*Author's Note: Yes I know, don't say it, I'm very late on the update. I'll try to get myself on track again for next week. Meanwhile please leave your comments and reviews it really helps a lot and motivates me a ton, even something short is very highly appreciated! As for those who have continually supported me week after week thank you and I hope my writing can continue to earn your support. Enjoy!

Chapter 7 – Stormy Night

"The girl I love…is you." Watari didn't even need to hear the answer. He could already tell by the expression that was on her face and the next thing he knew she was running away, leaving him alone at the intersection. It was almost midnight and the walk back home was a cold one. His mood was at an all time low yet the moon and its stars were shining brighter than ever, seemingly mocking his heartache.

'The hell's is up with all those bright stars? Can't they read the mood? Some clouds would have been much more fitting…or maybe it's the sky's way of trying to make me feel better. Or maybe I'm just going crazy thinking that the sky reflects my emotions. Or maybe the sky just doesn't give a shit about me.'

His head was filled with so many different emotions that he was desperately trying to sort out. He was growing more and more frustrated since he never had to deal with anything like this before. Going against his logical side he decided to take a walk before going back home and arrived at the park. The wind was chilly but he couldn't care less right now whether he gets a cold or not.

"GAH I'M SO STUPID! Why did I tell her?" yelled Watari as he kicked a small pebble and laid down on a bench. Looking up at the vast night sky, he felt like he was lost. He had lost the goal that he's had for the past 10 years, all of his effort wasted. A drop of tear rolled down his cheeks as his heart clenched tighter and tighter. He covered his eyes with his hand and sobbed quietly, letting his sadness take over.

"Watari?" Hearing the voice he sat up immediately and wiped away his tears. He knew who it was and it took him only a few seconds to spot him.

"Yo Kousei what's up!" said Watari with a fake smile and a wave.

"Is something wrong?" said Kousei as he took a seat beside him.

"No, no, nothing's wrong. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was walking home from visiting Kaori. What about you, weren't you at the dance?"

"Yeah, I uh…I'm…taking a walk." He felt the wave of sadness coming back up and he didn't really want to break down in front of Kousei as it would be quite embarrassing. Not to mention awkward since he's sort of part of the problem.

"Is it about Tsubaki?" said Kousei after a moment of silence.

"Eh?! How did you know?" Watari was surprised; he always thought that he hid his affection pretty well.

"Well I always thought you two suited each other and that something was there."

"How did you notice that I liked her but not notice that she liked you?"

"Ah…I don't really know how to answer that," said Kousei looking down with a slight smile.

"Man I'm so lame. I've liked her for some many years and I still couldn't get her," said Watari as he leaned back and supported himself with his arms as he looked up into the starry sky. "Wanna share your secret with me? How come she's so attracted to you?"

"That, you're going to have to ask her because I have no idea," said Kousei with a laugh which made Watari chuckle as well.

"I wanted her so badly…," said Watari in a quiet voice and Kousei realized that he was crying by the tone of his voice. "Do you think I'm weak for crying over something like this?"

"No, I think you're pretty amazing for liking a girl for so long without any of your feelings returned. When I thought Kaori liked you, it was the worst feeling in the world watching you two while I was on the sidelines as Friend A."

Watari listened as he wiped away the tears that didn't seem to stop. "I don't think you're crying because you're weak but because you've been strong for too long."

"Well it's all over now," said Watari calmly.

"Did she say no?"

"Pretty much, I mean she literally ran away from me without saying anything so I'm assuming she doesn't like me back. Not to mention she still likes you so it might as well be impossible."

"Whether it's possible or impossible, the girl will tell you that." Feeling the impact of his own words he turned his head to Kousei. "Don't give up Watari!"

Watari laughed and got up, "Don't go stealing my lines like that." The circumstances may have changed but his goal is still the same. Whether she likes him right now or not, he's still going to continue chasing her for as long as he can.

The next few weeks were naturally filled with awkward encounters, Tsubaki decided to stay away from Kousei and Watari for the time being. But when something bad happens in life, more times than not something good follows right after.

"I'M FINALLY OUT!" Kaori ran out of the hospital yelling at the top of her lungs and extending her arms out to the sky.

"Congratulation on getting released, it's nice to have you back Kaori-chan!" said Watari as he handed her his gift.

"Thanks!" After checking the content of the bag she turned her attention to Kousei and held out her hand expectantly.

"Oh c'mon I bought you caneles like everyday," said Kousei dejected, "I hope you know I'm not rich."

"Kousei you gotta step up your game or else Watari-kun might come and steal me away," said Kaori teasingly.

"EH!?" Kousei's reaction caused the three of them laughed together.

"By the way where is Tsubaki-chan?" asked Kaori which quickly dampened the mood. "Did I miss something while I was gone?" Her question was responded by silence by both boys and her imagination took a turn for the worst.

"AH Kousei you swore to not cheat on me!"

"N-no, that's not what happened I swear!"

"AHHHH!" screamed Kousei as Kaori tackled Kousei.

"Kaori-chan don't worry, it's something about me." Watari's statement made Kaori stop pinching Kousei's cheeks and got her attention to him. After Watari explained to her what happened she looked like she just finished watching a sad romance movie and was on the edge of crying a river.

"Don't worry…I'm way better now compared to when it happened thanks to Kousei."

"Well I wish you the best of luck!" said Kaori while wiping away her tears and gave Watari a thumb up. "Me and Kousei have to get going now, gotta practice for the contest that's coming up soon."

"Are you sure you shouldn't rest one or two more days before we start practicing?" asked Kousei, the last thing he wanted was Kaori back in the hospital for overworking.

"Don't be ridiculous I'm fine! Now let's stop wasting time and practice!" She grabbed him by the wrist and started dragging him away. "See you later Watari!"

Watari smiled as he looked at the couple walking away. "What to do now?" Looking up at the sky he noticed that the weather has been getting steadily warmer for the last few weeks. "Weather's looking nice so soccer it is!"

"Kaori…"

"We're starting practice right now and I'm not taking no for an answer."

"I know but…"

"Listen I'm going to be fine." She was scared as well, what if she pushes herself too hard and her symptoms come back, but she felt like she was ready.

"That's not what I was talking about…I just want you to stop dragging me, I can walk on my own."

"Oh sorry I got caught up in the moment." She pulled him up and smiled apologetically. "It was fun dragging you around."

"Well it wasn't fun being the one that's getting dragged," said Kousei as he got up and patted off the dirt on his clothe.

"Well…how about we hold hands and make up?" said Kaori and extended her hand.

"But…isn't that a little…" Kousei blushed and looked away nervously.

"You're acting like you don't want to hold my hand…Don't tell me you're embarrassed to have people see me as your girlfriend," said Kaori with a pout.

"N-no, that's not it. I never dated anyone before and I'm not sure how to act as a good boyfriend so I don't want to embarrass you…"

"Geez you're holding my hand, it's not like you have you sight read Chopin or Beethoven on a stage," said Kaori as she extended her hand out once again. This time he took it and she entwined her fingers with his long slender ones. Both blushed a little more and felt more like a couple. The atmosphere changed slightly and a feeling of happiness budded in their hearts, all just from the new closeness and contact they shared.

As they reached the front of Kousei's house Tsubaki stepped out of hers at the same time. As soon as Tsubaki saw the two she wanted to get out of there, there was no need for her to torture herself while watching them all lovey-dovey.

"Tsubaki!" called out Kaori, it seems that the brunette moved too slow and was spotted before she could leave quietly.

"Oh, hey Kaori, nice to see that you are all better now," said Tsubaki, trying her best to put a smile on her face. She then turned her gaze towards Kousei and nodded slightly. "Kousei…"

"Hey Tsubaki…"

"Nice weather we're having."

"Yeah." Unsure of how to continue the conversation or what to say, a silence followed as the three of them stood there awkwardly while staring at each other.

"I uh have a softball game with my friends so see you guys later." Tsubaki excused herself and ran toward the park.

'I come out to cheer myself up and I meet one of the two people I didn't want to meet! Just my luck!'

"I shouldn't have said anything, should I?" said Kaori, feeling terrible for making Tsubaki feel bad.

"Maybe not but I'm sure you didn't do it with ill intentions. Tsubaki is strong, she'll be fine."

"I hope so…" said Kaori hesitantly.

"Plus she got Watari to support her. There's no way he'll sit there while she's feeling down!"

'Stupid Kousei!' Tsubaki was lost in her thoughts and ran with her eyes closed. Suddenly, a soccer ball between her feet and caused her to fall. "Who in the world…"

"Oh my God I'm so sorry are you o…" The two of them stared at each other, their first time meeting after what happened.

"Tsu-" Before he could call out her name she picked up the soccer ball and threw it full force at his face causing him to fall backwards.

She quickly got up and started running away from the scene. 'Great now I got to meet the second person that I didn't want to see! I'm on a roll today!'

"What the hell was that for?!" said Watari as he got up. 'I'm the one that should be angry at you, why are you the one that's angry at me?' He noticed that she left behind one of her shoe and decided to chase after her to return it. 'Hopefully when I catch up to her we can talk for a bit.'

She looked back as she ran and saw that he was chasing after her. "Go away I don't want to talk to you right now!" She tried to go faster but then noticed that she was missing one of her shoe. 'What the hell?!'

"Wait up!" yelled Watari as he held up her shoe.

"You stole my shoe?!" Tsubaki yelled back still not stopping.

"What?! No it fell!"

As uncomfortable as it was running with only one shoe, she still stuck with her decision to not talk to him.

'Are you kidding me? She doesn't want to talk me that badly?' thought Watari as he stopped chasing. 'Fine if you don't want to talk to me then I'll keep your shoe!' That's when Tsubaki stopped and fell. Watari quickly ran forward to check if she was okay, as he came closer he saw her lying on the floor clutching her bleeding foot which had a piece of glass stuck in it.

"Tsubaki!" He quickly knelt beside her and looked at the wound, it was wedged in fairly deep and blood was gushing out.

"Stop…I don't want to…talk to you," said Tsubaki as she winced in pain and tried her best not to face the boy beside her.

"Damn it Tsubaki why didn't you just stop a take your shoe?!"

"Why did you chase me?! If you didn't chase me I wouldn't have stepped on the glass!"

"How could you possibly blame me for this? I was trying to return your shoe after you threw a soccer ball to my face!"

"I wouldn't have thrown it at your face if it didn't roll between my feet and made me trip!"

"That's not within my control! How am I supposed to know you were walking there?"

"I don't know! OW!" The wound in her foot refused to be ignored any longer and made her cry out in pain.

"W-w-what are you doing?!" yelled Tsubaki as Watari picked her up bridal style.

"Shut up. Your house is nearby isn't it? I'll carry you there and we can get you some first aid there."

"No way! Don't I get any say in this?"

"No."

"EH?!"

"I'm not going to just watch as you lie there in pain." Tsubaki fell silent after hearing those words and seeing his determined expression.

"Thank you."

"Feels like forever since I've been here!" yelled Kaori as she walked into the house and kicked off her shoes.

"Well the place hasn't changed much," said Kousei as he took off his shoes as well. "Tea?"

"Nah." She shook her head and pointed to the piano room. "Let me hear you play!"

"Sure. What do you want to hear?" asked Kousei as he sat down in front of the piano.

"How about Canon in D by Pachelbel?"

"That's song is so easy though." 'I want to at least show off a little.'

"Oh did you want to show off?" said Kaori in a teasing tone with a smirk.

"N-no…"

"Hmm really?"

"Maybe a little."

"Just play it for me," said Kaori as she laughed at Kousei's shy honesty. "I'll be your judge for today."

"Alright fine." He started with a slow and gentle rhythm, and even though it was easy it still had a beautiful sound. The rhythm then got faster as the melody came up and Kousei decided to change the simple broken chords to solids. The tune was relaxing and rested in the air easily.

"How did I do?" asked Kousei after he finished the piece.

"You fail!"

"EH?!"

"I asked for Canon in D but you played a variation that was in the C major key!"

"But this version is better."

"Too bad." She smiled as she stuck out her tongue. They spent the next few hours practicing their audition piece and joking around. Before they even noticed, time has already flown away and it was close to 9 p.m.

"I better get going before my parents start worrying about what I'm doing with you at your house," said Kaori. She laughed as Kousei's face turned red from his imagination. "I'll see you tomorrow for practice." When she opened the door there was a huge storm outside, the wind was so strong that many signs were flying in the air and the water almost reached her ankle.

"I don't think it's safe right now, just stick around for a bit longer and wait for the storm to calm down a bit."

"You're right," said Kaori as she quickly stepped back inside the house her clothe already soaked from standing outside for a few seconds.

"Don't stare!" yelled Kaori as she blushed bright red. She hugged herself and tried to cover what the wet clothe were sticking onto.

"I-I-I'm so sorry!" stuttered Kousei as he blushed just as red and quickly looked away. "I-I'll go get you a towel!"

After getting changed into dry clothe the two of them went into the living room and turned on the TV to check when the storm would calm down.

'I hope you are not planning to go anywhere tonight because this storm is not going to stop until tomorrow! It is highly advised that you stay inside your house as wind speed is reaching as high as 80 km/h!'

The two of them sat there and as they registered what was just said the two of them both turned to face each other. "Does that mean…"

"I have to stay for the night?!"

*Author's Note: I had a lot of trouble coming up with how Watari would react after being rejected so if you guys have any comments on that or if you felt that any character were OOC please tell me! Other than that thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter XD!

rex4487: Thank you for the support! It makes me super happy that you enjoyed the last chapter since I wasn't sure if people would like the extra WatariXTsubaki. To be honest I would love to give longer chapters but it takes me so long just to write the length I'm putting out right now (around 4-6 hours each chapter) along with all my school work it just gets a bit heavy.

Mermaid Monster: I'm happy someone caught my attempt at foreshadowing Watari and Tsubaki's night with a small twist. Thank you so much for all the support you've shown, you have once again reassured me on one of the scenes that I wasn't 100% sure readers would like or understand (Tsubaki running away)! Also funny that after you've complimented me on my consistency I fail you XD.

HaveYouSeenThisOtaku, Aiyoukhyra, Herolegend290: Thank you for the continuous support!

Dan: I'm happy this story helped you. Thank you for taking time out of your day to show your support!

Losiriel: Thank you for the support and I'm happy that I helped you cope with the ending :D!

Transmundane-Transmutation-95, Only Exception 23: Welcome! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment on multiple chapters! Highly appreciate it and I hope you can continue to support me XD

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