Chapter 1
" Arigatou, Otou-san!" She called, as she and Touya stepped out of the car. Her father waved, and drove off to find a parking space. Touya and Sakura entered the six story building of the music school, very proud they were to have gotten in in the first place. After all, it is the most famous and best music school in Japan.
Touya pushed open the door for his sister and went inside.
" ID, please." The security guard stated. Touya lifted the id card by its chain, and
Sakura followed suit. Touya rubbed his shoulder, taking off the cello case strap to
relieve his aching muscles. He grumbled as Sakura giggled, clutching the strap of
her own violin case.
" Hey, its your fault you didn't buy the case with wheels." She pointed out. "
Although that thing costs a lot of money."
" Thanks for pointing that out." Touya muttered. They entered the lobby.
Sakura was a twelve year old girl. She was an average girl, with large green eyes, strange for a Japanese girl, short, auburn hair; also strange for a Japanese, a delicately framed face, with two pimples on it; one on top of her nose and another on her forehead. For some reason it never developed into acne. Maybe it was the sushi...
It was a January Saturday morning: Saturday, because on weekdays they have regular school and on Sunday the school is basically closed save for the door, which allows teachers and students in for private lessons. It was snowing hard outside, but inside it was rather warm. Sakura smiled to herself. She liked the school. It was tough, tough to get in and tough to stay in there, but she managed. The lobby was grayish, but cozy and homely; homely in the sense that it was homelike, not ugly. The walls were covered in some material she couldn't remember, and the floor was carpeted with gray colors and patterns of blue and white. There were soft cushioned chairs; more of long sofas, actually, arranged into lines as if it were a maze. Sakura looked at her watch. Eight forty five; she was fifteen minutes early. Chamber class starts at nine. Sakura shrugged, sat down, putting her instrument down, and just took out a book to start reading, careful to not get too absorbed or she'll be late. Touya was already off to his next class, afraid that if the elevators broke again he'll have to climb up to the fifth floor, carrying that cello case of his, by foot. Sakura would have helped him, but she doesn't want to. She had to finish that book for school, and as interesting as the story is, she has to practice violin, anyway. And besides, if the elevator does break, which it usually does, her teacher is always late anyway, teaching his private student for about five to ten minutes longer than he was supposed to. That's okay, it's only chamber, after all, and a chamber trio at that.
" Ohayo, Sakura-chan. Early yet again, despite the weather!" Rika sat down beside
her. " Oof. I play only one instrument. But feel my bag!" Sakura laughed, weighing
it.
" It's too much for a pianist." She agreed. " How many classes do you take?"
" Eight."
" Really? I take seven. What do you take, Rika-chan?"
" Piano, of course. Theory II, Ear training II, Chorus, ano...Chamber, of course,
Conducting I, that's six, hai? Mixed Composition, and Music History."
" Hoe! No wonder your bookbag is so heavy!"
" Hai. What do you take?"
" I take Violin, Theory II, of course, also Ear training II, although that's in a different
class. Chorus, Orchestra, Chamber, and Music History."
" Your bookbag is not that heavy."
" That's because most of the stuff is in my violin case."
" Oh." Rika giggled. " Hey, did you see the bulletin board? They announced the
winners of the Piano Concerto Competition ages 15 and down today. Also the violin
concerto. Did you attend?"
" Iie. I won last year. Remember last December? I played."
" Hai. You were great, by the way! Kinomoto Sakura, winner of the Violin
Competition! That's so awesome!"
" Did you win the competition, Rika? You tried out, hai?"
" Hai. Let's go see. I didn't see yet."
" Rika-chan!" Chiharu and Noako ran up. " Did you see the bulletin board?"
" Not yet. Why?" Rika stood up. Sakura followed suit. " Sakura-chan and I are just
going there."
" So you don't know then. You'll never believe this," Chiharu and Noako dragged
Rika over to the bulletin board. Tomoyo was jumping in excitement.
" Oh my god." Rika was stunned. " I can't believe it."
" Tomoyo, Rika was the runner up in the concerto competition!" Sakura cried. "
Oh! Chiharu-san! Tomoyo won the violin competition! Congratulations to both of
you!"
" Arigatou." They both said, Tomoyo excited, Rika so shocked she could barely
comprehend.
" Who won the competition though? For piano?" Tomoyo asked, calming down.
Sakura looked at the notice.
" Someone named..." She looked at it, " The winner of the piano concerto
competition, ages 15 and down is...someone named Li Syaoran."
" Li Syaoran?" The group spread to let others see. " I never heard of him before."
Tomoyo blinked. " Sounds Chinese though..."
" Syaoran-san!" Someone yelled. They turned around to see a boy with glasses
calling excitedly to one with brown hair and amber eyes. " About time!"
" Hey!" The brunette asked. " I'm ten minutes early! What are you talking about?"
" You mean you don't know?" Asked the boy with glasses. " You won the
competition!"
" Nani?" The brunette rushed over, followed by the boy with glasses and another
one with black hair. The brunette read the notice.
" Oh my god, I won the thing. I can't believe it!" The boy, Li, blinked, completely
amazed. " I can't believe it."
" Congratulations, Li-kun, I believe." Sakura smiled.
" Arigatou." Li shook his head. " I can't believe it."
" See?" The boy with glasses patted him on the back. " I told you you could do it."
" Arigatou, Eriol-san." Li started laughing. " I did it. But...what happens now?"
" You'll be performing in the last few months, Syaoran-san." Said Eriol. " You
played Prokofiev, hai?"
" Hai. Wow..." The boy went back to the seats, still shaking his head in wonder.
Sakura looked at her watch.
" Hoe! Nine-o-clock! Better go!"
" Ja ne, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo waved as Sakura picked up her things and rushed
down the hallway towards the elevator.
The hallway was mostly yellowish, gold almost, like one of those yellow marble they
use to line up the palaces. There were pictures of many artists giving master classes
and important people, such as founders of the school as well as the President.
Sakura payed no attention to the photographs; she never did, because usually, she
was in a hurry, like now. Sakura rushed up the stairs and towards the elevator.
It didn't break, not this time, luckily. Sakura leaned against the elevator wall,
pressing the four button, and as the door closed with several other boys: one
carrying a trumpet case, another carrying a textbook, she hoped that the elevator
wouldn't get stuck like it did the other time when Touya was in it. Third floor, the
elevator stopped, and the trumpetist walked out. The door closed, and up it went
again. Sakura walked out into the fourth floor and turned around as the door closed.
The hallway was also grayish, but there was more tint of blue than in the lobby. The
floor was also carpeted. She liked the carpeting. It was green and blue, but never
mind that. She turned around as the hallway splitted, and rushed towards the couch
in front of room 408.
" Ohayo, Sakura-chan." The girl smiled. Her name was Yuri, a strong pianist with
black hair and brown eyes. " Sensei is late again. Teaching Dae Hee."
" The Korean?" Sakura sat down. " Whew. Tomoyo-chan won the violin
competition. Did you see it?"
" Hai." Yuri perked up. " Say congratulations to her for me!"
" Sure." Sakura smiled. " Where's Anzu?"
" Anzu...she's late again." There was an expression of annoyance on the girl's face. "
I guess she got stuck in traffic. When I got here, it was snowing like there's no end
to it."
" Hai. Poor Anzu-chan." Sakura sighed, leaning back. She briefly ran over the day's
work ahead. Chamber class, one hour, from nine to ten, unless sensei decides to
end early. Ten to eleven is chorus, whew, and then from eleven to twelve is
orchestra. Oh well; and twelve to one is my first break. One to one forty, ear
training class, one forty five to two twenty five, theory class. Then's my next break.
Three to four, Music history with the terrifying conductor of the Philharmonic
orchestra, and four to five is my private lesson. Did I do my theory homework?
Hai. We didn't have any ear training homework, did we? Iie. Music history, I did
that. After all, I had all week. Of course I practiced my violin. All set and ready to
go.
" Ohayo, Sakura-chan, Yuri-chan. Gomen I'm late. It's terrible out there! Our tire nearly slipped and we nearly toppled over, but I'm here." Anzu rested her cello against the wall. Anzu had light brown hair and blue eyes, strange for a Japanese but she was half Caucasian. Sakura never bothered asking her which. Maybe Irish?
Just then, the door opened, and Mr. Noyse stepped out. He pushed his glasses up his nose and beckoned them in. Sakura picked up her music and violin, and went in after Yuri. The pianist, after all, is, more or less, the leader of the chamber group.
" Alright, alright, everyone, settle down." Terada stepped onto the platform, where
the stool was already placed. Sakura stopped her playing and looked up at the
conductor, who was right in front of her. Terada placed his music on the stand and
put his bags down.
" We'll start at page eleven; the Rachmaninov. Hopefully its better than last week."
Terada slid off the stool and turned the page, than looked up, making sure everyone
was ready. He gave an upbeat a few minutes later, and they began.
Shortly afterwards, much to Sakura's distress, although she was use to it, Terada
gave the cut off sign. The music went on long after the cut off, though, and
Terada-sensei was forced to say,
" Alright, alright, arigatou. I don't want to hear that!"
Gradually, everyone got the information.
Sakura sighed. She was in the symphony orchestra, for ages twelve to fifteen, or course. The next one up was the philharmonic orchestra, for the sixteen to seventeen. Afterwards, it was college, for this is the preparatory division, after all. Terada had stopped because the drummers had skipped a page. She expected that the philharmonic orchestra was no different. Drummers were not said to be the smartest; the old joke was...well, that could be left alone.
" What's going on back there?" He asked, pointing his baton at the drum area. This
caused the orchestra to laugh, as every face was turned to the six drummers behind
the brass section.
" Gomen, sensei. The pages stuck together." Said a boy sheepishly.
" Well, separate them!" Terada was smiling, sitting on his stool again, this time not
planning to get off. " From page eleven! And this time, make sure your pages are
not stuck together!"
He gave an upbeat as soon as everyone flipped their pages. This time the music went on for some time. Sakura grimaced as a string on her bow loosened and went waving behind her bow motions as if it was a flag. Tomoyo, who was right next to her, flipped the pages.
Then Terada stopped, Sakura didn't know why, but she focused on ripping the
string out of the bow anyway.
" Here here, give me the violin." Terada told Sakura, and Sakura handed him her
instrument.
" How do you bow all the way down, and come all the way up like this, Sakura, try
it." The conductor handed her back her violin. Sakura blushed as she tried but
couldn't do it.
" See? If your concertmistress can't even do it, I have absolutely no idea how you manage to do it-it's up down!" The conductor instructed the violin section, as the
cellos, violas, and the second violins chuckled at the first violins.
After what seemed like eternity, Terada decided that they were ready to leave
Rachmaninov.
" It's very good, everyone. You've improved." The conductor nodded, satisfied for
once. " I have new music for everyone: We have to have this ready in time for the
concert in May."
It turned out to be a Prokofiev piano concerto; which one it was Sakura never really paid much attention to. The strings and the cellos were already fingering their parts while the winds and brass were still getting their's. Finally, after some commotion, the conductor sat down on his favorite stool again, baton in hand, and everyone was at attention.
He gave an upbeat, singing along with them, only to stop at the first bar.
" Matte! Iie iie iie. You're all out of tune! What's going on here? Tune! Yugi!"
So the orchestra hustled and bustled, trying to focus on their A's, and finally it
quieted down.
" Alright. Now we can start." Terada gave an upbeat, and they started playing, only
to fall apart yet again. Sakura sighed. Only five minutes left. They certainly aren't
going to get the concerto ready that week.
" So here, we have our little snowman." Yoshihara-sensei drew the three little eggs
on the lines. " We move the middle one up and octave, and then you have an open
triad. Does everyone understand?"
" Hai." They all nodded. The students here weren't bored, even though they learned
this already. After all, this is as close to a private lesson as you can get; having only
twenty students in a classroom. That's a small number. Sakura smiled. Theory class
and Ear training class are not boring really, and the forty minutes pass like a breeze.
The homework was the annoying part...
" Alright, everyone, settle down." Yoshihara waved everyone down. " Settle down.
Where's Jounouchi? He's absent. Someone tell him that the next time he's absent, he
fails. Sakura's here, Chiharu, Tomoyo, by the way, Tomoyo! Congratulations!"
" Ano...arigatou." Tomoyo blushed.
" Noako's here, Rika. And congratulations to you too!"
" Arigatou, sensei." Rika smiled.
" Yamazaki, Eriol, Yugi, hm. Byung's here..." The philharmonic conductor went on
for some time before putting the book down.
" Alright. We'll begin where we left off..."
Sakura was bored. Music history was not her favorite class.
By the end of the day, Sakura was tired. She was very happy though.
" You know how Mizuki-sensei is." She said to Tomoyo. " She is almost never satisfied. You play for three hours, she tells you you should play for five. Where in
the world can I get five hours? There's only twenty four hours in a day, and half
that time you need to sleep. I am so happy she's finally satisfied. The last time that
happened was when I won the competition last year."
" I know!" Tomoyo agreed. " I never made her satisfied. This was my first time. She
was very proud."
" Of course! You won this time! She knows it, of course." Sakura laughed. "
Congratulations again, Tomoyo-chan. But anyway. I am so tired. What time is it,
five? I have to wait for Oni-chan. He's coming down here in half an hour."
" Ah well. I'll wait here with you. Oka-san is out again. I'm happy she agreed to let
me play violin though. Wait until she hears about today!" Tomoyo smiled.
" I'm sure she'll be proud." Sakura smiled. " Good job, Tomoyo-chan."
" Arigatou. Everyone knows." Tomoyo laughed. " But I didn't tell them. I guess
they saw on the bulletin board."
" Of course." Sakura smiled.
" I remember your brother also won the cello competition once." Tomoyo blinked.
" That was two years ago, when he was fifteen. He won again in the sixteen and
above competition last year."
" I thought so. It seemed so long ago. He's very good." Tomoyo nodded. " Who
would have thought, the Kinomotos are a family of winners!"
" Hai!" Sakura giggled. " Now if only we could win the lottery..."
Sakura lied on her bed and closed her eyes. Today had been a tiring but good day.
Rika winning as runner up, Tomoyo as first place, Mizuki-sensei finally satisfied
with her week of playing, getting to school on time, and after eight hours of school,
coming home, watching television, which she only does on Saturdays, dinner,
internet, which she also only does on weekends, and some teasing of oni-chan about
calling her kaijuu, sleep. Ah. This is the last year it would be like this, because
afterwards Touya would be off to college. And it's not going to be this music
school's college. It would be another one, also one of the best in Japan.
But anyway. Sakura smiled. It has been a great day. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.