Fourth chapter, I own nothing, I am begging you to review, please enjoy. And thank you Doozy. This chappie is just a tad more Kazuki centric but I think it's pretty good.

The rest of the vacation, Kaho was plagued by the red case that sat in the corner of her room next to her dresser. The magic violin. The thing that got her into the whole mess, the reason she met the boys, the cause of all her lies, and it just sat there creating guilty motivation that she never wanted. Not that she couldn't have refused if she'd wanted to, but now music was in her life and she didn't know how to make it go away. Kaho knew that in her heart, she wanted to play again but what right did she have? And she had to go back to school tomorrow. What could she do? She hadn't told Kanazawa-sensei about her decision to quit the concours and she didn't know how to tell him, or the others. After tossing and turning for about an hour, she finally fell into a restless sleep.

The next morning, after Kaho finished school, and escaped the people who kept questioning her and couldn't find Kanazawa- sensei, she started walking home, when she saw the teacher she was looking for, sitting on a bench petting a very fat cat, and smoking his cigarette as usual.

"Kanazawa-sensei, I need to speak to you." She said as she came over.

"Oh?" He scooted over. "Sit down; tell me what's on your mind."

She sat and fiddled for a few minutes. "I think I want to drop out of the contest. I can't keep this up."

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

She didn't meet his eyes. "Yes. I don't know how to continue with this anymore. I can't play the violin anymore."

He sighed, a puff of smoke escaping from his mouth around his cigarette. "If that's what you want. But it's a pity and a waste of talent." He got up, put a cigarette in his mouth, and headed off back into the school.

'What talent? I only got this far by cheating, playing a magic violin. I can't really play anything. I have nothing to do with music.' A tear fell from her eye.

Little did she know, Kazuki was listening from the path behind the bushes, which were behind the bench she was sitting on.

'Why? Why would Kaho-chan want to quite the violin? Was it because of the third selection, breaking her strings? Why can't she tell me, tell anyone?' These and many other questions swirled around his mind as he stood there, assimilating what she'd told Kanayan. He finally stepped around to her. She looked up startled when she saw him.

"Kaho-chan. Why? Why would you give up music?" He was close to tears as he faced her, hurt that she wouldn't tell him what was wrong or talk to him about this.

"I can't do this, Kazuki-sempai. I don't know how anymore."

He knelt down in front of her and covered her hands in her lap with his own.

"Why can't you talk to me? What can't you do? Please, Kaho-chan, talk to me, I want to help you."

She didn't answer, she sat shaking beneath his hands, and more tears spill out of her eyes. "I'm sorry. I can't." She tore away from him and ran.

"Kaho-chan! Kaho-chan, wait!!" He chased after her, until she got to the crosswalk. She crossed and before he could go, the light changed and he had to stop or get run over. He watched as she ran down the street and out of sight; his fist clench so hard, his nails drew blood. "Kaho-chan, why? Why are you running from me, from everything?"

With nothing left to do, he turned left and headed for his own home. At home, Kazuki's older brother met him at the door instead of his parents.

"What's wrong?" He asked, seeing Kazuki's downcast face.

"I'm not sure, Aniki." He said coming in. "Kaho-chan almost seems afraid of me and all the others. And I can't figure out why." He dropped his bag on the floor and sat on the near by couch.

"Why would anyone be afraid of you? You're a 5'8" walking teddy bear."

"Thank you, Aniki." Kazuki said sarcastically. "But why would she do that? Why would she run from me?"

Haruki sighed. "It's possible she just needs time to come to terms with whatever she's dealing with."

"But she wants to quit the contest! She may want to give up the violin. She shouldn't do that! Her music, it changes people. Fuuyumi is becoming more open, Tsukimori isn't as big an ice cube, Tsuchiura has returned to playing music, Shimizu's found his 'ideal sound in her violin, I've come to terms with feelings I didn't know I had, and even Yunoki seems to be changing a little. It's all thanks to her, her music, her being in the contest with the rest of us. Why would she want to throw away with of these friendships?"

Kazuki's hands kept moving during this and his brother saw the nail bites and the small trail of blood on his hand, running down the wrist. He brought over a small first-aid kit and started fixing his hand.

"Don't you think it's likely she's afraid and intimidated by all that? Don't you think she realizes she caused these changes and thinks it couldn't possibly be her who did it? These are probably unsettling things in her mind, she may never have changed anyone before and it might scare her. Look, try and find a time when she's alone and when she might not be scared and just talk to her about these things, let her know how much you care about her and that you'll help her." Haruki wrapped up Kazuki's hand and put away the kit.

"Do you really think she'll listen to me? I mean, I tried to talk to her this afternoon and she ran! Right after she told Kanayan she wanted to drop out of the contest."

"Her emotions were going wild, and she probably felt that you were asking questions she didn't want to answer. So just wait and be patient, granted that's not one of your strong suits, but try. You love her, don't you?"

Kazuki blushed about ten shades of red. "Uh…well…yeah." He admitted, looking away.

Haruki laughed and ruffled his brother's hair. "My baby brother is finally growing up!"

"I'm not a baby, Aniki!" He said, throwing off Haruki's hand. Still blushing, he picked up his bag and went to his room, his brother chuckling behind him.

Once Kaho got home, she ignored her mother asking her how her day was, and ran for her room, closing her door and leaning back against it. "Why? Why would you give up music?" Kazuki's question resounded through her mind. She could still see the tears in his eyes, trying not to cry. 'How can a simple question make me so afraid? How come I can't answer him like I should?" She slid down the door until she sat on the floor and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"Why am I getting so worked up? He's only a boy, why should I be afraid of talking to him?" She whispered to herself. She sighed and began getting ready for bed.

Not as long as I would have liked but the next one will be nice and long, I promise. But please review, I'm begging you.