Chamber Group

Chapter 6

" Alright!!!" Syaoran leaped into the air, clutching that piece of paper that called itself his report card. " Straight A's! Straight A's! Ninety five average! Straight A's!" He ran to his sisters. " I got straight A's from the public school! Alright!"
" Really? For all three terms?" Fuutie, his oldest sister, asked.
" Duiya!" Syaoran answered in Chinese. " Yes! Yes! This means I can try out for that high school!"
" Well, don't jump for joy yet." Shiefa answered, his other sister, putting down her bow and taking an envelope out. " Guess what came in today."
" Took them long enough." Syaoran suddenly muttered, calming down instantly. " To think, the first semester at that stupid music school ended right after Christmas. They send this thing in the end of February. That's just stupid."
" Oh well, you know how the mail goes." Shiefa opened the letter.
" Did I get any B's? Any C's? Anything lower?" Syaoran asked, worried.
" Yes." Shiefa nodded mournfully.
" What? Really? Let me see that! It better not be from Wakabayashi!"
" Sha haizi." Shiefa laughed. " Foolish child. You got straight A's."
" Nani?! Even from Yoshihara? Let me see that!" Syaoran snatched the paper that called itself his music report card. " Even from Yoshihara! This is a miracle-although it's an A-, but still, THIS IS SO COOL!!!"

" Goodness, I've never seen him so excited before." Feimei said to Fuutie.
" Well, for one, one report card determines four years of his future, and the other report card is...never mind. Maybe because he's high on sugar."
" He is."




" Aw, I got a B minus in ear-training." Sakura looked at her report card mournfully.
" I got a B in ear training, and theory." Touya grumbled a little. " Why did sensei give me an A-? I did well this year."
" Which sensei?"
" Cello."
" Oh."
" Ugh, I should have gotten an A."
" A- isn't that bad."
" It is!"
" Well, maybe there was a typo or something."
" I'd wish if that is possible."
" Anything's possible, Oni-chan."
" With you." Touya rubbed his sister's head. " Good heavens." He grumbled.
" It looks so ugly." Sakura muttered mournfully. " That's the only B in all of my report card. Everything else has the letter A in it, be it minus, normal, or plus."
" Don't be so disappointed." Fujitaka reassured her. " One B wouldn't affect anything."
" But I wanted to get that scholarship fund that cuts sixty yen off my tuition." She said mournfully.
" You tried." Fujitaka smiled. Sakura really does work hard.



" My laughter shall not be denied."

Forget about your laughter! Eriol thought as he looked at his friend, holding his tummy to soothe the ache from his own laughter. Don't deny mine!

Syaoran shrugged. " What's wrong with laughing?"

Eriol couldn't answer him; his voice was already preoccupied.

" Ohayo Syaoran-san!" Yui called. " Are you better today?"
" Hai. Arigatou." Syaoran nodded.
" Come on." Yui offered. " Let's go upstairs." The trio went upstairs on the fine Saturday morning; it wasn't snowing since it was the first of March, and the sun was bright and...sunny.
" How did you do last week?"
" It was okay, but since Sensei didn't know how to play the piano the Beethoven trio sounded very...well, empty."
" I can imagine." Syaoran nodded. Eriol stopped at the third floor and waved goodbye to his friends, before disappearing. Syaoran leaned back.
" So, did you get your report card?"
" Hai." Yui looked sad. " Got a B. For music theory."
" Oh. What about Chamber?"
" Chamber's easy. Got an A+. What about you?"
" Oh, the usual." Syaoran didn't want to say he had straight A's.

Before Yui could ask what exactly was ' the usual', the door opened and the two had to go out.



" Ano...the pegs wouldn't stay," Sakura pushed as she tried to make it stay, but the string kept on pulling on it, forcing it to loosen.

Noyse took the violin and pressed the pegs in, plucking at the strings to make sure the pitch was right. Sakura sighed. Lousy violin.
" Is this yours? It looks different." Said the teacher.
" Iie. Mine was at home. I didn't have time to restring it. This is my cousin's; she let me borrow it."
" Oh, I see." Noyse didn't bother asking more.

All the while, the other two were busy practicing their parts as softly as they can, with the mute and with the soft pedal. Noyse handed her violin back-and the peg loosened again.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Lousy violin.



" Alright, settle down." Terada sat in his ( famous) stool. " Let's take look at the Prokofiev today. We'll start from the beginning, hopefully you haven't forgotten anything."

He gave an upbeat. Suddenly, he cut off.
" Let me hear you oboes."

Sakura leaned back, bored, listening to the same note over and over again as it was being tuned.
" You're flat."
" Let me hear both of you." Terada pointed. He grimaced, frowned. " Ahee...alright, I guess we'll deal. From measure 84!"

Sakura looked.
" But..." She began, " Eighty four is when the piano plays..."
" It is?" Terada looked. " I'm sorry. I meant ninety-four." He gave an upbeat.
" Iie iie iie iie iie-let me hear you flutes." He pointed.
" Flat."
" Sharp."
" You're flat."
" You're still sharp."
" Still sharp."
" You're sharp."
" Flat now."
" Both flat."
" Both sharp."

Sakura rolled her eyes and looked at her part. Tomoyo leaned back.



" Alright, that's enough, I guess." Terada finally said. " Let's start from measure Ninety-four." He gave an upbeat. Finally, Sakura and the violins get to play a little, but unfortunately the particular movement ended.
" Now, this is the Dance of the Swans. I want to hear you and you," Terada pointed to the flute and the oboe players.

Sakura frowned as something sounded wrong.
" Don't play that way!" Terada scolded. " Have any of you seen the ballet before? Do you know what happens? The women come up to the stage in their little white tutus. They're swans, not elephants."

There was laughter from some parts of the orchestra.
" I want the tonguing to be light." Terada even made a show of...showing them, as much as he could without spitting and without an instrument, anyway. " Not tleh tleh tleh. T' T' T'. Understand?"

The flutist and readjusted her flute and the duo played again, and this time Terada nodded in approval.
" Much better. Now, let's begin!"

A miracle! This time they got through the whole movement without stopping!



" Yrch!!!"
" Ow! What did you do that for?"
" Gomen." The tall boy said behind his taller double bass. " I can't see where I'm going."

Syaoran rubbed his wounded funny-bone and frowned.
" Why do they make such big instruments?"
" Hey, remember the piano is even bigger." Eriol reminded him.
" But you don't carry that thing around!"
" Actually..." Said Yamazaki, " You do. How do you suppose the pianos got here in the first place?"

Syaoran glared at Yamazaki.

The guy supporting the harp suddenly let go, and the harp nearly crushed Yamazaki.

" Hey!"
" Sorry." The guy apologized smugly. " The elevators make me nauseous."

(-_-)

Eriol and Syaoran cocked an eyebrow at the guy, who blushed and hurriedly freed Yamazaki from the dangerous harp.
" Anything can be used as a weapon." Eriol commented. " For one thing," He said to the two guys. " Never, have a harp and a double bass be in the same elevator."

And that was the end of that.



" I want my precious!" Eriol muttered in Japanese. " Where's my precious?"
" His precious is his lunch." Syaoran chuckled to Sakura. " This time, Eriol's the hungry wolf."
" Where is my precious!!"
" Your precious is over there." Syaoran laughed. " Now, you need at least eighteen yen if you want a good precious, Gollum, and to get it from Mrs. Baggins over there." He said, pointing to the cashier.

Eriol was the first to hurry off. Syaoran just laughed at his friend, shaking his head, and digging out his money and following, while Sakura and Tomoyo set down their backpacks.



" Mm! Good precious!"
" Good gollum!" Syaoran laughed. Tomoyo giggled as Eriol wolfed down his lunch.
" I have to study for my ear-training test." Sakura looked at the book. " I didn't study at all this week. Tomoyo-chan, help me!"
" Steady, steady! Good heavens, Eriol-kaijuu, what's wrong with you today?"
" My lesson is-bleh." Eriol sniffled. " And I am beginning to catch a cold and it's NOT FUNNY!!"

Of course, that didn't help, because Syaoran quickly reminded him,
" My laughter shall not be denied!"



" One one-what's the next one? Six...five-six-five! Six! One one six four five two two...seven?" Sakura asked Chiharu.
" Write it." Chiharu showed Sakura.

Sakura hurriedly took a pencil and wrote the number of the tone under each note.
" One one six four five two two one, two two seven six five-three two two, three three three four five six six seven, seven six five four three three three-seven?"
" One, you baka!"
" Oh, yeah, one."
" You stink at this."
" Hai, I certainly do." Sakura frowned. " I'm so not going next!"



" Syaoran?"
" Hai, Eriol?"
" I have a question?"
" Hai?"
" Why is the Beethoven Grand Sonata called ' Pathetic'?"
" What's wrong with " Pathetic"?"
" Well, for one, ' Pathetic' in English means...pathetic."
" Well, for one, Eriol, for I see that your braindead like me last week, it's ' Pathetique'."
" Oh. Right."


" I have a Chamber concert in three weeks." Sakura muttered. She was practicing with Syaoran in the practice room.
" What are you playing?" Syaoran asked.
" Ghost trio."
" Ghost trio? By Beethoven?" Syaoran looked for the keys. " Which was it? D?"
" Hai."

Syaoran played a section and laughed. " I would love to go! Unfortunately I have Conducting, you know that."
" Hai, not blaming you." Sakura looked at her piece. " Do you suppose Beethoven hates violinists?"

Syaoran looked at the music. " Whoa."
" Hai, that's what I thought." Sakura nodded.
" You should see Chopin with the piano pieces."
" Who's Chopin?"
" Oh, he's a pianist. He only writes piano pieces, I think, that's what Eriol told me, anyway. So of course you wouldn't know him."
" Oh. Okay..."
" He's Polish, if you want to know."
" Polish."
" Alright. I'll shut up now."

Sakura cocked an eyebrow.

Syaoran began playing in thirds with his right hand, and his left hand wandering over the keys.
" Darn! This is so hard!" He muttered. " It's so not piano techique. It's for violins!"
" What?" Sakura asked. " Shoot, you're right." She had an idea of what Syaoran's going through. " And two hands, too."

Syaoran practiced his right hand a bit. " Well, I guess if Wakabayashi wants to kill me, I might as well try to defend myself."

He started practicing, and soon Sakura was too, and everyone who went near the door to that practice room covered their ears and ran away.