It was Saturday morning and Nodame woke up to the faint sound of Chiaki's piano playing, coming from the room next door.

My senpai play's so beautifully. She thought to herself.

On instinct, she rose from her bed, tiptoed through the lot of clutter in her room, and headed to the bathroom. As soon as she was dressed in clothes that she assumed were clean, she hurriedly left her apartment and excitedly knocked on Chiaki's front door.

Gyabo! I hope we're having pancakes for breakfast today. Nodame thought, as a mental image of hot pancakes with syrup and butter came to her mind. She suddenly caught herself drooling, and shook her head vigorously in order to bring herself back to reality.

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Inside the small apartment complex, Chiaki was sinking deeply into his music, when he heard an unbelievably loud, and irritating knock at his door.

Nodame…

Chiaki ceased his piano practice, and his eyebrows furrowed. He could feel a dark could, storm over his head, ready to drop his daily dose of Bad luck otherwise known as Nodame, Megumi.

Chiaki mentally cussed at himself for actually standing up to get the door, and thought about just not minding her, but soon convinced himself that he was only doing so for propriety's sake. Nothing more.

Hard, steady… angry… footsteps stopped as they reached the front door. Nodame stood on the other side, a wide grin plastered on her face, eager not just for the breakfast she was hoping to be sharing with her one and only Chiaki, but also for the wonderful music she wanted to hear from his playing.

Her huge smile soon faded as Chiaki slammed the door in her face, claiming that he wanted no disturbances as he practiced today. He wanted to deliver nothing but the best performance tomorrow night at their school's concerto, and practice was definitely needed to achieve his level of excellence.

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Yes, Nodame was sad …and lonely. She had planned on being with her senpai today, but apparently, that wouldn't happen, and she was now forced to be alone the whole day. Thinking that she had nothing better to do, The brown haired woman decided to just sit down at a park bench and let the time pass.

Nodame gazed up at the bright blue sky, and looked around at all the beautiful flowers and plants. They were all lovely, and she only wished that she could share all of it with her dear Chiaki-Senpai.

Senpai… She thought to herself. Sometimes, you concentrate too much on music.

later...

It was nearly sunset, and Nodame decided to head home. Whether Chiaki wanted her at his house for dinner or not, she didn't know, but it wasn't like she had anywhere else to go, so home was the best option. Until…

"Puppy! Mukya, how cute!!!!!!!" Nodame held up a small fluffy little puppy up in the air as it wagged it's tail around, a sign that he not only liked her, but also that he was having fun being raised high up in the air.

"I see you like my puppy, eh?" An old man said, looking happily at Nodame. "If you like, you may buy him. Or you can choose another; I have many in my shop." He said, as he pointed to a small pet store down the road.

"Ok!" She nodded responsively.

Nodame was led by the shop owner to his small pet store, and she soon found it difficult to decide which pet she wanted to get. It was only a little while ago that she was sure she wanted a puppy, but after seeing all the animals, she wasn't so sure anymore. They were all cute, and quite honestly, she wanted to take all of them home for herself!

For myself? She mentally questioned herself. And all of a sudden, the best idea came to her mind. "Senpai!" She shouted out loud, smiling.

"Eh?" The bewildered shop owner, confused by Nodame's sudden outburst, scratched the back of his head.

"I'll take this one!" She said, handing the man a handful of cash and pointing to what she wanted.

Senpai's going to be so happy! Nodame cheered at herself for being so brilliant.

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Nodame entered into what seemed to be a mental debate over whether or nor she should try giving her surprise to Chiaki already. Would she be disturbing him as she did a while ago? Would he be fine having her come in? Was he too tired for guests?

"…"

"hmm…"

"Senpaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai!!!!!!!!!!" Nodame knocked profusely at his door, awakening the man sleeping at his piano.

At the other side of the door, a startled Chiaki fell off his piano chair, almost falling head first to the floor. Thank goodness he stuck his arm out to break the fall.

"Nodame…" He said, as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

He rushed to the door, not for propriety's sake this time, but for the sole purpose of scolding the woman who called herself his girlfriend. However, much to his surprise, Chiaki did not find Nodame standing by his door. Instead, he found a box with a ribbon tied to it.

He was confused, but curious enough to take the box into his apartment and …examine it.

"What is that woman up to?" he said as he untied the ribbon.

As the ribbon fell off, out came-or jumped, rather- a small white rabbit.

"WHAT?" He said, angry and confused at the same time, as he began pulling his own hair with his hands.

The rabbit jumped around and landed on a small pink note… which had Nodame's handwriting on it.

Chiaki twitched an eye as he picked up the paper on the floor. It read:

Dear Shinishi-kun,

SURPRISE! This rabbit's for you! I thought about getting you a cat or dog, but this one's much cheaper. Senpai, you think too much about music. It's the only thing on your mind, and I'm scared. I'm scared it might take over your whole life. …So I got you a pet! Her name's marshmallow! I named her for you.

Pets make great companions and she'll help you appreciate the many other things in life.

Love,

Nodame

P.s. Can we have Chinese for dinner tomorrow?

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!" Chiaki's jaw dropped.

There are so many things wrong with this… letter.

a) Since when did she start using first names????

b) Surprise indeed, I almost got a heart attack when that thing jumped out of the box!

c) A rabbit… just because it's cheaper??? How on earth am I going to find time to take care of it?

d) I do NOT just think about music!

e) Marshmallow? Chinese? What?

"My head hurts…"

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In the other apartment, Nodame lay on her bed as she heard Chiaki's scream.

I knew he'd love it! She thought, as she smiled, and closed her eyes.

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The next day…

Nodame decided to take a nice long walk, and enjoy the world around her. To her surprise, she saw non other than Shinichi Chiaki, and he was walking out of a pet store, with another rabbit!

I knew my plan would work!

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It was a month after Nodame gave Chiaki his first pet rabbit. Chiaki was actually doing very well with a pet rabbit, which made Nodame smile as she thought about it.

The ever so happy woman headed home after a long day at school, only to find a small note on her door.

Nodame,

You think I don't think about anything other than music? Well, I think you NEVER think about music. Go inside and you will find some music notes that will help remind you to take music seriously.

Out of pure excitement, Nodame didn't even read the last part of the note and headed in to her apartment.

The sight shocked her. Inside her room were seven baby rabbits bouncing around. The surprised woman checked each rabbit, all of which had a ribbon on. And on the back of the ribbon, there was something written.

"Do… Re… Mi… Fa… Sol… la… ti… "

Gyabo! That's what he meant by music notes!