A/N: Hey guys, I am so stoked right now cause I just GRADUATED. YES YOU HEARD ME, I AM OFFICIALLY IN HIGHSCHOOL.

AND THAT- LADIES AND GENTLEMEN - IS VERY SCARYYY. :o

Anyways back to the story;

It's summer and what does that mean ?!

FASTER UPDATES ON THIS AWESOME--KIDDING---FANFIC. OH YESSSSSSS

And I love you guys so much and your reviews, I need to know your opinions. :) So keep 'em comin !

Continuation of day five; Saturday/ Kahoko's POV;

"Again."

Screeeeeeee---

"Again."

"But Tsukimori--"

"Again."

I sighed, "Fine."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to ignore the stiffness in my neck, the ache in my arms and even my wounded knee. I leaned my chin on the chinrest, relaxed my arms and let my music sing through my fingers and pass on unto the violin. I glanced at Tsukimori, who was accompanying me in piano, but I knew he was listening to my tune as well. The piece that Tsukimori had chosen for me was Meditation from Thaïs by Jules Massenet and I have been practicing it now for two hours. It was already 3 o'clock in the afternoon and we were in practice room 103.

After I slept in the clinic when I fell down and bruised my knee that night with Kaji, Tsukimori came to pick me up. I haven't seen Kaji yet but I was wondering where he was...I couldn't get what happened last night off my head and I tried not to think about it since I was with Tsukimori right now. That would be a very awkward thing to mention to him.

I closed my eyes once more and just let myself go with the music. Little by little, I felt the pain fade away and I began to smile. It was involuntary; my mood would always adjust to the piece I was playing. I've also noticed a few improvements in myself, I could carry notes easily now and the pain was bearable as I got used to it. It was easier for me to remember the notes and to just combine with the music. Kaji said so but I wanted to know what Tsukimori thought.

It was a bit surreal to be with him now after all that we've been through and even the current situation we were in. But as much as I still had a grudge against him, I let it go for now since it was the competition that was on my mind not my personal life. As I have said, this was all business and nothing personal.

My fingers continued to move until the last few notes and I ended better than my last few tries, I exhaled. "How was it?"

Tsukimori nodded, "Better. You see, Hino? You just have to believe in yourself." The way he looked at me just now brought blood to my cheeks.

I cleared my throat and looked away from his gaze, "Uh, yeah. Thanks." I put my violin back in it's case but did not close it, "I'll just go drink first. I'm thirsty."

"Quickly, please."

"Alright, alright."

* * * * * *

Tsukimori's POV;

"Alright, alright." she sighed and shut the door behind her. I sighed as well and got up from my seat to clean my violin. 'I should just stop being a jerk to her.'

But what who am I kidding? She'll never forgive me. She's all stiff around me and that makes me miss her cheerful happy self terribly. How she calls my name before was definitely different from the way she addressed me now. Everything changed between us.

I felt my hand clench into a fist as my heart began to split into two. It would never be the same anymore, I blew it.

Ring---ring!

My cellphone was ringing and I saw Miaka's name flash across the LCD screen, I clicked the 'answer' button. "What do you want Miaka?"

"Tsukimori," she sighed my name, "How's your practice so far? Don't think that I'm spying or anything okay?" she giggled.

"No, not at all. Well, our practice is progressing. Hino's a wonderful performer."

"You don't say so, eh? Well, it's only between you and me Tsukimori."

"Don't tease me, Miaka. This is a competition so save your words for your performance." I was getting tired of her efforts of trying to start up a conversation.

"Ah, stingy. Okay then, John's back from his break. See you later?"

"I'm too busy. Some other time."

"Oh." she sighed, "Kay, bye."

"Bye." I snapped my phone shut just as Hino got back inside with a small smile on her face. Ah, her smile.

"Ready?"

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Why the sudden enthusiasm?"

She shook her head, "Nothing. By the way, this is a nice piece you've selected."

"It's nothing. It all depends on your technique which makes the piece sound good."

"...you haven't learned, have you?" she looked up at me through her eyelashes. I blinked, lost by her stare.

"I-I'm sorry - what?"

"I said, you haven't learned have you?"

I crossed my arms on my chest, "Learned what, Hino-san?"

"That it's not all about technique, Tsukimori." she sat down on a chair and laid her fingers on the piano keys and started to play random notes which--even though they did not sound harmonized at all--sounded happy and light. "But the emotions, the message you're trying to show over your music. After all these years, you still haven't grasped that? I think I should be teaching you."

I gave her a disapproving look, "I have learned enough Hino."

She raised a finger to stop me, "Just not the important things." she swayed her finger side to side.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Alright, can we continue now?"

"Of course." she got her violin and smiled, "From the top?"

I nodded, feeling a much better now. "From the top."

* * * * *

Kaji's POV;

I just headed to the clinic and Hino wasn't there. Where'd she go?

"Uhm, Mi scusi? Hino Kahoko, il paziente che è stato proprio qui, Qualcuno a prenderla?" (Uhm, excuse me? Hino Kahoko, the patient that was just here, did anybody pick her up?) I asked the nurse and she replied with a friendly smile, "Ah, si. Che il giovane di nome Tsukimori, il violinista ." (Ah, yes. The young man named Tsukimori, the violinist.)

"Oh." Tsukimori got her?! "Grazie." (Thank you.)

"Di niente." (You're welcome.)

I walked out the door quickly and headed to the practice rooms to look for Hino, they were probably rehearsing their piece now. But just when I turned right around the corner, I accidentally bumped into someone.

"Ahh--" she blushed and bent down to get her books, I kneeled to help her.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there." I spoke in english hoping she would understand. I looked up and recognized the young lady, she was my partner for the competition; Matsuka Nami. She had black hair which was tied in a messy bun - her bangs covering her forehead - and green eyes. She had a very light skin color but her cheeks were covered with a lovely shade of pink, so were her lips. "Oh, Matsuka-san."

"Kaji-kun, I've been looking all over for you. We must be rehearsing now - " she stood up and held the music sheets to her chest, "I've already reserved a room for us, are you coming?"

I thought for a second and decided I needed as much time as I can get to be able to beat Tsukimori...but that meant Hino as well. "Sure, I am."

'I won't quit anymore.'

This was just a competition after all. And I'm certainly not giving up this time.

4:50 P.M. Tsukimori's POV;

"It's getting late. We'll practice again tomorrow, same time."

"Whatever you say, Tsukimori-kun."

!

"You called me..."

She raised an eyebrow at me, "What? '-kun'? Of course I do, don't I always?" she rolled her eyes at me while she continued to put her violin neatly in it's case.

I didn't reply but I was certainly relieved. I took comfort in the fact that she would be calling me that way again, "See you then." I turned and opened the door to head back to the dorm...or maybe take a walk outside campus.

"Tsukimori-kun," Hino called me, "Would you like to eat some meat buns again?"

'What?' I looked back at her and saw her smiling, "I don't really want to be alone around the city and I think Kaji-kun is still rehearsing -" I frowned at the mention of his name. "Would you like to escort me? If I'm bothering you then it's fine. I'll go on my -"

I sighed, trying to mask my relief. "You've already brought it up and we still have some time, let's go."

She smiled at me and skipped at my side.

* * * *

"How long has it been since highschool?"

I looked down at Hino who gazed up at the orange sky, the light on her eyes made the crimson color more rich. It took me awhile to answer, "Around five years."

"That's a really really long time. Don't you ever wonder how Kanazawa-sensei or Ousaki-sensei are doing? They must be really old now."

I coughed to keep from chuckling, though I have wondered about that a few times. But the number of times that I've thought about them was much less than the several times Hino's been on my mind. "Sometimes but I'm sure they're doing well. They are capable of themselves."

Hino sighed once more and I noticed how often I've heard her do that these days, "I know they are. Ousaki-sensei won the music competition in Vienna, right?"

"Yes."

"And he's participating in another one?"

"Yes."

"Ah, good for him. He's a very talented violinist."

"It seems so."

There was a short pause, "Do you always talk like this? You're not much of a chatter?" she raised an eyebrow at me.

"There's nothing really to discuss, Hino. You only brought me to escort you around to the store back to the palace."

"But you must have some stories to share, you've been around the world already." she sounded more excited than I had been, "That was quite life-changing, wasn't it?"

"If you say so."

She frowned and sighed once more but forced a small smile, "It must be nice to be famous and to be someone who people look up to."

Now she was confusing me, "What do you mean, Hino-san?"

"You know, back in highschool, I was always jealous of you. Even until now."

I hesitated but murmured softly, "You told me that."

"Yes, I remember. I was just checking if you do." she giggled and nodded back to the palace, "We should head back, it's getting dark."

And I didn't mind keeping up with her back to the palace gates.

---

As I was about to head back to the men's dormitory, Hino spoke up first. "Thank you for today, Tsukimori-kun!" her voice rang like a sweet melody, music to my ears.

My own reply was a simple nod, "Good night, Hino-san."

And I was happy that as I turned to walk to back to the dorm, she would not catch me smiling happily to myself.

And finally, one of those rare TsukiXHino moments. This chapter was supposed to be a little more cheesy but I thought it would make the story look rushed so well, the drama is not that evident here. Hino was supposed to mention something else but I decided to cut that too for the sake of the keeping the story in line. :-)

THANKS FOR ALL YER LOVELEH REVIEWS. I bow down to all of you ^:)^

Next chapter is still in the works so stay tuned ! :)

P.S. Try listening to the piece that Tsukimori and Hino will be playing for the first selection of the competition. Oh, and please give me some suggestions on pieces that the contestants will be performing. For example, a viola piece for Kaji or a piano piece for the pianists (All nine contestants are mentioned in chapter 11.)

I have a hard time looking for the right kind of musical pieces for all the contestants so I need your help, so thanks in advance !

:)