Chapter five. I still own nothing, wish I did, please please please review, I like reading what people have to say, but no flames please.

The next day at school, Kaho went through the school day trying to act normal, putting on a smile for her friends, suggesting going to a cake shop afterwards, but all the while, guilt and an urge to talk kept nagging at her. But she couldn't, she wouldn't burden her friends with her problems that she had to solve on her own.

"I can't Kaho. My mom needs me to help her make dinner tonight for my family that coming." Mio said, turning down the cake shop idea.

"I'm sorry Kaho-chan, I can't either. My older sister is taking me to the other side of town for 'sisterly bonding time.'" Nao said as well.

"It's okay. I hope you guys have fun!" She said smiling. She waved her friends off; she wasn't all that disappointed that her friends couldn't go. As she turned to go home herself, she turned right into Kazuki, and reeled back to avoid bumping in to him. "Kazuki-sempai! You startle me. Is something wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to talk. Do you have some free time?" He asked sheepishly.

"Yes." They walked to bench, out of ear shot of most of the people. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Uh…well…you see… I wanted to, uh, know why you're avoiding all of us. Me and all the other contestants, I know we all want to know. Will you please tell me?"

"Um." She fidgeted with her fingers in her lap. 'What do I say?! I can't tell I've been living a lie this whole time, I just can't.' "I uh just don't want to make another blunder like I did in the third selection in front of so many people again." It wasn't a whole lie, but not the entire truth either.

"Kaho-chan, you can't let one little mistake do this to you. You've got all of us behind you. Your music is so beautiful, you can recover from that, I promise you can. I did something close to that a little after I'd first started playing the trumpet."

"You did?" Kaho completely forgot about the half lie she told and listen in rapture to Kazuki's story.

"It was about a year after I'd begun playing around with the trumpet. And…"

Flashback:

Chibi-Kazuki was practicing on the roof, just slightly off key, but so much better then when he'd first tried to play. Just then, a friend of his, Mizuki, came up on the roof, looking for him. Once she got around the door, she ran to him.

"Kazuki, I've got great news!" The boy in question turned to her in surprise. The girl was a little shorter then his 5'3", with black hair that stopped at her shoulders, and dark brown eyes. "Sensei said she wanted you to play for the Spring Festival assembly on Saturday! You'll be the youngest to play for the Festival."

"That's great! I can't wait. Did she have a particular piece she wanted to play?"

"Um, she said 'Ode to Joy' by Beethoven. I even brought the music for you to practice with." She pulled out a few sheet of music and handed them to Kazuki.

"Thank you. I'll do my best, I promise."

"I'll leave you alone to practice. See ya later!" She ran off, back down the stairs.

Kazuki watched her go, and then looked at the music. "Well, time to start practicing!"

A few days later, the Festival assembly and Kazuki was one of the last to play and when they announced him, he stepped on stage, and started playing with gusto. Perhaps a little too much gusto, because in the middle of the song, he moved the tube too hard and knocked if off its track, causing a major sour note. Kazuki stopped playing, looked at his trumpet, looked at the audience, bowed and ran off the stage as fast as his legs could carry him.

End of Flashback:

"See, lots of people have made mistakes on stage." Kazuki said with a smile on his face.

"'Ode to Joy', that's what we played together. Why would you want to play what you made a mistake on?" Kaho asked curiously.

"Because, it's a fun song that I enjoy playing, and I wanted to share it with you. One little mistake isn't enough for me to hate something, not music or a song. You can do the same Kaho-chan."

"But what if I can't? What if I make the same mistake?"

"You just can't give up. You've been doing your best this whole time. And someone wise once said, 'Whoever said anyone had the right to give up?'(1) You just have to keep trying until you've gotten it right. That's what I finally did. The next year, I played a different tune, and did it right because I kept practicing until it was perfect."

A thoughtful look came over Kaho as she thought over Kazuki's story and advice. "Thank you Kazuki-sempai, I need to go, I'll see you later." She got up and started jogging home.

Kazuki watched her go, a warm smile on his lips. 'Well, at least I got her to think of coming back to music.'

As she ran to the park her spirits were lifted higher than they'd been in weeks. 'Kazuki-sempai's right. I can't give up. I may not have the right to play it but since I've already played this far, I defiantly don't have the right to give up. I have to find Lili and tell him.' She arrived at the park and headed for the small patch of trees.

"Lili? Lili come out, I need to talk to you." She called for the little Fata.

A small ball of light appeared in front her and transformed into the small fairy. "Hino Kahoko, what's the matter?"

"The violin has no more magic, right?"

"Yes, the magic dissipated after the other strings broke. Even the last string has no magic in it."

"Is it still possible for me to play it, if I replace the strings and play the way I did before, will it still work?"

"Yes. If you remember the training you did when it had music, you can still play it. Are you saying that you'll play the violin again?"

"Yes. I not have had the right to play it in the first place, but now that I've become so attached to music, I don't have the right to give up either. I'm going to end this contest, and I'm going to do my best. I finally realized that loving the violin isn't enough for me to appreciate music."

Lili lunged at her and hugged her around the neck. "Thank you Hino Kahoko! This is amazing! I thought you might have hated the violin, hated music, I'm so glad you don't." He pulled back to look her in the eye. "Thank you so much for this! You are such an amazing person." With that, he waved his little wand, and he was gone.

She turned back and headed home with a smile on her face, happier than she'd been for a long time. She got home, put her bag in her room, grabbed her violin case and ran back down stairs. She grabbed the phone book out of the kitchen and looked for a violin shop. She found one, called, and set an appointment for the next day at five.

The next day, after school, Kaho headed over to the 'World of Music' repair shop. When she got there, she didn't see anyone.

"Hello? I'm here to learn how to replace violin strings. Is anyone here?" Kaho called.

A man appeared from the back room. He was about 6'2", had brown eyes and salt-and-pepper hair, small glasses, and dressed in a light blue polo shirt and khaki pants.

"Ah, welcome to my shop. I am Natsuko Akira (2) and you must be Hino Kahoko, correct?"

"Yes, sir." She said politely, bowing.

"Come over here, we'll take a look at your violin." He led her over to a work bench on the far side of the shop. She carefully got out her violin and placed it on the table. He picked it up and examined it expertly. "Alright, I'll show you how to put on the first string, and then you put on the rest, and after you'll need to tune and adjust the strings accordingly. First is G string." He showed her how to string the violin. "Next is A String. You attach it." (3)

She took the string and placed it where he indicated, and tightened the strings. She did the same to the final string as well.

"Alright then, time to tune." He picked up a violin on the table. You always tune to A first, you know that." He played the note. "Now you." She mimicked his fingers and played. It was scratchy, but defiantly an A. "Tighten the string and apply less pressure." Kaho did as she was told.

And so it went till all the notes sounded right.

That night, she walked home with a light heart carrying her violin case and humming a happy tune.

"Well, you seem in better spirits." The voice startled Kaho; she turned around to see Ryotaro grinning. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright, Tsuchiura-kun. And yes, I'm much better." They started walking again.

"Hihara-sempai told me what you guys talked about. Are you going to continue in the contest?"

"Yes. I can't give up now. Even if it turns out to be a failure, I will still do my best. What is it that coaches always tell the athletes? 'Finish strong', right?

"Yep." Ryotaro chuckled. "You've certainly done a 180 since the third. I'm glad. A sad face doesn't suit you very well."

She looked at him in confusion. "Oh, here's my house. Thank you for walking me home, Tsuchiura-kun. I'll see you at school tomorrow." She ran up the steps to her door, turned and smiled and waved to Ryotaro, then disappeared through the doorway.

(1) Quote by Marian Wright Edelman

(2) Means "Intellegent Child of Natsu

(3) I know nothing of violins except what I've learned watching this anime, so if I'm wrong, please don't kill me, I'm a flute player, not a violin.

And for those of you wondering where chapter 3 went, I decided to take it out since it didn't fit the story. If you still want to read it, it's under the title Snow Blanket.