Part 1 

"Hm..." 

"-Hm...?" 

"By the way, Charlotte, why am I holding your hand?" 

"-You tell me, you were the one who reached out to me." 

"I see." 

After the once again humiliating display I trickled into Charlotte, we began walking across the streets. 

In town, there was a train station nearby along with various shops, which was the place we were walking further into with heads beginning to appear more frequently, along with more layers of different types of sounds like talking and cars. 

But after the encounter with mother and my younger brother, there was a certain place I'm planning to visit. 

Although before that, I put my hand into my pocket and pulled out the phone cover I bought for Charlotte. 

"Oh! I forgot about that! Did you even pay for it?" 

Charlotte snatched the phone cover, examining it. 

"I slammed the money onto the counter before leaving, so I didn't steal it." 

I looked at the box Charlotte was holding, it had the phone I had bought for her. 

Oh right, we have to set up the phone. 

"-Let's go into that internet cafe over there." 

We went into an internet cafe. 

I took Charlotte's phone and unboxed it, opening the phone and did all the essential stuff like creating an account to set up the phone, along with other stuff. 

Ultimately, I handed the phone back to Charlotte. 

"Waah." 

Charlotte took the phone and put the phone cover on it. 

"-Look, our phones and cases look the same." 

She stretched out her arm, pointing the phone into my face. 

I took out mine and hung it beside hers. 

"That's right." 

Two phones of the same brand with the same cover of shiny polished brown violin features. 

"I'm glad we have the same covers." 

Charlotte smiled sweetly, her smile making me feel a little bit warmer. 

"Mm." 

After muttering that, we both ordered drinks before leaving. 

Now, off to that place I was planning to go. 

Part 2 

"I'd like to switch my partners for the Concerto Competition." 

I stood in front of the reception table inside the Concerto Hall. 

Behind me was a vast space, which included a small indoor fountain and minimal seats. The engravings along with the style of this large room made it clear that this entire building was related to the art of music, with notation decorations along with dummy instruments resting along inside the room. 

This was a reception room to a Concerto. 

I had applied for this competition with my younger brother, Lukyus two months ago so we could win some money and fame. 

But with what had happened earlier, I don't feel the drive to continue practising or even playing with him. 

The lady sitting in the reception went through a few papers. 

"Uh-oh, uuhh, Arthur,  why would you suddenly change your partners, you know there's like, two weeks until the competition begins, right?" 

"You're a receptionist, not my friend, speak to me formally, trash." 

"Don't call me trash or I'll remove you entirely from the competition!" 

The lady receptionist retorted with an angry look on her face. 

Normally, this would be a weird sight, a man and a receptionist verbally brawling unprofessionally. 

But the thing is, I know her. 

When I had escaped from my parents and entered university at 16, I managed to make a few friends in my classes. 

This girl was one of them. 

"Sheesh, Arthur, you know how much work you're going to put me under by switching partners? Is this how you treat someone who's 7 years older than you, your former senior? I mean, I'll do it, but you better buy me something... And, who's the girl beside you." 

She had finally noticed Charlotte standing behind me, pointing her head out. 

"She's the person I want in place of Lukyus, and I also want to change the piece we're playing." 

"Is she, your girlfriend." 

"No."

For some reason, from the corner of my eye, I saw Charlotte look down to the ground, almost saddened by my remark. 

"Haaaaah, even though it was cuter when you acted cold in university, you've gotten more brutish and direct. You don't even reply to my texts or calls, uwah."

"I just-uh forgot to respond to them. Sorry."

I chose to ignore them though. 

Ariel was the type of girl that would date and fall in love with a guy as easily as a glutton falls in love with a food dish, while she was innocent, she was the type to get easily duped by manipulative guys and was overly clingy. 

In short, the ones who read a lot of romance novels and shoujo manga. 

The type of girl I'm personally not into, but I'm sure the majority of guys around would like the innocent gullible lovey-dovey girls who fall in love easily.

She told me back then while I was 16 in university that if I got older, she would want to date me. 

Nope, not in a million years. 

Go find a good boyfriend. 

"Hi, who are you to Arthur?" 

Charlotte popped out, standing beside me and leaning inward into the receptionist.

She immediately asked that direct question. 

"I'm Ariel, I used to be friends with him in lectures back in university. Well, anyway, you're gonna be Arthur's new partner, right?"

Ariel pulled out a sheet and put it in front of her. 

"-Tell me everything about you, what do you play?" 

Charlotte hesitated before resting her hands on the receptionist table. 

She leaned in, and whispered: 

"Do you like Arthur? If you do, I'm gonna ask you to not do that anymore."

I couldn't hear what she said, she was being too quiet. 

But I could tell she had a serious look on her. 

"Like Arthur? He's too young for me, even though the girls wanted to date him back then, we'd be made fun of and labelled as shotacons cause he was so young." 

Ariel whispered back. 

Charlotte stood backward, straightening her shoulders and with a cheerful smile, in contrary to the previous serious expression, she replied:

"I play the piano!" 

"The piano? Wait, a double piano piece? Arthur, what kind of changes are you making?!" 

"We're going to play a four-handed piece, and on one piano." 

"Aah, this is gonna mess up everything. Uwah, uwah, I hate you." 

Seemingly overwhelmed by problems I wouldn't be able to imagine, Ariel's back hit her seat as she drooped her head downward with a tired and exasperated expression. 

"Thanks, I'll send over the details through text, is it fine if we borrow a practice room for a bit here?" 

"Yeeeeaaahh...~" 

Ariel bumped her forehead onto her desk, slumping her shoulders forward along with a curved back, sighing heavily as she lazily replied. 

She's the exact same person I knew her to be. 

Energetic, but never motivated. 

I could even see some shoujo mangas on her desk, waiting to be read and finished. 

How typical of her, who used to read them during lectures too. 

After we left, Ariel straightened her back and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. 

She muttered under her breath: 

"...He seems more happy than usual, did something happen?" 

Part 2 

We had walked past the reception room and entered a narrow hallway leading to the practice rooms.

"Hey, you, is that, you?" 

"Hm?" 

I heard a male voice calling from behind me. 

"Arthur?" 

He called out to me again, this time looking at my face as I turned around. 

I was greeted by an averagely tall man with brown hair and blue eyes. 

With a delicate and skinny face, along with his fairly skinny stature, I could tell who it was from a glance. 

"Sonlet?" 

It was Sonlet, formally a kid I used to know while growing up, he was wearing a hoodie and trousers looking like your average joe, except, looking like an average joe in a place of musical arts doesn't make you much of an "average joe". 

Now, he's an adult, about the same age as me. 

He's a musician too, a professional pianist. 

When I was forced into competitions, Sonlet and two other girls named Amy and Amber frequently competed with me during the competitions, of course, I beat them all. 

"I saw your name on the competition boards, I'll beat you this time. You're playing a Violin Piano Sonata piece with Lukyus, right? What a coincidence, I'm doing that too!" 

He puffed out his chest, smiling radiantly. 

He was so motivated that he didn't even notice the penguin-sized Charlotte standing beside me. 

"Oh? But I just changed my piece and partner, I'm playing a four-handed piece this time, and my partner isn't Lukyus anymore, it's Charlotte." 

I stepped aside and showcased Charlotte, who did V signs with her hands. 

"Oooh?! You have friends?!"

"Of course I do!" 

I retorted back, giving Sonlet a frown. 

"Nice to meet you, Charlotte." 

"Hi~" 

After noticing Charlotte, he greeted her. 

They both shook hands. 

"By the way, Arthur, are you heading to the practice rooms? Come with me, I wanna show you something. I was saving this to show you later on, but now that you're here, I might as well show you anyway. Charlotte, you can come too."

"Gladly!"  

"Huh?" 

Sonlet turned his back to me, urging us to follow him. 

We followed him into the practice rooms, which were padded with sound-proof material all over, creating a very nice and soothing pattern. It was dark, but had enough light to keep the entire room bright enough for performing. 

In the centre, was a black standard mini-grand piano. 

Sonlet took a seat. 

"What is it you want to show me?" 

I pressed my back against the wall, crossing my arms. 

"Well, as a rival, learning about the musical style of my rival is important if you wanna surpass them." 

"..." 

I kept silent. 

Charlotte looked on with curiosity, making "mm! mm!" sounds as she rotated her head, glancing at both me and Sonlet. 

"-So I learnt one of the pieces you've composed." 

"Huh?!" 

I jumped, eyes widening as I glared at Sonlet who had a gleeful expression. 

Y-You learnt, one of my pieces? 

Of course, when you play an instrument, there'll be a time where you gotta compose some stuff, or if you feel like it, improvise a composition. 

I've done that. 

I've made so many compositions, posting them on youtube so others could listen to them. 

But I've mostly created Piano Sonatas because I'm a pianist. 

"-...Which one did you learn?" 

"I learnt the first movement to your first Sonata. You made it when you were pretty young." 

...That piece, huh? 

Yeah, I made it when I was younger, 10, to be exact. 

So my piano skills weren't that sophisticated back then. 

"I can't wait to hear how you play it." 

I replied warmly. 

Sonnet smiled before turning his back on me, playing it. 

To be honest, this piece doesn't give back the best of memories.

I began to compose this when I was 16, right after I left my parent's home to live in the university dorms, my parents didn't care and gladly threw me away along with my piano, Charlotte. 

My music teacher, who was supporting me paid for the expenses for moving Charlotte out. 

But it was reported that Charlotte (in her piano form) felt pretty light and easy to move, so they cut some expenses, enough that I offered to pay from my own money that I had gathered from street busking. 

Having escaped, I began to truly understand my feelings. 

I was empty, sad, depressed, lonely, unloved, angry, and virtually any other negative emotion. 

Once I realized this, which felt like numbness to me back then, I began to feel overwhelmed, almost as if I was reintroduced more directly to my emotions that have been welling up within me, that I hadn't noticed until the numbness faded away. 

As a result, I began to suffocate in my own emotions.

I became frustrated and even more empty. 

So, I started to compose.

It was a harsh, low and dark piece, exploiting my emotions to create a soft yet monotone melody and wave. 

The accents, the hard hits, the swing, the melody. 

It brings it all back, it brings back the storm, tornado and hurricane in a slow and gentle fashion. 

It brings back the past, the abuse and torture. 

My pain. 

I didn't give it a name. 

But this man, is replaying it all to me. 

I clenched my fists, trying to not get caught in the past. 

Before I could throw myself into a self-destructing mess, I could feel Charlotte's hands grasp mine. 

"Huh?" 

"It's a good piece, huh?" 

Feeling the warmness of Charlotte's hand connect to mine, all the rising emotions and thoughts disappeared before they could show. 

Seeing her smile look up at me, with our hands connected... Made me feel something in my heart. 

Our eyes connected. 

My heart, was fluttering.

It was beating, but not in the usual way. 

It burnt and seared hot, but not in the usual way. 

Almost as if, it was yearning for her. 

Suddenly, my face went face. 

I immediately looked away from her eyes, and toward Sonlet, who was playing my piece. 

"Ooh?" 

Seeing my reaction, Charlotte made a weird sound of surprise and happiness. 

After a while, he had finished. 

"Uwah, that was a depressing but interesting piece, it sounds nice too!" 

Sonlet stretched his arms, standing up facing me. 

"You interpreted my piece very well, I loved it." 

I began to clap, complimenting him. 

Charlotte followed suit, saying things like "Nice!" and "Uwah, good performance!". 

"..." 

For some reason, Sonlet's jaw dropped, his mouth gaped wide open. 

"What is it?" 

I inquired. 

"A-A-Arthur, is smiling, and, he complimented me?!" 

"Huh?" 

He approached me grasping my shoulders and began to vigorously shake me. 

"Aah! Uwah! S-Stop it, you'll hurt my shoulders!" 

"No! Not until the real Arthur comes back! The Arthur that looks at everyone like their trash! The Arthur that has the cold dead eyes and expressionless face to go with it! What did you do to him, you imposter?! He was here just a month ago!" 

"No, Sonnet, I'm me-" 

Sonlet let go of my shoulders, staring at me with disbelief but with a relieved smile at the same time. 

"...Ah, the musical genius complimented my performance." 

He had suddenly switched from surprise to contentedness and satisfaction. 

"I'm not a musical genius." 

"Huuh? You totally are! How could you win your performances so easily if you weren't?" 

"You do realize I lost about 40% of the time, right?" 

I'm not a musical genius, and I've lost some competitions. 

He only considers them as my wins because I placed higher than him in every one of them. 

"Haah, well, thank you for listening to my performance of your piece! I'll be going now, and I'll beat you next competition! And I'm telling Amber and Amy about what happened today!" 

Sonlet ran toward the door shutting it before declaring that out loud and leaving. 

Amber and Amy were other rivals I had when I was a kid during the Concerts and Competitions. 

"-By the way, give me your number." 

Charlotte suddenly pulled out her new phone and asked me in an unnecessarily seductive manner. Squeezing her thighs together and being over slightly, stretching out her arms while looking to the side, exaggerating her feminine posture. 

"You're good at making men feel weak in their knees by talking like that, but you don't even have a number in the first place." 

"...Huh, what do you mean??" 

It seems like the piano Charlotte doesn't know about SIM cards, and how people have to get their own numbers. 

"Instead, I'll be the one getting your number. Literally." 

I grinned, leaning forward into Charlotte, and pulling out my phone and putting it in front of her face. 

"Uwah..." 

Charlotte blushed before sighing in defeat. 

...

...

CZ2

Yo, I made a solo piano Sonata composition that a young Arthur would have made This is it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVvGuM8-1Zs&ab_channel=Cmajor , have fun listening to the extremely edgy and sad composition made by "Arthur" when he was much much younger.