A/N: So I suddenly felt like watching La Corda D'oro...and found myself finishing the anime the same day I started. The music was beautiful, the character designs were pretty...I was inspired. So, as I'm so used to writing OC fics, here's my version of the anime storyline of La Corda, with my own twists.
Disclaimer: I don't own La Corda D'oro. I don't own the music pieces that will be mentioned. Anything you don't recognize (i.e. Tsubame, Akira) is mine. Just thought I'd mention that first. :)
Enjoy,
~ [Aoi-Kun]
A sigh of irritation slipped from a running girl as she slid to a stop at her home's front door, pausing long enough to pull on her shoes before grabbing her bag back up and grabbing a motorcycle helmet off the top of the shoe shelf. She slammed the front door behind her as she ran down the front path towards the motorcycle and driver waiting for her.
After the driver pulled to a stop before a pair of large gates, the girl reached up and pulled her helmet off, shaking her head slightly to fix her hair. Pure white strands of hair settled back into place after the abrupt movement and the girl got off, ignoring the many stares she was receiving. As she bent to fix her socks, the driver took off his own helmet, revealing a handsome male with black hair and curious brown eyes.
"So this is your new school huh, Tsu-cchi."
The girl paused in her ministrations, briefly, and then continued before standing up once she was satisfied. "It's not so new anymore. I've been here since the spring after all." Mizushima Tsubame replied, meeting the boy's brown eyes with her own pair of light purple eyes. She pulled a pair of glasses from a side-pocket in her bag and slid them on, sighing once again. "Thanks for the ride Akira. You should probably get going if you don't want to be late for your own classes."
"Hai, hai. I'll see you later than Tsu-cchi~"
"Yea, right."
Tsubame watched as her friend sped off, covering a yawn with a hand as soon as he was out of sight. Shifting her grip on her bag so that she could carry it over her shoulder, Tsubame entered the school grounds, idly listening to the chatter around her. As she passed by a group of music students she caught a bit of their conversation.
"Did you hear? The concours are being held soon."
"I hope I get chosen…"
"But you know who will definitely get in?"
Tsubame stopped listening after that. A concours, huh? Sounded interesting, though she supposed that the general education students would have a harder time getting in than the music students would. As she entered the school building, Tsubame paused, looking over her shoulder.
'Was someone yelling just now…?'
The thought disappeared from her mind as soon as she was fully in the school though as a sudden snide comment was thrown her way.
"Would you look at that, girls? The little delinquent is still here."
Tsubame raised her eyes to see a trio of music students standing before her, sneering at her.
"Who are you again…?"
The leader of the group face-faulted before covering it up with an unsuccessful cough. "My, all those piercings of yours must have severed a nerve or something if you can't even remember our names. Or maybe it's just the way all you "punks" are."
"Excuse me senpai-tachi, if you don't have anything important to say, can I please get to class?" Without waiting for a reply, Tsubame walked around the three and continued her trek to her classroom, the entire conversation already forgotten as thoughts about the concours rose in her mind again.
Tsubame stopped in front of her classroom, looking up just to reaffirm that she hadn't gotten lost again. The numbers 1-1 stood out in white against the wooden board and Tsubame nodded to herself before entering and heading straight for her seat near the windows. Around her students greeted one another, asking how their weekends went. Tsubame laid her head on top of her arms, gaze glued to the view outside of the windows. She didn't fit in here, she knew that even without other students telling her so, but it would've been nice to have a friend or two after she moved to this town. Well…a friend that was her age Tsubame amended, Akira's face popping into her mind.
The next thing Tsubame knew, the bell had rung and students were chattering loudly once again, some leaving the classroom, others pulling out bentos from their bags. Tsubame slowly lifted her head up, blinking slowly as her hair fell in front of her eyes, throwing everything into a haze of white. It was lunchtime. With a little effort, Tsubame stood from her seat, bringing her bag with her as she exited the classroom. Maybe she could catch a little more sleep on the rooftop before classes started again.
A little while later, Tsubame found herself on the walkway that separated the general education building from the music education building. Slightly perplexed as to why she was there, Tsubame looked around for a clue as to why her feet would bring her there until the sounds of somebody crying caught her attention. She froze before turning to look around once more. There, on the hand railing, seemed to be a little…person. Dismissing the fact that the situation seemed too weird to be real, Tsubame walked over and leaned in the space next to the upset person….thing.
"Hey, are you alright?"
The…fairy, Tsubame decided when she caught sight of the wings, looked up in surprise. "You…you can see me?"
Tsubame tilted her head. "Uhm…yea?"
He flew up and smiled brightly at her. "My name is Lili. I'm a Fata, a fairy of music. What's you name?"
Tsubame blinked and pointed at herself, mouthing 'me?'
"Yea, you~ this years concours are going to be so much fun~"
"Eh? Well, my name is Mizushima Tsubame…"
"It was nice meeting you Mizushima Tsubame!"
Before Tsubame could say anything more Lili had disappeared, leaving Tsubame to blink blankly at the space he had occupied. Deciding it was pointless to head to the roof now that she didn't feel sleepy anymore, Tsubame headed back to her classroom. As she opened the door to her classroom, the principal's voice came out from the PA system.
"I will now be announcing the participants of the concours."
Tsubame started towards her desk at a sloth-like pace, half listening.
"From the Music Department, class 3-B, Yunoki Azuma-kun. From the same class, Hihara Kazuki-kun. From the Music Department, class 2-A, Tsukimori Len-kun. From the Music Department, class 1-B, Fuyuumi Shoko-san. From the Music Department, class 1-A, Shimizu Keiichi-kun."
There was a pause and someone sighed, "Figures they'd all be from the Music Department."
"From the General Education Department, class 2-2, Hino Kahoko-san."
Murmurs of surprise swept through the classroom as Tsubame finally reached her seat. As she was about to place her things back down…
"And our final participant, from the General Education Department, class 1-1, Mizushima Tsubame-san. Congratulations to all participants."
Silence prevailed in the classroom as the students that were there all turned to the silent girl as her things slipped from her fingers, falling to the ground with a loud 'thump'. Her eyes widened slightly from under the cover her bangs provided. What had just happened?
The rest of the school day passed by in a blur for Tsubame as she tried to figure out how she'd even been considered for the concours. There was no way…unless…her thoughts flashed to her brief meeting with Lili…but that couldn't have been it…with a sigh, Tsubame finished packing away the last of her things as the final bell rang. She shouldered her bag and decided to go find the teacher in charge of the concours, maybe they would be able to explain how she'd gotten in.
"The concours? I believe Kanazawa-sensei was put in charge of that…" Ito-sensei replied when Tsubame approached him in the faculty room. The teacher turned in his chair to look across the room. "He's over there, the one with the purple hair, if you want to talk to him about it."
"Thank you, sensei." Tsubame bowed quickly before hurrying over to where Kanazawa-sensei was talking to another student wearing the general education uniform. Tsubame noted that she wore the red tie of the second years…so that was Hino Kahoko?
"Excuse me, Kanazawa-sensei?" Tsubame interjected when she noticed that neither person was speaking. Both pairs of eyes turned to her and did a double-take at her appearance. Used to the reactions, Tsubame merely pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear. "My name is Mizushima Tsubame. I was just wondering if you could tell me how I was accepted into the concours?"
Kanazawa raised a hand to run through his hair. "As I was telling Hino earlier, I didn't decide these things. But since you're here, I suppose you saw that as well?" Tsubame blinked slowly at Kanazawa, who was slightly unsettled by her pale gaze. "Anyway, that told you two to go to the Music Department's practice rooms so that it could explain to you two." Tsubame was about to nod in response when another voice caught her attention.
"Kanayan!"
Once again all three people turned to see two music students approaching, third years by the looks of it.
"We heard that you were in charge so we thought we'd come to greet you!" The green haired male of the duo exclaimed. Then he caught sight of the two girls and his eyes lit up even more, if that was possible.
"Oh! Are you two the general education students that are taking part in the concours? It's nice to meet you! My name is Hihara Kazuki! It's nice to meet you!" He greeted them, catching Kahoko's hands in his. "H-hai! I'm Hino Kahoko. It's nice to meet you as well Hihara-senpai."
Tsubame stared at her upperclassmen as the purple haired male of the duo stepped forward to put a hand on Hihara's shoulder. "Hihara, you might be scaring the poor girl." He then turned to Kahoko to introduce himself. "My apologies. I am Yunoki Azuma." The two boys then turned to Tsubame and she bowed slightly to them. "Mizushima Tsubame. It's nice to meet you Yunoki-senpai. Hihara-senpai."
"So, what instruments do you two specialize in, Hino-san, Mizushima-san?" Yunoki asked. Tsubame unconsciously clenched her left hand and averted her eyes from her senpais. "If it's the flute I'm afraid we'll be rivals then."
When neither of the girls gave a response Hihara exclaimed, "Or maybe it's the trumpet?"
"I-I-" Tsubame returned her gaze to Kahoko to see her flustered expression. "I've got nothing to do with this!" She shouted before running away, leaving behind two confused upperclassmen, one exasperated teacher, and one indifferent underclassman. "Please excuse me senpai-tachi, Kanazawa-sensei." Tsubame excused herself with a quick bow before promptly turning on her heel and running after Kahoko.
"Hino-senpai…?" Tsubame inquired, yawning into her hand as she opened yet another door and peered in. More music students staring at her like she was a different species. She closed her eyes and closed the door, continuing down the hall. Maybe the older girl would have already gone to the practice rooms by now, Tsubame reasoned and redirected her steps there, completely ignoring the glances that she was given as she plodded along down the music department's halls.
Closing the door softly behind her, Tsubame peered down the hall of doors she had just entered. Now which room would Lili be in…? She didn't have to wonder long as she caught a faint strain of Kahoko's voice. Tsubame followed it to a room where she pulled the door open, startling the older girl as she jumped around, shock written across her expression. "Hino-senpai…Lili…" Tsubame acknowledged the two sleepily. She'd been wandering the halls for a while now and she wanted nothing more than to go to sleep…but she had to get some answers first.
"M-Mizushima-san!"
"Tsubame."
"Eh?"
"My name is… Tsubame. Mizushima…is my Otou-sama." Tsubame mumbled, her eyes staring out the window with a glazed look in them. Kahoko gave a worried glance over to the younger girl before Lili popped back up. "Well since I'm done explaining everything I told Mizushima Tsubame to Hino Kahoko, I'll give this to you!" Lili waved his wand and a violin appeared in Kahoko's hands, snapping Tsubame from her daze as she stared with slightly widened eyes at the instrument.
"That's a magical violin. Anyone can play it!" Lili then went on to explain about it as Tsubame and Kahoko listened. "As for you…" Lili turned to Tsubame but before he could raise his wand again Tsubame shook her head.
"I won't be needing a magical instrument Lili."
Kahoko was confused by that. "Eh? But don't you need an instrument to participate in the concours Tsubame-chan?"
"Ah…" Tsubame smiled slightly at Kahoko's way of addressing her. "I have an instrument." Tsubame didn't offer any more information and Lili decided to take that time to explain the rest of the things about Kahoko's new violin to her. Nothing else rather interesting happened except for when Kahoko nearly broke the magical violin by throwing it across the room. It was only a few minutes after Lili left did something else happen. Kahoko had tried to play a note and the resulting noise had made Tsubame mentally cringe even as her outward appearance didn't change.
The door to the practice room suddenly opened and a blue haired male stood in the doorway. Tsubame glanced at the scarf around his neck and noted the red-color. Really…were there no people in her year around here?
"Excuse me, but I've booked this room for the entire day. Could you please get out? I don't want to waste anymore of my practice time."
Kahoko immediately jumped to put her new violin away as Tsubame continued to stare at the male, wondering why he looked so familiar. That is, until it clicked.
"Tsukimori…Len…"
Kahoko froze and both second-year students turned to the first-year, who was covering yet another yawn, blinking sleepily.
"That's…you, right? Tsukimori Len-senpai."
Tsukimori's eyes swept over Tsubame quickly, trying to place her before his eyes widened slightly. "You…!"
"Please excuse us Tsukimori-kun!" Kahoko interrupted, snagging her violin case in one hand and Tsubame's wrist in the other before pulling both from the room after her. Tsubame glanced to where Kahoko had left her bag, but had no chance to mention it before she was dragged from the room.
It wasn't until they were outside did Kahoko let go of Tsubame's wrist. The younger girl let her arm fall back limply to her side, watching as Kahoko leaned against a wall to catch her breath. A moment later, the red-head had turned on the snowy-head.
"What were you thinking, Tsubame-chan, talking to a senpai like that?"
'Eh…but I recognized him from somewhere is all, Hino-senpai."
"Neh, Tsubame-chan, why don't you call me Kaho-senpai? Since you let me call you Tsubame-chan?"
"Kaho…senpai…?"
"Mhm~"
"Kaho-senpai…"
"You don't have to repeat it Tsubame-chan…"
"You left your bag back in the room, Kaho-senpai."
Silence.
"Eh! Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"Senpai runs too fast…"
As Kahoko was trying to figure out how to retrieve her bag, Tsubame wandered off to find someplace to take a quick nap. As she wandered, she found herself near the back, where the windows of the practice rooms opened out to. Deciding it was going to be the best place she would be able to find, Tsubame placed her bag near some bushes and plopped down onto the ground, using her bag as a pillow as her eyes drifted shut.
She couldn't have been asleep for more than five minutes when a shout and something landing in the bushes near her woke her up again. Tsubame sat up slowly, a yawn slipping from her lips again as she raised a hand to rub sleepily at her eyes. It wasn't much of a surprise to her when she saw Kahoko standing with her back facing her. Tsubame stood up and brushed her clothes off before shouldering her bag and extracting Lili's gift to Kahoko from the bush's clutches.
"You should take better care of your instrument Kaho-senpai."
The red-head turned with a squeak, since Tsubame had appeared rather suddenly. She silently held out the violin case and Kahoko reluctantly took it back. The two girls stared at each other for a moment before the sounds of a violin drifted through the air. Tsubame felt the notes blanket her and she let her eyes drift shut as she felt Kahoko move closer. A small smile tugged at Tsubame's lips as she reopened her eyes, without a sound she turned and walked in the opposite direction of the music. She already had a guess as to who it was that was playing the tune; she didn't need to go see.
Deciding that she had had enough excitement for one day, Tsubame tucked her hair behind an ear and left the school grounds, casting a lazy glance over her shoulder at the school building.
'Why do I feel like…this school year is going to be…frustrating…?'