DISCLAIMER: Hibike! Euphonium and Hibike! Euphonium 2 are the property of Ayano Takeda and Kyoto Animation. The song "Make You Feel My Love," from which the title of this chapter was borrowed, was written by Bob Dylan. The author of this fan fiction does not profit, in any way, from this story. All creative rights to the characters and titles belong to their original creator(s).

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, well, my muse is definitely motivated to write this series.


Sound! Devotion

Make You Feel My Love

The next day, the entire school was buzzing with the events of the previous morning. By lunchtime, all the buzzing was getting to Natsuki. She found Yuuko and Mizore in their usual spot at lunch. She sat down next to Yuuko.

"I was wondering if you two wanted to leave early today?" Natsuki asked as she bit into her curry bread.

Yuuko leaned close to Natsuki and whispered in her ear, "I think that's a good idea. I don't think Mizore can handle too much more."

"Is anyone harassing you two?" Natsuki growled.

"No, no, nothing like that. All the whispering and hearing Nozomi's name has been upsetting Mizore," Yuuko whispered.

"Are we going to the hospital?" Mizore asked, hopeful.

"Her hearing is exceptional," Yuuko commented.

Natsuki leaned around Yuuko and directly answered Mizore, "Yes, and bring your oboe. We'll leave after the next class."

When the trio arrived at the hospital, they discovered Nozomi was in the Intensive Care Unit and could have just two visitors at a time.

Natsuki whispered in Yuuko's ear, "Take Mizore in and have her play her oboe."

"Why?" Yuuko asked.

"Nozomi has loved Mizore's oboe playing since they were children. You should see how her whole face lights up whenever she talks about Mizore's oboe playing. I think it might help. If the nurses give you any grief, tell them it will help Nozomi's recovery. If they still refuse…," Natsuki answered.

"I'll use our family influence," Yuuko finished Natsuki's sentence.

Natsuki nodded.

Yuuko took Mizore by the hand and started towards the Intensive Care Unit.

"Stay the full hour. I mean it," Natsuki ordered.

Natsuki sat in the waiting area and pulled out her mobile phone. A few minutes later, she heard the faint strains of Mizore's oboe. One hour later, Natsuki awoke to Yuuko's light shaking. The sleepy redhead rubbed her eyes and smiled at her friend.

"Your turn," Yuuko stated and sat down in the closest chair.

"How did it go?" Natsuki asked.

"It went well, but as you suspected, I had to use my family's influence for the oboe. I swear I saw Nozomi's eyelids flutter after Mizore began playing," Yuuko reported.

"I think Mizore's oboe is the one thing that will reach Nozomi," Natsuki smiled.

"I hope so because it hurts to see Mizore like this," Yuuko sadly admitted.

Natsuki quickly scanned the area, bent down, and kissed Yuuko on the cheek, "I know."

Before Yuuko could react to the kiss, Natsuki quickly headed towards Nozomi's room. As she neared the room, she heard faint crying. She peered in the window and saw Mizore softly crying in a chair next to Nozomi's bed. Natsuki slowly backed up and returned to the waiting area. She silently sat down next to Yuuko.

"That was fast," Yuuko teased.

"Mizore…," Natsuki began and roughly wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

Yuuko placed her hand on Natsuki's shoulder. The redhead turned and stared into understanding light green eyes. Natsuki nodded and pulled out her mobile phone.

After an hour, Natsuki went in and checked on Mizore. She found the petite girl fast asleep next to Nozomi in bed.

"I wonder how she managed that?" Natsuki silently wondered and returned to the waiting area.

"Mizore is asleep next to Nozomi," Natsuki reported to Yuuko.

"Good, she needs to sleep. She spent all last night staring at Nozomi's picture. I was surprised she made it to school today," Yuuko stated and once Natsuki's words sunk in, she wondered, "I wonder how she managed that?"

"Why don't we go have lunch in the hospital cafeteria?" Natsuki suggested.

"Sounds good," Yuuko stood and walked with Natsuki.

After lunch, Yuuko stopped at the admitting desk, arranged a meal tray for Mizore, and then went to check on her friend. When she heard Mizore's oboe, she stopped and returned to the waiting area.

"She's playing for Nozomi," Yuuko sat down next to Natsuki.

"Good," Natsuki said as she intently stared at her mobile phone.

"What's going on?" Yuuko peered at Natsuki's mobile phone screen.

"The Kasaki clan found the scumbag who stabbed Nozomi," Natsuki answered.

"Are they going to let the authorities handle it?" Yuuko asked.

Natsuki flipped through all the LINE messages and mumbled, "It doesn't look like it."

Yuuko silently stared at her hands as she remembered how the Nakagawa clan meted out justice on the man who attempted to kidnap her from her elementary school.

That day, she was walking back to her classroom from the bathroom. She spotted the well-dressed man standing in the hallway near her classroom and assumed he was part of the school administration. When she passed in front of him, he immediately covered her mouth and picked her up. After the initial shock wore off, she remembered what Natsuki taught her. She began kicking and squirming, making it difficult for the man to keep a firm grip on her. When he swayed near the hanging metal bulletin board, she kicked it as hard as she could. She prayed Natsuki could feel something was wrong and come rescue her. When the man turned the last corner to the front entrance, he doubled over and dropped Yuuko.

"I don't think so," Natsuki growled.

The man rolled himself into a tight ball as he cowered from the serious beating Natsuki delivered. She pulled out the zip ties she kept in her pocket. The angry redhead delivered a devastating blow to the side of the man's rib cage before binding his feet and hands.

Once she secured the man, she immediately went to check on Yuuko, who was sitting on the floor with her knees against her chest.

"Are you okay?" Natsuki asked.

Yuuko looked up at Natsuki with tear stained cheeks and shook her head. The worried redhead wrapped her arms around Yuuko.

"You're safe now," Natsuki whispered in Yuuko's ear.

Yuuko shook and sobbed in Natsuki's arms. After several minutes, the principal exited his office.

"What?" he exclaimed.

Natsuki released Yuuko and stormed over to the principal, "WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THAT SCUM WAS TRYING TO KIDNAP YUUKO?"

"K…k…kid..kidnap?" the principal stammered.

"Yeah! He almost made it out the door with her!" Natsuki yelled.

"You did this?" the principal asked, incredulous.

Natsuki jutted out her chin and proudly stated, "I am Natsuki Nakagawa of the Nakagawa clan!"

The redhead turned and ran back to Yuuko.

One day a few years later, while Yuuko and Natsuki were having lunch in their favorite spot on the Minami Middle School campus, unexpectedly, Yuuko wondered, "I wonder how many years that man spent in prison?"

Natsuki turned and looked at her, "What man?"

"The man who tried to kidnap me," Yuuko answered.

Natsuki's curry bread suddenly became extremely interesting.

"Natsuki?" Yuuko asked.

Natsuki concentrated on eating her curry bread as she internally debated whether to disobey her father and tell Yuuko the truth.

"Natsuki, no curry bread is that interesting," Yuuko yelled.

Natsuki remained stoically silent.

"Na…tsu…ki," Yuuko whined.

The one thing that seriously grated on Natsuki's nerves was Yuuko's whining. It always managed to shoot up her spine and cause a nasty headache.

"Yuuko, if I tell you this, you have to swear you'll never tell ANYONE," Natsuki gravely stated.

Yuuko nodded.

"SWEAR!" Natsuki demanded.

"I swear it will remain between us," Yuuko pledged.

After Natsuki related the gory truth of what the Nakagawa clan did to the man, Yuuko never ever asked about it again.

To this day, she cannot get the images out of her head.

Natsuki looked at Yuuko, who was staring at her hands in her lap and instantly knew what the young woman was remembering.

The concerned redhead wrapped her arms around Yuuko and whispered in her ear, "I know it still bothers you, but the clan had to make an example of the scum. We had to ensure others would never try to kidnap any member of the Yoshikawa family again."

Yuuko's body shook and she softly asked, "Will the Kasaki clan?"

"Considering Nozomi is in a coma, probably much worse," Natsuki answered.

Yuuko buried her face in Natsuki's shoulder and sobbed. The protective redhead held Yuuko until she stopped sobbing.

Natsuki handed Yuuko her handkerchief and smiled, "How about an ice cream? My treat."

Yuuko smiled and they walked to the hospital cafeteria.

As the days turned into months, the trio visited Nozomi every day and stayed until the end of visiting hours. Mizore never failed to play her oboe for Nozomi every single day.