Chapter 7
" Isn't that so kawaii?" Chiharu said to Yamazaki. " Syaoran and Sakura would
make such a good pair! They've been hanging out more and more often ever since
they first met!"
" Hai." Yamazaki agreed. " Maybe we can even get them to kiss one another."
" You'll have to need a lot of luck for that." Eriol answered, standing next to
Tomoyo. " Syaoran ' ain't' the romance guy. He's all for academics."
" Pity." Yamazaki agreed. " Syaoran would make a nice boyfriend. He's a nice guy,
and very loyal, but he's very...well, picky, I guess."
" So's Sakura, though." Tomoyo told Yamazaki and Eriol. " It's no wonder she's the
concertmistress and the winner of the competition when she was eleven."
" She won it when she's eleven?" Yamazaki blinked. " When's her birthday?"
" In a month. On April first." Rika answered. " What about Syaoran?"
" Oh, his is July thirteenth. Bad on Fridays." Eriol added, but none of the Japanese
people knew what's so bad about it.
" Huh?"
" Never mind."
" It is somehow strange how kids are always curious about other instruments."
Syaoran commented as he fingered at Sakura's violin.
" Just be careful. That violin is really expensive." Sakura warned.
" Don't worry. I handled a violin before." Syaoran reassured her. He pressed the
side of his face down.
" Which string is this?" He asked.
" That's the E string." Sakura answered.
The two were in a practice room, this time at eight o clock, partly because both of their siblings had an early lesson. Syaoran was slightly nervous because he was going to rehearse with Sakura and her orchestra. He would have practiced if Sakura wasn't there.
Sakura was fingering on the piano, which, to Syaoran's taste, was really bad, partly why whenever they played together everyone wished they were deaf. Another reason, of course, was because they were playing different pieces, and they made some interesting harmony along the way.
Syaoran bowed rather stiffly and almost made out ' Twinkle Twinkle Little
Star', and Sakura pressed rather stiffly and almost made out " For Alice", but
neither were good at either instrument and soon went back to the one their talent
lies in.
There was a knock on the door and a head peered in.
" Oh, gomen." Said the boy.
" Yukito-san!" Sakura beamed. " You're here this early?"
" Oh, I just finished my lesson." Yukito waved as he brought his bookbag in along
with his violin and cello. " Oof, ohayo! My name is Tsukishiro Yukito."
" My name is Li Syaoran." Syaoran turned around.
" Oh! You're the kid that won the competition, eh? I didn't know you were so
young. How old are you?"
" Ano...twelve."
" Oh?" Yukito blinked. " So you're the male Helen Wang, eh? The Chinese
Mozart."
" Oh, I'm not that good." Syaoran laughed, embarrassed.
" He's one of those people who are too modest for their own good. He actually
should be playing with the philharmonic orchestra."
" Sakura!"
The green eyed girl giggled sweetly before setting her violin down to put rosin on her bow.
Yukito chuckled. " Can I leave these here? I have to go downstairs and come
right back again, and then I'll look for a practice room. Carrying cellos is hard."
" I can imagine." Syaoran scowled. He carried Eriol's cello once, from the first floor
to the second. It was bad.
The white haired boy left and Sakura giggled as Syaoran glared at her.
" Hey, at least he forgot."
" Hai, lucky for you." Syaoran changed his expression into a smiling one. " When
do I go?"
" Oh, at twelve. This time we're extending the rehearsal to two hours, so you can
come at lunchtime."
" I'll miss my lunch?" Syaoran laughed. " Oh boy. I usually don't eat that much, but
normally I don't have time for breakfast. The whole day without food! Ah well, I
guess I can use a diet."
" You're not fat."
" Ulhg." Was Syaoran's incomprehensible reply.
The two played a little more before Yukito appeared.
" Arigatou!" He smiled, picking up his violin and taking his cello. " You two are big
help!"
" No problem!" Sakura called after him. Syaoran went on playing.
" Alright, alright, settle down." Terada tapped the stand with his baton. " I'm sure it
wouldn't take you that long to tune your instruments. Ah, move the piano so that it
faces-right, that's right, now you over there! Move to your right. I can't see the
trumpets, and I'm sure they can't see me either. Timpani, are you ready? Beat it."
Dum dum.
" Elgh...the first one's a little flat, ah, it's not going to be right no matter how much
you play-fine, that's right. Oh, hello, Li-san."
" Gomen." Syaoran panted. " The elevator got stuck. I had to wait for the other
one, but I'm here."
" Hai, you're here!" Terada chuckled. Syaoran smiled as he set his books down and
righted the height of the chair.
" You ready?" Terada asked.
Syaoran gave a nod.
" Well, we are too-you two over there! Stop chattering! We're playing here. Alright," Terada looked at everyone, and everyone was at attention. Sakura held the bow up and waited with the conductor.
Terada gave an upbeat. They began to play. It was a strong piece, so it was rather loud. ' forte', the Italian word for ' loud', was the directions.
Syaoran began playing, and it was the first time Sakura ever heard him play a piece he knew well. The technique was wonderful, and there was a musical quality to it she couldn't really describe. Terada was still, his body stiff, and then he gave an upbeat.
No one played.
" Hey!" Terada cut off, as some of the latecomers started playing. " Mesmerized by the pianist, hai? We can't have that at the concert! This wouldn't be a piano concerto without the orchestra! You have to look at the conductor! I'm not that ugly!"
Syaoran chuckled. They had to start over again.
This time, the orchestra did play, and they actually got through a page, but
the problem was the violas messed up, so they had to start over again. Syaoran
relaxed. Playing with the orchestra isn't that hard. The orchestra is composed of,
well...basically beginners.
" What do you see there? Dolce! It's supposed to sound sweet! Not forte!" Terada scolded. " What land are you in?"
Sakura winked at Syaoran, who's back was facing her but he had turned his head to wink at her.
The rest of the rehearsal passed rather smoothly, since more people were focused now. Syaoran played fantastically, and Sakura couldn't help but admire his relaxed posture and his musical sense. She started blushing. Since when did he seem so perfect?
After the rehearsal Syaoran waited in that same room, since it was the room
the conducting class was. Sakura went over and praised him.
" Ah, it was nothing." Syaoran shook his head, dismissing the entire rehearsal. " I
messed up in some places."
Sakura blinked. Where did he mess up?
But Yoshihara came in, along with Liang and the others, and Sakura went out the door with Tomoyo.
" I don't want it to sound forced." Wakabayashi told Eriol. " I want it to sound
gentle, but deep."
Eriol nodded, and looked at the second movement of the ' Pathetique'. He carefully placed his fingers on the keys. Then he pressed carefully.
Playing for a while, Wakabayashi stopped him and Eriol turned around to
listen.
" That's very good, but I don't want you to rush here. I want it to keep at a steady
pace, and you have to work on the fingerings over here."
All throughout Eriol nodded, and after the hour was over he picked up his books and thanked his sensei, walking out to meet a very pale Syaoran.
" Are you alright?"
" Iie."
" What's wrong?"
" Bad."
" What's bad?"
Syaoran waited until they got into the elevator.
" Did you start some kind of rumor, Eriol-kun?"
" Rumor? Me?" Eriol blinked. " What rumor?"
" Sakura and me."
" Ano..." Too late.
" Eriol!"
" I was just joking! It must have been Yamazaki, that big mouthed gaki. I was just
joking with Tomoyo and the others. I never expected them to actually believe it!"
" Well, for some reason, there are about two hundred people who got the
impression that the winner of the adolescent piano competition is in love with the
concertmistress and the winner of last year's adolescent violin competition! Even if
you were joking around, I am serious here. I don't love Kinomoto Sakura. She's a
nice girl, but I don't have time for her. I come here once a week, so there is no time
to get to know her better, and I certainly didn't pay fifty thousand yen to get a
girlfriend in a music school!"
" I know that!" Eriol sighed. " I'm sorry, alright? I mean, we both come from this
really great elementary school when girls and boys just gag at the thought of
boyfriends and girlfriends. I never expected them to take it seriously-I thought they
were joking also. But you did seem to take great interest in Sakura."
" I take great interest in you. I hang out with you. I come to this school with you.
Does this make me gay?"
Eriol was silent when they left the elevator, solemnly following his dangerously quiet friend.
" So when the triad is on the third note of the scale, it is roman numeral three, and
if it's minor, then the I's are lower case, and if it's major, then they are capital, and if
it's augmented, capital with a plus sign."
" What's this?" Yamazaki asked as he picked up the staff notebook and looked at a
page of Syaoran's neat handwriting.
" That's just a piece for composition." Syaoran explained. " Piano, mostly."
" Oh, and this is from the person that just said he doesn't love that girl."
" It's called " Sakura" for a different reason, Yamazaki-san."
" And why? I know there's a folk song called Sakura but this sounds nothing like
it." Eriol looked over.
" Sounds rather like Sakura." Eriol commented, meaning the girl. " Very happy."
" Arigatou!" Syaoran answered. I don't mind the very happy part, but you can drop
the Sakura sounding part."
" But it does sound like Sakura. All happy and perky." Yamazaki handed it over. "
Sight sing it."
Syaoran looked at the piece and stared blankly at it.
" I'm going nuts." He muttered.
" Gee," Tomoyo blinked. " I thought you were interested in Yukito."
" I am." Sakura blushed. " The problem is...I mean, it's just that...I never knew
Syaoran could play so well, and he's so nice and all, you know?"
Tomoyo laughed. " Looks like you have a crush on someone!"
" I don't like him! What are you talking about?"
" So amusing when they always deny it." Rika laughed.
" I'm not denying it. Seriously! Come on you all, you don't seriously think I like
Syaoran, do you?"
" Ano, do you really want us to answer that?" Chiharu asked.
Sakura groaned.
" Come on. If you really do like Syaoran it's perfectly understandable. I mean, he's a
cute guy and all, he's smart, he's nice, he has a good sense of humor, and you two
make a great pair."
Sakura scowled. " I didn't come here to fall in love, you know. I came here to
learn how to play the violin."
" Well, you knew how to play the violin."
" Fine! To play better!"
" You're the best!"
" Then I want to keep it that way." Sakura scowled even further. " And I'm not
going to let Syaoran distract me."
" You don't have to." Noako pointed out. " I mean, Syaoran's a nice guy. He is very
devoted too, so you two probably should sign up for Chamber or something."
" Chamber?" Sakura blinked in surprise.
" Hai." Tomoyo agreed. " I mean, when the form comes about in April or
something, you can ask Syaoran whether he wants to be your partner. And then we
can have a quartet of some sort; we can have Syaoran, you, me, Eriol, and some
violist. I heard Yamazaki's minor is viola, but he usually plays the viola in Chamber."
" Oh." Sakura blinked, surprised that she was actually pondering the idea.