2 – Pianoforte
"Kaho-chan, Shimizu-kun! Good timing!" shouted Kazuki.
Kahoko and Keiichi walked in on the sight of four boys seated around a table. Kazuki held a deck of cards between his hands, shuffling it with a smile.
"Oh, everyone's still awake?" Kahoko asked, counting four pairs of eyebags of varying degrees of darkness. "It's almost midnight."
"Then why are you still up, Hino?" Ryotaro asked.
"And with Shimizu-kun, too," Azuma added coyly.
Kahoko blushed. "Uh, uhm –"
"I played a piece… for Kaho-sempai…" Keiichi said, setting his cello down and taking a seat between Ryotaro and Kazuki.
"Y-Yeah! Did you guys know Shimizu-kun composes his own music? He's really amazing," Kahoko said nervously.
"His own music?" Len asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, hey, there'll be time for that later – right now, it's game time," Kazuki said with a mischievous grin. "Have a seat, Kaho-chan!"
"Hm? What are we going to play?" she asked, hesitating a bit before taking a seat in the only space she could: the giant rift between Len and Ryotaro.
"Just a simple game of chance," Azuma said. "But we've added a twist."
Kahoko didn't like the sound of that.
"Since we're the only ones who can't sleep, we might as well do something fun together, right? It is the last day of summer camp, and I'm sure this group still has much to share with each other. So: the one with the highest hand gets to ask anyone in this group any question – and they have to answer truthfully," Azuma said.
"Yunoki sure comes up with the best ideas, huh?" Kazuki said cheerfully.
Kahoko wasn't sure if the word 'best' is what she'd have used, but she did know that if anyone could cook this kind of thing up, it'd be her bipolar sempai.
Len raised one of his crossed arms to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"I-I'm surprised Tsukimori-kun is willing to join in this," Kahoko said, trying to ease the tension with a joke.
"So am I," Len deadpanned.
Ryotaro nudged Kahoko and whispered, "You tell the guy he can't do something – like have fun, for example – and he'll never back down from the challenge."
"Shall we begin?" Azuma asked.
Kazuki cut the deck and dealt everyone two cards each. Kahoko didn't know why, but her heart started to beat faster. What could she ask? And more importantly, what could questions could they have that she could answer?
"One, two, three!"
Everyone turned their cards over.
"All right!" Kazuki said, "Ha! Two kings."
"Please pay more attention, Hihara-sempai," Len said, glancing at Keiichi's hand.
The blond cellist yawned as he revealed an ace and a king.
"Aw, man…" Kazuki complained.
Keiichi directed his gaze at Kahoko. "Kaho-sempai… which comes first… the musician… or the music?"
An awkward silence settled as the group took in the question.
"The music…?" she answered.
"… All right then, next question!" Kazuki said uneasily, gathering everyone's cards and dealing new hands…
… Only for Keiichi to win the next two rounds and ask Kahoko increasingly weird questions.
"Oy, Hihara-sempai, are you rigging the dealing or something?" Ryotaro asked, a vein in his forehead bulging.
"N-No, I swear! It's like Shimizu-kun has some sort of magical luck voodoo!" Kazuki said, waving his hands in panic.
"You said something about this being fun, Tsuchiura?" Len remarked, the bridge of his nose taking further abuse.
"Now, now, everyone," Azuma said.
Kahoko had to stifle a giggle. These five never changed. "Um, maybe someone else can do the dealing?"
"Yes, since you suggested – go ahead, Hino-san," Azuma said, plucking the deck out of Kazuki's hands. He reached for her hand from across the table.
The stares from the others went unnoticed by her.
Azuma took her hand and cupped it with his left, gently placing the cards on it with his right. The warmth of his touch seemed to travel all the way up to Kahoko's cheeks. She quickly pulled her hand away from where it was sandwiched in Azuma's clasp.
Kahoko tried to shuffle, but her nerves made her hands fumble. A card went flying onto Len's lap.
"S-Sorry, Tsukimori-kun!" she said.
Len's face suggested he was having difficulty resisting the urge to say something offensive. He simply swatted Kahoko's hands away to take the deck for himself.
A new wave of heat attacked Kahoko as his pale hands brushed hers. She caught herself watching the methodical, precise movements Len's long fingers made as he flicked two cards at each of them. She shook her head slightly – maybe it was too late at night to be playing this game.
"One, two, three!"
"Ah, a king and a queen," Azuma said. He shifted the angle his gaze ever so slightly. "So, Hino-san, I'm curious: what qualities do you look for in a guy?"
"Huh?!" Kahoko said, mentally cursing how easily she blushed. "What kind of question is that?"
"Just answer it, Hino," Ryotaro said teasingly.
"Er, well…" Kahoko scanned the faces around her and, unbidden, each of their good points came to mind. Len, Ryotaro, Keiichi, Kazuki, Azuma…
"Um… It'd be nice if he was hard-working, and caring. And sweet and fun, of course. But it's also important for him to be confident?" she mumbled, half-aware of her words, and completely unaware that they were being noted.
"My, someone's got high standards," Azuma quipped.
"Wait, no! It's not like that!" Kahoko said, but Ryotaro and Kazuki were already laughing.
But not for long. On the next round, a cold silence filled the room when a pair of aces turned up between Len's fingers. He'd had his question planned since the very start of the game, perhaps even before.
He slowly turned to face Kahoko. "Hino-san. You never answered me straight when I asked you when you started to play the violin. Surely your performances early in the concours were not those of a novice?"
Kahoko paled. "Um… why am I getting all the questions?" she said, trying to dodge. But everyone's curious eyes were already trained on her.
"Please answer," Len said.
"Do I really have to talk about this in front of everyone? It's kind of a long story," she said desperately. How could she even explain the magic violin, let alone make it believable? She fidgeted and looked down, feeling very uncomfortable.
Ryotaro was the first to notice. "It's obvious that this one's personal. Hino-san, it's okay if –"
But Len ignored him, instead telling Kahoko, "The rules say that you have to answer only me. If you don't want to tell everyone, that's none of my business – but you owe me the truth."
The gravity in Len's voice held a rare intensity that silenced the room for a moment. One look at his unwavering gaze told Kahoko that this particular question had been bothering him since the day they'd taught the children's violin lessons. Lying to him then had been too difficult. She knew he deserved the truth.
"Tsukimori, it's just a game. Leave her alone," Ryotaro said.
"No, Tsuchiura-kun, it's all right," Kahoko said, and then turned to Len. "I promise to tell you everything, Tsukimori-kun – just, not right now. Is that okay?"
Len hesitated. He nodded slightly.
And then, suddenly: "Zzzz…"
The tension in the room lifted somewhat when the group realized Keiichi had fallen asleep.
On the next round, Ryotaro held up a pair of aces with a triumphant grin. "Okay, since Hino's been complaining that she got all the questions," he began, turning to look at Kazuki, "Hihara-sempai!"
"Huh?!" Kazuki shouted. "Tsuchiura, you're not going to ask about the incident, are you?"
"What? No!" Ryotaro said.
Kahoko blushed yet again. The incident is what she, Ryotaro and Kazuki used to refer to an unfortunate mishap involving a bed, a torn pillow and a compromising position between two people, long ago in the Fuyuumi mansion. She could still feel Kazuki's breath on her cheeks, their lips nearly touching.
"My, my, what could this incident be?" Azuma asked, hand on his chin.
"N-N-Nothing, Yunoki!" Kazuki shouted. Kahoko giggled a little despite it all – her trumpeter sempai was so much like a kid sometimes.
Ryotaro cleared his throat. "Hihara-sempai, my question: if you could only ever play either sports or music, which would you choose?"
"Huh? That's unfair, Tsuchiura-kun! How could you ask me to pick between things I love?" Kazuki asked.
Kahoko's head snapped up at this, but she couldn't tell why.
"There might come a day when you have to choose," Ryotaro said wistfully. He shot a glance at Kahoko. "Otherwise, it isn't fair."
"Hmm, maybe you're right," Kazuki replied, oblivious to the implications of Ryotaro's words, "But until then, I can have fun with both, right?"
"Then let's hope that day doesn't come soon," Ryotaro said, taking the cards.
Kahoko couldn't tell what exactly the exchange between her two green-haired friends meant, but something about it resounded within her heart.
She watched Ryotaro's large, strong hands handling the cards and realized in a passing thought that he could probably crush the deck in his fist. But he didn't so much as leave a crease mark – that was Ryotaro: both firm and gentle.
"One, two, three!"
"Finally," Kahoko sighed, showing off her queen and ace.
"Who are you asking, Hino-san?" asked Azuma.
"Umm," Kahoko scanned the faces around her. "No one in particular, actually. There's just something that's been bothering me."
Kahoko reminisced. Throughout the past year, everyone had been so kind and supportive in their own way. Yet, as Len's question so acutely reminded her, she didn't deserve any of it. "I wanted to know if I – if I offended anyone, performing at this – no, at my level with you guys." She didn't realize she'd put her head down mid-sentence.
At the silence of the guys, Kahoko continued: "I know. I'm terrible at violin and I never deserved to be in the concours, and I guess I should have apologized sooner for pulling down the quality of the whole thing and –"
"Kaho-sempai…" Keiichi said, waking up.
"Shimizu-kun, you're awake?"
"Your music is… perfect, Kaho-sempai," he continued.
"I wouldn't say perfect," Len added, "but the effort you put into your practice proved your seriousness as a musician."
"Never thought I'd agree with this guy, but Hino – don't say stuff like that," laughed Ryotaro. "It doesn't suit you. Just keep being stubborn and earnest as always."
"The concours wouldn't have been the same without you, Hino-san," said Azuma. "In fact I think your participation made the whole thing more interesting."
"That's right, Kaho-chan! Skill level? Ha! Skill level my foot. Your music made everyone have fun, and it even got the gen-ed students interested," finished Kazuki.
"You guys," Kahoko said before realizing she was tearing up.
"Huh? Kaho-chan, don't cry!" Kazuki said.
"I-I'm not!" she said, smiling. "Thank you all. I can't tell you how much those words mean to me."
"Hey, hey, no more drama! I'm the only one who hasn't gotten to ask anything yet!" Kazuki said.
"That's 'cause you have terrible luck, Sempai," Ryotaro remarked.
But he had to eat his words when Kazuki held up the next round's winning hand.
"Aha!" Kazuki said, immediately turning to look at Kahoko. They locked eyes.
"Huh? Me again?" Kahoko said, blushing slightly.
At her flush, Kazuki realized what he was about to do and immediately started blushing as well.
"Uhh – uhmm," Kazuki stuttered, hands fidgeting wildly. This was a lot easier in my head! The whole card game plan – this was supposed to be fun and romantic! he thought. "K-K-Kaho-chan! Will you go out with me?"
"Huh?!" she exclaimed.
Romantic – not pathetic, Hihara.
Azuma pressed his palm to his forehead. Not in public, you idiot. He looked up at everyone's reactions – Keiichi's widened eyes, Len's uncrossed arms, Ryotaro's open mouth. Especially not with these guys.
"I mean – would you go out with me?" Kazuki said, laughing nervously, "like – hypothetically. Like if some hypothetical strange turn of events made me hypothetically ask you out, would you say yes? Just hypothetically!"
Kahoko's mad blush subsided only slightly. "I – I guess so…"
"Really?!" Kazuki shouted, not slightly over-enthusiastic.
And her blush returned. "B-B-But! It's not like I have special feelings for – I mean, all of you guys are – wait, no, I mean –"
"What do you mean 'all of us guys,'"? Ryotaro teased relentlessly, cutting her off mid-panic.
"Do you mean to say you'd go out with all of us, Hino-san?" Azuma said, joining in on her torture.
"Kaho-sempai… It's bad to be… promiscuous," Keiichi added.
"You should note that only Hihara-sempai expressed his interest before thinking yourself so desirable," Len said.
"NO!" she shouted immediately. She put her face in her hands and her hands in her hair and let the pile of shame fall to the table.
"Hino, we were just teasing," Ryotaro said affectionately, patting the head from which red hair was splayed all over the table.
What's with these guys? One minute they're praising me and the next they're making these kinds of jokes – even Tsukimori-kun and Shimizu-kun! Kahoko thought, raising her head with a solemn expression.
Kazuki reacted first. "Kaho-chan – sorry! We didn't mean to – please don't be mad –"
He was cut off by laughter. Wild, non-stop, only-possible-after-midnight laughter.
And Kahoko's laugh was enough to make them all join in, too: Kazuki with his wild chortle and occasional snort, Azuma with his knowing chuckle, Len with his half-smirk, Ryotaro with his deep guffaw, and Keiichi with his wide, sleepy smile.
"I don't want this camp to be over," Kahoko said after they quieted down. "I don't want any of it to be."
Each of them took in the weight of her words in a different way, but all of them knew just the same that – though there were new bonds forged tonight, this was the end of something else entirely.
Just then, Kahoko's cell phone rang.
"Kaho," gasped her sister from the other end of the line, "Mom just collapsed. They're rushing her to the hospital – you need to leave now."