Chapter Thirty-Six: Behind These Bars, I Found the Key!

Hanako looked around at the foreign city, feeling flustered and scared. However, before she could really panic, Mikaru was beside her, and she clung to him like a lifeline.

"It's okay, Hanako. We're almost there. Just a little further."

She nodded to him, and hid her face in his arm as they walked. They moved for what felt like hours to her, until finally, they were inside a large building that looked strange to her. She pulled her head up, and looked around her. All around, there were posters on the walls, and a decidedly posh-looking design to the interior of the building. She didn't know whether she enjoyed it or not, because it was all so... reflective. She didn't have too long to think about that though, because she heard an excited squeal and footfalls. She peeked at them from behind her hair, and saw a large number of people, all of various ages, but all of them were adults. They walked over to them, speaking in English excitedly. Mikaru smiled at them, waving and speaking back.

"Hello there! It's good to see you all as well. I'm glad that you all decided to come here, and play this piece with me. When I started writing it, I knew that I didn't want anyone but you guys playing it."

Mikaru had spoken slowly, with perfect clarity. Hanako, because of that, was able to make out at least the large majority of what he said, and gathered the rest through context. The others looked between the two of them, and smiled. One of them walked forward and spoke. This one, however, Hanako could understand.

"Who is this, Michael? Did you get a girlfriend while you were away?"

He chuckled at that, speaking warmly in English.

"Yes. This is Hanako. Hanako -"

He gestured to the group of people in front of him, and spoke in Japanese again.

"- This is the old band that played my music when I was a child. They've all come back to play this with me, in Sydney."

She nodded, but hid a little more into his arm. He turned to the others again, and spoke.

"- I'm sorry, you guys. Hanako is a little shy, and I don't know if she was expecting you all to be so exuberant. We should begin, though. I've got all of our materials in the other room. We have another player joining us for another piece, but she's in the states right now, catching up with some family. Shall we go, then?"

They turned away then, heading into another room. When they were gone, Hanako looked up at him, seeming almost ashamed. He bent down to her, though, kissing her a bit before pulling back and smiling.

"It's going to be okay, Hanako. These people are very nice. Great people, all of them. You can take a seat on the side, though, if it makes you more comfortable."

She nodded, cheering up a bit and taking a deep breath. After she did, she opened her eyes, and gave a resolute nod. He smiled widely at that, walking into the room with Hanako in tow. As they did, Hanako broke off then, and sat in a seat on the side. Mikaru started walking around the circle of people then, seeing them reading his music. He saw a few eyes raise to him as he walked by, and they started pointing to the music and speaking to him. He would answer their questions as he did, and they would smile brightly as they were starting to get it.

After about an hour of doing this, they decided to pull out their instruments, and Mikaru moved between them as they started to figure out how to play the songs. Hanako watched with fascination as he moved through the crowd of people, talking with the older people and showing them new things. It was a fascinating reversal of the norm, and Hanako found herself wishing that she could have seen him doing this before she had met him.

After another hour of this, Mikaru started them on their first song, and moved through it with them as they began to play. He would stop the frequently, using his arm to point out individuals and sections as he spoke to them. After he did, he would start from the beginning, and he repeated this process for 2 hours. Hanako hadn't even moved from her spot, though. Seeing him like this, in his element, with such authority and devotion, was like seeing an entirely different person. She found herself smiling as the music started to take form, and listened for another 2 hours of work before Mikaru stopped them, speaking.

"Alright, everyone. That was a great first day. We'll likely be moving to the second piece tomorrow, so pay extra attention to it in your studies. Thank you all for coming out, and have a good night."

They all stood then, stretching their aching bodies and smiling at the hard work they had started. As she watched them doing this, she was startled by one of the artists, the one that spoke Japanese, sit down beside her and speak.

"Hello, Hanako. What did you think of that?"

Hanako looked over to her, speaking shyly.

"That was... that was... a-amazing... Mikaru looked... really good, d-doing that..."

She smiled at her, nodding and taking her hand with a laugh.

"Hanako! Does he not look happy other times?"

Hanako faced the woman fully then, shaking her head at that. The woman got a better look at her then, but kept her eyes on Hanako's as she spoke.

"He... He didn't really... look happy, until... until he and I... got together... but even then, he – he never really looked this happy for... for so long at – at one time..."

The woman nodded to her, looking at Mikaru as he talked with some of the others. She noted how happy he was to be there, doing what he loved, and commented.

"I can only imagine. When I knew him, he was always this happy. I don't really know what happened to him, after he left, but he looks much different than before. And he lost his hands, which must have hit him hard."

Hanako looked at the woman for a moment, and the woman looked back to her.

"The... the music... it tells... a story... you should... read it all again, and... maybe you'll... learn something..."

She nodded, smiling.

"Okay, then. Thank you for talking to me, Hanako. Mikaru's a really lucky guy, to have found someone so devoted to him as you are."

Hanako smiled at the compliment to her character, nodding her head.

"D-Domo..."

The woman smiled at that, nodding her head before standing.

"I will go pack up now. See you tomorrow, Hanako!"

She moved away then, and Hanako stood up. She moved to Mikaru, who smiled at her and took her by the waist. After that, they left.

The next two weeks went almost exactly the same way. However, as they did, Hisao, Lilly, Mikki and Carla joined them. Mikki and Carla were both amazed to be with all of the top-tier musicians as they worked, and Carla was taking well to her task of piano playing. The later pieces in the concert were all arranged to strongly feature piano, to reflect Mikaru's recaptured happiness and embrace of music.

Hisao and Lilly were both enjoying themselves greatly as they heard the music coming together, neither of them hindered by either of their disabilities or differences. Lilly and Hisao even learned a bit about music, as Mikaru explained things to the others with gusto. Hanako was also paying very close attention, seeing how the musicians were playing their instruments.

As time went on, Hanako also opened up to the musicians. As Mikaru had said, they were really nice, and a few of them even let her try their instruments, showing her how to play a few of them. Now, though, they were on to learning the last piece, and Mikki was feeling nervous. This was the first time that Carla had a large role in the music, as her part was the main voice of the music. Carla was also feeling nervous, but she had a lot of experience in performing, so it was not an issue for her.

Hanako watched the girl as she played, seeing her eyes close as she got into the music and played by feel. Hanako appreciated that especially, since she had also developed a taste for playing it. She had to keep her eyes open and attentive whenever she played, and the fact that Carla was able to play like she could was a testament to her obvious talent and practice. As the final piece came to a close, Mikaru smiled at everyone, speaking.

"This is coming together nicely. All right, people, I think it's time to do a full playthrough, no stops. I will be taking notes, as well as conducting, so let's get a feel for what we have to do to make this perfect. On me."

They all rested a moment, anxiously awaiting his direction. He used a similar harness that he had for his computer stylus to strap a conductor's stick onto his arm, centring himself before he lifted his arms. As he did, the entire band, Carla included, readied their instruments. Hisao was amazed at the sheer precision they all had, and was blown away again as Mikaru started to move.

The music played very well, and the musicians themselves were very focused in their work. Each of them was attentively scanning between their posture, instruments, the music and Mikaru as the music kept on going, until all at once the song stopped, and a single instrument was heard. It was a droning sound, which was built on when it swelled down and another instrument joined it. This continued for almost 30 seconds until a piccolo was heard over the music, and it played frantically. That piccolo was joined by a section of flutes, and before long the next song in the piece was well underway.

This piece was frantic, driving, and moving as it fluttered across the room. It was dark sounding, even though the music being played was bright. Hisao had never truly heard anything like it, and it chilled him to the bone. Then, all three of them jumped as they heard a terrible sound, almost hitting them like a truck. After that, the music took on a mournfully slow tone, as it slowed down over time and got quieter. Then, it was only a piccolo left, as it trilled and died like a whisper. After that, the next song started, and it kept the dark but bright sound of the previous piece. However, as the piece continued, the brightness oozed away from it, taking on a much darker tone.

Lilly, being blind, was listening to the music intently as it told it's story, and it was making her cry softly. Ironically, she could see the message and emotions in the music better than almost anyone else in the room, although the musicians themselves also showed signs of feeling the effects. A few of the inactive players were wiping their eyes on their sleeves, and Carla herself was using her free hand to rub her throat a bit.

After that, though, the music died down to a whisper, and a bright tone was heard over the din. That bright tone was constant throughout the rest of the next song, as it moved incredibly slowly. The slow pace of the song wasn't boring, though. It was actually captivating, as it was expertly tended to by Mikaru's wand. He would occasionally flick his arm in the direction of one of the sections, and they would pause and pick up, causing spikes of noise as they did. The effect, across the song, was almost a conversation between the instruments, or at least, they were talking to someone. Then, almost out of nowhere, the piano started picking up, and Mikaru flinched at it. However, he recovered quickly, a slight smile playing over his face as he moved through the piece.

Lilly smiled as the song ended and flowed into the next piece. The Piccolo, which had been prevalent throughout the piece before, was almost nonexistent now, as the Piano and deeper flutes picked up over the music. Then, as it moved, Lilly started seeing a picture in her mind. It was what she imagined was happening in the music, as Mikaru slowly started growing up and moving past his trauma into a life of happiness and fulfilment. Hanako smiled as well, as she also saw this change.

The next few songs got gradually brighter until the last one, where the Piano and the Flute almost had their own dialogue. This song was almost entirely different than the others. It had a sense of sophistication and perfection that the others didn't have, and the music was intricate and precise. After a while, the other instruments all came in, a soft undertone to what was being sung by the flute and piano.

After two minutes of this, the Piano and the Flute were alone again, as they finished the song together in harmony. After that, the band looked to Mikaru, who dropped his arms and looked at them. As he did that, they all relaxed, stretching a bit and setting their instruments aside. When they had everything down, they all clapped for the music and themselves, with the others in the room joining in as well. Mikaru smiled at that, nodding his head.

"I liked that, everyone. Very good. You can start packing up now, and I will give you all my recommendations to you while you're leaving. I'll see you after the weekend, everyone!"

The others moved to put their things away, and Lilly walked up to him, with help from Hisao. She was smiling.

"That was very good, Mikaru. It sounds amazing."

He smiled at her, speaking.

"Thank you, Lilly. Hey guys, let's go celebrate this."

A week and a half later, everyone was standing in the Sydney Opera House, looking around at the concert space with awe.

"You filled this place? The whole thing?"

Mikaru chuckled at that, nodding his head at Carla.

"I did. Lilly, this place is huge. It's at least 15 of you tall. You can take 45 paces and find yourself a set of stairs. We're all setting up for tomorrow now, so you guys can find your seats and relax for a bit."

Everyone but Carla and Hanako did that. Carla was moving to the stage, where she helped with a bit of light moving, but not much else. Hanako looked at Mikaru, moving up to him and smiling.

"This is really nice, Mikaru... Are you excited?"

He nodded his head, smiling at her.

"I am completely excited. This is the biggest performance of my life. I've even got a crew coming in tomorrow to capture this on video, so we can see it later and sell some of them. If this goes as well as I think it will, then... well, I'll be back. Nobody's going to be able to deny that I'm good at this, and... well, it's actually a lot of pressure."

She smiled, laughing at him a bit.

"It only... it only took you performing in front of over 20,000 to do it..."

He chuckled at that, nodding his head as he pulled her to him.

"Hanako... Thank you. You did this. All of this, it's because of you. You're... well, you're amazing."

She smiled at that, leaning up and kissing him deeply. He returned the kiss, feeling great about himself for the first time in a long time.

After they set up, they decided to get an early night together, and sooner than they had realized it was time to start getting people into the building. Mikaru stood in the back, looking over his team of musicians with a nervous smile as he spoke.

"Well, guys, this is it. This is the big one. I don't know if I've ever done anything like this before, and I'm nearly certain that I'll never do anything like this again. I would imagine that a lot of you are feeling the same way I am right now, but I'm confident in your – our – ability. We're the only ones that can do this, and you're the only ones I would ever want doing this with me. So, remember everyone. Deep Breaths, Charisma Charisma Charisma, and..."

"SHOWTIME!"

The laughed a bit, feeling the nerves really set in as they stepped out onto the stage. The lights were blinding, and the applause was deafening. Mikaru's heart was pounding in his chest a mile a minute, and he struggled to keep his composure as he took his spot in front of the musicians. As he did, he saw the section that was reserved for his special invites filled up, and he smiled as he saw that all the seats were filled. Lilly was there, accompanied by Hisao and Akira. Mikki was there as well, sitting with Emi, her mom, and Nurse. Nurse was holding Emi's Mom's hand, which he smiled at. Then, there were the Osamuki's, Mr. and Mrs., who were sitting near Mutou and his sister. He was surprised to see the music teacher from Yamaku there, though. He had invited her almost as a joke, and was surprised to see that she had accepted. Then there were the Teito's, smiling at him with a wave. After that, he saw his mom, his uncle and Nanami Ryou looking at him, grinning at his impressive figure.

Then, his eyes found Hanako, who looked up at him on the stage with a bright smile. It was dark in the room, so she was sitting comfortably as she beamed up at him. He nodded to her subtly, then turned away, hearing the crowd still. He took a deep breath, and raised his wand.

The rest of the night would be an unforgettable evening, for all in attendance.

After that, time went on slowly for them, and they all moved on with their lives. Hisao and Lilly were still together, living in Hokkaido in their family house. Lilly eventually reconciled with her parents, although it was never quite the same between them. Hisao was working for Mikaru, now, a co-owner of a recently established science firm. They worked in designing and testing new things together, with Hisao and Mikaru working closely together in their investigations. Mikaru, with his technical knowledge and funding, and Hisao, with his drive and knowledge of science, were a good team on that front. Emi, after heading back to her hometown, had stayed with Rin, whom she supported in her pursuit of art. Rin was world renowned within 6 years of leaving high school, and had even confessed to Emi a while back. The two of them were living together, and enjoying their fourth year together as a couple.

Akira, however, was unable to reconcile with her parents, but instead opened her own firm later, focusing on cases of disability claims and corporate justice. She had moved to Tokyo, and was always busy with work. However, she still managed to enjoy her life, as she was finally moving and working for herself, of her own volition and on cases that she really felt connected to. She had had a few boyfriends by then, but for some reason she had never really settled down.

Tsukiko and Ryou had wed shortly after the concert, and Tsukiko had, indeed, began to teach music professionally. After the business had picked up, Ryou had even dropped his own job as a youth worker, and helped Tsukiko manage her business.

The Osamuki couple had two children together, whom they named Mikaru and Hanako, respectively. Although they had fallen out of contact with Mikaru later on when he became busier, they still managed to meet up every once in a while, and enjoy each others' company.

Carla and Mikki had moved to the states, and they were working out some minor issues with their relationship. After High School had ended, Carla's illness had gotten worse, and Mikki had troubles adjusting to that. However, Mikaru had Hisao working on a treatment for it, and the results were promising, if not timely.

Hanako had really bloomed after High School was over. Everyone knew that she would never be truly normal, but she had already decided to help Mikaru in his pursuits, taking up ownership of the Tailor shop in the city. Unfortunately, Oji had fallen ill and passed away just a year after the concert, and that meant that Hanako had to train more people to take over the shop in the city. The Tokyo store had never truly come to fruition, and so the business stayed in the city. However, as word of the service the store offered got around, it had picked up considerably.

Mikaru himself was a busy, but happy man. He had completely worked out his place as a technological leader in the industries, and his automotive assistant, which he named after Hanako, was now standard in almost every single car that was made since it's creation. Nissan had partnered with AttainableTech, and then they started selling the program to other companies, so Mikaru's finances were completely stable. He found himself gravitating more and more towards simpler things, though, and after 4 years of solid work, he decided to take an early retirement from his business, appointing another as CEO and maintaining ownership of the business. He contributed every now and then, and he attended all of the gatherings that they held, but his role was much more relaxed than it had been when he was in High School.

He had asked Hanako to marry him just after 3 months of retirement, which she gleefully accepted. Nine months later, their first Child was born. It was a boy, whom they decided to name Daniel, after Mikaru's father. Every once in a while, Hisao, Lilly, Hanako and Mikaru would meet up for a few days, and hang out like they used to. Hisao and Lilly became Daniel's Aunt and Uncle, and life for them moved normally after that.

Mikaru, after living with Hanako and the others for 36 years, however, succumbed to illness of his own, when he got Bone Cancer and died after a long struggle of two years. Hanako herself passed away shortly after, in her sleep. The others lived on though, and it was two years later that Daniel announced that his child had played his first note on his third birthday.

They knew then, that the boy would do amazing things. Just like his Grandfather.

End of Behind These Bars, a Katawa Shoujo Fanfiction!

A/N: ... WHHAAAAAAATTT? It's over? So soon?

- Yes, my friends, it is over. It's been a long journey, almost a year and a half in the making for me, but this is it. This is the complete story, for all to see. This, in my mind, is what all fanfics should be: a long, thought-provoking journey that expands upon and tests the limits of the characters. Seeing as this story is completed now, I will be marking it as such and doing some little formatting changes and grammatical edits, but not much will change otherwise. If anyone has any input to this story now that it is completed, then feel free to leave a review behind. I suppose that I could add another chapter or two of story, as well as a final chapter after that to help me communicate with reviewers. If you do in fact choose to review, whether you are a guest to the site or not, please leave a handle at the end of the review that I can use when responding to you.

What did you guys think about this story, in all honesty? What, do you think, could be improved? What, in gods name, happened to our dear friend Kenji?

- In fact, that's a little bit of homework for you guys. What happened to Kenji? I won't make this a choose your own adventure thing, but if you happened to leave an idea behind on the curtails of a full review, I can't promise it won't be looked at...

And with that, friendos, I think it is time for me to take a nap. A very, very, relaxing nap.

Farewell!

- NanaiomoYeah.