LESSON TEN

"Why are we here?" Elize asked in a disgusted voice.

"Don't you think all the animals are cute?" said Nodame delightedly. "There is a funny sort of smell but this place is so much fun! Gyabo, it's an elephant!" she added in a squeal, pulling Elize by the wrist toward the menagerie of an African elephant.

Nodame had (literally and figuratively) dragged Elize into Vienna's Tiergarten Zoo for her version of a nice "vacation." She was enjoying every moment of their visit to the zoo but for Elize, it was a different story. Nodame's manager felt as though she was chaperoning a little schoolgirl on her First Grade field trip.

"Ah!" Nodame exclaimed as she read the signboard in front of the menagerie. "It's just a baby, but it's already so big!"

"It's an elephant," Elize muttered furiously under her breath.

"Look, it's holding out its trunk at us!" said Nodame, jumping up and down with excitement. "Nodame will touch it!"

"Oh, no, you don't!" snapped Elize, taking hold of Nodame's outstretched hands and pulling her away from the elephant. She led Nodame to one of the benches along the wide visitors' path and forced her onto it.

"Is it your first time going to a zoo?" Elize asked in disbelief as she sat next to her overexcited client.

"My dad took me to a petting zoo in Kurume once when I was seven," said Nodame. "I saw all the little rabbits and ducks there. It was very fun. Nodame had a great time."

"Where in the world is Kurume?" asked Elize impatiently.

"It's a town a long way off from my hometown Okawa," Nodame explained. "My dad knew a farmer there who also raised animals. His friend said they were holding a petting zoo for one week and I had never been to a zoo before, so my dad took me there. But this big place is much more fun," she added with a bright smile.

Elize glanced at her wristwatch and said, "We better get going. You're supposed to be meeting Kiyora Miki and all the other soloists at the Volksoper at three o'clock this afternoon."

"Eh? What for?" asked Nodame. "We haven't seen all the animals yet!"

Elize stood up and walked briskly off in the direction of the zoo's exit gate.

Pouting, Nodame slowly got up from the bench and mumbled, "I wasn't able to see the mongoose exhibit yet. . ."

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"Megumi-chan? Is that you?"

Nodame turned around and saw a familiar young man making his way toward her in the lobby of the Volksoper, which was also known as the People's Opera, a famous opera house in Vienna.

"Kuroki-kun!" she gasped. "It's been a while!"

"How are you, Megumi-chan?" Kuroki asked politely, bowing at her.

"I'm doing very well. How about you?"

"I'm fine," answered Kuroki. "What are you doing here? Did Kiyora-chan invite you to perform too?"

"Yes, I'm having a recital on Thursday," said Nodame, "and I'm playing a quintet during the final performance on Saturday."

"Since when have you been in Vienna?"

"Just since yesterday," Nodame replied. "I had a nice vacation in Italy. We went to a beautiful resort in the Calabrian coast with white sandy beaches and clear blue-green water. It was such a pretty place."

"Ah, did you go there with Chiaki-kun?" Kuroki asked.

Nodame paused for a second then said, "No, I was with my manager Elize." She had a slightly guilty expression on her face, which Kuroki couldn't place.

"I see," he answered.

"What about you? Did Kuroki-kun go on vacation?"

"No, I didn't," replied Kuroki. "I've been practicing with the Roux-Marlet all summer and I just submitted my leave of absence to be here in Vienna."

"Then you must be so tired," said Nodame with childlike thoughtfulness.

Kuroki smiled and said, "I'd like to think of this as my vacation."

"Next summer, Nodame will take you to the Calabrian coast so you'll get to see the beach too!"

"Ah, really, there's no need," Kuroki muttered hurriedly, looking shy.

"Eh? It will be fun, you'll see."

"Megumi-chan?" said Kuroki.

"What is it?"

"Let's get inside."

"Oh, right! Let's go, then."

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"Gyabo, what a difficult piece," Nodame muttered, staring at the front cover of the topmost score sheet among a thick pile which she was given. It read in French, "The 12 Transcendental Studies of Franz Liszt" and Nodame was told to choose one of the longer ones to perform during her recital.

She whimpered and pulled out another score beneath "The 12 Transcendental Studies" and looked at its cover. This time she winced. Written in bold print were the words "J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations."

"If Nodame had known that all her pieces would be technical studies," she said irately under her breath. Her hold on the score tightened in fury.

When she pulled out the third score sheet, a smile appeared on her lips.

"This is better," she said, reading "Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor Op. 13 'Pathétique.'" It was one of Beethoven's earliest and most famous works for piano and Nodame's personal favorite since her college days. It reminded her of her youth, her once carefree (and careless) playing style, and the person who had motivated her to change that carefree style into something more serious and beautiful. Nodame sighed nostalgically as she pulled out the fourth score.

"Eh? Chopin?" she asked in wonder as she saw the words "A Selection of Mazurkas, Polonaises, Waltzes, and Nocturnes by Frédéric François Chopin" on the cover. She noticed that it was the thickest score in the pile.

"This is unbelievable!" she muttered, fuming. "Nodame has to read all these scores?!"

Nodame's wrath was immediately extinguished when she pulled out the fifth and last score.

"Ah!" she exclaimed in delight. "Rachmaninoff!"

The words "S. Rachmaninoff's 24 Preludes in Major and Minor Keys" were printed on the nearly tattered cover.

When Nodame opened the score to the very first page, she saw a pink Post-it note attached to the top left-hand corner. It read:

Nodame-chan, here's the repertoire for your solo recital on Thursday: one Transcendental Étude by Liszt (either No. 11 or No. 12); any seven of the Goldberg Variations by Bach; the Pathétique Sonata by Beethoven; three mazurkas, two nocturnes, and Waltz No. 6 by Chopin; and Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp Minor. As to the piece for the quintet during the final performance, we're still considering either Brahms or Schumann. If you have any questions, just call me. Yours, Kiyora.

Nodame carefully closed the cover and placed all the scores inside her black tote bag. She stood still for a moment and took in a whiff of the fresh summer air, which was quite cool during that particular afternoon. She looked up at the imposing façade of the hotel in front of her and noticed the intricate details carved onto its cream-colored stone walls.

"They put in so much effort into it," she muttered in awe.

She continued to gape at the stately structure until a statuesque woman wearing a peach shawl around her shoulders came out of its glass doors and shrieked, "Noda Megumi! You're staying here too?!"

Nodame's eyes widened.

"Tagaya. . . Saiko?"

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"What are you doing in Vienna?" Saiko asked. "Are you performing for Kyle Dune's birthday too?"

Saiko beamed at Nodame, who stared at her with a look of bewilderment.

Tagaya Saiko has never spoken to me before, thought Nodame in confusion, except for that time we met in the restroom at the karaoke more than ten years ago.

"Ah, don't you remember me?" asked Saiko when Nodame didn't answer. "I'm Tagaya Saiko. We used to attend Momogaoka Music Academy together. I was in the Singing Division."

"You were Chiaki-senpai's ex-girlfriend," said Nodame in a blunt tone.

Saiko seemed taken aback but nodded and said, "I was. But, you know, I'm getting married!" With that, Saiko made an uncharacteristic squeal and held out her left hand to Nodame.

Nodame saw a single large white diamond set on a thick gold band on Saiko's ring finger.

"Doesn't it look gorgeous?" Saiko gushed.

Is this Tagaya Saiko? Nodame asked herself. Why isn't she being mean?

"My fiancé's here too," continued Saiko. "He's staying in the room next to mine and he's just on his way down. We're going to have tea at a café then we'll head for the Volksoper to watch Kikuchi Toru's performance."

"Kikuchi Toru?!" gasped Nodame. "The cellist with a lot of girlfriends? So he's here too. Why didn't he attend the soloists' meeting?" she added in a voice that made it look like she was talking to herself.

Saiko ignored her musings and went on, "We'll be staying here until next Saturday so we can watch all the recitals. When's yours?"

"It's on Thursday," said Nodame. "But aren't you performing too?"

Saiko shook her head and answered, "We're just having a vacation here before the summer ends. . . . The wedding's in November. Don't you think Vienna's a lovely place for a honeymoon?"

"Eh?"

"Ah! Here he comes!" said Saiko excitedly, turning to face the entrance to the hotel.

Nodame saw a rather small and thin man coming out of the doors. He was wearing an oversized white polo shirt and baggy black pants. His leather shoes also seemed too big for him. Nodame noticed there was something very familiar about his face (apart from it possessing obvious Japanese features).

Saiko smiled widely and whispered, "He's wonderful, isn't he?"

Is she talking about that weird-looking person coming out of the door? thought Nodame. She stood on tiptoe to see if anybody else was coming out of the entrance after him, but realized that he was the very person Saiko was referring to.

As he approached, Nodame shrieked.

"Hagya!" she yelped, placing her hand over her mouth. "It's you! Y-you're. . . the spy from A-Orchestra!"

"What are you talking about, silly girl?" asked Saiko with an amused look. She grabbed the man's hand and announced, "This is my fiancé Okochi Mamoru."

What the heck happened to this woman's taste? Nodame thought.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is quite a short chapter compared to the previous ones. I hope it was fine that I broke it into really short passages.

In case you've forgotten, Okochi Mamoru is the self-proclaimed "Number Two in Conducting Division at Momogaoka Music Academy."

Please take note that my main basis for writing this fic is the live-action drama. Therefore, the character's physical appearances are based on how the actors look like. The events which happened prior to the events in this fic are also those which occurred in the drama. No offense to anime and manga supporters, but I really like the drama much better! I'm not a big fan of anything animated and I like actors working in front of the camera, so I prefer the drama. Of course, the anime and the manga are more complete, but I just love the live-action version! ;-)

Saiko does have terrible taste in men here.

Apologies for the mouth.

Your comments are very much welcome.