Oumae Kumiko never expected to fall in love with Tanaka Asuka, her senpai euphonium player, and especially not so quickly. It wasn't that she fell in love immediately upon meeting her, but rather, after a long period of time, it just happened all at once.

Kumiko's first impression of her was a beautiful, confident, playful person, and an extremely talented musician. But then she soon revealed a cold, calculating, and uncaring side.

"Who do you think should play the trumpet solo?" Kumiko asked her one day.

The band was torn between Reina, the clearly more skilled player, and Kaori, the well-liked upperclassman.

"I honestly couldn't care less."

That was her answer. Kumiko hated that. At least she could admit to herself that she wanted Reina, the less popular choice. But if Asuka-senpai didn't care about who plays what part, does she not care about anyone in particular in the band? Does she care about her friends, Haruka and Kaori? Are they even her friends?

Am I her friend? Kumiko couldn't help but wonder. If this were happening to me, she wouldn't care either, would she?

At first it seemed like all she cared about is her own personal development. Reina said it best.

"She seemed like the kind of person who just wanted what was best for her - who would be happy just being able to play."

But then why was she vice-president? Why did she care about Hazuki's poor competency when Hazuki was down over being rejected? How did she know that it'd trouble the oboist, Yoroizuka-senpai, were she to let Nozomi-senpai return to the band?

Did she care about the band or not? Kumiko couldn't understand Asuka-senpai, and it frustrated her that she couldn't understand her.

But at the same time, people couldn't help but like her. She was a mystery, and people just loved to try and solve them. Maybe she understood a little of what Reina said about herself.

"I want to peel that skin off of you."

Kumiko still didn't really get what Reina meant by that. She didn't think she was anything special.

But as for Asuka-senpai, she was a mess of contradictions, and she could only pass it off as Asuka-senpai being Asuka-senpai. She was just who she is - a talented but unintelligible, distant leader - and Kumiko tried to leave it like that.

That is, until the incident with her mother happened.

Kumiko stood at the door, speechless at the scene before her. She carried a pile of notebooks in her arms, but their heaviness had been long forgotten.

"Asuka, tell him you're leaving the club."

"Mom, I don't want to quit-"

SLAP!

She heard a gasp from the girl next to her, but what was more surprising to Kumiko was just how calmly, how casually, Asuka took her mom's hands and led her out the room.

As the they walked by her, Kumiko momentarily locked eyes with Asuka, and from then on she knew that there was more to her than she had thought.

Asuka-senpai didn't act the way she did because that was who she was. There was something hidden deep under that know one else knew.

In the following days, Asuka had somehow made her presence, or lack thereof, even more known. There was a noticeable gap not only in the empty seat next to her, but in their music. Ever since, Kumiko found her thoughts consumed with almost nothing but Asuka-senpai.

What is Asuka-senpai doing right now?

How often... does that happen at home?

Will Asuka-senpai be able to play with us?

Asuka insisted that it didn't matter. It was just like the situation with Reina and Kaori, except this time, it was as if she didn't even care about herself anymore.

Then what was the point of her playing the euphonium in the first place?

And just when she was lost in why she even cared now, the issue with her sister happened. As if she didn't have any more to worry about.

"If you're really quitting you'll leave this house."

Her parents seemed set on convincing Mamiko to continue college, but Kumiko could see that it wasn't happening. Her sister was dead serious about it.

"I didn't want to quit the trombone."

That surprised her. It was a long time ago, but it seemed like Mamiko just stopped playing one day, and she never found out why.

Then Asuka-senpai suddenly invited her over to study.

She didn't understand why, but everyone was telling her that Asuka is trying to reach out for help through her. But why her? Reina said there was something about her.

"You act like you don't notice things but you do, and when it matters most, you always have the right words."

So everyone was counting on her to bring Asuka-senpai back. But she didn't want to go to her house. She was afraid of what she might find there.

Asuka's home was a traditional style house - grand and imposing.

"Are you nervous?"

"Uh… no."

Of course she was, but and it wasn't because of the house. It was Asuka-senpai herself. Kumiko was nervous around her, and she couldn't keep a conversation. She didn't know what to expect.

It seemed though that Asuka-senpai only expected to get studying done.

"You're in bad shape, kiddo."

She was led through exercise after exercise, and she would have picked things up better if it weren't the fact that Asuka-senpai was teaching her.

Why was she helping her study anyway? It didn't make sense, but Asuka saw through the steamed buns so there was no hiding from her. She might as well just ask.

"Why did you suddenly decide to help me study?"

"I just wanted to talk to you."

That gave her more questions than answers, but then Asuka showed her a beginner's euphonium book.

"The author is a euphonist named Shindo Masakazu. He used to be my dad."

The shock was immediate.

"Wh-What do you mean?!"

So Kumiko listened to Asuka's story about her dad, about how she first started playing euphonium, and about how her dad will be at the national competition.

Now she knew why Asuka played the euphonium. Kumiko had never experienced what it's like to have her parents separate, but she can somewhat understand - that desire to stay connected. What she still didn't get was why Asuka was now putting it all away.

A memory of the band camp suddenly came to her mind - the morning she heard a beautiful sound. It was from Asuka, and only now did she realize how much the music hinted beneath it back then.

The memory was as fresh as a vivid dream. The imagery was wispy at best, but the feelings were still there. The feeling of the song was tender, earthly, and full of longing, and to think that Asuka-senpai was throwing it away.

"I like your playing!" She shouted out loud. "That morning at the band camp, when I heard you play that piece, I thought to myself that I loved your sound."

"Shindo wrote that piece. It was in the notebook that he gave me with the euphonium."

"It's so warm, and so strangely kind… I want to listen to it forever. So much that I want to hear you play it now!"

She didn't really know what she was saying, but it seemed to touch something in Asuka.

"Hey, let's go to the river. I feel like playing."

They sat down at the riverside. The afternoon sun glimmered off the water and Asuka's silver euphonium.

"You sure are a euphonium, Oumae-chan," Asuka said. "To think there was such a euphonium-ish kid around… Maybe that's why, I wanted you to hear me out."

Kumiko wasn't exactly sure what she meant, but her smile was different than any smile Kumiko had seen her give. She realized then that Asuka had opened up to her. She wasn't seeing a charade, but it was the real person in front of her.

Asuka played the song again. Kumiko gazed listlessly at the sky, the river, and road, and felt again the sweetness and the nostalgia of her music.

Out of nowhere, Mamiko said to her at night.

"I've always avoided making decisions for myself. I that that was what being an adult was.

"I was jealous of you. You did as you pleased."

"I wish I had the guts to be honest like that."

Then Kumiko found herself crying on the morning train. She could feel the gazes on her, but she just couldn't stop. All the events are taking their toll.

At school that same day, she overheard Haruka speaking with Asuka again.

"You're alright with this?"

"That's what I've been saying the whole time!"

Kumiko knew she was lying, she also knew why Asuka was being like that now. She hated it. Everyone was still trying, but nothing was changing.

Her sister's words kept coming back to her.

On a whim, she took off for Asuka's classroom during lunch break. She had just had a feeling that she had to convince Asuka somehow, that day, or else...

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Are you finally going to confess your love for me? All that time we spent at my place-"

"That isn't it."

Kumiko wasn't sure what she would say, but she was angry. At this point she was willing to do anything.

"Please join the competition group! Everyone says so. We want you, Asuka-senpai."

But Asuka was prepared to say anything too.

"I'd never thought I'd hear that coming from you, Oumae-chan, but I wonder if you really know them so well that you can say for sure."

"All you do is watch. You set up boundaries, and you never pried. You're curious, so you get close, but you're afraid of hurting people and being hurt. So you leave things wishy-washy, and watch from a safe distance."

The words hurt. Kumiko didn't know what else to say. She didn't know how to change Asuka's mind.

"You too though… don't be left with any regrets."

Her sister's words rang out in her head once again.

Kumiko didn't think much of what Mamiko said last night, but all of a sudden, it made sense to her. She understood why she hated the thought of Asuka-senpai quitting so much.

She and Asuka were really the same. They played the euphonium because of their bonds with their families. Kumiko played because of her sister, and Asuka played because of her dad. Then Mamiko stopped playing one day. She stopped because she thought she had to grow up, to put aside her passions and obey her parents. Now Asuka was about to stop too for the exact same reason.

She knew now how much her older sister had really wanted to play, how much she really regretted quitting. She also knew how much Asuka-senpai really wanted to play, So Asuka-senpai had to stop lying to herself.

And Kumiko needed to be honest too.

"You're right," She cried out. "The club, the competition, everything. But I don't care about any of that! You want your dad to hear you play, don't you? How can you act like none of that was real?"

The tears poured out again - the second time that day, and this time it was in front of Asuka-senpai, not some random strangers.

But she wanted Asuka to know - it's okay for her to be selfish this time. Don't suck it up and deal with it, pretending to be an adult.

"Please don't make choices you know you're going to regret… not until you've done everything you can!"

But it was also more than that. It was more than avoiding regrets. She missed her sister's music, and she loved Asuka-senpai's music. Her feelings for them were the same.

"I want you to play at the nationals! I want to hear you play the euphonium!"

Her sobs broke apart her voice, and it was too hard to speak. But then she felt a hand over her head.

"You're a mess. Thanks though. I'm glad."

Someone called out for Asuka, and she left in haste.

Asuka-senpai said that she was glad - to hear her say those things? But whether that meant things have changed, she didn't know.

Only later would get her answer.

Practice was about to begin, and next to her Natsuki picked up her sheets and headed for the exit.

"Eh? We're about to start."

"Huh? You haven't heard? Man, Asuka-senpai can be so mean."

Just then, the door slid open.

"Tanaka-senpai!"

"Asuka-senpai!"

There she was, holding her silver euphonium in her arm.

"She made the national top 30 on the mock exams, and she used that against her mom."

Kumiko had never felt more happy to see someone. She fumbled in her mind for the right words to say as Asuka walked over, placed her sheets on the stand, and sat down.

"Welcome back," she barely managed to say.

Asuka-senpai was by her side, and things never felt more right.

They went to nationals, and they didn't win gold.

Kumiko was disappointed. Everyone was. But it didn't seem as important at the moment when she knew her sister would be there. Was she listening?

"What's wrong?" she heard Asuka's voice say to her.

"Oh, nothing."

Then Taki-sensei approached them, carrying a message from Shindo Masakazu.

"He said, 'I'm glad you kept at it all this time. You sounded beautiful.' "

She peered at Asuka's face, and saw yet another smile she would never forget.

Then she couldn't see anything as Asuka smothered her head in a big hug.

"Yay! He praised our playing!"

Well, he praised your playing. Kumiko thought, but she knew Asuka was just being shy again and trying to brush it off. Somehow, she understood Asuka so well now.

"Good for you, senpai."

Now if only I could find my sister.

Asuka stayed in the hug for quite a while. Kumiko would have felt awkward otherwise, but she knew - by her gentle sighs, her light touches - that Asuka-senpai was happy. Here was a person who was letting out years of pain and effort, for true fulfillment.

She could find her sister later, because right then, it was as if she could feel her senpai's happiness as well. When Asuka finally let her go, Kumiko somehow found herself wanting to stay in the hug even longer.

She did find Mamiko later as well. So her sister was listening to her all along, and then she truly felt how Asuka felt. Her and Asuka really were the same. The people they have always wanted to listen them play have finally heard their music.

"Onee-chan, I love you!"

"I love you too!"

In that moment, Kumiko also realized that her feelings for them were the same as well. She loved her sister, and she loved Asuka-senpai.