Music Contest: Second Part

It has been a while since her last concert, approximately three months, her quirk didn't awaken yet, so she probably won't get one, just what she needed in this hard-life. It didn't happen much in these three months she learned her subjects and is now able to perform on the level of a fourth grader kid. She made massive improvements in her play with the piano during these months, the side quest really helped, but she still didn't manage to break down the big wall, which disappointed here, she really wondered what behind there was.

Anyways a couple of months passed and the Asian pianist contest is just around the corner.

"Akane, did you pack your performance dress yet?"

"Yes, I did!"

The dress she was going to perform in was a white, glittery, formfitting summer dress that had a long tippet covering her shoulders, and arm-length white gloves to cover her arms, her entire body would be covered in that dress, radiating a pure aura. She would wear normal shoes with white tights under her dress, nobody would know that she didn't wore high heels.

She finished packing her things and went down the stairs.

"Young Akane, are you prepared to play on the continental stage? People might have changed with the way of their music, but that doesn't mean that they don't have their own talents, I just hope that you didn't get haughty, just by sweeping a country level competition."

"Teacher Salieri, you are seriously underestimating my will, I finally managed to break down a wall, improving my pianist skill to the next level, it might not be my main goal that I broke through, but I still did a breakthrough regardless."

"Care to show me?"

"Gladly."

Akane performed twinkle, twinkle little star for Angelo again, it didn't really feel any different, Akane portrayed the same amount of emotion, just as three months ago, but her skill in playing the instrument increased, she hit the notes better, paced it better, synced her hands better together, she played it with more confidence than before, making it sound more refined. The improvements impressed Angelo, so he started clapping, along with the rest of her family.

"Rumi, why are you here?"

"What? I just wanted to say goodbye to my favorite kid, can't I?"

"You two really understand each other well, huh?"

""Yeah, we do!""

"Huh, I am not going to see my cute daughter for two weeks, how sad."

"You are worrying too much mommy."

"Am I though? You could be kidnapped during your stay in Russia for all I know."

"You really don't have to worry about that mommy!"

"And what makes you say that?"

Akane pulled three tickets out of her pocket, surprising everyone, but Angelo.

"I have a third ticket to bring someone alongside me, and who in the world would be a better bodyguard than Japans fifth ranked hero Mirko?"

Everyone started to stare at the Rabbit hero, making her uncomfortable.

"Me? But we barely know each other, why wouldn't you bring your aunty Etsuko with you, she is the tenth ranked hero Lotus, I am sure she is a good bodyguard too!"

"She might be, but at the end of the day I in truth know you longer than her and I am a quality person, so why not choose the better option?"

"Fine I am coming with you, but don't complain later on."

"Of course, aunty Rumi."

"Aunty!"

"Hoh, she got you again Mirko, aren't you kind of easy to tease?"

"Shut up Akasuki, that's only with her!"

"She sure is cheeky."

"Yeah, you are right, Etsuko."

"Aunty Rumi, huh, maybe you should marry into our family, then you could be aunty Rumi for real."

In the blink of an eye Rumi got serious and stopped blushing.

"You serious Fumio?"

Silence, then Akane started to laugh, making everyone laugh too.

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After a long flight Akane reached Moscow, Russia, where the continental competition for pianists is held this year.

Akane opened her eyes for the joke of it and revealed two beautiful deep blue eyes, she truly looked Russian right now with her white hair.

She immediately ran out of the airport, feeling the cold air in her face, she currently wore a fur coat and a fur cap, keeping her warm.

"You think she is going to be ok?"

"Of course, after all she is speaking Russian like a native kid on fourth grade level."

"That is..., that is really impressive, she really is an intelligent child, what kind of heartless parent would abandon her?"

"Make no mistake, her parents didn't abandon her, her mother died after giving birth to her and her father died from overwork one and a half year later after her birth."

"Why, why do you know that?"

"Her mother is in the legal system, she can get this information easily with pulling a few strings, as for me, Ms. Usagiyama, I myself work for the government as a secretary, this is just a part-time job, for me."

The bunny hero nodded.

"By the way aren't you a bit thinly dressed?"

"I can say the same to you Ms. Usagiyama."

"Touché."

Angelo wore the same suit he always wears when he has a music lesson and Mirko had her hero outfit on, both of them were dressed way too thin for the weather, but both of them didn't care.

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The three of them reached their hotel room after a while, upon reaching it Akane immediately jumped into her bed and relaxed in it, hotel beds just had a certain charm.

"Akane can I ask a question?"

"What is it Mirko?"

"Are you really blind?"

"Didn't we have this conversation already?"

"No, I mean, your eyes aren't the eyes of a blind person, they have a deep and strong color and not the usual faded grey of a blind person."

"Rumi."

"Yes?"

"Look me into the eyes."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

"Fine."

And so, the rabbit heroes looked into her eyes, realizing that they don't reflect.

"Oh, so it's like that, sorry I spoke about that topic again."

"Rumi, I want to test something."

"If I can help, I'll gladly do."

"Did my eye color change?"

"What? Akane are you teasing me again, if yes, you should know that something of this level would get me flustered."

"Did my eye color change?"

"You know that, that isn't possible - without a - quirk."

She observed how Akanes' eye color slowly changed from deep blue to a bright yellow, almost golden even.

"How did you do that?"

"Wait."

Her eye color started to change more fluently, more rapidly with each change, it changed from purple to dark blue, from dark blue to cyan, from cyan to green, from green to yellow/golden, from yellow/golden to orange and from orange to red.

"How do you do that, is that your quirk?"

Akane shook her head.

"I think I could do this for a while now, I think from before I even turned three, I don't know though, I can't see remember."

"Then how do you do that?"

"I think its tied to my emotions, your expression changed along with my changing emotions."

"Ok, then how does red feel?"

"It's difficult to describe, but red feels like a burning fire, strong, powerful, dangerous, if feels like telling me to move on, that there is only one way and that is forward.

"Cyan?"

"A calm sea, ever waiting, telling me that I don't always have to rush, that it is sometimes the wrong choice to do something fast."

"Green."

"Like the sunrays of the sun, warm, nice, comfortable, it tells me that feeling compassion for others isn't the wrong choice, that it is never too late for forgiveness, even for the most disgusting living individual on this planet."

"Dark blue."

"Like the deep ocean, calm, steadfast, never changing, it tells me to always hold onto my ideal, trying to maintain them, without twisting them too much, they can change, but they rarely do, it tells me to always stand behind my ideals, never regretting, never mourning."

"Orange."

"Like the raging wind, moving forward, mowing everything down that stand in its way, never caring for the opinion of others, it feels like it wants to say to me, that I should never backdown, that I should stand bravely in the face of my adversaries.

"Purple."

"Like the space, infinite, mysterious, informative, it tells me to always think, that there always is a satisfying a result for me.

"Yellow."

"Like a boulder, no a mountain, that there is always one right thing to do, that I should always do it, regardless of my feelings or emotions, that I must stand there for them unmoving, unyielding."

Rumi didn't know what to say to that, that was a lot of information she just got from the girl.

The girl climbed down from her bed again, turning her eyes deep blue again.

"Thank you, Rumi, you made me understand myself a lot better, I'll see you tomorrow, where I'll sweep the contest again."

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"Welcome again to the Asian pianist competition in Moscow, Russia, we are at the semi-finals of the bracket round, where..."

Akane yawned, it has been one week since the start of the competition and no real challenge appeared until now, she was disappointed to say the least, improving alone was lonely, not having a challenge was boring, she wanted to feel the thrill of chasing, not being chased.

"Akane, don't let your guard down yet"

"Why? Will the next one be a danger to my victory?"

"No not that one, but the other one in the other half of the semi-finals is dangerous, Anastasia Yerokhin might prove to be a challenge for you."

"Then I am excited for tomorrow, I don't want to scout her skills out, I want to be surprised."

"I think you should overthink that."

"Speak of the devil, we are barely talking about my potential rival and she already is standing behind me."

"Rival? You are not worthy..."

"Seriously, you are that kind of person? Let me tell you something, I. Don't. F*cking. Care. What you think about me. For all I know about you, which is nothing, is that you are at best going to make me use my 69%, which is a whole lot compared to the other idiots I played against, you are probably trying to make me lose my composure, so I play at an abnormal level, sorry, but I must disappoint you, once I am sitting in front of a piano, there is only me and it. Now excuse me, I have to sweep up a semi-finalist, please provide me at least with a bit of a challenge."

Akane walked away after her rant, letting Anastasia stand there in silence until she turned around.

"Hmpf, I think I have an interesting opponent tomorrow."

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(Yann Tiersen - Amelie | Comptine d'un autre été, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZUZKgAvLdQ)

"Hello young Akane, finally decided to show up?"

"She is an interesting opponent."

"What makes you think that?"

"Her quirk, it enhances her sense of touch, making it a double edged sword, one thing is that she could experience a breakdown due to sensory overload, the other thing is that it gives her a better feeling for the keys, making it easier for her to do the things I just newly learned to improve."

"So, you think she is going be a challenge for you?"

"She is going to make me use my 50%, I give her that much, but for the sake of my own satisfaction, I am going to give it my all."

She started to walk downstairs upon these words, she is going to show the girl what it means to refuse her politeness.

Anastasia walked down from the stage, she performed exceptionally today, she was sure of that, the moment she stepped down the other girl walked up the stage, sitting down in front of the instrument.

"Let's see if you can hold your promise from yesterday."

(Tetris theme/Korobeinki, symphonic metal cover by Falkkone, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfuxwAAEi8g)

The girl started to play the instrument in a relaxed manner, building up to the main part, she started slowly, making everyone excited, anxious about when she finally would start to with the main part. The next thing that happened surprised Anastasia, Anastasia couldn't believe what the girl was playing, she really couldn't believe what she saw in front of her. The girl played Korobeiniki! A Russian piece written in 1861, a famous piece that the entire world knew about, but doesn't actively know that it knows, this piece got famous in the year 1984, by a certain game that was produced by a Japanese concern.

Akane played the main theme of Tetris! She played it with a passion the girl couldn't believe was possible, she played this theme solely for the reason to defeat her, she played this theme to show her who the better pianist is, she played it with a wild passion that wanted to defeat her in every way possible.

The next moment she knew, Anastasia was suddenly in a death cage, alone, with nobody in sight, then suddenly a bear drops in, scaring her, but the bear doesn't move, it just stood there silently, then almost above her dropped an eagle, she dodged it by a hairs breath, she dodged dozens upon dozens of unmoving animals ready to crush her if she wasn't careful, then suddenly the pressure let up, giving her breathing room, giving her time to catch her breath again, she thought it was over, until it came with full force back, she dodged in that place for what felt like hours, not realizing that she slowly got caged in, than the big finale came and she was crushed by one of the animals, the last thing she saw was the smug visage of the girl.

With the ending of the theme the vision ended and the girl was in the concert hall again, sweating buckets, not believing what she just heard. The girl was on another level if she could convey such strong emotions with her piece, she never stood a chance, she thought she had one, she observed each one of her enemies, searches for their strengths and weaknesses, this time she concentrated on the girl Seigi Akane, 'she was good' was her first impression, 'but not as good as me'.

Oh boy was she wrong, she thought she could win and ended with a crushing defeat.

The girl stood in front of her, smiling.

"Good Game."

She said, extending her hand, Anastasia grabbed, and replied with a smile.

"Yes, Good Game."

She knew when she lost.