Missing Notes

"Crap, I’m gonna be so late!"

A utopian world with no transportation issues? How funny. None of that will actually save you if you wake up too late because your alarm clock doesn’t go off. And Nami wouldn’t even be as annoyed about being late if it weren’t for Tsukasa. Oh, how nice of him to change her alarm clock to ring an hour later than it should... Not!

Honestly, she might have accepted it better if it were all for some silly prank. After all, it’s not like they’re going to fire her from rehearsals for being late once or twice, especially when she’s one of the best pianists they have. But that wasn’t the case at all. Tsukasa did it fully aware that she wanted to start her day earlier to get more projects done, explaining his actions by saying she’d been overworking herself lately and should get more sleep, at least once in a while.

Sure, you could say it’s cute that he cares so much, but this was way over the line! Nami knew when to take a break, and she hated it when someone interfered with her plans. Not everyone enjoys resting regularly. Nami had this system where, once she felt herself getting in the zone, she’d just work her butt off until she started to feel a bit burnt out. Then she’d let herself rest for a week or so.

But, of course, Tsukasa knew better about what was good for her! He just had to do things his way.

Being this annoyed, even angry, felt strange. The pianist hoped that once she blew off some steam, she wouldn’t hold a grudge against her soulmate. Technically, they shouldn’t be arguing, so she was probably overreacting. No one had ever disturbed her pace before or questioned her decisions—not even her parents—unless she was trying to do something truly irresponsible, which was understandable. Sleeping six hours instead of eight didn’t feel like much of an issue in the bigger picture.

But here she was, getting agitated again. She had to calm down. It wasn’t the end of the world; Tsukasa just wanted to take care of her, and he didn’t mean any harm.

He didn’t have to try that hard, though.

So caught up in trying to calm her irritation, Nami didn’t notice someone casually walking in her path. Bumping into them was unavoidable.

All the sheet music she was holding flew up into the air, only to slowly start dropping onto the pavement.

She really should stop being so old-school and start writing her music on a tablet.

But then again, neither Mozart nor Beethoven had that kind of technology. For her, the immersion of being a true pianist would be broken, and she wouldn’t let that happen. It’s as if someone tried to convince her that playing a keyboard is the same as playing a traditional piano. It wasn’t.

“I am so sorry!” she started apologizing, not even looking up at whom she’d bumped into. Right now, the sheet music was her priority, so she focused on picking it up from the ground. “I’m in a real hurry; it’s a messy day. I hope nothing happened to you, but if you need to complain, you can find me at the Chopin Hall down the road. Right now, I just don’t have time. Okay, bye!”

The brown-haired girl rambled on until she felt she had gathered everything and started running toward her destination again. Feeling shaken, she wasn’t sure if the person she’d bumped into was yelling something from a distance; she didn’t have time to check or even think about it at that moment. Every minute of not playing the piano felt wasted in her current mentality.

“Whoa, Miss Hayashi, you know no one would kill you if you came in late occasionally, right? Especially since your boyfriend called to let us know about the change,” a surprised voice behind the entrance desk at Chopin Hall called out as Nami finally reached her destination. It belonged to a young intern in charge of greeting and sharing information about the building with visitors.

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Nami responded, taking deep breaths.

She knew she was a bit out of shape but hadn’t expected her stamina to be this low after a ten-minute run from her apartment. “But I just had a wave of inspiration, so I had to come here ASAP.”

“Oh, I see. I wish I had that much passion for something,” the receptionist bubbled as he took out the key from one of the many antique shelves standing elegantly behind him. “Piano room 6, right?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. Thank you, Nobuo!”

“Need anything else?”

“Nope, that would be it! See you later!”

The young man waved at her and returned to his previous work, which was probably playing solitaire or another game on his laptop. He was very polite, and that was likely the only thing she knew about Nobuo, other than he was younger than her, given the lack of a Soullet on his wrist. Sometimes, Nami felt bad for brushing him off quickly almost all the time, especially since he was always so kind to her. But what could she do when the only thing she thought about upon entering Chopin Hall was playing the piano?

Maybe next time she could bring him a slice of cake or something...

But that was a thought for another day. Now, she was ready to sit on the piano bench and start playing a brand-new piece that she, with some help from Tsukasa, had recently composed. After all, playing it on a real instrument instead of the digital simulation she had at home was an entirely different experience.

As she organized her sheet music, she began to gracefully move her slender fingers across the piano keys, producing a gentle tune. The song started off peacefully, a bit uncertain, but gradually grew more dynamic and passionate. It was supposed to symbolize the changes in her heart. First calm and curious, from the moment she met Tsukasa, then much faster and a bit disorganized—this part represented when she started feeling something more for her classmate. The upcoming section turned chaotic, a bit dreary but then...

One sheet of music was missing.

“Shame you had to take a break, but then again... I figured you wouldn’t be able to play the entire piece without this.”

Looking up from the music stand and directing her gaze toward the room’s entrance, Nami saw a young man she had never met before.

A person holding her missing sheet of music in his hand.