2 Ch. 2: Kinder Than Anyone Else

"By the way, what was it that your parents told you, Sora-chan?" AZKi asked at the group's usual round table in the library.

"Oh, that!" the thought seemed to have slipped from Sora's mind, "They enrolled me in piano lessons."

"Ooh, piano lessons!" Suisei smiled, "That's great!"

"Yeah, I'm actually pretty happy about it," Sora smiled back, "My teacher is actually a student here. He's in our homeroom, AZKi."

"Huh? Who is it?" AZKi asked.

"His name's Mochizuki Satoshi. He's got pinkish hair, do you remember him?" Sora replied.

"Ah, Satoshi-kun, I remember him," AZKi nodded, "Wasn't he gone from school for a few weeks?"

"Huh? Really?" Sora didn't remember anything like that, but it's always possible she just forgot. She was what you'd call a bit of an airhead, after all.

"I think I remember hearing something like that, too," Suisei piped in, "I think the official reason was family matters?"

"Hmm…" Sora thought about what Satoshi had said before.

'My family's got some debts to pay off, and I'm talented, so why not help out a bit, right?'

Were the two things perhaps related?

"You alright there, Sora-chan?" Suisei waved a hand in front of the brown-haired girl's face. She blinked and shook her head, smiling off her thoughts.

"Oh no, it's nothing," Sora lied and looked to change the subject, "So when's your next show, AZKi?"

...

It had been two weeks since Satoshi started coming to Sora's home and teaching her on the family's grand piano every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She was happy to finally see it getting some use, as it usually wound up simply gathering dust in their living room. But she found herself paying attention to Satoshi more than the lessons at hand.

Over time, she got a good understanding of what the boy was like. He was very formal and treated his peers with utmost respect, but he was also quite indecisive and even clumsy at times. He was, however, very kind and always paid attention to the things around him. But the biggest thing that she noticed was his passion. She could tell that Satoshi loved the piano with all his heart, and that he was ecstatic to have someone to teach it to. She took mental note of this as piano lessons continued.

...

It was after school, and Sora was cleaning up around the classroom. As she took an eraser and began wiping the scattered equations off of the chalkboard, a familiar boy slid open the door to the class.

"Hi, Sora-chan," he waved, "Mind if I help out a bit?"

"Oh, Satoshi-kun," Sora greeted and looked over at a stack of books, "I was going to grab a stool to put those away, but you could put them away since you're taller than me."

"Understood," Satoshi nodded and grabbed a few books from the stack and put them up on the top shelf of a nearby bookshelf. The two cleaned in silence for a short while, but eventually the task was finished and they turned to each other.

"So why'd you come over?" Sora asked him.

"Well, I was hoping we could walk to your place together," Satoshi explained.

"H-huh?" Sora's face flushed a light pink, "Why-why's that?"

"Is there any reason why not?" Satoshi asked, his face clearly confused.

"There's not, but…" Sora stammered for a moment.

"I mean, that's what friends do, right?" Satoshi asked, "Not that I've had many, but…"

Sora was pretty surprised by the remark. He considered her a friend? And that final bit… so he's a loner…

"...Yeah. Yeah, you're right," Sora beamed, "Let's go, Satoshi-kun."

The two grinned at each other and left the room. She didn't know about Satoshi, but… she felt oddly content.

...

Sora reached for her backpack and grabbed her keys. She fiddled with the lock for a bit and entered the living room. Sora sat down on the piano bench and Satoshi searched through his backpack and revealed a small book of simple sheet music.

"Alright, today we're gonna be trying out some basic songs," Satoshi instructed, "I assume you've got your chords down?"

"Yep," Sora nodded, "Let's get to playing!"

Satoshi grinned and flipped the book to a small song. He rested it on a small piece of wood above the keys and Sora took a look at it. It seemed to be a piano cover of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Sora confidently looked down at her keys.

"You remember how to read sheet music, right?" Satoshi asked for reconfirmation.

"You bet," Sora nodded.

"Then let me hear you play," Satoshi smiled warmly. Sora took a deep breath and began to play. It was a little slow at first, but she eventually picked up speed.

Twin-kle-Twin-kle-Lit-tle-Star… How-I-Won-Der-What-You-ARE-

Sora had accidentally messed up. The girl frowned, but was reassured when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up to see the salmon-haired boy flashing a grin.

"It's alright, it happens to everybody sometimes," Satoshi said, "What matters most is that we try again when we fail, right?"

"...You're right," Sora agreed, getting her fingers into position once again, "Are… are you sure I can do this…?"

"I'm positive. You're the best student I've ever had, Sora-chan," Satoshi claimed before putting his hand on his neck and chuckling sheepishly, "Granted, you're the only one."

Sora giggled and began playing once again. Whenever she hit a correct note, her face lit up with excitement and happiness. Satoshi looked at her face, his eyes gleaming as she continued the song.

Up-A-bove-The-World-So-High… Like-A-Dia-mond-In-The-Sky…

It wasn't long before Sora was finished with the song. Satoshi gave a quiet round of applause while Sora felt like she would burst with joy.

"I did it!" Sora cheered.

"I'm proud of you, Sora-chan," Satoshi praised. For some reason, Sora felt strangely happy when she received the compliment.

"Thank you for teaching me!" Sora's wide smile was replaced by a confused and concerned expression, "Wait… since you're my teacher and I'm your student… Hold on! I should've been calling you 'sensei' this whole time!"

"Wait, huh?" Satoshi was even more confused than Sora.

"I'm sorry, Satoshi-sensei!" Sora clapped her hands together and bowed. She almost looked as if she were about to cry.

Satoshi was… so lost.

"You… don't need to call me that…?" Satoshi tried to calm her down.

"B-but, you're my teacher! It's respectful!" Sora persisted.

"I might be your teacher, sure," Satoshi reasoned, "But I'm your friend first and foremost. Keep calling me Satoshi-kun. It makes me… kind of happy."

Satoshi's friendly grin broke through Sora's concerned exterior. His infectious smile made its way to Sora's face and she nodded.

"Whatever you say, Satoshi-kun," Sora said.

...

Satoshi had already left the house, but Sora was still practicing the piano. She was lost in her thoughts, replaying Twinkle Twinkle Little Star over and over again.

'Friend… he thinks I'm his friend…'

'I consider him a friend too…'

'It shouldn't make me feel this way…'

'Why does it make me so happy whenever he says it, then…?'