Author's Note: Thanks so much to all the people who started following this story and added it to their favorites. That really means a lot to me I hope you continue to enjoy reading the story just as much as I have enjoyed making it
Chapter 3: Just a Beginner
"So you decided on the saxophone then, huh?" The elderly man stated as he began to ring it up at the cash register.
"Yes sir, I did a lot of research on the instrument and I think it would be a good instrument for me to start out with." Maka replied back cheerfully.
"Oh please, there's no need to be so polite. I'm Mr. Clark, but you can call me by my first name Ryan and my wife who was bugging you earlier is Cindy."
"Oh okay then. I guess thank you Ryan, I really appreciate it." Maka answered happily, glad that he was being so nice and helpful.
"If you ever need any help learning how to play or just want to jam out with us you are always welcome back here. Oh and tell your friends about us we really need the business!" Cindy shouted as Maka and Hiro made their way out of the store and back out onto the crosswalk.
"We'll keep that in mind." Hiro mumbled quietly as they walked out earning a look of confusion from Maka once she had placed the saxophone back into its case.
"What's gotten you so quiet all of a sudden?" Maka asked looking at Hiro with a bit of concern. 'I hope he isn't thinking of quitting before we even got started. It cost a lot of money to just pay for this saxophone!' Maka thought, beginning to get a little annoyed at the silent treatment she was getting.
Hiro abruptly spoke up just as Maka had finished her thought.
"How much did it cost you to buy that saxophone?" Hiro questioned, as he glanced over the case. Instruments in general can be very expensive purchase. "I don't want you to spend all your money on just this one item."
'Just this one item? How much stuff am I going to need to buy if I want to get better?' Maka thought in bewilderment. More importantly though 'How much does Hiro think I'm willing to spend to do this?'
Maka took out the receipt from her coat pocket. "Let's see, the saxophone cost 845.00, plus the case with the accessories and beginner music lesson book was around an additional 100 so altogether including tax I guess about a little over 1000 dollars was spent." Maka replied ,as she looked everything over just to make sure.
Hiro looked amazed at how calm Maka was about just spending so much money. "Maka is just a student like me so unless she is secretly rich how did she get the money to pay for that?" Hiro pondered glancing at Maka with amusement.
Maka caught the look Hiro was giving her and frowned in irritation. "Don't think I got the money to pay for this in some kind of shady or sleazy way Hiro." Maka snapped as she glanced back over the case. 'He doesn't even know how difficult it was for me to truly get the money.' Maka thought in annoyance as she remembered back to a few days ago.
FLASHBACK
"Oh, my sweet darling Maka! Papa is so happy you wanted to go out for a father/daughter date!" Spirit shouted in elation, "But I have to ask why are you dressed up like that?" He asked in confusion, calming down when he noticed her odd get up.
Instead of being dressed in her usual school uniform or even her casual clothes, Maka was dressed in all black, wearing a matching black jeans and a hoodie with dark black sunglasses to obscure her eyes.
"Shh, Shh! Keep it down will you; what if someone I know hears you or worse, sees me!" Maka sneered out coldly.
Spirit immediately began to sink his head in depression and look down at his feet in nervously.
Maka sighed and with a roll of her eyes took off her sunglasses so she could at least look at her father clearly.
"Listen, you know I rarely if ever have called you out for a father/daughter date so you must know I called you out here to have an important discussion." Maka muttered, wanting to get straight to the point.
"Um, okay then." Spirit muttered still scuffling a bit at his shoes. He lifted his face back up towards his daughter. "It must be something important then if you had to call on me though, correct?" Spirit emphasized.
"Yeah, it is." Maka grumbled starting to feel a bit nervous herself now. 'How am I going to ask him for the money? I managed to at least take out about 500 dollars without ruining my bank account too much, but buying an Alto saxophone costs at least another 500, possibly even more.' Maka thought unsure how she could bring up the topic.
Noticing that Maka seemed to be having a difficult time finding her words, Spirit gave her a small smile. "It's okay Maka. Take all the time you need to tell me what's on your mind."
Maka exhaled and finally spilled out why she even bothered calling him in the first place. "I want to learn how to place music by buying a saxophone and I was hoping you could help split the costs with me for paying for one. This has been something that's been bothering me for a long time."
After Maka finished off her explanation of her goals to improve on her weaknesses and made a promise she would somehow find a way to pay him back, she peered over at her Papa hoping he would agree to help her.
Spirit stayed quiet for a few seconds, thinking over everything Maka had just told him before he eventually spoke up again. "Alright Maka, I'll split the cost of this saxophone with you."
"Really?! You seriously don't know how much this means to me!" Maka stated in relief. 'I was worried for a second there that I would have to look elsewhere for a way to find the money.' Maka mused.
"But before I write out the check I have one question I have to ask." Spirit announced in an oddly serious manner for him.
"Um alright, what is it?" Maka grumbled hoping that he wasn't going to try to pry into her personal life.
"Why exactly do you suddenly want to better figure out music? This wouldn't be to impress a certain octopus brat, would it?" Spirit continued on, staring at Maka warily.
Maka could feel herself starting to blush again so she quickly cut Spirit off before he would begin to notice. "You mean Soul right? And no, this isn't to impress him; I'm doing this for me. Music has never been one of my strong points so I was just thinking it was about time I learned." Maka finished with a scoff hoping her dad wouldn't prod further. 'That didn't sound like a convincing argument, but I hope it works.'
Spirit still looked unsure, clicking his tongue in thought before his usual goofy grin came back onto his face.
"Well that's wonderful news! I'm glad my darling Maka is focusing on her studies instead of worrying about boys because if they know what's good for them I'll-"
"Yeah, yeah that's nice to know." Maka said, effectively cutting her dad off before he broke into his usual ramblings. Maka quickly got up from her seat and put on back on her shades and fixed her 'disguise'.
"Thank you for the check Papa. I will make sure to pay you back when I get the money to. Have a nice day." Maka hastily stated, strolling back into the crowds.
As Maka walked back to her apartment to change out of her dark clothes, her stomach flipped uncomfortably at her father's no so innocent question.
'You aren't just doing this to impress a certain octopus brat? No of course not. I don't need to be good at music in order to get Soul's attention; I'm doing this to benefit myself first and foremost." Maka thought, answering her own question.
"Though it is getting harder for me to even believe myself now." Maka whispered to herself, as she touched the palms of her hands to her cheeks in an attempt to stop the flushing.
FLASHBACK ENDS
~X~
Hiro chuckled once Maka finished with her story. "Well, at least your Dad was willing to split the cost of it with you."
"Yeah, Yeah I know, but I have no idea how I'm going to pay him back though. I don't make that much money from the missions we go on and now that the Kishin has been resealed, there isn't really too much going on right now." Maka complained.
"Don't worry we will definitely get the money back. Maybe not today or even tomorrow, but in the near future we will have that and much more." Hiro replied back mysteriously.
Maka grimaced at how creepy Hiro was being. 'What does he mean by that? He's not thinking of doing something illegal, right?' Maka thought.
"Anyways," Maka stated ready for a change of topic. "Where exactly should we go now to practice? It can't be a place people would really expect to see the two of us there."
Hiro glanced around the street; it was still bustling with people shopping at different boutiques and stores.
"It wouldn't be good to stay in this area of town. Someone from the DWMA is bound to come by here at some point." Hiro concluded after a while. "Hey, what about if we just to go to my apartment? That way at least we aren't out at a public area and aren't making too much noise to bother anyone." Hiro reasoned.
Maka just shrugged her shoulders. It's not like she could really think of any better places to go to at the moment.
"Alright, lead the way." Maka said.
As Maka and Hiro hustled down the street quickly, Maka started to think of a way to at least get another conversation going. 'I rather as well just try to get to know Hiro better if he really is serious about making improvements.' Maka reflected.
"So Hiro, what instruments do you play anyways?" Maka asked curiously.
"Oh, me? Well I play the guitar, but the other day when we first met up in the music store I was looking into maybe playing the trumpet also." Hiro explained with a smug grin.
Maka just faked a smile and nodded her head. 'He's going to need to work on his personality or else he will be impossible to deal with." Maka mused.
By about 3 pm, Maka and Hiro had finally settled into Hiro's apartment.
Maka took a quick look around, Hiro's apartment was surprising large and neatly decorated with fancy décor. Even taking a small peek at his patio, Maka could she he had aligned with a colorful array of flowers and outdoor furniture.
"I guess it makes sense Hiro has so much space available, after all he doesn't even have a partner." Maka considered.
"So, you're keeping up your end of the deal, right? Did you bring those videos that you mentioned beforehand?" Hiro asked, as he settled onto his sofa.
"Oh yeah of course, let me just get them out of my bag." Maka stated, as she took out about 3 DVD cases. 'Hmm, while I'm rummaging through my bag I rather as well just take out that one book also.'
Maka handed over the CD's to Hiro who happily took them and placed them into his DVD player. While he was setting it up, he turned back to look at what Maka was doing and stared at her in confusion.
"Uh Maka, what exactly are you doing?" Hiro questioned. Maka was currently sitting on the floor her eyes focused on a book titled: Absolute Beginners for the Alto Saxophone.
Maka shrugged. "I was just reading about the saxophone before I actually started playing it." Maka responded.
Hiro began to crack up. "Wow, it's no wonder you are so horrible with music! Music isn't something you can read about in a book. It's something you need to actually experience and try out. Take out your saxophone and begin learning the keys." Hiro finished with a snicker.
Maka huffed. 'He didn't have to laugh at me, he's lucky I'm not in the mood to hit him.' Maka thought angrily to herself, as she scooted back over to her case.
Maka opened back up the case to her saxophone and admired it for a second. The saxophone she had picked out was black in color with golden plated keys that glimmered in the light of the room.
Taking it out of the case carefully and applying the reed and mouthpiece to it, Maka opened up the music lesson book and went to the first page. The first song to learn in the book was simple enough: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
~X~
Hiro sighed as he tried to focus on the first cd of Black Star's workout tapes. It had only been about 30 minutes and he was already starting to feel bored. 'When the hell does he actually start working out and stop talking about how much of a God he is?' Hiro thought in annoyance, when a sudden buzzing and clicking noise interrupted his thoughts.
'What the heck was that noise?' Hiro thought, getting up from the couch and walking over to where Maka was sitting.
'Ugh, why does every noise I make that comes out of this instrument sound like a dying animal?!"'Maka thought in dismay.
Maka's playing was suddenly interrupted by Hiro who just shook his head in frustration.
"Maka, you aren't going to master playing the saxophone in just one day. You don't even have your fingers on the right keys of the sax." Hiro pointed out, noticing that she was gripping the saxophone in the wrong way.
'Hmm, Maka is known for being a bookworm and into stuff like puzzles and what not. Maybe if she was taught in a similar manner she would better learn.' Hiro considered.
"Hey Maka, to make you better understand music consider it kind of like a puzzle game." Hiro stated. When he noticed Maka still look confused, he continued on. "Each key on the saxophone represents a sound that will either make the noise come out high or low. The first lesson I want you to work on is memorizing where to place your fingers on the saxophone and learning what each musical note means." Hiro finished off; making sure Maka understood what he was saying.
"Oh, you mean kind of like matching them up together right?" Maka asked, going back to the index of the music book which had a diagram of where to place her fingers.
"Yeah, exactly! Next week Wednesday I'll quiz you over how well you knew everything and then maybe we can actually move on to playing a song." Hiro reasoned. "And to make sure you don't end up making me go deaf." He added as an afterthought.
"Okay then, well how's it going on your end? Is Black Star's video helping you any?" Maka asked jokingly and laughed when Hiro gained a dull expression on his face.
"I think the best thing to help you right now is to just skip ahead to the parts where he actually is working out and set goals for yourself. Start drinking a lot more water and write down how much push-ups and curl-ups you were able to do in a log. Gradually build more and more on top of that as the days go by." Maka speculated.
"Alright then, guess I'm going to have to invest in some dumbbells and start doing some morning workouts before school starts." Hiro replied.
The next hour and half went by quickly and by the time it was 4:45 pm, Maka realized she needed to hurry home before Soul began to wonder where she was.
"Don't forget I'm going to quiz you next week Maka!" Hiro bellowed to Maka from his patio as he watched her run out his doors and back onto the streets.
'Yeah, yeah; that's the least of my problems right now!' Maka thought as she ran as fast as she possibly could back to her home.
~X~
"You look like you just ran a marathon." Soul mentioned as the two sat down eating dinner.
"Yeah, field practice went on a bit longer than normal so I'm still a bit tired from it." Maka lied. In reality as soon as she had gotten home, she had tried to practice even more her saxophone and ended up out of breathe. She was just lucky Soul had returned back to the apartment at about 5:20 pm so she was able to at least hide her sax under her bed and get a drink of water to try and regain her energy.
"Well don't overdo, after all you don't have me around to make sure you don't go fainting in the middle of the field." Soul teased causing Maka to huff and look away in embarrassment.
"I'll be fine Soul, but I do appreciate your concern for me." Maka stated warmly, smiling even more when she noticed him try to hide his own reddening cheeks by looking off out the window.
The rest of the evening remained pretty uneventful and after saying goodnight to each other, Maka headed off back to her room to get ready for bed.
Maka carefully opened back up her saxophone and beamed at in appreciation. 'I may still not know how to play this instrument very well, but someday hopefully I'll be able to play this sax as well as Soul is able to play his piano.' Maka thought dreamily before closing it back up and heading to bed.
A/N: Feedback is always appreciated let me know how you think the story is going so far and thanks for reading as always.