Blues on the Canvas

3.5

June 26th of 2016

Hanae was still sleeping peacefully on her bed so Yusuke decided to take a shower. When he finished, he saw the girl hugging her knees on the bed, lost in her thoughts. He approached closer and she turned to face him wide-eyed, slightly startled by the bandages placed on her legs.

"Oh um hi Yusuke, thanks for carrying me back, you should sleep, we have school tomorrow!" she said with a faint smile, she stood up and headed to the toilet, only for Yusuke to grab her wrist gently.

"Explain yourself first, why are there scars all over your legs?" Yusuke asked, a hint of anger evident in his voice. Hanae paused and turned back to face him. 

"Let me shower first, I'll tell you later..."

Yusuke nodded and released her wrist, letting the girl dash to the toilet. He stood in the middle of the room, his eyes fixated on the toilet door and waiting for it to open.

Once it did, she stepped out in her pyjamas. She looked at him and gestured for him to sit on his bed as she made her way to her own. Fiddling with her fingers, she averted her gaze from his narrowing eyes. 

"I apologise if you're feeling any discomfort Hanae, but I need to know why you're scarred all over." Yusuke started, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, peering at the girl closely.

"It's not too major of a problem..." she replied, trying to make a decision internally. Was she to release her secrets? Or was she to keep them hidden? She wasn't sure, but decided to tell a bit of the truth. "You um, remember Kamoshida-?"

"That bastard of lust?"

"Yes..."

"What did he do to you?"

"My father hired him to teach me volleyball and tennis back then, but never knew about his real intents, to abuse and harass minors...but at least he's gone."

Yusuke frowned even more, frustration brewing in him. At least the man was in jail. But her words didn't explain the newly appeared scars.

"Then what of the newer scars?"

"Oh those! I just fell down on a rocky path while carrying something heavy!"

Yusuke paused, her smile was so genuine, he didn't think she would be lying, but he knew there was something off. 

"Then what of your swollen face?"

"That was a mosquito bite, it's gotten much better though."

He stared at her, not buying her words. Knowing that the conversation would not get anywhere, Yusuke sighed and said good night to her, then proceeded to cover himself with the blankets and slept peacefully.

Hanae on the other hand, sat in silence. She couldn't expose her father, not like this. If she had kept quiet for years, there's no way this year will force her to crack.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

The next day, Yusuke went into the palace with the others to steal Kaneshiro's treasure. After that, he went back to the art studio in Kosei to resume his painting.

Akira on the other hand, had plans with Hanae. He headed to Kichijoji and towards the music shop, right next to the bar. Hanae stood outside, listening to music with her red headphones. She noticed him and took them off, waving with a gentle smile.

"The music shop has a room we can use! I asked just now and they're lending it to me for free, are you ready?" she said.

"Yes, let's start."

Hanae took out her music books and placed it on top of the piano, she smiled at Akira and sat on a chair next to the piano stool, gesturing for him to sit.

"Now lets start with the notes on the keyboard, this note here is Middle C, then the keys following it on the right is D, E, F, G, A, B. It then goes back to C. We'll go into sharps and flats later on." she slowly said, pointing at the white keys and letting Akira process. He gave a nod and placed his hands on the notes, though he didn't exactly know what he was doing, he just wanted to look cool. In which Morgana laughed at while peeking out at the bag. Hanae laughed and opened the first page of the book.

"Try playing all these notes, from Middle C to the next C. The key to playing this is that when you reach your third finger on the E, you need to play the next note with your thumb so you won't stumble. I hope that makes sense- I don't remember how my teacher taught me..."

Akira nodded and gave it a try, his proficiency was pretty good already and he managed to play it faster than Hanae expected. She gave a happy round of applause and their lesson continued.

After a hour more, Akira learned all the keys and sharps.

Rank 1: Concentrate

Allows Joker to hear footsteps of shadows beyond a door and identify their strength

+ 2 proficiency points

Just before leaving, Akira asked to listen to her play. Hanae agreed and sat on the stool, Akira sat next to his bag so that he could open up the zipper more for Morgana to see. 

Then she played her favourite piece yet again, 'Claire de Lune'. It was all through muscle memory, yet she played with so much emotion that Akira and Morgana just watched without talking at all.

Hanae felt so free, maybe that was why she played the piano in the first place.