So I decided to include a beautiful piece of music in this chapter that I really loved and thought would fit the mood between the characters with their love of music. The above video is a genderbent cover from the anime, Your Lie in April. I thought it was kind of neat that the reverse versions fit my image of our two main characters (A blonde male violinist and a dark haired female pianist) so I decided to incorporate the cover into the story. Please take the time to check it out, it's absolutely stunning to hear/watch. Please enjoy this somewhat short chapter!
---
Shu's Perspective
I awoke to the sound of someone playing the piano from down the hall. It was the weekend so there was no school this evening. The conciseness of the notes resonated strongly with emotion. I could tell it sounded different than the playing of someone like Laito. There were many subtle differences.
I pulled myself out of bed and traveled to where the grand piano was. As I peered around the corner, I saw Ren seated at the piano, her face stern and focused as she plucked the notes gracefully. When she saw me, she paused and smiled, beckoning me over.
"Shu, good morning," she chuckled before asking, "Have you ever heard this piece of music before?" before handing me a pile of sheet notes for a piece called "Your lie in April medley".
"I've never heard it but judging from this arrangement, it seems it would sound grand. It has many different classical pieces within it," I commented, surveying the key notes.
"Do you think you could sight read it?" she asked, nodding towards the violin that had been sitting in a nearby corner of the room.
"Of course," I smirked while reaching out to pick it up, "I've had lots of practice, after all."
"I'm really fond of it," she smiled shyly before admitting, "I've always wanted to play it with someone else so, I'd be really happy if you played it with me."
She glanced down at the keys on the piano before plunking the first notes to Ballad no.1 in G minor by Chopin before gracefully transitioning into Rondo Capriccioso in A Minor by Saint-Saëns. I raised my violin and strummed my bow gently along the strings, keeping an eye on the sheet music and key notes. The music transcended into original melodies now as I paced myself to be well in time with Ren's playing. She played such an intensity that I fell well in place with her rhythms. We blended well into the peak of the medley as the song slowly came to a slow-paced finish, with just Ren's piano playing.
The song was roughly five minutes but it felt like an eternity playing with her. I wiped some sweat off my forehead and placed my violin on a nearby table. I wasn't really sure what to say. The music had left me somewhat speechless.
"The medley was written for a series in which the main protagonist struggles with hearing his own sound after experiencing trauma. He meets and connects with a lighthearted girl who is a virtuoso on violin whose playing veers off the guidelines of performing traditional classical music. She plays how she feels. In the end, her sound inspires him to overcome his trauma but by then, the girl is already gone. The medley ends on a sullen note, without any more violin. It's beautiful, isn't it?" She explained, as she closed her notebook full of sheet music.
"The roles are reversed, aren't they?" I inquired somewhat off-hand, indicating that she was the pianist and I was the violin virtuoso.
"Yeah, that's true, "she laughed before complimenting, "You followed along very easily. It was like I was playing along with a backing track."
"It wasn't too difficult to follow," I muttered with a shrug before commenting, "It had a power to it though. Can't say I disliked it."
"Glad to hear it," she stated sincerely before she asked, "Would you be interested in playing some other songs with me? I'm in such a unique mood today that I really want to keep this momentum going."
"Only a couple more," I said obstinately before adding somewhat gingerly, "Maybe a scarborough fair piano/violin duet...you can sing along too."
"You're fond of that song, aren't you?" she smiled warmly while agreeing, "I also love that song. To me, it gives off very different emotions depending on the arrangement. I seem to like playing it somewhat lonely."
"Definitely lonely," I agreed, seemingly thinking back to the various times where Kanato sang the song to himself, while staring longingly into the distance. The song had always resonated that feeling for me as well whenever I listened to it.
Ren turned around and placed her fingers back on the keys before playing beginning measures of Scarborough fair. I grabbed my violin and readied myself to play, until she opened her mouth and sang the beginning verse.
This was the first time I had heard her sing up close and with full volume. It startled me just how clear and sweetly she sang. Her eyes gazed humbly into the distance while she poured so much life into each word. Collecting myself, I raised my posture and began to play along side her, without any sheet music. She was doing the same as the song was engraved in our minds.
We continued to lose track of time for the rest of the evening.