"..H-Hell...i-is it finally over?.." A young blonde would ask, leaning on her black haired boyfriend with her arm over his shoulder, looking as though the wind had been knocked out of her.

Her boyfriend would snort, chuckling to himself. "Yep, you did it Kaori. No more exams for you"

She would immediately perk up after having heard that, she was tired of this daily schedule.

Wake up, eat and dress yourself, school, go home, study, study, study, study, study, sleep. That had become her daily life. But now it was over.

"F-Finally! That took way too damn long! Now I get to actually live my life!" Kaori would screech, throwing her hands in the air for a celebration before her mind wandered off.

"Koousseeeii~ Wanna know the first thing I'm gonna do?~" Her tone was intimidating, reminding her boyfriend of that time at the hospital where they blamed him for her sudden collapse. A chill would go down his spine.

"Uh, don't hit me..." Her boyfriend spoke in a meek tone, it turns out that he was an incredibly strict teacher. Her schedule was created by him after all.

Kaori would throw herself onto his back, as if he was giving her a piggyback ride.

"Not gonna kill you dummy~ But you gotta spoil me, otherwise I'll get insecure about why your lessons are so easy on lil Nagi-chan. Do you like her more than me? Is that why you were so strict with me?~"

Kaori would tease him, poking his cheek as she spoke in a childish tone.

"No no no, it was because of how little time there was. And I really want you to go to the same high school as me, you're gonna need good grades"

Kaori furrows her brows at the mention of high school, knowing there's a pretty important topic she hasn't yet discussed with Kousei that related to it.

Finally, she realises.

"Speaking of high school, you haven't shown me that performance you did to use for your application. Y'know, the one that happened on the day of my surgery. The one where we both dreamt of playing with each other~ That one~"

Kousei takes notice of her flirty tone at the end, it was pretty romantic to dream of each other while performing to be fair.

"D-Do I have to?" Kousei pled, it was kinda embarrassing for him. That performance was something he put his heart and soul into, it was something he would never be able to replicate.

And it was his confession.

To every musician there, his performance told a story. About how a girl changed a boy's entire world, brought colour to it. And the boy fell for her, loved her. But she was going, and he couldn't do anything about it.

The monotone tree gained colour, becoming a cherry blossom tree. It's colour would wavee, flickering between monotone and being full of life. But life, it would prevail. And his love would remain, even if she left.

It told Kousei's love story, and it was a bit embarrassing to show it to the girl it was about.

"Yes, you have to. I mean, sure. I do know about it. But I was performing toooo~ I wasn't exactly paying attention to your performance"

"Ffiiinnee. You can listen" Kousei replies with a pout, handing her an earbud so that they can both listen.

"You're listening too? Why?"

"May as well, it's my best performance to date after all"

"Oooh, that's exciting. Come on, play it already lover boy~"

Kousei sighs with a smile, accessing the recording and playing it. Kaori hums to his melody as she burrows her head into his back as she Kousei carries her.

"Lover boy~" Kaori teases once she understands what his performance is. It makes her tear up too, she finally understands just how much Kousei loves her and how she affected him for the better.

Her teasing causes him to blush, it's still embarrassing to him.

"Lover boy~ Lover boy~ Play your sweet melody~" Kaori teases in a singsong tune, causing the boy to blush even harder.


"Your feelings are adorable~ I love you so much Kousei~" Kaori would whisper into his ear as Kousei carries her.

"I love you too~" Kousei would respond, keeping his composure. He's slowly getting used to his girlfriend's antics, and he's enjoying it. She's bringing out the best in him, and always has.

Kaori would see something, no, someone out of the corner of her eye and would look in the direction with wide eyes, her lips slightly parted.

"TSSSUUUBBAAKKKIIII-CHAANNN!!~" Kaori would scream, jumping off Kousei's back to go see the girl she calls her best friend. She ran towards her, throwing her arms around Tsubaki's neck to hug her, not even noticing the pained expression on her face.

"Why didn't you come see me?! I just survived a risky life saving operation!" Kaori would ask in that loud tone of hers, annoying the tomboy.

"Cause...I didn't want to.." Tsubaki mumbles in response, looking down as she peeled herself away from Kaori who had a blank look on her face. Kousei would finally approach, not being close enough to have heard what Tsubaki just heard.

"H-Huh? W-Wait what? W-What do you mean by that? I mean...come on...I could have died" Kaori was confused and hurt, she couldn't process what she just heard. Kousei was shocked by what he just heard, he couldn't hear their conversation since he walked slowly towards them, so this is the first he's heard of this.

"Maybe...it would have been better if you di-"

"Tsubaki! Don't you dare say that! You don't have the right to speak like that to her!" Kousei would scream, he was angry at Tsubaki, one of the few times in his life he's lost his temper, this time it was directed at his closest friend.

"Yeah yeah! Of course I can't say that to your oh so precious girlfriend! I saw you two, does Watari know?! Of course he does! Everyone knew! Everyone knew except me! Why didn't you tell me!? You could have told me!"

The new couple let the girl speak, tears flowing down her face as she made a scene. Luckily, it was in a more isolated area in town, no one frequents the area so no could hear her sobs and cries.

"W-We...we didn't know how...none of us knew... you liked Kousei after all... so... we didn't know how to tell you without... without breaking your heart" Kaori would reply in a soft voice, she knew, she knew it wasn't her place to interfere.

She shouldn't have let her feelings get in the way, she would have accepted her death if it meant that Tsubaki wouldn't be hurting like this. She wants Kousei, but if, if she was just passing by. That would be fine too, what matters is that Kousei is happy. It doesn't matter who it's with.

Kousei could simply nod to Kaori's words, he didn't have anything to add after all.

"So!? So!? It would hurt much...much less if my friends didn't hide everything from me! You don't not tell these things! You gotta say!"

"W-We...we just couldn't...we...we didn't know how to"

Kousei would add on, but it was useless. As far as Tsubaki was concerned, they were entirely in the wrong.

"Just piss off!"

Tsubaki would shout at the new couple, storming off. Kousei and Kaori could only exchange glances at each other, knowing that the pain their friend is feeling is their fault. If only they told her.


Tsubaki would collapse onto her bed, in an incredibly sour mood. She couldn't believe those two, what does she even mean to them? They just got together, behind her back.

As she brooded, she would hear a piano, Kousei's piano. This used to be the highlight of her day, but now it just made her angry.

To hear such a happy pian-

Happy?

No, that doesn't describe this melody. It's not happy at all.

Kousei's melody conveyed a sense of internal anguish and pain. Even though just yesterday, it sounded so happy.

"..I'm so dumb.."

Tsubaki mumbled, burying her face into her pillow. She was wrong, she always knew so. But she ignored it and put the blame on everyone else. But Kousei's melancholy melody made her realise that she shouldn't be mad at her friends.

Sure, it wasn't the best way to go about things, but they had only the best of intentions. They didn't want to hurt her.

Tsubaki was using Kousei and Kaori to let out her anger and frustration at not being the one Kousei fell for. But that's just selfish. It's not right.

Even if it's not what she wanted, it's not their fault. She should be happy for her friends shouldn't she? Not get angry at them.

Tsubaki opened her window, tossing bunched up paper balls at Kousei's window, trying to catch his attention.

She would throw and throw until Kousei finally opened the window. She wouldn't realise it though, and throw another ball which hit Kousei in the face.

"Ah! Uh, Tsuba-"

"I'm sorry Kousei... I'm so sorry.."

Tsubaki would begin her apology and soon as Kousei became too surprised to speak. Seeing his best friend with a red face, snot and tears running down her cheeks would catch anyone by surprise.

"W-What are you apologis-"

Tsubaki would cut him off, knowing exactly what he was going to say. Kousei was never the type to blame someone else.

"I-it's not your fault.. you guys were just trying to look out for me.. you didn't want to hurt me... I was just being stupid and dumb... I was angry that you like Kaori...and not me.. I always wanted to be that person for you...so I felt betrayed and hurt...I took it out on you two... I'm sorry"

Tsubaki would keep apologising, her constant apologies would bring a small, bitter smile to Kousei's face as he leaned forward, slowly petting her head.

He used to do this whenever she'd cry, and it always stopped the tears. It worked perfectly as Tsubaki's tears stopped flowing. Her appearance was still a mess though.

"Tsubaki, thank you. You'll always be precious to me, I'll always be there for you as a friend. Always, I'm glad to have your blessing"

"Jeez, you big idiot. If you didn't just friend zone me I'd have fallen for you even harder~. You're such a flirt even though you have Kaori-chan"

"F-Flirt!? I'm not flirting!" Kousei's face turned red, he's not flirting.. right?

"Oof, I feel bad for Kaori-chan!~ You're an unconscious flirt, no wonder you got 4 girls to fall for you"

"4!? What are you even talking about?! Who are the other two?!"

"My my~ You're as dense as a rock too, Kaori-chan is gonna have to keep you on a tight leash~ And I'm not telling, girls protect girls~"

Tsubaki would close the window, smiling to herself. Kousei is so fun, it's a shame that she couldn't be his. But, he has a wonderful girlfriend. Even Tsubaki can tell that Kaori has brought out the best in Kousei.

"If only you could have seen her, Kousei's mom"

She'd say, looking up at the sky. Kousei's mother would have loved a girl like Kaori.