A Melody of Memories

Disclaimer: I do not own Daa Daa Daa!

Chapter 6-Surprise!

The morning sun rays woke Miyu up. At last, after a few hours they'll be performing in front of all the people of Heiomachi. She might even recognize some of them. She was so excited yet fear didn't leave her. The supposed death threat is still scaring her wits. Miyu didn't tell anything to the group or any of her friends about the threat and pretended that nothing happened at all. This threat, though, had brought her some realization… reflections about her feelings. She wasn't conscious of it at first but when her heart leapt she had been thinking of love like a lovesick teenager.

Her question was still unanswered: What is love?

She knows what it is but isn't sure of what it really is. She became unsure since she had watched her friends tell about love and how the world changed with it, and the next month will cry on her lap and tell her love is a lie. She felt she was wiser as a teenager than a woman.

Suddenly, her heart began to pound faster and harder than usual. She had an intuition something dangerous would happen. 'Oh no… so that person will really come and kill me,' she silently concluded as she became pale. Then, her thinking was interrupted by a knock on her door. Her soul almost jumped out of her body but when she answered the door, it was just Saori and Yuki.

"Hurry up, Miyu. It is already half past seven and we have to be there five minutes after eight," Saori reminded. Miyu scurried off to the bathroom and took a quick shower.

Miyu was panting as she reached the hotel restaurant. She was greeted by popping confetti and unison "Happy Birthday!" Oh yeah, it is March 14th, her birthday. She even forgot it was the day she was born. She was happily greeted by her colleagues and gave her gifts. The others simply greeted her since they planned to give her gift later.

After breakfast, they went straight to practice. She expected her phone to ring any minute now… maybe a greeting from her parents, friends or anyone else. She went in the room, tuned her violin and assumed her position as everyone did the same, but no phone call was made. 'Maybe they forgot about it…' she thought sadly but shrugged it off since it's not as important as their music. As they played the first note, Miyu's phone suddenly rang and distracted everyone. She sheepishly grinned and excused herself from the staring musicians. Then, she answered the phone call.

"Happy birthday princess!" a familiar jolly male voice over the phone greeted.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed out of happiness. She was feeling better than ever. She thanked him for calling and asked how things are going. He kept on telling her to do her best and never get her nerves over things before handing the phone to her mother. "Darling, happy birthday!" she greeted and asked her a lot of questions while her daughter diligently answered. She finally sadly said, "I'm sorry Miyu, we can't come."

"It's alright."

"Maybe I'll leave Kanata to take care of you… After all he is your fiancé, right?"

"Mom!" Miyu gasped at the words she heard.

"What? Don't you think a famous violinist's words would spread to America?"

"It's just that… you believed it?"

"Of course… I know you have feelings for him since we left." She can feel her mother was winking on the other side of the line. Her jaw dropped since she didn't know how to respond… either to agree or disagree.

"Let's leave that topic aside and I might be disturbing you," Miki finally said after seconds of no response.

"Honestly, you disturbed our practice…"

"Sorry… and we have to go too. These young scientists and astronauts-in-training are a pain to us. They're know-it-alls. If they'd keep an attitude like that, they should have not needed our aid,"

"Teach them a lesson they'd never forget!"

"Sure. Good luck… for the concert and your love life." Again, her mother winked.

"Ma!" she exclaimed then calmly said, "Whatever… goodbye."

Then, they both hung up. Even though her mother teased her, she appreciated their call. They took some of their time just to communicate with her. She retuned to practice and made sure her phone was on silent mode.

In the afternoon, their conductor allowed them to have a free time of two hours. Miyu stood and stretched her arms. Then, she fished her phone from the bag and looked at the messages. She saw her friends' messages of greeting. She wished they could come if only they didn't have a lot of work. Being reminded of them, she missed their company. 'Thinking about the past doesn't do anything,' she thought as she shoved it away. Then, her phone rang. She picked it up. To her surprise, it was Kanata.

"Hello…" she said.

"Happy birthday!" he greeted with his tenor voice. She didn't know why but Miyu's knees went weaker as she heard his voice but made her delighted nonetheless. Everything associated to Kanata made her vulnerable these days… starting that day she thought deeply about love.

"Thanks."

"Turn around." And she did. She was surprised when she saw Kanata holding a gift and a couple of pink and white carnations. He was wearing a timid blush and handed her presents. She had reddened a little as she accepted it with a grateful smile. The two were oblivious a lot of eyes were watching them.

"Isn't he romantic?" whispered one of them.

The other suppressed her squeal, "He's so hot I could melt in his arms. Kouzuki-san sure has a good taste."

There were other comments that both of them didn't hear. "I heard that you have a two-hour break. Would you like to go to the temple for awhile?" he asked. She nodded immediately and they went there.

When they arrived at the temple, she was surprised again when she saw her former classmates and her friends gather around her and greet her a happy birthday. They 'Happy Birthday' in every language they could think of, and presented her a huge strawberry cake with 23 candles. She made a wish before blowing the candles all at once. The group cheered and gave her gifts and some had speeches for her too. She never felt this comfortable and happy since a long time ago. It was time to slice the cake and one of them cheered, "Saionji-kun should feed Miyu-chan." Then, others echoed until it became the request of the group. He reddened at this and when he looked at his so-called fiancée, she was as red as him.

"I-if you insist…" Kanata stuttered as he sliced a part of the cake and put it on the plate. He then whispered to her, "Are you okay with this?"

She smiled and nodded shyly. "It's for the sake of not blowing our cover…" she whispered back. He felt a pang of sadness in him but he told himself, 'Isn't this what the whole 'fiancé' thing is all about?' He put a creamy slice of strawberry cake in her mouth gingerly as he looked into those enticing emerald orbs. She looked at his amber eyes as she chewed and swallowed the slice. Amber meets Emerald. They stayed like that for awhile not noticing the guests were watching. Some sighed silently with this romantic moment while the others were tad jealous but didn't spoil the moment between them. Aya was madly taking down notes while Nanami grinned at the sight. Finally the two snapped out of their eye contact as Kanata wiped the cream off the corner of her mouth. They were close… dangerously close. Kanata was tempted to kiss those pink luscious lips but good thing he noticed the stares the group gave them. 'Oh no… what the hell was I thinking?' he mentally slapped himself. Some grinned and the others melted caused by the sweetness of the moment. They cheered once again and since then, Kanata could not face Miyu without reddening. So did Miyu. They were like guilty criminals.

'Darn guilty as charged for loving every single moment, wanting everything to be real,' Miyu's heart shouted inaudibly, 'Guilty for loving you, Kanata Saionji.' A small blush crept on her face as she realized that her mind was shouting stupidity again. Miyu's soul almost jumped out of her body when Kanata hollered her name. He jogged to her direction and told her that two hours had gone by.

She waved goodbye to everybody who was busy cleaning up and left with her escort, Kanata. The two were silent while going down the stairs until Miyu almost tumbled down the remaining fifty steps. If Kanata did not wrap his arms around her waist immediately, she would be flat dough at the end of the flight of stairs. "Be careful," he said softly as he pulled her back slightly and helped her regain her balance.

"You're a klutz, as always," he began teasing. Miyu fumed as Kanata laughed his heart out. Later on, she joined him. She wiped a stray tear from laughing and composed herself. Then, they talked freely as if the 'embarrassing' sweet moment they had didn't even exist.

-

Soon, it will be time for Miyu to perform on stage with the orchestra. The Japan National High School for the Arts orchestra was playing the enticing yet powerful Nostradamus. She was amazed with the dynamics and the speed of the song. She was also amazed with the kid's hands. She was like sliding her fingers on the piano but the fact is it was a hard piece… an extremely hard piece considering its tempo and notes. The girl, however, was enjoying it even though the music is creepy. The audience was awestruck. Their mouths were hanging open while they were caught in this petite redhead girl's magic. Come to think of it she looks quite familiar… maybe she'll come to congratulate her or introduce.

Miyu moved a little and felt a pair of eyes observing her. Whenever she moves, she feels the eyes are actually following her. She was distracted by the applause heard from the audience. She gathered her courage and herself altogether before she stepped on stage with her tuned violin. They took their positions and started to play. After playing a couple of pieces, Miyu began with the prelude to her personal piece, A Melody of Memories. The audience was focused on the performers since they were one of the most famous musical groups in Japan. Soon, almost all of them are under the spell of the music. Some didn't care, some listened but didn't feel the emotions, but the majority felt the sublime story of the music. As this was their final performance, the audience made a storm of applauses. Miyu felt fulfilled and they stood up and bowed in unison. Backstage, Kanata waited for her as he held a colorful bouquet of flowers. She smiled at him and walked to him.

"You were incredible tonight," he honestly said. He handed the bouquet.

"Thanks," she said as she received it. A lot of people were congratulating her; she congratulated her colleagues and the other performers; and they practically thanked everyone. The swarm of people slowly dissipated, but Miyu and Kanata remained so they could talk for awhile. Soon, the two of them are the only ones left.

"Miyu, I…" Kanata started but a gunshot was heard.

A/N: Here is the sixth chapter. Thank everyone for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. So, now, who do you think was shot? Miyu, Kanata, or someone else? You just have to wait for the next chapter.

I just can't get over with the musical experience I had yesterday so I was inspired to finish this. Now I have to go to do my school stuff…