Author note: I do not own 'The Last Story' or the characters Mirania and Zesha. If I did, I would have added more scenes with the Gurak brothers and expand on their characters. XD

This fic is a Christmas gift for ShitanePaiko, so I hope you like it, Paiko! XD

Warning: Highschool AU, Violinist!Zesha, Humanized!Zesha, ZeshaxMirania

Constructive Criticism would be great, and I hope that you read, review and enjoy! Thanks! XD

Of Books and Violins

During lunch, Mirania always notices Zesha, the one kid playing the violin. He brings his own violin and music with him, as well as a stand for a proper place to put his music so it doesn't have to be lying on a bench or something, and then he practices a piece. Sometimes he plays one piece a million times (maybe not exactly a million times, but a lot of times), making adjustments to make sure it's absolutely perfect, and other times he will only run through a piece once and then move on to another, only to run through that piece once and then move to another.

Zesha is unpredictable when he practices the violin-there is never a set order of what sort of pieces he will practice first, last or inbetween. He could practice one piece, he could run through ten. He is unpredictable in that area, and Mirania long ago decided never to question that.

There are other things that she notices about him, like his lanky, slim figure or his whitish-ash-blond hair. He's pale for a boy his age, and he's always dressed in these flowy clothes that aren't like other boys (Mirania eventually learned that it was of a gothic style-no wonder all the other kids at school kept calling him a goth). He occasionally wears mascara if he has a good night's sleep, which is most of the time, though his eyes look like slits without the makeup, almost like a snake. His eyes are kinda creepy without the mascara, but at the same time Mirania finds them interesting.

She is aware that Zesha has a twin brother by the name of Zepha, who plays a cello and dresses similarly to Zesha. She has both of them in her biology class-and they're always sitting with each other, or if one of them is sick they're writing notes for each other. They sit with each other at lunch on the days Zesha isn't practicing. They might even practice violin and cello duets together and even though Mirania is no musician (she can read music, but she is no expert on the flute), she knows that they're playing with great intonation, with a beauteous harmony.

Mirania always wonders if Zesha has any friends. Out of kindness one day, she decides to sit closer to where Zesha is playing the violin, sitting on a nearby bench in the school courtyard and listening to him quietly while she reads a book, so that at least Zesha isn't alone, even if he doesn't notice her.

Much to her surprise, he does notice her.

"What are you doing here?"

Mirania looks up from her book to see Zesha, staring at her a bit. He isn't playing his violin-he holds the violin in one hand and the bow in the other, gazing at her quietly with some mixture of curiosity and surprise in his eyes.

"You're usually not sitting here," He gestures to the bench, "You usually sit-" He points at the picnic tables where other students are chatting and eating lunch. "There. You usually sit there among the masses."

Mirania pauses before speaking up. "Well, I just thought that you might be feeling lonely, just standing there and practicing violin all by yourself. I thought I would sit and listen. And keep you company."

Zesha blinks in surprise and stares at her.

"Thank you." He spoke awkwardly.

Silence followed his words. Mirania felt her face heat up slightly, before she tells him 'you're welcome' and buries her face into her book. Meanwhile, Zesha just picks up his violin and starts to practice again.

It's awkward. First conversations between people are usually awkward. Even more so with Zesha and Mirania.

Sitting near Zesha practicing at lunch has become the norm for Mirania. She can't quite focus on reading unless she has music playing, and listening to violin music especially helps her to study for tests and exams and quizzes. Sometimes she can't even sleep without music playing-this drives her family and friends crazy, but she doesn't really care.

She feels something for Zesha, more than friendship. She's not quite sure what it is, so she just takes it as a close friendship sort of thing.

Meanwhile, Zesha has thankfully gotten used to Mirania's company, and he enjoyed having her around. Things felt emptier when she wasn't there, and he was liking her company more and more. She was his only friend aside from his own brother, really, so it was kind of nice.

Didn't help the fact that he was just naturally awkward around other people, though. He would be the person unsure of what to say in a conversation, leading to awkward silences.

Thankfully, neither he or Mirania talk much so it works out well for the both of them to be just silent other than flipping book pages or playing a violin.

Word began to go around that Mirania and Zesha had a thing between them.

And of course those two would deny it. When they were together at lunch, though, with Mirania sitting and listening while reading as Zesha played his violin, everyone couldn't help but think that they looked cute together, no matter how strange they were individually.

It's soon close to Christmas holidays, and Zesha told her not to be late for lunch. He has something special for her, he says.

So, she walks up to him, sits down on the nearby bench (they're in the hallway because it's way too cold outside to play violin), and Zesha plays the violin for her. A private performance for her. It's nice and sweet of him, something special.

What surprises her afterwards is what he says.

"It's my gift for you. Did you...like it?"

Is he blushing? Mirania can't quite tell. She smiles at him reassuringly.

"I do like it, Zesha. Thank you for the performance..."

"I..." He blushed a bit. "I wrote the piece. For you."

Her eyes widen. She can feel herself blushing, too. "Oh."

The two awkwardly blush and stare at each other for what seemed like forever.

"Mirania," Zesha finally spoke up after forever, "I...I like you. A lot."

Mirania blushes, stepping closer. "I...I like you a lot, too."

"Like, more than friends?" He looks even more embarrassed.

Mirania can feel her face heating up even more, too. "Yeah."

This is probably the most they have ever spoken to each other in one conversation so far.

Zesha blushes, still holding his violin and looking up at her. "So..." He trailed off awkwardly. "We're a thing?"

Mirania nods and hesitantly kisses his cheek. "Yes."

Zesha grows still at when she kisses his cheek. He blinks in surprise, puts a hand to his cheek (said hand still holding the violin bow) as if wondering if the kiss was real.

Without anymore hesitation, he kisses her cheek in return.