Chapter 1: I have yet asked for your name
Beep, beep , beep,beep…Beeeeeeeppppp.
"Doctor… the patient has passed on… this operation is a failure."
"…I know… Damn! We couldn't save him! I'm a failure of a doctor."
All the surgeons and assistants in the room seemed to be lamenting the awful truth of their inability to save a person. As of today, patient number XXX Arima Kousei born on day XX month XX Year XXXX(,) age 21 has passed on. Cause of death, a stab from a metal knife through the vitals, while protecting a girl held hostage by bank robbers.
After hearing this declaration from the doctor, all of Kousei's friends and rivals all wallowed in tears of sadness. Tsubaki cried loudly, Watari tried his utmost to hold in his tears but faint signs of his eyes turning red could be seen clearly, Emi held her face as she wept silently, Takeshi continuously hammered the floor in rage and despair knowing that his once hero had suffered an unjust death. Hiroko-san and her daughter hugged each other and silently tear up, To them, Kousei was a precious family member even if they were not blood related. Everyone who had a close relationship with Kousei was suffering from a tragedy that was Kousei's death, meanwhile the one who died was currently in a white room with nothing in it.
It was as if he was in a spiritual form, he phased through whatever that had came into contact with his fingers, suddenly, memories began to surge back into his head as he finally understood that he was gone from the world. He took a closer look at his hands and realized that it was transparent. His face slightly grinned upwards as he recalls all the time he has had in his life, even though he was alive, he lived as if he was dead. Without the women he loved, he was only a shell of his former self, though he was playing beautiful music, his music was missing something…now that he was dead, he couldn't ever fix this again.
Suddenly, he was engulfed by a white light, the light made his body float and it was as if he was a wooden branch on a flowing river, he could only allow himself to flow with it. He was flowing for a seemingly endless amount of time before he managed to see the end, as he passed through the blinding light, something was imprinted into his head.
"You have suffered long enough child, I shall make your wait be worth!"
After he finished reading the imprint, he experienced a sharp pain as he fainted and slowly started to wake up.
"Wahh! Wahh! Wahh!"
"Madam! You did it! She came out!"
"You worked hard…"
A woman with dark hair looked to be very weak and was panting hard, beads of sweats could be seen dripping from her head endlessly, one could easily tell that she was very exhausted.
Kousei managed to open his eyes up and saw two familiar yet different faces to him, yes, it was his mother and father from his previous life but they seemed to look different in in terms of their looks although they didn't differ by much. Kousei soon felt exhausted and fell asleep.
14 years laters
Arima Kousei… or rather Arima Kousaki was in school alone listening to the same lessons he had listened to back in the his previous life. She was the top scorer every time due to her past experience and for the fact that this was considered easy to her, she decided to hide her piano ability since she didn't want to be caught up in a façade where she would be bothered by adults and pressured to play the piano, even though she had been secretly playing the piano whenever her parents were out. Kousaki grew up to be gorgeous and was even once crowned the miss beauty of the school, Kousaki was still talking warm heartedly to the classmates of her class, this time,Watari and Tsubaki were not her friends as she hasn't met them in this life yet.
After living for 14 years in this time, she understood that she was living the life of Kaoru, her parents, were bakery owners while she was the sole daughter of the two. At first she was unwilling to be a girl but as she lived her life throughout like one, she gradually came to accept this fact and accepted her gender change. she entered the same school she was in the past life and had been searching for the current Kaori, but up till now she has found neither her nor her two best friends…
When class ended, Kousaki quickly packed her bag and left the classroom. She walked down the familiar streets and ended up at the park where she once met her… the girl that had changed that had changed her life completely and left her behind before anything even started. She took off the stockings and shoes that she was wearing and stood on top of the shelter made playhouse just like how she did back then. She was enjoying the gentle breeze and left her stuff on the ground completely forgetting about it.
She was engrossed in listening to the sound of nature… The gentle wind billowed and gently caressed her as if to comfort her from her pain, the sound of the trees leaves rattling made Kousei want to be one with nature as she allowed her body to blend in together with mother nature. All of a sudden, a shutter sound could be heard as Kousaki quickly broke out of her trance. She saw a guy with blond hair holding his phone as he pointed it towards her.
Kousaki's face flushed into a brilliant red as she got off the mini shelter she was on and quickly walked towards the guy and gave him a karate chop onto his head. The guy was stunned for a few moments before trying to escape, but alas he was too late as he received a heavy blow to the head from Kousaki's karate chop. Kousei lived his life as a girl, it wasn't surprising to see her acting as one.
"What are you trying to do you Hentai!" Kousaki screamed in a high pitched voice
"I'm sorry! Please don't hit me anymore, it hurts!"
"You…! I'll hit you once more!" Once she finished saying her sentence, Kousaki readied her hands once more. When she was about to hit the blonde boy once more, she looked at the boy's face and it was as if she turned into stone, immobilized and unable to respond, she was shocked. The surprise seeped deep into her bones as she realised who was it that she had attacked.
Golden blonde hair that seemed to shine in the light of dawn, clear blue eyes that reflected the beauty of the world. Though more manly than when first he met her. At first glance, Kousaki immediately knew who it was. He had been searching for her endlessly… the only person who had managed to change him and get into his heart when he was in despair. He finally found her… Miyazono Kaori…
"I finally found you." Kousei silently thought to himself as he knelt down and began to cry out tears of joy. He was crying so loudly that he surprised the current Kaori, as Kaori quickly gathered herself and went up to comfort Kousei. Just at this moment, two people walked up and saw the scene of Kousei(Female now) kneeling and crying loudly and Kaori(Boy now) comforting him, they were stunned for a while before steam could be seen bellowing out from their ears as the ran up to Kaori and beat her up.
"Kaoru What the hell did you do to the poor lady there, Hentai!"
"I don't know! I am not sure too! Please stop!"
"I misjudged you Kaoru! I didn't think that you were such a scummy bastard!"
"WHY DID THIS HAPPEN TO ME!"
Kousaki finally stopped crying as she turned to look at the people who were currently arguing with each other. She calmed down and noticed that the two were actually Watari and Tsubaki! The two were still the same gender and had the same looks as before. Her mood suddenly turned for the better as she took out her handkerchief to wipe her tears. She gradually stood up and walked towards Kaoru, she reached out her hands as she offered to help Kaoru, who was currently lying on the ground as his face puffed up from all the beatings he has received from Watari and Tsubaki.
"I'm sorry… i didn't mean to cry out so loud like that, it was just...that you startled me so much that I…"
Kousaki looked down in remorse, her eyes were twitching as she bowed to show her apologies to Kaoru and her face completely serious when she did so, clearly proving that she was truly regretful of her actions.
The trio looked at Kousaki and was stunned, they were surprised that someone like Kousaki was actually apologizing to them as they began to laugh and wave their hands showing that they were fine with it.
"Hahaha! So it was a misunderstanding, sorry bud i knew you weren't the type to commit a crime in broad daylight!"
"Screw you Watari! You bastard! You were the one who hit me the most and hardest!"
"Sorry Kaoru! I didn't know it was a misunderstanding!"
"Well… fine then whatever…"
Kousaki looked at the trio with a smile on her face, back then it was supposed to be her being the one in who was always misunderstood and they would all joke around like this. Though she did feel some sadness that this time it was not her who was there but Kaori, she still felt happy for the her as she finally have true friends who were with her from the beginning.
"AHHH! OH CRAP I'M LATE FOR MY PERFORMANCE!"
… A moment of silence was there before Watari broke the silence with his loud voice.
"AHHH! YOUR RIGHT YOU ONLY HAVE 12 MINUTES LEFT WE GOTTA RUN GUYS!"
Watari held Tsubaki's hand who then held Kaoru's hand and Kaoru held Kousaki's hand and they ran. When Kousaki held Kaoru's hand, her heart beated furiously for an instance and she felt truly happy that Kaori was still alive and well. With their quick speed, they managed to reach Towa Hall… the place where Kousaki always used to perform at for concerts.
"Haa, haa we arrived and on time!"
Everyone was still panting as they tried to catch their breath, the two sports inclined duo recovered first and then Kaori,followed by Kousei. "Haa haa you guys ran way too fast…"
just then, the trio looked at Kousei in shocked, they were in disbelief that he was here with them as they screamed.
"AHHHHH! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"(Everyone). Kousaki was surprised and she explained everything to them on how he was dragged here by Kaori. They all looked at Kaoru as if they wanted to kill him but let him off since it was his performance. Kaoru called up his accompanist as he asked her where she was. To his horror, he was told that she was involved in a car accident and is in the hospital now. Kaoru started to panic as cold sweat could be seen forming on his head, his eyes turned red from the anger and sadness since he have to skip out from the performance due to a lack of an accompanist. Kousaki looked at Kaoru with astonishment on her face, this was not how Kaori would act in this situation, if it were her… she would be nervous but she would still laugh it all away and still go on stage to perform regardless of whether an accompanist was there or not, she… was a musician. Regardless of whatever obstacle was in her way, she would still perform, her pride as a musician didn't allow her to give up. Not performing wasn't in her dictionary.
Kousaki walked up to the currently panic-stricken Kaoru as she used her palm to light tap his cheeks. With determination in her eyes, she told the stunned Kaoru sternly.
"Does it matter that you have an accompanist or not? Kaoru-san you have worked hard to practice for this day did you not? Regardless of failure or success you must still perform! You are a musician!"
"You are a musician…" These words hit Kaoru hard as he soon regained his senses and looked into Kousaki's dark blue eyes, in it he could see a strong unwillingness to give up even in the face of adversity. Kaoru calmed down and his hands went up to his face to to gently hold the hand of Kousaki's as he felt the warmth in the girl's hand.
"Thank you…" Kaoru once more wore a smile once more and he walked towards the performers preparation room, Watari and Tsubaki were going to to theirs seats and as they were walking halfway there, they noticed Kousaki was missing as they secretly pondered "Where did the girl from before go? Did she go home already?"
With confusion hanging over their heads, they entered the Performing Hall and sat down onto their seats, anxiously waiting for Kaoru to make his appearance on the grand stage.
Meanwhile in the preparation room, Kaoru was fidgeting non-stop as he couldn't seem to relax. He was looking down on his score sheet and kept on rehearsing his performance piece non-stop, time seemed to pass quickly for him as other competitors went up and down the stage and soon it was going to be his turn. He didn't realise that in front of him was a girl still in her uniform trying to call out to him for a while now. The girl got quite angry as she punched on Kaoru's head, leading him to hold his head as he grimaced in pain.
"Ouch! Hey what was that fo...fo…WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
Kaoru shouted so loudly that everyone broke out of their concentration mode and turned to look at the two of them. Kousaki sighed as she finally managed to get the attention of Kaoru and she began to speak.
"Um… i kinda accidentally followed you in here…" well although some parts of it were true, Kousaki didn't mention her true intentions for following the blonde haired boy into the room.
"You… Hah… forget about it…" Kaoru seemed to have given up as the series of action made by Kousaki truly shocked him. He laughed lightly as he smiled gently in a self reproaching manner, this girl was so worried she followed him in? Kaoru thought to himself as he was truly happy about the fact that someone was so caring towards him.
"So what are you going to perform today?"
"huh? Oh it's saint saens rondo capriccioso. Why you ask?"
"I see…"
Luckily for Kousaki, this was something that Kousei had used to play along with Kaori, what's more it was their first performance piece they played together, naturally Kousei didn't forget about it and even knew how to play it. Kousaki giggled softly, so soft that even the nearby Kaoru did not even catch it, Kousaki turned to look at Kaoru and saw that his hands were shaking uncontrollably and his head was pointing downwards. She knew that Kaoru was afraid of going onto stage so she held onto his hands and placed her forehead onto his, just like back then, with the exact same sentence she said back then, she said…
"Look at me. Raise your head and look at me. Because if you always keep your head down, you will always be locked up in the music score's cage, Don't worry, i know that you can do it."
Ba-dum… Those words resonated within Kaoru's heart strongly as he suddenly felt like tears was about to burst out without restraint. As if like a broken dam unable to contain the huge gush of waters flowing, his feelings flowed throughout his entire body and it made his hair stand. He asked Kousaki with a pinch of nervousness in his words.
"Have… have we ever met before?"
Suddenly shocked by the question asked, Kousaki was about to tell him the truth as she hesitated and denied him.
"No , we have not."
"Then why are you so willing to help me out so much?"
"Number 13. Miyazono Kaoru please get ready."
The announcer called Kaoru and told him to get ready. He took out the violin he had left in the locker room before he came here and walked towards the stage. He looked towards Kousaki and said "I will talk to you later." Only to get a reply "I will tell you your answer after your performance."
Hearing so, he turned to the stage and walked towards it. He didn't turn back to look at her just to prevent himself from looking uncool. He walked up to the center of the stage and bowed to the audiences and judges, he heard numerous murmurs coming out from the audiences and didn't mind it so much as it may be due to the fact that he was alone without anyone to perform with. Just… he did not calculate something as he was about to perform.
Just before even he was about to play the first note ignoring the fact that there was going to be an introduction entry by the piano, he heard a piano and he quickly turned back to look at who was playing it.
Shock filled his body as he realised that it was Kousaki who was playing the starting intro for him. Kousaki looked at him and glared, trying to tell him through her eyes to just play. Kaoru knew what she meant and just decided to forget it and just perform, though he was going to question her later strictly about her actions. Soon it was time for Kaoru to play his part as he smoothly played it according to the performance piece, his performance was so robotic that although it sounded good, it felt empty. Well… that's how judges were supposed to grade competitors but to Kousaki it was not enough and she wanted more.
She gradually started to speed up making the tempo start to take off, though it was a simple change, but it made the song more melodical to hear, but it took Kaoru by storm and now Kaoru was doing his best to keep up with Kousaki. As the song continued on, it became more beautiful as more elegant sounding that it took the breaths of the audience listening, Kaoru was able to keep up with Kousaki but in his mind he was panicking so much as he was going to start to lose control and let his true nature show.
"NO! If i let myself play however i want, Kousaki might be unable to keep up!"
Suddenly while he was engrossed in trying to play and restraint himself, he felt as if he could hear what Kousaki was saying. "Let yourself be free… Play like your heart's desire…"
Hearing so, Kaoru, as if something had broke in him, he no longer played as robotic as usual, but instead started to not follow the piece and play his own tempo.
The sudden change in music was awestrucking and the sound was amazing plus fun to listen to. The two were playing in sync. The true nature of Kaoru's playing was like a wild house, out of control. Kousaki was playing to her style and even added in some of her own original style in making it a showdown between the two different play style which somehow one way or another was able to sync beautifully and it created a new style, one that entertained the people listening and was able to draw their breath in one shot.
If a sentence was able to describe their playing, it was as if a rainbow shone suddenly onto the fairy garden, 7 plated colors dyed the garden and the winds were bouncing lightly to show their joy. Truly it was a masterpiece being played in the Performing Hall.
Once they were done, The two walked up to the center once more to bow. The audience and judges were so astounded that they didn't realise that the song was over. Once they snapped back to reality, they all began to clap and everyone gave them a standing ovation.
"You two were a great student combo!"
"Amazing! You guys!"
The clapping sounds truly made Kaoru happy as he descended down the stage. He brought his violin with him and Kousaki followed him out of the room where he was Tsubaki and Watari already outside waiting outside for them.
"You guys were amazing! Especially you, girl! I didn't know you could play the piano so well! It was so good!"(Watari)
"Yeah! I haven't heard Kaoru play like that in a long time."(Tsubaki)
"Haha… it was nothing much. I just decided to help Kaoru-san out since he needed a piano accompanist."
As they were all talking, Kaoru, who was quiet for awhile started to interrupt them."
"So… i want to hear the answer now…"
Kousaki was silent for a moment, before he smiled and said "It was because i didn't want to see a fellow musician break down in front of me!"
The trio was shocked by his reply as they started to laugh after being stunned.
"Hahaha! I see! Thank you for your help today!"
"No problem."
"So now that i think about it… I have yet asked for your name."
Kousaki smiled gently and sweetly that for a moment it made Kaoru's heartstring throb. Kousaki showed her hands out and obviously in a good mood, she said
"I am Arima Kousaki. Nice to meet you all."
Hi guys AndyNnimeFreak here! Another new series of Your lie in april that will end actually pretty quickly! Shout out to Shiranai Atsune for the story idea and to be honest… This was a pretty weird story for me since it was a type of genre that Ive never written before. I hope you all enjoyed reading it and stay tuned for more of this and the main series im doing as well. I stopped for a while due to personal reason and mostly due to writers block. So Soz for that. Thank you all once again for reading this Jya ne!
