Welcome to our second joint project!

No, we aren't dropping Mission: Get Kahoko! But this is an idea that came to us quite a long time ago, we've discussed it numerous times and thoroughly, and it simply had to be written down.

Wondering why it's rated M? Because it will be HOT. Follow our ten bishies in their mature adventures, each with their distinctive skills and characters. Each chapter will feature one guy, and there will be no pairing, as YOU are supposed to be experiencing it with them. Yes, YOU. Release your wild imagination and feel every word within you. We assure you that after this, you won't be able to see them the same way again. At least, that's what happened to us already ;)

For now, enjoy the prologue =)

Disclaimer: We don't own La Corda d'Oro. We can only wish ^^

Betareading was done by ourselves =)

Shimizu Keiichi

I stroked the last note of the piece on my cello with contentment and satisfaction. With my eyes still closed, I savored the enjoyment of playing while pouring my feelings for my audience. Or rather, the only person watching me play, the girl who'd succeeded in opening my inexperienced and young heart. Nobody had ever done it to me before. Or rather, I'd never bothered to look around if somebody cared.

Now that I'd fallen, my eyes were wide open to my surroundings, and I could see how much more wonderful life was. How beautiful she was. How important and special she made me feel. I'd never felt quite like this.

I heard a pair of hands clapping furiously. I opened my eyes and saw the eighth world wonder standing before me. Her hands were clapping in front of her chest. Her face radiantly glowed with amazement. And her lips were curved into a sweet-sweet smile.

And her eyes were... wet?

"That was breathtakingly beautiful, Keiichi!" she gasped. A lone tear strolled down her marble-like cheek.

My heart twitched. I was raised with the principles to never make a girl cry. And now, a girl was crying right in front of me. How would I not feel sad?

I stood up, leaned my cello and bow on the chair I was sitting on, and then walked towards her. Once standing before her, I raised my hand to wipe away the tear on her cheek.

She grabbed my hand and let it nestle on her cheek.

"Thank you Keiichi. That was the best birthday gift I could ever ask for," she barely said above a whisper, with a beautiful smile curved on her lips.

My heart went from twitching to swelling with pride. Yes, today was her birthday, and I had written a solo cello piece to dedicate it to her, which took me many sleepless nights to finish. But now, knowing that she appreciated it, made me think it was worth the effort.

I stroked her cheek, then leaned forward until my face and hers were only few centimeters apart.

"Happy birthday," I whispered slowly.

Her eyes glowed with happiness. And instead of answering, she leaned closer to me until her lips locked with mine.

Kaji Aoi

"Open your mouth, aaa…."

"Aaaaa…." The little boy echoed while keeping his mouth open.

"Good boy, you'll be alright soon," I smiled, ruffling his hair when the examination process had finished. The brown-haired boy, who was around eight years old, closed his mouth and nodded upon hearing my words.

I took a pen from the desk behind me and began to write the necessary medicine to cure the boy from his light cold. His temperature was normal, and he only needed a little rest to recover from his sneezing. Actually, taking a light medicine from the drugstore and sleeping were enough to get him better.

Well, honestly, sometimes I wondered why my patients' mothers really needed to bring their children here and paid quite amount of money to get them cured from light cold or a little headache. Sometimes, even from a small wound – which could be cured by just applying a bandage.

"I've told mommy that I only need to rest in my bed, but she insisted to bring me here, Dr. Kaji," the cute little boy blurted out naively.

"Oh, hahaha, please, I was only worried about his health," the young mother briefly cut in, covering his son's mouth with her palm. Said child struggled to be free with his protesting look plastered on his face.

"It's good to put attention to your son," I chuckled while handing the prescription. "But looks like he's strong enough to handle his sickness."

"Of course, Dr. Kaji! I'm a man!" the boy shouted, standing up from the chair out of the blue and showing his muscle – a little muscle which was barely seen from his tiny arm. Very cute, that I couldn't help but laugh.

"Well then, you may take the medicine outside," I shifted my gaze towards the mother, who was caught up busily piercing her eyes on me. She blinked her eyes in surprise, then stood up before bowing and preparing to leave. Her face was somewhat disappointed, but I really had no idea what else I should do for her. I had finished the examination and everything necessary, so it was her time to leave the room and made the payment outside.

After thanking me, she led her son out of the room, still stealing glances towards me. Finally hearing the sound of the closing door, I erased my smile from my lips, then let out a huff while stretching my stiff muscles.

Ever since I succeeded to open my own clinic – a paediatric clinic to be exact – I only handled light cases such as common cold, headache and wounds, just like I had mentioned before. Not that I wanted those innocent children to suffer bad diseases, but if you thought from my position, you might understand what I felt. It seemed like I was being teased by those patients' mothers – if not being flirted – and it quite hurt me. After all, I wanted to be a real doctor by practising in this small village's little clinic, before taking care of my parents' hospital.

Suddenly I was snapped out from my reverie when a knock from the door startled me. Soon, the door opened and the figure of a beautiful woman came to my eyes. She smiled bashfully, and then went in before closing the door again without turning her back on me.

"How's your work?" she inquired while slowly making her way to stop and sit before me that made our knees caress each other.

"Like usual," I smiled, observing the enthralling view in front of me. My fiancée had grown to be a beautiful woman indeed, I knew it because we had known each other for quite a long time before deciding to take a further step, getting married next month.

"So those young mothers are still chasing you," she pouted, shifting her gaze to the floor to avoid my eyes.

"Jealous?" I cupped her cheeks with my palms, then closed my distance to her face. "You know that I only love you."

"But…" Her face flushed bright red, taking my hands awkwardly with his petite hands, slowly gazing at my eyes.

"Don't believe me?" I pressed my forehead to hers, gaining her curious look from thinking about what I would do.

"Then let me prove it to you…"

Etou Kiriya

"Aaahh… I'm fed up!" I grunted loudly while leaning to the back of my chair and stretching my arms as high as I could.

I was finishing a group project about International Law due for next Monday. I'd been enrolled in the Faculty of Law for two years now after graduating from Seisou. Actually, at the beginning, I wanted to continue with music, but after thinking it over, Law was a better option.

"Etou, I think it's enough for today. We're nearly finished anyway," one of my project partners said while closing his books. "Let's continue tomorrow."

With that, he and the other guy in the group – we were a group of four, three guys and a girl – stuffed their belongings in their bags and prepared for leaving the study room.

I turned my head to the girl sitting across the table. She was still writing with her bangs half-hiding my view to her face, which I found a pity, since I thought that she was the most attractive girl in my year. Sure, The Faculty of Law was full of attractive girls, but for me, she was the most worth checking on.

"Aren't you leaving, too?" I asked her while putting my hands behind my head.

She raised her head to meet each of our gazes and answered with a smile. "You guys can leave first. I want to finish this part today."

Yeah, apart from being beautiful, she was smart and diligent, too. And I thought that was very sexy.

"I'll keep you company, then," I said.

With that, the other guys left us in the room. In order to busy my mind and eyes instead of ogling at the beautiful sight in front of me, I grabbed a textbook and started reading. But after a moment, I realized I was reading the same paragraph over and over again. Seemed like my head was too full already.

"Etou-kun, I'm finished. Want to grab a bite first?" she asked.

I smirked at her invitation. This was a rare chance, I thought. "Sure," I answered with a casual shrug.

We then walked out of the room with our bags and passed through the silent corridors. It was getting dark and almost nobody was still in the campus building.

"Hey, you can see the sunset perfectly from here!" she suddenly exclaimed, then ran inside one of the empty and darkened classrooms.

I followed her inside. She stood by the window in awe. With reddish sun-rays lighting her face, she looked simply breathtaking.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked with a smile while looking at me.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, beautiful," I answered, and was damn sure we weren't referring to the same object.

Ousaki Shinobu

There was a girl, a sweet looking girl, who happened to be my kouhai. Her eyes mesmerized me, while her beauty made me fantasize about her all the time. Her voice whenever she called my name, could send shivers down my spine, and there was a tingling sensation every time I approached her. Thus, I knew that... I've fallen in love with her.

Sighing, I took my violin and placed it on my shoulder, preparing myself to play a piece.

I realized that my music had been changing lately. I used to play slow and romantic pieces, and actually, I still liked them. But every time I started to play them, my mind would be drifted to her. I couldn't forgive my irresponsible mind. I should not think about her, especially because we weren't in any relationships. It was just my one-sided love after all. That was why I changed my music into more energetic ones, whilst trying to avoid any pieces that could make me feel mellow.

I began stroking my instrument, and the first melody of Vivaldi's Summer started to echo throughout the entire practice room. Then the piece became faster and faster, making my hand swing almost ragingly. I had trained my violin skills for years and I had mastered how to keep my mind focused to the music. But looked like even when I chose a dynamic piece, the image of a girl couldn't stop flying in my psyche.

Am I that desperate?

Suddenly a loud bang could be heard, resulting me to jump and widen my eyes in surprise. As expected, my hand stopped to swing and now everything became silent as my eyes caught the outline of a girl. A familiar girl was now panting in the doorway.

"Ousaki-senpai!" the girl burst out as she let out a relieving sigh. Even her voice sounded melodious. It was, without a doubt, her...

I alarmingly set up my mind, afraid of being caught in the act when I was thinking of her. But, I wasn't that obvious, right? I heard music could reflect a person's emotions, but could it be she knew about my feelings? No, it wasn't possible…

"Hi... What are you doing at this hour? And running around like that?" I smiled, trying hard to cover my heart's beats, touching my glasses to fix its place on the bridge of my nose.

"Thank God, there's light! And there's you in here!" the girl jumped and pressed her body onto mine so suddenly, sending me to be halted while something soft was touching my chest….

So, I am that desperate…, I thought as I tried to get my mind to stop thinking unnecessary things and waved my hands violently beside my body, lost at words…

Kanazawa Hiroto

The applause in the opera hall resounded around me. I could still feel the echo of my own voice lingering in the air, mixed with voices from the audience who were not only clapping, but also yelling.

I opened my eyes, gazed to the direction of the spectators though blinded by the extreme lightning of the stage. I saw figures giving standing ovation, and my heart skipped a beat. I felt satisfaction, pride and relief washing through me.

I'd moved on. I was back to where I belonged: the opera stage.

***

"Congratulations, Kanazawa-san. That was a great comeback!"

"Your voice was fantastic!"

Such compliments were heard during the after-party. Important people of the city had come to watch the opera. I was glad I didn't disappoint them.

Two years ago, I'd come to the decision to return to singing. Seeing my former students doing their best and overcoming their fears and obstacles in music made me realize that I also had to move on. So I decided to resign as a teacher, turned into a healthier way of life and went to my former voice coach and begged him to take me under his wing again.

"Kanazawa-san?" I heard a soft voice calling beside me, snapping me back to reality.

I turned my head, and saw the lead female singer who did a duet with me at the end of the act. A beautiful and self-confident lady. She was wearing a black ball-gown from a flowing fabric that wrapped her figure perfectly.

A curious wave flew through my body and I had to shake it off immediately. I'd laid my eyes on this woman since we were introduced as fellow cast of the play.

I cleared my throat. "Yes?"

"That was a great performance. I'm really looking forward to working with you again," she said with a smile.

"You weren't that bad yourself," I answered with a chuckle, followed by a light talk, before resuming our rounds.

Towards the end of the celebration, I figured I had to start packing my things in the dressing room behind the stage. I excused myself and headed towards the backside of the building to the lift leading to the dressing rooms in the basement, four stories down.

When the lift came into my view, I saw that woman again. She seemed to be waiting for the lift to come, too. She turned her body when she heard my steps, and showed a smile when she saw it was me.

"Going to the dressing room, too, Kanazawa-san?" she greeted me.

"You, too?" I asked instead, and she nodded, still smiling.

We went silent afterwards, somehow awkward and tense, although I could feel some sparks of attraction building between us.

The lift opened not long after.

"After you, Milady," I said with a tone that sounded surprisingly raw to my own ears.

Kira Akihiko

"This is today's schedule, Kira-rijichou."

I rolled my eyes to where she put the paper, then back to focus on my work. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Kira-rijichou. Ah, actually I want to have a talk with you if you don't mind..."

I glanced up to see the girl before my desk, a little distracted from my job. Said girl was smiling timidly, as something called nervousness could be seen in her eyes. Probably she was scared that I would decline her request.

Putting my pen and papers, I leaned my back to the big black chair to get more access on observing her. I could see that the office door had been closed, leaving only the two of us – my secretary and me – in this room. The students had started their classes and I could hear hazy sounds of music from the music department building.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Her eyes widened in excitement, while her lips curved into a wide smile. She quickly yelled enthusiastically, showing her young spirit. "I want to ask for permission. I want to go to an onsen with my friend, so I can't come to work this Friday and Saturday."

I sighed. So it was about that again.

"You were dumped again," I stated indifferently, starting to take my pen and papers back. It was time for work.

"Kira-rijichou! How, how do you kno-"

"This is the fifth time you ask for my permission for your 'Recover from a Broken Heart Journey'."

Hearing my answer, she suddenly clammed up, and I could see from the corner of my eyes that her face was now covered by a deep dark red colour.

"You're not good with boys, it seems. You're wasting that young look you have," I commented as my hand signed a couple of papers. She was young indeed, in fact, she used to be one of the students in this Seisou Academy I led. She was quite pretty, but looked like her appearance didn't guarantee her romantic life. She got dumped five times already in only one year.

"This is not Kira-rijichou's business," she pouted.

"Of course it's my business. You're my worker and I'm not going to give you any more days off," I claimed without glancing to her.

"But-!"

"And I think you must tell me why those guys dumped you. I can't let you ruin your work more than this," I put my pen, sharply stared at her eyes to get a surprised blink from her.

"Do you mean, you want to help me...?" she frantically enquired, carefully taking a step nearer to my desk.

"No. I simply don't want you to interrupt our job any further."

She chuckled, and then sweetly asked, "And that means...?"

"Wait for me after work, we'll talk about this later," I calmly commanded, back to my work again. The girl before me widened her eyes once again, grinning widely and bowed.

"Thank you, Kira-rijichou!"

Hihara Kazuki

"Kazuki! Quick! Let's ride this next!" she shouted from almost five meters distance while waving eagerly to me.

And not even I, the ever-cheerful Hihara Kazuki, could beat her excitement in running around this amusement park this whole day. This side of hers I just discovered not long ago although I'd known her for several years.

I chuckled in reaction to her call, then ran towards her. We held hands and ran to our next destination.

After the ride, we sat on a bench while drinking and pushing down the adrenaline that had flown up to our heads during the ride.

I looked around the park. It wasn't too crowded since it was a normal weekday. But we had to come today since it was our first anniversary. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with her and in a place where we could just be ourselves and have fun. Just leave work behind for today. And apparently, it was working quite well. She looked really happy. I was, too.

"Ah! My balloon!" I heard a kid cry not far from us.

Before I could react, she had already jumped to her feet and jumped quite high to grab the cord tied to the balloon. In that instant, time seemed to have stopped for a moment. Her jumping figure with an arm stretched up grabbing the cord looked mesmerizing. She looked like a beautiful silhouette against the sun, that I had to narrow my eyes. Simply sparkling.

After giving the balloon back to the happy kid, gaining an innocent grateful smile, she returned to the bench and sat beside me again.

"Kazuki? What's wrong?" she asked concerned, touching my arm.

"Ah," I answered, perplexed. I didn't realize that I was still awestruck, looking to the direction of the sun where I saw her silhouette just a moment ago with slightly gaping mouth.

"Nothing," I added with a nervous grin, meeting her gaze. "I was just thinking how wonderful you looked just now."

"You're such a sweet-talker, Kazuki," she answered with a fresh laugh, and I laughed with her.

At that moment, a building caught my attention. "Hey, isn't that a mirror house?" I asked while pointing at it.

"I think so," she answered.

"Come on, let's go there now that not many people are queuing. I don't like being squashed between mirrors and people," I excitedly said, then grabbed her hand and headed towards the building without waiting for her answer.

Yunoki Azuma

I want her. That was what I always thought since a long time ago. That was the reason why I purposely opened my other side to her, scaring her. I teased her, I made fun of her, and I planted hatred in her heart, also in her mind. It hurt indeed, to be hated by the woman I loved. But I felt at ease and excited every time I thought that her mind was occupied by me, and only me. My real intention was to make her hate me after all.

My family was still the same, an orthodox traditional family with an evil grandmother as the ruler. I was forced to be betrothed to numerous girls since I was still in high school. And now, after five years struggling to be free, I was still as pathetic as before…

Yes, I couldn't deny my own blood, I couldn't let go of my responsibilities as the third son of the Yunoki family. And now here I was, standing side by side with a girl whose name I remembered only since last week. I even barely recognized her face when she came in to the ballroom with that thick make up.

Sending my gaze around, I found the woman who had captured my heart in the corner of the ballroom. I sipped my wine, ignoring my fiancée, who was busy fixing her own hair style. It was our engagement party, but my heart didn't belong to my fiancée. Since a long time ago until now, my eyes, my mind, my heart, my everything... were only dedicated to that beautiful girl in a light blue dress.

My friends were all invited because of the conditions I offered before agreeing to marry with my grandmother's choice. After all, I still wanted to see them, getting a little bit relieved to know that I still had friends. And that girl, whom my heart belonged to, was one of them.

It was alright for me to not be able in claiming her as mine. It was all alright… As long as she engraved my name, my face, my entire body in her heart. Although it meant that she loathed me very much.

Sighing, I carefully excused myself from my fiancée and the guests who were circling us. My fangirls were all crying, and that made me tired for comforting them. Hence, I began to walk out from the crowd and made my way to my girl. Yes, she was mine. Mine in my heart…

"Accompany me to the garden," I whispered when I was sure that no one could hear. All in all, her surprised face was the only consoling thing I could find in this entire torturing time.

"Sure… For the last time," she replied with another whisper, whilst her gaze refused to meet mine. And upon hearing her words, my heart ached miserably, knowing that it would be the last time indeed…

Tsuchiura Ryoutarou

The soft chopping sound pierced into my consciousness, making me wince from my peaceful state of slumber, calling me back from dreamland.

Half-awake, with eyes still closed, I reached out my hand to the opposite side of my bed, and what I touched was a cold sheet.

I shot my eyes open in realization. I turned my head to the side where my hand was searching, and saw that the other side of the bed was empty.

I jolted to a sitting position, trying to recollect and understand my condition. I looked downwards, and realized that the only fabric wrapping my body was the comforter. Then I looked around the bedroom and saw clothes scattered on the floor.

I smiled, recalling what had happened last night. It had been a month that I was going out with the girl of my dreams. And last night, it just happened. The first time we consumed our love together. In the end she stayed over when she actually just wanted to watch a DVD with me. But I didn't regret it. It was beautiful.

My ears registered the soft chopping sounds again. It must be her, I thought with an inwardly smile. So I got up and reached for a robe hanging behind the door and put it on. I opened the door and walked through the corridor while tying my robe.

The sounds got louder and clearer as I reached the kitchen. I poked my head and saw her standing beside the stove with her back to me. She was wearing the white shirt I wore last night, which looked totally oversized on her petite figure. The shirt almost reached her knees, and she folded the sleeves above her elbow.

Seeing her wearing my clothes and her hair tied into a ponytail, revealing her neck, not only warmed my heart, but also my body.

With a smile plastered on my face, I walked closer to her and put my arms around her waist from behind.

"Oh, God, Ryou, you startled me," she said in a surprised tone.

"Good morning, beautiful," I murmured to the side of her face, while kissing her cheek and ear softly.

"Good morning to you too, handsome," she replied with a giggle that promised something more delicious than breakfast.

Tsukimori Len

I growled in despair. This was my ninth attempt in playing this Devil's Trill piece for today, and yet my mind kept on failing to focus. To think about it now, it was all because of Tsuchiura's phone call yesterday evening.

The ninth screech in the middle of the piece made me sure to end my morning practice. There was no way I could succeed to perfect my playing if this kept on continuing.

My next concert was only less than a week away, and the last piece would be this Devil's Trill. I had completed the perfection for the other pieces: Schumann's Träumerei, Strauss' Violin Sonata in E Flat major Op. 18, Stravinsky's Violin Concerto 1st Movement, also Rossini's String Sonata No. 3. But again, thanks to that nosy pianist, I failed to practice my one last song.

"I met your girlfriend in the park this afternoon and she didn't seem satisfied with her relationship with you."

I greeted my teeth. So she wasn't satisfied with me? But why should she tell that annoying pianist? Beside, what was wrong with me? Why wasn't she satisfied?

"You are too cold, can't you become more human?"

I grunted whilst my mind still recalled what the green-haired said on the phone. We had never been friendly to each other, and it was a curse for me that my girlfriend was his best friend. Then he had the nerve to show up out of the blue, giving me a phone call and acting like an advisor in romance. I really didn't need his help. No, thank you.

I had my own principle. Relationships shouldn't be done by too many sweet words and physical affection. Our love to each other should be enough to strengthen the bond between us. Just like these violin strings, giving them the necessary treatments was enough to make them produce the sounds I wanted. Love was the same, I gave her the attention she needed, I protected her, I cared for her, and those were all supposedly enough to secure her feelings. And mine too.

I sighed, shaking my head as I put down my violin and bow to their places. I really couldn't understand girls' feelings. Perhaps I shouldn't have a girlfriend in the first place. That way I didn't have to be this distracted, and I could focus at my violin all the time without any disturbance.

Suddenly my mobile rang, jerking me back from my train of thoughts. Sighing, I picked up my mobile and closed my eyes in desperation as I read her name on the screen.

"What is it?" I answered without care. I was in a bad mood after all.

"Good morning, Len," the opposite of my expectation, her voice was very sweet, not indicating that she would blabber about her dissatisfaction towards me.

"Good morning…," I replied hesitantly.

"Hey, I'm just wondering if you could spare your time this weekend? Let's go to the beach together, okay?"

I frowned. She asked me if I could spare my time to go to the beach? Goodness, wasn't she aware that this was not the perfect time to play around? My concert would be held in less than a week!

"Listen, I have to practice so I can't go to-"

"Please, Len? Pretty please?" she cut my words, inviting me to tsk secretly.

"No is a no. I can accompany you to wherever you want later, but not until my concert has finished," I stated irritatingly. I hoped she could grow some understanding to me.

"But I ask you to go because I know that you need to rest! You haven't come out from your practice room for more than two weeks, and your body and soul need to rest. If you want your concert to be successful, that is."

I clammed up. So she knew? She knew that I only came out from this practice room to eat, take a shower, and sleep? Ah, but the meeting with the concert's sponsors and practising together with my accompanist should be considered as coming out from this practice room, right?

"No more refusals, Len," she warned me with her sweet tone, but strict all the same.

Upon hearing her words, Tsuchiura's saying about her dissatisfaction resounded in my mind. Thence, I sighed again for the thousandth time. I guess I really was in love with this girl.

"Alright, we'll go to the beach this weekend," I retorted shortly.

A/N: How did you like the prologue so far? Hope you enjoyed the promises shown in there and those guys made you happy ;)

However, how about making us happy as well by dropping a review? Consider it as a small xmas/end-of-year gift? =D

Last but not least, we wish you a joyful Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all =)