This is a short story(it'll only be four chapters) inspired by the anime/manga "La Cordo d'Oro" and dedicated to my hopeless romantic and music lover of a friend, band freak as she goes by on this site.
Notes: Senpai is an upper classman. Kouhai is an under classman. Sensei means teacher. In Japan surnames are said first and used more frequently; first names are used when you are good friends with someone or you are being rude. San is like saying Mr/Mrs/Miss. Kun is only used for young boys/men. Chan is used for children or girls. And in Japan the new school year starts in April, unless I'm badly mistaken.
Imperfection
First Impressions
Students rushed by into the building. The boys wore dark green suits, and black ties; the girls wore dark green tops with black skirts. One girl had violet hair in a long braid and eyes; she was average height and lean. Also she was carrying a violin case.
Walking up to another girl her age, the violet haired girl asked, "Could you point me to room 126, please?"
"I'm going there too, so you can follow me", the girl, who had burgundy hair and brown eyes answered kindly. "I'm Tsukuda Aina. I play the piano."
"Fujioka Haruka. Violin", Haruka replied holding up her violin case.
As they walked through the crowd to their class room, Aina asked a few questions. "Why did you wait until your last year to attend? Or…"
"My family just moved here", Haruka smiled.
Aina nodded her head, "How long have you been playing?"
"Sometime now."
"That's not much of an answer!"
"Tsukuda-san wouldn't be in journalism also?" Haruka asked in a cheery voice.
"You caught me", Aina gave up. Then seeing a tall boy with black hair ahead of them, she called, "Miyamoto-kun!"
He completely ignored Aina while walking into a classroom. Room 126, Haruka noticed.
"Who was that?" Haruka was curious.
"Miyamoto Kaito-kun. He's not only one of the most handsome guys at this school, but the best violinist and has the highest grades!" The pianist and journalist answered with a dreamy sigh.
"I take it your part of his fan club", the violet haired girl said.
"You're quick."
Inside room 126, the teacher, a graying man with dark eyes, stood in front of his class. Kaito was sitting on the front row, and Aina had drag Haruka with her to sit beside him. Kaito's amber eyes showed annoyance when they sat beside him.
"Quiet down", Hibiki-sensei the teacher for both math and violin said to the class, even though few were talking to begin with. "This year will be an important year for all of you. Deciding things that will determine the rest of your life is daunting. So to start you off, I'm passing out a worksheet to see what you remember." There was a collective moan from the class.
Once the papers were passed out, Hibiki sat down at his desk. He figured the majority would finish half way through the period, though the star student from last year would find it easy. After about twenty minutes, two hands rose at the same time. Hibiki couldn't help but smirk as Kaito glanced at Haruka in surprise.
Miyamoto-kun truly has a rival this year.
After lunch Kaito returned to room 126 for violin class. The first thing he noticed was that the girl from earlier was in the sitting in the same desk as in math. The second was that in the desk between Kaito and Haruka's was taken by one of the other boys, who was talking to Haruka. Kaito rolled his eyes internally, and then sat down in his desk.
Hibiki-sensei arrived once again, telling the class to quiet down. Thankfully it got the idiot beside him to shut up. After the teacher's brief introduction, he asked, "Miyamoto-kun would you play us a piece?"
"Yes sir", Kaito answered; he got out his violin and went to the front of the class.
"Miyamoto thinks too highly of himself", the light brown haired boy sitting by Haruka whispered with a scowl.
"Really?" Haruka replied as she put her head down on her desk and gave her complete attention to Kaito.
"Don't tell me you're going to fan girl over him too!"
"Quiet", she told him as Kaito began to play. The sound was soft at first, but quickly became an intense force that demanded to be heard. Even though it was a tricky song, not one mistake was heard. As it ended Haruka could only thing of one thing, He's precise.
"Good. Good." Hibiki told him, but silently sighed."Anyone else want to show how they improved over the holiday?" Apparently, no one did. "Hmm…I would like to see what our new student is capable of."
"Good luck"
"Thank you, Ueda-kun", Haruka said to the boy beside her. She then got out her violin and made her way to the front. As Kaito passed her to sit down, she smiled knowingly. However, once she was up front the smile faded into a frown of concentration. Her sound was graceful. It wrapped itself around the listeners, drawing them in before they realized it. The song faded at the end much like her smile. Kaito only thought in mild shock, She plays with elegance.
The class was silent until, "Wow! Fujioka-chan is amazing!"
"Thank you, Ueda-kun", she said as she sat down.
"Now really. It was perfect!"
Kaito eyes narrowed slightly, while Haruka insisted, "I wouldn't say that…"
Hibiki cleared his throat, "It was very good, but no more 'perfect' than Miyamoto-kun's. Now, who wants to go next?"
The two violinists rarely talked, and when they did it was in polite formality. However, their classmates were convinced there was a silent rivalry going on between the two. It always seemed as if Kaito got a better grade then Haruka one upped him while playing and vice versa. Besides classes, they didn't come in contact with each other until about a month into the school year.
A small freshman girl with short and wavy blond hair and green eyes blushed in embarrassment and nervousness. She was one of two people in the otherwise empty hall. "Sorry, senpai."
"You think sorry is going to cut it!" A senior with brown hair and eyes yelled, "You made me drop my lunch!" His eyes flashed with anger and his fists were balled up.
"Couldn't you just buy something else? If you can't, I'm sure someone would be kind enough to share", a female voice came from behind the senior. He turned to see another senior with violet hair and eyes.
"It's none of your business", he said defensively.
"Yes it is. Senpai are supposed to look after their kouhai", Haruka replied, "Not bully them."
"Why you!" He stormed up to Haruka and grabbed her arm tightly. The younger girl looked close to panicking, and Haruka's eyes were widened in shock.
"You're pathetic to threaten girls", a controlled voice said. The boy turned to his right to see a taller black haired amber eyed boy coming towards them. Seeing that he was in a lose lose situation, the boy let go of Haruka's arm and stalked off.
Once he was gone, the younger girl bowed to the seniors, "Thank you!"
"It's nothing. Plus I should be thanking Miyamoto-san", Haruka said, "I know. Why don't the three of us go to a café after school. My treat."
"Really?" The younger girl asked; Haruka nodded.
"I'll pass", Kaito stated. The blond girl tried in vain to hide a pout. Haruka just gave a knowing smile, it was the same smile she would show just before playing the violin. Kaito saw it as some kind of challenge, and he wasn't the type to say no to a challenge, "…Fine, I'll go."
Satisfied with Kaito's answer, Haruka turned to the younger girl, "I didn't catch your name?"
"I'm Himura Risa."
The three high school students sat around an outside table at a café. Risa and Haruka were doing basically all the talking, while Kaito sat there with a bored look and drinking his lemonade.
"I was passing by the violin class the other day, and I heard a really pretty song. I knew it had to be one of you, because everyone says you're both amazing."
"Thank you", both violinists said. For a second Haruka and Kaito caught each others' eye. Risa could have sworn the temperature suddenly dropped to below freezing, even though it was May. I should've brought that up…
"What instrument do you play, Risa-chan?" Haruka asked in a sweet tone, and conveniently changing the subject.
Surprised by being called by her first name, Risa stuttered, "T-tuba."
Both seniors lifted an eyebrow. Haruka replied, "Tuba?"
"What's wrong with me playing tuba?" Risa said quietly.
"It's just you're very small", Kaito explained as he finished his drink, "I'll be going now. Thank you for the lemonade, Fujioka-san. Himura-chan." He got up, gave them a nod of goodbye, and then walked away.
"He's so uptight", Haruka lightly laughed. Risa was still blushing over the fact that her senpai had called her by her first name after they just meet.
Kaito walked into his house with a sigh. He slid his shoes off and headed to his room. Let me avoid him, let me avoid him, let me avoi-
An arm slung around his shoulders. "Welcome home", an older boy greeted. He had black hair and amber eyes like Kaito; however, he was taller and had a larger build.
"Can you get off me?"
"Is that anyway to greet your big brother?"
"Thank you for welcoming me home, dearest brother", Kaito said sarcastically. His brother freed Kaito from his grasp as if this were a routine.
"Why are you late? You didn't get kidnapped by fan girls, did you?"
Fans, no. Girls, yes. After a minute he answered,"Taiki, remember the one I told you about."
"Ahh, the rival", Taiki recalled with interest.
"She's strange."
Taiki sweatdropped, apparently he was excepting the whole story. Kaito started walking up the stairs. "Where are you going?"
"Practice", he made a gesture to his violin case.