The Mastermind's Lies | Mastermind Shuichi AU

Chapter 18 - Piano

As I was changing myself out of my turtleneck, my mind went back to what Kokichi said earlier. "Don't worry, neither me or anyone else has any intention to talk to you either anytime soon so you can be sure you're going to be alone." I felt sadness weight on my shoulders again.

But I shouldn't feel sad... after all, they're doing exactly what I want them to do. They're avoiding me, and that's for the best.

I will do my best to help them on my own and find out the truth behind all of this mess.

[...]

It's been a few days.

5 days, to be exact; it's Friday today.

The whole week, a different teacher came everyday from 8 to 2 to teach us a particular subject. We were all gathered at the kitchen table and had to listen to their lectures all day long, only getting a small lunch break. More than often, many people got impatient and tried to leave; that mostly included Miu, Kaito, Angie and Ryoma. Kokichi also did it on Monday, but no one noticed until a few minutes later, because of how sneaky he was doing it.

As for me... I just stayed at the far back of the table, listening without asking any questions and basically making myself invisible. Kokichi was right; no one talked to me anymore when I was with them. When I came down to get dinner and lunch, they just stared at me going into the kitchen, not saying a word. I gradually got used to this, telling myself that it would get better one day.

One day.

...

As for my detective work, it was going pretty well.

I'd solved three whole cases this week. One that was about a small robbery in a bakery, another was about a break-in and the last one about a cheating couple situation. They were... exceptionally easy. Everything was so obvious and clear to understand and determine. Maybe the game did also have some effect on my detective skills.

I was just now finishing up my fourth, writing a report to send to Mr. Sero for him to send to the police. It was almost 7 PM, I'd been working on this for 5 hours straight.

I yawned, sending in my report and closing my laptop. I stretched my arms and legs and got up, grabbing my cap and twisting it onto my head.

I'd kept the ponytail look for the last few days, it was pretty nice. It still allowed me to keep my bangs while also having my neck free from all of my long hair.

I opened my door and headed to the kitchen to get myself some food. My stomach was craving for some spaghetti, after smelling the delicious aroma floating in the air yesterday night. They had been trying out quite a lot of foreign dishes recently, and spaghetti was one of those. And gosh was it tempting.

Nobody was home tonight; they'd all gotten permission from the Team to go to a café for dinner. They have been gone for a little less than an hour now, so I still had the house for a few more hours.

With a smile on my face, I got out the pasta from the pantry and boiled some hot water. Cooking pasta was quite easy really, my mom used to cook that pretty often when... when I still lived with them.

I took a deep breath as the memories came floading in my mind. I shook my head lightly. "No no I can't be sad tonight. Not when I can finally eat a proper meal."

I cooked the meat sauce and then made myself a plate. I had done a good amount of it, so I put the leftovers in a plastic container and stored it in the fridge. Hopefully someone would eat the rest.

I sat at the table and ate my spaghetti. When I was done, I felt really good. It tasted exactly like how I expected, it was delicious.

I washed my dishes and as I went back to my room, my eyes suddenly laid on the piano in the living room. It was against the wall of the living room and I could see it from the hallway leading to the stairs.

It's been a while since I played the piano.
"Maybe I could play a little... no one would notice either, they're all out." I walked over to the living room, which I never even got the occasion to use once since I came here, and walked over to the piano.

Multiple piano sheets were scattered on the small table next to it. These were all high difficulty piano pieces; I knew how to play some of them but I wasn't quite able to do them entirely. When I spent my free time with Kaede, she did show me useful tricks she was using when she talked about her concerts... I just wish she could have told me more about all of her shows. I knew it was all fake memories but still, it was nice talking with her.

I didn't dare mess around with her music sheets and just sat down at the piano, opening the heavy lid and placing my hands over the keyboard. I closed my eyes, thinking of something I could play.

My first thought was... Clair de Lune.

It was a good warm up but... it reminded me of the game. I decided to choose another one. I settled on Beethoven's Ode to Joy, one of the first pieces I'd mastered successfully.

My hands automatically placed themselves on the beginning keys and, as if controlled by my thoughts, I began playing.

My fingers danced across the keyboard, controlled by my thoughts. Even after having not playing for months, I didn't feel like I'd lost any of the muscle memory I'd acquired over my life. My body felt 50 pounds lighter and it almost felt like I was floating, as the sweet melody coming from the piano danced around my ears. It felt amazing, it was almost euphoric; like I was on a completely different planet.

After a few minutes, I finally came to the end of the piece. I sighed, feeling my senses come back to me. I remembered why I enjoyed played the piano so much; it was so relaxing, it felt like I was on a cloud.

I decided to play another one, but this time, the piece was a little harder. This was Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu, a piece I'd always wanted to play since I was a little kid. My mom used to play it a lot, but it was a complicated piece, so she never got to teach it to me. I learned to play it when I was 15, I was struggling at that time, but I never gave up and ended up successfully playing it correctly when I turned 17. I remember that day; Kokichi was there, as my well as my uncle and aunt, to celebrate my birthday.

I put my hands back on the keyboard and started playing.

The first part was one of the hardest and I couldn't afford to get lost into my thoughts like I did with the last one.

My hands flew on the keyboard, controlled by my brain. It was hard doing it without any music sheet, but I'd have to work with what I could remember. I did play it almost everyday for two years, so it was pretty much burned into my memory. I missed a few notes, but I was overall proud I'd remembered most of it by heart.

Then, the slower part came. It was soothing and relaxing and I fell back on the cloud Ode to Joy put me on earlier. I definitely needed to come play the piano more often, if only I could do that...

I took a deep breath as the last part of the piece came. Like the first part, it was fast and very quick. Controlled by muscle memory, my fingers once again danced on the large keyboard. And finally, I pressed the final notes, ending the piece.

I sighed, putting my hands on my thighs, arching my back backward to stretch my shoulders. I hesitated on playing another piece, but I decided against it after looking at the time and seeing how late it was. I had to start this new case about an old building burning down.

I stood up from the stool and when I turned around to leave, I was met with the biggest shock.

Maki, Kaito, Kokichi and Kaede stood there, watching me with wide eyes. They were holding mops and buckets of soapy water, completely frozen into place, almost like statues.