Chapter 3: Brave Heart

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anything except Tomoko. The song to play in the background for this chapter would be Animenz Piano Sheets' rendition of Brave Heart from Digimon Adventure. Tomoko doesn't directly play the song here, but it fits the mood.

…Well, to bring you up to speed, I just recently found out that I'm a natural at playing piano from memory. What does that mean exactly? I'm not really sure how to put it into a few simple words, but I'll do my best.

Somehow, when touching that lovely grand piano sitting smack dab in the middle of my new family's cafe, I was able to play the entirety of Ventus's theme from Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep just from my memories of hearing the song over and over.

If I didn't lose you just now, then hooray! You get a hug!

But yeah. Apparently, in my new life, my skills in the piano significantly improved to where I unconsciously knew which key to press at the right time.

Anywhere else, I would be considered a prodigy. Heck, even my new parents seemed to think about my new ability in this way.

But I didn't. If anything, my piano skills was just a byproduct of my reincarnation. It's not really anything outstanding — I just played songs from my old life as well as the experts who handled that sort of thing for all of their lives. Right now, it felt like I was a copycat with barely any originality since I was just mimicking the playing styles of the other pianists I had heard in the 18 years I had before. I have a feeling that if you tried to put music sheets in front of me, I would still see it as black dots lining the pages and not for the beautiful music it's supposed to be.

But still — I had this ability anyway. And what was I supposed to do with it in a world where it's kill, be killed, or try to avoid it all and survive?

Despite my thoughts, Mom and Dad quickly began to talk to each other in soft, hushed voices behind the counter, glancing at me every now and then. Even though I couldn't fully hear what they were saying due to my age as a 3 year old, I could tell that they were talking about me and my new piano skill.

A small part of me was hoping that they knew what to do to help me make a decision with my life.

Soon enough, Dad came over to me, kneeling to my height (which was a little taller due to the piano bench) and looking at me in the eye. "Tomoko-chan, could you play that song again?"

I blinked. "Sure, but why? A-am I in trouble, Daddy?"

My new father immediately shook his head, brown hair whipping his face. "Of course not, sweetie!" he said fiercely, hand reaching out to rest on my head. "Mommy and Daddy just want to see you play a bit."

Despite my teenage mind, my childish instincts didn't really question Dad's words, immediately touching the keys and playing the theme of the blonde boy wielding the power of wind. The music once again came naturally to me, and my memory vividly recalled every note that was supposed to be played. It was only 3 minutes in the outside world, but to me, it felt like I was immersed in the emotion of the song itself, feeling Ven's suffering and kindness all at once.

Once my small hands pressed the last key, I turned to look at Dad again. It was at this moment that I really got to see my new Dad for who he was, because I never really took notice of it during my crying toddler days. For once, a thoughtful expression was on his face, chin stubble somewhat furrowed from his intense look. The two-toned brown mop of hair on his head complimented the bright brown of his eyes, exposing small hints of red and green in the orbs.

Even though he was only thinking, my childish side got the better of me. "Wh-What's the matter, Daddy? D-Did I do something wrong?" Small bits of tears got into my eyes, and it was at this point Dad started to focus on me again, expression morphing into one of gentle concern.

"Oh, Tomoko," Dad smiled softly, picking me up from the tall piano bench to sit on his lap, tucking my head under his chin. "You didn't do anything wrong. Daddy's just surprised that you inherited the family's love for music so early."

Family?

Did that mean that my new piano ability was genetic?

I squirmed a little in Dad's hold to look at him. "Does that mean Mommy and Daddy play something too?"

"Yeah, we do. That's one of the reasons why Mommy and Daddy have this cafe here, see?" He gestured to the inside of our home with a flourish, a cheerful grin on his face. "Music helps everyone relax, whether it's ninja or our neighbors. We make the world a little brighter, you know?"

His response really triggered some old nostalgia for me and I couldn't help but grin happily back. "Yeah!" It was at this point that Mom walked over, carefully sitting down next to Dad and smiling at me.

"Tomoko-chan, by chance, do you want to play the piano with us? You can help out more at home if you want to."

I didn't even have to think over my answer. Because when you think about it, as a kid in a world filled with ninjas, what was the better choice?

Going to the Academy to learn how to kill? Or learning more about the piano, my old friend from my previous life, and using that skill to help out in the cafe — reaching out to more people?

Considering my athletic skill in my past life, where the most I did was bike 40 miles, and the distinct lack of chakra in the air, to me, anyways, it wasn't even a question at that point.

"I wanna play, Mommy!"

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