Chapter 17 – Knights' Duel

As the applause of the last performance echoed into the standby hall, the two musicians prepped themselves for their performance. "How did I let you talk me into this?"

"Oh don't go pointing fingers now. We're partners now, from the moment we step onto the stage until the moment we step off. Your screw up is my screw up, and my screw up is your screw up. Plus we'll be the best piano duet here."

"We're the only piano duet here."

Takeshi smiled at her cold words, their jest had helped calm his nerves. Her feistiness also signaled that she was in top condition today.

Before they stepped onto the stage, Emi added, "You also got one more thing wrong. We're not partners…we're rivals."

At that moment, Nash stepped into the hallway and came face to face with the two pianists. "You guys are next huh?"

"Congratulations on a nice performance," said Takeshi dryly.

"Best one I've ever had," said Nash, to Takeshi's surprise, without any hint of ego.

"We're still going to beat you."

Nash smiled. "I'm not about that anymore. I'm done with trying to compete with every single person, I'm going to focus my attention on my music now. Focus my attention on having fun and giving the crowd a good time."

"Too late, you were the one who threw down the challenge. Once this competition ends, then you can be done."

"Very well. So then, which one of you is going first then?"

"Both."

Nash raised his eyebrows in amazement and his smile grew wider. "Good luck."

The audience began to whisper among themselves as a second piano was pushed onto the stage, directly facing the first one. There had been no piano duets that made it past the first round so naturally, they were confused. The director of the event then stepped up onto the stage to address their concerns.

"Due to the request of two of our contestants, who made it past the first round, the next performance will be a piano four-hand duet. But due to this unnatural request, both contestants have forfeited the right to earn a cash prize. We apologize for any inconveniences."

Despite it being an apology, the audience cheered for the news. The unorthodox nature of the development surprised and excited them. Two contestants coming together to form a duet after the first round was unheard of in the history of musical competitions.

'Contestant #998 and #623, Takeshi Aiza and Emi Igawa.'

The pair walked up on stage and bowed to the crowd and took their seats at their respective piano. They gave each other one last look and couldn't help but smile. 'We never did get that duet thing down, did we?'

'No, no we didn't. But that's okay, after all, this isn't a duet…'

Takeshi began as a solo with a fast string of low notes, like the gallop of horses from far away. Suddenly, the melody bursts into the higher octaves as his hand flew from the left to right side in the blink of an eye. The cavalry appearing over the hill and charging at their foes in their knighted glory. The tension builds up as the same chords are played, again and again, rising in volume and pace. Everything seemed as if it was about to spill over but the blonde haired talent left it all hanging as he ended his solo with a single high note.

There was a brief silence before Emi took over and began her own solo. The exact same melody but she was playing it with one hand! Being able to maintain the core at the same time not sacrificing any of the speed, it was an incredible display of raw mechanical expertise. It seemed as if she saw what Takeshi did and said, "Not bad, but watch what I can do." The image of her own cavalry unit riding up was painted in the minds of the audience and that was when they realized that this wasn't a duet where two people held hands and supported each other.

'It's a battle!'

There was another brief silence as everyone held their breath for the coming onslaught and the two did not disappoint. Knights' Duel by Jay Chou. As one of them started, the other layered on their side in a fast and chaotic symphony. They didn't even exchange a look when Emi glided her hands into the high notes and Takeshi stepped down into the lower ones. Even though so many notes were being played at once it didn't sound messy, it was chaotic enough to set the atmosphere of a battle yet orderly enough to allow the listeners to break apart the different sides. Emi's high notes reflected an elegance and noblesse, constant and stable with the occasional glissando. However, Takeshi's low notes were thunderous and proud, taking complete control of the lower and middle section of the piano.

During the whole performance, they didn't look at each other once. There was no time, not a single pause for either of them to adjust to each other. They simply had to have faith in the other person, that they will be able to keep up and play their part perfectly. After all, if either of them messes up even slightly, the song would fall into complete chaos and fall apart. Although it was a battle, it was far more delicate than any duet could ever be.

'But this is how it's always been, isn't it? Battling against each other and pushing each other, competition after competition. You are the one who's beaten me.'

'And you are the one who's beaten me.'

'So of course, you are going to be able to keep up!'

'So of course, you are going to be able to keep up!'

In the years of competition that these two have gone through, they could no longer submit and adjust to each. Rather, they were able to bring out their full individual talents; allow it to battle, to struggle, and to mesh into something that was above what both of them were capable of. As the song neared its end, their parts began to merge together as Takeshi added in a glissando and Emi traveled to the lower half of the piano. Finally, both players combined back into the same melody and ended it with three steps of chords. Powerful, proud and elegant.

When the applause erupted from the crowd, that was when they finally shared a glance and a smile with each other. At that moment, Takeshi felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach as the sweat glistened on her skin and those reddish brown eyes stared at him.

"Wow that was amazing…" said Kousei as he watched his childhood rivals walk off of the stage.

"Hmm…"

"What is it?" He turned as he looked at Kaori who seemed to be deep in thought.

"They make a good couple."

"E…EH!?"

Author's Note: Thanks for tuning in for this chapter, hope you enjoyed it! Also, I'm sorry, I just can't help but ship every single male and female character in the show XD Song taken from the piano battle in the movie "Secret."

darkmagician751: That was definitively a chapter I focused more on the development of Nash since we didn't really see him in chapters outside of the competition. I wasn't quite sure what the response would be since the other chapters were more about the music and telling a story with it, but I'm happy at least you enjoyed it XD Thanks for the review!