Masquerading Virtuoso【Tokyo Ghoul Fan-Fiction】

iv. Requiem

"Enshrouded by their blurring faces, the wind sings sweet hymns as she faces the ominous oblivion in her mind."

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A divine, snowy silk gown cascaded gently down Tsuki's slim frame, ceasing just before her creamy heels. She sat before a new piano at this performance: a glossy black Yamaha. Her cat-winged, chocolate eyes were fixated upon its keys, admiring their polished appearance. Softly, her heart thudded in her chest as she peered over and nodded respectfully to the four judges beneath the stage at their table, signifying she was about to begin.

The foreign blond man on the far right, Tsuki's left, returned the gesture. She had already determined that he was the main judge she wished to impress due to his high ranking status amidst the Pianist Committee.

She led her fingers to the position of the first chord, then pressed down, causing a deep hum to resound from the bowels of the piano. Her hands maneuvered across the keys, her fingers dancing sweetly between each chord and note. The sound was almost flawless, a sheer masterpiece upon one's ears. Each note floated through the numbers, sending chills into their ranks.

Tsuki had practiced for the past week on the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata; her countless hours of practice had bore fruit far greater than she had even anticipated. With her eyes closed and ears open, she listened to the harmony in each key with her heart. Their homeostatic nature allowed her to forget the troubles in the world, as well as the audience. In that moment, they only felt the sorrow within that song, not even their own fears, rather the composer's.

Glancing out into the crowd, Tsuki searched for her parents' faces, only to find their desolate seats. Feeling a pang of hurt by their absence, she closed her eyes once more and carried on with the sonata.

I suppose they had heard this enough at home, she thought. Opening her eyes, she watched her fingers move as if they had a mind of their own across the necessary keys. She smiled to herself out of both pride and satisfaction. They do tend to have a preferance for more optimistic pieces, after all. As her fingers shifted toward the final chord and last batch of notes, she exhaled a slow, steady breath and exexcuted them.

The audience gifted Tsuki with their appraisal of applause, leaving the girl's mind at ease by her performance. Leisurely, she stood from the black, leather-padded stool and bowed to them all, then to the judges, whose mouths were slightly agape.

The blond man suddenly cleared his throat and nodded to Tsuki, then did the most shocking thing of all: he smiled generously.

A light pink tinged her cheeks as she left the stage and headed to the back for a change of clothing. She knew that the results wouldn't be known until later that next week, so she scurried from the dressing rooms to the lobby, where she'd hoped to find her parents; however, they were no where in sight.

Glancing around at each person congratulating their sons and daughters, her eyebrows knitted together out of frustration. A couple of those who'd witnessed her performance, complimented her talent and went about their nights. Each time, Tsuki had feigned a calm demeanor and smiled back, thanking them in return.

After most attendees had taken their leave, she subtly sniffed of the air. She caught a faint whiff of her mother's perfume and followed the trail it led to---outside of the theatre. Standing on the sidewalk, she noticed the delicate flakes falling all around her.

She exhaled heavily, causing a small, transparent cloud to escape her red lips, soon after, it vanished. Slipping her thick coat's hood over her braided hair, she ventured towards the end of the building and paused as an ambulance rushed past, followed by a fire-truck and an investigator's car. "What's their hurry for?" she pondered as she crossed the road, and repeated the routine three-quarters of the way to her home.

Sniffing of the air, she noticed a twinge of ash burning her nostrils, along with both of her parents' scent. Her chocolate eyes drifted toward the sky. They widened in horror as they spotted a trail of heavy grey smoke filling the clouded night. No, she thought as she broke into a sprint and jolted down the streets and rounded the many corners until her mighty home's way was in her sights.

Up the hill, a brilliant orange glow illuminated the cloudy night sky.

Her heart felt as though it had plummeted to the bottom of her stomach at the mortifying scene. "M-My ... home." she murmured, her eyes wide and arms limp at her sides. A muffled scream suddenly resounded from the three-story complex, causing her to rush up the temple-like mansion's path. Just as she had, however, the fire truck and the two other special vehicles drove quickly passed her, disregarding her for their main objective: keeping the flames from spreading to the forest that encompassed the home.

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Once she'd made it to the top of the path, she hesitated for a moment and examined the shocking scene: firemen were frantically scurrying around the perimeter, while the investigators and EMTs awaited their signal. She inhaled a long draw of air before running around the home, to the hidden door that led into her bedroom. She scoffed as a few burning and scorched boards fell in her way.

"I have to get in there!" she said, her voice low, yet panicked. Checking around herself, she made sure there were no firemen in sight. Once she'd evaluated that there weren't, she closed her eyes. Soon after, a hazy red mist fizzled her and from her lower, mid-back sprung out three crimson, dagger-like tentacles.

She immediately opened her eyes, revealing her dark, foreboding sclera and red irises. "You won't stand in my way!" she exclaimed. Hurriedly, she made one of the muscle-looking arms rip through the wood, then tossed it to the side and dispersed her partially armored kagune.

Sliding the hidden door open, she crawled into the small space, and closed it behind herself. Removing the scarf around her neck, she swiftly tied it around her mouth and nose to keep herself from breathing in most of the toxic fumes from the smoke. Getting on her hands and knees, she continued through the claustrophobia-inducing space. Above her, she could sense the house slowly falling apart from its beautiful arch to the foundation.

Hearing gruff voices on the floor above, she halted and peered through the small crevice between the bamboo-wood flooring. "Father?" she whispered, her eyes widening as she noticed the fellow's only visible feature: messy blue hair that stretched to his shoulders. Covering his face was a menacing, black rabbit mask. W-Who is he?! she wondered, as she continued to spectate as he and two others, cloaked in maroon robes, broke through the side of her living room and fled the scene.

She lowered her gaze and scowled. Those men ... they must have had something to do with this, she thought, hurrying to where her bedroom was and climbing through the entrance. As she was going to close the hidden door, flaming wood broke from the room situated just above and did the job for her. She had rolled out of the way just in time and was panting slightly from the rush. "D-Damn it," she huffed, standing to her feet and eyeing the debris. "That was close."

Gripping the knob of her door, she exited her old room and stared down the hall at the hole the men had created. Her hands bundled into tight fists. However, before she could comment on them, she heard a cough from the top of the stairs. "Mother?!" she barked, racing to the base of the stairs. "Is that you up there?!"

Hearing subtle scratching noises, she noticed a set of marred hands clutching the edge of the top stair. Slowly, a scorched face came into her view: it was almost unrecognizable. The woman had patches of hair on her bloody scalp, while her face had blotches of third degree burns and a left eye missing.

Her brown eyes widened in horror as she noticed that it was, indeed, her mother.

The woman's lips inched into a pained, yet relieved smile upon noticing her daughter at the bottom of the stairs. Her left eye crinkled up from the searing pain, while her right remained closed and bleeding. "Tsu ... Tsu ... ki. You're ... you're alright. I-I'm glad."

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