Special thanks to:
tentsubasa: thank you sooo much for always checking over my story for English mistakes! ^_^V and thank you for reviewing my chapter 8! *I'm waiting for your chapter 28 of The Journey! ahaha! Kazuki is aweeeeeee!*
jiyu22: WOW! *_* Thank you for your kind words! It was really pleasure to read them! I'm so grateful to you!
kazuki-sempai: Thank you for reviewing! ! ! You don't know how glad I am to get your reviews!=P
and thank you for explaning me why I can't get at least 5 reviews for one chapter! wahaha!
nebhat04: Thank you very much as usual! ~_^ I'm looking forward to reading your next chapters of The keepsakes of the night, Light plus Shades and The worst fairy, EVER! ^_^
It looks like my respite was over too quickly! wahaha!
Here is chapter 9! It took me two days to type it!=P
Now that Len's left it's time for another pairings! But don't worry, Len will be back but not now! After all, he's Kazuki's main rival!^^
Please R&R!
Chapter 9. You are a miracle to me!
"Hihara-sempai, I've already stopped crying," Kahoko said a few minutes later as she had really stopped crying and trembling. Though she was a bit shocked at his sudden hug, she didn't push him away.
"Ah, sorry," said Kazuki, he loosened his hug and reluctantly let her go, "Are you all right? Shall we go back to the others?"
"Yes."
"There is something wrong with this hug… No, I know it was just a warm embrace from a friend, but still… still it was too passionate and tight… Oh, I must be imagining things! How can I think about Hihara-sempai this way? ! We're friends!" she thought, following him and looking at his tall, slim figure, "But do friends generally act like this?"
*(^_^)*
Two days passed. Yesterday at the rehearsal Director Watabe declared that the shooting would be open the next day. There was also a small party to celebrate the event. The first scene to be shot was a conversation between Eri's Hiromi and her stepmother in the movie. According to the script, Hiromi was a sixteen-year-old girl who dreamed of becoming a professional violinist, but her stepmother was against it, not believing in her talent. It was decided to shoot the scene here in the studio, so the scenery had been already set up and all the preparations were ready for the shooting.
In spite of the fact that Kazuki and the other orchestra members had no movie scenes to play today, they had to practice and there were also some people interested in watching the shooting. There was a bit of turmoil here and there ever since the morning.
"Now we will take a 15-minute break," said Kurokawa-san – their conductor.
"Oh, at last! My lips even got tired a little after such a long rehearsal!" Kazuki went out from the practice hall and decided to go to the balcony at the end of the corridor to take the air. He leaned his elbows on the balcony railing, looking at the city below. For the past two days, he had vainly searched for an excuse to call up Kahoko. "She must already know the results of her contest by now… May I call her to ask about them? Oh, I don't know! It's so hard not being able to see her and hear her voice at all! Come what may!"
He phoned her. "What if she won't pick up the phone? What if she doesn't want to talk to me?"
"Hello?" Kazuki nearly jumped up from the suddenness of her voice.
"H-hi, Kaho-chan! How are you?"
"I'm fine, Hihara-sempai. And you?"
"I'm fine too."
*awkward silence*
"Emm… How were your contest results?"
"As would be expected, I failed and was turned down by Saotome-sensei!"
"Ah… I'm sorry to hear that…"
"But he gave me a telephone number of one of his former students – Asano Masayuki-sensei, who listened to my performance that day and said that he could become my tutor if I'd like. Saotome-sensei said Asano-sensei was one of his best students during the conservatory, and added that he was perplexed at why Asano-sensei had found me having some faculty for music!"
"Wow! Isn't it great, Kaho-chan? ! Have you already called him?"
"Yes! I had a talk with him yesterday. He's a young man, but has already made great strides in the music world! He's a professional violinist and pianist, worked in Germany, and now has returned to Japan. He said he could take another two students to teach music!"
"Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!"
"Thank you! I'm happy too! On top of everything, when I talked about my new teacher with Kaji-kun, he suddenly said he had heard his name and expressed his desire to take lessons from him too! Maybe you heard that Kaji-kun was used to play the violin before he started playing the viola. He stopped playing the violin for some reason and now suddenly decided to continue!"
"Oh, really? I didn't know that! Anyway, this is really nice, Kaho-chan!" "I wonder why Kaji-kun decided to play the violin again… Could it be it's because of Kaho-chan? ! Damn it, Kazuki! Don't be jealous of every guy she's friends with!"
"Asano-sensei told us to come to the building of the Town Philharmonia, where he rented some halls. By the way, it's not far away from your house, Hihara-sempai!"
"Then I'll be able to take you home from there?"
"Oh, I didn't mean that! I just thought you might know that place!"
"Yeah, of course I know that place as I used to go for a run all around the neighborhood every morning. But still, taking you home after your practice isn't a bad idea!" Kazuki laughed.
"Ahah! Oh, why are we talking only about me? How is your winter vacation? Do you take a break from your movie orchestra?"
"Mmm… actually, no! We have to come to the studio and practice every day until late evening. In addition, the shooting starts today so I'll be even busier from now on…"
"Then I can congratulate you too with the shooting start! But it's a pity you'll be even busier…"
"Yeah… Hah, somehow I'm glad we had this talk today… It's been a long time since we last talked to each other!"
"'A long time'? Hihara-sempai, we saw each other only two days ago at my concours!" chuckled Kahoko.
"We haven't seen each other or even talked for a FULL two days," corrected Kazuki.
"…"
"Hem… I meant, I really wanted to hear your voice… I'm…" he started babbling, being embarrassed. "What am I saying to her? I'm acting like an idiot now!"
"I missed my sempai's cheerful voice too!" suddenly cried Kahoko.
"Eh? Really? !"
"Yes!" she smiled. "Ah, I have a call from Kaji-kun right now! I'm sorry, Hihara-sempai, but I must hurry up or he'd be waiting for me!"
"No, it's my fault that I detained you! Good luck, Kaho-chan!"
"Bye-bye! Thank you for your call!"
"Hey, don't thank me as if I'm a stranger to you!"
"Ok, sorry! See you!"
"Bye, Kaho-chan! Take care!"
Kazuki turned off the call and looked at his phone with a smile. So she was all right. "I'm glad she doesn't feel upset over the results. Still, I could feel discomfort between us during our conversation. Of course she must have felt uneasy when I suddenly embraced her. How many times have I told myself to think before acting! But why I don't feel any guilt about embracing her?"
"There's still free time left… Where shall I go? Uncommonly, I'm not hungry." He decided to go back to the practice hall.
"Kazuki-sempai! I caught you!" He felt someone snatch the edge of his shirt. Kazuki was dressed in a white T-shirt with an unbuttoned black shirt over it; dark blue jeans and white sneakers; his green hair fastened with a pin.
"Eri-chan? What happened?"
"I need your help right now! Come with me!"
"But where?" asked Kazuki, but she had already dragged him to the lift.
"So, will you tell me, at least, what happened to you?" asked Kazuki as they took seats at the bar located on the ground floor of the studio.
"I need to talk with my friend now! I'm so nervous! Why did Director Watabe decide to start our shooting with that scene? !" she took a sip of coffee.
"But what's wrong with the scene?"
"It's a great secret, but I'm actually afraid of Iwasa-san! You know, she's playing Hiromi's stepmother."
"Why are you afraid of her? I saw her; she has chestnut hair, right?"
"Yes, and she's veeeery severe! Agh! I want to disappear every time she addresses me!"
"Ahaha! Oh, I thought you got into trouble, but you are just… ahaha," Kazuki couldn't stop laughing.
"Kazuki-sempai! Don't laugh at me!" she cried, smiling.
"Sorry! What can I do for you?"
"Talk to me and drink coffee. That's all."
"Eh? Will it help you?"
"Yes, I always calm down after talking to my friends."
"Oh, I see. Okay!"
"Hey, look at them. Are they dating or something?" a young boy asked another. The two were sitting at the bar counter on the opposite side of the room. The one asking was a very handsome boy; he had blue sapphire colored hair with a rock star hairstyle. He also wore earrings.
"Are you talking about Hihara and Hashimoto-san? No, I doubt they are dating," replied another boy with orange hair.
"Then why do I see them together that often? Wouldn't it be more logical if she spent more time with me, her crush in the movie?"
"Hey, are you jealous, Miura? Are you her fan, by accident? Wahaha!"
"Rubbish! I just don't understand her! Does she find him remarkable? He's an ordinary trumpeter and nothing else!" said Kei Miura, "Oh, sorry, Toda, I forgot you're a trumpeter too."
"Say whatever you want. I don't care what you think about trumpeters, taking into account what you think about yourself – our second violin, also a splendid actor and a vocalist of a new popular rock band," Shun Toda smiled ironically.
"Shut up! I've already apologized to you!"
"I heard they attend the same school, so it's no wonder that they became friends so quickly. And Hihara has an easy temper – he can become friends with anyone."
"Not with me."
"Well that's your fault. Who would stand your difficult nature?"
"In addition, why do they call each other by their given names? I never heard her call me or anybody else that way. 'Kazuki-sempai'! It pisses me off! I'm the same age as him, but she doesn't call me 'sempai'!"
"That means you don't look like a sempai, especially with your freakish hairstyle. By the way, what are you going to do with your hair? Your character has an absolutely different haircut."
"I'll wear a wig. I'm not going to dye or cut my hair!"
"Oh, it sounds so absurd to me though," said Toda, "The break's almost over. It's better to go back."
"Eri-chan, how much longer will your break last? It's time me to go back," said Kazuki.
"Only one more cup of coffee and I'll let you go," smiled Eri.
"Ok-ok." With a coffee pot in his hand, Kazuki half raised himself from the chair to fill her cup. His silver pendant accidently slipped out of his T-shirt.
"Wow, I saw the same pendant on Hino-san on the Christmas concert day! Did you guys buy the same ones?"
"Ah, y-yes," replied Kazuki, blushing and hiding back the pendant under his clothes.
"Hmm…how sweet!" Eri lost in thought, then suddenly asked, "Kazuki-sempai, are you good at cooking?"
"Hem, well, I know how to cook, but I can't say I'm good at it. Why are you asking?" Kazuki was surprised.
"Really? Do you know how to prepare osechi?"
"Osechi? Yes, I know. Since my parents are always busy with work, my older brother and I are used to cooking a lot of different types of food. Why?"
"Oh, then I have a favor to ask of you!"
"What favor?"
"Please, help me with preparing osechi on New Year's Eve!"
"HUH? !"
"Please, please, please! I don't know how to cook at all! But I want to spend the New Year eating traditional Japanese New Year Day's homemade food…"
"B-but what about your family? They won't be able to cook?"
"Don't you know that I live alone here in this town?"
"No, I heard nothing about it before. Hmm… You'd better ask someone else… What about to ask your boyfriend or friends?"
"I don't have a boyfriend. Where did you get this idea from?"
"Oh, I'm sorry! I thought you did… Judging from how many fans you have…"
"'Admirer' and 'boyfriend' are not the same," firmly said Eri, "And all my friends, as well as my family, stayed in Tokyo – my home town. I moved here and changed my school just because of the shooting of Twinkle Star. Please, Kazuki-sempai, I'm only asking for a couple of hours in the afternoon!"
"Hmm…" Kazuki hesitated to answer.
"You can also invite any of your friends to come with you!" Eri continued begging.
"Somehow I feel kind of awkward to go to visit her… But I just can't refuse… She's all alone here without family and friends. Maybe I'll be able to persuade Yunoki to come with me…"
Kazuki sighed, "Ok, I'll come."
"Thank you so much, Kazuki-sempai! You're a miracle to me!" she cried, happily smiling.
"You're a welcome," answered Kazuki and asked in a tired voice, "May I return to my rehearsal then?"
"Oh, I totally forgot about it! Right, let's go back!" Eri cheerfully cried and, taking her jacket from the back of her chair, went towards the entrance. She didn't notice a notebook slipped from the pocket of her jacket onto the floor.
"Eri-chan, you dropped something," Kazuki bent down to pick up the notebook, but saw a photo that slipped out of it. There were a girl and a boy about fourteen years old in unknown school uniforms in the photo. The girl was Eri and the boy had light green hair and was the splitting image of Kazuki when he was in middle school.
Thank you for reading my story!
Published: 06-12-11
