Royal Gambit

VII

An the least, that was what he tried to convince himself as he fell asleep. 

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His first class the following morning was Music, taught by Fukukado-Sensei. Shoto soon discovered that it was not so much a class in the sense that there was a teacher who guided the students through various time periods and discussed the prominent musicians of the time, but rather a class in which students had free range of instruments and could practice what they wished. It was rather different than what he was used to, having to memorise composers from centuries ago and perform their most famous works on a variety of instruments, and he took the time to socialise with his classmates. According to Jirou the class was assessed via a small performance with the teacher at the end of the term, but it was graded in terms of enthusiasm and passion rather than the level of one's musical technique. 

Accompanying him in this lesson were Jirou, Bakugou, Yaoyorozu and Tsuyu. He was quick to discover that Jirou and Bakugou were talented in the musical department, Jirou with her ability to play a variety of guitars and Bakugou on the drums. According to Tsuyu, Jirou was hoping to get a scholarship to the top music university in Japan, and with further encouragement on the topic she told them that her parents were also passionate about music but due to financial concerns they could not promote their careers as well as they wished. Jirou assured him that she was following her own path and not simply fulfilling the wishes of her parents, and that it was one of her encouragements to make them proud. 

"I think with your level of ability there will hardly be a decision to make." Shoto told her honestly. "I have never seen someone play the guitar with such skill."

Tsuyu grinned when Jirou turned around to hide her blushing face, Yaoyorozu offering her a bottle of water. Perhaps he was too blunt with his compliment? He was going to retract his statement if it meant making his classmate feel better, but soon enough Jirou offered a shy smile and thanked him for the encouragement. 

"The exam is really difficult to pass," she confessed, playing absent-mindedly with the wire of her earphones, "but I'm gonna try my best." Seeing how determined Jirou was despite her shy nature made Shoto feel motivated in a way, but he was not sure in which direction to send that motivation towards. 

For Shoto, he never really had a choice but to follow in his family's footsteps, it was what had been expected from him from birth. It was something he never questioned, for how could he want any other life than the one he was blessed to receive, where he needed nothing and could ask for anything? And yet as he grew older his curiosities had grown also, and now he had a glimpse of the world outside the glass cage he had grown up in he was not sure which side he wished to live on. 

"Are you alright?" Yaoyorozu asked from his side, sending him a small smile. "You seem lost in thought."

"I am quite alright, thank you. I have many things to contemplate, it seems." He confessed, yet kept the subject of his wandering thoughts to himself. 

"Well, if you want a distraction, how about you help me practice this piece?" Jirou asked. "You're really good on the piano, and I want to nail this as one of my pieces for the audition."

"How long have you been preparing for the audition? Is it not still many months away?" He inquired as he sat down at the piano, laying out the sheet music for the third composition of Takashi Yoshimatsu's Pleiades Dances. 

"I've been working towards this audition for years. It's the one dream I'm gonna achieve no matter what." 

The lesson passed with Shoto working through the composition with Jirou, discussing the changes in rhythm and the various accents of the piece, where to play pianissimo and where to switch to vivante. It was an interesting discussion for both of them, for when Shoto was at home none of his siblings had taken a passion for music in the same way he had. Touya, whilst having a passion for music that sounded like someone intended to scream a permanent headache into your skull, was not as talented on the electric guitar as he wished. And although Shoto himself did not have as much time as he would like to practice, his instruments sometimes in their cases for weeks at a time, that passion remained whenever he found a new enthralling piece or a song with lyrics that captured his full attention. Soon he would have to start thinking about the piece he wished to perform for his final assessment. 

"You know," Jirou began as they began to pack away to attend their next class, "I could always send you some of my own playlists. A variety of genres and even some movie soundtracks which I think capture the essence of the films the best, ya know?"

Shoto paused for a moment, once again in awe at the unexpected kindness of one of his classmates, who expected nothing of him in return. 

"I would like that very much," he bowed his head in gratitude.

"Cool." She grinned. "Let's eat lunch together, okay?" And then she waved, heading to the classroom door and disappearing into the corridor beyond. 

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"And this one is really new, a big contrast to the giant scores of someone like Zimmer. She's actually a pop artist, but her song gives you the same range of emotions as watching the film itself."

True to her word, Jirou found Shoto in the cafeteria and they found an empty table to eat at, large enough for some of their other classmates to join them if they wished. Tokoyami, another lover of music and with a similar taste to Touya as he quickly discovered, was equally open in recommending songs of his own to Shoto. Whilst he knew it was rather risky of him to talk about his family, he could not help but talk with Tokoyami about Touya, trying his best to describe the artists that his brother enjoyed listening to so that he could get the most suitable recommendations. It made him rather excited, and he knew his brother would appreciate the gesture. Well, he hoped he would, Shoto just had to make sure the songs he sent were the best.

Jirou was currently creating a playlist with some of her favourite movie soundtracks, and Shoto could only nod along and put on the pretence that he knew what movies she was talking about when in reality he had hardly watched a single one of them. He did not want to appear un-cultured or strange for not watching these films when it seemed many of them were famous internationally. Instead, he thanked her for taking the time to make these playlists for him, he did not know how to do so himself, and took note of the current song Jirou was recommending.

"I don't know why," she paused for a long moment, deep in thought as her gaze wandered over him, and Shoto too paused in his eating to return the undivided attention, "but I feel like there is more to you than meets the eye. Somehow," she paused once more, humming what sounded like a range of musical notes as she tried to formulate the right words, "it's like there is something you're holding back."

"You have entered a forbidden garden," Tokoyami spoke, his tone somewhat ominous, making Shoto's chest tighten, "and you have to decide between running blindly into the darkness or running atop broken glass." 

Silence lay heavily between them, Shoto unable to look away from Tokoyami who somehow seemed to have the ability to see into the deepest parts of his soul. Whether he knew it or not, whether he was recalling lines from a poem or from the genius of his own mind, he had chosen just the right words in a way that made it feel like his breath had turned cold. His slow and shaky release was covered by Jirou laughing.

"What poetry cult are you obsessed with this time?" she asked, shaking her head before scrolling through her phone with one hand and eating with the other.

Tokoyami said nothing, he too returning to his own meal. Noting the song Jirou had set up on his phone, he put on his headphones and pressed play. Immediately the tone of the singer caught his attention, and as the song passed the lyrics brought up in him emotions from long ago, from a time when footsteps slipped between shadows and tears would fall atop his books late at night. Perhaps he had found his song.