[hr][hr][i][h1][color=springgreen]Rori Aherne[/color], & [color=salmon]Haruka Takashiro[/color].[/h1]
[sup]([@FernStone] and [@tsukune])[/sup][/i][hr]
[b][code]Academy 61, Roseview_[/code][/b]

To get to the Academy Rori had to take the form of a bigger bird than they would have liked. They, currently, couldn't actually change what they were carrying with them. Which meant they had to carry a clarinet case as a bird. It was no easy feat - but Rori had their way of doing these things (with slow flying).

They landed in the grounds of the Academy before changing back into their humanoid form. It was a lot nicer being able to fly again - the weeks with a broken wing had been pretty hellish. They had been worried that they wouldn't be able to fly again.

Shrugging away stupid, past thoughts and headed into the Academy. They absentmindedly scrolled through their phone as they walked through the corridors. Haruka had told them where the room was... Didn't mean that they could easily find it.

That was why they had arrived so early. They had a habit of getting lost in the Academy.

This time, though, it didn't take them long to find what they thought was the right room. Since they were early they sat down and began to put together their clarinet, before waiting.

[hr]
Haruka parked his bicycle in the designated area before he walked towards the Arts building. He was able to book the studio room without much trouble. (As an ex-student and no longer part of the Academy, he would have to [i]rent[/i] the room, but thanks to some connections he made during the days he was still here he didn't have to pay a single cent!) The in-charge had informed him that the door had been unlocked beforehand, so if Rori was early she could wait inside the room - and it was probably better that she waited inside to avoid suspicions from the students and other instructors in the campus.

As he pulled open the door, Rori was indeed already waiting for him inside, and she had finished setting up her clarinet. "Sorry that I'm late," he began, glancing at the time on his mobile screen. "...A bit, but still late." He smiled at her apologetically.

"It's fine," Rori smiled at Haruka as he entered the room, shrugging slightly. "I left early just in case I got lost, anyway."

He set his backpack down on the grandpiano's chair and pulled out the score sheet, then an electronic tuner that he handed it to Rori, asking, "Do you need this?" He didn't particularly need it since he had been born with perfect pitch, but he still got one... just because.

Rori nodded, taking the tuner. They were musically talented, sure, and played many instruments - but they didn't quite have perfect pitch. "I practiced earlier, so it should still be in tune, but better safe than sorry!"

"It's alright - no one else will be using this room, so we can stay in here the whole day." He lifted up the piano cover before he sat down. "I need some time to do warm up too." His right forefinger pressed down the C key - it was in tune, so thankfully he didn't need to re-tune the piano. Taking in a breath, he began warming up with the major scales, his fingers running across the keyboard with expert ease. Even though Rori didn't have the same innate musical talent that he possessed, he still admired her flair with multiple instruments like himself, which made it fun to try out various duet arrangements with her.

Once he was done warming up, he turned to Rori. "I am ready. Do you want to start from the beginning?"

It didn't take Rori long to tune their clarinet - it was just a little flat, as they'd predicted.

"Yep, ready whenever you are," Rori grinned as they straightened out the sheets of music in front of them. "The beginning is a good idea." They'd practiced the piece quite a lot alone, of course, but it was very different playing in a duet. They rarely had a problem playing with Haruka though - they were both good enough, and friendly enough, that they could work through any problems that came up.

After checking to see if Haruka was ready - who counted them both in with the soft, staccato bass on the piano - Rori began playing. Rori played through the piece easily enough, they'd practiced it enough for that. Haruka's part was more mechanical since it was to set and keep the tempo, which didn't give him much room for expression like Rori's. The repetitive beat easily led Haruka slip into autopilot mode, leaving the physical memory from his past practices to play the piece while his mind was drifting to somewhere else.

To his brother, Shizuka.

Haruka received a call from his twin three days ago, It was short - all Shizuka had mentioned was that he might be coming back sometime this week (or even the week after, especially with what had happened in Taiwan), and that there was something important he had to tell him, face to face. Haruka couldn't make any sense to the second half of the message; even though it was subtle, he knew his brother well enough to be able to feel the hint of unusual urgency in his bored - well-controlled - tone. Was it about their mother, who had been missing for months with no leads to her whereabouts... or something more?

He had noticed Shizuka absently doodling a sketch of a Chinese dragon on a napkin when they were eating out on one occasion the younger twin came back to America - and then he was sent away again a few days later. Drawing was the only kind of art in which Shizuka was clearly better than the artistic elder Takashiro, something that he could be smug about [i]only[/i] towards Haruka, who couldn't draw anything to save his life (not counting lame stick figures, of course). The way how Shizuka seemed fixated with the dragon worried Haruka. He wondered what that dragon meant to his brother - probably some dangerous triad that Shizuka had to deal with in his line of work?

There were no major issues with the first playthrough at least. Well, not until Haruka was jolted out of his own thoughts when his ears cringed at how Rori's note clashed with his - and then he realized that he was going faster. He stopped playing, then rubbing his head temples, his eyes closed. "My bad - I got distracted. We can try it again from the beginning of the chorus part."

"It's fine," Rori smiled before pausing. "Hey Haru," They glanced over at their friend, looking away from the music in a break between playing. "Are you free again later this week?"

Haruka pulled out his mobile, his thumb tapped on the screen and opened up the schedule app. "Yeah, I am mostly free this whole week." He looked up from his phone and turned to Rori. "Is there something of the matter?"

"Well..." Rori stopped a moment, trying to figure out how to say what they wanted to say. "I haven't seen any of my actual family since I left, and started living with my cousin. My younger brother has moved to Baybridge and kept asking to meet up - and I really do want to see him. Max says I shouldn't go alone, though, and she's in Spain. So I was wondering if you would come with me to meet him?"

Haruka could see why Max - who was also one of his twin's colleagues - would be worried about Rori walking around Baybridge alone. The anti-Metahuman tension had never once slipped ever since the Eco-Natura disaster back in Prince Ed-Field months ago. With Rori's obvious bestial feature, she could easily attract Metahuman-haters to bully her, getting herself hurt. He was secretly relieved that she had chosen to ask him to act as an guardian of sorts - he was glad that Rori trusted him enough to accompany her, to make sure that she would be all right.

"Sure," Haruka gave Rori a reassuring smile. "You can give me more details about the meeting once it is confirmed, and I can pick you up from your house to see your younger brother." He then scratched the back of his head, sheepish. "...I hope you are okay with motorbikes - and I will try not to ride too fast. I promise!"