Title: On A High Note
Fandom: Kamen Rider Ghost
Characters: Takeru, Alain
Rating: G
Word Count: 916
Summary: Takeru introduces Alain to whistling. Alain isn't impressed.


On A High Note
Takeru lay on the grass outside the main shrine, arms folded behind his head and face tilted up towards the sun. He was whistling softly, trying to mimic the birds in the trees around him.

“What are you doing?”

Halting mid-note, he opened his eyes to find Alain standing over him, brows furrowed. “Enjoying the nice day,” he said, motioning for Alain to join him.

“No, I mean that noise you were making.” Alain settled down beside him, still looking concerned.

“Oh, you mean whistling?”

“Whistling?”

“Ah, I guess Ganma don’t do that.” Sitting up, Takeru grinned. “Whistling is done by shaping your mouth a certain way and blowing air through your lips to create different sounds.” Alain stared at him as he demonstrated, whistling a few low notes. “I’m sure Akari could tell you the scientific stuff behind it, too.”

Alain frowned. “Why would humans do such a thing?”

“For enjoyment, mostly. Whistling can also be used to get someone’s attention.”

“What a ridiculous concept. Speaking loudly will create the same result.” Alain looked away, gazing out over the temple grounds.

“I guess, but it’s a different way to express ourselves.” Takeru shifted, following Alain’s gaze. He was silent for a few moments, thinking about everything he knew about whistling. “Onari doesn’t like it when I whistle, since he claims it draws in evil spirits. But that’s only supposed to happen at night, so we’re fine right now. Unless a Ganma hears it, of course!”

Alain sighed at Takeru’s words, replying with a mutter of, “Unlikely.” Takeru just smiled at him, then flopped backwards onto the grass.

“Makoto-niichan taught me how to whistle when we were kids,” he said softly, thinking back to the rainy afternoon when he had first tried to whistle. “Kanon-chan probably knows how to, too.”

“Makoto...?” Takeru watched as Alain’s frown lessened, then disappeared. “I don’t ever recall him doing such in the Ganma world.”

“I’m sure he had his reasons not to.” He sat up again as an idea struck him. “Hey, why don’t I teach you how to whistle?”

“You-” Alain cut himself off, rising abruptly. “I have no need to sound like a dying animal,” he said before walking off quickly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Takeru muttered playfully to his back, returning to his former position on the grass and starting to whistle again.

- - -
Takeru stretched as he wandered out of one of the shrine buildings, looking forward to having supper. He was about to step off of the veranda when an unusual sound caught his attention. Looking around, he didn’t see anything suspicious, and so walked slowly towards the noise. Peering around the corner of the building, he smiled. Alain was sitting on the veranda and trying to whistle without much success.

Stepping around the corner, he clasped his hands behind his back and asked, “Trying to call some evil spirits?” Alain’s head jerked towards him in surprise, and there was a moment of stunned silence.

“I-You-Of course not!” he finally snapped, swiftly looking away from him.

Walking over to the railing, he leaned against it and smiled. “Yeah, you’re a pretty bad spirit caller if you only managed to summon me. I’m not evil at all.” He glanced back to see Alain giving him a withering stare before focusing on the setting sun. A bird was chirping softly in a nearby tree, and he whistled back at it, chuckling at the return call.

“You’re talking to a bird.” Alain sounded dubious at the exchange, and Takeru smiled again.

“Maybe, maybe not. I think can talk to the heroic Eyecons better than a bird.” He leaned his elbows on the railing and rest his chin on his hands. “You were blowing too hard.”

“What?”

“When you were practising before. You were blowing the air out too hard.” When Alain didn’t reply, he added, “I can leave if you don’t want me around.”

“...Nonsense.” Silence fell between them, and Takeru listened to the bird chirp, enjoying the nice evening. Eventually, he heard the sound of air being blown through pursed lips from behind him. He remained silent, listening to Alain’s attempts to make some sort of noise. He had sounded similarly back when he first learned, so knew better than to tease him.

At Alain’s irritated huff, Takeru took a breath and blew out several notes, trying to replicate the musical scale he had learned long ago in elementary school. He had a feeling he skipped a few notes, but he figured the general idea had gotten across. He could practically feel Alain’s glare, and so fell silent. More blown air noises came from behind him over the next few minutes, and he grinned as a low, shaky note finally sounded.

“Alright, you’re getting the hang of it!” Twisting around, he beamed at Alain, who looked more surprised than happy.

“That is a very strange sensation,” Alain murmured, tilting his head slightly to the side.

Takeru just laughed and whistled again, louder this time, bouncing between high and low notes on a whim.

“TAKERU!” He cringed at Onari’s shout from the main temple. “WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT WHSITLING ON TEMPLE GROUNDS?!”

“Sorry!” he called back, turning to give Alain a guilty grin. “Oops, guess he caught us.”

“Indeed.”

“Wanna go have supper?” Alain looked at him closely for a moment, then nodded and rose. Grinning, Takeru headed for the main temple, pleased to have taught Alain something new about the human world.