Good afternoon! Thank you so much for reading up to this point! As always, a special thanks to my reviewers! I'm always excited to see that someone has taken the time to review my stories.
kazuki: Thank you so much for reviewing! Here is a return to Kazuki x Kahoko as promised. Your enthusiasm is contagious! (^_^)
"Hino-chan! ! !" Nami pounced on Kahoko as soon as she entered the front gate.
"Amou-san!" The girl recoiled in surprise at the attack.
Nami grabbed the poor girl's arm and unceremoniously dragged her over to the side. She frowned at Kahoko with a slightly put-out expression on her face. "Why didn't you tell me that Yunoki-senpai's fiancée was your accompanist for the clinic? ? ? This is huge!"
"Ah…! Sorry Amou-san…"
"Well, to make up for it, you'll just need to get me an interview with her." Nami grinned deviously.
"Ah…O-ok…I'll ask her." The request seemed harmless enough.
"Thanks a million! Well, time for class! I'll see you later!"
Kahoko smiled and shook her head. Nami was a good friend, but when she let her journalist mode take over, she was a sight to behold—plowing through just about any obstacle in her way through just about any means necessary.
"Oh wait! I almost forgot!" Nami made a quick about-face.
"Huh?" She couldn't help but be nervous. Who knew what the girl had dug up recently?
Nami looked at her seriously, "It is Sumire Hanazawa-san, right?"
Kahoko nodded.
"Oh yeah! I am good!" Nami punched a fist in the air. "Alright, I'll see you later Hino-chan."
"Bye!" As Nami ran off, Kahoko got a thoughtful look on her face. Talking to Nami had reminded her acutely of the previous night's events. She mulled everything over in her mind while walking distractedly toward her classroom. In her distraction, she didn't see a figure coming up on her right until they bumped into each other. "Oh! Sorry!" She snapped her head over to see whom she had bumped into.
"Sorry!" Kazuki yelped. "Ah! Kaho-chan!" Kazuki's face lit up, "I haven't seen you since the meeting! How've you been?"
"I've been well, Hihara-senpai. How have you been? Has practicing with Kashino-kun been working out well?"
"I'm doing great! Practicing with Kashino has been going alright. Thankfully he's less uptight than Tsukimori, so we've been having fun." He smiled down at her. "It's nice that these pieces are really easy. Oh! That's right. I guess Ousaki-senpai is helping us out with the exhibition; and he suggested that we perform our Gavotte duet to help attract people to the clinic."
"That would be fun. Since we'll be playing Gavotte in my class, it would be good advertising for me too." Kahoko laughed.
Playing with Hihara-senpai will be fun.
Kaho-chan looks so cute when she smiles. Oh! I never did get a chance to thank her for the other day.
"Hey, Kaho-chan"
"Yes?"
"I'm really grateful to you and your family for the other day," he replied fervently. "The lunch your mother packed for me was delicious! I can see why you're such a good cook."
Kahoko blushed, "I'm really not that good of a cook. You just happened to be there on the right day. Sometimes I'm a terrible klutz in the kitchen."
"Well," he replied cheerfully, "Klutz or not, I still think your cooking was delicious." Suddenly remembering himself, he added, "Oh! I have a thank you gift for your family. Would it be alright with you if I walk you home so I can give it to them?"
"Oh! Umm…sure! You really didn't have to get anything though." Kahoko looked a bit embarrassed.
"How could I not? It's the least I can do to show my gratitude."
"Well, if you insist…"
Kazuki nodded and smiled. "I do. I'll stop by your classroom and we'll go back from there. It's been a lot colder recently, so I don't want to make you wait by the gate."
"Umm, ok. Thank you, Hihara-senpai."
"See you later Kaho-chan!"
"Bye!"
He really is sweet and thoughtful…Ack! No more thinking along that vein. Now that you understand that you're just getting embarrassed and that it's nothing deeper than that, you need to keep a better reign on your thoughts.
Nodding resolutely, she went to class.
- (-_-) -
Since she would be heading straight home with Kazuki, Kahoko decided to practice during lunch. Sending her apologies with Mio and Nao, she raced to the practice rooms. Fortunately, the first practice room she came across was free. After settling in, she warmed up and decided to practice her Canon in D and work through a few sections that had been giving her trouble.
When she had played it satisfactorily, she pulled Gavotte in D out of her bag. As she looked at it, she thought of Sumire. I wonder how Sumire-chan is doing… She laid the score sheets out absent-mindedly. Last night was so bizarre in some ways. Who would have thought that Yunoki-senpai played piano before taking up flute? I guess I have a better understanding of him now. She smiled a little bit. Good luck Sumire-chan! I'm cheering for you. She started playing. The music was light and fun.
I'm glad that I'll be teaching this song. This is probably the most apt song for me to teach children. After all, thanks to Hihara-senpai and this song, I learned to enjoy music. Music became fun. It's such a lovely tune. Hihara-senpai really saved me back then.
She smiled remembering how they had played together for the first time. Then, unbidden, the image of Kazuki's sleeping face and the softness of his hair arose in her mind. Her violin screeched to a halt.
Why? Why did that memory come up? I-I don't like him that way. That's what we figured out the other day, right? So-so why did I think of that? My face feels so hot…and why are my hands trembling? It's true that Hihara-senpai is someone that comes to mind when I play Gavotte, but this is ridiculous! I-I just need to power through this, like Tsukimori-kun does. He doesn't let silly things like this get in the way of playing, and I need to learn not to either. Good, my nerves are starting to calm down. Take a deep breath, Kahoko. Now let's try again.
While the following renditions showed much progress in the technical realm, in actively trying to avoid thoughts of Kazuki, she lost her fun, carefree tone. Finally putting down her violin, she packed up and headed to class, feeling a bit frustrated with herself.
My technique has gotten better, but my tone was lacking.
"Kaho-chan!" Mio waved, breaking Kahoko out of her brooding. "We missed you during lunch today."
"Were you able to practice a lot?" Nao inquired.
"Yup"
"Good."
"Hey, Kaho-chan, is something wrong?"
Kahoko froze for a second. Was she that obvious? "H-huh? Why do you ask, Mio?"
"You just looked slightly troubled."
"Oh, it's nothing." She laughed a little self consciously. "I'm just a bit hungry still, I guess. I practiced too long and didn't get to eat much."
"You should take better care of yourself," Nao scolded.
"I know. I know…"
After class was over, the three friends chatted a bit while packing up.
"Kaho-cha~n!" Kazuki called. Walking over to her desk, he greeted Mio and Nao and then turned to her. "Are you ready to go?"
Blushing a bit, Kahoko nodded and stood up. Mio and Nao shot her curious glances which she tried, a tad unsuccessfully, to ignore. Saying good bye to her friends, she and Kazuki left the room.
"Hey, Nao, do you think…?" Mio murmured thoughtfully as she looked at the door.
"Think what?"
"That guy that Kaho-chan was all confused about before, do you think it could have been Hihara-senpai?"
Looking at their retreating backs from the window, Nao noticed how Kahoko seemed slightly less at ease than she usually was with their senpai. "It's possible," she murmured softly.
"Yay! Maybe the Violin Romance will come true!" She clapped in delight.
"Uh…Mio, wouldn't she have to date Tsukimori-kun for that to work?"
"Not really, as long as one of the people who falls in love is a violinist," Mio explained as she joined Nao over by the window. "The first romance was between two violins, but I'm sure that if Kaho-chan and Hihara-senpai want to be together, legend will forgive them for not both playing the violin."
The two friends watched as the couple walked out of sight.
Yay! Kazuki returns! I missed him! He's so cute. (^_^)
Since the readers of my Shouko x Keiichi fic, "The 7th Day of the 7th Month," seemed to like my little Japanese culture notes, I guess I'll put in some here too.
For my story, I'm planning on making Kahoko a pretty decent cook, but in Japanese culture, if anyone praises you, you're supposed to immediately deny it. That's why she's always saying that she's not good at cooking and getting embarrassed whenever anyone praises her. If someone praises something you do, you usually say, "Iie, nigate desu." (ee-eh, knee-gah-teh deh-s) The funny thing is that if someone is praising your Japanese speaking skills and you say that, they'll usually chuckle and repeat themselves because you knew enough to respond properly. (^_^)
Sorry that it's kind of a lame culture note. It was easier in the other one because Japanese culture was such an integral part of the story.
In the next chapter we'll be seeing more of our favorite trumpeter and violinist. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter!
Please review! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu! (^_^)/~