Chibiusa had been puzzling over the location of the Silver Crystal for some time as she made her way down the busy sidewalk. She figured that Ami didn’t have it, and certainly not that hair-brained Usagi, so who did?
Minako? Not likely. From what she had seen of the blonde so far, she seemed almost as ditzy as Usagi, which in itself was quite an accomplishment to her mind. Still, she’d be more likely to have it than Usagi. But not by much.
Rei? Possibly. After all, she knew how much of a dunce Usagi was. She’d be a good person to check for the crystal.
Makoto? Somewhere between the two, she guessed. After all, she wasn’t air-headed like the pair of blondes, but she did have a tendency to mention something about her senpai a lot.
Then, there was….
As she ruminated, she spotted Ryoku as he ran down the street toward her and in a hurry, dodging and weaving around everyone while carefully trying to avoid hitting people with his guitar case.
“Excuse me!” he shouted, sidestepping a woman.
“Pardon me!” he shouted again, dodging a little boy and his mother.
“Sorry!” This time, he almost ran over Chibiusa, who was walking in the opposite direction. He was about to continue running past when the little girl stopped him by grabbing his sleeve.
“It is you, Ryoku-san!” Chibiusa said, almost surprised. “What’s wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?”
“I’m almost late for class,” he replied quickly. “I really have to get going or I’ll be late and Sugiyama-sensei will be upset. Sorry about this.” With a quick, apologetic bow, he turned and ran off, continuing to duck and weave around everyone in the way.
Chibiusa watched him leave with a speculative look on her face. Ryoku was one of the more serious of Usagi’s friends, right there next to Ami. If Ami-chan doesn’t have the Silver Crystal, maybe he does.…
Besides, he and Makoto lived in the same apartment. She could always check out both of them at the same time.
“I made it!” Ryoku breathed as he burst through the classroom door. His gaze turned toward Sugiyama, who was watching impassively as he made his way to his usual spot. “Sugiyama-sensei?” he said, confused. “I… didn’t make it?”
Sugiyama said nothing. Instead, she crossed both arms in front of her, palms straight. The rest of the class laughed as Ryoku sighed and hung his head.
“Aw, nuts,” he muttered ruefully as he set down his guitar.
“Try again next time, Ryoku-san,” she replied with a hint of a smile spreading across her face as she went through her scores at the conductor’s stand.
“Looks like someone got clean-up duty for a week,” one of the trumpet players chuckled.
“Shut up, Eijima-san,” he muttered as he brought out his guitar and began to tune it.
“Hey, Kino-san! Look!” the boy next to Eijima said conspiratorially as he nodded toward the flute section. “We just got a new student!”
Ryoku glanced over in the indicated direction. Sure enough, there was a new face there that he didn’t immediately recognize. “You know her name?” he asked as he regarded the long-haired brunette.
“She hasn’t introduced herself yet,” the boy replied with a shrug of one shoulder. “Why?” he asked slyly. “You interested?”
“Just curious,” he replied with an indifferent shrug. “Why? Are you?”
“Who wouldn’t be?” Eijima remarked. “She’s a total knockout!”
“Well then, both of you can go knock yourselves out,” Ryoku replied as he finished up his tuning. “I’ve got better things to do. Eijima-san, a C, please.”
“You’re no fun, Kino-san,” he muttered as he played the indicated note.
“I’m hurt and you’re flat. Push in about a millimeter.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He did so and played again.
“Better,” Ryoku nodded in satisfaction. “Can you tune the others, please?”
“Sure thing, boss,” he replied sarcastically as Ryoku got up to go tune the other sections.
Over in the flute section, one of the older girls gently nudged the new girl in the arm. “So? What do you think?” she asked with a playful grin.
“What? Me?” the new girl said, surprised and slightly confused. “What do I think about what?”
“Kino-san, of course!” a second girl replied with a giggle. “We saw you staring at him earlier.”
“Oh, I wasn’t…,” the girl replied, getting slightly flustered.
“Oh!” the first girl said, smacking one hand into the other as she realized something. “I completely forgot to introduce myself. How rude of me. My name’s Watsuki Konoe.”
“And I’m Inoue Chizuru,” the other girl added. “Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Sadamoto Takako,” the new girl replied. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“And I’m Kino Ryoku,” he added as he came to their row. “A pleasure to meet you and tune your instruments,” he added with an amused half-smile/half-smirk. “Inoue-san, a B-flat, please.”
“Right,” she giggled and played the requested note.
“Just a bit sharp,” he told her.
“No way!” Chizuru pouted. “I thought I was perfect!”
“Pull out very slightly, please,” he replied. She did so and played again. “Much better. Now, would you please take care of the rest?” With that, went back to his seat and idly began to strum a few chords.
“He’s the teacher’s aide?” Takako asked in surprise as Chizuru tuned Konoe’s flute. “How old is he?”
“He says he’s fifteen, but there’s a rumor that he’s actually about two or three years older,” Konoe said as she pushed in her flute’s mouthpiece slightly and played again.
“Don’t believe any of that nonsense,” Chizuru added with a smirk. “Uzuki-chan started that rumor months ago. I’m surprised it hasn’t died by now,” she added, rolling her eyes at Konoe, who merely shrugged. “Anyway, your turn, Takako-chan.”
Takako nodded and played a B-flat… or, at least, that was her intention.
“Um, that was… interesting,” Konoe remarked at the apparent lack of sound.
“Sorry,” she apologized. “I’m not very good at the flute, you see,” she said with a grimace.
“How long have you been playing?” Chizuru asked.
“About four months.”
“Eh?!?” Konoe exclaimed. “And you’re still having trouble with simple notes?”
“Yes,” she replied hanging her head in embarrassment.
“Ah, well,” Chizuru said with a sympathetic grin. “That’s why you’re here, right? To learn how to play better. Don’t worry about a thing, Takako-chan. We’ll all help you. Right, Konoe-chan?” Konoe replied with a thumbs-up sign and a cheeky grin. “See?”
“Mm,” Takako nodded gratefully. “I’ll give it my best, then.”
“Is everyone ready?” Sugiyama said as soon as everyone finished tuning. “Ryoku-san, what song was it that we were working on two weeks ago?”
He paused as he rummaged though his case for a moment. “I think it was this one,” he replied as he held up a sheet of music.
“Ah, yes,” she nodded as she brought out the conductor’s score for that particular piece. “Well, let’s work on that one today, shall we? We’ll begin at two beats from measure 76.”
“Avery,” Rubeus summoned as he pondered the projection of Crystal Tokyo.
“Yes, Rubeus-sama,” Avery said as she appeared with a deferential bow.
“I have another assignment for you, Avery,” he said as he turned toward her and gestured toward the projection. As he gestured, the projection changed to show the image of a music store, complete with a couple of guitars hanging in the display window.
“This place? A music store?” she said distastefully.
“Another one of the Crystal Points has been found,” he informed her. “I need you to fill this point with Dark Power. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?” he asked with a half-smirk.
“Of course not, Rubeus-sama,” Avery replied with a contrite bow.
“Good,” he said as he turned and started walking away. “I hope this goes better than your last attempt,” he added before fading out of view.
Avery simply grimaced irritably before vanishing as well.
“Hmm?” Usagi said, blinking at Chibiusa as she turned from reading a manga that she had managed to borrow from Rei… without her knowledge.
Chibiusa stepped into Usagi’s room. “I said, have you seen that big black case that Ryoku-san was carrying this afternoon?” she repeated. “I bumped into him earlier today and he was carrying that case with him. He said something about almost being late for some class.”
Usagi looked at the younger girl for a few moments before realizing what she was talking about. “Oh, you mean Ryo-kun’s guitar case.”
“Guitar?” she asked curiously.
“Yes,” Usagi nodded. “Ryo-kun occasionally works as an aide for a music teacher, Sugiyama-sensei. She’s a very nice lady and a very talented piano player as well.”
Chibiusa blinked again, surprised. “You mean, he actually helps teach the class?”
“Well, from what he’s told me, he mostly just tunes the students’ instruments and helps them with their rhythm and phrasing,” she told her, then frowned thoughtfully. “Although, I’m still not exactly sure what ‘phrasing’ is. He’s explained it to me, but I still don’t quite understand. Maybe it’s just a musician thing.”
Chibiusa snorted. “Maybe it’s just that you’re simple-minded.”
“What was that?!?” Usagi roared as she threw down her manga and sat straight up on her bed. “You wanna say that again?”
“Why? The words too difficult for your simple mind?” the pink-haired girl retorted as she pulled down one eyelid, then exited, closing the door behind her as she ignored Usagi’s angry threats of bodily harm. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t heard before, anyway.
On the way out, she gave the possibility of Ryoku possessing the Silver Crystal some more thought. The more she found out about him, the more likely it seemed that he would be the one to have it. After all, he was a very responsible person, just like Ami. If she didn’t have the crystal, then he would be the next most likely person. There was only one problem.
She didn’t know where he lived.
Then again, she did know where Ami lived.
Ami was just sitting down in the living room to enjoy a good book when someone started knocking on her door. With a sigh, she set the book down on the table and stood up. “Just a minute,” she called out as she made her way to the door. “Oh, Chibiusa-chan!” she said with mild surprise. “I wasn’t expecting you. Please, come in.”
“Thanks, Ami-chan,” Chibiusa said as she came inside and closed the door behind her. “I hope I’m not bothering you.”
Ami shook her head and smiled. “No, I was just reading. Is there something I can do for you?”
Chibiusa went over to the couch that Ami was sitting on earlier and sat down. “There was something I wanted to ask you,” she said as she glanced down at the book on the table. “Is this the book you were reading? ‘Bladesinger?’”
“Oh, that’s actually Ryo-kun’s book,” Ami explained. “He’s really into the science fiction and fantasy genre. He suggested that I give it a try.”
“Is it good?”
“It’s different from what I’m used to, but I’m finding it to be quite interesting, nonetheless,” she admitted with an almost embarrassed smile.
“Oh,” the young girl said as she sat back against the couch.
“Do you want something to drink?” Ami asked as she headed for the kitchen. “I have milk, some juice, tea–“
“What kid of juice?”
“Orange and apple,” she replied from the kitchen.
“Orange, please.”
“All right.”
“Say, Ami-chan,” Chibiusa began as Ami came back from the kitchen with a pair of glasses filled with orange juice, “I heard from Usagi that Ryoku-san sometimes works as an aide to a music teacher, right?”
“Yes,” Ami confirmed. “I’ve met Sugiyama-sensei. She’s a very nice woman and a very good teacher, too.”
“Does he teach, too?” she asked.
“Not really. He told me that he had taken over for her once when she was sick, but that was the only time. Besides, he also said that he was just reading from her lesson plan, so he didn’t consider that actually teaching.”
“Ah,” Chibiusa nodded thoughtfully.
“Why do you ask?” Ami inquired. “Are you thinking of asking Ryo-kun to teach you how to play something?”
The young girl quickly started nodding. “Y-yeah! That’s it,” she told her. “I wanted to ask you if you know where Ryoku-san lives, so I can ask him about teaching me music.” Not to mention finding the Silver Crystal.
“Why didn’t you ask Usagi-chan?” Ami asked curiously. “She knows where Ryo-kun lives as well.”
“Well…,” Chibiusa hemmed slightly, “you know how reliable Usagi can be sometimes.”
“Hmm…,” Ami sighed and grimaced, not wanting to admit that the younger girl had a point.
The music store, Symphonium, was getting much better business than it had in quite a while. There were several customers perusing the stacks of sheet music and scores, while others looked over the instruments that were displayed. Some of the customers who had been there before wondered about the complete change in stock, as everything there was completely different than the last time they had visited the shop.
One of the shop’s hottest items was the brightly colored plastic recorders. The recorders came in many different colors, ranging from pink to bright red to dark purple to silver to black. They were so easy to play that many children were asking their parents to buy them one. Since they came with a free instruction booklet that taught them how to play the instrument, it made it that much easier to sell.
Avery watched as her human-guised Droid associate sold a handful of recorders to a group of children. “Well, this is certainly going better than I thought it would,” she mused to herself. “As the children play their new instruments, the Dark Power will slowly infect them, increasing their desire to continue playing. The more they play, the more the Dark Power will infect them, eventually enslaving them to their own instruments.”
She sighed in boredom as the last child left. “Why couldn’t Rubeus-sama have found a Crystal Point in a fashion boutique or a jewelry store or something?” she lamented.
Fuefuki glanced back at her mistress and tried not to roll her eyes. Was that woman ever going to stop complaining and help with the customers? She was only one Droid, after all.
“Hmm…,” Ryoku hummed contemplatively as he set down his guitar and peered closely at it.
“Is something wrong?” Makoto asked as she came into the living room from the kitchen.
“I think the low-E, B, and G-strings all need to be replaced soon,” he said after a closer inspection of the neck of the guitar. “They’re looking pretty worn. Besides, I’m turning the knobs way too much in order to keep them in tune.” He paused as he looked over the tuning knobs. “I might want to look into getting replacement knobs, too.”
Makoto shrugged as she turned back toward the kitchen. “You’re the musician, not me,” she replied. “I wouldn’t know when to replace any strings unless they broke.”
Ryoku gave a small snort of amusement. “All right, then. I’ve got some time before dinner’s ready, right?”
“You’ve got about an hour,” she replied from the kitchen.
“Plenty of time,” he said as he got up and headed for the door. “I’ll just run down to the music store, pick up some replacement strings and be back before dinner’s ready.”
He opened the door and stopped as he felt a small hand knock on his stomach. He blinked in surprise as he glanced down to see who was at the door, just as the owner of the small hand quickly retracted it upon realizing that it wasn’t the door she was knocking on.
“Well, here’s a surprise,” he said with a half-smirk of amusement. “So, who told you where I live? Usagi-chan?”
“Ami-chan did,” Chibiusa replied.
“Is that Chibiusa-chan’s voice I hear at the door?” Makoto asked.
“Yeah, she’s at the door now,” Ryoku said over his shoulder, then turned back to Chibiusa. “Wanna come in? Mako-chan’s making dinner right now. It’s shougayaki tonight, but I’m sure Mako-chan’d love to make you a little something if you don’t like shougayaki. Right, Mako-chan?”
“Yeah, I can make another serving real quick, no problem,” Makoto replied from the kitchen.
“I’ve never had it before,” she said as she came inside.
“Well, give it a try. Mako-chan is an excellent cook. I’m sure you’ll love it.”
“Are you going somewhere?” she asked as Ryoku stepped past her on his way out the door.
“Yeah, I’ve got to go get some replacement strings and tuning knobs for my guitar,” he told her. “There’s a music store not too far from here where I get all my music supplies from. You’re welcome to tag along if you feel like it. After all, Mako-chan’ll be busy for the most part and dinner won’t be ready for another hour.”
Chibiusa grinned. Since Ryoku would be out of the apartment and Makoto would be busy cooking, it would be the perfect opportunity to search for the Silver Crystal! “Well–”
“Why don’t you go with him, Chibiusa-chan?” Makoto suggested from the kitchen. “After all, I’m sure you’d be bored just watching me cook until Ryo-chan gets back.”
“No, I wouldn’t be bored!”
“You’re just saying that to make her feel better,” Ryoku countered as he gently ushered the girl outside. “Come on. This won’t take too long. If you behave, I’ll even buy you something,” he added with a half-grin. “I’ll see you in a bit, Mako-chan.”
“Take your time,” Makoto replied.
Chibiusa sighed as Ryoku closed the door behind him and walked past her. So close. She was so close.
“I’ll leave you behind if you keep standing there,” Ryoku said without glancing back.
“Hey! Wait up!” the young girl shouted as she ran after him.
“Hmm…,” Ryoku murmured as he studied the store’s display window. “Looks like they did some reorganizing since I was last here. They even took down that lovely 12-string guitar I’ve had my eye on for the longest time.” He stood up with an indifferent shrug. “Ah, well. Shall we go in?” he asked as he cocked his toward the entrance.
Once inside, Chibiusa stopped and stared at all the instruments out on display. Many brass instruments hung on one of the walls, as well as several different types of saxophones. On another wall, many guitars, both acoustical and electric, hung on display. The larger guitars with thicker strings – Ryoku identified them as bass guitars – had four or five strings as well as the usual six-stringed guitars she saw everywhere else. A display case stood at the far end of the room containing many of the smaller instruments, such as flutes, clarinets and other such woodwinds.
“Do you play anything, kiddo?”
“Eh?” Chibiusa started, turning toward Ryoku. “What did you call me?”
“Kiddo,” he replied as he stepped past her toward one of the counters. “What, would you rather me call you ‘Chibiusa’ like everyone else? Is there something wrong with calling you ‘kiddo’?” He stopped at the nearest counter and signaled for the brunette sales person to come over.
“No…,” Chibiusa said as she stared down at the floor. “It’s just that… there’s someone who always calls me that back at home–“
“–and hearing me call you that makes you homesick,” he finished, nodding understandingly. “Sorry,” he said as he patted her gently on the head, “I’ll stop calling you that.”
“Can I help you?” the brunette salesperson said as she came up to Ryoku.
“Sorry to bother you, but I need some replacement guitar strings,” he informed her. “I need a low-E, a B, and a G. Also, would you happen to have any tuning knobs as well?”
“Um…,” the salesperson dithered, unsure of what the customer was asking for.
Ryoku frowned slightly. “Let me guess. New to the job?”
“Hmph!” she snorted irritably as she spun around and headed in the opposite direction. “Come with me.”
Ryoku and Chibiusa exchanged perplexed looks for a few moments before following the woman.
“Fuefuki! I need you to assist this gentleman,” the brunette shouted to the blonde salesperson who was busy handing out recorders to a small group of children. “I’ll take over here.”
“As you wish,” the blonde salesperson bowed as she set down a blue recorder and headed toward them.
“What are those?” Chibiusa asked as she looked at the recorder display.
“That is our biggest seller, ‘The Magic Flute’,” she explained. “They’re actually just recorders, but they’re really easy and fun to play. Would you like to try one?”
“I’ll pass,” Ryoku declined. “I came here for something else.” He glanced over at Chibiusa. “I can show you how to play one when we get back.”
“You’ve played one before, Ryoku-san?” Chibiusa asked as she went over to the display.
“My father taught me how,” he said. “It was on an old wooden recorder that he made himself a long time ago. I don’t really play it much anymore since I prefer my guitar, but I still remember how to play.”
“Oh, sir, they come with instructions if you buy one,” the salesperson cut in helpfully.
“That’s all right,” he declined again. “I’m just here for some guitar strings and tuning knobs.”
While Ryoku was busy with the salesperson, Chibiusa went up to the recorder display and looked over all the different colored instruments. Next to her, many of the other children were looking over their new instruments happily, while others were contentedly playing them, some while reading the included instructions.
“Would you like to try one?” the brunette salesperson asked as leaned on the counter.
“Sure,” Chibiusa nodded eagerly.
The sales person reached behind the counter and brought out several different colored recorders. “Just choose whichever color you want. They’re all the same.”
Chibiusa glanced over all of the different recorders. Her eyes stopped as she came across the pink-colored recorder in the center of the group.
“Ah, yes. That color does seem to fit you,” the salesperson nodded as she picked up the instrument and held it out to her. “Here.”
“Hey,” Ryoku called out as he came up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m all done here. Let’s get going.”
“Aw, but Ryoku-san, I was just about to try this out!” she protested, pointing at the proffered instrument.
He gave the instrument a critical glance. “Wooden instruments sound better than plastic ones.”
“H-how dare you criticize our instruments?!?” the salesperson bellowed furiously.
Ryoku blinked in bewilderment at the salesperson before shaking his head in vexation. “Never mind. Let’s just go,” he said as he took Chibiusa’s hand and led her out of the store.
“You didn’t have to make that lady angry,” Chibiusa admonished as soon as they had left the store.
Ryoku snorted disdainfully. “Anyone who works in a music store should know something that obvious. Anyway, when we get back, I’ll show you what a real recorder should sound like.”
“Not bad,” Ryoku nodded as Chibiusa played a few notes on his recorder. “You can hear the difference in the sound, can’t you? Plastic has a cheap, tinny sound to it, while this one sounds crisp and fuller.”
Chibiusa gave him a blank stare. “I suppose,” she replied while sweatdropping.
“Dinner’s ready, you two,” Makoto said as she came into the living room and halted as soon as she spotted the recorder in Chibiusa’s hands. “Ryo-chan, isn’t that Dad’s old recorder?”
“Yeah, I thought she might like to give it a try,” he said as he nodded toward the pink-haired girl. “She’s been learning pretty quickly, too. You sure you haven’t played one of those before?” he asked with half-grin.
“You’ve been a good teacher, Ryoku-san,” Chibiusa said with a wide smile.
“Thanks. Now, let’s go eat. I’ll show you some more notes after dinner.”
“Yeah!” Chibiusa nodded eagerly. The music lessons were fun, but she still needed to search the place for the Silver Crystal.
“Ah, it’s good to see you arrive on time today, Ryoku-san,” Sugiyama said as Ryoku walked into her classroom the following day.
“I didn’t mean to be late that one day, Sugiyama-sensei,” he replied apologetically.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s in the past,” the diminutive teacher replied with a smile. “You’re still on clean-up duty for the rest of the week, though.”
“Damn,” he muttered as he trudged over to his seat and began to tune his guitar. Once he was done, he began to tune the students’ instruments as well. As Ryoku made his usual rounds, Takako was getting some help from her fellow flautists.
“Are you still having trouble, Takako-chan?” Chizuru asked.
“Yes,” Takako replied with a sigh. “I’m sure I’ve got my lips in the right position on the mouthpiece, but I just can’t get anything to come out.”
“I don’t understand,” Konoe said, puzzled. “I don’t know what you could be doing wrong.”
“Who’s doing what wrong?” Ryoku asked as he came to their row.
“Takako-chan’s still having problems with her flute,” Konoe told him.
“Still? I thought you and Inoue-san were helping her with that?”
“We are,” Chizuru added. “It’s just that we haven’t figured out what she’s doing wrong.”
“Hmm…,” he said as he stepped in front of Takako. “Sadamoto-san, could you play a B-flat for me, please?”
“A-all right,” Takako said as she attempted to play a B-flat.
“Watsuki-san, could you play a B-flat as well, please?” he requested.
“Sure,” she replied and played the requested note.
“Both of you hold your notes, please,” he added as he glanced from one girl to the other, giving each girl a careful scrutiny.
“Do you see something, Kino-san?” Chizuru asked as Ryoku asked for the girls to stop.
“Inoue-san, could you play a B-flat real quick?” he asked.
“Okay,” Chizuru replied and played a B-flat.
“All right, I think I got it now,” he said with a nod.
“Eh? You know what Takako-chan is doing wrong?” Chizuru exclaimed.
“Her breathing is wrong,” he told them.
“Breathing?”
“Well, let me put it this way; the way you and Watsuki-san form your mouths while playing is very different from the way Sadamoto-san forms her mouth,” he explained. “If she were to narrow her mouth and blow more lightly, I think she’d be able to improve.” He turned to Takako and half-smiled. “Would you mind giving it a try?”
“All right,” Takako nodded as she did as she was told. This time, her note was stronger. It was still weak, but it was noticeably stronger than before. “I did it!”
Ryoku nodded with another half-smile as he turned and headed for his seat. Before he sat down, he realized that Sugiyama had been watching him.
“Class, let’s start with the same song we left off with last time, measure 60,” she said as she turned to the appropriate section in her conductor’s score.
“Very good, everyone,” Sugiyama said as she stepped down from the conductor’s stand in front of the class while everyone began to put up their instruments. “Next time, we’ll be starting something a little more difficult.
“Ryoku-san, could you stay behind for a moment?” she said as he put his guitar away.
Ryoku glanced up from his case and regarded the teacher curiously. “Is something wrong, Sugiyama-sensei?”
The diminutive teacher shook her head as she gestured for him to take a seat, then waited until the last student left. “No, nothing’s wrong, Ryoku-san. I just wanted to ask you something, if you don’t mind.”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t mind. What is it you wanted to ask?”
“I’m a little curious as to what your plans are for the future,” she told him as she considered him.
“The future?” he repeated with a small amount of surprise. “I haven’t really given it any thought. Why do you ask?”
She smiled as she sat down on her piano bench, smoothing the skirt of her white dress as she considered him again. “I’ve been watching you for quite a while, Ryoku-san; ever since I first offered you the job as my teaching aide.”
“It gives me an excuse to play with a group rather than just practice by myself,” he replied off-handedly. “Besides, I wouldn’t really call it a job. After all, you don’t pay me,” he added jokingly.
“Well, you’ve never complained before,” she said with a laugh. “At any rate, you’ve done such a wonderful job. You’ve even managed to help one of my students with her mistakes.”
“It wasn’t really that hard, Sugiyama-sensei,” he replied. “Sadamoto-san was just had a problem with her breathing. Once I figured that out, the rest was easy.”
Sugiyama nodded approvingly. “Still, you managed to figure that out despite the fact that you don’t play the same instrument as her. Ryoku-san, I think you have a special talent. Have you ever considered teaching music?”
“What? Me, a teacher?” he said uncertainly.
“Why not?” she asked as she tilted her head inquisitively. “Anyway, I thought I’d just make the suggestion. It seems to suit you. At least, I think so.
“Anyway, you don’t have to decide right now. It’s not as if you need to have the answer right away. You have plenty of time for that.”
“Right,” he said as he stood up and picked up his guitar case. “I’ll see you at the next class, Sugiyama-sensei.”
“I’ll see you then, Ryoku-san,” she replied as she stood up. “Just remember to clean up before you go. You’ve still got clean-up duty for another three days.”
Ryoku sighed as he set down his case. “I was hoping you would’ve forgotten, Sugiyama-sensei.”
She laughed daintily. “Sorry, Ryoku-san. Next time, don’t be late for my class.”
“Yes, Sugiyama-sensei,” he replied, bowing his head in chagrin.
Ryoku sighed as he finally left the classroom. It had taken a good half-hour to clean up everything; the students apparently thought that since he was on clean-up, he might as well take care of their instruments as well. Of course, that was the reason why Sugiyama assigned clean-up duty as a punishment for being late.
“Hey, Ryo-kun!” he heard someone shout as he passed by one of the smaller parks on the way back home.
“Hi, you two,” he replied, nodding to both Usagi and Chibiusa. “Having fun?”
“We just got here,” Usagi replied. “Mom said we were making too much noise so she thought we should go outside.”
Ryoku half-smirked at seeing Chibiusa pull down an eyelid at her behind her back. “Kicked out of the house, hmm?” he chuckled. “Well, I’ve got nothing better to do, so if you don’t mind–“
“You just got out of music class, didn’t you?” Usagi asked as she eyed his guitar case.
“Yeah,” he nodded as he headed over to a nearby bench and sat down, setting his case down next to him. “And I suppose you want me to play something for you, too, right?” Usagi nodded eagerly. “I thought so,” he said, feigning vexation as he half-grinned. “I suppose I have no choice, then.”
Chibiusa watched Usagi as she sat down on the next bench, waiting eagerly while Ryoku took his guitar out of its case. She had never heard him play his guitar before; in fact, she hadn’t even known he played anything until recently when she had rummaged through both his room and Makoto’s room for the Silver Crystal.
She had tried to be as subtle as she could when she asked to be excused from dinner to go to the restroom, but she could’ve sworn from the way he was watching her as she left that he knew exactly what she was going to do. It made her uneasy, and even more so when she came back after she finished. She knew she hadn’t put everything back as she had found it, but she was planning on trying to charm her way out of it. When she came back, Ryoku said nothing as he stood up and went into both his room and his sister’s room, then came back out and sat down as if nothing happened. What made her even more uneasy was that when Makoto asked what he got up for – she couldn’t see into the hallway from her seat like she could – he merely shrugged and said nothing as he made an almost imperceptible half-smile toward the young pink-haired girl.
How strange…, she mused as she watched him retune his strings. The way he acts… it’s almost like the way Ojisan would act if he were here. A fond smile crossed her face at the thought.
“Any requests?” Ryoku asked as soon as he was finished.
“Number 54 in A minor,” Chibiusa said absently.
“All right,” he nodded and raised his hand to strum the first chord, but paused as a realization struck. “Wait. Hey, kiddo, have you heard me play before?” he asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly.
“Huh?” Usagi asked, confused at her friend’s sudden change in behavior.
“Ah!” Chibiusa exclaimed as she realized that she had spoken her last thought out loud. “Oh, that was the title of a song that one of my mom’s friends wrote a long time ago. It’s one of my favorite songs.”
“Interesting that someone would have a similar titling method as my own,” Ryoku reflected thoughtfully.
“What are you talking about, Ryo-kun?” Usagi asked. “What titling method?”
“I don’t give my songs names,” he explained. “I simply number them and append the key of the song I wrote it in.” He gazed at Chibiusa thoughtfully. “I had just written a song titled ‘Number 54 in A minor’ a few months ago,” he added. “However, I’ve been planning on reworking the song in a couple of areas. How about ‘Number 17 in B-flat minor seven’?”
Before Ryoku could start playing, a soft, echoing melody started to waft in from the other side of the park. It almost sounds like… a recorder? Chibiusa thought as she turned around to see who was playing.
A young girl sat underneath one of the trees that lined one end of the park, quietly playing her recorder. Her eyes were closed as she played, not moving at all save for her hands. The melody that came from her instrument was cold and haunting, which matched the feeling she got from watching the girl. As the girl played, a couple more children started to wander into the park and sat down underneath the trees while starting to play the same melody as the first girl.
Ryoku and Usagi exchanged glances at this strange turn of events. “You suppose they’re forming a band or something?” Usagi asked questioningly.
“Doesn’t seem likely to me. Hey, kiddo, do you recognize those recorders that they’re using?” he asked Chibiusa.
The pink-haired girl was about to remind him about his calling her ‘kiddo’ when she finally recognized the instruments. “They’re those recorders we saw at the music store the other day.”
“Hina-chan!” a woman shouted as she ran up to the girl that had first arrived. “Why did you leave without saying a word?” she demanded worriedly. “All you’ve been doing is playing that thing; you don’t eat, or sleep…. Your teacher just called a while ago and told me you didn’t even go to school today! What’s wrong with you?”
The girl’s mother approached the girl and reached out for the recorder. “I don’t want you to play this while I’m talking to you,” she said as she grasped the instrument.
Hina said nothing. Instead, she raised her hand and flung her mother away. The older woman traveled a short distance in the air before landing hard on her back in front of Chibiusa.
“Hina-chan!” her mother shouted again as she got up and headed toward her daughter, only to be swatted away again. This time, the force of the blow knocked her mother unconscious before she even hit the ground. Chibiusa stared in utter shock as the girl simply closed her eyes and started playing again.
“Hey!” Usagi shouted angrily as she pointed at the girl. “What do you think you’re doing? Do you even realize what you’ve done? Didn’t you see how worried about you your mother was?”
“I don’t think she’s listening, Usagi-chan,” Ryoku said, interrupting her harangue as he checked the girl’s mother.
“What’s wrong with them?” Chibiusa asked as she watched Ryoku.
“I think it has something to do with those recorders,” he said as he stood up. “The woman’s fine, but I think someone should keep an eye on her, just in case. I’m going to go get help.” His gaze met Usagi’s and she nodded, understanding what it was he wanted. “All right, keep an eye on things for me, Usagi-chan, kiddo.”
“Hey!” Chibiusa yelled as he ran off. “I thought that you weren’t gonna call me that any more!”
Ryoku burst into the music store, Symphonium, and stared in horror. Facing him was a large group of children, each playing the same recorder that he had sen to children playing in the park he had just left. Worse, each child was directing their vacant, soulless stares at him as they continued to play.
“What the hell is going on here?” he demanded of the two salespersons present. “What did you do to these children?”
“Isn’t this such a lovely, haunting melody?” the brunette asked, smirking malevolently as she stepped out from behind the counter. “All these children have given up so much energy to learn how to play these instruments. You can see how dedicated they are. It’s like nothing else matters.”
“Stop this,” he commanded coldly.
The woman merely laughed at him, then snapped her fingers. “Fuefuki.”
The blonde bowed deferentially. “Yes?”
“Take care of this boy.”
“Yes.”
Fuefuki leaped into the air while flinging off her salesperson disguise. When she landed, the pale-skinned, red-eyed Droid was wearing a dark blue kimono with a blood red sash and wooden geta on her feet. Her still blonde hair was done up in a bun on the top of her head. In her hands was a pan flute that consisted of seven tubes of declining lengths.
The Droid lifted her pan flute to her lips and started to play. As she played, all of the children behind her slowly began to sag, then drop lethargically to the floor. Ryoku felt a wave of indolence rack his senses, but he fought to remain awake as he ducked behind a counter. Once behind some cover, he quickly activated his communicator.
“Everyone, the enemy has appeared at the music store, Symphonium!” he reported.
“Right,” each girl acknowledged, except for Usagi.
“Ami-chan, I’ll need you to go to the park a couple of blocks from Sugiyama-sensei’s classroom. Usagi-chan is watching over a woman who was hurt by one of the children that was affected by the enemy. Could you go help her, please?”
“Got it,” Ami acknowledged.
“Good. I’ll try to hold them off until you arrive.” Ryoku shut off his communicator and brought out his Star Sword, willing the blade to appear my mental command. “Knight star sword power!”
Sailor Knight flung his sword toward the other side of the room, embedding it in the wall. As the Droid and her mistress were distracted by the impact of the blade, he leapt out from under cover while delivering a flying kick to the Droid’s head. The kick connected, sending the Droid flying into her mistress.
“Warping music for your evil gains was bad enough,” he stated angrily after retrieving his sword. “But, I won’t forgive you for enslaving children in this evil plot of yours!”
Avery flung off her salesperson disguise and laughed. “What utter nonsense. Fuefuki, please take care of this.” She turned and was about to disappear when a blade suddenly embedded itself into the wall next to her head. She turned around to see Knight standing there with a smirk of his own.
“And who said you could leave?” he asked condescendingly.
As if in reply, Fuefuki brought her pan flute to her lips and started playing again, this time with a shrill, piercing melody. Knight winced as the noise assaulted his ears, keeping him slightly off balance. Avery seized upon the opening granted by her Droid and lashed out with her whip, snagging Knight by his throat.
“Time to finish you off, boy,” Avery snarled as she pulled tighter on her whip. “Fuefuki.”
“Yes,” the Droid replied as she raised her pan flute once again.
“Venus love-me chain!”
Venus’ chain attack struck Avery’s whip, cutting it close to Knight’s head.
“Burning mandala!”
“Sparkling wide pressure!”
The two attacks of fire and lightning hurtled through the air, striking at Avery and Fuefuki. Both managed to dodge the attacks.
“Glad you could all make it,” Knight said as he removed the remains of the tip of Avery’s whip from his neck. He turned to Sailor Moon when he noticed one person missing. “Where’s Mercury?”
“She’s still taking care of that one woman,” Sailor Moon told him. “She says that she’s pretty sure she’ll be fine.” She then turned to Fuefuki and pointed dramatically. “Foul demon who–“
“I covered that already,” he interrupted as he turned back to face the enemy.
“What?!?” Sailor Moon exclaimed as she facefaulted, then began to pout. “No fair, Knight-kun! You know that’s my job!”
“Die,” Fuefuki said as she raised her pan flute to her lips and blew, creating another shrill, piercing melody. However, this one was much stronger than the one previous, and soon all the Scouts found themselves faltering under the assault.
“Got to take out that damn flute,” Knight grunted as he crossed his arms over his chest while extending only his thumbs and first two fingers. As he gathered power into his hands, he slowly uncrossed his arms while raising both hands into the air over his head. As his hands spread, dozens upon dozens of small stone spikes, each one proportional to his larger Earth Thrust attack, appeared floating between his hands above his head. “Avalanche barrage!” he shouted as he flung the multitude of stone spikes at Fuefuki. The barrage of spikes hammered against the pan flute, shattering it.
“The noise is gone,” Venus said, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Hurry up, Sailor Moon,” Mars prompted impatiently.
“I know, I know!” Sailor Moon growled as she brought out her Moon Scepter. “Moon princess halation!” she shouted as she waved the scepter in front of her, firing a blast of white energy at Fuefuki. The attack stuck her shattering her skin to pieces, leaving only her figure in crystal, which disintegrated into a pile of powder. The jewel on her choker with the upside-down black crescent moon turned from a bright golden yellow into a dull lifeless gray. As the Droid completely vanished, all of the plastic recorders disintegrated and faded away as well.
“All right,” Jupiter said as she cracked her knuckles menacingly and faced an incensed Avery.
“Hmph! I won’t forget this,” she snarled as she snapped her whip and disappeared.
“Are the kids okay?” Jupiter asked as Knight bent down to check the nearest one.
“Yeah,” he nodded as he stood up. “They’re just asleep. I think they’ll be all right.”
“Good,” Sailor Moon sighed in relief. “I just hope that the other kids back at the park are all right, too.”
“Is everything all right?” Ami asked as she and Chibiusa arrived at the music store just as the others were starting to leave.
“The children are all right,” Minako reported. “Ryo-kun called for an ambulance. We found some of the original salespeople in the back, too.”
“The children at the park are all right, too,” Ami told them. “That woman you told me about is fine, too. Just a little bruised. They should all be at the hospital by now.”
“It’s been a day, hasn’t it, kiddo?” he said to Chibiusa with a grin.
“What did I tell you about that?” Chibiusa said flatly.
“Hm? Ah! Oh, sorry,” he apologized sheepishly. “I kinda forgot.”
“Honestly, I don’t even know why I bother!” she complained as she threw up her hands and started walking away. “But, I guess it’s okay. Right, Ryo-oniichan?” she added as she stopped and glanced behind her at Ryoku and grinned.
Ryoku couldn’t help but half-grin back. “Right, kiddo.”
“Hey, Ryo-kun!” Usagi said suddenly as she realized something. “We got to get back to the park! I think we forgot your guitar there!”
“What?!?” he exclaimed as his eyes widened in sudden realization. “Damn!” he growled as he took off running. The others exchanged confused looks, then sweatdropped.
“Ryo-kun, you dummy,” Makoto sighed as she shook her head in chagrin.
Later, everyone decided to gather at Makoto and Ryoku’s apartment for a little impromptu concert. Ryoku was more than happy to show off Chibiusa’s new skills with a recorder, especially after discovering that she seemed to have a natural talent for music. Apparently, that friend of her mother’s had taught her how to play a flute, so it went a long way to explain how quickly she was able to pick up the recorder.
“You know, it’s funny,” Ryoku said thoughtfully as he put his guitar and recorder away. Usagi had left to take Chibiusa home since it was getting late, but the others had chosen to stick around for a little longer. “Up until now, I had never really thought about what I wanted to do with my life. I never had a reason to care about it, really.” He gave the girls a contemplative glance. “Have any of you ever considered what you want to do with your lives? I know Ami-chan wants to be a doctor, but how about the rest of you?”
“I wanna be an idol singer!” Minako declared as she stood up and posed dramatically. “I want tons of adoring fans clamoring to see me and ask for my autograph! I want–”
“All right, all right, already!” Rei interrupted before Minako could build up too much steam.
“Well, what about you, then, Rei-chan?” she countered.
“Me? I’ll probably take over Grandpa’s shrine,” she said offhandedly. “Though I’d like to maybe write a few more songs before then,” she added with a laugh. “How about you, Mako-chan?” she asked as Makoto came into the room with a tray of drinks.
“Me?” she said, blinking. “Well, I like to cook, so maybe a chef or something.” She shrugged. “I’ve never really thought about it, either.”
“Like brother, like sister, I guess,” Rei laughed. “So, what about you, Ryo-kun? I suppose you’ve got something in mind, since you brought this up.”
Ryoku picked up a glass from the tray his sister brought in and stared musingly into it. “I want to be a teacher.”
Everyone turned to stare at him. “Eh?!?”
“I had a talk with Sugiyama-sensei earlier today,” he explained. “She seems to think I have a knack for teaching music.” He laughed deprecatingly to himself. “I would never have guessed. Me, a music teacher?”
“Well, you do like music,” Minako pointed out.
“Yes, you’re quite a gifted musician,” Ami agreed.
“You do like to write a lot of songs,” Rei added. “And you’ve got a good ear for beautiful melodies.”
“You flatter me,” he said with a wry half-smirk. “But still, playing music and teaching it are two different things. It took my teaching Chibiusa-chan how to play the recorder to make me realize this. Teaching isn’t easy, but… I found it was kinda fun.”
“I’m sure you’d make an excellent music teacher, Ryo-kun,” Ami said with a smile.
“You think so?” he asked, glancing from Ami to the others.
“Yeah!” Minako nodded. “And when you become a music teacher, you can give us all free lessons!”
Everyone laughed while Ryoku picked up his guitar and recorder cases and took them to his room. Before he put them away, he opened up the recorder case and stared at the recorder again with a small half-smile. He had promised to have another recorder made just like this one for Chibiusa, since she enjoyed playing it so much. She had also said she enjoyed having him teach her.
Kino Ryoku-sensei. It had a nice ring to it. Yes, perhaps he could do it.
He slowly closed the case and went to rejoin his friends.
To Chapter 63: Curry for Three