Chapter 1:

Wunderkind nicht mehr

a prodigy no more-


Minako, as she now was called, arrived in Japan halfway through April. The country was abounding with the signs of spring, most notably, the blooming cherry blossom trees. On the way to Japan, Minako had been an apathetic shell of her former self, but now, Minako was completely entranced by the flowers, having never seen them before. It's as if they had acted as an anti-depressant, and she turned around to exclaim to her father: "Vater, ist es nicht schön?" grinning all the while.

"El– Minako. We're no longer in Vienna. Speak in Japanese please." Her father replied to her in curt, yet sincere words. He wanted her daughter to adjust to life here as quickly as possible and place the past behind them.

"Oh right. Um… Aren't they pretty, dad?" she corrected herself. Due to her former lifestyle, Minako was unable to go to a regular school. Studying at the Vienna Philharmonic under concertmistress, Albena Danailova, made sure of that. Instead, she was homeschooled by her mother, who subsequently taught her Japanese. However, she could never be too of herself when speaking it because she only used it within casual conversation with her parents. Even if she could get past the language barrier, interacting with regular students her own age was also a completely foreign concept to her. Whether she liked to admit it or not, the seemingly ordinary act of going to school was frightening to her. But if she was going to change her life for the better, she needed to try. At least, that's what she told herself. However, the next morning…

"Mother~!"

"Yes dear?"

"I can't tie my tie."

"Oh dear…"

It was now apparent that Minako lacked something very essential to a teenager: independence. In the past, her father was always there to take care of business arrangements, and her mother was always within an arm's reach. Simply put, even the most mundane things she could barely manage to do on her own. Like walking to school, for example. Minako was never allowed to go anywhere alone, even on those clandestine tennis excursions. Things like the paparazzi and impromptu reporters were always a possible threat back then. But now, compared to the Elmina Heike that embellished magazine covers, television reports, and sold out concerts, this Minako Heike that she is now is a complete nobody. While it should never be seen as a compliment, Minako stared at herself in the mirror and realized that being "nobody" gave her a sense of liberty. She would finally be able to act like a normal teenager. Slipping on the pair of wristbands she used to wear while playing tennis to hide the scars on her wrists, she smiled at herself once more in the mirror to giver herself a boost of confidence and proceeded to go to school.


Unfortunately though, confidence cannot make up for lack of skill. Although, she was sure she had memorized the way to Seigaku while her parents toured her around the city. Memorization should come easy to a performing musician, but she had still managed to get lost. Looking around didn't help; the street signs were written in unfamiliar Kanji. Neither did asking for help, as she was certain no one would understand her. Is this the everyday version of stage fright? She started to internally panic, realizing it was already bad enough that she was starting after the school term had begun, but on top of that, she was going to be late on her first day. Suddenly, she spotted a bespectacled boy walking down the street a little ahead of her. She decided to finally take a chance and ask directions. At the very least, he would be able to point to the direction of the school.

"Excuse me…"

He just didn't hear you. That's all.

"Excuse me."

Come on self! Speak up louder; it's only a small phrase.

"Excuse me!"

Finally the boy turned around. "Oh sorry," the boy apologized, "I was studying my notes." Upon closer inspection, he was a tall boy with spiky black hair, and he carried a tennis bag that said "Seigaku" on it.

"Do you go to Seigaku?"

"Yes. …Why do you have a problem?" he inquired.

"Oh yeah. I just transferred today, and I got lost on my way there, so I was wondering if you could at least tell me which way to go?"

Silence. He eyed the girl in front of him. If he had to put an age on her, it'd probably be around 10. No wait, she's wearing a Seigaku uniform. She has to be at least 12. Quickly scrutinizing her further, he saw that she had a third year pin on her collar. So he was wrong, she had to be around his age. This girl's appearance betrayed her, he thought. She had a ridiculously short stature at… 140 centimeters. That's a good 11 centimeters less than Echizen. And with that wavy brown hair, she looks like some bisque doll imported straight from Germany. She looks barely Japanese if it weren't for her eyes…– His thoughts were interrupted.

"Um… did you understand that? I'm sorry if my Japanese is bad, I just moved here and – "

"No. It's fine. I understood you perfectly. Just follow me or we're going to be late." All the while as she followed him, he couldn't help but shake the feeling he's seen her somewhere before.

When they finally reached the school gate, she proceeded to thank her escort: "Thank you very much um…"

"Inui."

"Oh. Thank you very much Inui-san. I think I'll be able to find the Principal's office from here." And off she went.

Nudging his glasses upward, Inui quickly scribbled something down in his notes.


It was a miracle that Minako didn't get lost trying to find the principal's office. Knocking on the door, she was answered with a "Come in." Pushing it open, it revealed the principal, Hiroyuki Ishikawa, and a male student. Walking in, she closed the door behind her.

"Don't be so shy. Come now… Stand right next to Tezuka-kun." He beckoned her to come forward, and she stood stiffly next to him. The boy was tall and also had glasses. His hair was dark brown and was parted off to the side. For some reason, she felt that she was attracted to his aloof demeanor. "This is Kunimitsu Tezuka, a third year like yourself. He's the student council president, as well as captain of the tennis team. He's also stayed in Germany for a while, and I understand you're from Vienna, so if you need help, don't hesitate to ask him anything – in Japanese or German, haha!" She hesitantly placed her left hand up for a handshake, which was returned in a more stoic manner. "Heike-san, you are in the same class as Tezuka-kun. Now off to class you two go." And he shooed us out of his office.

On our way to class, Tezuka's brevity and lack of conversation made me realize that was he probably was a man of few words. The only thing he did tell me was to wait outside the classroom door until the teacher told me to come in to introduce myself. Once again, my insecurities plagued me. What if they don't understand me? But in the same instant, I was able to regain my composure. Just keep it simple. Simple will get you through the day. You're nobody remember? There's no camera to smile for and no audience to impress. When my name was called, I opened the door and stepped inside.

"Okay class. This is Miss Minako Heike. She's from Vienna and hasn't been in Japan for very long, so please try and help her out if she finds trouble with anything, okay? Now, introduce yourself, Heike-san."

"Good morning everyone. My name is Minako Heike. Since I'm from Vienna, I can also speak German. I love classical music and te–. Oh, nevermind. Haha… I, uh, look forward to a great school year with you all." In the end, all I could do was smile at the class. What's wrong with me? I nearly slipped up and said I liked tennis! I hope I didn't look stupid trying to laugh it off. But instead all she heard were whispers. All of them were mainly along the lines of, "She's small and cute!" and "How did she get her hair to be that wavy?" I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. In magazines and such, I was always referred to as "refined" and "elegant." The words they were using made me feel like I was a child. Thankfully, the teacher brought an end to their banter.

"Okay. That's enough class. Thank you for your introduction Heike-san. You can take the seat in front of Tezuka-kun."

As soon as she took her seat, Minako's first official day of being a normal teenager had started. Indeed, she was a prodigy no more.


A/N: It is nearly 3 AM in the morning, so I apologize if there are any blatant mistakes anywhere. This reminds me of those times when I was younger, trying to bust out chapters every night, haha. Somehow this chapter ended up being different then I had previously planned. Originally, I had planned to utilize this chapter to show that while she was a prodigy at one point, she does have some bonafide faults and insecurities like us all, but in the process, I think I made her a bit too girly. Minako seems too happy from the original image I had of her. I probably might re-write it at some point. Mustwritesomethingdarker. /shot