A Peddler, a Girl, and a Piano (For Zach and Matt):

"My, my, you seem to be in a good mood after what happened with that girl before." Twelve said to Takeru, who was playing the piano with a cheery expression on his face.
To be exact, he was playing Korobeiniki (albiet, in english) with an absolutely magnificent touch, and even singing along somewhat in a voice that, while not formally trained, could be recognized as that of someone who played a piano. A rare treat, since the boy that not normally sing, but today, he just couldn't help himself.

"Oh my crate is so full, I've got chintz and brocade.
Take pity, oh sweety,
Of this lad's shoulder." He sang in tune with it, singing along the other verses as he played the song.

"Er, you did lock the door, yes? You are aware that if some  curious lass walks in here, it'd get awkward, yeah?" Twelve said as Takeru played and sang the song.

"Don't worry. I did. Besides, it'd only be awkward if they knew what the song could be interpreted as." Takeru mentally replied.

Of course, he hadn't locked the door by accident. He had merely closed it, not locked it in the otherwise empty piano hall.

Meaning that anybody could walk in, and due to him being so engrossed in playing, wouldn't have noticed them until after he was done.

Sometime during the performance Aleksandra had entered the piano hall, she was going to try her hand at the piano herself, though she knew her only musical talent was singing. Once inside she saw, and heard, someone else at the piano.

Something in her mind said she shouldn't intrude but she wanted to listen all the same. So she simply waited and watched from where she stood by the door until the song was over. A soft smile on her lips as she quietly hummed along.

When his composition came to an end she gave a soft applause as she meagerly approached.

"Impressive, did you know there were a few lines from the original poem that did not make it into the song at the end?" she asked, her accent present but not heavy enough to obscure her speech, "The Merchant never returned to his love, not because he chose not to however. After a successful trip to the market he was traveling home with his earnings but got lost. He decided to ask a forest ranger for directions but instead of providing aid, the ranger killed the merchant and stole his earnings." she explained.

"Apologies for the intrusion, I was coming in to attempt the piano but then I heard the song you were playing, it reminds me of home."

James had been wandering around (as he was prone to do from time to time) and found himself near the Concert Halls. It was rather cold, so he tried to stay inside as much as possible.

And he then began to hear the sounds of a piano and then some soft clapping as he entered the hall. Seeing the person at the piano, as well as another person clapping to them.

"Oh! Was I interrupting something? I'll leave if ya want. The music sounded pretty great."

He said as he looked around the concert hall, trying to figure out anything he could of the people here. He was still wearing his uniform underneath the windbreaker he always wore. Lord he loved that windbreaker. He would probably have to go home soon, but whatever.

"Thank you, thank you." He said upon hearing the sound of soft clapping from within the room, said on pure instinct.
Which is why about 10 seconds later, he had the realization that not just one, but two people, judging from the voices.

"What the- one... no, two people?!?!?!!?" Takeru thought. As a shocked look crossed his face.
They had heard him singing.
Them hearing him play was one thing.
Letting them hear him singing was another.
And one of them was a fairly smart girl who, judging from what he heard, had grown up in Russia.
"HA! You, oh... I can't believe this..." Twelve said, laughing.
"Uh-huh... no... don't worry about it... I know about the poem... the song probably sounds better in its mother tounge." He said to the girl, unable to really properly conjugate his sentences together from the sher embarassment he felt.

"No, no... really... it's fine..." Takeru said to the boy.
He felt like climbing into a hole right now.

"Er... I didn't sound too bad, did i...?" He asked them. Anything to take his mind off the humiliation he felt right now.
Anything.

She jumped a bit when someone spoke up behind her and looked. "No, I just wandered in here like you." she said before turning her attention to the one at the piano.

"Our Sentence structures differ from each other, so naturally if you'd like to perform a foreign song you usually need to paraphrase." she explained. However you did not sound bad, if you'd like to play again I could sing it in it's native tongue for you." She extended her offer as she approached the pianist.

"That is... of course. If you don't mind..." She trailed off, suddenly getting a bit more shy having realized she's talking to a stranger.

James smiled at the boy who was playing the piano. "You did magnificently!" He gave the boy a thumbs up. "I don't care if things were removed! That was great!" He then turned to the girl. "Oh! Yeah! I'm James by the way, it's nice to meet you two!" He said, pumping his fist excitedly. "But you can call me 'Best Person Ever!'." Hah! That was a lie and James knew it. At best he was average, but still, people don't like people who think they aren't great, so he kept up the lie.

The girl seemed nice, even offering to sing in Russian for him if he wanted her too.
The boy, on the other hand, James, he could be a little less energetic.
Although it did make him realize he should introduce himself.
"At least they like it" Takeru thought.
"Sure. I'm Takeru. And you are...?" He said to the girl, ignoring James entirely, getting ready to play again.

She lowered her head a bit. "Aleksandra, it's a pleasure to meet you." She then took a few steps off towards center stage and took a deep breath, "Accessing... I'm ready." She accidentally announced her accessing her memories, after the fact she hoped they didn't notice.

She smiled to James and then looked over to Takeru and gave him a nod. "Start whenever you're ready." There was a sizable pause between the start of the song and the start of the lyrics so she was confident she could time herself to Takeru's piano.

James cocked his head to the side when she said 'accessing' but he supposed that could just be her thing. After all, he always envisioned his head as this big building filled with monsters someone would have to fight to get to memories or feelings or whatever. Either way, he sat down right in front. "Good luck guys! And I'll give you a score on how well I think you did! Kay? And it'll be an accurate one! I'm a great critic!"

Aleksandra. So that was her name. He ignored the boy, and though the girl's remark made him pause for a bit, he decided to write it off as an eccentricity.
"One, two, three, four." He said, before he began to play.

As he began to play she tapped her foot and nodded to the pace of the music so she'd know when to chime in. Once the point in the song came up she began to sing.

Oy polnym polna moya korobushka
Yest' i sitets i parcha.
Pozhaley, dusha-zaznobushka,
Molodetskogo plecha.

Her voice was very melodic as she sang, each verse flowing perfectly. She didn't make a single mistake through the whole song, partly because of the fact she was a machine, partly because of the fact she loved Russian folk songs and sang them often anyways.

As the song came to an end she held a fading last note before quickly covering her face in embarrassment. She managed to suppress it through the song but as soon as it came to an end, her shyness got the better of her. "H-how did I sound?" She asked, glancing between the both of them between her fingers.

James stood up, looking at the ground, slowly walking to in front of where Aleksandra was. "That..." He looks her in the eyes. "Was..." He keeps looking.... "AMAZING!" He said loudly before jumping into the air and fistpumping once he landed. "I couldn't understand a word! But it sounded like heaven!" He smiled widely at Aleksandra. He then looked at Takeru. "You did great too piano person!"

He ignored the boy critic altogether.
He should have referred to him by name now that he knew it.
"Oh, like you haven't done that before." Twelve said.

As for Aleksandra..
"You... you sounded beautiful. That was superlative performance." He said.
They had made a perfect duet together.
That, and her singing in a foreign language was impressive.
It really did sound good in its mother tounge.
Honestly, she sounded better than the idol he knew.
And said idol had professional training.

She blushed and nodded. "T-Thank you. You did really well too Takeru." She said before giving a curtsy. She then approached Takeru again, lightly leaning against the Piano.

"I'm glad I didn't mess up... This is my first time singing for anyone other than father..." she said, scratching her cheek a bit before she decided to adjust her eye bandage."Thank you for your compliment as well James."

Her sheepishness seemed to have receded just enough for her to feel comfortable talking to the two, though she was still nervous. "I'm new in town, I just moved here and Father had to stay in The Motherland for his work at the lab..."

"You sure did great! And Takeru, I've never heard better piano here.... Ever!" He said heading to the piano, not wanting to be pushed out of the conversation or ignored.

Oh god he hoped he wasn't being excluded from the conversation! He knew he wasn't good at this but he wasn't THAT bad! Was he? Either way, he'd have to salvage this! "So.... How about that weather we're having huh?" Perfect.