Edward blinks and widens his eyes, recognising the gentleman.

"You're from the famous trio who are playing with Tsukimori-san..."

He hushes Edward quickly.

"Who's the second violin?"

Edward chooses to remain quiet.

Kahoko-san chose to play the violin, and if she doesn't want to go pro, it's not your business to recruit her.

The trio member sighs.

"I'm not going to make whoever it is an immediate star or something. Do you know who it is?"

Edward shakes his head.

I promised Len.

The trio member sighs.

"Can you tell Tsukimori-san that I'm here, though? The other members should be arriving shortly."

Edward nods.

|~-~|

A polite rapping can be heard at the front. Kahoko and Len, who finished their duet, raises their eyes at each other.

"It's Edward."

They blink, and Kahoko smiles at Len. He goes out to answer the door.

"They're here, cousin."

He widens his eyes and nods.

"I'll be down soon, Edward. Thanks."

Edward leaves and Len closes the door, looking at Kahoko.

"It seems like practice will begin with the trio soon. Did you want to come?"

She nodded, and he smiled.

Of course she would come.

They take a brief moment looking at each other, before kissing.

|~-~|

Len composes himself soon after and heads downstairs with Kahoko. He greets the 3 men, who are already there.

"I hope you did not have to wait long"

They shake their heads, and begin talking to him in German. He nods, and talks back to them. It seems they heard of the duet before. He walks over to Kahoko, who stands awkwardly near Edward.

"My muse, Hino Kahoko."

She flushes and bows, before shakily introducing herself to the others in German.

"Ich heisse Kahoko Hino."

[My name is Kahoko Hino.]

The trio bow back to her and comment on her beautiful red hair. She thanks them for their compliments and bows again.

He is glad once again that she is his – guiding him along a different path to perfection, one that involves love and being loved. He looks to Edward, who bows, before showing all the men [and lady] to the practice room which is in the hotel.

He goes up on the small stage with the trio, noting that 4 seats and music stands are already set. His violin and music sheets are placed accordingly – his violin on his chin, the sheets on the stand – ready and waiting for the other musicians.

They agree to play Canon in D, after hearing the beautiful melody weaved by Kahoko and himself before. He is thankful to Edward that Edward has kept his promise – Kahoko is his and he doesn't want to share her with anyone.

He looks at her for a brief moment, realising that she is smiling at him. He nods back, before turning to his music sheets and placing himself in his normal starting position.

The quartet look at each other – the violist, violinists and cello – before nodding at each other and weaving the melody of Canon in D.

|~-~|

Edward once more closes his eyes and allows the music to flow through him. He notices, however, that the mood was definitely not the same as it was with just Len and Kahoko-san.

Love is irreplaceable... in more ways than one.

He takes out his mobile phone from his pocket and looks at the picture of him and his girlfriend taken 6 months ago. Kahoko leans over, and smiles.

"Is that your girlfriend, Edward-san?"

He smiles, and shakes his head. He explains to Kahoko-san that the female in this picture is Kiyora Miki, an extremely professional violinist, also from Japan. They had had something fleeting in the past, but all is gone now.

He knows that Kiyora is now with a rock violinist called Ryutaro Mine. He could feel a pang inside of him, but dismisses it.

What was 6 months ago is obviously not what it is now.

He puts the phone back in his pocket.

Len is lucky to find someone like Kahoko-san willing to stick to him forever... I only wish I could be as lucky.

|~-~|

Kahoko senses something different in Edward-san's voice and expression as he looks to the photo of Kiyora Miki and himself. She considers whether they were in the past and had now broken apart.

Why would he keep a photo of them like that even though they've broken apart?

She looks to Len on the stage, his eyes closed, composed and powerful in the music he weaves. It had taken her all by surprise the moment he confessed to her. She had, of course, confessed back, and it had been a match in heaven.

She recalled the devastated looks of her fellow musicians – Hihara-senpai looked completely sad, Tsuchiura-kun looked like he wanted to murder Len [at this she smiled a bit before becoming sombre again], yet Yunoki-senpai only had his eyes raised in mild surprise.

The same song, a different feel.

Kahoko was silently glad that it was the case. Her duets with Len were the only things she wanted to hear – she had always managed to bring something out that was never brought out normally, that gave her music that much more expression and depth.

She itches slightly to join them, but she knows that her level to Len's on the music scale are still completely opposites.

I guess it's what attracted me to him in the first place. The beautiful music he could always produce from his violin.

As she recognised the winding-up of the piece, she focussed entirely on Len. As if he realised she was doing so, he opened his eyes slightly and gave her a smile, before focussing once more on his music.

She smiles back.

|~-~|

Practice goes smoothly as expected, however this wasn't the feeling I wanted for this song. When I walked into the hotel and heard the two violins... I knew then, that the sound they produced was something I yearned to produce with the gathering of musicians here today.

After several run-throughs of the same piece, we decide to take a break. I decide to see if I can find the answer to the mysterious violinist.

"Tsukimori-san, who played Canon in D with you before you met up with us?"

He looks to the red-haired girl he calls his muse, and looks back.

"Why is it you ask?"

I smile at him, before answering that.

"It was the best feeling I've ever heard with Canon in D."

He looks to his muse once more, before opening his mouth. The girl comes up, and puts her hand on Tsukimori-san's shoulder.

"I did."

I raised my eyes, and offered her my violin.

"Would you prove it then, Miss Hino?"

She focuses on me for a few seconds, before taking the violin. She puts it on her chin and readies herself, looking towards Len. They smile, before beginning to play.

I close my eyes and allow myself to get lost in the feeling of the music.

Once more, it's this feeling. What is it?

I cannot put my finger onto it, but, as I open my eyes, I wonder if the answer is in fact really obvious.

Is it "Love"?

I smile as the pair finish up, and the girl hands my violin back to me. Her eyes sparkle at me, and I nod my consent at their playing.

Considering that most of my life I had been a near-struggling musician, I had never searched for love. As I look at the pair, who were smiling and looking at each other again, I wonder whether finding my second half could be possible for me now.

|~-~|

Minna-san, GOMEN!!!!! I have finally been freed from some of the duties which kept me bound from not writing until now...

I seem to notice myself writing a bit differently... do you see it too? Or am I just dreaming that I've somehow improved...

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