Chapter 37: Playing the Zither

"Wait, what did you say your name was?" The girl suddenly dropped her extremely irritated demeanor and asked, looking at Kurohane Ichi, who was dressed in casual clothes.

"Kurohane Ichi. Why? Have you heard of me?" Kurohane Ichi thought about the students whispering about him on the way here; he figured this mature-looking, pretty girl must have heard of him too.

"Heard of you? Are you that famous?" The girl raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat surprised.

"Ah..." Kurohane Ichi wasn't sure if his current situation counted as being famous. Thanks to Matsutani and the others, there were few people who didn't know him now. Oh, right, they had told him to head to the gymnasium. Kurohane Ichi suddenly remembered his errand.

"Forget it, you can go." The girl waved her hand.

"Oh." Kurohane Ichi was about to leave. Without dwelling on why the girl's attitude had shifted so drastically, he turned to head out.

"Close the door on your way out," the girl commanded.

Kurohane Ichi stopped, took two steps back, and reached out to pull the door shut without looking back.

"City girls are really pretty. Their skin is so fair and tender, and I don't know what they put on themselves, but they smell so good. No wonder those uncles were always smiling whenever they came back and talked about the women in the city." Kurohane Ichi wrinkled his nose, muttering to himself as he walked out of the arts building.

"Hey." A head poked out from the third floor.

"Are you calling me?" Kurohane Ichi looked up at the girl leaning out of the window.

"Yes, come up." The girl gestured for him to come.

"What for?" Kurohane Ichi found this self-centered girl quite baffling.

"I said come up, so come up. Don't waste time," the girl ordered again.

"I..." Kurohane Ichi turned around and walked back into the arts building. Although her attitude annoyed him, she smelled wonderful, and he had nowhere to go after school anyway. He could just drag his feet about going to the gym; the longer he delayed, the less bored he would be tonight.

***

Two minutes later, Kurohane Ichi stood outside the dance studio again, looking at the girl inside.

"Can you play the piano?" she asked, pointing at the instrument.

"Uh..." Kurohane Ichi tilted his head, puzzled by her question. A moment ago she seemed very dissatisfied with him, so why was she trying to make conversation now?

"Don't read too much into it. The sound system broke because of you earlier, so I have no accompaniment," she said, gesturing to the speakers beside the piano.

"Because of me?" Kurohane Ichi raised an eyebrow. He hadn't even entered the room; clearly, she was the one who had smashed it.

"Can you play or not?" The girl’s face flushed, evidently realizing it was a stretch to blame him.

"I don't... think so." Kurohane Ichi shook his head. He hadn't even seen a piano on the island. Although he felt a strange sense of familiarity, logically, he shouldn't know how to play.

"What do you mean you 'don't think so'?" the girl asked.

"It means I can't," he replied.

"Then you'll have to pay for a new player," she said unreasonably.

"Why?" he asked.

"If you hadn't barged in and peeked at me dancing, would I have broken the machine?" she said with full confidence.

"But..." Kurohane Ichi was at a loss; he *had* indeed peeked at her.

"What are you going to do about it?" For some reason, she acted as if she had him cornered.

"How much do I have to pay?" Kurohane Ichi reached into his pocket. He only had a few hundred yen left—his entire fortune. Unlike the other students, he wouldn't get a new allowance after Friday.

"Two thousand should do," she said after a moment of thought.

"Two thousand? Two thousand for a broken sound system?" Kurohane Ichi gaped at the speakers. He had no concept of money previously, so when Inoue Izumi gave him travel funds, he hadn't given it much thought, assuming it would last a while. He hadn't expected to be nearly broke upon arrival. He had meant to save those last few hundred for an emergency, and now this. How could he possibly pay two thousand? If Uncle Kirino hadn't taken him in last night, he wouldn't even have a place to stay.

"This is an imported system; it cost over two thousand. I'm even waiving the change," the girl said, clearly displeased by his calling it a "broken" speaker.

"I don't have the money. I can't pay it. This is all I have, take it or leave it." Kurohane Ichi took out all the money from his pocket, walked in with his shoes on, placed it on the piano, and spread his hands.

"Are you trying to act like a deadbeat?" The girl didn't even look at the money; she glared at him, annoyed.

***

"Wait."

Kurohane Ichi stopped the girl. As he had placed the money down, his hand had brushed against the piano keys, and a wave of familiarity washed over him. Fragments of musical scores bloomed in his mind.

He opened the piano lid and ran his fingers over the keys.

"Hey, what are you..." The girl walked over, intending to stop him from touching the piano without permission.

"Shh..." Kurohane Ichi held a finger to his lips, then sat down, resting his hands on the keys. He stepped on the pedal with his shoe still on.

"You..." Seeing him step on the clean pedal with his shoes, the girl was about to explode, but a melodious flow of piano music stopped her.

Kurohane Ichi’s long, slender fingers danced rapidly across the keys. Beautiful notes drifted from the instrument, forming the exact piece of music that had been playing on the speakers earlier.

As the music ended, Kurohane Ichi lifted his hands and stared at them, stunned. *What is this familiar feeling? I don't remember ever learning the piano.*

"Kid, you said you couldn't play, were you just pretending?" The girl finally snapped out of her trance. She looked at the piano in astonishment. If she hadn't been certain she had broken the player herself, she would have suspected he was just playing a recording. Having danced to this piece nearly a hundred times, she knew he hadn't missed a single note. This piece was composed by a piano master and was notoriously difficult; unless someone was deeply passionate about piano music, they wouldn't even know it. That was exactly why she had chosen it—she loved a challenge.

"I really don't think I know how to play," Kurohane Ichi insisted, unable to reconcile this with his own memories.

"Then what was that? Don't tell me you were just banging on the keys at random?" The girl couldn't figure him out. Was he doing this just to leave a deep impression on her?

"I'm leaving now. I have things to do." Kurohane Ichi stood up, still unable to understand why he could play. He shook his hands and turned to leave.

"Hey, you're just going to walk away like that?" The girl took a few large strides and blocked his path.

Kurohane Ichi, not expecting her to suddenly jump in front of him, couldn't stop in time and bumped straight into her.

"Ah..."