A little romance in this chapter. Bear with me if its gay. Anyway, enjoy! oh this is in Tsukimori's POV btw

Oh crap, have I done a disclaimer yet? =\

I DO NOT OWN LA CORDA D'ORO PRIMO PASSO. ...there. :)

Beep, beep, beep

Letting my eyes stay closed, I tuned my ears to what was going on around me, where I was and all. I could hear gentle breathing beside me as I risked a peak to find Hino slouched uncomfortably in a chair, deep in sleep. Hino? What.. are you doing here? I painfully turned my head around to find looming machines all connected to me in some way and the unmistakable beeping of a machine, announcing my vulnerable heart beat to the world. I hated those machines, nothing could be kept a secret, and if my heart raced, but not like it would of course, it would be blatantly obvious to those surrounding me.

I sighed deeply, feeling dull pain in my upper back, becoming conscious of the unusual pillow, supporting my back and so that no pressure would be applied to my injury. Injury? Wait.. why am I injured? Oh, that's right. I .. protected Hino from that .. that monster. My breath came out shuddering as I remembered the crazed look on his face. I closed my eyes once more, trying to distract my mind from the headache forming. I heard fidgeting beside me as Hino's face scrunched up in her dreams. Hino… she had looked so peaceful before, sleeping on the hard chair. Even a little cute I had to admit. But her mystery dream looked as though it made her really suffer and I felt a strange pang in my chest as I watched her agonize over the nightmare.. alone. I wanted to get up and pull her into a hug, to tell her everything was alright now, but being the 'cool' guy I was, I knew it wouldn't be me to go and comfort her like that. It would just confuse her further I sighed, defeated. I slowly turned my head back so I was looking up at the bare ceiling, hearing the quickening breaths of Hino. The effects of the anaesthetic hadn't complete faded from my system as I felt another wave of fatigue wash over me. Closing my eyes once more, I adopted slow deep breathing as I waited for Hino to wake up.

'TSUKIMORI-KUN!' I jumped slightly at hearing a voice so loud after so long. I had never expected her to wake up so suddenly, and sounding so scared either. I listened to her ungracefully hit the chair as soon as she had risen, probably due to the stiffness of sitting in the position for so long. It hurt me to hear her raspy breathing yet I refrained myself from moving too much to make sure she didn't know I was conscious yet. I don't know why really, why I didn't want her to know that I was awake and well, but I kept quiet for the time being, until I really couldn't resist the urge to talk any longer. Her breathing evened out until it seemed she had gained control of her nerves until,

'Tsukimori-kun!' I felt a brush of wind as I suddenly sensed her quivering body leaning over me. I heard her release a breath of relief. I could feel those gentle eyes of hers gazing down at my 'sleeping' face. She moved off, to kneel down in front of her.. violin case? I heard the Velcro strap scrape away as it was pulled for Hino to freely lift her violin out of its case, the bow quickly following suite. Even though my eyes remained shut, I could easily imagine her eyes swiftly closing, elbow slightly out of the proper position as she readied herself for playing. Why would she be playing though? Maybe so I could wake up quicker… The first few notes were okay, I guess. But it seemed to only deteriorate after that. The violin squeaked here and there as my mind mentally winced at the poor performance. Maybe her nightmare was affecting her playing? Her usual deep emotions this time could only portray anxiety and worry. The playing continued for a little longer before silence suddenly sliced the room until she breathed out a heavy sigh. Even she knows that wasn't great.. Footsteps could be heard as my still sleeping mask was touched by the warm yet slightly sweaty skin of her delicate fingers. She caressed my face so lovingly and kindly, I couldn't help but melt under her touch yet my face remained still.

'Tsukimori-kun, do you … love me? Was that the meaning of my dream? But.. but why did you.. die?'

My heart nearly stopped and crashed when I heard those words being whispered to me. Was I too obvious when I protected her? Was I not subtle enough when it came to caring for her? But then, was that her nightmare? That I had died? But what had caused her to believe that I loved her? My calm demeanour was violently faltering as I struggled to keep it in place. I fought overpowering instincts to open my eyes and reassure the girl standing over me. To protect her from any further confusion and harm. I was about to speak, and break the terrible silence when I felt a curtain of hair fall gently on my face. It tickled slightly as my eyes barely opened to adjust to a waterfall of glossy red hair. Wait, so much of her hair is touching me. … that must mean … my eyes opened wider to see her head only millimetres from mine. Well, her lips to be exact. I managed to stifle a little gasp as I realised what she was about to do. My body silently buzzed, impatiently waiting for the feel of her caring lips. She froze suddenly, and I realised she was about to pull away. Unnoticed by my mind and Hino, my left hand, free of all tubes, reached up and gently started to stroke Hino's cheek, the same way she had caressed my face. I could feel her stop under my touch as her eyes stiffly turned to meet mine.

'T-T-Tsukimori-kun!'

I really couldn't help myself at this point. I knew I would regret it later, especially after she had confessed her dream to an 'unconscious' me, but I just had to tell her …

'That was terrible playing.'

Silence.

Words finally sinking in, Hino roughly broke away from the intimate contact.

'Ehhhh? You were awake while I was playing?' Her eyes widened in shock.

'Yeah' I said bluntly. My iciness had to be kept in place; for the time being anyway. I, myself didn't even know when I could drop it a little to show how much I cared for Hino.

'Oh' was all she could say. 'Ahh, ah gomen. I-I was thinking about something else and it sort of side tracked me I guess.'

'It was the dream you had wasn't it?' I knew I was stepping on dangerous grounds but I left my face unreadable.

She gave a small nod before dropping her gaze to look somewhere else, obviously troubled by it.

'Tell me about it,' I paused hesitantly, 'maybe I can help'

Her head jerked up at my offer but she smiled sadly and shook her head.

'I-It's nothing to worry about. I – ah' A sole tear slid down her face as I look at her in a moment of panic.

'Hino?' I cautiously lift myself from a lying position to a sitting one, but only to grab the attention of Hino as she stumbled towards me, helping me up.

'Uh, Arigato,' I thanked her a little awkwardly, 'anyway, tell me what your dream was. I-I want to help.'

Her eyes, still a little teary, met mine as she swept down to engulf me in a hug. My eyes widened as I could feel my face heat up a little from the sudden contact. But just as soon as it had come, the warmth disappeared as tears threatened to spill over her face once more.

'I.. You.. died.' Hino managed weakly.

'Hino, explain properly. I don't understand.' I mentally cursed myself for speaking so coldly towards her.

She took a deep breath as she recollected the pieces of the dream floating in her mind, 'We were .. together, then you suddenly came and .. kissed me.' She looked fearfully at me as I digested this information, without showing much emotion.

'Go on' I urged.

'Ah, then you.. said you loved me.' There was a large pause as she dropped her head, as if she couldn't bring herself to say the last part.

'Then.. you.. you..-'

'Died?' I finished for her.

She looked back up at me, the tears now freely flowing down her face. I had never seen her so upset in my life. It hurt me to realise that she was crying over me. Without saying anything, I gently guided her to sit on the edge of the bed as I curled my arms around her petite frame. Her body trembled slightly as she slowly relaxed in my strong hold. I dropped my head to rest against her shoulder, only to pull back almost immediately as my back muscles screamed from the sudden pain. I opted for her head instead, as I stroked it comfortingly, hoping to calm a somewhat scared Hino down. This would've been the perfect excuse to kiss her, right there and then. But of course, that little voice in my head, always going against my heart, told me to just keep holding her as to not scare her further. My eyes closed midway as I thought about what she had just told me. I kissed her, confessed then .. died? Kiss… I kissed her.. did she like it? Was I rough or gentle? How did I die? What if.. What if I only did the first part.. and that was it? Would that calm her down? Maybe one wouldn't hurt.. would it?

Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep

Dammit. I cursed in my mind. This is exactly why I hate those machines. My racing heart quickly alerted Hino as she looked up from my chest with a somewhat concerned face.

'Tsukimori-kun? You're… you're heartbeat is suddenly a lot faster.. are you – "

Her question was rudely cut off by my impatient mouth on hers. I could feel her burning yet questioning gaze on my closed eyes. Quicker than I expected, I felt her mouth slowly moving with mine as we passionately began to deepen it. I let my tongue lazily slide across her bottom lip as I nibbled lightly on it. I wasn't entirely sure if Hino knew what I meant by it but soon enough, that small window of opportunity opened up for me as my curious tongue glided into her mouth. I heard her gasp for a second before a slow vibration travelled from deep in her throat that only further strengthened my desire for her. I explored her mouth, delicately tracing around the grooves of her soft cheeks and playfully tickled the roof of her mouth. After a while, my own tongue was forcefully pushed back by hers, fighting me out of her mouth and eventually into mine. She let another moan escape as our tongues continued to dance around in our mouths. Her arms had wound up around my neck as was roughly pushing as much of her body as she could against mine, while making sure I would not be in pain although all my sensitive nerves were sending me were the ecstatic feeling of pleasure than pain. My hand was still gently stroking her soft hair as my other arm snaked around her waist. When we both could not take any more, I took the chance for us to breathe to place a line of kisses from the corner of her mouth to her ear where I licked gently and nibbled at the lobe. Breathing heavily, I moaned directly into her ear and felt her shiver in response. A genuine smile cracked through my icy mask as she turned her head to look into my eyes. It was so unlike me to do such a thing, but, just like my mother had said, this girl really did have the magic to open up my cold heart. I sighed contently as I brought her into another hug.

We stayed like that for quite a while, not a word spoken until Hino realised she had forgotten to say something.

'T-Tsukimori-kun, a-arigato…' She burrowed her head deeper into my chest. Knowing what she was trying to say, I responded by planting a kiss on her soft hair.

'A-Anyway, everything's fine now,' she unwillingly unwound herself, got up and wiped the remains of her tears with her sleeve as she smiled bravely at me, 'you're here and alive and you're not too badly hurt right now from your injury.'

'Hino..' I could only manage, feeling another wash of fatigue as I involuntarily let out a yawn.

'Oh, gomen. But, that's right. There's been one question that's hasn't stopped bugging me ever since .. that day.' I heard her take a deep breath, 'Why-why did you protect me?'

I was actually taken aback by her question.

'Why did I protect you?' I gave her a surprised look, 'Well, anyone would have protected you from that monster!'

'Well, yes I guess I got that part. But what I don't get was why you protected me? If you didn't want me injured, couldn't you have ..uh I don't know, maybe pushed him away when he was about to strike? Maybe, that way .. you didn't have to get hurt.'

'Oh' I turned my head to face the window, not wanting to sound stupid any longer. 'I guess I … didn't really think about it at the time.'

I turned my head back to look at her, my face still slightly warm from embarrassment. She smiled gracefully at me, letting out a loose giggle.

'Ah, gomen,' she said seeing my slightly shocked face. 'Tsukimori-kun, deep down you really are a nice person. … Arigato … for everything.'

I was wrapped up in another warm hug, full of love and compassion before she quietly got up, tidied herself and walked towards the door.

'Sleep now, Tsukimori-kun. I'll come visit soon.' And with a smile, she was gone.

Chapter 3 is finished! yayers. Please, please review on what I could improve? Or any other feedback for that matter.. I would love it so much :) oh and sorrryyyy for OOC… anyway, i'm not sure what to write for the 4th chapter, so i'll only keep writing if i get reviews ;)