Kahoko sat down on her seat in class, absentmindedly doodling on her notebook at the same time having flashbacks about the past;
'Kaho-chan ...? Are you sure ? I'll never be able to see you again.'
----
'Hino, I ... ' he sighed, 'It's really up to you but ... I'll miss you.'
----
'Kaho-sempai, why ?'
----
'Hino, why the sudden leave ? Are you not happy with where you are now ? I never knew you'd be so selfish.'
----
'Hino-san ? Really ? I-I'll miss you, your playing especially. We'll all miss you,'
----
'Is ... that so ? Well, then can you promise me something ?'
'What is it, Tsukimori-kun ?'
'You improve your violin skills, I'll ... be leaving as well but maybe a little longer than yours. I do hope you do well ...'
'... Tsukimori-kun.'
"Oi, Hino." the low voice of her sensei startled her, making her jump a bit and drop her pen. Her sensei cleared his throat;
"G-gomen, sensei." she rubbed the nape of her neck in embarrasment. She picked up her pen and went back to writing down notes from the lecture. Her seatmate and friend, Wakaba Rima, muffled a laugh and passed her a paper with notes written on it.
"I saved you some notes just in case you missed out on it again," she winked at her and Hino smiled at the brunette, "It's quite obvious you're out in the clouds, y'know. Who're you thinking about anyway ? ... or something ?"
Hino sighed, continued to write. "Just ... a lot of people and things. Which reminds me, I've got to work again after class." she glanced at her friend (they've been friends ever since Hino moved in,) "Unless of course you took the day-off, I'd understand Rima, seriously. I've been cleaning music shelves for quite sometime now," she sighed, leaned her head on her arms. "... even ever since highschool."
"Your highschool past, when will I ever be able to know what bothers you about that. Can't I be a friend and know what it is ?" Rima raised an eyebrow, curious as she leaned closer.
The bell rang and most of the students in the room stood up and left;
Hino snickered, "Maybe some other time, Rima-san. See ya !" she said as she gathered her books and headed to the music shop just a few blocks from here.
Hino was wearing the school uniform of her university, it was a bit different from Seiso's. The blouse was white with a maroon tie and her skirt was maroon too, definitely different. She sighed and gripped the handle of her school bag, 'Is it just me or do I feel ... unusual right now ?' she thought as she glanced at the dark blue sky.
She was living alone now, she didn't live in a dorm but in a small apartment. Hino had enough money from her first salary in her part-time job, she never felt so alone in her entire life, not the same feeling she had when she felt totally out of place during the concours.
'It's been 5 years now, I suppose the concours has ended by now. It is every 5 years, I think.'
But she wasn't completely alone now, she'd found new friends such as Rima-san and-
"Hino-san ! Late as always ..." Rui-kun said, chuckling as he brushed his shoulder full of dust. "You owe me, I had to clean the supply room again. Full of dust, what the hell." he exhaled and sat on the chair next to him and smiled at Hino.
Hino rolled her eyes and tied her hair, her layers have grown now so Hino had to tie it up in a messy bun. Not that she cared, "Okay, whatever, go leave before I get allergies. Man, you're so dirty !" she said, pinching the bridge of her nose and waved her hand towards him and laughing. She went back to work while Rui helped her organize the music sheets.
After what seemed like just a little amount of time, they were done with their work and Hino carefully climbed her way down the ladder. "Thanks again, Rui." she smiled at him and got her school bag, "See you tomorrow !"
----
Kiriya Etou walked around the street full of lights from the different shops around him, seeing people enjoy themselves with ice cream while it started to get even more dark. The sun halfway down the horizon;
Etou huffed in his hoodie and placed his headphones on his head while absentmindedly singing to the song in his head. He heard the chimes from the music shop while a redheaded girl with a white and maroon uniform step out the door, "See you tomorrow !" she said in her high voice. His eyes widened and he removed his earphones from his head. The redhead turned and her amber eyes grew as wide as his, her mouth hung open.
"Hino-san."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tsuchiura grabbed his jug of water and gulped a mouthful before swallowing all of it whole and exhaled, he like the feeling of cold water running down his body; it refreshed him.
"Okay, break's over ! Practice your play again and we'll run one round, you got that ?" he said, folding his arms across his chest.
"Yes sir !" said his students as they positioned themselves and continued to practice soccer; Tsuchiura smiled at them as they reminded of him during his highschool days. He glanced over the bench at the side of the field, his mind registering Hino sitting on it as she always did when she watched him play. His lips formed a small smile as he continued to daydream only to be interrupted by his loud friend,
"TSUCHIURAAA ! Still got soccer practice ?! You need a break, man !" Hihara said, his voice husky while he was waving his hand up high for Tsuchiura to notice him, he was dressed in his white polo, jeans and shoes. His sleeves folded to make room for his long arms and strong hands. Hihara looked more mature as he grown out of his usual cute teenage appearance into a happy young man but still quite loud.
"Tch, Hihara can you keep it down? I swear, I'd need something to shut you up." said the taller male.
"Geez, just kidding around. You better brighten up sometime, it's what the ladies like." he grinned and raised both of his eyebrows, teasing his friend.
"And to think you're a ladies man ..." Tsuchiura muttered but Hihara still heard it, "I thought you still weren't over ... her."
"I am, Tsuchiura." Hihara sighed and put a mock punch on his arm, "Geez, haven't you noticed I'm trying to ask Mori-san out ? She is quite pretty and ... smart too."
Tsuchiura burst out laughing, "The first time you tried to ask her out during her tutoring class, you almost broke your finger from the piano, then on your second attempt you ended up scaring-to-death a student of hers. Nice going, Hihara."
"Tch, don't you know the saying 'Three times the charm' ?"
"No, unless it actually works on you."
"You're really trying to kill my happiness aren't you?"
"Just stating a fact."
"TSUCHIURA !"
----
After the two friends ended their classes in Seiso and reviewed their student's papers for their upcoming graduation two days from now, they decided to get eat some dinner in their usual fastfood restaurant.
Tsuchiura got a burger while Hihara got a hotdog in a bun, both of them having sodas.
"What date is it today ?"
"The concours just ended, the winner's been chosen. Wonder who it is though ..."
"Probably that brunette girl, she was an amazing pianist. Too bad we missed it today though," Hihara sighed.
"No, I think it's that violinist ... the black haired one ? Yeah, he was good."
"He played Mozart quite well too, oh well, I'll check in the bulletein board tomorrow."
"Hmm ..."
Hihara's phone suddenly vibrated, he flipped open his cellphone and spoke unto the speaker, "M-mori-san ? What an unexpected call." he grinned sheepishly. Tsuchiura rolled his eyes and took a bite in his burger.
Hihara sipped unto his soda while listening to Mori as she continued on. His eyes suddenly grew wide and almost choked on his straw, "Seriously ?! S-s-s-sure ! Now ? ... I'll be on my way." Hihara slapped closed his cellphone and ate the remains of his burger. "I'm so sorry, Tsuchiura but duty calls !"
"... duty ?"
"Er, I mean, I've got a date. She finally accepted my second attempt so yeah ..." he smiled and got his black bag, "See ya ! Wouldn't wanna be ya!"
"Bye. Good luck." he sipped from his soda until it was finished and stood up, heading home. He took his phone out and got a text message from Mizue, it said:
"I've got news about 'her.' Come quick !"
As he deleted the message and turned his cellphone off, something in him wanted to go to Mizue.
But he just couldn't see her yet, not now ...
Not when she broke her promise.