Chapter 15: Music room

"Yeah, I think she's shy." Shouko voiced out her opinion.

"Still, I think she's your secret admirer Uesugi. I think your music attracted her to you." Haruma smirked.

"Maybe...well, should we confront her? It would be annoying if she continues listening from outside, and would make us feel bad as well." I asked. I needed to find a reason to talk to her and start curing her disease. I can't save everyone in this world, but since I had the capability to save three people, I would gladly do so.

"I don't mind, I'm just there to ask you for help for my homework or to listen to you play only while enjoying the air-conditioner." Haruma casually said. He didn't care about most things unless it was related to his friends or family.

"Yes! She seems pretty lonely if she would follow us everyday just to listen to you playing. Plus, I'm also curious about her, she seems to be studying in this school yet we rarely notice her." Shouko said while smiling brightly.

'What a kind angel!' I thought to myself. I still haven't sorted out my feelings for Shouko yet. Do I see her as a friend, a girl or a sister?

'Sigh, let nature take its course then.' I didn't want to rush things, we were only twelve after all.

"Alright, let's talk to her later after school." I decided as they agreed.

*************

After the bell rang, we packed our bags before leaving for the music room.

On the way there, we saw Raiha and Yuzuru surrounded by many people. Seeing this sight made me smile, Raiha didn't have many close friends apart from Yuzuru, whom she sees as a sister. Seeing her surrounded by many potential close friends, made my heart warm.

We just stood at a corner while waiting for them to finish their conversations. Raiha was talking to her friends when she suddenly saw me out of the corner of her eyes, she shouted as she ran towards us,"Onii-chan! Onee-chan! And Kobayashi-senpai?"

"Raiha-chan! How was your first day of school?" I asked as I petted her head.

"Yuzuru-chan! Did you make new friends today?" Shouko, who was by my side asked as well while Haruma just stood by the side watching us with an amused smile.

"Today was fun! We made many new friends!" Raiha grinned happily as she enjoyed my petting. Yuzuru looked towards us with envy in her eyes, but Shouko noticed this as she also petted her head, causing Yuzuru to smile happily as well.

"Alright, we're going to the music room now. We will remain there until about four to five pm, do you want to follow us or stay with your friends?" I asked them.

"Music room? I want to go with you onii-chan! I want to check your songs and see if they're as good as onee-chan said." Yuzuru hurriedly replied, as if afraid that I would go back on my word.

"Me too! Me too!" Raiha agreed as well.

I looked at them and wondered why they were so excited to follow us to the music room. It wasn't as if I was going anywhere special. Nonetheless, I didn't mind their excitement and together with Shouko and Haruma, we brought them to the music room after our sisters said their goodbyes to their friends.

After a few minutes of walking, we reached the music room. I opened the door, and the distinct smell of the music room wafted into our noses. It wasn't a very pleasant smell, but it was not very bad either. It smelled of oil, wood and metal. I don't know why, but even though the smell was present, I enjoy being here. Maybe it was because of my Grandmaster proficiency in piano and advanced proficiency in music that I enjoy anything related to music.

As we put our bags down in one corner, Raiha and Yuzuru looked around the room. Today was the first day in a new school, so they didn't have time to explore much of the school.

The music room was on the first floor, next to the school field. It wasn't very huge, but it was still big considering that we're still in elementary school. In the middle of the room stood a grand piano, along with its wooden chair. The windows were closed, and with the air-conditioner turned on, cool and gentle wind could be felt. White translucent curtains hung down from the windows, not fully blocking off all the sunlight that was shining through the window, allowing us to see the scenery outside.

Sitting by the side were various instruments that were taught in elementary school including the recorders, flutes, violas, snare drum, bass drum and so on and so forth. They were neatly arranged according to their group, woodwinds or percussion. On the opposite side of where the instruments were, there was a table for six people to sit comfortably.

After they finished looking around, Raiha and Yuzuru turned their heads and looked at me expectantly. Chuckling at their gaze, I placed down my bag on the table before moving towards the piano in the centre of the room.

Adjusting myself on the seat to find a comfortable position to play, my hand reached for the keys and played the first note. I decided not to sing as I wanted us to relax just playing a peaceful melody.

Meanwhile, Shouko, Haruma and our sisters sat down on the chairs and looked at me, waiting impatiently for me to start, or at least Raiha and Yuzuru looked at me impatiently.

I was scanning through all the piano songs that were ingrained into my brain by the system last year when I realised that the classical songs that were present in my previous life also exist here.

Choosing a song to start playing, I started...

{BGM: River flows in you by Yiruma} (A/N Btw it's like my first time writing this sort of stuff. So give me feedback on how to improve because I have no idea how to write a scene about playing the piano.)

I played the entire song with some improvisation, and increased the entire duration from five minutes to fifteen minutes, allowing for a much longer time for relaxation. After I finished playing the song, I turned around, only to see a beautiful scene. Haruma was closing his eyes and relaxing, Shouko was closing her eyes as well, and leaning on her were Raiha and Yuzuru, who seemed to have fallen asleep. They must have been tired from their first day of school.

Smiling, I took in the scene and memorised it. I would remember this scene for a long time. However, something caught my attention from the door as I was enjoying their sleeping faces. Turning around, I saw that the door was ever slightly open, just enough for me to see who was on the other side.

I quietly walked towards the door and opened it, causing whoever that was leaning on the other side to stumble forward.

She quickly recovered before falling to the ground, and brushed her blond hair to the side, revealing her pale indigo eyes and slightly red cheeks. We looked at each other awkwardly without saying anything, leaving silence hanging in the air for a minute before she spoke up.

"Um...good afternoon?"