Fragments of Silence

Fragments of Silence

"In the quiet spaces between words, the truths we try to hide often speak the loudest."

In the quiet school corridors of Fujimi High, Mioka Shimizu strolling the halls, she has been given a task by the student council that morning, a simple clean up and organizing of the music room. The mission seemed dull to Mioka but she has her own ways of making it interesting.

With a mischievous glint she casually opens the classroom door. Inside the mostly empty classroom, Taiki sat alone on his chair reading a book, seeing the chance Mioka hurriedly went in front of Taiki.

"Taiki!" she called out. He glanced up, his expression calm but questioning as usual.

He exhales, "What is it this time Mioka" closing the book he was holding.

Mioka suddenly grabs his arm and says, "You are going to help me clean the music room today!" Smiling as if she's teasing Taiki.

Taiki yanks his arm back "Hold on, I don't remember volunteering for anything"

With a playful tone she replies, "You didn't, but I've decided that you are going to help me today"

"And if I refu-" Mioka grabs and pulls harder on Taiki's arm. "Unfortunately, you don't have much of a choice, as a member of the student council, I order you to help me clean out the music room".

Mioka pulls more on Taiki’s arm "Come on let's go Taiki, the dust isn't going to clean itself y'know?" Taiki let’s out a heavy sigh, signaling defeat.

As they were about to enter the music room Taiki asks Mioka a question, "Are you sure the student council isn't just using you to do the hard work?"

"I'm sure they have their own valid reasons" Mioka confidently replies.

As they pushed open the creaky door, revealing a vast space with neglected instruments and empty sheet music. Mioka let out a dramatic gasp. "Behold! The majestic kingdom of music!" She spun in a circle, gesturing at the chaotic mess. "Ta-da!"

Taiki scoffs, "Kingdom of music? All I see is a few instruments and the rest are just storage boxes".

"Well, the details don't matter, think of it as atmospherically, can you imagine the melodies that once played in this very room?"

Taiki crosses his arms "All I can think of is how long this cleanup will take..."

Mioka laughed and poked his arm. "Come on, where’s your sense of adventure? Just imagine—we’re archaeologists uncovering musical relics of the past! Look at this place, it’s practically history!"

Taiki sighed, shaking his head. "Or it’s just a room no one cared enough to clean."

“Ugh, you’re no fun Taiki” She throws a small rug to Taiki “Here take this and start cleaning those shelves over there”

With a resigned sigh, Taiki accepted the cloth and started on a nearby shelf. They worked in silence for a while, the occasional sneeze punctuating the air as they disturbed the dust.

“Hey Taiki! Look a ukelele! Do you want me to play you a song?” she playfully struck the strings of the ukelele, the instrument having not been played nor tuned in a long time sounded like a rattling can.

Taiki quickly stops Mioka, “do you even know how to play that thing?” he grabs the instrument, “I would prefer not hearing you try to play this” as he sets it aside.

Mioka shut down again by Taiki slowly walks away from him, she murmurs to herself “What a jerk! I just wanted to lighten up the mood a little” she sighs, “I wonder what would make him loose his closed personality…”

As she was thinking she notices a big cloth in a forgotten corner of the room covering what seemed to be boxes, her curiosity attracted her to it, Mioka yanked off a heavy cloth, revealing an old piano. Her eyes widened in delight.

"Woah! A piano!" She exclaimed while taking off the dust on the old keys of the piano "I wonder if it still works?"

She presses a key it's sound was a bit out of tune, but it still resembled the original tune. "Let's see, how does it go again?... Ah I got it!"

As Mioka hummed to herself, her fingers danced over the keys, testing out a simple melody. She glanced over her shoulder at Taiki, who had gone unusually quiet. He stood still, his gaze fixed on the piano, as if the sight of it had pulled him into another world.

"Hey, Taiki," Mioka called with a bright smile, trying to draw him in. "Come on, don’t just stand there like a statue. Let me hear you play something! I’m thinking something classical, Beethoven perhaps?"

Taiki hesitantly walks towards Mioka his expression spelling out sadness and fear all over, Mioka notices this and concern ably asks, "Say Taiki are you feeling well?"

His gaze dropping to the polished wooden surface of the piano. "This… reminds me of my mother," he said quietly, almost as if speaking to himself.

Mioka, sensing there was more to his reluctance than just shyness. She decided not to push too hard instead, she pressed a few more keys, her cheerful voice filling the room. "Did she teach you how to play?"

For a moment, Taiki didn’t respond. "No, she didn't, she stopped playing the piano when I was young."

She knew something was off, like Taiki was excluding details in his story. To lighten up the mood Mioka quickly switches topic, "Do you want me to teach you? I'm not the best at playing the piano but I can teach you the basics".

Taiki regains his demeanor, "Now’s not the time for that, the cleanup remember? I have other stuff to do.”

Mioka mischievously grins "Okay we'll finish this quickly but in one condition!"

Taiki raises an eyebrow in curiosity “And that is?"

Mioka’s eyes brightens sparkling with determination, she points at Taiki, "Well come back here after a week so I can teach you the piano".

Taiki stood still, contemplating Mioka’s offer, her contagious smile and gleaming personality reduced the pain and sadness he was feeling, for a moment he found a reason to genuinely smile.

"Alright," he said at last, his voice quiet but steady. "You’ve got a deal."

Mioka clapped her hands together in triumph, her joy radiating through the room. "Perfect! You won’t regret it, I promise. But for now…" She glanced around at the mess they were supposed to be tackling. "Let’s take this cleanup mission seriously!”

After every instrument was cleaned, and the papers organized it was already late in the afternoon, Mioka stood back, hands on her hips “There all clean! We did a pretty good job didn’t we?”

“Great can I go home now?” as he picked up his bag and was walking towards the door

“Yeah, you can go now, but don’t forget! One week!” she called out, her voice teasing yet warm.

Taiki stops, looking over his shoulder “I won’t, a promise is a promise”.

While walking through the empty corridors, the idea of sitting at the piano again was lingering in his mind, a lesson with Mioka, stirred something within him—a longing to piece together fragments of her story, and maybe, rediscover parts of himself along the way."