Music Contest: Start

It already has been a while since Akane got tutored at home, she improved greatly in each subject, so much so that all of her tutors decided to take it easy with the learning, she could already do everything at a decent third grade level and after all, the child should have a childhood. Months passed and she turned four, her quirk didn't awaken yet, but it was too soon to worry about that, after all she has been four for just about a week.

"Mister Salieri, can I learn a new instrument?"

Hearing this surprised Angelo, this student of his wasn't just eager to learn the piano, but other instruments as well? He thought about it for a moment, but immediately disregarded the idea, she might be an incredible prodigy like Mozart was, the greatest piano prodigy that lived at the same time as his ancestor, but he knew the dangers of spreading yourself too thin on many projects. This happened to him, now he can play multiple instruments at a rather skillful level, but not as good as the top players of the respective instruments.

He really was a jack of all trades, master of none. Something he didn't want to happen with his prodigy student.

"No, not now in any case, you might have mastered the piano to a certain degree, but I can't let your talent go to waste by learning too much, instead you should perfectionate your skill on one instrument. I'll teach you a new instrument if you win in the national piano contest!"

"Mister Salieri."

"Yes."

"Isn't the bar a bit too low? I mean I watched it, but each and every one of these contestants aren't playing at the same level as I do, I am sure of that, I asked my mother and my tutors and they all said in their own ways that I am already better than these people on television."

"Oof."

"Mister Salieri! Are you ok?"

"No, nothing, just forgot that the piano talents today don't hold a candle to the piano talents from the past. I am more than disappointed, to think about it and that you are probably right about that, but who knows, maybe it turns out that there might be someone that could rival you, so let's register you to the regional contest and climb up from there!"

Akane nodded.

"Let's do it, I want to humiliate everyone that thinks I am crappy in playing the piano, just because I am blind!"

"Yeah, let's show them!"

"On a side not, teacher, I have a request."

"What is it, young Akane?"

The girl fidgeted for a moment, before answering.

"You know that, I am blind, and even though I can echolocate things doesn't mean that I can see the details of it. So, I am asking if you could touch your face, it's been a couple of months and I want to know how my music tutor looks like."

"Very well, young Akane, I too think that a student should at least know how their teacher looks, I am trusting you, so don't do silly things with my face."

The girl nodded, seeing this Angelo kneeled down so Akane can reach his face more easily.

Angelo had sharp features, his chin was more developed than that of a female, but it wasn't really angular as her mother described. He had sharp eyes, that were thin and he had a bigger, sharp nose. He had a rather wild hairstyle, but it was well-kept, he had few bangs that went before his eyes and he had a short pigtail that was at his neck.

Akanes's impression of the man would be a rather older man, that was still handsome, he had a kind of 'old-man charm'.

"What color do your hairs have?"

"They are grey with black ends."

"And your eye color?"

"They are red."

(if you can't imagine it, he looks like Antonio Salieri from Fate/Grand Order, in his 2nd ascension outfit.)

"Well are you satisfied already?"

The girl nodded.

"Well, then let's prepare you for your first ever contest, luckily it's just around the corner."

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It's been a few weeks and Akane easily swiped through the preliminary rounds, and the bracket rounds, she was currently at the semi-finals.

Angelo just yawned one big time, he wasn't impressed by the contestants here, they really were just as bad as he thought.

"Well Akane, I would like to give you some encouraging words, but the competition was just one big disappointment and I didn't even hear one decent piece. Akane just promise me, that if you sweep the world stage just the same as here that you won't grow stagnant and always strive to improve, can you promise me that?"

"What are you talking about? The piano is a beautiful instrument, and I haven't reached a level yet that satisfies me, I want to portray emotion with my music, and I haven't reached that level yet. I want to portray what I am feeling to the audience. So, because of that I am far away from giving the piano up!"

Angelo laughed, he was glad that his student had such high ideals for her music, he was just worried that she will never reach that goal, not with that kind of competition.

"Well, go easy on your opponent, we wouldn't want that he will lose the will to walk his pianist way, right?"

The girl chuckled at her teachers' words, he told her to hold back, that wasn't a really competitive mindset, but she could accept that, no one here could even rival her.

"Look Ma, I am going to sweep this competition enter the world stage and brag about that to my friends, after all I am an amazing pianist! I am probably the biggest prodigy since centuries! Hahahahaha!"

Angelo was in a good mood, until he heard that voice, he was already pissed off, he changed his mind.

"Akane, forget the words I just said earlier, I want you to go all out."

"Huh, why so suddenly teacher?"

He kneeled down and pointed at his old disciple.

"Do you see that boy there?"

But before he could say anything more, he noticed that the girl had an incredulous look on her face. for a moment he wondered why his disciple would react that way, but then the answer hit him.

"Are you serious teacher? One would think that you would remember that I can't see anything, considering how frustrated you where with me during the first classes."

Angelo started blushing lightly, even before his star pupil had to remind him. Forgetting something like that, how embarassing for him.

He coughed once to compose himself again, before he started talking again.

One again, Angelo pointed at his old disciple again.

"Well, the boy standing there in the middle of the stage, the one who is boasting loudly about..."

"...how great he is? I guessed as much. So, what is with that arrogant boy?"

For a moment, Angelo had a surprised expression on his face. Akane knew who he meant, but she still scolded him because of that.

What a sly girl she was.

"Well, he was my old disciple, before I started to teach you, and I must say that he is somewhat of a prodigy himself."

The girl gasped.

"And if he was teachers' old disciple AND a prodigy, then that means that he won't be an easy opponent, probably even a challenge, so that's why I should go all out, right teacher?"

"Yes, now go out there, and show him who the better pianist is!"

"Yeah!"

After barely 20 minutes of playing, Akane walked to her teacher, disappointed.

"Teacher, why did you lie to me, that idiot was barely any better than the rest of the competition, I overexerted my hands for nothing now, and you know I have a weak body!"

"I ask for forgiveness, but I told you the truth Akane."

"The truth? That boring guy wasn't even worth my 13 percent!"

"Yes, I lied to you by omitting information, but everything I told you was the truth, he was my disciple, and he is somewhat of a prodigy, but he is lazy as it gets, and has an ego bigger than this hall, I really hated him, every time I came and taught him he just wouldn't listen to me! So please young Akane, forgive me, I didn't mean it bad with you, I just thought that he could have improved massively since I left him."

Akane nodded.

"A lazy prodigy is just as bad as a lazy normal person, the prodigy might improve faster, but if he doesn't move, he won't get anywhere, so you just made me lose a lot of my stamina. I am going to forgive you if you buy me a butterscotch-cinnamon pie after this competition, promise teacher?"

Akane looked at her teacher with puppy eyes, he just chuckled that was the least she deserved.

"Who knows, maybe the finalist is going to be worth your time."

"I highly doubt that."

After they said their sentence both just burst out laughing, this competition really was too easy.

And so Akane cleaned the floor with the finalist, just as everyone else in the regional competition.

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"Mommy! I am home! Look at my gold cup!"

"Yes, yes my cinnamon roll. I saw the competition on tv and really, each and every one was just boring after hearing you play. Wouldn't these competitions normally be about challenging oneself, finding a worthy rival, you could climb up with? But apparently nobody of that caliber was there for Akane."

"Indeed Ms. Seigi, really disappointing."

Angelo gave Fumio the gold cup, it wasn't that big or fancy, you could hold it with one hand and be fine with it, it literally was just a golden metal cup on a black stand with a plate fixated on it, with the name of the winner engraved into the plate. It wasn't really something special.

"Well, luckily I already built a showcase for Akane, so here goes the cup."

She just placed it in the showcase.

"Well, next would be country level competition, right?"

Both the teacher and the student nodded.

"Well, as much as I want to wish you good luck, I just have the feeling that you are going to sweep the competition again, aren't you? "

Akane just had a grin on her face, seeing this Fumio just put her hands together.

"Well anything left to say?"

"I bought a butterscotch-cinnamon pie, for the victory celebration."

"Well then, we should cut and prepare it, right? Afterall my daughter is a regional pianist champion now."

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News report next day:

"Hello to the sports section of our show, today we are talking about Musutafus' pianist competition, we switch to our news correspondent of that, now."

"Hello, glad to see you healthy again. Well as already said, yesterday was the pianist competition if Musutafu and we had a surprising victor, that nobody could have had expected. She wasn't known before, entered and then just swiped the entire competition away like it was nothing."

She inhaled in to get air to talk again.

"I am talking about yesterday's black horse of the competition 'Seigi Akane', she just entered the competition and then won victory after victory, up until the finale, where she won just as easily. Well now begs the question, why nobody expected her to win, it is because she is blind, she can't see the light of day and still won the pianist competition, just like that, isn't that an immense show of willpower?"

"It is, and now to the interview of the other competitioners of the competition."

A certain boy was shown.

"Never again, never again, never again."

"Excuse me, what are you saying?"

"I AM GOING TO ABANDON PLAYING THE PIANO, THERE IS NO WAY I COULD REACH THAT LEVEL, I DON'T WANT TO..."

The television was turned off.

"What a sore loser, doesn't even have the willpower to stand up again after being defeated, pathetic."

"Akane the fresh donuts are getting cold!"

"Coming mommy!"

Akane chuckled, isn't it kind of funny that someone has a metal breakdown, just because they were defeated in playing the piano?