A/N: Sorry for the long wait everybody but for a special bonus! I'll be posting two chapter today 5 and 6 are up. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 5
It's Saturday morning. The competition starts at 10am, so I have about 3 more hours to finish preparing. This is so last minute, I barely had enough time to find and practice my piece. Luckily for me that Nanako can be my accompaniment so I didn't have to go and search for one. It should be fine. I've chosen to play the Polonaise (No.1) de concert in D major, Op. 4 composed by Henryk Wieniawski. I've played this piece a dozen times.
I'm now backstage at the concert hall with all the other contestants, all waiting for our turn on stage. I really don't want to do this. Music has always been something for me, something I've never really shared with other people, other than my family of course. It's always been a bit private, a way for me to calm down and gather my thoughts. However, 'kaa-san insists that I do this and whatever she wants she gets. She's always wanted me to do this, to get involved more in musical competitions, but Oyaji's stubbornness always won over. He always insisted that I get proper training for tennis so he could play me while he was still in his prime and I guess she's tired of waiting. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't notice that Nanako stood right beside me talking.
"...A lot of people." I hear the last of what she said.
"Eh? What'd you say Nanako? I didn't catch that," I said as I looked up to her
"Oh nothing much, I was just commenting on how many people showed up today. Come on, let's go see if we can see ba-san and ji-san and your friends." She said while pulling me to towards the stage to peek out at the audience
As we look over the sea of people, there are many nameless faces among them. A lot of people I don't know and I've never seen before, however there's a certain group of people that stand out. Right dead center in the front row are my senpais, Ryuuzaki-sensei, 'kaa-san, and oyaji.
Kikumaru-senpai and Fuji-senpai see me peeking out with Nanako and they wave hello mouthing the words "good luck" since it's too loud to hear their voices over the crowd of people. Momo-senpai, Oishi-senpai and Kawamura-senpai send thumbs up and a smile my way. Lastly, Tezuka-senpai and Inui-senpai give a curt nod. I didn't really get any good luck from Kaido-senpai, but I think I vaguely heard the sound of a hiss at some point.
The competition starts as the first person makes their way on stage. There are five people playing in this concourse today. Other than me, there's another Violinist, a Cellist, a Flute player, and a Trumpet player. The other violinist is the first to play, next will be the Flute player, then the Trumpet player, after that is the Cellist and finally me, the other violinist, dead last. (A/N: I don't really know what a flute player or trumpet player is called but if you guys know please tell me and I'll correct it)
It is soon my turn to play as the Cellist has now finished playing his piece as he and his accompaniment has bowed and is now heading off the stage as I wait alongside Nanako for the prompter to announce our names.
"Now the final performer will be Echizen Ryoma, performing a Henryk Wieniawski composition, 'Polonaise (No.1) de concert in D major, Op. 4.' "
I walk onto the stage, violin in hand as the prompter announces my name as I hear a very loud "Go Ochibi!" from none other than Kikumaru-senpai. I'm wearing a basic black suit, white dress shirt with a red tie. I hate wearing suits. If I could wear shorts and a golf shirt, I would. My hair is neatly combed and styled. Nanako walks alongside me. Her hair is let down and she wears a simple red flowing dress. She really wanted to wear it and insisted that we had to match, hence the red tie. I make my way to centre stage as Nanako walks over to the piano. Under the spotlight I close my eyes and bring the violin up to my shoulders and below my chin
I take a deep breath and begin playing the piece as Nanako begins playing on the piano. The auditorium is silent, all eyes on me as my bow flows over the strings gracefully. I can hear everything now. Every note, every beat of the music is flowing through me. I can feel the strength and the power of this piece. This is what I love about playing music. The way it draws you in, how you can feel every beat and every tone in your body. It can express so many different emotions without uttering a single word. The way it can calm you down in times of anger or pump you up for a competition, how it can change your emotions in a single moment.
It's funny that I chose this particular piece really. Some have said it can be used to describe opening up. (A/N: don't really know about this but I'm using la corda d'oro as a reference. It was played by len in the first selection where the theme was opening up.) A song related to opening up huh. I find it funny that out of all the songs to choose and at this particular point in time of my life, this is what I decide to do. I wonder if that signifies anything. Am I really ready? Am I ready to open up to people? To trust people? To trust them? Will they betray me? Will they treat me differently when they find out the truth? Am I ready to open to them?
These thoughts and questions fill my brain as I open my eyes and look down at my friends. They all have amusing faces, their mouths hang open in a sort of "O" shape and their eyes are wide open, sans Tezuka-senpai, Fuji-senpai, whose eyes are just open right now, and Inui-senpai, whose scribbling furiously in his notebook, but they all look like they're enjoying this. So here I am in front of all of them, opening up so to speak. Showing them bits and pieces about myself they never knew, albeit against my own will. So am I really ready to do this? Am I really ready to trust again?
These thoughts continue to fill my brain as I finish the piece as the auditorium is filled with a thunderous applause from the crowd and shouts from my senpais.
