Hastily changing into sports outfit, Beatrice opened the bedroom door and saw Arthur standing in front of the piano.
"Can you play?" As that amazing melody came out, Beatrice stared at him with bright, shocked eyes.
As soon as she said that, the music stopped. But there was no sound wave remaining as expected, as if everything had stopped.
"I don't, but YouTube does!" Arthur held up his cell phone to her, with the video of someone playing the piano.
"Why did I even think of that?" Beatrice rolled her eyes. "Where are the pizzas?"
Arthur pointed to a table next to the piano. He had dragged, or lifted, the coffee table from the balcony to here. There were two pizza boxes on top of it.
"You can teach me? I really know very little about pianos." He cleared a space in the chair in front of the piano.
"By the time I'm done, the pizzas will be gone!" Beatrice ignored Arthur's request. She had already sat down on a cushion Arthur had brought and opened a box. She took a slice of pizza in her hand and began to eat.
Arthur looked at it all with shocked eyes.
"What is it?" Beatrice noticed his expression and asked. 'Did I get dirty somewhere?' She looked down and even shook out her shirt a little.
"Nothing. You can ignore it..." Arthur shook his head and really was starting to go crazy. "But I'm serious. I know very little about the piano, nothing really. But I've already listened to some songs..."
A children's song with repeated notes began to be played as soon as Arthur put his fingers on the keys.
"A childish like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star..."
The melody changed to a stronger and more emotional one, with more difficult movements than the previous one.
"Or, please raise your hands, Church. Let's sing Hallelujah!" With a smile on his face, Arthur surrendered to the memories.
The melody changed again to a calm one, but with constantly changing notes.
"Or the joy of a complete beginner and passionate about learning..."
"Fur Eliase! Where did you learn to play the piano?" Beatrice had already stopped eating the pizza as her open mouth and shock wouldn't allow it. She hadn't imagined this playful boy would have such an ability. Even though it was songs that only a beginner would feel joy to know, it was still quite a shock. Not to mention that Arthur did it with shocking perfection, as if he had been practicing for many years.
"You know when you're locked in a basement after being beaten, listening to the constant screaming of those who don't belong to you hurting the only reason you exist?"
"..."
A silence penetrated, with the cool breeze of the twilight making the noise of the curtains the only sound reverberating in that room.
Beatrice looked at Arthur, choking on anything that might come out. She didn't know what to say now, as what he had said was just too absurd.
"Me neither. If I make an almost disgusting comparison, I'd say it's like playing keyboards in a bar at midnight!" Arthur shrugged with a smile on his face, indicating he was joking.
"Cough!... For a moment I almost cried here!" Beatrice wiped the corner of her eyes as if she were joking, but she actually almost cried. After all, Arthur didn't say anything and let the silence wash over his words. It felt like he had just recounted a traumatic experience of his.
"I think seeing you cry would be the most tragic thing that could happen in this world. So I ask that you don't cry in front of me or else my heart will break... Are you waiting for me to say I'm kidding?" Arthur chuckled as he got off the piano and sat on the floor and grabbed a slice of pizza too.
Beatrice's mouth was still open and she couldn't speak. Arthur changed moods constantly and it was almost impossible to keep up.
"You really are quite easy to shock!" Arthur was trying not to laugh when he saw her expression.
"You bastard liar!" Beatrice turned away and pretended to ignore him as she ate her pizza.
Arthur enjoyed the sight of her neck under her hair, almost like a work of art. Her skin looked so good he felt like kissing her. But instead, he just reached out and quickly touched her neck.
Beatrice squirmed once, almost coughing up the slice of pizza. Seizing the opportunity, Arthur tapped his fingertips between her ribs, very lightly.
"Stop!" She gulped down the pizza hastily and held her mouth to keep from laughing.
"So you're ticklish?" Arthur dropped the pizza slice back into the box and approached her.
"Stop! Please! I'm going to pee! Hahahah!" Beatrice didn't hold back as she tried to stop Arthur from tickling her.
"This is weirdly fun..." Arthur continued to tickle nonstop, and when he saw it, he was on top of her, his hands back around her neck.
"Don't do that anymore!" She had a stream of tears running down her cheeks from laughing so much at being tickled, and her appearance was actually very cute and beautiful.
"So can I do this?"
"What-"
Before she could finish speaking, Arthur's lips had already connected with hers. With a widening of her eyes, she tried to push him away, but it looked as weak as a fly's fight.
The hands she was trying to push Arthur with were stopping, the longer they spent like this. When he used the hands that had been tickling her just now to caress her cheeks, the struggle finally stopped.
The pushing movement was now pulling, and she had one hand on Arthur's shirt, while the other was already on the back of his neck.
Suddenly, Arthur lifted Beatrice and placed her on his lap. His movements were quick and coordinated, so the only interruption was her hot gaze as she bit his lip.
She hugged him and felt his body. His heat, his good smell, the muscles she'd seen so much at school. Her heart was already racing by now, giving in to her own desires.
The two gave themselves completely to the kiss, their tongues tasting each other's taste. Arthur's hands didn't just stop at her waist, but slowly stroked her legs and back. In a moment, Arthur pulled her head down very slowly, and started kissing her neck.
"Hmm! No, no no!" Feeling that pleasure of being with him, Beatrice's wandering mind seems to have returned. She returned on account of a certain hardness she felt touching her groin.
Arthur didn't stop his kisses and used her long black hair to bring her lips back.
"Hmm! Stop!" Beatrice nearly fell over again, and she pushed Arthur's arms away as she stood up and walked away. "We can't do this!"
"Why not?" Arthur was still experiencing the sky moments ago when the push brought him back to reality.
"We just can't. Please leave..." Beatrice had an anxious, almost frightened expression on her face.
"Can you tell me what happened? Why are you like this?" Arthur stood up at her nervous expression.
"Please, leave. You shouldn't have done that, I-"
Arthur's response was another kiss on her. She almost melted at the feel of his heat, but her concern made her push him away again.
"I can't take it if you keep doing this..." Teardrops were already forming on her face.
"I'm on my way..." Arthur didn't show a heartbroken expression or anything, just a smile at her. He decided he was going to have a really slow walk tonight. "See you at school monday!"
"Please not again- this is for your own good- why don't you stop kissing me?-" Beatrice tried to push Arthur away, but she had already lost her strength with all the kisses he gave.
"Because you don't stop talking!"
"That's not motiv- i gave up, okay!!" She couldn't take it anymore and ran to her room after giving Arthur one last kiss.
"Remember the pizzas! They'll go bad if you leave them out here. See you Monday!" Arthur grabbed two more slices of pizza before making a sandwich and walking away.
***
"That first kiss wasn't bad! Too wonderful!" As he replayed the scene in his mind, Arthur licked his lips. The figure of Beatrice giving herself into his arms flashed through his memory like a movie. He felt his heart pounding rapidly. 'To feel that emotion is certainly an incredible thing. Especially when it's reciprocated!'
He was walking down a dark street at the moment, with a few streetlamps far enough apart. In the background, he heard the sound of a car moving.
He ignored this as he put on his headphones and went to listen to music. It wouldn't be a short walk, and he was looking forward to spending all this time remembering the scene.
Swoosh! Bang!
With a jerk of his head, Arthur dodged to the side as a fast-moving bullet passed close to him and hit the ground, causing a cracked hole.
With a leap, he somersaulted backwards, but he didn't land on his feet when his hand reached forward and grabbed the split between the roof and the windshield of the car that nearly ran him over now.
Bang!
This saved him from another bullet, which had hit almost the same place as the previous one.
"Now I understand what all that nervousness is for!" With a smile on his face, Arthur pulled his hand away, which came along with the roof of the car, which was still moving.
Looking at all the armed men inside, Arthur waved his left hand. As a smile appeared on his face, a pistol also appeared in his hand.
"Hey!"