A/N: Holllyyyyy crap! How long has it been since the last chapter? Bout 6 months?? Absolutely sorry bout the overly, inexcuseably delayed update. Wudnt blame sum of ya who lost interest in this story coz of how long it took! But thanks to a bit of a motivational boost by Kapsule Corp :D I thought its bout time I did this! Altho, I've gotta tell u: Year 12 is absolutely KILLER! Its had me occupied for this long and only now (even tho I really shud b working on sum of those research assignments) have I thought to update these. Alrighty, ya'll don't need to hear me blab bout my life. Time to do what you guys (well some of u) have wanted to see for at least 6 months! Hope u enjoy!
Chapter 4: Third time's the charm
About three days have passed since the battle. Xiaoyu's last battle with Jin had been playing over and over in her mind. I could've SO blocked those punches! And why did I try that move for? That jumpkick could've been a lot more powerful! Xiaoyu was analyzing her performance for the millionth time and criticizing it from every possible angle during her Chemistry class. And I could've done something else in Phoenix –
"Miss Ling!" Xiaoyu was brutally brought back from her trance at the mention of her name from the clear, sharp voice of the short Chemistry teacher. "Would you kindly state what I'm going to explain to the class?" This sounded more like a demand than a request.
"Uhh…" Panic rose within Xiaoyu as she racked her brain, attempting to remember what on earth the Chemistry teacher had been going on about all this time. Seeing Xiaoyu squirm after being put on the spot seemed to satisfy her: one of the pleasures of putting an inattentive student on the spot provided. Miharu's bony elbow jabbed at Xiaoyu's side in an obvious attempt to get her attention. Miharu tapped her pen on her notes that might save her from this situation.
"Th-The difference between the structure of graphite and the structure of diamond," Xiaoyu quickly read off Miharu's notes and looked back at the teacher with a sheepish grin, hoping this would be sufficient for the teacher to be off her case.
"You better start paying attention, Miss Ling, so you won't need to be saved by Miss Hirano next time." A look of surprise washed across Xiaoyu's face as she stole a glance at Miharu. "Now then class," The Chemistry teacher resumed her teachings of the structural difference between Diamond and Graphite and Xiaoyu didn't steal a chance to daydream about her fight again. After twenty grueling minutes of Organic Chemistry, the bell rang, signifying the end of the lesson and the end of school. Xiaoyu's spirits lifted as she had been looking forward to it all day as auditions for the school orchestra were being held. After saying her goodbyes to Miharu, Xiaoyu skipped off down the hall towards the music department, her flute case swinging lightly at her side. Before even reaching the music hall, where the auditions were taking place, Xiaoyu saw a crowd of students, all with their individual instruments in their hands, playing scales and rehearsing their audition pieces. She settled her bag and flute case on the floor near the wall opposite the music hall and as she was delicately assembling her flute, a thought occurred to her: Why is everyone playing so loudly? Won't they hear them inside? Xiaoyu thought to herself as her eyebrows knotted in thought, head automatically falling to one side.
"The music hall's soundproof," A younger girl with a trumpet in her hand beside Xiaoyu answered her question as if she read her mind.
"How did you know – "
"All the new people make that face when they try out," The girl chuckled, revealing light blue braces embedded on her teeth as she smiled. Xiaoyu chuckled along with the girl before turning her attention to the audition list. Xiaoyu had been one of the first people there to sign up beforehand so no doubt her audition would be early on. As if on cue, a tall man wearing glasses and a black beret stepped out of the audition room and all went silent.
"Miss Ling Xiaoyu?" He called and Xiaoyu immediately strode towards, her flute clasped in both hands.
"Good luck!" The girl from before wished Xiaoyu as she strode past her. Xiaoyu replied with a smile and a wave and went inside, the hallways erupting in sound again as the door closed. The music hall itself was quite massive, more than capable of housing an orchestra with seventy or so people in it on stage and enough room for an audience up to one hundred people. Sitting in the audience area were the three music teachers at this school: A short young looking woman with her black shoulder length hair tied back in a short ponytail with a polite smile on her face, a woman who looked older than the previous with long brown silky hair kept in place with a silver headband and glasses, as well as the man from before wearing a beret.
"Miss Ling Xiaoyu, trying out for the part of Flute 1," The woman with brown hair recited, reading her sign up form. She placed the paper back down on the table that the three sat at, which reminded Xiaoyu of the Idol panel. She crossed her arms across the table and adjusted her glasses, not taking her eyes off Xiaoyu. "So, what will you be playing for us tonight?"
"Well, uh…I'll be playing the Flight of the Bumblebee on my flute." Xiaoyu saw all three of the music teachers raise their eyebrows and pour even more focus onto her. I hope I do this right, Xiaoyu had not rehearsed this since when she was last in China, and she deeply regretted not practicing it beforehand. She raised the flute to her lips and took a deep breath. She immediately blew out a cascade of high notes falling gracefully down a tone that signified the beginning of the Flight of the Bumblebee. Her fingers were flying, lifting and pressing various buttons which gain access to various sounds. Her only challenge was to sneak in breaths surreptitiously in between the extremely fast semiquavers as not to deter from the whole effect of the piece. There were a few wrong notes here and there but Xiaoyu tried her best not to show it and kept going. By the time the piece ended, Xiaoyu was almost out of breath but masked the massive puffs of her lungs working overtime to regain oxygen back into her system by smiling at the teachers and bowing.
"Very well done, Miss Ling. A list will be put up on the Music Department notice board of the students who were selected and which parts they were given." Said the first woman with a short, black ponytail.
"Thank you," Xiaoyu said breathlessly and she power walked out of the music hall, her flute still clasped within both her hands. "Stupid, stupid stupid," Xiaoyu hissed at herself when she exited the room, smacking her forehead with her right hand three times corresponding to the number of stupid's she uttered. "I knew I should've brought my music!" During her performance, her mind almost went blank of what she was supposed to play but she thankfully recovered herself before the piece got too out of hand. She weaved her way in between the many musical hopefuls to reach her bag and her flute case. Packing her flute away, she hoisted her bag over her shoulder and made her way out of the building and towards the Mishima Mansion.
Xiaoyu pranced into her room the next day after school, feeling very bright as she got her desired part in the orchestra, and she only missed out on Lead Flute by a hair. "If I played Flight of the Bumblebee better, I would've SO gotten Lead Flute," Xiaoyu said to herself, with a tinge of sadness, feeling slightly down that she could've done much better. "But still," She added in a much brighter tone. "I'm in Flute 1!" After dropping her bag onto the floor by her desk and resting her flute case on her desk, she paused without letting go of the handle. She stared at her ebony flute case sprinkled with chibi panda pictures and a yellow ribbon tied around the handle, contemplating a fresh thought, observing it from different angles to see whether it's the best course of action. Ahh, I'll do my homework later, Xiaoyu finally settled happily and clicked open her flute case, revealing two silver gleaming parts to a flute. She fixed the parts together and turned it slowly around her fingertips with a reminiscent smile on her face. She received this flute from her family five years ago on her birthday. She turned the flute around to its underside and touched the engraved Chinese characters of her name, tracing her name down the silver tube. The flute acted as a good luck charm to her, which was one of the reasons she brought it along with her to Japan. Flipping the flute the right way around, she blew into the mouthpiece and played the standard tuning note: Concert A. She stopped playing immediately after noticing the roughness of the sound. Xiaoyu peered into the mouthpiece and spotted the culprit: beads of spit. Taking out her cleaning stick, she entered the bathroom and searched for anything she could use. Hmmm…toilet paper isn't going to cut it…towels are too thick…and I'm not using a sock to clean my flute! Xiaoyu sighed and walked out of her bathroom, dropping her head as the search ended in failure.
Her head perked up at yet another idea. Maybe there's some in the kitchen. With this hopeful thought in mind, Xiaoyu exited her bedroom and looked down identical hallways, wondering which way she should go. Deciding the go right, as that's the way that went downstairs, Xiaoyu walked on, flute and cleaning stick clasped in both her hands as if it was a weapon. There really should be arrows or a map or something to direct people where they wanna go in a huge place like this, Xiaoyu thought as she made her way down the curved stairwell and into the lobby, wondering where to go once more.
"Miss Ling?" A voice perked up behind Xiaoyu once again, making her jump and spin around. It had once again, been Ms Hamasaki. "You seem lost. Can I help you?"
"Oh…yeah. I kinda need a paper towel or something to clean my flute with?" Xiaoyu held up her flute with a sheepish grin. Ms Hamasaki took a bunch of tissue papers from her pocket and handed them to Xiaoyu.
"I hope these will be sufficient,"
"Uh, yeah…thanks," Xiaoyu bowed and before she knew it, the servant had disappeared. Instead of wondering why she had tissues on her, she wrapped two tissues around the cleaning rod and inserted it into the flute's end, twisting it around to collect all the spit inside. As she was cleaning her flute, her acute hearing had just picked up on the sound of a piano. A grandpiano. Xiaoyu hopped excitedly on the spot, having never played on the grand piano before. At a young age, most Chinese children were encouraged by their family to learn the piano. The piano didn't interest Xiaoyu much so when she reached Grade 5, she dropped it and began to pick up the flute. But it was still a grand piano and she wanted to play it. She jogged towards the origin of the sound but was careful of her footsteps, not wanting to disturb the person who was playing. Her sense of hearing lead her to a highly polished wooden double door with a shiny golden handle. With complete care, not wanting to make a sound, she pushed the handle and slowly opened the door, the slight creaks in the door making her freeze but as the musician kept playing; she continued opening it to peer inside. The musician playing was a man: only distinguishable as a teenager due to the Mishima High school uniform he wore. He had his back towards her, the magnificent obsidian Grand Piano stretched out before him. It immediately clicked within her that the musician was Jin Kazama. He didn't seem the type to play the piano…Xiaoyu thought, as the graceful sounds of Debussy's Deux Arabesques (1) floated through the tiny crack in the door and into Xiaoyu's ears.
Xiaoyu felt like she was in a trance, truly amazed at Jin playing so gracefully and beautifully on the piano. It was just then that a thought occurred to her. Time for an awesome third impression, a smile came onto Xiaoyu's features as she yanked the cleaning rod out of the flute, screwed up the tissue and, after looking around for a location, shoved it into her pocket and holding the cleaning stick in her hand. She quietly pushed open the door, entered and just as quietly closed the door. Placing the rod on the floor, she stood up straight, listening to the last few minutes of the piece.
When the piece ended, before Jin had anytime to consider what to play next, Xiaoyu began playing a piano-flute duet she knew: Andante by Mozart (1). Just as she thought, Jin didn't instantly turn around to see who was playing, but rather recognized the tune and began playing the piano accompaniment. Both instruments complimented each other perfectly, creating a truly beautiful and moving piece. Just as Xiaoyu played skillful cadenzas, her fingers working incredibly fast, Jin didn't try to overpower her as the flute was the main focus of this piece, but played his sections without the flute with poise and confidence. As soon as the piece ended, Jin swiveled around in his seat to find that the mysterious flutist was indeed the Chinese girl now living with him.
"I didn't know you could play the flute," Jin broke the silence that settled in the piano hall.
"And I didn't know you could play the piano," Xiaoyu echoed, beaming with her flute clasped in both hands in front of her. "You played really well. I was listening when you played Deax Arabesques," At this, turned away to hide his face, blushing from the compliments.
"You…you played great as well," He faced her again as Xiaoyu was striding towards him. As soon as she was close enough to reach out and stroke the grand piano, Jin quickly stood up from his seat, rooted to his position.
"Wow…a Grand Piano. How long have you been playing for?" Xiaoyu looked up at Jin with a curious look on her face. Jin looked back down on the Grand Piano and ran his fingers along the keys.
"For as long as I can remember. My mother taught me on an upright…then when I moved in with my grandfather, I kept playing on the Grand." There was a sense of reminiscence in his voice but also a twinge of pain. Xiaoyu sensed this and decided not to prod about where she is and why he lives with his grandfather. In a search for another topic, she stared back at the glistening surface, staring at her dark reflection on its surface. When a thought came to her, her head briskly turned back to Jin.
"How come you didn't try out for the school orchestra?" This made Jin turn back to face her. "I'm sure you would make a better pianist than the one they decided on,"
"Playing with a group doesn't really interest me…I prefer solo pieces. It means I can just play and enjoy it on my own."
"Oh…but your talent would be recognized and you'll become a respected musician – "
"I get enough of that being Heihachi Mishima's grandson!" Jin unexpectedly snapped at Xiaoyu. This took her by surprise as she watched Jin take a deep breath.
"Sorry about that…" This also surprised Xiaoyu. Did he just say sorry? "It's just that, being famous isn't what I really want…I like being alone,"
"Well…there's nothing like being alone than being alone with company right?" Jin stared at Xiaoyu with a confused expression. Xiaoyu then realized how weird her statement sounded. "Well, even if you prefer being alone, having one friend to spend that alone-ness with is also great right?" She explained, hoping she made even the tiniest bit of sense. Jin stared at her for a little bit but then a small smile formed on his features, which once again surprised Xiaoyu. He's capable of human emotion? Is this the same Jin that I met on my first night here?
"Yeah, I know what you mean," He looked back at the grand piano. "Me and my mother were alone together at Yakushima forest. No other people for miles. It is better than being entirely alone,"
"Well then, it's settled," Xiaoyu clasped her hands together, flute still clutched in her hand, and beamed up at Jin.
"Anytime you don't feel like being entirely alone, I'll be right here," Xiaoyu stated with a big smile on her face. Jin stared at her questioningly, his smile still intact. "Or more likely, when I don't feel like being entirely alone, you'll be there, right?" She asked with a slight uncertainty in her voice. Jin smiled and nodded at her statement. But just as there was actual progress taking place, the beeping of Xiaoyu's emerald green watch cut through the air, to Xiaoyu's dismay. She stole a glance at her watch but then did a double take.
"It's been really nice talking to you, Jin, but I've gotta go," Xiaoyu said quickly, walking backwards towards the door she came from as she said this. "Just remembered, I have to write a letter back home," Xiaoyu explained before picking up her cleaning rod and walking towards the door. She stopped at the door and turned around, to see Jin having not moved. "We should play together sometime. Learn a worthwhile duet,"
"We should," Came Jin's reply, making the smile on Xiaoyu's face, if possible, wider.
"Seeya!" She disappeared behind the door and made her way towards her bedroom, her spirits high. I'm making progress with him! Too bad that the letter had to ruin an actual conversation with him, Xiaoyu thought as she climbed the stairs towards the second floor. When she reached her door, she stood outside it for a second. "Third time's the charm," Xiaoyu said to herself as she opened the door and began writing the letter back home.
(1)– LOL! I like looked up vids for Debussy and Flute Piano duets on youtube to pick a song for them to play. Look them up to see what they sound like if you want.
A/N: Wooohhhh! That's that chapter done. Now this took me a while to do…I'm sooooo sorry if I bored you to death with this chapter! I'm sorta trying to get back into the flow of writing Tekken fanfiction again. The only writing I have been doing wud be practice for the creative writing assessment (which I'm totally looking forward to :D). Anyhu, hope I didn't disappoint for a comeback chapter after SIX MONTHS! But yeah, it wud be a bit rocky…review pweeeeze!