Prélude: First Encounter (Kiyoshi)

[Keiden Fujita]

The sounds of car horns beeping and engines roaring filled the streets of Aoyama, along with the constant chatter of the wave of people traversing the sidewalks. Among the pedestrians, standing a good head shorter than those around him, was the university student, Fujita Keiden. The boy was carefully weaving in and out of the crowd, trying not to bump into anyone or draw the attention of others. He wanted to be invisible.

In his hands, held tightly against his chest, was a green folder, containing numerous pages of sheet music, most of them renditions of popular JPop songs, reformatted to be played on the piano. However, some were also his own original works. Very rarely did this folder leave Keiden's sight. Not only were the papers very precious to him, but he would get inspiration for another piece at any given time and liked to be able to record the music in his head down onto paper before the feeling diminished.

What was the young man doing in Aoyama today? As a way to clear is head and possibly get inspiration for a new piece of music, Keiden would walk around, each time in a different area. As a plus for wandering to this location, maybe he could purchase a new shirt or two.

Keiden continued his way down the street, just following the majority of the crowd, his short hair bouncing ever so slightly with each step he took. The light, airy tune of one of the songs he had converted to fit the piano suddenly made its way into the boy's mind. His footsteps quickly fell in to time with the beat of the song and he subconsciously began to follow the finger-patterns by drumming his fingers on the folder in his arms. Soon, Keiden's focus was entirely on the song that only he could hear. Nothing else existed to him at that moment except for him and that tune.

[Kazuki Kiyoshi]

Kazuki Kiyoshi was in a strange mood this afternoon; as he strolled leisurely through the streets of Aoyama, he couldn't help but allow his mind to wander off into distant lands, where the skies were the effigy of a neo-romanticist's most psychedelic fantasy, and where one did not move to travel, but rather made the entirety of existence move beneath his feet. He had simply been through this part of Aoyama so many times in his life that he felt as comfortable with the place as though it were his family's old home. As such, his inky black irises didn't find themselves darting around in the manner of those of a terrified rabbit, examining and calculating at the speed of an adding machine... though he did still cast the wanton gaze about the area every once in a while. It was simply a force of years of habit.

He was dressed today in a slightly more urban style than he would normally allot; after all, it was a trip to the most popular place in Tōkyō-to. A ribbed sweater of rich, yet pale blue hue, with dusty brown shoulders and a strip down the left sleeve clung to his thin but healthy upper body, its cuffs flirting with the knuckles of his long, nimble hands; a pair of rather dark blue jeans, with the ever-popular acid-washed "cat's whiskers" emblazoned upon the crotch and several stylish rips and snags throughout the fabric fell down his long legs, fitting rather snugly about his waist and thighs, and flaring out to cover the most part of his jet-black sneakers. A brown messenger bag was slung over his left shoulder, and a brown leather thong hung loosely about his left wrist.

Despite his distaste for western cuisine, he was all for the western clothing trends. Like any normal Japanese teen (or twenty-something who wished he were still a teen).

As he made his way along, vanishing into one end of a crowd only to appear untainted from the other, his thoughts began to turn from the poetic realm of romanticism towards the slightly more earthly dimension that was his music. The Kira no Uta was coming along rather nicely these days; the last part that he'd completed had been stuck in his mind since before he left his home, and so far, that made three hours that he'd been listening to it without cringing.

This was a very, very good sign. It meant that he actually didn't despise something he was writing; there hadn't been many compositions since Sakura no Sato that he didn't despise.

He was trying to think of ideas for the next thematic transformation in the mirror-point fugue he'd worked the piece into. It was a highly technical, rigid form - rather unlike his usual music, which was free to roam the expanses of his complex imagination - and therefore, he was having considerable difficulty deciding where to take it, what to do with it. He honestly felt that he needed a distraction; as such, to Aoyama he'd come, with the hopes of either finding inspiration or, on the other hand, completely taking his mind off of the matter. Either scenario would have been perfectly fine for -

"Oi!" Kiyoshi cried in surprise as he walked right into someone mid stride, his full body weight being transferred into the unlucky individual into whom he'd just stepped. He had been so lost in his thoughts (and looking away at an attractive young man outside a diner) that he hadn't even noticed the other person.

"Gomennasai," he said, his hands flying up to cover his mouth. His mood was instantly shattered; in a nanosecond, he departed from being completely at peace with his surroundings and found himself in the icy abyss that was not knowing what to expect. What if the person was offended? What if they were so offended as to strike "back?" What if -

And then he noticed just who he'd run into... and didn't really feel he had any reason to worry.

[Keiden Fujita]

The song that was playing in Keiden's head was just about to go into its chorus when it was suddenly cut off. The boy's mind was brought back to reality when he felt himself collide into a large mass, face-first. What little muscles he had on his tiny frame from playing tennis did nothing for him to compensate for the force of the impact. Keiden let out a clearly feminine yelp of surprise as he stumbled backwards. He took but two steps back before quickly losing his balance. His arms shot out to the side, waving frantically in a pathetic attempt to regain his balance, but to no avail. In the blink of an eye, Keiden was on his rear end, but it didn't stop there. Although his lower body had come to a halt, the inertia caused his upper body to continue moving back, leaving his head to smack down onto the hard sidewalk.

“痛い！(Ouch!)” the boy muttered as he carefully brought himself up to a kneeling position. At this point, Keiden really did not care if he dirtied the knees of his khaki slacks. Right now, he was just worried about the condition of his head. Wincing as he did so, Keiden tenderly rubbed the back of his head, feeling around for any gashes or lumps. He sighed with relief when he did not find any, though there would certainly be a nice, large lump there in a few hours' time. 'What in the world did I run into?' he thought.

Keiden lifted his head, opening his eyes to see what that "mass" was that he had collided with. What, no, who he saw standing there caused his breath to catch and a bright red flame to burn his cheeks. The man standing before him was undeniably handsome, so much so that Keiden couldn't help but stare. He gazed up at the man with his bright, sapphire eyes, from under his jet-black bangs. It took a good moment for Keiden to realize what he was doing before quickly averting his eyes, the red tint of his cheeks becoming more prominent. He tilted his head down and opened his mouth to apologize, but found it hard to form words. “ごーごーごめんなーなさい！(S-s-sorry!)”

Keiden tightened his grip on his green folder, only to find that it was no longer in his hands. "Oh, no!" He had not realized that during his embarrassing fall and feminine squeaking, he had dropped his precious folder, scattering the sheet music it held all over the ground. Thus far, he was lucky, as people were being considerate and taking care to not step on the papers, but Keiden feared that with his luck, that could soon change. Without a second's hesitation, Keiden began to frantically collect the papers before they were ruined, muttering little "oh, no"'s the entire time.

[Kazuki Kiyoshi]

Kiyoshi honestly had to suppress what would have sounded like an incredibly amused laugh at the spectacle that was unfolding before him, though he was actually just struck amused by the hyper-excited flailing of the small creature he'd bowled over. His hands still over his mouth in a polite display of shame, he crouched down to the boy's level.

"すみません," he muttered, dropping his hands to help pick things up. He had a longer reach than the young man, so he made a point of catching the sheets of paper that had fallen the farthest away. "I wasn't watching where I was going..." He continued in a breathless undertone, gathering as much paper as he could and mostly trying to avoid eye contact. The poor kid was pouring out "oh no's" at a considerable fraction of the speed of time; Kiyo was starting to believe he'd bumped into an individual who wasn't just physically fragile.

"Hey, my friend... it's okay; we've gotten everything, ね?" He suggested in a quiet, and hopefully comforting tone. He clapped the haphazard papers in his hand, straightening them up instantly, and inverted the stack to offer it over. Upon doing so, he was given a view of what was on the paper.

"Sheet music?" He exclaimed with a note of pleasant surprise. At last, he brought his eyes up from the space between them and looked at his poor victim directly. An eyebrow gave just the slightest twitch of sorts, and his breath hitched (imperceptibly, of course) in his throat. The kid - no, the young man - was actually rather cute. Startlingly so, even. His frame was incredibly light, and rather boyish, and his skin had the most beautiful tone to it. What really grabbed Kiyo's attention, though, were his eyes. It seemed as if a god had stolen a couple flecks from the sky itself, and given them to this humble human as a mark of divine affection. Kiyo was quite certain, and would have sworn by it, that he had never seen eyes more beautiful.

But that was enough of such thoughts; there was no way the young man was... like that. With eyes like those, he surely had a girlfriend!

"So... pardon me, again... my name is Kazuki Kiyoshi... and, um... I see you're a musician?" He slowly stood up, his eyes raking over the score before him, bringing the simple notes to life in his mind. "This is beautiful!" He took a quick assessment of the various techniques employed in the piece, and noticed just one or two simple things that could have been expressed a bit differently. Nothing that would have had a serious impact on the piece, but simple bits of phraseology that would have been easier to interpret if expressed in a different manner.

Then, he remembered his manners, muttered another brief apology, and stooped down once more, extending his right hand. An expression of pure benevolence, completely inviting and without any sort of judgment, accompanied this gesture. He still had a distinct feeling that he was dealing with a particularly slight individual; he didn't want to overwhelm him at all.

"Let me help you up!"

[Keiden Fujita]

Keiden payed little attention to the actions of the man in front of him, his focus still being on picking up the papers that were scattered around him. He had not noticed the man stoop down until he heard a voice that originated from somewhere quite close to his head. Keiden glanced up, not expecting to have a face right in front of him. It had caught him so off-guard that the young man jumped and nearly fell backwards again out of sheer surprise. As he tried to regain what little composure he had, Keiden heard the man apologize and say that he wasn't watching where he was going. This was a bit unexpected. Keiden was sure that he would have received a black eye or bloody nose rather than an apology. After all, it was he who ran into the man, not the other way around. "い。。。いいえ！ It-it was my f-fault. I-I wasn't p-p-paying a-attention..." The boy cringed when he realized how much he was stuttering already. After all these years, his stuttering problem still has not subsided.

Keiden's eyes remained averted as he continued to pick up his music. The two were silent for a few moments as they grabbed the last few pages, and Keiden appreciated the lack of conversation, as it gave him time to bring down not only his blood pressure, but also the temperature of his cheeks. With the help of the other man, the papers were gathered up in a short amount of time. Keiden was sure that if it weren't for the help of this man, half of his sheet music would be ruined by now.

"Hey, my friend... it's okay; we've gotten everything, ね?" Now this certainly was not expected. The man's tone was soft and... comforting? Was he trying to calm Keiden down? Trying to get him to relax? Why was this guy being so nice to him? This was such a rare occurrence that Keiden simply did not know how to respond. All his life, people had either ignored him or ridiculed him for his feminine face and body structure. Back in America, the other kids mocked him for his thick Japanese accent. He had expected it to change once he returned to Japan with his family, but instead, Keiden was often given strange looks; People would tell him that he had an American accent. How he could have both a Japanese accent and an American accent, he did not know. But this man... This man seemed to be anything but hostile towards the teenager. In fact, he was quite the opposite. Rather than being tense or angry, the man seemed to be calm, kind, and caring. And his voice... It had this tone to it; a tone that was able to get Keiden to relax ever so slightly so that he was no longer in an embarrassed panic. However, Keiden was still quite tense and did not let his guard down. He had been hurt so many times in the past and honestly did not expect this time to be any different from the others.

Keiden straightened out the group of papers he had in his own hands and fingered through them, seeing that most of them were his piano renditions of JPop songs while other pages were portions of his original works. 'I can reorganize it all later...' he thought as he carefully placed the music into one of the folder's pockets. The young man had just extended his hand to take the rest of the music from the stranger, but paused when he heard the man exclaim the words, "sheet music." His voice sounded so unexpectedly excited that Keiden lifted his head to look at the man. Immediately, his eyes were caught in the dark globes of the person in front of him. Never before had Keiden seen irises as dark as this man's; the color was quite unique. His eyes reminded the teen of the night sky, and the shine in them caused by the sunlight looked somewhat like stars. They were truly a sight to behold; something that Keiden could lose himself in... and he did.

He stayed like this for a few seconds until the man's voice brought Keiden out of his daze. Realizing what he had been doing, Keiden quickly took a keen interest in the crack in the sidewalk that was between the two of them. He bent his head down low as an attempt to hide his flushed cheeks. 'W-what was I just doing?!' he thought, 'Why in the world was I staring? Now he must think I have some sort of mental disorder or something...' "Oh... I-I-I am F-Fujita K-Keiden..." he said in response to Kiyo's introduction. The teen then nodded to confirm that he was, indeed, a musician.

As Kiyo rose to a standing position, Keiden's hand shot out and his mouth started moving, as if to say "no, don't read that!" However, no words came out; only incomprehensible stutters. But it was too late, Kiyo was already looking over the sheet music, and Keiden felt helpless. Nobody ever looked at his original works, not even his music professor at To-Oh University. Yet here was this complete stranger, looking over each and every note on the page. When Keiden realized it was hopeless, he hung his head, almost in a sort of shame, and stared down at the green folder in his hands. He was waiting for crude comments such as "You call this music?!" or "What is this crap?", but they never came.

"This is beautiful!" Keiden's head shot up at the sudden compliment. He couldn't believe his ears. "E-eh?" He was positively speechless. He wanted to thank this new acquaintance, but in the back of his mind, Keiden couldn't help but think that this man, Kazuki-san, was just handing out false compliments to him. After all that Keiden had gone through as a child, he has grown to distrust people who seem to be nothing but smiles and compliments. He knew people to be hurtful, so this did not seem to be natural to him.

However, before he could even attempt to speak another word, Kiyo had stooped down again and offered Keiden his hand. His gaze shifted slightly so that he was looking at Kiyo's face, then again to view his eyes. The shine in the older male's eyes matched the kind expression on his face. Maybe his words were sincere after all?

Gripping his music folder against his small torso with his right hand, Keiden brought his left hand towards Kiyo's right. When his hand was an inch or so away from the other male's, Keiden hesitated and his long fingers curled in slightly in a twitch-like motion. Keiden shook his head, trying to get rid of all of his doubts about this man. Once he had cleared out most of his negative thoughts, he reached out and placed his delicate fingers on Kiyo's hand. “あ。。。ありがとうご。。。ご。。。ございます。” Keiden said as he stood up.

It wasn't until now that Keiden realized just how small he was compared to Kiyoshi. Being about 5'3", there had to have been about a seven inch difference between their heights. Heck, even Keiden's hands were much smaller than Kiyo's. Now that he thought about it, he was lucky that he wasn't knocked out when they collided.

Realizing that his hand was still in Kiyo's, Keiden quickly pulled his hand away and wrapped his fingers around the folder that was still pressed against his chest. He could feel himself blush again and looked down and off to the side, trying to avoid any more eye-contact with the older male as he waited to be given back his sheet music.



((OOC: Holy hell... Where in the world did all of that writing come from?!?! XDD And what the heck... Random semi-colon that won't go away!! >.<))