Hello, minna-san!

I'm probably immersing myself into more writing-related troubles by doing this, but this story is something that's been playing at the recesses of my mind. I just had to write it.

I hope you enjoy this new story from me. :) Cheers!

Brighter Than Sunshine

It was a bright summer morning, and everything seemed to glow vivaciously under the lively morning sun. Its rays stretched out gently towards the surroundings, they, gladly basking in the light the sun gave off. The trees were much greener, the flowers more colourful, and the birds more cheerful. All things, at that moment, seemed more alive.

She was, however, more alive for a different reason.

Hino Kahoko ran frantically through the uphill slope leading to Seiso Gakuen, eyes heavily fixed on her wristwatch. It was 8:45 am, and her wristwatch showed no signs of stopping time. If anything else, the minute hand seemed to move even faster, as if to taunt her and her lateness. Soon, the watch read 8:46 am.

"Hnn! I'm late again," she screamed. "I shouldn't have stayed up late last night!" She was usually prompt in everything she did, and appearing on time was not an exception.

But of course, this red-head had been very human, and thus, also prone to sporadic outbursts of lateness. And when she did something, she did it at full blast. She increased her pace two-fold, determined on reaching the school before 9:00 am.

A few days back, she had received a call from their instructor during the concours, Kanazawa-sensei. He had sounded quite urgent on the phone, his voice taking on a rather grave tone.

The phone rang incessantly, its rather irritating edge echoing through the whole house.

It was only six in the morning, and it was very unusual for the Hino household to receive phone calls at such an hour. Kahoko scratched her head sleepily as she sauntered down the stairs. Her face had been scrunched up into a frown, her annoyance visible to anyone who might have seen her.

It was the only day she could spend alone in the house, and she had to wake up to this? How annoying.

"Heh, maybe Yunoki-sempai is rubbing off on me," she thought sleepily.

The phone still kept on ringing, and more urgently than it had done before. Part

of her wanted to ignore the phone call, but if the person on the other line was patient enough to have the phone ringing for the past two minutes, it meant that it must've been important.

"If this is a prank call, I swear, I'll give you a piece of my mind, jerk," Kahoko muttered under her breath.

She grudgingly grabbed the phone from its cradle and let an irritated "Hello" escape from her lips. She really wasn't much of a morning person. Well, at least not that day.

"Yo, Hino," the voice on the other line said. "You seem quite irritated. Did I disturb you?"

"Kanazawa-sensei?"

"You got it, kiddo," he said a little too cheerfully. "But forget that. There's something I have to tell you." His voice had developed a more serious tone, and Kahoko was all-ears.

"Come to the academy on Friday at 8:15 am at the music room. I can't exactly tell you why on the phone, but it's imperative that you're there," he said. "There's a very important matter that we have to discuss." Kahoko silently absorbed what her teacher told her. 8:15 am on Friday at the academy's music room.

"Sure, I can do that, but can't you really tell me why?" she said, quite confused.

A sigh escaped from Kanazawa's end. "Weren't you listening?"

"Well, I was, but I can't exactly go there without knowing why," she practically screamed on the phone.

"Calm down, kid. Look, just be there, okay? And no need to bring your violin," with that he ended the conversation. Kahoko just stared at the phone in her hands. She had to be there at 8:15 in the morning on Friday? Didn't he know it was summer?

She heaved a sigh from deep within her.

"I think I need some coffee."

She had been stressing about it for the past three days, and it only slipped her mind.

A little giggle escaped from her lips. "How ironic," she muttered. A few moments later, she found herself treading on familiar hallways.

She had only graduated recently, a few months back to be exact, but she realized that she had missed the academy so much. She had wanted to visit the academy after graduation, but she never imagined it would be that soon. She stopped in front of her empty second-year classroom and stared into it. Everything had started on her second year—the ruckus and magnanimity of the concours, the displacing heartache, the encompassing happiness, and most importantly, the wonderful friendships.

Her first year and, to some extent, her third year had all been a big blot of black ink compared to her second year. Looking back, her second year had changed most everything about her. She was no longer the plainest of Jane's. Sure, she was still a very ordinary girl, but now, she can say that she's truly experienced everything.

A musical pixie, after all, was not your typical acquaintance. Just then, a bright green light coalesced right in front of her. She smiled softly; fully aware of what was going to appear next. In a few moments, Lili was floating in front of her, the pixie's face adorned with a huge grin.

"Ohayou, Hino Kahoko," Lili said cheerfully. "It's been a long time."

She softly shook her head. "Of course not. It's only been a few months, Lili."

"Well, I guess you could say that, but still. It's nice to see you."

"It's nice seeing you again, Lili," she said, smiling. "You know, I can't thank you enough for everything that's happened to me. You're the reason my life has changed for the better."

The pixie grinned even more. "I just gave you a magical violin, Hino-san. The way you use it is entirely up to you. Everything that happened after I gave you that violin was entirely you."

"So, you're saying that the strings' breaking was entirely my fault?" she said, a tone of mock hurt lacing her voice. Lili sweated profusely.

"Ah…well, you see…that wasn't what I meant."

She giggled happily. "I know that. I was only kidding. I know that it really was my fault those strings snapped."

"By the way, what are you doing here? You can't be enrolled in summer classes can you? You've already graduated," Lili enquired.

She felt the ceiling crumble down upon her, and a big 'BAKA' plastered on her forehead. She dared not look at her watch, but her eyes weren't complying. At that moment, it was already 9:13 am.

"Kyaaa! I'm late," she creamed as she hurriedly ran out of the room. "I was supposed to be at the music room an hour ago." She stopped midway, and turned to face Lili. "See you again Lili. I'm sorry but I can't stay long."

Once again, she sprinted to the direction of the music room. Lili stared at her amusedly. The truth of the matter was she hasn't changed much. And that had been the most beautiful point of it all: that she stays the way she was.

"See you, Hino Kahoko. Take care."

Kahoko stood before the music room's door as she caught her breath. She was one hour late from the meeting time, and she knew how moody Kanazawa-sensei could be, especially when it came to time.

"Oh, he's going to kill me now," she said, fidgeting. "Okay, here goes."

She cautiously opened the door, her left arm guarding her face, in case some objects (she didn't dare think what, though) came flying her way. She had opened the door halfway through, and everything seemed to be quite calm. She looked around her, and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Kanazawa-sensei sitting, his back to her. "Okay, I'm going in," she whispered. She tiptoed into the room. "Slowly, quietly," she chanted under her breath.

"You're late, Hino," Kanazawa-sensei suddenly said, wheeling towards her. "You're ONE HOUR late."

She briskly bowed and apologized. "I stayed up late last night! I'm sorry! I tried to get here as fast as I could."

Kanazawa-sensei heaved out a sigh. "Oh, well, no matter. If you could, please sit down there," he said pointing towards the chairs in the front of the room.

The chairs didn't quite register to her, though. The only ones she saw were her friends. "You're all here," she said merrily, as she ambled to her seat. "It's so nice to see all of you!" She turned to her left and saw Shoko sitting quietly, smiling at her.

"Fuyuumi-chan! Long time no see," she said, crushing the girl into a big hug. Shoko hugged her back.

"It's nice to see you too, Kaho-sempai."

"Okay, enough of that," Kanazawa-sensei said, clearing his throat. "So, I called you over to discuss a very important matter."

Kanazawa stopped for effect, an all-knowing smirk plastered in his head. He had been rehearsing this day in his mind for the past three days, and knowing his students, they would 'follow' the script he had laid out in his mind. Deep within him, he had envisioned his students to suddenly bombard him with a myriad of questions.

Only, the room stood silent, and his students didn't bring out an onslaught of questions. Kazuki sat there, his chin propped up by his elbow. Azuma smiled at him, seemingly amused. Ryoutarou stared at him, one eyebrow raised as if to mock him. Len sported the same expression as Ryoutarou's, only his was more pompous. Keiichi ran a 15-hour 'napping' marathon in his true fashion. Kahoko blinked at him, her head cocked quizzically to the side. And Shoko watched her feet, twiddling her fingers in the process. He forgot—his 'kids' weren't kids anymore.

He heaved out another sigh. "These kids," he muttered under his breath. "It really is hard to be very teacher-like." He cleared his throat and continued from where he left off. "As I was saying, there's something important that I have to tell you.

"The academy will be sponsoring a music festival at the start of the school year, something that would welcome the students. And just like the concours, some students currently studying in the academy will be performing.

"You see, the academy's board of directors was very impressed by the competition and the concert you kids have put on the other year—how you were able to make everyone appreciate music. They said that it had been the best concours they have seen to date, and so—

"They've asked you to participate again during that festival. "And so, just as before, you have to attend a four-day, three-night training camp."

I'd like to know what you guys think. It's been so long since I last wrote something. :P

End Chapter 01