Disclaimer: I do not own La Corda d'Oro and its characters.

Beta Reader: ThinE

Comment:

This is originally made for a contest in a Livejournal Community and won the first place. The prompt is Holidays, and the sub-prompts are Warmth and Snow. For my voters, I thank you with all my heart :3

Now please enjoy this one-shot ^^


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Promise
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Seeing the snowflakes falling endlessly through the window had invited a bitter smile to form across my lips. I took my coat and shawl, walked towards the front door, not forgetting to wear my coral blue gloves. No matter what I was doing, I still had to protect my hands from having frostbites. It was mid-December after all.

December.

It should be the busiest month for all musicians, holding Christmas concerts all around the world, or simply taking part in festivals and charities. Of course it really wasn't an exception for me. All of my schedule had been fully arranged not only for this month, but also for the next four months. However, no matter how busy I was supposed to be, taking one or two days break had become my new usual routine in these past three years.

The coldness of winter breeze greeted me, forcing my cheeks to change colours into faint shades of red, as my feet stepped on the greyish road outside of my house. Bulges of snow scattered in some corners of the street, while sometimes my feet almost broke the frozen puddles – which were formed from last night's rain. If I was careless, needless to say, I might suffer the same pain as my acquaintance three years ago.

"You and your clumsiness, Hino."

The girl before me pouted as she rubbed her sore back. Her face was of almost the same colour as her hair – cherry red, although her lips seemed to be more into Sakura colour rather than cherry.

"Well, thank you for your kindness, Tsukimori-kun!" she accepted my hand, standing a little bit too fast as her lips made a pout. "It's not my fault that there are so many slippery frozen puddles, mind you. I'm just a victim of yesterday's rain!"

"Reasoning with a lame excuse?" I raised one of my brows as I pulled my hand from her grip. Her hand was warm, or should I say warmer than my icy hands, albeit she wasn't wearing any gloves on this freezing day. Well, neither of us wore our gloves though. She dragged me out of nowhere, not even giving me the time to grab my gloves after all.

After saving my hands into my coat's pocket to get more warmth, I sighed tiredly.

"And it was completely not the frozen puddles' fault... You just should be more careful. What if you broke your hand? You wouldn't be able to play violin again."

Her eyes narrowed upon hearing my words, which made me a little bit uneasy, before her lips gradually curved into a smile. "You're still the old Tsukimori-kun I know."

I stared at her wordlessly, then sighed.

Two years ago we parted at the airport, as all of my concourse fellows – including her – bid me their goodbye. I was fully prepared not to meet them again, at least not in the near time, as I told her to keep playing her violin if she wanted to meet me someday. But now, she stood in front of me, dragging me anywhere she thought was necessary and fun in this so-called Christmas holiday.

"I'm bothering you, aren't I?"

I sighed once again. Her smile now changed into a weird expression, as if she was declaring to the world that she was the biggest burden to me, which successfully made me shake my head in defeat.

"I have an important Christmas concert. It is not a big one, only in my college's festival, but still..."

"You need to practice hard, I know," she smiled knowingly, intertwining her fingers behind her petite back. "I'm sorry for coming without telling you anything. I just... wanted to visit you."

Words were wiped away by the wind, as we stepped along the Oak Trees – which were freezing without leaves – on each side of the path. Silence was overwhelming us, none of us dared to speak; one from being afraid of burdening the other, and one from being speechless for having no words in his brain. Yes, that wordless person was me.

"...Why?"

As I finally found my speaking ability back, she lifted her face to see me, finding my eyes with her hopes-filled orbs.

"Hino, you spend all of your saving, don't you?"

She kept on staring at me, then laughed softly, lowering her head to face the road beneath her off-white boots.

"Yeah, I did. All just to meet you, you know?"

"...You don't have to."

I silently regretted my own line, afraid that I had hurt her feelings. Her face was still hidden under her bangs, and it was so pitiful of me, to have such a high pride which prevented me from lowering my head to see her expression.

"Yeah, I know!" she cheerfully raised her head up, smiling as if I had said nothing to hurt her. "But Tsukimori-kun, If I didn't come, you would never have any holidays this year, would you? It's bad you know,... besides, it is a pity if you don't enjoy this breath-taking view!"

She spread her hands out to her left and right, stepping backward as she led me to see the panorama behind her shoulders. Beyond the trains of Oak Trees, a frozen lake was extended along the horizon. A faint seven colours of rainbow reflected on its surface, the result of the yellowish sun rays right above it.

It was indeed, breath-taking, to the point that I really didn't remember to breathe. Only the difference was...

"It is beautiful, isn't it, Tsukimori-kun?" she merrily smiled widely, letting her cheeks change their colours into golden as the sun touched her flawless skin.

"Yes, it is," a vague smile engraved on my lips.

The difference was, my eyes were captured by her beauty rather than the lake...

A smile decorated my face as soon as I finished remembering the nostalgic moments. Three years ago, she came out of nowhere to Vienna, based only on a small information from Kanazawa-sensei. To think that there was such a huge courage inside her small figure, I was quite impressed. She said that she came all the way from Japan, just to teach me about holiday. Not that I really believed her excuse, but... It was undeniable that I actually fell into it.

I trailed my gaze to the view on my right, discovering a panorama which reminded me so much about that day. The rows of Oak Trees were replaced by flowerless Cherry Trees. The frozen lake was replaced by a small pond, while the yellowish sunshine was replaced by the reddish-orange sunset rays. It was almost entirely different, but... it felt the same. The coldness, the December, and the scent of winter…

I continued my journey, tightening the knot on my shawl. White smokes came out from my mouth whilst occasionally snow beads landed on the tip of my nose, only to melt right away and leave a trace of wetness.

I was almost there. I put my hands on my coat's pockets, getting ready to meet her. I couldn't meet her very often, but I know, even in the future, I would always take holidays to visit her.

"Yes, Hino?"

I wasn't supposed to answer her phone call as I was in the middle of an important practice. And yet, my conscience said otherwise.

"Tsukimori-kun! I'm on the plane," her voice sounded rather too cheerful.

"Hino! Don't you know that you should turn your mobile off while on the plane?"

"I know, take it easy," she laughed carelessly, to my dismay. "I only want to... hear your voice."

I quirked my eyebrows, feeling a little bit annoyed to the fact that she called me only for a silly reason.

"Now you've heard me, turn your phone off, Hino."

"But I—"

Strange noises came up, causing me to fail on listening her words. Closing my eyes, I sighed, hoping that I could at least convince her to obey the rule on the plane.

"Hino, I think you have signal disturbance… See? You shouldn't call me on the plane."

"You don't have to be that strict, Tsukimori-kun!" she laughed again, but now, it sounded a little bit more lifeless.

"Ehm, Tsukimori-kun..."

"Hn?"

"If you have holidays, will you come to see me?"

I walked to the window, avoiding the other orchestra members spread around the hall, since it was already hard to hear Hino's voice without the addition of music. It was somewhat noisy in the other line.

Closing my eyes, I thought about her question for a while before answering just to make everything quick.

"Yes, I will."

"Promise...?"

I opened my eyes, sending my gaze outside the window to see the view of the reddish sunset between the buildings. It brought my mind to the golden cheeks Hino had, showered by the sun rays yesterday afternoon.

"Yes... I promise."

A moment passed without a word from her. The noise in the other line became clearer and clearer, making me cover my other ear to focus on Hino's voice.

"Hino, are you alright?"

"Yeah... I am."

Her voice shook, I could even guess that she was... crying?

"Hino, what happened? Why are you—"

"Tsukimori-kun!" she cut my words, claming me up from saying another word.

"Please listen to me..."

I took a while to listen to her closely, noticing her barely audible sobs.

"...Go on."

"Tsukimori-kun, the reason I came to see you is..."

More noises broke her words, resulting me to press my mobile even more to my ear.

"Yes, Hino?"

"The... truth is... I've... al...ways... been... in lov—"

A sudden explosion burst out. And a moment after, Hino's voice was completely wiped out from my hearing, leaving only broken sounds coming from my mobile's speaker.

I was frozen, opening my mouth to search for a reason. But no matter how many times I called her name, from a composed tone of voice to almost a scream, never did the answer come to my ear. And that was when something began to hit my consciousness, telling me of what had truly happened to her....

I stood firmly on the ground, right before the cold gray stone with Hino's name on its surface.

"Long time no see, Hino," I spoke up almost in a whisper, softening my gaze. "I know you could already guess that today's my holiday again. I come to visit you."

In the last three years, I fulfilled my promise to her. I took some days off every once in a while, and always made sure to visit her in Japan. To her grave...

"Christmas is coming, I will perform in London this year," I knelt down in front of her gravestone, wiping away the snow from it. The wind tousled my hair; cold, yet warm at the same time. Warm because for me... it was just like her embrace...

"Hino."

I stared for a quite long time at the craving on her gravestones. Numerous times I found it difficult to face the reality. That she was gone. That she had become this uninteresting gray-coloured stone, and that I could not find one of her happy smiles anymore. But it was true. This stone was Hino. It wasn't her. But it was her all the same...

"Three years ago... What did you want to tell me?"

The only answer I got was the rustle sound of the winter wind, blowing my scarf and pushing some of my blue strands away from my forehead. My mind then wandered as her unfinished words resounded within my head.

"The... truth is... I've... al...ways... been... in lov—"

I bit my lower lip, shaking my head a little to erase the bitterness which was slowly crawling inside my heart.

Not that I didn't understand what she wanted to say. In fact, I did. It was... obvious. But...

I shifted my gaze upward, facing the high dark blue sky, signing that it soon would be dusk. I spent my time to see the sky, ignoring that my kneeling position had slowly made my legs numb. When I was finally ready to face the grave again, a bead of tear peeked from the corner of my eye, accompanied by a faint smile nonetheless.

"Hino," I stroked her gravestone gently, trailing my finger to follow the craving of her name.

Hino Kahoko. Nineteen years old. Such a young age to die...

"...Thank you."

I once thought... that holidays were unnecessary. Even since I was in school, never once I felt grateful to take holidays, practices had been my entire life. My entire being. Until you forced me to promise you.

Never had there been a day in these three years, when I felt a burden to visit you. Never. Perhaps you didn't think of my promise seriously at that time, and neither did I. But now, I was truly grateful of it. I didn't leave my violin completely in my holidays, but every time I spared my time to visit you like this, I enjoyed it very much. It helped me pass through my rough days.

I remembered those moments, I savoured every bite of our memories. Not for making myself to always fall into grief. But to find the joy I could only get in these visiting plans of mine. I treasured my memories of you, to continue live on my chosen path... And I was thankful of it.

Having my last one stroke of her gravestone for today, I slowly turned to my feet. I smiled at the sight of the almost dark cemetery. As my eyes then left her resting place, I walked out from the graveyard with a contented expression drawn on my face.

Three years ago, two years ago, last year, today, next year, two more years, or even fifty more years from now on,... I would always fulfil my promise. As long as I still could stand on my feet and breathe the scent of wind....

I would always come for you.

"Ehm, Tsukimori-kun..."

"Hn?"

"If you have holidays, will you come to see me?"

"Yes, I will."

"Promise...?"

"Yes... I promise."

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*~Fin~*
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A/N: I was inspired by an old Japanese dorama I watched about 3 or 4 years ago. The story wasn't like this, it was completely different (about a blind man and a doctor), but there was a scene, when the leading male asked the leading female:

"If your boyfriend suddenly calls you, and tells you that he's on a plane which is about to crash, what do you want him to hear for the last time?"

If it is me, before I could think of something I should say to him, the time would run out and BOOM! Time's out.

It was a deep question which could be engraved in my head until now. But if it is me, if I am in her boyfriend's shoes, I would know what I want to hear and say for the last time. Which is why I made this story.

And yes, when Hino called Len, she was already given the announcement about the danger. That was why she called him, only to hear what she wanted to hear from him, and to say what she wanted to say to him for the last time. :)

And so, what about you? What do you want to say? And what do you want to hear if you're in their positions? ^^

I'll be waiting for your reviews ;D