A/N:

I told you I was going to post it up, so it here it is, I'm even spending my birthday posting up this story, cuz I actually really like this chapter, so be nice and you can all give me a present by giving a review and saying what you think! be honest!


Chapter 11

It's finally here, the day of the funeral. Nanako and I decided that since my parents were both well known, we would make it private. Only family and a few close friends of my parents will be attending. It will be a slightly unorthodox ceremony, compared to that of a regular Japanese funeral, but my parents were always a bit unorthodox. The two priests had already arrived this morning and were now currently in a room preparing for the ceremony.

I stand here at the temple in front of the casket of my dead parents. They look so peaceful, like they're asleep, yet I know they're not. I walk up to their caskets and place some of their cherished things to burn with them. With my father, I place his old wooden tennis racket and one of his perverted magazines, and with my mother a picture of me, Nanako, and Karupin, and also music sheets of her favorite song. We close the casket and wheel them over to the tennis court on the temple grounds. When Nanako and I were discussing the arrangements, we realized that we'd have to deal with a lot of security and other details if we did a traditional Japanese funeral. With the temple right at our backyard, why not put it to use, and having the funeral ceremony on the tennis court, would be like a tribute to my parents. Tennis was my father's life, and it was how he met my mother. It would be fitting to have their ceremony on the court.

It's time. The gates open, the guests arrive, the funeral procession begins. It's a mix of people that arrive today. Everyone from some of the most elite families of the world to regular common people stand here. The Atobe's, the Ootori's, the Haninozuka clan, and the Morinozuka clan (yes, these are from Ouran High, only these three families will appear. I haven't decided if the children will make an appearance though. I don't know if the names for Hani and Mori are spelled correctly, and I didn't feel like looking it up, so if it's wrong, please tell me); they're all here, the most elite families in all of Japan, and the people who knew my mother best. They were all family friends, they knew each other since they were small, all running in the same circle. They trusted each other greatly and were intimately involved in one another's business. Some of the top executives of the company had also shown up. On the other side of the spectrum, were commoners. Teachers, coaches, and salary-men were here, some of them new my mother, but the majority of them new my father. Ryuuzaki-sensei, Banji-sensei and Oji-san, were all here, including the Seigaku regulars. Various other people I've never met had also shown up, called by Ryuuzaki-sensei, I'm assuming they were some of Oyaji's close friends when he was growing up.

The security is tight today, with a bodyguard stationed everywhere, and extra security placed especially by the gates. Some of them are our own guards, but others, especially the ones by the gates and the exits, are loaned to us by the Haninozuka and Morinozuka clans. Even though we're not that close to the gates, you can still here the crowds. There's an entire mob of people, it looks like practically the whole city had shown up today. The police had tried to disperse some of the people, since it was getting to be too much, but eventually they gave up. People just kept on coming by the numbers. There was no way they would get the people to move. Their screams and wails ring through the air. You can almost picture the whole lot of them sobbing and crying their eyes out. I'll never understand it. I'll never understand why they cry and wail for my parents, people that they've never met before. They've seen my father on the television or on the courts a long time ago, but they don't know him. They don't know what he was like. They'd probably be stunned to hear that he was a pervert that had no shame in reading a porn magazine or ogling women wherever he went or that he loved teasing me more than anything. They'd probably call me a liar if they heard it. They worship him for what reason, just because he played a good game of tennis. They're all idiots.

The funeral ceremony has already begun. I am sitting here on the first row with Nanako, her parents and Takahiro, behind me sit the heads of the Atobe family, Ootori family, and the Haninozuka and the Morinozuka clan, along with their wives and children respectively. (A/N: yes I am using characters from Ouran Highschool host club b/c I needed rich families, people who Rinko would've interacted with and hence so would Ryoma. He is only close with those families and their respective businesses as well)

The priests had begun chanting a sutra, one for Okaa-san and another for Oyaji. I don't understand a lot of what their saying. I crinkle my nose as I smell the incense being offered to them. I hate the smell incense. All in all, I never really paid attention to the ceremony, mostly because I had no idea what was going on. All I knew was they did a lot of chanting, a lot of bowing, and for some reason, a lot of clapping. The only thing I could understand, where a few dates mentioned here and there. They had begun telling the most significant parts of my parent's lives. They started talking about the day they married, the day my father became a pro, the day he retired, the day I was born, and the day my mother became CEO of the Takeuchi corporations.

It has now been about an hour and ten minutes. The ceremony is usually about forty minutes long, but since, it's two people, the ceremony was performed twice. It's now me and Nanako's turn. As the closest family member's left, it was our turn to pay our respects. We got up, knelt before the altar and presented two branches each, one for okaa-san and one for oyaji, as servants wheeled the grand piano, close to the courts. With a microphone and speakers set up throughout the property, Nanako and I took our places, Nanako on the piano, me on the violin.

"Okaa-san, this is for you. It's your favourite song." I say as I look at the casket holding my dead mother and give Nanako a nod, telling her she can start.

The soft melodious tones of the piano begin and I take my cue as I draw the bow across my violin and I play your song, 'kaa-san, Ave Maria, and Nanako sings the lyrics. I couldn't have been able to sing it myself. I can sing of course, but I would've broken down in the middle if I had to sing the lyrics as well. I'm breaking down as we speak, the moment the bow drew across the violin strings, tears fell down my face, and I couldn't stop them from falling. (A/N: If you're interested in the lyrics, just google Ave Maria Schubert lyrics, it's in latin I believe and If you wanna hear the song with the piano and violin, just search it on youtube: "Ave Maria violin and piano" I couldn't find one that had the violin, piano, and the singing, well okay, I didn't really look that hard. Anyways, It's a really beautiful song, I recommend you all listen to it.)

It's silent. For once, the crowd outside had died down. Not a noise can be heard, no cars, no wailing, no honking, no nothing. It's as if the world has stood still for this instance. All eyes are fixed on me and Nanako right now, but I close my eyes, shutting out the world as I continue to play. I remember everything. I remember how my mother insisted on putting me into music, at first I hated it, but it's grown to be such a big part of me, thank you 'kaa-san. Thank you for giving me this, for introducing me to this. I remember Oyaji too. This was the first piece I ever played. He always used to complain about me and my music, saying I could spend my time better practicing tennis and honing my skills, but as soon as he heard me play this in the first competition, he stayed quiet. He never complained after it. Even though he never said it, he was entranced, just like I was, by the beautiful sounds and the emotion that was evoked by the strings of the violin and the keys of the piano.

The song's almost done and I haven't stopped crying. This is the first time I've cried since it all started. It's the first time I've allowed the walls I've built and the masks I've created to crumble. I'm surprised by it myself. I've spent so long creating this mask and these walls to protect myself, to keep everyone at a distance and here I am revealing to all the real me. The part of me, no one's ever known, other than my parents and Nanako. 'Kaa-san, you've always wanted me to do this haven't you? You've always wanted me to tear down the walls I've built. I guess… this is my last gift to you. I've freed myself and opened up myself wholly for the world to see. I've done one thing you wanted, but I'm sorry. I cannot fulfill the other request; I can't trust anymore, I'll probably go back to how I used to be … when things hurt less.


A/N: So what do all of you think? I made the funeral ceremony on the tennis courts because I thought it was the most fitting of places. Considering who Echizen Nanjiroh was and how much tennis was a part of his life, he even met Rinko because of it, and all of his time spent with Ryoma on those courts, it was one of the most fitting ways to remember him and for everyone to say goodbye to him, besides he never seemed like the traditional sort of person.

Ave Maria is a beautiful song and I implore all of you to listen to it.

I know it's short, but if you're with me so far, you know I hardly ever write long chapters. I break the story up for a reason and this chapter was only meant to be about the funeral, nothing more.

Please review, I would love to know what all of you think, since I am new at writing stories.

expect the next update by end of the week