This Player Plays (Takeru and Kasumi):

"Takeru... why do you insist on playing such songs on a piano of all things?" Twelve snarked.
Today, Takeru was playing songs from a well-known pre-divide band called 'The Police', specifically, songs from their album, "Ghost in the Machine". Now, under normal circumstances, he would never play this in a public place (especially not with the door unlocked). But with how people never really seemed to come here unless by chance, and except for him, this place was usually empty...
Well, it really wasn't a problem.
"Any requests?" He asked twelve, already knowing he was going to ask for Bethoven's 5th symphony.

Kasumi rifled through the stack of forms she'd just completed, making sure that every blank had been filled in. Some of the higher-ups in the Student Government had decided that the club had earned itself a celebration for a thus far successful school year. After brief meeting -and a briefer vote- it had been decided that the club would have a karaoke party. Kasumi, as usual, had volunteered to take care of the legwork of reserving enough tables to seat everyone the following weekend.

She walked up to the check-in counter and handed the forms over to the bored looking high school student that had been tasked with watching over the deserted bar. The girl took the forms with a roll of her eyes an a practically inaudible scoff before returning her full attention to her phone.

Kasumi bit back her sharp response to being brushed off; opting instead to turn and walk briskly out of Story Karaoke. This had been her only job for the day. Normally, she would go to the library to study when her club duties had been completed. It was a bit of a walk back to school, but her last trig test had come back a 62; if she scored much lower on the next one she could very well begin to fail the class. She'd convinced herself that returning to the library to study was in fact the only thing she could do when the sound of a piano being played reached her ears.

She wasn't a music aficionado by any stretch of the word, but she was pretty sure it was "Invisible Sun."  It was hard to tell without the smooth English lyrics overlaying the tune (and the fact that it was being covered with a piano was strange in and of itself) but she would almost bet that was the song being played.

Kasumi followed the music to where it was drifting through a door that led into the Concert Hall. She pressed her ear against wood-grain finish of the slab and listened. Even after listening to the song in its entirety, there was part of her that still doubted that the song being played was actually "Invisible Sun." She knew that it would bother her for days if she didn't find out for sure. So, with a soft sigh, she rapped her knuckles against the wood.

"Hello? Can I come in?"

"Hm? Yeah, door's unlocked!" Takeru shouted once he had finished playing. From there, he started playing 'Spirits in the Material World'. He didn't stop again to greet his guest till he was done.
"Okay. So who're you? I'm Takeru. Takeru Kagemaru." He asked his guest.

Kasumi entered the room at the invitation of a male voice. Before she could speak, he began playing another song that Kasumi immediately recognized as "Spirits in the Material World." She laughed quietly, one hand rising to cover her mouth. He had been playing The Police.

She smiled, watching his fingers dance across the keys. The boy looked to be around her age, but she'd never seen him around the school. She wasn't exactly a social butterfly, though, so it was entirely possible that he attended Seven Stars Academy and she simply hadn't seen him.

"Kasumi," she said in response to the musician's introduction. "Kasumi Saito. I'm sorry to bother you, but I heard you playing from out in the hall." She grinned, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Um... Ghost in the Machine is one of my favorite albums... Could you play 'Demolition Man?'"

"It's okay, Kasumi. People seem to be coming in here lately all the time. And yes, I can." He said, cracking his knuckles first, and then he began to once again play the song she had requested. This time, he redoubled his focus and at that point began to play with the same focus as before. When he stopped, he turned to her.
"How was that, Kasumi? Does that meet up to your expectations?" He asked her, smiling.

Kasumi returned his smile, nodding. "Definitely! That was really good!" She looked around the room, admiring the decor as she walked over to the piano and its player. "I'm surprised to find another person with an interest in English rock." She laughed, "I only know about them myself because I got distracted while searching for information on the police academy a few months ago. Google and its keywords, huh? I wound up listening to their albums all night and fell asleep during a history test the next day." Kasumi blushed, running a hand through her hair. "The professor didn't seem to care that I'd made the musical discovery of the decade. I got detention for a week on top of my zero." Laughing again, she added, "It was worth it, though."

Telos couldn't help but laugh at the story. He had had similar experiences with such things...
"Yeah, well... I don't typically play this sort of thing, but... well... today I felt like doing so, so I figured I would." Takeru responded, slightly blushing.

"Well then.... any other requests? I'll be here for a while, so... yeah." Takeru responded.

Kasumi looked around for a bit until she found a stool that had been shoved into the corner of the stage. She pulled it over to the piano bench sat down. She flapped her wrist dismissively, "Nah, surprise me." The redhead grinned, pointing a thumb at her chest. "I've got a good ear, I bet ya a Dr. Salt that I can name the song you play. But I warn you, you aren't gonna beat me with the Police!"

"Fine. I'll take you up on that challenge. If you can name it.. then yeah, i'll get you one. Prepare to be amazed!... and have some money equating to the cost of a Dr. Salt out as well." Takeru added, cracking his knuckles once more, he began to play...
"... well. Of all the... aren't you a cheeky little dastard?" Twelve remarked as Takeru began playing Twelve's theme 'A Good Man?' From Doctor Who."
Once he was done, he turned towards her again.

"Okay. Guess now." He said, confident she wouldn't know this one.

Kasumi chewed her bottom lip, glaring at the piano as Takeru played. Where had she heard this song before? She'd heard it before, she knew, but where she'd heard it was anyone's guess. It had a completely different tone then the songs he'd played so far, but he was pulling the music from the keys with the same practiced ease as before. More than once she caught herself tapping her foot to the beat.

Every now and then she would feel an inkling of the songs identity rise in her mind, but it always slipped away before she could put a name to the tune. She shifted her glare to Takeru when he told her to guess.

The stool creaked as she hopped off and turned her back on the pianist and his instrument. After a few moments she finally sighed in annoyance and turned around. "It's by Murray Gold," she said, crossing her arms over her chest, "But I have no idea which song it is. Looks like you win."

Takeru mentally rejoiced.
"Wow. Not bad. That was 'A Good Man' by the artist in question. Frankly,  I'm impressed.  Most can't even identify that much." He said, impressed.
"But now... time to collect on what I'm owed. One Dr. Salt, please." He said, gesturing for the money they had bet on.

**Sorry for the disappearance! Internet went down! D:**

"Yeah, yeah," Kasumi muttered, rolling her eyes as she unshouldered her backpack. She fished two 100 Yen coins out of her bag and slapped them into his hand, a sour expression on her face. "Keep the change, ya filthy animal," she said, doing her best Ralph Foody impression. Then she smiled, shrugging. "Sorry, that was a pretty sad attempt, huh? My English is terrible."

Takeru smiled also at the imitation attempt.
"Yeah, that was. I should know. English is my best subject. I'm damn good at it, if I do so say myself." He said, pocketing the coins for later.
"So... what next? You wanna hang out somewhere else? I can certainly think of better places to talk than here." He said half-jokingly.

Nodding, Kasumi slipped her arms through the straps of her backpack. "You've officially shot holes all in my study plans, so why not? Lead the way." She paused, then added, "I meant to ask, do you go to Seven Stars Academy? I haven't seen you around."

Takeru nodded, and began to walk off as he answered her question.
"I do. I just tend to... not always be seen." He said, thinking how best to word it. He had a tendency to be there at a lot of events, but only simply as a spectator, never at the center.
Same applied to school.