Yay! I'm posting again! *everyone claps and cheers* Thank you, thank you ^^. This chapter definitely has more feeling put into it than any other in my story because the room I describe in here is something that I'd love to have; I tried to be as descriptive as I could because I wanted every detail down to share my dream room with everyone ^^. Have fun; the chapter after this is when all the exciting plot twists start happening!!!
17. Comfort At Last~
The guard led her down only a couple hallways before he stopped at a large double door. Kinou stood next to him for a couple moments, but he just stood there, not speaking. She peered into his face, confused, and asked, "Well? Can I go in, or are they locked?", half-expecting him to come to his senses and open the doors for her.
"Yes," he replied curtly. When he still did not move, Kinou rolled her eyes.
"Hell," she said, and she pulled the doors open herself. As the doors swung apart, she gasped. The hall was more beautiful and magnificent than anything she had ever seen in her life. The grand piano was directly in the middle of a wide depression in the middle of the floor with stairs leading down to it. The rest of the hall was draped in fancy tapestries with all sorts of beautiful pictures on them; planets, stars, animals, some with simple designs intricately weaved through the threads. On the wall opposite the doorway there were slender, tall windows with great red draperies pulled out of the way near their tops. In the centre of the wall, there was a gigantic fireplace with a magnificent mantelpiece. Though there was not a fire lit, it seemed to radiate its own light from the gold-coloured paint covering it. In front of the fireplace, two wide couches faced each other with a claw-footed table in between.
Kinou walked into the room, astounded, and the guard pulled the giant doors closed behind her with a loud creak. She could hear him turning a key in the lock, but she didn't care. This was heaven for her. It was large enough to hold a small house, and there were several padded chairs in the style of some she had seen in therapist's offices on which she could easily sleep. The only things she would ever need would be food and water and Emily.
Kinou took Emily out of her pocket and held her up above her head. "Look, Emily, look…" she murmured. Smiling, she looked up at her cat, and caught a glimpse of the ceiling, almost causing her to drop Emily in amazement. It was simply a dome, but it was painted with silver and gold clouds, and a wide disc hung from the middle of it, which Kinou knew would rebound the sound of the piano through the whole hall. She turned her attention to the grand piano once again and stepped towards it anxiously, though she was slightly hesitant to disturb such a wonderful splendour. After coming down the steps into the depression and sitting on the piano bench, she sat for about three minutes just staring at it. It appeared perfectly dusted, as was everything else in the hall; Kinou suspected Kaiba had just simply asked his staff to clean it for her. She reached out a finger and placed it, quivering, above middle C. Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath and let her finger fall delicately on the key.
The sound was amazing; it reverberated though the hall, filling every square inch with its fine-tuned ring. She played a C scale and it too sounded like a work of art, even though it was the simplest thing she could think of to play. Her hands stretched out and poised over the keys; she was amazed at how insignificant and imperfect they seemed, now that she had a real piano to play. She knew she had to warm up to at least come close to the high standard the piano had set in her mind. Practising was really nothing she liked to do, let alone scales or chords or arpeggios, but she felt it was her duty to make this wonder sound the best she could. Her fingers began to delicately stroke the keys as she recalled all the warm-ups her piano teachers had ever given her. If she made a mistake, she would draw her hands back as the horrible sound echoed into nothingness, and would apologise mentally and try it again until she got it perfect.
The warm-ups took her nearly ten minutes to reel out, but now she was ready to really play. She started playing a simple song she had learned when she was eleven, and her mind went completely blank. Struggling to remember it, she couldn't grasp which notes to play when. Instead she shook her head slightly and played a song that she had actually played within the last two years, and her mind went blank again—but not from the song. She continued to play and she could not think of anything she would rather be doing. The wonderful song flowed through her fingers, through the hall, and back into her open ears like silk, and for the first time since Marik had come to kidnap her, she felt complete and utter happiness. Nothing could bother her now. Someone could come barging in and she would not notice nor care who they were. She opened her eyes and was surprised to learn that the song had ended and the last chord was slowly fading. Wanting to play again for the wonderful feeling that was so absent in her life, she debated quickly about which song to play next. An idea struck her: she could play the three songs she had composed on her measly electric piano back home. Practically writhing with excitement, she placed her hands eagerly over the keys again, for she had never heard these pieces on such an honourable instrument before. Her first song came out: she had written it to sound like a king's welcoming into a great castle, and with the flawless echo, it brought it to life. She nearly made a mistake beginning the second piece, for she was so pleased by the sound of her first, she couldn't wait to make her other two sound better than they ever had before. After her second, she prepared herself for her final piece. It was by far her favourite and everyone she had ever played it for had called it her best and requested it to be played again and again. As the music began to flow out, she shivered with pleasure, the sound was so intoxicating to her. She closed her eyes in the middle and images swam through her mind as chord after beautiful chord sounded. At the end, she sat, frozen, amazed at how she felt. She dropped her hands on her lap, exhausted from the thrill she had experienced. It took her a couple seconds before she realised someone was clapping.
She slowly turned around to see Dr. Tanurah sitting on a chair, beaming at her with a genuine smile that brightened her mood even more. He stopped clapping and stood up to walk down the stairs towards her, keeping that wonderful smile upon his face. He stopped beside her and put his hand on her shoulder.
"That was wonderful, Kinou," he said, squeezing her shoulder gently. "I'm extremely glad that your necklace fell off in my office—" he held out her golden bird with his other hand; Kinou reached up to her neck and noticed how bare it felt without it"—otherwise I would have missed out on some very pretty music."
"Thank you," said Kinou, taking the necklace out of his hand and fastening it around her neck once more. "I didn't hear you come in at all; I must have been really focused."
Dr. Tanurah laughed. "Yes, music does that to people a lot. May I ask what that last piece you played was?"
"Oh, just something I composed about a year ago," said Kinou, shrugging.
"Really? You wrote that? I'm extremely impressed," he said, and he truly looked it. "It was one of the prettiest pieces I've ever heard."
Kinou blushed. She mumbled a thank you, not knowing what else to say.
"Will you play it again for me?" he asked.
Kinou looked up at him and marvelled at how handsome he suddenly had become. He gave her a really warm feeling, but she shook her head to drive new thoughts now spreading through her mind. "I—I don't know… I really tired myself out. I think I should take a nap or something." Hoping she hadn't hurt his feelings, she gave a small yawn and stood up, stretching. She noticed how comfortable the couches looked, and she picked one on which to settle down. Curling up, she instantly felt drowsy, but she was still awake enough to sense Dr. Tanurah coming up to the couch. He kneeled down beside her and she rolled over to look at him. He brushed her bangs out of her eyes and gently stroked her cheek. Kinou could hear the heat rushing to her face, but…she loved the feeling of his hand, so she closed her eyes.
"This must be hard for you," he murmured, tilting her chin up gently. She opened her eyes again. "Being taken away from your home just so some person can experiment on you. When someone has a special gift, they should be rewarded, not captured like a wild animal and put on display." Kinou felt tears welling up in her eyes and she closed them again, feeling that she was being too soft. Dr. Tanurah gently picked her up from the couch and held her close to him; she could hear his heart pulsing against his chest. She reached up with one of her hands and grasped the collar of his lab coat, letting silent tears roll down her face.
He walked across the hall and back through the double doors, Kinou realising how exhausted she really was, and his warmth was inviting sleep into her mind. By the time he had brought her to her room, she was asleep.
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