Disclaimer: I don't own La Corda or any of the people in it... :(
(A/N: Sorry for the cliffie you guys!!! here's a new chappie! :D)
Kanazawa, Kazuo, Hihara, Ryo, Mio, Nao, Aiko, Kaji, Azuma, Fuyuumi, and Shimizu were all in the parking lot, looking at a SUV.
Azuma looked at Kanazawa questioningly and said, "Sensei, is this your vehicle?"
Kanazawa flushed, put his hand behind his head, and said, "Iie, this is Professor Suzute's vehicle... He heard about what happened to Hino and immediately offered his car. The other students that want to come are getting in the buses as we speak."
Everyone nodded to show that they understood what Kanazawa was saying.
Kanazawa walked around the side of the SUV and got in the driver's seat to start the car.
Suddenly Ryo turned to Kazuo and said, "Please don't tell me that you're Tsukimori's twin brother."
Kazuo looked at him blankly and said, "Why don't I tell you everything in the car, alright?"
Again, everyone nodded.
Kanazawa opened one of the windows and said, "Let's go already kids, Kaho's in the hospital!!!"
Once everyone remembered the cruel happenings of earlier that day, they rushed into the SUV, wanting to get to Kaho as soon as possible.
Azuma sat in the front, Mio, Nao, Aiko, and Fuyuumi sat in the middle row, and Shimizu, Kazuo, Kaji, Hihara, and Ryo sat in the back, all squished in.
As soon as they were all seated, Kanazawa backed out of the parking lot, and speeded out the driveway of the school.
Kaji looked at the blue-haired dude that was sitting next to him and said, "Okay, we're all in the car. Now what's the deal with you, Kaho, and Tsukimori?"
Kazuo sighed.
"Are you sure you all want to know," he asked.
"YES!!!!!!!!!!!" exclaimed everyone except for Kanazawa, Azuma, and Fuyuumi.
'Crap... I guess I have to tell them then...' thought Kazuo.
"Fine then," said Kazuo, "Here."
"Kaho and I go way back... Before she went to Seiso, she attended the Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu High School. We've attended the same schools since kindergarten. After the first semester as a freshman at Gakkan Urayasu, she transferred here," said Kazuo
(A/N: I don't know if they have kindergarten in Japan, but oh well)
Ryo interrupted Kazuo to say, "Why did she transfer here in the first place?"
Kazuo's face clouded over as he said, "Niriya had started to say things about her. Like how he only liked her body, not her personality, and how she got all emo when he broke up with her the first time."
Mio ad Nao looked at Kazuo, then at each other, and thought, "Does he know? Did Kaho tell him why she used to act like that?'
Kaji looked at Kazuo and said, "Wait, he broke up with her before? Why?"
Kazuo said, "He told her it was because his parents disliked her, and they told him to break up with him. But the truth of the matter was that he simply got tired of having her as his girlfriend. She saw that, and she asked him the real reason why he broke up with her. He said, 'I don't love you anymore, my heart belongs to someone else.' After that, she was heart broken. Two terrible things had occered to her at once."
Kazuki looked up at Kazuo and said, "Wait... TWO things??? What two things?"
Kazuo looked at Mio and Nao, and silently they nodded to him.
Mio said, "I think Kaho would want you all to know the truth..."
Then she turned to Kazuo and said, "She's kept this a secret from them ever since she got here... She told me and Nao though... I think it would be alright for you to tell them, because she said that she was going to tell them anyway."
"Wait, what are we talking about here?!?!?!?!?! Kaho-chan kept a secret from us??? Is she okay??? What happened," Kazuki exclaimed.
"Hihara, I think he's about to tell us. Stop being so annoying and shut up," said Azuma.
'Oh shit, did i just say that,' thought Azuma.
Kaho's accident had affected Azuma so deeply that he had begun losing his control over himself.
Everyone stared at Azuma.
Then Kazuki smiled and said, "I get it now! Good job Yunoki! That was a wonderful impression of Tsukimori-kun!"
Realizing that this was his way out, Azuma smiled graciously and said, "Arigatoo Hihara, I have been working on it."
Kazuo just looked at Azuma and Hihara oddly and wondered what the hell was wrong with them...
"During Kaho's freshman year, there was an exclusive, freshman only party at Gakkan High, and she had attended. She thought that Niriya wouldn't be attending, because he hadn't asked her to the dance, so she had decided to go with me, as a friend, you guys don't need to glare at me that way, jeez. We were sitting outside on a bench just looking at the stars when she asked me if we could go on a walk around the garden. Of course, i obliged. We had just started walking when we saw a couple kissing. Of course, Kaho tugged on my sleeve and motioned that we should leave. She had cast a last glance at the occupied couple when she realized that the people kissing were her best friend, Asami Kiremi, and Niriya, who was still her boyfriend.
Kaho looked at them a while longer, confirming that the two people were indeed her best friend and her boyfriend.
'Niriya-kun? Asami-chan,' she asked in a strangled voice.
Niriya turned and saw her and said, 'What do you want? Can't you see we're busy?'
Kaho stepped out of the shadows and said, 'It's me Niriya. Kaho. What are you doing?'
Asami smirked at Kaho and said, 'He's kissing me you idiot. Can't you see he never loved you in the first place? God, you really are dense.'
Kaho looked at Niriya with tears brimming in her eyes and said, 'Niriya, why? Why did you do this to me?'
Asami stepped closer to Kaho and said, 'Go away, bitch. His heart belongs to someone else now.'
Asami raised her hand and slapped Kaho on the cheek, hard.
Kaho turned on her heel and ran to the front of the school, sobbing, leaving Asami smirking after her.
I stepped forward and looked at Niriya and said, 'Niriya, why would you do that to Kaho? You know she loves you with all her heart, but you did tis to her... Why?'
Niriya looked at me with a surprised look on his face.
'Kazuo, dude, i thought you knew. Didn't i tell you that i only asked her out because she has a hot body? Well, i guess her body wasn't enough for me anymore... I needed something more,' Niriya said calmly.
At that point, i just shook my head and walked away.
Sadly, i had just realized that Niriya wasn't the guy for Kaho.
I ran to the front of the school, determined to find Kaho.
She was on her cell, calling her parents.
When i got to her, she was saying, 'Okaa-san, otoo-san, can you come pick me up?'
I heard her parents say yes, there were coming, and they would be there in a couple minutes.
I stood there with Kaho and gave her a hug.
She cried into my jacket.
I walked her over to a bench in front of the school and placed an arm around her shoulders.
'It's okay,' I told her, 'We'll sort this out tomorrow. I'll come over and we'll talk about it.'
She hugged me again and nodded into my jacket.
We waited in front of the school for hours.
Finally, at three in the morning, I offered to drive her home.
She nodded sleepily, already half asleep.
We got into my car, and I started the car, and began driving her home.
When we were already halfway to her house, we were stopped at an intersection.
Apparently there had been an accident.
I gently woke Kaho up and told her that i would be getting out of the car to check out the accident.
She insisted on coming with me.
I figured that she wouldn't shut up unless I let her come, so i opened her door and let her out.
We walked to the scene of the accident together.
I remember Kaho murmuring, 'That car looks familiar.'
I immediately recognized the car as her family's because her parents drover her to school in that every day.
'Oh shit,' I said, realizing who had been in the accident.
Her eyes widened in comprehension as she ran towards the crushed form of her parents' silver SUV.
'Otoosan! Okaa-san!!!!!' she screamed.
The paramedics stopped her from coming any closer to the car.
Firefighters were working on getting her parents out of the car.
'They're alive! But just barely,' they said, 'They're responding to your calls, keep calling them.'
The paramedics still held on to Kaho, but they let her scream for her parents.
Finally, when the firefighters had gotten Kaho's bloody and battered parents out of the car and onto stretchers, they allowed Kaho to come close.
Their stretchers were close together, and her parents were holding each others' hand.
Kaho ran up to them, and her father said weakly, 'How was the party Kaho-chan.'
Kaho's tears didn't relent.
'Otoo-san... Okaa-san... This is my fault... I called you and asked you to come pick me up... Gomenasai,' she sobbed.
Kaho's parents reached out their free hands and took ahold of both of Kaho's hands.
They asked Kaho to call me over.
'Kazuo-kun, we recognize that you're like an older brother to Kaho. Please take care of her and see that she is as happy as possible,' said Kaho's dad.
'I promise, Otoo-san,' i said to Kaho's dad.
By then tears had started to run down my face.
Her father motioned for Kaho to go away, pulled my ear down, inches away from his mouth ann said, 'We left them money, just in case this ever happened to us... It's in (insert bank name here) in the safety deposit box number 1053, and the key to get it is in the cookie jar.'
With that, he let go of my ear, and motioned Kaho back over.
'Tell Kazue that we love her, and that she can open the letter we gave her on her 15th birthday now. Tell your Onii-san that he can open the letter we gave him on his birthday. And we have a letter for you too... It's in the jewelry box. In the second drawer,' said her dad, his voice growing weaker with every breath.
'IIE!!! OTOO-SAN!!!!! OKAA-SAN!!!! DON'T GO!!!!,' cried Kaho.
I hugged her again.
She fought against me, trying to get to her parents.
"We love you Kaho-chan...' whispered her parents.
After that, they passed away peacefully...
When Kaho went to school on the next Monday, she had cut marks on her arms.
A month after her parents passed away, she transferred here, to get away from all of the memories the old school carried...
Ever since i made that promise to her parents, I have played the older brother role for Kaho, while her biological brother is studying in America," finished Kazuo.
Kanazawa finally spoke and said, "We're here... Everyone out..."
Everyone was dumbstruck by what Kazuo had just told them...
"K-kaho-chan's parents passed away," stuttered Kazuki...
'Why didn't she tell us,' thought Ryo.
Kazuo looked at them all again.
"I know you're probably wondering why she didn't tell you... It's because she wanted to have a new start at Seiso, where no one knew her... When Niriya showed up, it threw her whole life out of whack... So don't hate her, okay," Kazuo said.
Azuma spoke up, "We could never hate Hino-san. Although we have our differences with her, she is our friend, and friends stick together."
Kazu nodded.
Kanazawa interrupted their conversation by saying, "Shall we go in now? I don't want to be caught amidst the rest of the students that will be coming here to visit her."
Everyone nodded and walked in through the sliding doors of the hospital.