The Spirit That Inhabits Us All

Prologue – I Want To Learn

Here's Joey's continuous b-day fic!

This story IS in first POV, but it's NOT who you expect it to be!


I was about to walk up to her door when I saw someone else already there, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. I quickly hid in the shadows waited.

At last, he sighed, and knocked on the door. The quiet guitar playing from inside stopped, and a female voice said, "Come in."

He stepped inside, I moved closer, so that I could hear.

"Oh… hi Joey. What's up?"

"Well Hikari… there's a favor that I've been meaning to ask you." I was surprised. Joey Wheeler's accent was… gone. The street accent he held for years had suddenly evaporated.

"Shoot."

"Well… I want to learn guitar!" he blurted. This took me by surprise. Since when did Joey Wheeler want to learn an instrument?

"You want to learn guitar?" asked Hikari Daeron's voice incredulously.

"…Will you teach me?" whispered Joey's voice. I was surprised to hear how gently it sounded.

I could picture Hikari's pretty face softening. "Yes. Of course. But Joey…"

"What's up?"

"Well…" She sighed. "When I first learned guitar… I also learned from my friends."

"Veena and Julia," he said promptly.

"Yes… and, well, my first lesson was tough because Veena didn't have her guitar… besides, I wouldn't be half as good if I didn't have my own…"

"What are you saying?"

"Joey… you're going to need a guitar of your own. It'll be expensive, grant you. But, it'll be worth it."

"How much will I have to save?"

"…Well, it depends on what you buy, but… well, electrics are more expensive than acoustics… but… Joey, no matter what, after you have the money, once you find the guitar that calls to you, BUY IT. Don't look at the price. JUST GET IT. It's important to find the guitar that calls to you."

"But… how much will I have to save?"

"Well… let's go for… how about… five hundred dollars…?"

"FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS?"

"Shush, Joey, I know! It might cost more than that, but that's a starter. But it's not like I'm Seto Kaiba or anything! Here…" My curiosity got the better of me and I peeked through the keyhole. Hikari had stood up and pulled something out of her jeans. It was some bills. She walked over to something, looked at it a while, picked it up, and smashed it down. It shattered. She quickly counted whatever was there and walked over to Joey.

"Here… this is 50 even."

"What's this for?"

"To go towards your guitar."

"To… WHAT? Hikari, I can't take this money!"

She pushed it towards him. "Joey, take it. I have no use for it."

"But…"

"TAKE IT!"

Joey looked at her a while before putting the money into his bag. "Thanks," he mumbled.

Her expression softened. "Here… this is Christoph Jannsen." She handed Joey her guitar.

"Hello Christoph," said Joey solemnly to the guitar. Hikari smiled gently as she made him hold it correctly.

"Call him Tov," she said. "Okay, this is how you hold the guitar. You see these bar thingies? Those are called frets, from the first one all the way down to the twenty-first. Although you can't really play on the twenty-first." She stared to teach him some chords.

I straightened and walked away. I'd come back another time.


I was about to knock on the door when I heard Hikari.

"Yeah, well, it was for the best… shut up Veena… no, Julia, I don't like him… because he needs it, that's why, dumbass. Whattabitch! In the best way possible." She laughed. "You know love you. Hmm…? Oh shit…" She let out a long string of curses. "I completely forgot!" As I looked through the keyhole, I saw Hikari bang her fist on the table. She picked up a book and chucked it across the room. "I can't believe this!" After a few minutes of talking on the phone, she sighed. "Alright, see ya guys later." She hung up.

I knew that what I wanted to say would have to wait. I twirled on my heel and walked away.


Me: Thank you Veena for your wonderful commentary on all of my other stories.

Veena: Your welcome.