New Year was still gloomy for Kahoko. Everything was made clear to the press, and even for her.
"We don't understand one of our differences. Until each of us realize what should be realized, we'll be perfect for each other." He said during a news interview.
Even though it sounded as though he still gave her a chance, it didn't make her feel any better. All he had to realize was that work isn't everything, and what she had to realize was.. to let him have his way sometimes? Every time she thought about it, either Mio, Nao, Ryotaro or Etou would tell her not to think about it anymore, even though she tried to hide her problem, they could somehow see through her. A contradiction to that statement, though, is that everyone seems to believe that Kahoko and Etou are dating, where Etou is supposedly the reason Len and Kahoko broke up. Etou still had millions and millions of fans around the world because he was loved not only for his skill and looks, but how charismatic he is during Talk Shows. Most people find him funny and just plainly cute. In this case though, he lost few fans due to the Kahoko-Len controversy. Some fans of Tsukimori have criticized Kahoko but surprisingly, Len defended her strongly, Etou did the same.
"Shimizu-ku—"
"I told you already, Kaho-senpai. Just call me Keiichi, I'm not a kid anymore, and my sister might think you're calling her Shimizu-kun."
"Why is that?" she asked her kouhai, junior, (who is almost as tall as Ryotaro) as they strolled along the park, meeting only seconds ago and reminiscing on all the time they had left behind.
"W-well.." he stammered, suddenly looking away from her. Kahoko wasn't that dumb enough to know that it was about her in a way.
"She-she just wants you to be a good friend of mine." He said carefully. She wanted to tease him a bit.
"But we are good friends, aren't we?"
He gulped. "No, more—I mean, just forget it." He said, blushing a lot.
She giggled. "Keiichi, you are so cuuute~!" and ruffled his hair, having to tiptoe to reach his blonde locks. He seemed to gape then swallow before looking away, flustered.
"Kaho-chan~!" a girl yelled, jumping out of the bushes.
Kahoko got a big chill in her spine, jumping on Keiichi and hanging on to his shoulders out of utter shock. Keiichi, also out of utter shock, tried to carry her. He didn't exactly know how to so his hands supported her rear.
"Ohoho!" Tomomi, Keiichi's older sister, snickered with her hand over her mouth as she watched Keiichi blush and put Kahoko carefully back on the ground.
"S-sorry, Kaho-senpai.." he said, bowing his head slightly.
"I-it's fine.." she said, pushing his forehead so that he didn't bow anymore. She couldn't look at him directly because her butt was just touched by innocent Shimizu Keiichi.
"Anyway.. Tomomi-san! Do you already have the clothes ready?" Kahoko asked, as if whatever happened previously never took place.
Tomomi grinned. "Yes! It's going to look SO fabulous on you!" and handed her a paper bag containing the dress Tomomi wanted to give her.
"Thank you so much, Tomomi, Keiichi." She said, giving her best smile. That smile quickly disappeared however as someone just lifted her fireman style and dragging her somewhere.
"Etou—Put me down!"
"What do you think you're doing, really?" she asked after they were out of sight in the park she and Keiichi were just strolling at.
"Stealing you." He replied.
She sighed and just remained there, being carried away. If she resisted, he would surely punish her and it would attract attention, thus embarrassing herself. She couldn't see where Etou was headed, because all she could see were his clothes. All she could see, all she could smell.
After a while, he finally set her down in front of her school.
"Why did you bring me here again?" she asked him.
"Stupid." He said bluntly. "You have work."
She didn't even have time to react when he handed her his violin case.
"Just use mine. Two of your students are waiting for you already."
She stared at him with sweet gratitude. "Th—"
"Ugh, don't look at me like that, makes me sick." he said looking away and pushed her.
As Kahoko taught her class (it was February) she wondered why Etou has been acting differently. When she and Len were still.. well, it hurt to think about it but when she and Len were still together, he was so gentle, as if he would be there for her with those caring eyes. Was it because he wasn't at his best, was he putting up a mask to hide his problems during the times when he courted her for the last fifteen years? Why was he being mean?
"Okay, class! Some of you are looking pretty tired, would you like to take a break?"
Her students lamely replied 'Yeess.'
Instead of saying 'Go then!' cheerfully like usual, she just went to the mini-office by the wall where her fellow female teacher was sipping tea, looking innocent and nerdy as always.
"Hey Tamami-san, no work yet?" Kahoko asked, approaching the person she was least close to at work.
"Oh, Hino. I'm just checking if there are umm.. oh, right." She quickly turned to the next page, hiding the previous one she was looking at.
"What was that?" Hino asked and turned the page back. Tamami tried to pull it away, but Hino froze and that was enough to assure her that she saw the entire pages only about Len and Kahoko about their break-up.
"I-I'm so sorry.."
Hino smiled. "It's okay. I'm getting over it." She lied.
Kahoko sat down on the chair across her. Tamami studied her face.
"You look really sad, you know."
"You know why."
Silence passed slowly. Apparently a minute just passed. After two more, she was going to teach her class again.
"..Do you need help?" Tamami asked.
Kahoko's eyes lit up.
"I mean, I had a lot of boyfriends before. Uh.. well.. actually more like.. I was sold to men before."
Kahoko's jaw dropped. "What?"
"I know! It's completely off-topic! But there's one guy who sort of 'bought' me because he felt sorry for me. I was young back then and I saw him as my hero. He was actually 15 years old than me, twenty-three years old."
"Oh my—So you were only eight at the time?"
Tamami smiled. "I don't know if I really fell for him but he always took care of me, het got seriously mad sometimes but never hit me. He just basically made me a maid so that no one else would come for me anymore. He never wanted me though."
Kahoko blinked. "I realize how self-centered I've been now. I mean, I've only been thinking how much worse my love-life could get and now you've been through even worse."
"Well, that isn't really what I wanted to help you 'realize' though. I mean, there are two guys visibly courting you now. Etou and Len. Len still loves you, duh. He's just giving things time. What's up with Etou though?"
Kahoko had to think if she should trust Tamami. Why should she? They weren't close. But not doing so would not make them any closer. She is her colleague after all, and she even told her about her past which is something that would take you great courage and trust to tell someone else. So why not?
She explained how Etou had been distancing himself from her and acting less nice to her. Tamami was weirded out by this.
"Kahoko, I think it's weird for Etou to be as nice as you say. He's always been blunt and weird. As if he's a prodigy and says all different things than 'normal' people. He's… he's actually like Tsukimori Len. Almost an Ice King."
"Now that you say it, yeah. They are similar in so many ways, not just talent. And true, Etou was never really that nice.. Why do I find it so weird?"
Tamami smirked. "Based on my experience, it's probably his hormones. You are a pretty girl, you know?"
Kahoko dodged that compliment and complimented her back. "Any other ideas?"
"Ms. Hino~ Can you teach me this part?" asked a little boy, referring to Tzigane, a Ravel piece. She stiffened, looking at the score. Len played this during the third selection and also taught her this very piece. She shrugged off her worries and smiled sweetly.
"Yes, sweetheart." She looked back at Tamami and gave her a look that said 'I'm sorry, I'll get back to you later.'
"Ask him out." She said, as she watched the little boy drag a stunned Kahoko away.
It was already seven-thirty in the evening and Kahoko was packing up. Tamami left early with her other three co-workers and so she was alone once again with the gay Coco (Marco).
"You're locking up again, Coco?" Kahoko asked. Coco had been locking up ever since. He always stayed late.
"Yes. Again."
"Are you expecting visitors? Drinking with the guys? ..Or girls?" she asked as she put on her coat, surveying the originally-dance-room-but-is-also-used-as-a-music-room.
"Oh, naughty you! How'd you know that?"
She blinked. "I didn't."
"Well, if you must know.. No wait." He thought for a moment. "It's better you don't know."
Kahoko smiled. "Hmm, glad to know."
As Kahoko made her way down the steps, she paused at the turnabout of the stairs and just inhaled the fresh air, stressed. When she was about to turn and go down the steps, her paperbag—containing the dress Tomomi designed—fell on a bench where someone was apparently sleeping.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she yelled down to him and rushed down the steps, making sure her heels wouldn't make her trip. As she made her way to the bench, it was Kazuki.
"Kazuki! What, why are you sleeping in a place like this?"
He chuckled nervously. "Actually, I wanted to pick you up from work. I haven't done that in such a long time."
Kahoko smiled. "Aww, you're so sweet!" she said and hugged him. Kazuki sighed, knowing he was no longer able to capture her heart. How could he compete with two successful violinist who are both famous around the world? And why him at all when there is still Ryotaro? All the hope he built up was shattered. But he didn't care. Even though it hurt, like owning a pet that loves your friends more than you, he still wanted to care for her like how a best friend should.
"So, let's go?"
As they both made their way to Kahoko's car, Kazuki got really pissed off. For one, a certain disrespectful person he had met last year was there waiting by her car.
"Etou?" Kahoko called out. She looked back and watched Kazuki sit in front of another car, as if to wait and look menacing. His plan to look that way failed miserably as the alarm of the car started to sound as he jumped and looked around for the owner, ran and hid somewhere.
Kahoko made an 'ooh' face, as if she watched someone run into a pole.
Etou walked toward her with his hands in his pockets and his headphones on his ears.
"What are you doing here?" Kahoko asked him, pursing her lips.
He glanced in Kazuki's direction. "I.. wanted to steal you."
"Steal me?"
"Yeah, I mean. I went here much earlier but I overheard something."
Kahoko froze. "Oh my—What did you hear?"
"Hmm.. there were two.. First was with a girl called.. Tami?"
She gasped. "Tamami?"
He smiled awkwardly. "I'm waiting for you to ask that question."
"Ask him out." Tamami said.
Hino couldn't do it. There were too much memories of she and Len together, and to make it worse, she still loved him.
Etou noticed her hesitation and he held her long sleeves, his hands only three centimeters away from hers.
"Please, go out with me."
She hesitated again.
"I won't ask you for anything more. I'll kiss you, but that's it. I'll bring you to all the countries you've never been to, places Len never brought you to. I'm going to be good, give you everything he never did. Please, just.." Etou slumped lower and leaned on her, his forehead touching hers. He swallowed and whispered again: "Please."
Kahoko had no choice but to look in his eyes. She could see he was desperately holding on to something that was most likely to fade away. She felt like she was a ghost no one else could hold on to but Len.
She bit her lip. She felt herself shaking and felt as if Etou could hear her heartbeat.
"G-give me some time.."
At the most HELPFUL of times, someone took the courage to break this moment and clear his throat.
He didn't like this. At all. He actually preferred Len to be her boyfriend again. He didn't like Etou courting her, nor did he like him at first sight.
Kahoko and Etou separated as soon as they heard the out of place 'ahem'.
He watched her drive away, still answerless, and on the verge of breaking. He wasn't even able to tell her why he's been acting differently.