And the man plays on: (Remus)

Takeru was once again at one of his favorite places in all of Endy.
Concert Hall 9 in Suzie Q.
Today, he was playing Chopin's Military Polonaises.
"Hm. Any reason for playing those?" Twelve asked him.
"Mmm... i'm feeling Chopin today." Takeru replied mentally.
He played them with an even and steady tempo, like a military marching drill.
When he was done, he spoke the same two words that had become a habit every time he was done playing.
"Any requests?" He said.

Remus was going back home, just coming back from shopping. He was thinking about getting a bike. His house was the quite distance away and he didn't think he would be able to continue carrying such heavy bags each day. He felt the weight pull at his arms. He grunted as he put the bags down to massage his hands. Suddenly he heard music, some kind of piano. He didn't really know. Music wasn't his forte.

He stared off into a crowd that swarmed a man playing. There was people shouting a bunch of rediculous things that would certainly sound like titles for music. It was the only logical assumption he could make. But why was there something like this out in the open? Not wanting to stay ignorant, Remus picked up his groceries and went up to the nearest person. "Excuse me," He said. "Where exactly am I?"

"You're not from around here, aren't you?" The women asked. Remus shook his head, hearing the women laugh. He couldn't understand why. He couldn't see the humor in the fact he was new here. "Well you're in Concert Hall," She answered.

Remus face became twisted in confusion. Who would name a place concert hall if it doesn't even seem to fit such a title. Not wishing to dwell any longer, Remus thanked the women as he began to push through the crowd to see what was going on.

"Well. We have quite the audience. We warmed them up a bit. So now it's time for you to deliver." Twelve said.
"Got it." Takeru replied mentally.
"Let's see now... so many choices... I don't usually play publically, but...  ah. Who am I kidding? I'm worthless without an audience!" He said, letting the excitement flow into him.

"Let's see here... you!" He said, pointing at a man making his way through the crowd.
"Name a piece, and I'll play it!" He said to the man.

It was hard to hear anything with all the cheering, but as soon as Remus got to the front of the crowd, he saw the pianist pointing a finger his way. He was confused, realizing the musician was pointing at him. People around were growing silent and Remus heard someone whisper to him, "Pick a Song,". Remus didn't really know music. That was an understatement, he rarely knew much about music, only occasionally listening to the radio. He always had too much on his hands to enjoy much of any.

"Sorry," He boomed over, not even sounding anything close to a yell, "I don't know much about music." People around him started to murmur. He was perplexed. It seemed as if they were surprised that someone didn't know music. Could it just simply be that uncommon? Music does certainly seem like a passion here. Especially considering how it's being played out in the open like this.

To say Twelve was shocked was an understatement.
"What?!?! I don't- I don't even- so much for music being a universal language." Twelve said after he got over the initial shock.
"Calm down. The last thing I need is your thoughts jamming mine up." Takeru said in response. 


"You don't know music? Alright then. Not a problem." He said calmly, then smiled.
"Get ready. I'm going to give you one helluva first taste of it." He said, cracking his knuckles. He paused briefly to consider what song to play, then eventually decided on 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra. 

He quickly began to play the song with all he had, doing everything he could to make good on his word. When he finally finished, he found himself smiling.
" That was 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra. Did I make good on my word?" He asked the man.

The song wasn't like the ones Remus had heard on the radio all those years ago. He couldn't exactly remember the beats anymore, but he knew this was different. The melody, the instruments it certainly felt different. But even so, Remus didn't feel anything. The music was just different, and that was all there was to it. He frowned. People were still looking at him strangely, he realized he was talking to himself out loud again, curse his habit.

"So what exactly was this suppose to achieve?" He didn't feel anything, no enjoyment, no emotions pulsing out. It just felt like something announcing it's presence, nothing more. He was moving his fingers around his grocery bags, it was too large of a crowd to simply drop his groceries again to massage his hands.

"Uh-oh...." Takeru and twelve thought simultaneously.  They could feel the mood suddenly go cold. This crowd was NOT going to be happy once his words sunk in. He wasn't really angry, really, more shocked than anything, but something told him the crowd would not be that way.


"Um... not your thing..?" Takeru said nervously. He knew that this was about to become a scene. "Poor choice of words, dude. This crowd was completely into it. Look I understand, that these things happen. But I'm not so sure the crowd does. They're probably going to be very, very angry no matter what I say, so, um... get ready to run. I'm going to do something to give you a distraction, and when I do it, run, got it?" He whispered to the man.

Remus twisted his face. He didn't really find running away to be a swell idea, it might just provoke people to chase him. And trying to hide in the crowd with be suicidal. He moved his wrists in a cylindrical way, speed walking across the pavement as he made his way pass the piano instead. It would certainly provoke the least amount of people to chase after him. But how many? You never know when people a bit too passionate about something might show up.

But what exactly did that pianist have in mind? He didn't know, maybe negotiation? It would be nice to see that instead. Remus was sick and tired of seeing people constantly fighting one another with their fists instead of words.

Judging by what the man did, he seemed to agree.
"Good. Makes this easier." Twelve said. "But if I may ask... what did you have in mind?" He asked Takeru.
"You'll see." Takeru responded mentally.
"Okay. Next song is the last!" Takeru shouted. It was the best possible distraction he could make for the man at the time, albeit, he couldn't stop to listen if he wanted to make a getaway. To give him as much time as possible, he played one of the longer songs he had with him, and when it was over, maybe go and try to find him.

Maybe it wasn't as best of an idea to go further into unknown territory. Remus still didn't know the place. This wasn't a small place after all. People flocked in crowds talking about their favorite musicians. Judging by the strange names and the fact there was artists on every corner made it pretty obvious. There were also vendors, selling all kinds of merchanize, many which matched the names of whom these people around here talked about.

Remus was lost at this point, he didn't really know where he was anymore or what to do. It would certainly be wise for him to ask for directions. Who cares if someone recognized him from that pianist concert. It would be best to explain himself anyways.

Takeru finished wrapping things up about 15 minutes later, and went to go search for the man. It would be another 5 minutes before he did so.
"Hey! You! Can we talk please?" He said to the man once he found him.

The unknown hand that grasp Remus caught him off guard, instinctively, his right hand dropped a bag, falling to his grandfather's dagger as he turned to the man. It was just the pianist, with a silent sigh of relief, his hand loosened his grip.

"You do know there's better ways to get someone's attention, right?" He said with a furrow brow. Remus was recomposing himself as he stared at the man, dropping his other bag as he massaged his hands. "So what is it you want?"

"I know. I just wanted to talk. I'm curious. Just where did you grow up? Most people tend to have a song in particular they like... but not you. Today you acted like you had never heard music before. Why is that?" He asked him.

Remus eyed him suspiciously. "I'm always on the move, so I don't really have much time to see much of things," A lie within a truth. Remus just couldn't bring himself to tell this stranger about him. It would simply be safer to say he never really had time on his hands versus the fact he just never grew interested in such things due to his busy childhood. "It also seems you already don't have much in regard to an 'open mind'. It would certainly be safe to assume a more numerous of variables instead of simply believe someone easily has something without suspect," He interrogated. Sure his voice sounded a bit harsh, but Remus wasn't really known for a soft voice. His kind of adapted from his grandfather's after all.

Ouch. So true. He liked to think he was open minded, but... well... yeah.
"Ah. Sorry. My name is Takeru Kagemaru. What's yours?" He asked him.