Recap: Tsuchiura saves a mysterious 'French' girl with sexy thighs, who turns out to be Mori Manami!

Whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same.

~ Emily Bronte

"Tsuchiura-kun!"

"Mori-san," he smiled as he lowered himself into the velvety plush armchair. Two steaming mugs of hot chocolate sat untouched on the glass coffee table that separated him and Mori.

He was glad he had taken up her offer – he was away from the cold and Tsukimori, and more comfortable than he had been since they arrived. Although he wasn't very close to Mori, her company beat the increasingly uncomfortable atmosphere of hanging around Hino and Tsukimori. Especially since he himself had once loved Hino – but that was in the past. He let it go over four years ago, and since then had played the role of supportive guy friend to perfection.

"So... 'Mary'?" he asked quizzically, raising one green eyebrow.

She laughed. "I like it – easy to say, easy to remember, and it does sound like Mori, doesn't it?"

"It does," he agreed, closing his eyes. "Are you studying here?"

"Why would I be staying at a five-star hotel if I were studying here?"

"Ah." How embarrassing.

"I'm studying in London," she explained, amused. "I'm here with my friends from university. What about you, Tsuchiura-kun?"

"I'm studying music in Tokyo. Tsukimori's performing here, so Hino got me to come along…"

"Ah. So you're over her already?"

The eyebrow shot up again. "I got over her in high school," he replied curtly. Her eyes widened - his expression softened and he added casually, "Your hair's going into your hot chocolate."

"Oh! Sorry!"

"Don't apologize to me, it's your hair," he shook his head, ignoring the real meaning of her apology. He internally berated himself for overreacting – she had only been asking casually, not interrogating him.

She smiled apologetically at him. "So, are you planning to be a concert pianist? You certainly have the skills for it."

"How did you guess?" Again, she had caught him off guard. "Sometimes I perform at hotels and fancy restaurants, and honestly, I enjoy performing. What about you, Mori-san?"

"I want to compose," she smiled dreamily. "I love how the notes I write can just come alive… and take flight from the manuscript to produce something completely new and original, something that I created, something that's a part of myself. Ah! Gomen, I'm rambling, aren't I?" she asked sheepishly.

"No, it's interesting. What kind of music do you write?" In all his years of playing the piano, he'd never seriously tried to compose before, outside of theory exams, outside of chords and format and scoring marks. He'd never truly sat down and composed a song, his song.

"I'm trying to vary my compositions – of course, modern pop is the easiest, but it doesn't have as much character as music from the previous eras. Right now, I'm studying composing in university, so I'll see what I can do after that."

"Wow… that's great. Let me play some of your pieces," he grinned at her. The brunette was so animated, so… cute when she talked about music. Her bright blue eyes came alive, and her pale cheeks flushed pink.

"Sure," she said jokingly. "One day when we're both famous we can duet on stage together. I'll play a white grand piano, and you can play a black one. Ne?"

"Sounds good," he smirked. "Try to compose really difficult pieces – I won't settle for anything less than a La Campanella."

"Oh? Is that a challenge?" Mori tried to glare, but ended up giggling. "You'd better practice hard Tsuchiura-kun… oh wait, are you giving up soccer?"

"Ma… it can't be helped," he sighed, shaking his head. "I'll still play, of course… but I don't think I can compete professionally."

"Aww, that's a pity," she smiled, eyes twinkling. "You were always so cool in school. Many of my friends idolized you."

"Ehh? Hontou?" he exclaimed, fighting to keep the blush down.

"They also found you quite intimidating, so they never dared to confess," she admitted, laughing at his indignant expression.

"Mori-san! Don't tease," he glared. "All the girls who ever confessed to me – not that there were many – usually ended up crying."

"Oh?" Her eyebrows were raised.

"I… ah, usually freak out after someone I barely know says stuff like, 'I've been watching you every day' or 'I've always wanted you to hold me in your arms', and… uh, you know," he confessed guiltily. He sank into the soft plush chair awkwardly and looked up – Mori was watching him speculatively.

"Why am I telling you this anyway?" he muttered, running a hand through his cropped green hair.

"I've never seen you like this before, Tsuchiura-kun," she said thoughtfully. "You were always cool and composed, sometimes really angry, but I've never seen you shy like this."

Cheeks reddening, Tsuchiura folded his arms, glaring at his mug of hot chocolate, and tried to regain his composure.

Silence reigned for at least a few minutes. He then made the mistake of looking up - his yellow eyes met the pianist's turquoise ones again, and somehow everything came tumbling out. It was so easy to talk, about his life, about hers, and everything in between. They talked, and talked, and talked, over hot chocolate and a shared slice of to-die-for chocolate cake (which Mori ate the most of despite complaining about the calories it involved, much to Tsuchiura's amusement). Tsuchiura couldn't help but wonder why they had never clicked in school before, because they sure were clicking now.

Unfortunately, a killjoy arrived in the form of a blue-haired ice cube violinist. Len tapped on his shoulder, his usual nasty frown on his face.

"Hino is looking for you. Are you done yet?"

Tsuchiura's expression soured even as Mori's brightened.

"Tsukimori-san! How are you doing? Why don't you join us for a bit? Oh, and ask Hino-san too!"

"I'm afraid not, Mori-san. Hurry up, Tsuchiura."

The green-haired man glared at Tsukimori. There was no escaping this – otherwise he would get a long, soppy lecture from Hino later. "Fine."

Turning back to the pink-robed pianist, he smiled warmly. "It was great talking to you, Mori-san. I hope I'll see you around."

"Likewise," she returned the smile, which somehow made Tsuchiura's head feel a bit lighter.

He left with Tsukimori, but even the ice cube's presence couldn't dampen his mood. Tsuchiura knew he would see Mori Manami again before he left. He had to, no matter what.

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I'm sorry it took me so long to update! Please, please tell me what you think... reviews make my day :D

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