Ephiphany: A Friendship Short

Matsumoto Residence
Tokyo, Japan
May 2014

“A plays well.”

“She does,” Matt agreed. The guests had gathered around to hear a woman playing on the piano, watching in both awe and surprise as her fingers flew off the keys. “She was nervous about playing tonight, you know. It’s been a long time since she’s played the piano and actually immersed into it.” Kenichi glanced at Matt, taking note of the proud smile which came onto his face.

“When was the last time?”

“England.” Kenichi mouthed a soft oh and nodded to himself. “That’s always been her special talent. Even before she was known as one of the smartest. There were skilled painters, skilled athletes, geniuses…and there was A, who adored the piano. She told me that her mum taught her the basics when she was younger. She’s been hooked ever since.”

“You told me that she has a marvelous voice too.” At that, Matt’s smile grew a little bigger. “Very?”

“Very. She can carry a tune and she can bloody well sing. If she didn’t work for the police, then I bet she’d be making it in the music industry,” he mused quietly. Both men fell quiet as A continued playing, Kenichi recognizing the tune as Yiruma’s Love Me. “She’s been practicing.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. She’s been trying out different pianists until she came across that one. It’s her favorite to play now.” Matt explained, watching as his girlfriend became one with the music. “That and a few others. We might be able to hear them later if she wants to keep playing.”

“With that skill, she can take the stage for the whole evening,” Kenichi chuckled. This made Matt smile more and the Japanese took a sip from his glass, humming the tune of the song quietly to himself. “She has wonderful taste.”

“That she does.” Silence fell between them again, but it wasn’t as comfortable any longer. Matt gained the impression that Kenichi wanted to talk and cleared his throat, taking a new bottle of beer from a passing waiter. “Do you want to talk?”

“Aren’t we going to watch her play?”

“We will.” Matt caught her eye and watched as her own glanced from him to Kenichi. She looked back at the sheets and inclined her head slightly to the right as if moving to the rhythm of the song, yet he knew that she was okay with it. “Come on – we won’t be too far. We’ll still be able to hear when she decides to play River Flows in You.”

“We better.” The two then detached themselves from the crowd, moving closer to the window. Matt had opened the bottle and took a sip, Kenichi carefully holding onto his own glass of whiskey. “How did you know?”

“I’m your right hand. Plus, I know when you want to talk. It’s obvious.” The other gave a tiny smile, yet Matt merely looked out the window. “You wanted to ask me why I told A before you could say anything.” Kenichi said nothing and he sighed, glancing up at the sky. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“I want you to elaborate.”

“Elaborate. Okay.” Matt took another drink, “Do you know how painful it is to watch the one you love hurt? Do you know how painful it is to know that you're the cause of their pain? I do. I know how it feels.” Matt gripped the bottle tigher.

“When I came back, we didn’t talk immediately. We didn’t say too much. We just let the night take its course. We slept together after four months of being away. We fell into place but it still felt foreign – there was this large wall, still, and I knew that I broke her trust. In the morning, I woke up early and decided to surprise her, make her something to eat.”

Matt closed his eyes.

He still remembered.

The ginger male lifted the tray, carefully balancing the plates, glasses and utensils on it. It was ridiculously early – sleep wasn’t something he was used to yet – and he thought that the first way he could make up was to surprise her with breakfast in bed. He gave a small laugh at that, walking from the kitchen to her their bedroom, bare-chested and only having boxers on.

He pushed the door open with his shoulders, opening his mouth to softly greet her a good morning and say that breakfast was ready for both of them.

But instead of seeing her awake with her sleepy, half-open eyes and wild hair, Matt saw her curled up in the bed, covering her face and sobbing weakly into the pillow.

His reaction was instantaneous. The tray was set onto her table, he rushed forward and climbed onto the bed, immediately taking her into his arms. A was crying and he didn’t know if she had a nightmare or if –

“Oh,” he whispered. “Shit.”

She peered up at him with tearful eyes and he thought she couldn’t get any worse, but no she ended up crying more and Matt had to spend the next minutes reassuring her that yes, he was there and no, he wouldn’t be leaving her anytime soon. By the time she was reassured, the food wasn’t as arm and her eyes were sore from crying too much.

“She was crying. She thought I left again and…” Matt exhaled. “You have no idea how much it affected her, Kenichi. A’s lost people left and right and to add me to the list? That shit stings,” he ground out. “And to not explain to her why or to explain that it was for her safety for the fear of it getting out…I had to tell her. What we did – that phase where we hacked into systems and took people down – it wasn’t just us getting affected.”

He turned to Kenichi, gripping the bottle tightly around its neck.

“We pulled A into the mess without knowing. And I realized many times. Trying to keep tabs on her hundreds of miles away, wondering night after night if she was still safe, seeing her cry because she thought I left her again – it isn’t just us anymore. It was never just us who got affected. A got affected.”

“…so you had to tell her,” Kenichi managed.

“Of course I told her. I told her everything. I told her what I did for you, what we did, what we got ourselves into – and then it made sense to her. I showed her where I kept my weapons, I explained the real origins of the scars, recounted endless stories. And when I did? It took her time to accept who I was.”

Realization hit Kenichi hard.

“When you told me that you wanted to stop. A week or so after coming back to Tokyo,” he began. Matt glanced at him, “You already made your choice.”

“I did. And I chose for myself. I didn’t want to keep putting her at risk – I didn’t want to be putting myself at risk, Kenichi. Having to leave for months made me realize that. Having to tell you was hard. But I value my life. I value A’s life.”

“You want to give her the best.”

“I do. Obviously, hanging by rooftops and shooting targets in the head isn’t the best I can give. She deserves better than me coming home bloody and a little shot. She deserves better than that.”

With that, A shifted song. They both turned to watch her, Matt spotting her fingers move from key to another. “Being your right hand is enough. And in all honesty? I prefer it more than shooting people dead.”

Kenichi lifted his glass to drink, but realized that none remained.

“I’d drink to that.”

Matt then watched A, setting the bottle on a nearby table. “You’re my closest friend. Understand that choosing to live a safer life was for your benefit, too.”

Kenichi said nothing.

Soon, she had finished. The guests burst into applause and A bowed humbly, soon stepping away from the piano. Kenichi opened his mouth to speak yet found Matt making his way to her, he taking her hands and giving one of them a kiss. He saw her smile and Matt proceeded to kiss her lightly, his hands pulling her closer. The gold flecks in her dress caught in the light.

With that, he understood.

His brown eyes watched as Matt led her back to the piano, he sitting beside her and her hands positioning themselves right over the keys. He whispered something into her ear and A quickly nodded, shuffling through the papers until finding the right one.

The room fell silent once she pressed the first key.

Kenichi sucked in a breath.

With that, they all listened as she played the last song of the night.