Chapter 4: Secret's Out

Disclaimer: I do not own La Corda D'Oro (I wish I did) but I am grateful to Kure-san for letting me play with her characters  .

"Yu..Yunoki Senpai? Wha..Wha..Wha..What are you doing t…to Kaho-senpai??" Shouko yelped out helplessly, flushing, as she stared at her two upperclassmen, locked in an embrace.

"Ah..Shouko-chan..you s..see.." Kahoko stuttered nervously.

"Hino-san here, tripped while she was getting up and I just simply happened to catch her before she hit the ground." Azuma lied straight forward, his fake smile intact. What a lame excuse…Azuma grimaced inwardly. He said as he let go of Kahoko, " Are you all right Hino-san?" "Y..Yes I am fine..Thank you f..for catching me, Yunoki-senpai." Kahoko stuttered yet again. Bloody devil…she mentally cursed.

"Oh..I see..anyways I came here because Kanayan is asking for all the concours participants to come to the Music Classroom. Hihara senpai said that he saw you both head up here, so I came to call you." Replied Shouko, her face showing relief. " Your homeroom teacher has been informed so you are excused for this period, Kaho-senpai."

"Ok…Thanks, Fuyuumi-chan. Let's go then." Said Kahoko walking towards Shouko and exiting the rooftop, followed closely by Azuma and Shouko.

Shouko and Kahoko chatted on their way to the Music Classroom, but Shouko's mind was spinning with all that she had seen, because unbeknownst to both her senpais, she had seen the entire exchange.

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"Since the final exams for the second semester are beginning in three weeks' time and the concert will be held at the end of March, it's not advisable to practice for the concert much right now. The exams end in two weeks. So that means you will have time to practice from end of February to end of March. Four weeks should be enough practice time." Said Kanazawa. Kanazawa and Daidouji were present in the Classroom, along with the rest of the participants. "I asked Ayame-san to choose the theme for the concert and you all will be choosing your pieces according to the theme, as you did in the concours."

Ayame spoke up. "The theme is 'Heartfelt melody'. Just a thought, but if you all could select your pieces from what you played in the concours it would put a little less pressure on the third years, as they have to appear for the entrance exams for colleges during the same time. Am I right?" she nodded to Kazuki and Azuma. Both of them looked utterly bewildered by her request. "Tha...That's really thoughtful of you, Daidouji sensei…" stammered Kazuki. They had never imagined her to be that thoughtful, even though they knew that she was a kind person. Ayame simply smiled in return.

"The venue has been decided upon. It will be held at Tokyo Opera House, and not at the school as originally planned." The students simply gasped at the idea. THE Tokyo Opera House??? Holy shit!! "You aren't the only one's performing. Ayame agreed to do a solo performance being alumni of the school, and Hamai Misa-san will be doing the accompaniment to all of your pieces as well as a solo and duet with Ayame -san." The students were shocked. None of them spoke a word. Ayame looked at their expressions and grinned broadly. "Now that's what I call 'shell shocked'!!"

Kanazawa laughed along and told them, "Don't worry, you will get used to it. Besides this is a great opportunity for you all, I am sure you know that. Here are the papers containing the details. Look it through carefully and start practicing, but don't flunk your exams. My head will be on the chopping block if you do so." He finished with a weary look on his face, rubbing his neck tiredly. All of them laughed at his expression. "Ok, now get going...we are done for today." Kanazawa waved them off, embarrassed.

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Heartfelt melody..hmm..hey that sounds more like the theme for the third selection..irreplaceable melody..oh man, selecting a piece and perfecting it without guidance is gonna be hard..maybe zia can help me out a bit..oh yeah she's the one who's gonna be instructing us..so stupid I forgot..of course I can ask her..but…can she help me? I am nowhere her level…

" Kaho-senpai?"

The voice cut through Kahoko's random thoughts. She turned around to see Shouko standing behind her, a worried look on her face. They were outside the Music Classroom.

"What is it Shouko-chan? Is everything allright?" asked Kahoko, noticing the look on her face.

" May I speak to you privately senpai? There's still 10 minutes till class is over…and th..this is urgent…do you mind?"

" No I don't mind…hey!" Kahoko exclaimed as Shouko pulled her hand and literally dragged her to the music practice rooms. Azuma stared after them with narrowed eyes, making a note mentally to quiz Kahoko about this.

" Shouko-chan you are acting weird…Is everything allright? Anyways, what is it you wanted to.."

" I heard everything Yunoki-senpai said to you on the rooftop, senpai. I was there the whole time." Shouko cut through Kahoko's sentence as she locked the door of the room. Kahoko stared at her, mouth agape.

"Is he always like that when he is around you? Why does he behave with you like that?" Shouko blurted out. " I don't know how you stand it, and judging by what I saw then, I can say that this is not the first time Yunoki-senpai tried to take advantage of you…"

" You are observant you know Shouko chan.." said Kahoko , a wry smile gracing her lips.

Shouko smiled sadly at Kahoko, silently asking her to continue. " I discovered this side of Yunoki-senpai after the second selection. I thought so too, he was mean and all…but he has a lot of problems at home, with his grandmother and all. He always has to put up a façade when he's around everyone else. And he said it himself, that he has never deceived me after that. So I am glad that at least he is truthful to me, that I am not deceived, in his words. I..I don't usually react like I did today, y..you know…" Kahoko stammered on the last words.

"You are not a very good liar you know, Kaho-senpai." Shouko smiled at her. " The last part I mean, about you reacting.."

Shouko's sentence was cut short as Kahoko suddenly pulled her hands and clasped them in her own. " You must promise not to tell anyone about this. I don't want my social life destroyed. You know who I am indicating…"

" The Yunoki guard." Shouko sighed. " Allright, I promise. But you must make me a promise in return—that you will not allow yourself to be alone with that man, if you can help it. I don't care what problems he has at home, he just does not have the right to use someone like a toy, just to relieve his own tensions. Promise me."

Kahoko looked at her kouhai's determined eyes and gave a small smile. " You really do care about me a lot, Shouko. Allright I promise…I will try to avoid being with him if I can help it."

"Of course I care about you Kaho-senpai…after all you are the one who instilled confidence in me…and made me a bit more b..brave." Shouko shyly smiled back at her.

Kahoko gave her a wide grin and hugged her, who returned the hug. " Thank you for saying that ,Shouko."

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That was real nice of Shouko…well I need to warm up a bit…I will ask zia to help me out when I see her again…Zaoyinu sensei..you are pushing me way too hard…well I won't fail..just watch..thought Kahoko as she made her way again to the roof of the Music Department.

Kahoko took in a breath as she readied herself to play. Being on the roof at the end of the day, playing her favourite pieces , was something that allowed her to relax, set her emotions and consequently, her thoughts free. It was a sort of stress buster, and a very effective one at that. She set the violin under her chin and got into position. Beautiful notes of Sicilienne filled the air.

Ayame stood at the top of the staircase leading to the rooftop, her hand on the handle of the door, which was slightly ajar. She closed her eyes and listened to the beautiful music. The music needs polishing…but it's undoubtedly, the same style of music she used to make before..oh, she missed a major note…but the rendering is heartfelt..I can sense the passion and determination in it…well, it won't be too hard to teach her because she has already got the two things you need to succeed as a musician…

The last note hung in the air as Kahoko slowly opened her eyes, while drawing the bow across the strings for the final time. As she raised her bow, she heard clapping behind her. She whirled around to find her aunt smiling at her.

"Zia? I thought you went home…Did you hear?" Kahoko said, a bit surprised to see satisfaction in her green eyes.

" You missed a major pizzicato and you didn't reach one of the bars right…you were putting too much pressure on the strings…ease up a bit more…it will help..but overall it was a good performance. I can tell you are a novice, but the passion you put in your music can be clearly felt. You need brushing up…but it might just work…watcha think?" Asked Ayame.

Kahoko stared at her for a moment, processing all that was thrown into her that moment, and finally smiled. " I need a lot of brushing up, zia. I will not lie to you, I am saying this, it is hard to go on without a teacher…"

" I am going to teach you………as long as I am here in Japan. And I will help you find a teacher before I leave, I promise." Ayame cut in. " You have the two things that a musician needs to succeed…in fact it is the success mantra to anything you do: passion and !" She suddenly clapped her hands and looked at her niece. " Have you decided on which piece to play yet?"

Kahoko nodded. " I want to play Tchaikovsky's Melodie, butI cannot do it without your help."

" By the looks of it, you have played it before right?" Ayame asked, noticing the evading look in her eyes.

" Zia…it's a real long story…and I don't think this is the place to discuss what you are thinking." Kahoko sighed.

" What am I thinking?" asked Ayame, not letting go of the topic.

" Would you believe me if I said that I used magic, or to put it in a better manner, was forced to use magic and take part in the competition?" Kahoko asked, wanting to clear things up with her, once and for all.

Ayame stared at her, bewildered, and then gave a playful grin. " Well, if it has something to do with a fairy named Lily, I might as well believe you."

Kahoko looked at her, shocked.

" I met him…25 years ago…"

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Author's Note: Fourth Chapter DONE!! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. The reason I update so fast is all thanks to you, the reader. When you read my story and leave an inspiring comment, or tell me ways to improve my fic, I immediately set to improve upon my mistakes…and well, ideas keep popping into my head all the time…so though it takes time to put those ideas into words, I love to write so it is not at all a problem. You know what to do once you finish reading this chappie…that green button begs to be acknowledged…So happy reading minna san!!