Chapter 3: Intermezzo in C major
Bashou and I sit next to each other, him reading poetry, me reading a dissertation on the effects of the British Empire on India during the 1800's. Most people would consider it pretty dry reading, but I enjoy it. Why? Just...because. Don't ask me, please don't ask me. Oh, all right, if you want to know, it's because I get this sneaky little satisfaction from knowing things that most people don't know. Heh. Especially around Leorio.
Sometimes, when no one else is around, I pull out a little book entitled, "Learning how to read music." I sift through it guiltily, although I don't know why I don't want anyone else to know I'm trying to learn how to read notes.
However, even I will get weary of reading every now and then. And so, when the light notes trickle into the room, impulsive, unpredictable, I look up gladly. So does Bashou.
After a little listening, we turn to each other and grin.
Senritsu is up to it again.
"This is a fun piece," Bashou comments as he heaves himself to his feet. I reciprocate his action, and we both walk toward the music.
Ah! Too brief, or else we walk too slow. By the time we enter the room she's playing in, the piece has finished, with a light, whimsical movement at the end.
I walk over to where she is. The mood of the room is considerably lighter than before, obviously the work of the little lady's notes. She looks up at me, almost laughing. "I could hear your heartbeats get more fanciful from the other room," she says.
Bashou, from where he stands, arms crossed, partway across the room, says, "What piece was that, Senritsu?"
"This? Oh, just a little short piece by Brahms," she says. "I kind of like it, myself. It's a little tricky in places," demonstrating the middle section of two-against-three (how does she do that? It's like rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time), "but overall, it's just so delightful that I had to learn it the first time I heard it. Do you like it, Kurapika?"
I grin back at her. "Do me a favor?" I ask, full well knowing she'll comply.
"Yes?"
"Play it again?"
She does, with a little laugh, and Bashou and I both stand there, listening, smiling, him occassionally chuckling, until the last note plays itself away.