Chapter 5

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I look upwards towards the door, staring at the ghoul standing there. His tail sways happily behind him as he strides into my room, walking over to me. 'You're not too bad,' he grins, looking down at me.

Arms folded, he seems rather casual about intruding on my space. I do not particularly appreciate him taking it upon himself to enter my quarters unannounced, however. So I simply give a small half smile, not showing any great enthusiasm for his presence.

"I'm Sodo. And you are...?" Sodo asked

"Ember," I mumble softly in response, not really focusing much on this ghoul who is talking to me. He seems more polite than I figured he would be, given the fact that he just walked into my room like it was a normal thing to do. Still, I can't bring myself to be all that welcoming or interested.

There's an awkward silence for a moment between us before he speaks again.

"So...you play guitar?" the Ghoul speaks up out of nowhere, his confidence wavering a bit as I continue to show my disinterest.

I vaguely acknowledge his question by humming a brief yet non-committal "Mhm," my eyes shifting over to my guitar that sits next to me. This ghoul is trying hard to get my attention, but it's just not happening. Maybe I should just tell him that I'm not interested, but I'm not really sure how to go about that in a nice way.

"Same," the Ghoul says, sounding awkward.

"Yep," I nod once, my gaze darting around everywhere in the room except for him.

After a few moments pass in silence, he eventually speaks up again. "I'm gonna go. See ya?" A brief pause follows. "Mmm-hmm," I hum again, and he then turns away to leave, hands in his pockets as he exits the room and shuts the door behind him.

I let out a sigh as the door shuts with a click, reflecting on how I could have been a bit more polite to this Ghoul who I just met and now have living with me. There's no need to be rude to him, even if he did just barge into my room without any warning.

I swiftly rise to my feet, intent not to lose him. I quickly open my door and peer out into the hallway, looking both leftward and rightward along the corridor. Nope, he's not on my side of the hallway.

I then turn my gaze to the rightward end of the hallway, and there the ghoul is. He's about halfway down the corridor, walking quite far away from me at this point.

I dash down the lengthy hallway, managing to catch up with him.

"Sodo!" I call out to him. As soon as he hears his name called, he swiftly turns his neck around to see who did the calling. Upon noticing it's me, he pauses and comes to a halt. He then briskly pivots his body completely, facing me with his whole body now.

"You all right?" he tilts his head at me, his voice sounding mildly concerned.

"I was kinda nervous... back there. Sorry. Just, the nerves kinda got the better of me," I explain, feeling a bit sheepish.

I'm not entirely sure how to read his expression, but it does seem like he might be relieved that I apologized. At least now, I have acknowledged that the tension between us was a bit unnecessary.

"You wanna practice playing?" I ask, Sodo seeming excited and eager to get started.

In response, the Ghoul grins enthusiastically and replies, "Yeah! Lemme grab my guitar real quick. I'll meet you back at your room!" In a flurry, he then rushes off down the corridor, heading towards his room to fetch his guitar.

I grin back and then head off down the corridor in the opposite direction to my room, excited to start practicing with him, even after our bad start.

I open the door and sit down on the edge of my bed again, waiting for the Ghoul to join me.

As I sit there in anticipation, I contemplate what it might be like to play music with another person. After spending so much time alone, it will be interesting to have collaboration in my passion for music. I wonder what he'll be like as a playing partner.

As the moment passes, he hurriedly bursts through the door, his guitar securely fastened to his body. I find Sodo standing next to me, and I reach down to pick up my own guitar. Sodo placed some sheet music in front of me, adorned with the title 'Griftwood.'

I nod at him and he begins to play, me joining in shortly after.

We engage in a captivating guitar performance, our fingers deftly dancing along the strings. Sodo exudes a natural flair as he strums with precision and finesse. I channel my passion through the instrument, my fingers gracefully navigating the fretboard. The room comes alive with the harmonious blend of melodies as our guitars intertwine, creating a symphony of sound.

After performing several more songs, Sodo eventually sets down one final song sheet in front of me. Its title: "Mummy Dust."

I take the sheet of paper that he placed in front of me and look over it. I then nod approvingly. With a smile, I indicate to the Ghoul that I am ready to proceed to playing this final song.

As the first few notes are played, there's the sound of footsteps from outside the room, accompanied by the door opening. We then notice another Ghoul, with shoulder length dark hair and his arms crossed, looking rather annoyed.

"Sodo. Not right now," the Ghoul hisses, sounding rather irritated.

Sodo gives a glaring look at the other Ghoul.

The second Ghoul gives a warm, apologetic smile towards me before speaking up, "Hello, I'm Rain, and I'm sorry for what you were about to witness here."

Rain then quickly rushes towards Sodo, grabbing his wrist, and attempting to pull him away from the room. Despite Sodo's protests, he is successfully led out of the room by Rain's grip on his wrist.

As Rain pulls Sodo out of the room, he closes the door gently behind them, before quickly whisper- shouting at his friend just outside of my door.

After a moment, Sodo saunters back into the room, sporting a scowl on his face as he walks back over to me. In contrast to his grim facial expression, he gives me a small, yet somewhat weak smile.

"Let's just go over these ones for now, yeah?" he remarks. Despite his mood, he still tries to have a positive attitude toward our practice session.

I simply nod in response, and we then proceed to resume playing.

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