reading the man in front of him.
It wasn't until the point that Kanade dropped him off at the designated area that Yuuri finally caught on to the reason behind Kanade's strange expression. Yuuri watched detachedly as Kanade shifted awkwardly under Serizawa Chieko's stern assessing gaze, before shuffling upfront and greeted the woman with a formal address of 'Aunt Chieko'.
"…Aunt Chieko?!" Unable to withhold his surprise, Yuuri had all but blurted out in shock as his eyes flickered between the standing duo.
"Yes, well… erm… this is going to sound awkward but to make things easier – let's just say that Aunt Chieko had some familial relations with my mother side of the family. Actually, they are cousins, but I seriously do not know how to call her formally so Aunt Chieko it will be." Kanade was desperately trying to avoid making eye contact with Yuuri, but still it did not deter Yuuri from connecting the dots and came to the glaring realization that it has been Kanade all along that assists his music instructor from Japan at getting her hands on his performance videos.
"It was you! You're the one whom supply Serizawa Sensei with all those videos of my performance, at least the ones that was wholly music related." Yuuri flushes crimson when he realized he was not only gaping at Kanade like an idiot, but was also being loud with his exclaimation of shock.
Blushing furiously, he lowered himself down on to the nearest seat that was not taken up by Serizawa's shopping bags.
"Yes, well… guilty as charged and finally the cat's out of the bag." Kanade dropped down next to him a few minutes later, the awkward expression completely wiped off from the latter features. Kanade was obviously relieved that he no longer need to feign innocent when the topic of Yuuri's performance videos came up in conversation.
"Alright, so you were acting innocent in front of me all these while… when you are the main culprit behind those videos being uploaded on You-tube." Yuuri commented dryly once his mind had fully digested this little detail that he had never connected the dots before now.
"Yes, but I swear I had nothing to do with those dance videos of yours trending around recently." Kanade vowed then and there, fearing that Yuuri would think him responsible for those trending dance videos as well.
"I know you had nothing to do with the dance videos, whoever uploaded them must have no idea of who I am in the least because it was never labeled with my name on it." Yuuri responded, rolling his eyes at Kanade's dramatic reaction.
"Good, at least we had that sorted out. Now, just what do you have in mind for us to do today? Typically, you would avoid meeting us at the same place and time when you came by for a visit." Kanade then shifted his attention away from Yuuri, and directed them towards Serizawa Chieko instead.
"I intended to hold a recital concert for my students, and I want the two of you to take part in it." Serizawa Chieko stated plainly.
"A recital concert for your students? Is it a formal or informal event? When and where do you intend to host it?" Kanade was asking as he furrows his brows while thinking over the suggestion.
"Why the sudden decision to hold a recital concert though? You had never done anything like this before…" Yuuri was curious as well, granted he was a little amazed by how alike his mind was with his instructor. Just days ago, he was contemplating on holding a concert in Japan as well and now Serizawa Chieko is the one bringing it up for suggestion? Granted, their motives for holding the recital concert might have been different but still the goal remains the same.
"Well, if you really must know… Kaori has an impending audition competition for admission into the Julliard coming up in the February/March period next year and she's now panicking over the idea of it. So, I thought to arrange a few recital concerts for her in Japan to give her with some time to accustom herself with the idea of performing in front of an audience crowd and a chance to settle her frazzled mind." Serizawa Chieko responded with a sigh as she regarded both Yuuri and Kanade with a weary expression on her face.
"Kaori… was that the girl that you mentioned wetting herself before her début competition during the PTNA competition selection round a few years back?" Kanade arched his eyebrow up in surprise when he finally managed to place the name with the face.
"…I thought I was bad enough in the anxiety department, so there's someone who's even worse than me?" Yuuri's feeling over this issue is complicate, there was a part of him that was amuse and the other part of him was mortify. Sure, he panics as well but only during international stage… but eventually as he attended more and more international competition the anxiety level fades off and now its' nothing more than an echo in his soul. At least, that was the case for his music competitions – the same could not be extended to his figure skating competition.
Serizawa Chieko said nothing but merely shot a deadpan look towards Yuuri's direction, which had Yuuri's blush deepening a shade in embarrassment. After taking a few minutes to compose himself, Yuuri started to speak again.
"Either way, Kaori must have been real good for her to chance upon someone recommending for admission to the Julliard but I heard some rumors that the competition is quite tough though."
"Says the one who managed to snatch the scholarship bursary award for his own program." Kanade interjected dryly and with a tone laced with mock sarcasm.
"…Hey! At least the admission requirements for UNIKII programs are not that tough, its' getting the scholarship that's tough." Yuuri argued his point, and the duo banter back and forth in a rallying way for some time before it was stop by a highly amused Serizawa Chieko.
"As amusing as your bantering rally are, I'm on a time limit here. So, the recital, are the two of you in or not?" Serizawa prompted.
"…Seriously speaking, why did you approach us two for this thing? Not that we're turning down the invitation, but I just wants to clarify some things to satisfy my curiosity. There are probably dozen of students under your guidance, both from the past and the present… but why pick us out of the rest specifically?" Kanade schooled his features into a neutral one as he directed his question towards Serizawa Chieko's direction.
"The venue rental costs are not cheap, and if I'm looking at recovering the cost I'd spend on the venues I need to get in famous people to attract in the crowds. Among all my students, the two of you tops the chart. Well, Haruka did fit the bill to a certain extent but I gathered enough from my conversation with your mother the other day that Haruka's schedule was already fully booked… but you, however…" Serizawa Chieko confessed.
"Okay, fine I'll do it! I need to fulfill a certain requirements for my repertoire as well, and unlike Yuuri I am not offered the chance to merge both majors requirements under the same group so I'm open to the idea of it. In return to performing in whatever recital concerts you have lined up for Kaori's benefits, I'm going to have you vouch for my participation in these programs." Kanade agreed almost immediately, and when Serizawa nodded her response to Kanade's request… her gaze flicked over to Yuuri prompting the figure skater for his response.
"I'm open to the idea as well, and in fact I was thinking of organizing a private concert event for my performance requirements before you brought this request up. Although I probably would not be able to take part that actively as Kanade did… with my competition and all. I'll still try my best to coöperate with you on this. Send me the details and list of venues once you had everything straightens out with the venue managers, I'll look over it and let you know which one I could do and which I couldn't do…" Yuuri told Serizawa eventually.
"Great, I'll drop the list to both of you later. I know there's one scheduled in November but I can't be sure… since I had my share of performance scheduled with various organizations. I'll check out the details later back at the hotel, and send you the relevant dates, time and venues for those I'm having the two of you involve in by tomorrow?"
"Sure, I'll just wait for your emails then." Yuuri nodded in response, and then go ahead to order some lunch for himself. They had been so engrossed in the discussion that they totally forgot about the fact that they were actually hogging up the seats without ordering anything. Thankfully, the place weren't all that crowded yet otherwise the waiter might not accommodate to their lack of food orders. This was after all, not the Starbucks café students tends to hang out and chat over a cup of coffee.
When Yuuri's food arrived, Kanade took one look at it and commented. "Are you sure you can eat that? That's a high calorie food, you know?"
"Unfortunately, there is not much healthy choice of food here… unless you counted the salads as a possible choice for lunch." Yuuri throws back with a roll of eyes, finding it irksome that Kanade actually had to point out something he already knew to him.
"True… so does that means you would be hitting the gyms for work-out later today?" Kanade asks.
"… Make that the next three days in fact, seeing as I had a slow metabolism rate… I had to increase my daily workout to keep up with my current weight." Yuuri responded in a flat tone, he was hungry and Kanade's questions are deterring him from enjoying his lunch.
"Kanade, stop talking and eat up. You are just jealous that Yuuri is free to choose what he wants to eat but you were place on a strict diet due to your vocal training instructions." Serizawa Chieko rolls her eyes at Kanade's antics.
"Oh right… fried food are bad for the vocal cords, no wonder you're sticking to salad." Yuuri realized then, Kanade was criticizing his choice of lunch while eyeing his plate of fried chicken with envy.
"…" Kanade caught on to the teasing look in Yuuri's eyes and groaned inwardly, before turning his attention back to his salad dish with a sigh. Why, oh why must his dear Aunt Chieko picked this place for lunch anyway. Can't the woman actually dined somewhere else without music playing in the background!? Well, it is true that jazz piano tunes are kind of stress reducing for the body and mind… but still the repertoire are always the same few famous pieces repeating itself. How the resident pianist not gets sick of playing it repeatedly, Kanade honestly do not knows. What he do knows is that the tune of 'Smoke gets in your eyes' is going to stuck in his mind for some time after today.
"Hm.m… that sounds familiar, what tune was that again?" Yuuri suddenly commented out of the blue, causing Serizawa Chieko to blink twice before catching on to the meaning behind Yuuri's words.
"Oh… that's the song 'Smoke gets in your eyes' quite a popular choice for music in piano bars." Serizawa Chieko responded, almost without the need to think about it.
"Ah… I thought it sounded familiar but I wasn't certain since I'm not that familiar with these kinds of repertoire." Yuuri mused while Kanade zoned out on the discussion, he was certainly in no mood to receive a history lesson from Serizawa Chieko with regards to the origin of this particular piece of music.
When the time comes for the duo to leave, Kanade was the first to hurry out of the door leaving Yuuri tailing him from behind with a funny expression.
"Was it really so stifling in there that you felt the need to escape?" Yuuri arched an eyebrow up in question as he caught up to Kanade over at the car park where the man had parked his car earlier.
"It's not a matter of stifling… it's a matter of my sanity at stake. I had enough of that song already!" Kanade admitted grudgingly.
"What's wrong with that song?" Yuuri wondered aloud with genuine interest.
"Nothing is wrong… the only problem is that it's been on repeating mode for far too many times that it had gotten itself stuck in my mind. That is most certainly counter-productive for my memorization of the song I'm supposed to focus on working. It's like… when one plays the song 'Fur Elise' too much on the piano that when they attempted to play Yiruma's 'River flows in you' without a score, they tend to mix up the two tunes because their starting were far too similar…" Kanade responded sounding a little desperate at trying to get his point across to Yuuri, and thankfully though Yuuri did manage to get the point this time around.
Yuuri did, after all, had met the problem of failing to recall the exact tunes of Yiruma's 'River flows in you' after playing Beethoven's 'Fur Elise' too many times on the piano without the score present in front of him.
~ to be continued~
Date completed: 22/3/17.