A/N: Hello! I don't exactly know what to say but I feel like it's incomplete without me greeting you guys. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the two-chapter-update. And again, sorry for taking too long to update. Ciao! ^_^ (My introductory Author's Notes are getting shorter and shorter XD)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own La Corda D' Oro. It belongs to Kure Yuki and to all its legitimate owners.

CHAPTER NINE||Unexpected Interlude

Kahoko opened her eyes to her usual wake up time and readied for work. It's been days since she hadn't gone to the agency. Somehow, going there has been part of her routine so she couldn't help but feel something lacking. Yet still, she still took the advice from Aoi to take it as a week-off, and maybe focus on her life, her real life as Kahoko Hino.

At last, she arrived at the familiar place that had the sign 'Minami Instruments' on its sign board. When she twisted the knob of the door, she expected Ryoutaro to be there, so she called out in a cheerful manner. "Good morning, Tsuchiura-kun!"

When she opened her eyes, she found Ryoutaro holding a familiar blunette on his collar, ready to assault. Noticing the third party, Ryoutaro immediately released and regained his composure. "Morning... Hino." Ryoutaro, she noticed, left out the word 'good', since he really probably was in a bad mood. His response was directed at her, but his gaze remained fixed at the other visitor. He was about to leave for the grand piano, when the bell attached above the door frame suddenly chimed, announcing the arrival of a customer.

Instantly, Kahoko plastered a smile on her face, only to find it gone the next second.

"Mori-san?" she said quizzically.

Apparently, she was as startled as Kahoko was. Did she come in at such a bad timing?

"H—Hino-san, good morning. A—actually, I just—" when her eyes laid on the two guys behind Kahoko, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Tsuchiura-kun? Tsukimori-kun?"

So this was the cause of the tension.

"What took you so long? Let's go, Mori-san." Len suddenly said as he made his way towards the ochre-haired pianist, only walking past Kahoko.

When he grabbed hold of her wrist, Manami unexpectedly shoved it away.

"No."

Her response almost practically surprised everyone that it took her a while before she could continue. "Actually, I'm here to see Ry—Tsuchiura-kun."

Because of what she did, Len felt embarrassment creep in and for the rarest time, suddenly wanted to melt right then and there. He was put to shame not just in front of ordinary people, but in front of Kahoko and his nemesis Ryoutaro.

Meanwhile, the green-haired pianist couldn't help but chuckle lightly at what just happened. The moment was simply priceless. "Come, let's get outside for some… fresh air." Ryoutaro took a glance at Len's stiff body before turning back his eyes at the female pianist. "Shall we, Mori-san?"

He opened the door of the shop and headed out first. Manami, however, stole a glance at Len and mouthed "Sorry!" before finally disappearing through the door.

And then, the inevitable silence.

Len remained frozen with his back turned, while Kahoko kept her head lowered.

Now that they've finally come face-to-face, just the two of them alone, what were they going to do?

"Len, I—"

"Kaho, I—"

They both said together as the blunette turned to finally face her. Despite the situation, Kahoko felt her heart beat wildly with what she heard. He still called her with her first name. But as they stared at each other for the longest time, they found their expressions both unreadable.

What's he thinking about right now?

What's on her mind right now?

Is he upset about me? Is he happy with his fiancée right now?

She's sad again because of me. Did she move on now? Did she fall for him at last?

Len was the first to look away, not bearing the sadness and confusion he saw in her eyes. He was about to turn his back when the door to the shop unexpectedly opened for the second time.

"Hino-san, there's something that I need to…" the newcomer's voice faltered. "Tell you."

"Wait a sec, Kaji-kun!" a black-haired female stopped on her tracks as her gaze met the blunette's. Her once gleeful smile disappeared at the mere sight.

Another female entered merrily in the shop, probably following her other two companions. But when she sensed the silence, her smile vanished as soon as it appeared, just like how it did with the first female.

"K—Kaji-kun, Naoh, Mio... what're you guys doing here?" Kahoko stared wide-eyed at the three people who had just arrived.

"I'm afraid you should ask that to someone else here, Kaho." The black-haired answered as she fixed her fierce eyes at the blunette. She clenched her fists by her side, and anytime soon, Len has to say goodbye to his perfect features.

"What have you done to her?!" Naoh asked angrily as she stormed precipitously towards the ice prince, all the eyes of her audience filling with surprise. Hadn't it been for Aoi Kaji who was doing his best to stop her, Len would've been in shreds now.

"Naoh-chan!" Mio called out and helped Aoi. "Calm down..."

"How could you do that to her?! Didn't you know that she trusted you?! Huh?!" she continued to reach for him, but her strength was nothing compared to that of Aoi's.

"Naoh, stop…" Kahoko started to sob as the dramatic scene unfolded before her eyes. She rushed to her and tried to soothe her.

"Naoh-chan, enough." Aoi tried to console Kaho's angry friend.

"I'm not going to be stopped! I'm not just going to stand here and watch Kaho get hurt now that he's back!" then, she directed back her gaze at the subject of her emotion. "What, cat got your tongue, Tsukimori Len-sama? You think you're so cool, huh? But you know what, you're more vicious, colder, and all the more heartless person than you think you are! She waited for you here and you only cheated on her! She loved you so much but what did you do? You trampled all over it. WE NEVER SHOULD'VE TRUSTED YOU!"

As her anger started to subside, her voice softened along with it. But still, her strong feelings shone through her eyes. "She never should've trusted you, Tsukimori-san…"

By this time, Naoh's energy has worn out. After saying her long-time grudge against the man who broke her best friend's heart, she finally started to calm down. She panted so heavily as beads of sweat trickled down her porcelain skin.

The atmosphere was heavy and full of uneasiness, none of them able to look at each other in the eyes. They all didn't know what to do next, though Naoh didn't regret the words she said.

"Kaho, I'll meet you in your house tonight." Naoh said at last and left Aoi to stay with her best friend. Mio followed her shortly after. Seconds later, however, the blonde took Kahoko in his grasp and grabbed her out of the place.

"If you'll excuse us, Tsukimori-kun. We're going ahead first."

And the door closed with the bell chiming, leaving only Len Tsukimori who stood dumbfounded.

-.-

"Tsukimori-kun, I'm really sorry!" the ochre-haired pianist sitting beside him apologized with her hands clasped over her lowered head. By this time, they've already seated themselves at the backseat of the car. She knew she shouldn't have done what she did a while ago and should've played along like what she always did. Yet something told her that she just can't... lie. It's not going to be so harmful, would it? Besides, she only did it once.

The blunette focused his eyes in front of him like he didn't hear her speak at all. And with that, Manami recovered her head and simply pouted. "What were you doing there, Mori-san?" he suddenly asked without turning his head, causing the pianist to jerk.

"N—nothing... we just talked." she relaxed her back and leaned on the back seat. "Don't worry about it."

Silence befell upon the two as the car made a right turn.

"Anyway, what were you doing there in the first place?" It was her turn to interrogate now.

"Nothing. I don't think you should worry about it, Mori-san."

Whoa. He really is angry.

Manami hopelessly sighed as she allowed herself to recline to the back rest.

Meanwhile, Len continued to recall the earlier events in his mind: how he accidentally met Kahoko when he didn't intend to, when Manami Mori suddenly denied that she came for him (that was utterly embarrassing), when he thought it wasn't Tsuchiura but Kaji who was with Kahoko, and when Naoh unexpectedly spat on his face and spelled things out for him.

'She waited for you here and you only cheated on her!' He waited, too.

' She loved you so much but what did you do? You trampled all over it.' He loved her so much, too, and still loves her till now.

'She never should've trusted you, Tsukimori-san…' After he realized what he had done, he wasn't sure if he could still trust himself either.

Was he really worthy of her love and confidence? Did Kahoko really make the wrong choice in the first place when she chose him? What if she picked him because of sympathy?

Or better yet, maybe he was already hurting her so much that he no longer deserved Kahoko's trust.

He smiled inwardly, mockingly, to himself upon replaying Naoh's words over and over in his mind. Part of him, however, was relieved… relieved to know that the girl she loved was safe with the likes of that blunt black-head.

-.-

"Kaji-kun!" she called out.

"Nee, Kaji-kun! Let go!"

He still wasn't paying attention. At least, he tried not to pay attention. He couldn't help but feel anxiety wash through him with the mere thought that Len Tsukimori was inches away from his beloved Kahoko.

"Kaji-kun!" At last, she retrieved her hand from his grasp. Both stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, ignoring the people that only walked passed by them.

"Thank you for earlier, but you didn't have to do that." She rubbed her wrists and finally turned to go. "Ja, I still have work to do."

"Yeah, you do. And we're standing in front of it." His words came out rather harsh but he guessed she didn't notice, since she figured something much more important than the tone of his voice. What was he, really, to her? Was he was just some high school colleague and a co-worker? Most likely. None of his actions should matter to her, right? He seemed hopeless, and he really was, and maybe that was the cause for his earlier brashness.

"Eh? But I thought you wanted me to go on a—"

"I'm sorry, Hino-san..." He said softly as he started to compose his own self again, making up for his harshness just moments ago. "But I guess your week-off ended sooner than I thought."

"Oh... I see," was all that she could say. It hasn't even been a week yet.

"Then, shall we go?"

Kahoko only nodded at him and started for the steps of her beloved agency. The sliding glass doors automatically opened as they sensed an entity entering the building. Suddenly feeling uneasy, Aoi Kaji excused himself and walked hastily towards the men's comfort room, leaving Kahoko standing at the receiving area near the receptionist.

"Oh, c'mon! You've got to let me in, I'm her sister!"

Kahoko's ears perked up at the sudden argument of a female. Eh? Sister? What kind of sister wouldn't want to see her own sibling?

"I'm sorry, miss. But we're under strict orders. Please exit the premises before we settle with rather harsh actions."

"Eeeh? You guys are no fun at all!"

Kahoko heard the voice gave up since no further argument was raised. Instinctively, she decided to look for the scene that her ears earlier heard, all the while wondering who it could be.

Then out of the blue, she caught sight of a familiar wavy-haired blonde starting for the exit with a high-resolution camera dangling around her neck and a very thick notebook in her grasp.

Her eyes widened as she gasped, her body automatically standing as if it had a mind of its own. "A-Amou-san?!" She shrieked, noticing the journalist despite her already short hair.

The journalist turned. "Eh? Hino-san?!"

And with a wide smile on her face, she left the security guards escorting her and sprinted towards the red-haired violinist and tackled her in a warm embrace. "How have you been? It's been ages!"

Kahoko found herself hugging her back. "Indeed. I missed you, too, Amou-san!"

Nami released her and flashed her a big smile. "We have a lot of talking to do. Anyway, what're you doing here?"

It took only those words to make all the nightmares come tumbling back to her. Why the sudden return of this already famous, and most notorious press writer?

A/N: Revised.