Prologue

"Come on, come on, come on!" She slammed on the wheel as the finish line came in her line of vision and the car next to her was still ahead by a good third of the body length. The car veered to the left and she grabbed the wheel with both hands, forgetting about her frustration and concentrating on the job at hand. The little display of emotion cost her another third of the length. There was no coming back from it now. The checkered flag caught her right on the side as she came to the finish second.

She sat in the car with her forehead on the steering wheel until someone knocked on the window impatiently. She opened the door and got out.

"Come on, kid, it wasn't bad. You're taking silver."

She tried to master a smile. "Silver? How will I ever go pro if I never get past silver, dad?"

"You just need more practice, that's all. Most importantly, you need to make up your mind and not stretch yourself in two opposite directions. Figure out what you wanna do, then concentrate on being the best at it."

She shook her head and walked towards the small crowd of people, her father's words weighing heavily on her mind.

x x x

"Hey gorgeous, how ya feeling?"

"Seriously, Haruka?"

Haruka smiled wider. "Seriously, gorgeous." She walked up to the young woman that sat in a recliner chair and kissed her forehead.

"I wish you'd stop lying to me." The young woman pulled the silk scarf she was wearing around her head lower, hiding the absence of any hair.

"I never lie to you, Karin."

"How did it go?"

Haruka shrugged. "Haven't you seen?" She jerked her chin at the television.

Karin smiled. "Yes, but you're still infamous enough to tell your sister exactly what happened and not just refer me to the TV."

"If it keeps going the way it does, I might have all the time in the world to tell you about my failures."

"Haruka!" Karin tried to get up, which caused Haruka to jump to her side and physically force her down. "Don't you dare bring yourself down! You'll be famous one day and I'll be able to always see you, no matter where you are and what hospital I'm in."

"Don't say that." She looked in her sister's eyes full of tears. "Do you want me to play for you?"

Karin smiled and wiped the tears away. "Please."

Haruka walked up to the grand piano that occupied space where a breakfast bar used to be at one point in time and sat down. Her fingers found their way around the keys as her mind drifted back to her father's advice. She was sixteen years old. High School was almost over, she needed to figure out what she wanted to do with her life.

"Please promise me that you will apply to Juilliard."

Haruka's fingers stilled for a moment before she continued to play. "Why?"

"Because you have a tremendous talent. You can be on any stage, performing with the famous orchestras around the world… and I can listen."

"You can watch me drive too."

"It isn't safe, Haruka. Do you really want mom and dad to worry about losing both of their kids?"

"Karin -" Haruka stopped playing altogether.

"Please, just apply there. If it doesn't work out, you'll know that it's not the right choice. In the meantime, you can keep racing."

"Then why not just pick one or the other?"

"Because you can't."

"Why not?" It was exactly how Haruka felt and it almost made her cry.

"Because you know where your heart lies, but you care about your family too much."

Haruka choked back a sob and played another melody that Karin liked.

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AN: Yes, I know you have no idea what this is about and the prologue didn't help. Sorry, I'm that bad. This is the most you're going to see of Haruka in this one for a while, though. So it's a sneak peak. Answer the poll on my profile page.

Ja