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The nobility and royals of the Wonder Kingdom held balls once every fortnight, during which the elites of society would dance in luxurious diamond-studded gowns and suits with twinkling jewelry adorned on all places possible. These events were the pinnacle of elite excellence, in which everyone could flaunt their wealth while networking with people of equal or higher stature. Everyone would sip their wine and waltz around until the ballroom starts emptying at around midnight, where they would bid goodbye and leave to the horse-drawn carriage waiting outside for them.
Just as these balls had become a constant in the kingdom, every event had live music playing. A full orchestra, in fact. It was the best of the best for the elites, including only those who had dedicated their lives to music. Despite their large contribution, though, the people of the orchestra went largely unnoticed. Most of the musicians were of lower nobility, or not even nobles at all.
The most unnoticed of the musicians, despite his importance, was the pianist. He had played at each of these events for years, coming from a family of pianists who had played at it before him. He was unimposing, quiet, and easily disappeared in a crowd. By his request, his piano was positioned in the corner of the room, and therefore partially hidden by the rest of the orchestra. Those that thought to wonder about the pianist of the royal orchestra would be provided with the stage name “Torpe.” Few knew his real name, because few cared to approach him, and he was perfectly happy with this arrangement.
On one of these nights, a pianist named Tsukasa played at the same grand piano he did every two weeks, just as he played on his own piano every day. His focus was fully on the instrument in front of him, the black and white keys being their own little world for him to dive into. He loved this instrument more than anything, and each time he played it he felt as if he was entering this world of music.
It had taken a long time for him to get to this point. The Tsukasa of the past would have been shocked to learn he would one day gain enough confidence to play in a place like this with so many people who could hear his music. He still had his problems though, which was why he specifically asked for his piano to be in a place where it was easily ignored in the hustle and bustle of the dancing and chatting.
His sheer talent and skill with the instrument had never been a problem. Those that heard his playing always were moved to smile, or cry, or dance. Behind his art were late nights of getting lost in notes, playing and playing till his fingers cramped and his head ached and his stomach was empty. A passion born from long, dark nights and a persistent hope for the future; this was Tsukasa’s gift. To learn to share this gift with the world was the true trial.
On this night, he forgot about everything apart from his hands and the keys beneath them, as he often did. This allowed him to forget that people could hear his playing, crafted his world where nothing existed except for himself and his piano.
This intense focus led to him not noticing someone approaching him. No one ever approached him, so he had never felt the need to be conscious enough of his surroundings to be alerted at someone else’s presence.
He only noticed the other person when he heard the thump of them placing their arm on the lid of the piano. At the noise, he jolted, his hands stuttering over the notes of the song he had been playing before returning back to playing as he had been before. His head swivelled to see who had interrupted him.
He was surprised to meet the gaze of a knight. Judging from her armored attire, she was acting as a guard for the ball. He gave her a once-over before returning his gaze to his hands. Her pink hair was worn in a long ponytail, with pink eyes and curiously pink eyelashes. Her armor consisted of a blue and white chestplate and a plated skirt, with a longsword held in a hilt at her waist. His initial internal response to seeing her was to worry that he had somehow done something to alert the guards. Her lax smile relaxed him somewhat, though.
“What is it?” His voice was quiet and guarded, not looking at her as he spoke. He hoped his hat would obscure his face enough to mask his anxiety.
“Hmm, that’s not very polite, Torpe-san. I’m just here to chat, y’know?” Her voice had a teasing lilt to it that made Tsukasa shrink a little. Her words, though, made him glance at her in surprise.
“Huh?” He struggled to think of a response. “With, uh, who?”
He felt a little blood rush to his face when she giggled. “Who do you think?”
“M-me? But… why?” He stammered over his words. This was a new, unfamiliar situation he hadn’t ever prepared for.
“Just was curious to meet the star of the royal orchestra.”
Tsukasa couldn’t help but feel like he was being made fun of. Maybe that was this girl’s true reason for approaching him. It felt more plausible than what she was claiming. “That’s… I don’t know if I’d say that,” he coughed nervously. “Are you sure?”
“Mhm!” Tsukasa could see her smile soften a little out of the corner of his eye. “Hey, relax, would you? I’m not gonna jump you or something.”
Tsukasa furrowed his brow. She seemed to be pretty perceptive. “I’m not—“ he cuts himself off, thinking for a moment before sighing and relaxing his posture a little. “Yeah, yeah, okay. What was it you wanted to talk about?”
“Nothing in particular~ I’m Akiyama Mizuki. You’re Torpe, but that isn’t your real name, is it?” Mizuki shifted to lean her head on her hand. Tsukasa swallowed the urge to tell her to get off the piano.
Tsukasa briefly debated whether or not to tell his true name, before arriving at the conclusion that it wouldn’t hurt to tell her. “Tenma Tsukasa.”
“Tenma… Tsukasa?” There was a flicker of recognition in Mizuki’s voice that made Tsukasa frown in confusion. “So it’s you.”
At this, Tsukasa blinked in surprise, struggling to speak for a few moments. “Uh…?”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Mizuki chuckled in a way that made Tsukasa worry it was not nothing. “I’ve just heard your name quite a few times from L’il Bro’s prince friend.”
Tsukasa thought over Mizuki’s words. Prince friend… “Touya?”
“Yeah!” Mizuki chirped. “Li’l Bro is Akito, hehe. I’ve always wondered about the Tsukasa-senpai that Touya loves to blabber about. Your reputation precedes you.”
Tsukasa couldn’t help but laugh at Mizuki’s words. “I don’t know about that one, Akiyama.”
“Don’t be modest, piano boy. The way you play certainly deserves a reputation.”
Tsukasa huffed. “I’m not modest. I only have a reputation with Touya because he’s my childhood friend.”
Mizuki whistled. “So, you’re high enough nobility to be socializing with the royals? I didn’t expect that.”
Tsukasa frowns and shakes his head. “No. We’re nobles, but… I wouldn’t say that,” he admitted honestly. “We’re just a special case.”
Mizuki nodded before going quiet to observe Tsukasa. The man felt an urge to shrink away from her scrutiny, but just continued to press the keys of his piano in silence. His hands felt just a little shaky; he was able to play without fumbling.
After around a minute of silence, Mizuki spoke up again to Tsukasa’s relief. “You still seem nervous.”
Tsukasa resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Oh, really now?
The knight continued to speak. “I have an idea to help, though~!”
These words just served to make Tsukasa more nervous. He wasn’t sure anything that this stranger could offer him would help him relax, especially considering the way she seemed to be dissecting his very soul with her inspective gaze. “Yeah…?”
“Dance with me?” She extended a hand, and Tsukasa finally looked up in surprise to see her playful grin.
Tsukasa raised a brow in confusion. “Aren’t you on duty?”
Mizuki stared at Tsukasa blankly for a few moments before snorting. “You know that the ball has already ended, right? Everyone’s left.”
“H-huh—?” For the first time that evening, Tsukasa paused his playing to take a look around the rest of the room. As Mizuki had said, almost everyone apart from servants and guards had already left. Even the rest of the orchestra seemed to have left. He must have been playing on his own for a little while. His face heats up with embarrassment. “I, uh… didn’t notice.”
Mizuki barks out a laugh. “Yeah, I figured! You really get caught up in your music, huh?” The smile that she gave him was surprisingly genuine. “It’s all good, though~ the ones cleaning up don’t mind having to listen to your playing.”
“Yeah, yeah…” he rubs his face, trying to will away his mortification.
“Come on, dance with me? I promise it’ll be fun,” Mizuki had yet to lower her offered hand.
Against Tsukasa’s better judgment, he gingerly took the proffered hand in his own. He stood to his feet and stepped away from the piano bench in movement with Mizuki.
“Why do you want to dance anyway? Why not turn in for the night?” His question was a genuine one. It was now probably over half an hour past midnight, and Mizuki was chatting with someone who she’d never met before rather than getting rest.
Mizuki took a few moments to respond. Now that Tsukasa was standing and properly looking at the woman, he could see she was shorter than him. He noticed the smaller details, like the blue ribbon tying up her hair, her puffy sleeves, the teal gems studding parts of her outfit. He couldn’t help but feel that her getup was rather fashionable for a knight. A spark of curiosity rose in him, a faint wish to learn more about this Mizuki.
“I wanted to meet you,” she finally admitted. A cheeky smile appeared on her face. “I stay up late anyway, so what better way to spend my night?”
Tsukasa realized he was still holding Mizuki’s hand and dropped it to fold his arms and look away to avoid eye contact. “I can think of a few,” he mumbled.
“Nuh uh, you already agreed to dance,” Mizuki placed her hands on his hips. “What, don’t want to be friends with a low-ranking knight~?”
Tsukasa frowned. He didn’t want to leave that kind of impression, so he lifted his gaze to properly meet Mizuki’s. “I’m probably not of much higher nobility than you, but even still… Those kinds of rankings based on family have no meaning to me.” He paused to take a breath, before deciding to be honest. “I’m just… not used to being approached like this, that’s all.”
Mizuki took a few seconds to respond, taken aback by Tsukasa’s genuity. Eventually, her smile softened. “Ahh, don’t worry, I’m just teasing you. You didn’t seem like the stuck up rich boy type, anyway.” Mizuki’s smile turned to a smirk. “So, I’m the first one to come up to you like this? Does that make me your first?”
“Ah—“ Tsukasa flushed a little at Mizuki’s wording, fiddling with his sleeves. “I-in a way, I guess.”
“Lighten up, man!” Mizuki patted Tsukasa’s back in a way that made him startled, especially considering her strength. “Come on, let’s get somewhere without other people. You don’t like when people watch you perform, right?”
Before Tsukasa could reply, the girl began to walk, leaving Tsukasa to catch up quickly. They continued their conversation as they walked. “H-how did you—?”
“You play in the corner at every event, it’s not hard to tell that you’re not exactly the front stage type. Maybe that’s why people don’t tend to approach you.”
“Well, it works out for me…” Tsukasa muttered, avoiding the curious glances of the remaining people in the room cleaning up.
“Mm? I get not wanting to play at the front, but is having someone approach you to applaud your skills every so often really so bad?” Mizuki turned to walk towards a door that Tsukasa recognized to lead to the courtyard.
“Well, I’m talking to you now, aren’t I?” Despite his words, Tsukasa wasn’t sure how he’d feel if this became a regular occurrence from different people.
As they passed a table that still had leftover food, Mizuki grabbed a peach and tossed it to Tsukasa for him to scramble to catch. “Well, I guess I’m just special, then~!” She reached out to hold the door open for him, bowing with her hand on her chest. Moonlight spilled through the doorway to greet Tsukasa.
“Yeah… I guess you are,” Tsukasa murmured, a little embarrassed to be treated in such a proper manner despite having received such treatment many times in the past.
He steps past Mizuki out into the courtyard. He had seen it from the windows before, but had never actually ventured into it. It was rather lovely, with lush greenery everywhere, a pathway of stones, and vines twirling up and around the stone pillars and walls. In addition, he could recognize lilacs sprouting out of growing beds along with various others he couldn’t recall the names of. When bathed in moonlight with the comfort of the stars overhead, Tsukasa couldn’t help but instantly relax as he took his first steps past the entrance to the garden.
Just as he noticed that Mizuki hadn’t caught up to him, he heard a rustling of leaves behind him. Upon turning around, he was greeted with the sight of her bowing again, this time with a red rose in her hand.
“For m’lady,” as she spoke, she winked. He could even see a cheeky smile on her face.
“Ah,” he struggled to think of something to say as he gingerly took the rose in the hand that wasn’t holding the peach. “Thank you. Um—,“ her words registered in his head. “I’m not a lady.”
“I’m just messing with you, don’t worry.”
Is she hitting on me…?, Tsukasa stared absentmindedly at the flower in his right hand, twirling the stem. He knew she probably just picked the first flower she saw, but… it was a beautiful flower. The petals were a vibrant red and looked velvety even in the moonlight. He wondered if he could somehow keep the flower. Just because it looked nice, of course.
“Hello…? Earth to Tsukasa—can I call you that?”
Tsukasa’s gaze snapped up, seeing Mizuki standing there with a sheepish expression and… a nervous smile? Her smile is quite nice—
“Yes! Sorry,” he turned around to continue walking into the garden. “I’m just a little tired.”
Mizuki quickened her pace to catch up to him. “Oh? Well, I suppose you had been playing that piano for a while. I’d have gotten tired as well.”
He hummed softly, mentally debating whether to voice his disagreement. “Actually,” after a few moments, the two entered a clearing vacant of greenery with marble benches on either side. “Playing for hours doesn’t really tire me out, as long as I’m… comfortable.” Comfortable, meaning he didn’t have too many eyes on him. “It’s why I get picked for things like this.”
She considered his words while walking towards one of the benches and sitting down, patting the spot next to her to encourage Tsukasa to join her. “Hmm, truly a musician through and through then,” her voice was light-hearted, with a genuine undertone that Tsukasa wouldn’t have picked up on had he not been paying close attention to her words. “Have you played the piano for a long time?”
He nodded. As he sat down, he finally took a bite of the peach he was carrying. He carefully set down the rose beside him. “Ever since I was young,” his reply came only after he finished chewing and swallowing. “My mother taught me and my sister.” A small smile came to his face at the thought of his family.
In his thoughts, Tsukasa nearly missed Mizuki’s gentle smile. “So you’re from a family of musicians, huh? Well, you having some kind of inherited gift does make sense. I see you at these events all the time.”
He carefully considered how to continue eating the peach without getting the juices all over his face and hands. His eyebrows raised at Mizuki’s words. “So you recognized me from past performances?” He wasn’t quite sure what to make of Mizuki’s curiosity. He recalled the way she led him out here and gave him a rose, and he shot a glance at her with slightly furrowed brows. Realizing she had been looking at him when their eyes met, he quickly averted his gaze once more. Perhaps he had been right in his assumption that she was flirting. He didn’t know how to think about that possibility, but it did make his heart beat a little faster. If he was alone, he would’ve scowled at himself. Was he really going to blush like a child at the first person to potentially find him attractive?
“Yup!” Mizuki confirmed. Tsukasa could see her leaning back to look at the night sky in the corner of his eye. “You’re always in your corner, never looking at anything except for your hands. I’ve always figured you wouldn’t want me to break your focus, but today I assumed it would be alright since the ball ended already.”
Tsukasa couldn’t resist the urge to look up as well, and found himself instantly mesmerized by the sight, as he often was. He set aside the mostly-eaten peach and took a little too long to respond. He vaguely registered Mizuki getting to her feet.
He only looked down from the sky when he realized she had a hand outstretched to him once more. “Huh?”
She giggled lightly. “Wow, you really were lost in the view. I get it though. Anyone can appreciate the stars.”
He felt a bit warm realizing she had noticed his captivation. He hesitantly took her hand and got up. “Yeah…”
Mizuki pulled him to the center of the clearing, and at his visible confusion, grinned. “You agreed to dance with me, remember? Don’t tell me you already forgot,” she pouted and clicked her tongue.
Upon hearing her reminder, he stopped walking as it dawned upon him what he had really agreed to. “Wait, I know I said that, but…” He pulled his hand from hers, anxiously rubbing his wrist. “I’m not an expert dancer or anything. And it’s…” He struggled to come up with the proper words, and his voice goes quiet with flusterment. “It's a bit embarrassing to dance with a girl I just met.”
She stared at him with a blank expression that eventually turned sheepish. “Aha, I get that. But I won’t judge you or anything, you know? This is just for fun.”
He furrowed his brow as he considered her words, before his shoulders eventually dropped with a small sigh. “Alright, sure. Um, I’ve done dance classes, but they were all a while ago…”
Mizuki laughed lightly. “I’m sure I’m even worse than you. The only stuff I know is from hanging out with friends who are familiar with it.”
“I suppose I can lead, then,” he adopted the appropriate position, and soon found himself face to face with Mizuki, their hands pressed together. Suddenly the night air feels a lot warmer. “Um, here…”
As he started to take the steps he still remembered from those boring mandatory classes on the waltz, he could tell how unused to this she was by the way she stumbled along.
She hummed contemplatively, trying to memorize the steps Tsukasa was taking. She let out a groan. “We don’t need to be super precise about this. It’s just for fun; come on, spin me or something!”
He let out a small exhale of surprise as Mizuki began to move in a more disorganized way, forcing him to do the same despite him being in the leading position. Upon registering her words, he managed to summon up a bout of courage and released her hand to guide her into a spin.
She laughed, the sound of her voice bright and clear in the otherwise quiet courtyard. The two found themselves moving around the clearing together, and Tsukasa realized Mizuki’s giggles and exuberant expression had coaxed a smile out of him. He silently hoped she didn’t realize how sweaty his hands must be.
He spun her a couple more times throughout their dance, and on the second time, she stumbled forward, forcing him to catch her by the arms and hold her steady. She was still laughing.
Tsukasa felt a foreign elation in his chest, He swallowed, holding her in place while her giggles died down.
“Ahaha, that was so fun,” she said finally, pulling back slightly to wipe the wetness from her eye. “I’ve wanted to do this kind of thing for ages.”
Tsukasa swallowed and took a breath to ensure his voice came out steady. “I thought you said you have friends who know how to dance.”
“Hehe, well, the ones that do know can be a bit of a stickler to the rules when it comes to this,” her words came with a smile and soft eyes that spoke of her love for her friends. Tsukasa felt his breath catch when that gaze became fixed on him. “Besides, isn’t this an exciting experience? Dancing under the stars in the middle of a royal garden? It’s straight out of a romance novel.”
He wasn’t sure how to respond, and he opened and closed his mouth a few times before Mizuki spoke up again. “Sorry, that’s… kind of forward, huh?” Her smile became a little strained as she stepped away from him. “I’m being…” she paused, looking away. “I don’t know. Self-indulgent.”
Tsukasa felt an ache at the change in her demeanor. Overcome with the need to do something, he stepped closer to her and took her hands. His thoughts were rushing, and he spoke without thinking. “It’s okay. I thought this was fun too.”
Mizuki’s eyes widened at his words, and she stared at him open-mouthed for a few seconds before pressing her lips together. Tsukasa couldn’t help but find his eyes fixated on this movement.
Wow, we’re really close, he thought dumbly, his eyes moving over her pink lashes and her reddened cheeks and her soft-looking lips.
The two went without speaking for a few moments. Tsukasa blinked in wonder at the way Mizuki seemed to be examining his face in the way he was hers.
The silence was broken when Mizuki stumbled backwards, appearing overwhelmed as if she had just been rudely woken up from a dream.
“Ah, wait, I’m sorry—” Tsukasa stammered, taking her behavior as a sign of discomfort.
“No, it’s fine. It’s more than fine. I… I—” she looked away. “I need to go.”
“Huh?” He watched her start to speed-walk away, perplexed and frowning with distress. “Wait, Mizuki—”
He reached out a hand, but didn’t run after her. Once she had disappeared behind the shrubbery, he cursed himself under his breath.
“Way to go, Tsukasa…” he muttered, pulling his hand back towards his chest, clutching his shirt anxiously. After staring despairingly at where she had left for a while, he took a look around the clearing. His eyes settled on the rose, still lying on the bench. He walked over and took it into his hands, avoiding the thorns and being as gentle as he could with the delicate petals.
Maybe I’ll see her at the next ball…