Part Four of The Importance Arc
Chapter 33: Trying
Nodame felt the notes of the piano take over her as she played for the audience. It was her final performance of the night and it inspired in her a bitter sweet feeling. She was excited to get home, but she had made so many friends in Spain and wished to have more fun with them.
She'd come back to visit one day soon, she would make sure of it.
After, people came to talk to her as per usual. She would answer their questions and smile, and as each person left she felt more and more exhausted. She just wanted to talk to Chiaki, wanted to smell him and touch him, but he was in Austria.
As the final person left, she readied herself to go. She went back into the dressing room to grab her bag and her dress, when a knock at the door startled her. She quickly rushed to the door, hoping it was someone she knew, but the person in front of her made her freeze.
"Chiaki-san." she greeted neutrally, "Shinichi is not here."
She couldn't summon a smile for the man, and had blurted out the first thing she thought of. An abnormal reaction from Megumi Noda.
Masayuki smiled at her, unfazed by the greeting, and shook his head.
"I'm not here to see Shinichi. I'm here to see you," he responded, "Your performance was lovely tonight."
"Thank you," she was nervous, for some reason. Her gut told her to leave, because even if he wasn't a bad guy, Shinichi didn't like him. She had heard his music, felt his suffering and regret. She knew Masayuki was probably holding many things back, but her fiance's sound and his own suffering sounded so much louder in her head.
"May I come in?" he asked, and she hesitated once more. She thought over her options, before stepping aside and allowing the man in. She could handle this. She wouldn't be afraid to face Chiaki's father.
The two of them sat down opposite of each other, Nodame lacking her normal charm and Masayuki without his general snide personality. The duo entered a stare down as both thought of what to say, and it was Nodame who broke the silence.
"What is it, Chiaki-san? You came here for more than just to listen to my music, didn't you?"
He nodded his head in response and crossed his legs to get a tad more comfortable. More observant than I thought she'd be.
"I came here to thank you," he began, and seeing her confused face elaborated, " You fixed my would-be son. Seiko told me how he used to be, I'm sure he was unbearable when you two first met."
Masayuki was usually a very good judge of character, and was amazing in social situations, but he didn't know Nodame very well. So when she froze, her entire form static, he didn't notice the shift in her attitude.
"Fixed him?" she asked hollowly, eyes narrowing minutely. Masayuki failed to note the offensive edge to her words or the rising storm he had just unleashed.
"He recently confronted me, you know. He told me you deserved more than what Seiko and I had. He told me how he really felt, which I'm sure he would never do if you weren't involved." he chuckled at the memory, "I thought I screwed him up forever, and thought he was rather foolish the first time I saw him back during that Roux-Marlet performance. I'm pleased to note I was wrong."
Her glare worsened.
"Shinichi was never 'screwed up'" Nodame began, her rage beginning to spill out. "He has always been himself, how could you say that?"
"As I said, Seiko told me some things about his attitude. I'm aware I'm the cause to much of his problems," he calmly stated, but Nodame's fist clenched as she held back from jumping the much older man.
"Chiaki is perfect the way he is, if anyone's changed him, it's him." Nodame declared indignantly, "You're the one who's broken, who's screwed up, not Shinichi."
Masayuki held back his shock as she laid into him. He had expected a nice, cute type considering her appearance. But obviously, he was wrong. And the attacks just continued as she showed more of her vicious side.
"I went to one of your recitals, Chiaki-san. I was curious about Shinichi's father, you." she leaned back and actually had the gall to look down at him from her nose, "I could hear all of your feelings, all of your regret. Nodame may be slow sometimes, but she is not foolish. She knows how you feel about your son."
Then she rose from her spot, taking a deep breath. He thought she was done, but her mouth opened again.
"Chiaki always faces the music, he never hides in it or runs away, not anymore. Not like you do," her accusation surprisingly stung him in a way his ex wife's words didn't.
"I'm trying to hold back all of this anger because you're his father and even though he pretends he doesn't, he really cares about your opinion and wants your love." she glanced at him, ignoring the wide eyed look he was sporting. "I'm trying really hard, but all Nodame wants to do is punch you."
"I-" he stopped, for once having trouble gathering his words. He had came her to thank her so he'd get it out of his system, and she had literally thrown that back into his face. "I'm sorry?"
The apology came out more like a question than a statement, but that didn't help the situation as her glare only intensified.
"Nodame is not the one you should be apologizing to." she accused harshly, "One of Chiaki's dreams is to play with you, I can tell. He wants you to acknowledge him but all you can do is make excuses and hide."
"No, I-" he tried to interrupt, but she threw her music sheets at him, the papers smacking him directly in the face before hitting the ground.
"No more excuses!" she shouted, "The two of you are so alike with that, like father like son! Be honest for once!" She shook her hands in her hair, messing her careful hairdo up. He wondered if his son had faced this before, if maybe this anger was the reason why he had changed so much. The girl is a demon.
She readied herself to leave, tired of the mostly one sided conversation, but Masayuki finally came back to his own mind. He grabbed her arm even as his other hand rushed to his nose to halt the blood that began to flow. Had she broken his nose with sheet music?!
"I'm sorry, really!" he apologized again. Why was he apologizing, anyways? She'd been the one to yell at him, and throw things at him! At this point she should be the one saying sorry. Is this what his son really dealt with?
Her eyes narrowed once more as she searched his face, before she suddenly softened.
"Tell him that." she spoke, releasing herself from his grip but holding onto the free hand as she tried to relate with him.
"Senpai is amazing, Chiaki-san. He's done so much and I think that you need to see that. I think you need to really get to know him, I know you want to." she gave him a small smile as she patted the hand before releasing it.
"I don't think you can ever be normal, but he's your son. Stop pretending that you don't know that."
"I'm not cut out to be a father," he argued, the same thing he had said to Seiko so many years ago. Seiko had scoffed at him, and didn't bother stopping him as he left. But Nodame just looked at him with disbelief.
"Then why are you here?" she asked simply, taking him aback.
Before, Masayuki thought that Shinichi's fiance had to be special, or insane, to choose his son. He had heard her music and had assumed that regardless of her less than beautiful appearance she'd be intellectual, poised, and wouldn't fight him in any way. He could never see Shinichi choosing anyone who didn't fit the ideal image set by the world. The 'right' type of female.
But here she was, instinctual, crazy, and just as much of an emotional roller coaster as her music. She hadn't hesitated to tear him down, to make him face everything he pretended didn't exist. She looked at him with eyes that had experienced this before, and he knew that at one point, his son had faced this.
He had been so certain before that Shinichi would choose someone wrong for him, was almost certain when he had first seen the girl. But now that he had spoken to her, dealt with her, he knew the truth.
Shinichi couldn't have chosen better.
He was certain that if she could make him feel as if he had nothing to hide so easily that Chiaki had been doomed from the get-go. Adding in her music,suddenly he could understand why the boy was so despondent when she disappeared. And why he had stood up to the dad that left him so many years before.
'She deserves better than what you gave mom.' Shinichi's voice echoed in his head.
"I will," he said suddenly, noticing she hadn't spoken, "I'll talk to him again,"
"Good," she said, before grabbing her stuff. "Be honest when you talk to him, and maybe he'll see what I do." she called over her shoulder as she opened the door.
"I'll try." he voiced, and she smiled as she left the still processing man to be by himself.
A/N: I think if anyone can drive sense into Masayuki's skull, it's Nodame. She melted Chiaki, so why wouldn't she be able to handle his father? I love her reasoning and the way how she connects thing because it always shocks people. Anyways, there's going to be more fluff in the future, rather than these chapters where they're either not in a relationship or they're not in the same room. But I felt like they needed to have some time to interact with others. There's only one more Importance Arc Chapter left, so be ready for it!
