Am I in a Harem?

Chapter 14

The Heart Chooses

For the next week of school, things were even calmer than before. The only thing that really happened was Kotori talking to her about that promised day with Umi.

"So, I was thinking that we could go out together on Saturday. How does that sound?"

"I'm sorry Kotori, but I've already made plans for that day. What about Sunday? I'm certain that I have nothing going on that day." She looked at Kotori, but could see the smallest hint of sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I really do want to go out with you. It's just that I had these plans already and I can't bail out now."

"It's fine. I guess Sunday will work."

"Really? Alright, shall I pick you up at your house?"

"No, it's fine. I'll meet you at yours instead."

"Alright. Well, I gotta go. I'll see you then. Bye." She waved to Kotori as she made her way to the school's exit.

Kotori waved back to her, but that wave meant nothing to her. She missed her chance to take Umi for herself. She didn't know who Umi had plans with, but she was determined to find out one way or another.

…

When Saturday came around, Umi got up at her normal time and dressed to impress. She was attending a recital so she had to look good. Once she was ready, she exited her house and made her way to the city's concert hall. Right as she got there, she could see a huge group of people standing outside of the building. Of course, she didn't know any of them so she just tried to blend in. She looked around and could tell that something was going on because all of them were talking about Maki and how special she was. They definitely weren't relatives because they looked nothing like her. She just couldn't put her finger on what all of this meant.

"Umi-senpai!"

She heard her voice from behind and when she turned, she saw Maki running at her in a beautiful red dress.

"Hi Maki-chan. Wow, you look incredible."

"Thank you. My mother insisted that I look extra nice today. But you look very nice yourself."

"Thank you. If you don't mind me asking, is today something special?"

"Our little Maki is being evaluated by prestigious scouts from all over the country."

Umi looked up to see a man and a woman walk up behind Maki. They were obviously her parents. Compared to Maki, they almost a kind of threatening look to them, but she didn't let this affect her. She introduced herself to them with a bow.

"Maki-chan, who is this beautiful young lady?"

"This is my senpai from school. We met in the music room and have been friends ever since."

"I see." Her father took a step forward and examined Umi. "What is your family status, Sonoda-san?"

"My family is a little higher than middle-class, but I don't think I'm the best judge of that. We are very traditional in our ways and constantly try to help as many people as we can. I know it may sound a little weird, but that's just who we are."

"Hm, very good. Sonoda… I feel like I've heard that name before. Anyway, Maki-chan, be sure to stick with this young lady because she seems very responsible."

"She is. Umi-senpai is so cool."

"Maki-chan, you know you don't need the honorific. We know each other, right?"

"I guess so."

"Sonoda-san, there's no need to be generous. Our Maki-chan needs to learn respect even if it needs to be by a school senior."

At that moment, Maki's mother looked at her phone. After that, she gestured Maki to head to the auditorium. Before she got too far, Maki called out to Umi telling that her spot was reserved right next to her parents. Unfortunately, she didn't really know what that meant so she just decided to follow her parents into the auditorium. As she walked through the doors and into the building, she couldn't believe her eyes. The place was huge and quite stunning. Almost everything was made out of wood as to help performers project their sound. She continued to follow Maki's parents until they took their seats in the front row. Before Umi sat down, she got one more look around and was simply lost for words. This place was something else.

"So Sonoda-san, you are a second year?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any plans for college?"

"Well, I've been maintaining my grades as to make my options as open as I possible when I apply. As for what I will study, I'm not too sure yet."

"That's still good. You definitely need to start off early if you want to have chance later on. You're actually one of the only friends Makic-chan's introduced us to that somewhat has a plan. We've been trying to get Maki-chan started on those things, but she loves music."

"There's nothing wrong with that. From what I can tell, she really loves it. Every time I see her, she's always in the music room practicing the piano or is doing something related to the piano."

"Interesting. Last time we checked, she almost never used in the music room or practiced her piano." The conversation suddenly died out as Maki's father turned to his wife and started talking to her.

Only another minute went by before the lights dimmed and out walked Maki. With her long red dress on, it looked as though she glided across the stage. When she reached center stage where the piano was, she took a bow and scanned the crowd. However, there was only one person she cared about seeing and that was Umi. She was right in the front looking right at her. Maki couldn't help but give her a small wave and Umi had to respond back with the same gesture. After that, Maki took her seat and started her recital.

Right as she played her first note, Umi was captivated by what she was listening to. The sound of her piano and the song she was playing were complimenting each other perfectly. However, enjoying the music alone wasn't enough. Umi looked at Maki and could tell that she was truly taken away by the music. Her body was swaying and her eyes were closed. Those things could only mean that she trusted herself enough to let her body do all of the work and this definitely payed off. Umi then looked around calmly and could see the faces of everyone thoroughly enjoying what they were listening to.

The performance lasted about an hour, but for everyone in the audience, it only felt like a couple of minutes. Once the performance was done, everyone filed out of the auditorium and into the courtyard just outside the building. When Umi made it outside, she took a deep breath and smiled.

"Wow. That was something else."

"Umi-senpai!"

Maki's voice came from behind her which made her turn. This time, though, Maki jumped into Umi's arms and hugged her as tight as she could.

"How did I do? Did you like it? I'm sorry if my parents were a little weird, but who cares about that? Did you like it?"

"Haha, that was incredible. I'm honestly at a loss for words."

"I'm glad you liked it. I was afraid you'd think it was stupid or something like that."

"Why would I think that? Didn't I make it obvious that day we met that piano was something that I wish I could play?"

"I guess you did." The two of them smiled at each other. Unfortunately, this moment together only lasted a few more seconds before Maki's parents entered the area yet again.

"That was very good, Maki. I know you're done with this, but there are a lot of people that are asking to talk to you. Sonoda-san, would you mind if we stole Maki away from you?"

"Oh, go ahead. Don't let me stop you from whatever is going on."

"Thank you so much. Come on Maki-chan." Her mother grabbed her hand and started to pull her away.

"Umi-senpai, I'll see you at school okay?! Thank you so much for coming!" By the time she finished talking, she was already out of sight. All Umi could do was wave goodbye. She looked around once more and decided to head home.

Meanwhile, Kotori was watching from afar and saw the whole thing. Now she knew who this other girl was that was stealing Umi away from her. However, she didn't get too discouraged. Tomorrow was her chance to be even better than this. The only problem was that this performance was incredible. She really had to go out of her way to make tomorrow something special for the both of them.

End of Chapter 14