Hi all! As I promised earlier this week, here I am today with yet another chapter of Violation. I'm really-really sorry for the delay. I kinda got a writer's block and couldn't think of any further plot, so I busied myself with other fics meanwhile. Anyway, now the the idea is back, here it is. Enjoy! =)

Beta-read by Nerizu who never gets tired of my stories. Thx girl! ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own La Corda d'Oro and don't think I'll ever will. I only own the plot, and hopefully something like that bracelet too, tee-hee ^^

Chapter 5: Her Birthday

Hino carefully closed the door behind her, not wanting to cause any sound. Then she slowly took her shoes off and tiptoed on the wooden floor with a hand leaning on the wall and the other clutching tightly on her violin case's grip.

There was only one word to describe the apartment's condition: Dark. All the curtains and windows had been tightly shut.

Hino wasn't someone very fond of leaving the house in the dark. She liked the sun rays to shine through the rooms for as long as possible. They lived in the fifth floor anyway, so leaving the curtains open while nobody was home wasn't actually a big problem. And she certainly left home today with the curtains open as well.

She wondered what she should do if there was an uninvited guest inside, looming in the dark. She stopped her steps not far from the entrance and considered leaving again immediately and wait until Shimizu came home in the afternoon.

She turned her body towards the door and was about to leave, when the corner of her eye suddenly caught a glimpse of light coming from the living room. She jerked and slowly turned her head in the direction of the light. Her heart started thumping furiously of fear, worry, anticipation and curiosity altogether. Her hands and feet grew cold and sweat was slowly forming on her forehead.

She gulped. She wasn't alone after all.

Voices inside her head started to debate whether she should leave once and for all, or take a peek to see who that could be. She was scared, yes, but curiosity was also growing inside.

If it's a burglar or so, I can immediately run away, she considered.

With her free hand, she grabbed her mobile phone from her pocket and looked for the emergency number. If anything went wrong, she only needed to dial the number.

She carefully tiptoed towards the door-less living room, with her back closely adhered to the wall. Upon reaching the living room, she swallowed hard and prayed, then slowly took a peek.

Among anything and anyone she had expected to encounter, that would have definitely been the last thing to cross her mind. Her eyes went wide and her jaw practically dropped to the floor.

On the table, in the middle of the room, laid the source of light. Candles on a cake. There were only two of them, forming the numbers two and four. And a wave of realization hit her.

Today is my birthday!

Of course. How could she have forgotten? Until a few days ago, she was eagerly waiting for this day to come. And now, because of the happenings in the last few days, she had totally forgotten about it.

Out of amazement and surprise, she unconsciously walked inside the living room. Her gaze was locked to the cake, and she stopped only when she was already standing right in front of the table. She was still totally awestruck.

Suddenly she felt two arms encircling her shoulders from behind. She jolted and almost screamed in surprise and panic, but a soft voice sounded right beside her ear.

"Happy birthday, Kaho," said the voice.

"Ah... K-Keiichi...," Hino stuttered as she recognized the voice, not quite recovering from her shock yet. Her hands still hung idly on her sides. One carrying her handbag and violin case, and the other clutching on her mobile phone.

Shimizu chuckled, then let her go and walked to the other side of the table across Hino. He sat on the carpet, then motioned her to sit as well.

Hino obliged. She put her mobile phone in her pocket again, then sat on the carpet and set her belongings beside her.

"Make a wish, and blow the candles, Kaho," Shimizu said softly while leaning his arms on the table.

Hino smiled. She closed her eyes and started to think what she could wish for. The brainstorming took a while, since she had already forgotten what she wanted to wish for. She considered every possibility, until her mind came across the events concerning her boyfriend in the last days, making her shudder.

She opened her eyes and turned her gaze towards Shimizu. He was attentively looking at her with an innocent small smile plastered on his face.

This is ridiculous, she thought. But I wish you don't turn abusive anymore...

She then turned her attention towards the glowing candles on her cake. Those numbers were slowly melting and deforming. Before they deformed any further, she blew them in a go, leaving the room completely dark again.

Hino heard clapping hands from across her, then some movements and the sounds of curtains being opened. And then the glow of the early afternoon sunlight entered the room, blinding her, that she had to close her eyes again.

When she opened them again and had accustomed her vision, she saw Shimizu already standing beside her with a smile. Meanwhile, surrounding her, there were people she didn't expect yet to see: Her high-school concourse friends in complete formation, including Tsukimori.

They didn't say anything, everyone was only grinning from ear to ear, satisfied and smug to have succeeded to surprise her.

Hino was totally awestruck that she didn't know how to react nor what to say. She unconsciously covered her gaping mouth with a trembling hand, her widening eyes were glossy.

It was Hihara who first broke the ice.

"Well, Kaho-chan. Did we scare you?" he asked with a wide grin.

"How... how did you all come in?" Hino managed to ask.

"We all had to hide in that small balcony of yours, all sandwiched together," Yunoki answered with a chuckle.

"But... Tsukimori-kun was still in the conservatory when I left..." Hino muttered.

"I got out right after you left," Tsukimori said nonchalantly with a shrug. "I had to be here before you."

"But it wasn't planned that I'd leave earlier...," she stated doubtfully.

"Well, everything was planned to be held later, actually," Tsuchiura explained. "That's why we rushed here. We even had to fetch Fuyuumi-chan and the cake to make it on time."

Hino turned her head to Fuyuumi when she realized that the turquoise-haired girl also had to hide with the guys in the balcony. The sudden thought of Fuyuumi being sandwiched between the men who were larger than her tickled her mind that she suddenly burst into laughter that brought tears to her eyes.

"Kaho?" called Shimizu, concerned.

Hino waved her hand as she tried to contain herself from further laughter.

"Sorry guys. I'd have liked to see Fuyuumi-chan pressed between you all out there," Hino managed to say between laughter.

Fuyuumi blushed and smiled sheepishly.

"Actually, I wasn't," she started softly. "I stood at the furthest corner and Tsuchiura-senpai shielded me from being squeezed in between."

"That's gentleman of you, Tsuchiura-kun," Hino remarked with a grin, gaining a smug chuckle as response from him.

"You should have seen Tsukimori's face when he was crushed to the glass door though," Hihara commented laughing, looking very satisfied. It must have looked very funny indeed, as Hino tried to picture the scene in her mind.

Tsukimori shot Hihara a deathly glare.

"Tsk, all because Tsuchiura did the unnecessary," he muttered under his breath.

"Well pardon me, Mister, for doing the unnecessary," Tsuchiura retorted.

"Guys, guys... We aren't summoned here to fight," Yunoki intercepted.

Some people never change, Hino mused. But she was touched by their acts, reminding her about high-school days and to stay youthful at heart.

She chuckled with teary eyes, then got up and launched herself towards them into a big group hug.

"Thank you, all. You're the best!"

"You seem to like it a lot," Shimizu muttered softly behind Hino, who was constantly looking at the charm bracelet she had just been given by her unannounced guests.

The silver bracelet was a team-work between all of them together, each contributing with a musical-instrument-formed charm. So there were a total of six charms; a piano, a violin, a flute, a trumpet, a clarinet, and a cello. The latter one was a bit different from the rest. It had a small heart-shaped yellow-ish gem dangling along.

"I love it, Keiichi. You guys must have put a lot of effort in putting all these charms together," Hino chuckled. She then rested her back on Shimizu's wet chest again.

They were taking a warm bath together that evening after the small party her friends had thrown her. The whole bathroom had turned misty and warm, resulting Hino to feel sweaty despite the water she was in.

Shimizu suddenly touched her shoulders and back, then started rubbing them gently.

"Does it still hurt?" he asked while motioning the bruised spots with his index finger, then replaced his finger with his lips, kissing the spots softly, causing Hino to shiver.

"Uh... well, yeah, a bit, when I have to raise my arms..." she stuttered a bit, and realized that her cheeks had gone warm.

"I'm sorry..." Shimizu said barely above a whisper between his kisses on her back and shoulder.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered again. "I'll put something on it before we go to bed," he added, as his lips reached the back of her neck.

"Thank you, Keiichi," Hino replied with a smile.

Hino turned her head, and at that moment, Shimizu put his arms around her shoulders and started kissing the side of her face softly. Her jawline, her cheek, her ear, back and forth. Hino moved her head along as she enjoyed the delightful touch of his lips. And she finally turned her upper body, so Shimizu's lips could reach hers.

As the kiss deepened, Hino turned all her body until she sat sidewards against Shimizu. He wrapped her tighter in his arms while she moved her hand along his thigh. They only released the kiss when they gasped in need of air, and gazed at each other with sparks of desire burning in their eyes.

"How about some dessert?" Shimizu asked in his usual soft tone, yet there was a heavy edge to it.

Hino smiled in agreement. And that small reaction was enough for them to understand the answer. Needs, hunger, thirst, were all clearly written in their faces.

They didn't have to wait long before their mouths and tongues met again in a passionate battle while their hands journeyed through their partner's body until finding their sensitive spots further south, adding to the passion, making the touch of water feel hotter than normal, and they were ready to be driven to heaven on Earth.

'Riiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnngggggg'

Hino hurriedly ran from her bedroom the next morning when she heard the telephone ring from the corridor. Shimizu had just left for work and she was getting ready to go to practice herself.

"Moshi-moshi?" she greeted as she picked the receiver up.

"Ah. Kaho-chan?" answered the female voice on the other line.

"Yumi-nee-san. Good morning. What a surprise," Hino said with a wide smile when she realized it was Shimizu's older sister, Shimizu Yumi

Yumi laughed. "Yeah. Sorry I forgot to call yesterday. Naoki had a fever and lost his appetite. I had to force him the whole day to eat something. Anyway, happy belated birthday, Kaho-chan," she apologized after a train of explanation.

Hino wanted to laugh at her almost-sister-in-law's ranting about her five-years-old son.

"No need to apologize, Nee-san. Thank you. By the way, is the little one doing good today?" Hino asked.

"Yeah. Much better. He's calmed down," she replied.

"That's relieving," Hino commented.

"Yes. By the way, is Keiichi in? I haven't been able to reach him at his mobile," Yumi half-protested.

"No. He just left for work," Hino said.

"Work?" she asked in a disbelieved tone.

Hino frowned, not understanding the surprise in Shimizu's sister's voice. "Yes. Is something the matter?" she asked.

"That's impossible. Our father's company had to close down due to recession around two weeks ago. So dad and Keiichi aren't working now-"

"What?!?" Hino unconsciously shrieked, but was able to compose herself immediately. "I didn't know...," she added in a lower tone.

"Oh...," Yumi seemed lost at words. She surely had thought Hino knew about it already.

Hino's head was suddenly full of questions and possibilities. Why didn't he say anything about it? Where had he been wandering off to then? Did it have any connection with his strange behavior lately?

No matter how many questions popped in her head, Hino seemed unable to find an answer. She could only question and wonder...

(to be continued...)
A/N: Pfiuh. Not the kind of progress you thought of, perhaps? Well yes, this chapter had no violence. And I had to crack the story a bit, so Tsukimori fell victim here, hahaha... Anyway, please make me happy by dropping a review? Thx again! ;)