The shamisen or samisen, also sangen, is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument sanxian. It is played with a plectrum (a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument) called a bachi.
When Ayaka had heard that Shishio was coming from Kyoto, she thought that he might be able to play shamisen, which was why she brought it directly, hoping that she could hear it to be played in front of her again.
"Shishio, are you sure? I know that you're from Kyoto and you can play guitar, but this is shamisen, you know?" Nana asked since she knew that both guitar and shamisen were quite different.
"It isn't that much different, Nana. Guitar has six strings, and shamisen has three strings, in other words, shamisen is easier to play, right?" Shishio said some bullshit to Nana.
"....." Nana.
"Shishio-nii, can you play guitar?" Yuzu asked curiously.
Shishio nodded and said, "I can play some."
"...." Nana knew that Shishio was trying to be modest, but she knew that his guitar skill was definitely not at the level of the "play some", but she didn't say much since she had a feeling if she said more the three girls before she might be more amazed by him, and mistakenly, she might add more rivals for herself.
"Ah... I want to hear you play guitar..." Yuri seemed to really want to hear it, after all, compared to a traditional musical instrument like shamisen, she was more interested in guitar, which she thought was pretty cool.
"Maybe in the future, but more importantly, Ayaka-nee, why do you want me to play a shamisen?" Shishio asked, wondering why Ayaka suddenly asked him to play a shamisen and she had such an old musical instrument.
"Well, this is from our grandpa, he often played it for us and grandma, but since he has gone, well..." Ayaka seemed to be very sad when she recalled her family.
"Onee-chan..." Nana hugged Ayaka since she also missed her grandpa, but she couldn't remember him well, after all, he had passed away when she was still a child, but she remembered that he often played shamisen for everyone.
Shishio looked at the two sisters and nodded. "Let me check the shamisen for a bit, Ayaka-nee, is that alright?"
"Um." Ayaka nodded with a smile while patting Nana's head and said, "Yes, please check on it."
Shishio took the shamisen and checked its sound for a while. He had gotten "Music Mastery" after all, so he could play pretty much every musical instrument in this world, including the shamisen in front of him. He nodded and said, "This is pretty old, but it is very well maintained. You have taken care of it very carefully Ayaka-nee." In truth, there was some problem with the shamisen especially the strings, but it should be alright for him, after all, similar to the "Cooking Mastery", the "Music Mastery" also had a passive skill where it could enhance the quality of the musical instrument that he held.
"Thank you." Ayaka nodded with a smile and felt happy with his praise.
"Shishio, can you play it?" Nana asked curiously since, in truth, she also wanted to hear the shamisen to be played again since, during her childhood time, she really loved to hear her grandpa play it during the family meeting.
Yuzu, Sumire, Yuri, even including Aki didn't say anything and looked at Shishio curiously, after all, they knew that shamisen brought a lot of memories for both Nana and Ayaka, and if Shishio really could play it, then it was really wonderful, after all, they could see the longing expression on both sisters.
Aki also didn't feel jealous anymore, but he felt helpless since he couldn't do anything for Ayaka, after all, unlike Sorata, Aki was still a kid, and he didn't have a problem with an inferiority complex, but he only wanted to be treated like a man, since he had always been treated like a girl because of his feature, but he had to admit that he was quite jealous of Shishio, after all, Shishio's body was tall and very athletic, and Shishio also could also be helpful at Ayaka. He looked at Shishio and wondered whether he could be like Shishio in the future.
"Let me tune it for a bit, it has been a while since it has been played after all," Shishio said and started to tune out the shamisen.
Looking at Shishio who tuned up the shamisen with a serious expression, they had to admit that a man was the most handsome when they were working. They didn't say anything, observing Shisho's hands that were trying to find the best sound for every string on the shamisen, even though they didn't know anything, they knew that his action was very professional and smooth.
Then after a moment, Shishio finished his work, and said, "I'll start to play, do you have a song that you want to hear, Ayaka-nee, Nana?"
"Onee-chan, what do you think?" Nana looked at Ayaka.
"Hmm, I'm not really sure since I'm not very knowledgeable about the music..." Ayaka was a bit frustrated, after all, she didn't really know very well about the song that was played by her grandpa.
"If you don't have any requests, then I'll play a song that I know, is that alright?" Shishio asked.
"Um." Ayaka nodded and said, "Yes, please, Shishio-kun."
Shishio nodded and didn't say much nonsense. He took a deep breath then started to take the bachi, and he started to play the shamisen in front of everyone.
*BOOOOOOM!*
<BGM: Yoshida Brothers - Storm>
The moment Shishio played the shamisen, all of them were stunned, it felt like a bomb was dropped right in front of them, and suddenly the sky was full of rain, and the sound of thunder rumbled on the sky was heard one after another, and for a moment, they felt like they saw a samurai that was about to go on the battle in the middle of the storm. It was their first impression when they heard the song being played by him.
In their minds, the shamisen was a song that was something akin to a gentle touch or something that they could enjoy with everyone in a quiet and relaxed situation, but Shishio's song was like a storm.
It was like his music swept everything away, causing them to be caught in the vortex of emotion, that they couldn't control. However, they didn't hate this feeling, or rather, they kept watching his performance, and they were unable to look away.
Aki, who didn't really like Shishio since Shishio had taken Ayaka's attention away from him, was also amazed when he heard this song, it felt like this music was created for a man to fight, and made him realize what a real man was.
Watching Shishio's figure immersed in his performance, they felt they weren't in the living room anymore, rather they were watching his figure that was standing on the top of the cliffs, facing the sea that was wrecked apart by the storm, but he was just sitting there playing his shamisen as if he was fighting against nature itself.
Shishio, who played the song, tried to brew his feeling, after all, he would have his first underground match tonight, even though he had prepared himself, it was his first time, and he would be lying if he wasn't nervous, whether it was from excitement or fear, he didn't know, but one thing for sure, his heart was a storm. He knew that he needed to face it and that's what he was going to do.
*Bang!*
With the last "bang", his hands stopped, and everything returned to calm.
There was sweat on his forehead, but he had to admit that he really enjoyed the shamisen since it gave off a different feeling from a guitar. He also had to admit that music was a really incredible thing since it could make his heart calm at this moment.
Shishio then looked at everyone who seemed to be unable to wake up for a while. "Cough!" He coughed and woke everyone up.
When everyone woke up, they couldn't help but look at him in amazement.
"Don't look at me like that, what do you think?" Shishio asked helplessly.
"It's - It's amazing, Shishio-nii." That was the only word that could come out of Yuzu's mouth, and everyone agreed with it, after all, they weren't that knowledgeable about music, but one thing for sure, they had to admit that this skill at shamisen was really amazing!
"It's good that you like it, after all, I have thought that you like a more gentle song, rather than this kind of rock-like song," Shishio said.
"No, it was a very amazing performance, Shishio-kun. When I heard that song before, I felt like I was watching you drenched in a storm and fought against it," Ayaka said with some excitement in her eyes.
"Yes, the title of the song is a storm, so you're not wrong if you feel like this song is like a storm," Shishio said.
"Wait, Shishio, is this your original song too?" Nana suddenly asked.
"....." Ayaka, Yuzu, Yuri, Sumire, and Aki were dumbfounded.
"It isn't that important, right?" Shishio raised his eyebrow, but he didn't clarify whether it was his original or not.
"Of course, it is important!" Nana pouted and looked at his face, trying to see whether there was a change or not. Unfortunately, she couldn't see anything. She looked at Shishio again and hoped that she could uncover all of his secrets, and at the same time, it made her unable to get away from him.
"Well, are you satisfied Ayaka-nee?" Shishio asked and decided to change the topic of the conversation, but everyone thought that he was trying to be modest at this moment, which somehow gave him a better impression.
"Yes, but can you play more?" Ayaka looked at Shishio with a cute expression and asked, "This time, can you play a more gentle song?"
"Um, I didn't expect that shamisen could be this good," Sumire said in amazement.
"I want to hear the song more, Shishio-nii," Yuzu said while raising her hand.
"After you have played the song, can you teach me, Shishio-nii?" Yuri asked.
"One by one, alright? I'll play one more song, and yes, the shamisen's sound is very interesting." Shishio then looked at Yuri and said, "I don't mind teaching you, but this shamisen is Ayaka-nee's, you should ask her permission."
"Ayaka-san!" Yuri quickly looked at Ayaka.
Ayaka nodded and said, "Well, let's ask him together after we hear his song."
Yuri also nodded and also waited for Shishio to play.
"This song's title is "Arigatou" (thank you)." Shishio looked at everyone then started to play, but he cast a glance at Aki and shook his head inwardly, and didn't think too much about this little kid.
Then everyone listened to his song again, even Aki, whose crush had been touched by Shishio all over, also listened since he had to admit that his song was great, after all, Shishio's song had made him spirited, but Aki didn't know that at this moment, he might have lost his chance to have a lot of lucky pervert situation in the future, and lost his first crush, but it was all good, since that way Aki could grow up, right?
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