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A dissonant chord rings out.
Sayaka grits her teeth, clenching and unclenching her hands in a steady rhythm to try to calm down. When her jaw is no longer so tightly clenched she’s at risk of some sort of health problem, she attempts the piece again.
Her fingertips slide across ivory and black keys, music pouring out each time they press down as melodies and chords string together in a harmonic dance. The notes build intensity, ringing out harsher and louder as one chord rings on for a longer moment, and her thoughts begin to drift. To becoming a magical girl- a zombie. She wonders, idly, if her playing had changed. The pure emotion one had to put into their playing- it was human- so intensely, horribly human. Did she even have that anymore? Could she even try and imitate it? Her thoughts drifted to Kyosuke, as she continued to play the piece she had rigorously memorized-
and her finger strikes the wrong key, the peaceful drifting of sound tearing down in a fell swoop.
Kyoko whistles from behind her, lounging on a cushioned chair- one foot up over the armrest and the other hanging down, “Thought you had it that time,” She says, biting down on a pocky stick, “what’s been causing you so much trouble with this piece, anyways? Thought you knew all this classical shit like the back of your hand.”
Sayaka tosses her head back, fingers slipping from the keys, “I thought so, too.” She would mumble, before straightening her back out again and moving her hands to the starting position- the same rigor as when she had first learned the piece. A note rings out, and once more, her thoughts drift. Why did she even care so much about this piece in the first place? Her life before becoming a magical girl felt so far away, as if it were a completely different life. She supposed that, in a way, it was.
She thinks it was probably to impress Kyosuke- it always was. She would stay up late, hands pressed against the keys as they cramped, sloppier and sloppier as the night progressed and yet, by the time the sun would begin to rise and she was too tired to think at all- she would have not slowed down in the slightest. How could she, when it took her weeks to master a piece, to play it well enough to hope for a chance at maybe, one day, playing right alongside him.
Another dissonant chord rings out, throwing her out of her thoughts. Sayaka bites the inside of her mouth, returning her hands to the start position as another hand grabs her wrist, and she looks up to see fiery red hair.
“You’ve been trying this for hours,” Kyoko says, “you aren’t gonna get anywhere like this,” she continues, letting go of Sayaka’s wrist and holding a pocky stick out, “gotta eat and take breaks sometimes, y’know.”
Sayaka only glowers at her- she doesn’t have the time, the luxury, to take breaks. Not when her fingers slip so much more often than they should, “I’ll take a break after I finish this,” she says, if only to try and placate Kyoko.
“You said that 30 minutes ago,” Kyoko points out, biting the Pocky, “Like I asked, what’s messing you up so badly, anyways?”
Sayaka paused for a moment. What was messing her up so much? It was never at the same part, and only when her thoughts started to drift-
Kyosuke.
Of course her playing would be affected by him and Hitomi. But how could she not get distracted by him, when the notes floating through the room were a barrage of reminders upon her, each note steering her thoughts closer to him-
“Violin boy, eh?”
Oh, she said that out loud, didn’t she?
Kyoko would click her tongue, “would’ve thought music would distract ya. But he was real into the classical shit, wasn’t he?”
Sayaka nodded, “he was the one that got me into that ‘classical shit’, too,” she would say, her voice tinging on sarcastic towards the end, “he’s the reason I started playing piano.”
Kyoko laughs, and upon Sayaka’s glare, quickly explains yourself, “you’re trying to distract yourself from him with something you started for him? I knew you weren’t the sharpest, but-“
She receives a punch on the arm for that comment.
“I guess you have a point,” Sayaka muses, “but it’s not like there’s anything else to do- Mami and Homura have witch patrolling under control.”
Kyoko turns to her with a grin, grabbing Sayaka’s hand and quickly pulling her up, “I think I have an idea,” she says, not wasting any time in pulling Sayaka along.
“Wha-“ Sayaka stumbles, before catching up and keeping pace with Kyoko, “not going to explain it, are you?” She asks, only receiving another laugh in response.
“You’ll see. It’ll be good, I promise.”
Kyoko leads her to a dingy looking shed, and Sayaka feels a coy smile on her lips, “what’s with you and bringing me to run down buildings?” She asks, and it’s her that receives a punch in the arm this time.
Kyoko drops her hand, turning to flip on a switch before facing Sayaka with a grin. The room is dimly lit, occasionally flickering from a much too old lightbulb. There’s a drum kit sitting in the back- the bronze colored metal putting the rest of the room to shame- well cleaned metal reflecting the dimmed lights. There’s a few guitars and basses lined up on the walls, and although they are nowhere as well maintained as the drum set, they aren’t too worse for wear- only covered by the occasional light patches of dust.
Sayaka raises a brow, “you’re distracting me from music with… more music?” She asks, raising a brow. Maybe it should be her accusing Kyoko of not being the sharpest, instead.
“Different music.” She insists, walking over to the drum set and running her finger along the rim much more gently than Sayaka is sure she’s seen her do for anything else, “better music than that classical shit.”
Sayaka tries not to bristle at the comment, but it must be fairly obvious despite her efforts because Kyoko levels her with an amused smile, grabbing one of the basses off the wall and cleaning off the dust coating its surface- if Sayaka’s honest, it looks near ancient. The paint is chipped in quite a few places, and she wonders what the small scuff marks are from. After plugging the instrument in to an amp that crackles and- a little surprisingly- flares to life, Kyoko experimentally pulls one of the strings, the resulting thrum reverberating across the room. She winces at the sound- quickly sitting down and tuning the instrument.
“Are you just going to stand there?” Kyoko asks, snapping Sayaka out of her stupor- distantly realizing that she was probably just staring at Kyoko as she tuned the bass, and she walks over- and is almost immediately handed the instrument, fiddling with how to hold it so she doesn’t immediately drop it.
After sitting down, Sayaka adjusts her grip to how she’s seen it again and again, holding the neck with one hand and running her fingers down the wood, lightly sliding down the strings. She rests her other arm on the body, hand loosely hanging down just in front of the pickups. Kyosuke had a short rock phase, when they were much younger, so of course she had watched countless videos of bands playing all sorts of instruments, from drums to guitars to basses just like what she’s holding. He had grown out of it quickly- returning to classical music like a moth to a flame, and yet she lingered on it for a touch longer. However, like always, she was eventually pulled in the same direction he was, and she didn’t spare a second glance back.
She’s snapped out of her thoughts that had- of course- gone back to Kyosuke, by a finger flicking against her forehead; the culprit standing right in front of her, “do you know the basics, at least?” She asks
One sheepish head shake later results in Kyoko sitting much too close for Sayaka’s comfort, breath fanning against her as she speaks, “yeah.” She nods, before her tone shifts to just a touch more sarcastic- “you can play one song now. Congratulations.” Yet despite the laid back, uncaring attitude her voice constantly seems to carry, there’s a certain sort of pride there- too. One that is immediately replaced with smugness, “and you didn’t think of Kyosuke that whole time, did you?”
“Don’t be so smug!” Sayaka immediately snaps back, turning her head to the side, facing away from Kyoko. Although- she wasn’t exactly wrong. Her thoughts hadn’t really drifted to Kyosuke much, and not at all once she began to focus more- once she began to actually enjoy the playing. His presence didn’t linger over her like it did when her fingers pressed down on ivory keys- drowned out by the heavy, gruff tones that were oh so different than crisp piano.
Although, that could also be the dull throbbing in her fingers from pressing down against the rough strings- small blisters littering the tips.
She reaches down to where the cord is connected, fingers wrapping around the plug before a hand swiftly wraps around her waist, stopping her- “ah ah-, nope.” Kyoko says, with a similar look in her eyes to the one whenever someone wastes food, if only a touch toned down. Sayaka quickly lets go of the plug- being on the receiving end of that look gets really ugly, really quickly, and despite how much the girl can annoy her, she does, begrudgingly, enjoy her company.
“If you’re gonna use these, you’re gonna use them right.” Kyoko explains, flipping the amp off and then motioning for Sayaka to unplug the bass, “It probably wouldn’t have really damaged it- but if it did, this stuff isn’t cheap to replace, ya’know.” She continues, taking the bass from Sayaka and hanging it up on a stand on the wall- turning back to Sayaka and- once again- sounding much too smug for her liking, “well? Better than your classical shit?”
“It was fine.” Sayaka says- sure, all she thought about whenever she listened to or played classical was Kyosuke, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t like it too. She stands up, stretching her long-asleep legs, “Hey, Kyoko.” She starts, just as she’s about to leave- “let’s do this again, alright?”
Kyoko pauses from what shes doing- the drumsticks she’s been spinning coming to a sudden halt. There’s a hint of surprise resting in her expression- before it shifts into a grin, “hell yeah.” She nods, resolutely- and Sayaka swears she hears her mumble, “I knew she would like it.” Just before she turns the corner
A small smile creeps on to her face- she’s easily the happiest she’s been after playing music since Kyosuke and Hitomi- and she thinks she could get used to this.