Disclaimer: I do not own Kiniro no Corda or any affiliates

For the sake of this story, we're going to pretend that Kazuki Hihara is a junior in high school instead of a senior. Since Primo Passo took place in the fall, and school ends in the winter/spring in Japan, it would be impossible for me to set this story in the summer/fall if I didn't mess with his age somehow.

*Ding-a-ling*

"Welcome to Yamaokadou Bookstore!" Kahoko called out as she turned from shelving some books. "Huh? Hihara-senpai?" she cried in surprise as the tall, olive-green-haired boy walked into the bookstore.

"Kaho-chan?" Kazuki exclaimed, stopping short. "You work here?"

"Yeah, part-time for the summer...I need money for violin classes and other supplies, and I don't want to have to rely on my parents for it." She smiled up at him and explained, "When it comes to the violin, I want to go as far as I can on my own power."

He nodded. "I know what you mean. I pick up odd jobs from time to time when I need to buy things for my trumpet." He grinned, "Fortunately for me, trumpet maintenance is pretty basic and inexpensive, so I don't have to find work that often. Basically all I need to do is oil the valves and grease the slides; and valve oil and slide grease are pretty inexpensive. If I really need it to be cleaned, then I just take it to the store and get it acid washed for around 2500 yen." He grinned at her. "It's so convenient! I don't even need to grease and oil it that often—twice a week at the most."

"Really? You're so lucky~!" Kahoko cried. "I need to wipe down my violin after every time I use it, restring every so often, rehair the bow, the list goes on and on. Who knew maintaining a violin would be so involved?"

Kazuki looked overwhelmed just thinking about it. "Wow! That is a lot!" He flashed her a grin. "It's great that you're taking this so seriously though."

"Yes, after all, I love the violin," she agreed. Noticing her supervisor eyeing her pointedly, she quickly asked, "So is there anything that I can help you with, Hihara-senpai?"

"Oh, right!" He thought for a second, trying to remember why he had entered the store. "Oh yeah, I'm supposed to pick up a book on ragtime music."

"Ragtime music?"

"Yeah, remember when I played Scott Joplin's The Entertainer that one time in the park with Tsuchiura?"

Kahoko thought for a second before nodding as her eyes lit up. "Yes! It was such a fun, refreshing performance. Was that a ragtime song?"

"Yeah, it's an American music genre. It's kind of a mix of African syncopation and European classical music in some ways. I need to do a report on it for class, and there weren't any really useful books in the local library." He embarrassedly admitted, "If I had been smart, I would have picked up some books from the school library before the break started. But I was just so happy that summer vacation had come, so I forgot!"

"Ah…" she nodded understandingly.

He smiled. "I was in the music store downstairs and they suggested I look up here. Have you ever been down there? It's amazing!"

"Actually, one of the main reasons I started working here was because as an employee, I can use the practice rooms down there cheaply."

"Really? I didn't know that there were practice rooms down there!"

"You should go check them out. They're a little hard to find because they're tucked away in the back, but they're worth it."

"Sounds good. Maybe I'll go take a look after I find my book." Noticing the glare Kahoko's manager was sending her, he quickly said, "Uh, I'll go find my book now. I'll see you later, Kaho-chan!"

Having also noticed her supervisor's glare, she nodded in thanks and quickly got back to work.

I've actually had parts of this story sitting on my hard drive for a while, but I was having a lot of trouble tying the parts together. Eventually though, I figured I'd put it up and hope that by publishing it, I'd figure out some of the kinks.

This story as a whole is heavily influenced by the manga Kitchen Princess. This chapter is mostly inspired by part of Secondo Passo's pilot, but later chapters have ideas that were ported over from Kitchen Princess.

I hope you like this chapter and the next!

Please review! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!