A/N

Hey guys again! Here's another chapter for y'all! I sort of had a brief writers' block, so this might seem a bit disconnected with the rest of the chapters... I wanted to bring some of the real, living people into this story, so yeah. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own Your Lie in April or the characters.

Bzzt.

Kousei looked up sleepily from his desk, blinking away the sleep. Looking around for the source that had woken him up, his eyes rest upon his cell phone, which had lit up with a text. He takes up the phone, and reads the message.

From: Tsubaki

To: Kousei

Kousei! Get out of your house! You haven't been coming to school, haven't replied to anyone's texts, or picked up the phone since... well, you know. We're all worried about you!
Anyway, want to come out to the bridge with Watari and I? The weather's getting nicer, so we thought we'd have a jump or two off Courage Bridge. You better be there! STOP MOPING AROUND AT HOME.

What was the date? Kousei checks the date on his phone, and his eyes widen. It's February 28 already?! It's nearly March. And almost spring.

Tsubaki was right; he hadn't been doing much lately. Mostly just lying around at home, occasionally getting up to go to the piano. But he hadn't played since that time he had the sudden urge to play Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso. It was strange. He felt as if his very existence was slipping from him. He hadn't had much outside contact; he skipped school, never replied to anyone's texts or calls... What was he even doing with his life?

Standing up, he decides that he'll start over again.

From: Kousei

To: Tsubaki

Sorry. I'll meet you guys there in an hour, how about that? At five. Don't be late!

He realizes he's still wearing the same clothes he wore three days ago, he scrambles up to get changed.

He had spent enough time mourning and moping around. It was about time he made contact with the outside world. After all, he was sure this was not something Kaori would want of him.

As he ran around looking for clothes, he passed by the room with the piano. Skidding to a stop right before the room, he looks in again.

The piano's dusty again... and everything's scattered all around it. It's a mess. Kaori would flip a table if she saw the state this room was in...

Making a quick decision, he looks at his watch. Four thirteen - still plenty of time before he had to get there, considering how close the bridge was.

He steps into the room, and quickly sweeps all the books off the piano, catching them all in his arms. He walks over to the bookcase, and sorts all the books in. He then takes a good look at the floor, and sees that there are tissues, clothes, food wrappers, and so much other stuff strewn all over the floor. Sighing, he starts picking up all the clothes, and gets a broom and dustpan to wipe up the rest of the garbage.

After all that is done, he starts dusting the piano. A layer of dust had developed over the time it had been disused, and Kousei felt guilty for neglecting the very thing Kaori had brought back into his life. Four forty-seven. He still had five minutes before he had to leave... Maybe a quick song wouldn't hurt.

He sat down at the piano bench, putting the duster aside. Adjusting the seat, he prepares to play.
But the instant his hands touch the keyboard, he knows something's wrong. After a couple bars, he stops playing altogether, because the memories are almost more than he can bear. He couldn't stand it anymore.

He quickly shut the lid on the piano, and ran out of the room. He ran out of the house altogether, and went all the way to Courage Bridge without stopping once, trying not to think of what had just happened.

Four fifty-two - he was early. He stood by the railing of the bridge, trying to regain his breath and looking into the waters below. The sky was reflected in the water - and the reflection itself seemed to come from an alternate universe altogether. Kousei kept on staring down, but he wasn't really seeing anything. His mind was elsewhere - thinking about the time he and Kaori had jumped into the water together. It had been truly refreshing.
The memory brought round a new bout of feelings, and he tried to shut all of the negative ones. But he still couldn't help the sudden feelings of grief and sorrow entering him, flooding his mind yet again. He couldn't help it; tears brimmed over, and spilled out over his face. A couple drops fell into the river, creating small ripples. He observed how the little tears didn't do anything to the flow of the water - they were merely overtaken by the current, and swept into the pattern of the river. He felt very small and insignificant.

"What's so interesting about the water? Did you find a mermaid?" A joking voice suddenly pops up next to Kousei, startling him out of his moody thoughts.

"Eh?" Kousei looked next to him in surprise. He hadn't noticed anyone come up to him, and he quickly wiped away his tears. Blinking, he sees that Watari has arrived. Seeing his best friend, whom he hadn't talked with for over a week, he is suddenly quite nervous.

"Hey there, Kousei," Watari says with a lopsided grin. "Been a while, eh? How ya doing?"

"Er... Uh, yeah... F-fine, I guess..." Kousei said.

Watari joins Kousei in looking into the river. "I'm guessing this bridge holds some memory, eh? Tears don't just come randomly. And I'll just take another random stab in the dark, and guess again that the memory has something to do with a certain girl we all knew? Someone special?"

Without looking at Watari, Kousei slowly nods. "Kaori. We... we jumped off her before. Together."

"Hmmm. I see. Thought it would be something along those lines." Watari sighed, and then turned to look at Kousei with a small smile. "But there are old memories, and we can make new ones, right? Keep the old ones - don't ever forget them. But don't just live in those memories - make new memories. Come on, let's make more memories together."

Kousei's eyes widened when he thought over Watari's words. Let's make more memories together.

"Yeah, let's go. Think we have time for one jump before Tsubaki arrives?" Kousei asked, brightened up by his best friend's words.

"Sure, you know that gorilla, she'll probably forget the time and be fifteen minutes late. Let's go!" Watari grabbed Kousei's hand, and together they both jumped into the cool water, making big splashes.

"Hey! You guys didn't even wait for me, you idiots!" Tsubaki's angry voice can be heard from on the bridge, and Kousei and Watari exchange looks.

"You were late, so we figured one jump wouldn't hurt... Come on now, jump you big gorilla!" Watari called back up.

Seconds later, there was another splash, and then a brunette head popped up out of the water next to them.

"Oh man, that was so nice! We haven't done this in ages!" Tsubaki said with a huge grin on her face.

"Well, let's go again! This time, let's all jump at the same time, together!" Watari cried enthusiastically, already dragging both of the back out of the water and onto the bridge.

"Let go of me, you idiot! I can walk by myself, thank you very much!" she cried indignantly.

"But it didn't look like you were planning to go anywhere, so I dragged your big self out of the water." Their playful banter continued, while Kousei just looked on.

Thank you, Tsubaki and Watari. For sticking with me, even when I've been a terrible friend.

On impulse, Kousei grabbed his two best friends' hands, and pulled them with him over the railing as he jumped, taking them both by surprise. The three of them landed in the water at the same time, and created a huge wave. Spluttering, Watari and Tsubaki resurfaced, with very surprised looks, and were about to give Kousei a big talking to when they noticed Kousei's expression. He was wearing a huge smile, one they hadn't seen since forever, and he was laughing out loud at their expressions. The two of them exchanged glances, and joined in with Kousei's bright laughter. They were all just happy to be together again, to be joking around and having fun together.

Keep the old memories, and make new ones. For life goes not backward nor tarries on with yesterday, but it constantly moves forward.

Thanks for reading again guys! Review on your thoughts, and maybe some suggestions? *Throws candy out to everyone* Thanks again!