Chapter 13 – The Competition
Soft…Sweet…Kahoko…KAHOKO?!
Tsukimori's wandering thoughts jerked back into his head as he suddenly pulled away from Kahoko. His hand came up to cover his mouth. Kahoko had a blank, confused look on her face.
"Ah…" Tsukimori gasped out, watching awareness seep back into Kahoko.
SMACK!!
The sound of the slap that Kahoko gave Tsukimori echoed within the confines of the limousine. Tsukimori's eyes widened in anger at first, then the fury dissipated.
"I… deserved that." Tsukimori said. "I have no idea what came over me."
He bowed deeply, as best as he could within the limo. "Gomenasai"
Kahoko was caught between remaining angry and forgiving him. It was my first kiss! I have the right to remain angry and he knows that. But… his apology was so sincere, and truthfully, I wasn't that unhappy about the kiss… NO! I can't forgive him just yet! Then again, I don't want to further strain our relationship before the competition round. I know, I'll give him the silent treatment for the rest of the car ride. That should be enough, right?
"Kahoko? Are you alright? Your expression has been a little odd." Tsukimori ventured to ask.
Kahoko started a little when she realized that her outward expression had actually changed accordingly with her thoughts.
"You're forgiven." She blurted out before she could remind herself about the decision she had made barely a few moments before. Darn, silent treatment! She inwardly winced.
"Are you in pain?" Tsukimori, whose expression had been relieved when Kahoko so abruptly said she forgave him, asked in genuine concern. Perhaps Kahoko's inward grimace was not quite so inward after all.
Torn between the need to stick to her resolve to ignore Tsukimori for the rest of the journey and the desire to assuage the obvious worry that her partner displayed, Kahoko hesitated, then gave a vigorous silent shake of her head.
Tsukimori frowned a little, clearly not fully convinced that she was fine.
"Take care of yourself Kahoko, you are… very important."
Keeping in line with her silent treatment, Kahoko merely stared out the window, watching the scenery pass.
Tsukimori realized that he was not going to get a response from her. She's probably still upset about the kiss, even though she said she's already forgiven me. He sighed, leaning back into the seat. Unbidden, memories about the kiss came floating into his mind. Argghh! This is torture when I'm sitting so close to her, especially when she's ignoring me. I must find some way to stop thinking about that kiss! He dragged his fingers through his hair in frustration. In desperation he rummaged through his bag in search of something to distract him from his current thoughts. His fingers curled around a book about the history of music during the romantic period. Well, I guess it's better than nothing. He settled down to read the book.
Neither of them spoke for the remainder of the journey.
--
"Kahoko? Kahoko, we've reached the hotel."
Kahoko groggily opened her eyes, awakened both by the gruff yet gentle voice calling her and the touch of a hand on her shoulder, shaking it so she would wake up. Ehh?! She immediately jolted wide awake when she realized that the person waking her so gently and carefully was, in fact, Tsukimori. Then, she realized what position she had been in while she had slept: she had been leaning on Tsukimori with her head on his shoulder! What happened to the silent treatment? I wasn't supposed to fall asleep on the person I'm supposed to be ignoring! She groaned.
"Morning, Kahoko." Tsukimori gave her a hesitant, faintly amused smile. "Or should I say good afternoon?"
Did he do anything while I was sleeping? Even though it is Len-kun, he is still male. He could have easily followed up on the kiss while I was unaware. Kahoko mentally checked her body, somewhat relieved to find that nothing seemed strange, other than her neuroticism.
Tsukimori seemed to read her mind, saying "Relax, I didn't do anything. You just looked uncomfortable sleeping with your head against the window." He seemed a little upset about Kahoko doubting him.
Kahoko reddened. "Th…thanks Len-kun."
"It was the least I could do. Let's go check in." He picked up all the items in the car and headed towards the hotel counter.
--
"Here's your room Kahoko, room 591." Tsukimori said as he pushed open the door to a simply-furnished room. Tsukimori followed Kahoko into her room.
"Len-kun! Why are you entering this room too?" Kahoko nervously asked.
Tsukimori looked askance at her. "I have to put your things down, don't I?"
"G…omen Len-kun. I don't mean to be so jumpy."
Tsukimori sighed. "Look Kahoko, I'm really sorry about the kiss just now. It wasn't my original intention and now it's straining our partnership. I'm not going to attempt to do anything to you before the competition so, could we both have the competition as our main focus now?"
Kahoko mutely nodded in reply.
"Our practice time is from 3.30 to 4. The competition starts at 7 so we'll have time to eat, change and mingle with the other competitors. I'll come pick you up at 3 alright? So eat and rest well before then."
With that, Tsukimori hurriedly left the room.
--
"Wow Len-kun, look at all the people here! Are they all competitors?"
Kahoko and Tsukimori were currently in Shouna Academy eating dinner. After the rest they had each taken in their separate rooms, their relationship has become much less strained (especially on Kahoko's side).
"Eat you food and don't stress yourself out by thinking about the other competitors." Tsukimori replied.
He cast a glance about the area. "I think the majority of the people here are likely friends and family, or backstage crew and the media. Sensei told me that there are only six participating schools."
"Six? That's like the original amount of participants in our concours!"
"Yeah." Tsukimori was still looking around. "I don't see the Arina twins yet. I heard that they would be taking part as well."
"Arina twins? Who are they?"
"The winners of the previous time, apparently. They're from Meiji Academy, a brother and sister duo. Each of them has won and placed in several prestigious competitions and they won this competition when they were only first-years."
"So they're third years now?"
"Yes."
"Wow, then they are very strong competition." Kahoko said nervously.
Tsukimori cast a glance at her. "We'll do fine if we just play like how we played during the practice time. That was very well-played, almost perfect."
Just then, a flurry of people started towards the door. A crowd soon formed around two people, both holding violin cases and wearing sunglasses. (Inside a room? Kahoko thought.) Cameras were flashing and reporters were jostling to ask questions.
"Sara and Takari, how do you feel about the competition this time round? Many people say that the standard of competitors is much higher than the previous competition. Do you think that the two of you will be able to emerge triumphant yet again?"
The twins looked at each other, then both removed their sunglasses. Arina Takari's blue eyes and Arina Sara's green eyes gazed amusedly at the reporter who had asked the question.
"Let them try to defeat us!"
--
Haha, the fierce competition was added on the spur of the moment so the original plan for this chapter to be the first round has been pushed to the next!
I got severe mental block over how to continue from the previous chapter. Guess I should have thought it through before posting that chapter up -sigh- I hope the start of this chapter wasn't unnatural.
I'll post the next chapter up pretty soon (for me) cause I have somewhat of a sketch already in mind. In the meantime, review! )