Kanata stared blankly at the blank piece of paper on his desk. He had been doing this for an hour now.
He was supposed to be composing a love song for Music, but his mind couldn't churn out a line.
What a stupid assignment. I mean, why the heck would I want to write a love song?!
He remembered his teacher's instructions: To write a good song, you must be able to feel the emotions. He snorted. "I'm not in love," he said to himself, annoyed at the impossibly hard assignment.
"The first sign of mental illness, talking to yourself." a familiar voice said. Miyu entered the room and peered over his shoulder at his blank paper. "Having a hard time with the Music assignment? I could help you out. After all, I'm done with it."
Kanata's heart seemed to skip a beat at the sight of the pretty blonde. "You're so full of yourself. I don't need your help." He threw his pencil on the floor in frustration. "Let me see your song."
"No way. Not until you write your own." She was incredibly smug. Creative writing was the one thing Miyu beat Kanata at, and she rubbed it in his face every chance she gets. "You need to feel the love, Kanata. If you can even feel anything. You're so cold and mean."
He scowled. "Shut up, Miyu. I bet you that I'll win that contest." There was a contest in the class that whoever writes the best song would get to perform it in a school program.
She stuck out her tongue and said, "All right, Mr. I-can't-write-a-simple-love-song. If I win, you need to eat my cooking for an entire month!"
He winced. He considered Miyu's cooking as the most disgusting things on earth. "I'll probably die of food poisoning."
"Aah, I see you recognized the benefit of it," she said nastily.
"But if I win," he said, "you need to do all my assignments which require creative writing for a month."
She crinkled her nose. "I hate writing for someone else and not getting credit! It's like giving away a piece of me."
"I see you recognized the benefit of it," he shot back, imitating her. "Now get out of here. I have work to do."
As she left, she said sardonically, "Good luck…"
After a week of songwriting, the class prepared to read their songs aloud. Music was the last class of the day: Kanata was getting impatient as the day crawled by.
Finally, the moment of truth!
Christine was giggling shyly as she read her song--all full of references to Kanata. It was so tacky that Kanata barely kept down his biting remarks. Cheesy lines like "the athlete of the year ran dunked his way into my heart" and "the student council president governs over my soul" made him want to rip her paper in two, burn it and bury the ashes.
Nearly all the girls wrote about Kanata, and they were eagerly waiting for his reactions to their songs. He groaned. If he heard the words "soft chestnut hair" or "sparkling brown eyes" one more time, he was going to hurl.
Aya, ever the theater-loving playmaker, wrote about loving the phantom of the opera, which everyone found really weird and ridiculous. She wrote, "the phantom lives in the opera of my heart." Even Miyu, who tried to be kind, couldn't help but laugh at Aya's bizarre song.
Nanami wrote about a guy who didn't seem to notice she existed. Nozomu wrote about so many girls that his song didn't seem to have any other words except the names of his admirers. Santa read about loving a girl who existed in his dreams. It was quite good, Kanata thought. I just hope mine is better.
When it was Miyu's turn, he stared at her all the way from her seat to the front of the room. She cleared her throat and said bashfully, "This is one of my favorite works. I had a hard time writing this. I hope you enjoy it."
It's hard to be in love
With someone who's always there
But doesn't seem to notice me
Or even seem to care
He always insults my cooking skills
And tells me to my face
That he would get food poisoning
From just a single taste
But he's handsome and charming
Smart and sensible, too
His perfect smile is so disarming
His brown eyes are always shining
What can I say?
I'm captivated
No matter how much I try to stay away
I'll always feel the same.
When she finished, the entire class burst into applause. "Miyu, that was awesome!" exclaimed Aya and Nanami. Okame dropped a rose in Miyu's arms, and Santa whistled his appreciation. However, Kanata didn't clap. His jaw was hanging at what Miyu had just read. Was she referring to… me?!
He didn't have time to ponder it, though, because it was his turn.
Kanata swallowed hard. This is the moment. He inhaled deeply.
There's this special girl
With emerald eyes that pierce my soul
She's always been my ray of light
She's always been my world
She's clumsy and stubborn
Pigheaded and childish
Her cooking kills--
She can't even make a sandwich
But I love her
The girl with emerald eyes that pierce my soul
Her golden hair is like a ray of light
She'll always be my world.
The class clapped too, but whispers broke out beneath the applause. It wasn't exactly inconspicuous that Miyu and Kanata had feelings for each other, and their songs confirmed it.
Christine brought out a hanky and started crying. "I don't have golden hair or emerald eyes! Kanata doesn't love me!"
Many girls imitated her, sobbing, "Oh, Kanata!"
The bell for dismissal rang, interrupting the sobs of the girls. Miyu started packing up when she realized her notebook was missing. She told her friends to go ahead, and started searching around for it. She felt someone tap her shoulder.
"Miyu? Can I talk to you?" Kanata said, heart racing. "About your song…"
"What about it?"
"It was beautiful, but… can I ask who you were referring to?"
She was silent for a long moment. "You can ask… but I won't answer."
He felt disappointed. "Oh. Okay…" I was certain that I was the one she wrote about.
"You can ask me when I'm singing that onstage." She grinned, holding up the Certificate for Best Songwriter. "I won!"
"What? When did this happen?"
"You were in the bathroom when Miss Mizuno awarded me this." She laughed, pleased at his shock. "Your timing is so off."
"Oh… Damn." He had gone to the bathroom after he recited his song; he didn't want to answer his classmates' questions about who the "emerald-eyed, golden-haired girl" was. "Well, I'll be waiting for you to tell me--and the entire school--who that handsome, brown-eyed guy is." He said determinedly, and then joked, "I'll beat the crap out of him for laughing at your cooking skills."
EPILOGUE: Before singing her song onstage, Miyu says, "This song is inspired by a handsome but irritating, charming but infuriating guy in my class. I dedicate this song to you, Kanata Saionji! I hope you like what I'm cooking later!"