Chapter 5: Learning Piano
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! If you had trouble finding my fanfic, I'm sorry. I just felt I had to change the title after the number of things that had popped up with my fanfic in the search engine…anyhow, enjoy the story!
Three weeks passed by without incident, and before long, the day of Hinamori's first piano lesson arrived. Although she had been on mutual terms with Hitsugaya since their detention, Hinamori was still nervous.
"Hey Hinamori-chan, what do you have on your agenda after school today? If you're free, you can come home with us today. We can do our homework together, and ultimately, have fun!" Inoue said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Don't you remember, Inoue-chan? She's got that troublesome piano lesson today!" Tatsuki reminded her friend.
"Oh, souka…that's too bad. Well, the best of luck with you and Hitsugaya-kun!" Orihime smiled, and Isane nodded her head slightly. Hinamori blushed. "Sure, thanks," she muttered.
"If that baka gives you any trouble, he'll have to answer to us!" Isane grinned, and Rukia patted Hinamori on the shoulder.
"I have an idea. After the piano lesson, maybe you can come over afterwards and do your homework with us them. We only end at five pm, and you lesson ends at four, right?"
Hinamori shook her head. "Thanks for the offers, but I can't. Hitsugaya's teaching me history afterwards, too. That makes my session end at five as well."
"So that's why your parents declined those extra history lessons with Aizen-sensei," Isane said, tapping her head. At that moment the morning bell rang and everybody prepared for their first classes.
All through the school day Hinamori panicked, giving short glances at Hitsugaya. The boy seemed strangely calm, but from the way his eyes darted everywhere, she could tell that he too, was nervous. More than once during the school day the teachers would ask Hinamori to pay attention, but the girl couldn't. She was just too nervous.
The last bell finally rang, signally the end of a long, tedious school day.
"That's all for today, class," Ichimaru-sensei announced. "Science homework is to finish the questions at the bottom of page thirty-three. We'll continue this tomorrow." Hinamori heard Rukia sight with relief; Rukia hated Ichimaru-sensei for his grin and annoying jokes.
Hinamori slowly packed her books away and exited the laboratory. She had just turned the corner when she realised something-she had no idea how to get to Hitsugaya's house. What if her piano teacher had already left, expecting her to come by herself? Oka-san hadn't bothered to tell her, just told her not to worry about it; Hitsugaya would take care of things.
What was she going to do? Panicking, Hinamori turned around to come face to face with Hitsugaya. Gasping, she took a step back.
"What's wrong? Freaked out?" Hitsugaya smirked. "Please don't be scared of me, bed wetter Momo."
"You're too short, I can't be scared of you, Shirou-chan," Hinamori teased, watching his vein pulsing in his temple, but in her heart she was relieved. At least she could still ask about his place now.
"Stop gallivanting, stupid girl," Hitsugaya called. "We're going to my place now."
We're? "I'm coming with you?" Hinamori stammered.
"Naturally," the white-haired boy folded his arms. "Didn't your parents tell you? My house is just across the street from yours, but I always set off later than you because of Shunpo. If you remember, a normal walk from here home takes ten minutes."
"You live just across from me?" Hinamori stared, then smiled. "Let's go, then!" she reached out a hand for Hitsugaya.
In reply, Hitsugaya turned his nose up. "Hmph, whatever." He walked right past Hinamori, who sighed and followed.
"Hitsugaya Toushirou could be so cold at times.
The streets were as busy as ever. Cars drove by, honking at each other every now and then. People returned to their offices; lunch hour was almost over. Couples walked on the pavement, hand in hand. Hinamori felt awkward; she hated the silence and the tension between Hitsugaya and her was overwhelming.
"Hitsugaya-kun, have you made any friends at school?"
Hitsugaya was silent. What could he say? Since his parents' death, he had had trouble making friends. Hitsugaya had never cared about not having friends since then-until he met this happy, care-free Hinamori. From the first day, he had watched her friends tag along like sheep following a shepherd. They had consoled her when she was sad, stuck by her side. But he had no one.
"Ano, Hitsugaya-kun? Did I offend you?" the child prodigy came to his senses and turned to face a worried Hinamori.
"Iie," he replied before stopped. "We're here." Opening the door, he let Hinamori enter first, then went in himself.
Once inside, Hinamori looked around. As the house was in the same neighbourhood, the basic layout was like hers, but Hinamori saw the obvious difference. Hitsugaya's house was much…neater. The living room had several windows. The curtains had been pulled back, letting the sunlight flood in. In the upper right corner was a small dining table set for two. To the left was a huge bookcase and nearby a couch for four. In the lower right sat a TV and some cabinets holding who knew what. And finally, in the lower left…a piano. The piano that Hitsugaya would teach her with. Hinamori turned to the boy.
"I've bought some piano books for you over the weekend, you can learn from those." The teacher said, and then paused, thinking. "How much do you know about music?"
Hinamori blushed. "Just that on a piano there are notes ranging from A-G and that they recur on the keyboard. I also know that there are two squiggly signs on a sheet of music before each line that are called…ano…the Terror cliff and the Butts cliff."
Hitsugaya winced at the names but forced himself to give an encouraging smile. Instead, it looked as if he were about to die. "Well, that's a start," he said unconvincingly. He opened the piano and took the cloth off. "Just so that you know, when you play a note, simply put a finger over it and press down. There are more details to this, but we can go through them later."
"Hitsugaya…sensei, before we go on, I forgot to tell you something," Hinamori said. "I also know how to read notes on a stave and which note is which on a keyboard. Lastly, I know the values of different notes.
"Ah, that's good," Hitsugaya didn't think he had the patience to teach anyone kindergarten stuff. "In that case-" taking a music book 'for Grade 1' out, Hitsugaya opened the book to 'Mary had a little lamb' and placed it in front of Hinamori. "Try playing this, right hand only," he instructed. Hinamori nodded and placed her right hand on the keyboard, fingers searching for the right key. Finding the first note, Hinamori pressed down. Hard.
Hitsugaya jumped as the note reverberated off the white walls of the living room. Hearing the right note, Hinamori played out the rest of the tune. When she was done, she turned around, smiling happily.
"How did I do?" she asked.
Hitsugaya pretended to think. In reality, the feedback was obvious. When he thought it was time, he looked at his pupil, who was waiting expectantly.
"First of all, think of piano as an art, not a finger sumo wrestling match," Hitsugaya said, reddening slightly. "In other words, you were banging the piano. Try not to do that; it sounds noisy and rash."
"Okay!" Hinamori replied, giving her sensei a mock salute. "Anything else?"
Hitsugaya's expression suddenly turned frosty. "About knowing the values of notes and which note was which…you were lying, weren't you?"
Hinamori dipped her head slightly. "Gomen ne, I just didn't want to put you through so much trouble. I only knew of those things from Orihime-chan."
"It would've been better if you'd been honest," the boy said. "I'd have found out anyway."
"Just accept that I was trying to help, won't you?" Hinamori screamed, frustrated.
"I don't need your help, okay? I know how to teach," Hitsugaya retorted. His patience was wearing thin.
"Stop being so arrogant, will you?" Hinamori yelled, waving her arms. "I'm sick of it!"
The room fell silent. "There are many ways to help," Hitsugaya replied, bangs covering his eyes. "But that's not one of them."
Hinamori opened her mouth, then closed it. He was right. What had she been thinking? Trying to repair the situation, the girl smiled weakly.
"Gomen ne," she said. "Suppose we continue the lesson now?"
The piano teacher stood stock still, running his fingers through his hair. For a moment Hinamori was afraid he would plunge her into another argument, but instead, turned and snapped, "Get back to the piano! You're wasting time!"
Assuming that all was forgiven, Hinamori sat down on the stool, Hitsugaya beside her, and resumed practice. The two kept at it all afternoon, and at the end of the day, Hinamori said goodbye to Toushirou. The piano lesson had been so interesting that Hinamori hadn't reminded Hitsugaya about the history lesson until five.
"Practice!" he called. "If you don't, I'll kill you, bed wetter Momo!"
"Whatever, Shirou-chan!" the girl laughed, and she ran home before Hitsugaya could reply.
"I'm home!" Hinamori called out, but no one answered. Taking her school bag off, Hinamori proceeded to enter her own messy living room. At that moment, her eyes caught something in the lower left corner. A piano. She remembered her piano teacher's words, "You've more or less learned the basics, but just try not to bang on the piano keys." These words inspired Hinamori to do better. Extracting her piano books from her school bag, the girl practiced piano until it was dinnertime.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review, and if you find any spelling or grammatical errors, please tell me!
Japanese Dictionary:
-chan, -san, -kun: -chan is addressed towards girls or kids who are around the same age. –kun is the same for boys (or kids), and –san is a polite form for both genders of any age.
Souka: I see
Baka: Idiot
Sensei: Teacher (e.g. Aizen-sensei literally 'Teacher Aizen')
Oka-san: Mother
Shirou-chan: Hinamori's nickname for Hitsugaya. 'Shirou' means white, but as it's a nickname, 'Whitey-chan' would be more accurate.
Shunpo: In this story, it's a flash attack, but in the anime/manga it means flash steps.
Ano: Um
Iie: No
Gomen ne: Sorry
