Fantasie Impromptu

The piano keys felt smooth and cold beneath her soft, long fingers. Sometimes, she thought that the presence of a piano in her room was mostly cumbersome. After all, she had sofas, her own bathroom, a large desk and her own queen-sized bed to fill out the spacious chamber, not to mention bookshelves. She wouldn't need a piano anyway. She stopped playing years ago.

But her skill was still there, and the piano – courtesy of her father – sat on one corner, and waited for the day it was prepared to be used again. Mitsuru Kirijo thought she would never have the time to sit in front of the piano and hear its keys sing and hum, but Mitsuru Kirijo never thought she would actually go through distressing situations in her life. What could be more worrying than managing the company her late father left her in such an early, unwelcome time?

She was frustrated, and she needed to vent out her frustration. But she couldn't do that around her dormmates, or anyone else. They would most likely think she was just being too demanding with her personal affairs. They would just say that she needs some lightening up. Truthfully, Mitsuru did, but none of them would understand, would they? She needed to bring out all the mixed emotions before they well up inside her and turn her into a volcano. And no one wanted to see Mitsuru at the verge of something terrible. Anger fueled by the sad twists and turns of her young life.

The piano was beautiful then. It was therapeutic, and it was her way of shouting obscenities at the world (but Mitsuru never would, for she had manners and she was classy. Rightfully so). It was her way of telling the world how she felt, but through a wonderful, moving, sweeping melody filled with emotions.

"Fantasie Impromptu," she murmured to herself, before letting her fingers glide smoothly on the keys, Chopin's masterpiece issuing from the strings of the upright piano. She let the music flow within her, and she let the bevy of emotions loose from her troubled heart, and her exhausted mind. It was therapeutic. It was lovely, and she knew it. It had been a long time since she had last played the piano – years, to be exact – but it came naturally to her. Fantasie Impromptu was one of the first pieces she learned, and one of her most favored ones. Perhaps because, through it, she was able to speak in a way.

Mitsuru was lost in the flow of the melody, and she closed her eyes, relaxing even as the speed of the piece picked up, then slowed down. She had mastered it. She knew it by heart. Her soul danced with it. Rarely anyone knew about her piano prowess (and no one would discover it, as she knew that everyone was outside and she opted to stay, preferring the confines of her room and the presence of her instrument), and it was fine with her because it was a secret she'd rather keep. It was her escape, and there, in her music, she found a doorway to forgetting reality.

But her thoughts, though pleasantly floating around, suddenly thudded back to earth as the sound of rapping on her door meshed harshly with the piece she was playing. Mitsuru sighed, and ended the half-finished piece with a resounding bass note.

"Come in," Mitsuru called out, though there was a tone of exasperation in her voice.

She turned around from her stool, surprised (but not entirely) to see Yukari Takeba standing there, an expression of awe on her (quite beautiful) face. Yukari seemed to be entranced, though by what, Mitsuru only had a vague idea.

Silence, then, "You were playing that, Mitsuru-senpai?"

Mitsuru could have shaken her head, could have reasoned that it was a record she was playing, and that she stopped it to hear Yukari speak, but the evidence was there and no one was stupid enough to buy an excuse like that. Except Junpei, perhaps. So she gave a resigned shrug, then a smile, and a nod. It wasn't all bad that Yukari would find out she had musical expertise, but in all her days in the dorm, she never did so much as play one note until that week, and she kept her playing to a minimal and mostly did when everyone was outside, just like that day. Well, at least she thought no one was around that day.

"That was amazing, Mitsuru-senpai!" The younger girl exclaimed, and Mitsuru noted a hint of excitement wash over the high school junior. "I never knew you could play the piano."

"I have never touched this until recently, to be honest," Mitsuru explained, lovingly stroking the keys of the piano. "I have played the instrument since I was a child - something my father encouraged me to do. And since then, I have been practicing well. Until, of course, I entered this degree of my education."

Yukari grinned, and took a seat beside Mitsuru on the piano bench. A flush of pink colored Mitsuru's cheeks as Yukari inched uncomfortably close beside her, although she admitted to herself that she was pleased by this closeness. Mitsuru's hands grew cold, though from what (and the day was lukewarm, by all accounts), she didn't know. She didn't understand. But she liked how it felt, and she liked how Yukari's arm brushed with hers as they sat close beside each other. Yukari eyed Mitsuru carefully, who pretended to concentrate her gaze on the many piano keys when in truth she was actually thinking about what to do and what Yukari would do. Yukari smiled.

"What about we write a song, senpai?" Yukari suggested, playing a high note and holding it so its pitch lingered in the silent room. Mitsuru's breathing, unexpectedly, became a little hitched, but she kept calm.

"A song?"

"Mhmm!" Yukari said, cheerily. "It would be nice, wouldn't it? A song, written by us?"

"Yes," Mitsuru replied, quite uncertain about what Yukari's suggestion implied (even more with her words) but was pleased altogether about the thought of writing a song with her best friend. "Yes, perhaps it would be excellent."

Mitsuru opted to lay her fingers on the keys, then played some chords and impromptu notes that melded well with her chosen chords. Yukari nodded, and Mitsuru found herself pleased at the thought of having Yukari approve her playing. But her instructor had said it himself - Mitsuru was fast becoming an excellent virtuoso, although to what degree the truth was in his words, she never knew. At that very moment, though, she believed it well enough that she was good, at least. She had the opinion of someone who mattered a lot, after all.

A few hours had passed by, as they completed part of the song (the process of which consisted mostly of Mitsuru playing and Yukari approving and occasionally adding her own touches), Yukari told Mitsuru to stop.

"It's getting late, isn't it, Mitsuru-senpai?" She asked, glancing at the tall grandfather clock standing beside Mitsuru's bathroom door. The clock had just chimed six.

"I... I suppose it is," Mitsuru answered, nodding her agreement. Indeed, it was becoming late, though the past few hours had proved to be a lot more therapeutic than most times she actually played the piano.

"Perhaps we could finish the song tomorrow."

"I would most appreciate that," Mitsuru said. "But we still don't have a title for the song, have we?" She added.

"I suppose not," Yukari said, smiling. "Though we could just call it our song."

"Our... song?" Butterflies. "Yes. Yes we could."

Yukari stood up, bid goodbye to her friend and left for the door, before pausing and turning around to face Mitsuru yet again.

"What was the song you played earlier, again?" She asked, and Mitsuru wasn't completely sure if she saw a twinkle in Yukari's eye. Maybe she did. She didn't know.

"Fantasie Impromptu."

"You were amazing, Mitsuru-senpai."

Even as Yukari closed the door behind her, her voice echoed in Mitsuru's head, and she was uncharacteristically at a loss for words or even for witty banter she could direct to herself. Two words sounded repeatedly in her mind. Words that rang loud and clear as if the speaker was there to actually say it.

"Our song."

A/n: Third Yukari/Mitsuru FF. I was brimming with ideas yesterday, and I just needed some sort of creative outlet for all this. So here it is! :D WTH am I doing writing FFs when I could be playing P3? :))