Ya'll who pulled thru and waited this long — i love you :)

They had been practicing again.

There were only less than five days left for the competition and they were working hard to give the best performance possible. They wouldn't have been back to play for another four years in Japan, so they made the most of it.

The piece itself started off with half a minute of the piano being introduced, as if it were just a piano solo, but then a minute into the piece the rich sound of the violin joined along with it. The two were practicing very well, making it through half the song—that was...until Kaori stopped playing and stared at the score in front of her.

Kousei, himself, stopped as well and tilted his head as he looked at Kaori. "What happened?"

Kaori shook her head and grabbed her pencil, making a mark on one of the notes. "I just feel like this whole note should be a dotted half."

Kousei laughed and shook his head in disbelief. "Geez, Kaori, you really are a little picky on the violin. Have you ever played a piece or song the way it's written or do you have to change it up a little all the time?"

Kaori grinned his way after putting her pencil down. She shifted her violin to rest on her shoulder again more comfortably, as the shoulder rest she was gifted a while back cushioned her shoulder. "I like to have my way with things."

Kousei looked away and focused on his piano. "Gee, I never noticed," he mumbled.

"I heard you, you know!" Kaori exclaimed.

A laugh had erupted from the pianist. "Good," he said. He laughed even more when Kaori took a few seconds just to throw her phone's keychain at him.

"Really?" He was grinning, the keychain sitting in his palm. "You were that determined to throw something at me? And to take your time to remove it from your phone to do so, too?"

Kaori stuck her tongue out at him in response. "Let's just continue on with this piece, we want to get as much practice as possible before the competition."

Kousei nodded in affirmation and turned back to his piano, sitting properly and placing his curved fingers on the keys. He started off the piece once again, Kaori coming in at the right moment.

~0000000000~

They played for the rest of the minutes that remained of the piece, ending it off with a few intervals in between...since you-know-who kept changing up the notes to fit her liking.

"Finally!" Kaori grinned brightly and hugged Kousei as he stood up. "We finished!"

Kousei smiled and hugged her back, holding her close to his body. "It seems so. Now we just meet up to play it all together tomorrow so that when Saturday comes we will be ready, for sure."

Kaori pulled back and nodded with that everlasting grin on her face. She leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on Kousei's mouth and giggled—obviously, it had made him blush a little. She pushed herself away from him and went over to her violin and did her part of encasing it away.

Kousei smiled like an idiot in love and went over to his own instrument, sliding down the piano's cover and tucking in the bench. "So what should we do now? It's only—" Kousei checked his phone and turned back to Kaori—"it's only five."

"What if we ask the others if they can hang out? Or do you have something else in mind?"

"Um..." Kousei scratched the back of his head, "I was thinking if we could just hang out on our own here? For a little at least, so that we don't get too bored just staying in one area."

Kaori smiled softly. "Honestly, wherever we are, I wouldn't find it boring if it's with you."

Kousei turned red and scratched his cheek, a nervous and awkward laugh coming out of him. "I mean...can't say I don't feel the same. I was just worried you'd find it boring."

Kaori giggled and placed her case on Kousei's piano bench before she moved to make her way to the red teen. She grabbed his shoulders and placed a kiss on his cheek, moving to his ear and whispering, "Anywhere we are, it is never boring." She pulled back and smiled. "Please remember that; as long as you're with me, I am content wherever we are."

Kousei laughed quietly, turning really red. He pursed his lips with a grin wanting to break through but all he let out was a nod and a tight smile. "I'm glad you feel the same."

Kaori smiled softly at the boy she was madly in love with and grabbed his hand, dragging him over to his living room where the T.V. was installed.

"So...," Kousei started, "what are we gonna do while we are here?"

Kaori smiled again and turned on the T.V. "I dunno, but I suppose we can just watch a movie, anime, or...something so that we're not bored out of our minds."

Kousei tilted his head as he leaned back on the couch. "But I thought you said you're never bored when we're together."

"There's a limit, my dear Kousei."

Kousei smiled with a little chuckle. "Well, it was very short-lived. Hey, what time is it?"

"Last we checked it was five..." Kaori pulled out her phone and checked the time. "About 5:15." She turned back to look at Kousei. "Why?"

"Well...how about at six we walk around the area outside? Then, if you'd like, I can take you home."

Kaori grinned at the end. "Yes! I'd love if you took me home. I never mind that you do. So you don't have to ask."

Kousei sunk in his spot on the couch and laughed nervously. "Alright then...but...if your dad is there, please let us not be so intimate enough to rile him up. Even touches such as hugs make him protective."

A sigh had come out Kaori before the movie she had clicked on started. She tossed the control down on the couch and moved to sit next to Kousei. "Trust me, Kousei, my dad is really fond of you. He's just really protective, and since he is my father he tends to show more of a violent side than a caring one—one he'd show when we aren't being affectionate." She smiled. "I talked with him, though. He said all he would tolerate seeing is hand-holding," Kaori grabbed his hand and smiled again through her lashes, "so hand holding is what we'll do."

Kousei felt a small smile reach his lips. He brought her hand up to his lips and gave it a little peck. "Will he accept that?"

Despite being used to it, Kaori still blushed. "Maybe...?"

Kousei laughed softly and leaned back on the couch, hands still clasped together. "I rather not do anything too flirtatious in front of your parents, really. You even said 'maybe'."

Kaori pouted and wove her fingers through Kousei's, her head dropping to lay on his shoulder. "Meanie."

"Hey," Kouse smiled, his eyes focused on the T.V, "I didn't do anything."

Kaori grunted in response, her eyes focused on the T.V. Kousei, on the other hand, was trying his best to keep his focus on the T.V. itself. That was because he was using all of his willpower to not stare at the girl on his side.

"Hey," Kaori said, breaking the silence while still staring at the screen, "doesn't the main character look a little handsome?"

Kousei sighed slightly and looked at T.V., feeling a little self-conscious. He looked at the character and noticed that he was pretty..."handsome".

"I guess," he murmured.

Kaori turned her head from his shoulder and laughed a little seeing how down he had gotten. "You wanna know who's more handsome though?"

Kousei grunted in response, refusing to look at Kaori and instead at the T.V.

"You." Kaori smiled and moved up to peck his cheek.

Kousei turned a little red and laughed bashfully. "H-hey— I mean-"

"I'm home!"

Hiroko walked into the living room after removing her shoes and smirked having seen the situation: Kousei red, Kaori hugging his side.

"You guys are cute. Makes me even miss the days when I was taken." Hiroki laughed and walked into the kitchen.

Kousei stared at his aunt as she walked away. "Oh."

Kaori smiled and rested her chin on Kousei's shoulder, smiling at him. "Do you think Hiroko will ever marry again?"

Kousei sighed and shrugged, Kaori's head moving along. "I dunno. She is unpredictable."

Right as Kaori was about to say something else, Koharu came running to her and Kousei.

"Kari!" Koharu jumped with glee and landed on Kaori, squishing her in a loving hug and breaking the two musicians apart. Kaori laughed and held Koharu. "Hey, Koharu! How've you been?"

Koharu broke the hug and sat on her knees on Kaori's lap, a large smile on her face. She moved back to give Kaori a thumbs up.

Kousei watched the two interact, resting his elbow on his knee while his chin rested on the palm of his hand with a warm smile on his face. That was until he realized something.

"Wait," he said, "Kari?"

Kaori turned to look at Kousei and smiled. "She can't say my actual name yet, so Kari will have to do."

"That's kinda cute," Kousei blurted.

Kaori smiled again, a warm blush on her face. "Indeed it is.

"Kousei, can you come to help me with something?" Hiroko peeked her head around the corner of the kitchen.

"Oh, yeah." Kousei leaned to Kaori and gave her a kiss on the head, ruffling Koharu's hair as he stood up to walk to his guardian.

"Yeah?" He leaned against the wall of the kitchen, Koharu and Kaori socializing in the background.

"Okay, I didn't really need help with anything." Hiroko leaned on her right leg. "I just wanted to talk."

"About what?" drawled Kousei, reaching up to push up his glasses.

"Well, mainly about how you and Kaori should go and spend time with your friends before you go. Unless...," Hiroko smiled, "you two still need to practice for your recital?'

Kousei shook his head. "We're done, we're just going to be practicing it from time-to-time before the day comes. And it's a competition, not a recital. There were no available recital openings for a sooner day. We're...just not going to be coming for the rest of the competition after that day." He looked off to the side, realization hitting him. "Actually...I guess it kind of is a recital for us."

"Then there you go, Einstein. Well, I suggest you two go and ring up your friends 'cause...well...," Hiroko shrugged, "time can go by pretty quick."

Kousei sighed, eyes downcast. "You're right..."

Hiroko stared at her nephew, frowning a little. "Hey." She walked closer and placed her hand on his head to grab his attention. "Don't overthink it, just go out and have fun while you can."

Kousei managed a brief, small smile. "Alright."

~00000000000~

"Tsubaki!" Kaori knocked on the door to Tsubaki's home, Kousei standing right beside her. They could've knocked on her window, but she probably wouldn't have been there.

The door unlocked and it creaked open, and while the two teens expected their friend they were greeted with Tsubaki's mom instead.

"Oh, hi guys." Tsubaki's mom smiled politely and leaned against the open door. "What brings you here?"

"Good afternoon, Sawabe," Kousei greeted as he stepped forward a little, "we were here to pick Tsubaki up? Um, she isn't answering her phone."

"Oh!" Tsubaki's mom laughed and leaned against the doorframe. "She's out at softball practice. If you wanna catch her you should go now since it'll be ending soon. Also," she turned to Kaori, "are you Miyazono?"

Kaori smiled, holding her hands atop the other in front of her and rested them against her abdomen. "Mm-hm! We've never met before, so—" Kaori held out her hand and slightly bowed—"nice to meet you!"

"Likewise, Miyazono." Both Kaori and Tsubaki's mom released hands and the adult practically shooed them away.

"Anyways," she was saying, "go catch my daughter before she's gone and you guys go different paths."

Kousei nodded on a final note and grabbed Kaori's hand, dragging her away as she waved goodbye to Tsubaki's mother.

"Her mom is nice," Kaori exclaimed, smiling as she looked over her shoulder and watched the door close. She looked back to Kousei when he nodded. "Yeah, she's fed me a lot when I would hang out over at Tsubaki's house so I've grown to see her as some kind of mother-figure to me, y'know?"

Kaori's smile softened into a warmer one, and she nodded in response instead of answering and interlaced her fingers with Kousei's. "Yeah."

The walk over to the park wasn't uncomfortable, especially with Kaori at his side, but he found the silence a little concerning. Again.

"Kaori, uh...so...have you started packing yet?" Kousei tried to make a conversation, and thankfully it had actually started something.

"Yes, actually, I have." Kaori smirked his way, and his chest felt lighter at the minor tension that was in the air. "I started last week, as a matter of fact."

"Last week?!" They started crossing a street. "I haven't even started!"

"As I've noticed." Kaori looked around at the trees that were prospering in the sundown. "I don't even see a single box around, now that I think about it."

"I...mean..." He sighed, defeated. "I'll start today. I've just been kind of jittery about the performance and kind of stressed out over it recentl-"

"Well, don't." Kaori's footsteps slowed down, so the prodigy was forced to do the same if he wanted to keep the same pace. He looked at her side-profile.

"Huh?"

"Don't be scared about it—" Kaori turned her head to face him, an extremely light smile on her face—"since there shouldn't be anything to be scared of."

The look on the blonde's face put Kousei into place, but he was still unable to comply so easily. "But," he uttered, "I haven't played in the hall ever since...you know."

"We practiced, and practiced, and practiced our butts off, Kousei." Kaori smiled, then, picking her pace up. "We'll do fine. As long as I have you and you have me, together we'll do great. I'll be there to keep you sane."

Kousei almost tripped when Kaori randomly started running, reaching up to fix his sliding-off glasses. "Hey-"

"We better hurry! We never know if she'll be gone by the time we make it to the park, so hurry it up slowpoke!" declared Kaori, a bright grin on her features.

"I'm not slow!" remarked Kousei, picking up his own speed to get ahead. "I'm probably faster than you!"

"We'll see about that, Mr. Grizzly- hey!" Kaori felt her hand release from Kousei's when he literally sprinted ahead and was already five feet apart from her. Kaori put it upon herself to sprint as well, using all of the power she had in her legs and stamina to run past the unathletic pianist. Luck was on her side, it seemed, since she was already ahead of him by a lot when she had started her sprint to the park—it was only in the near distance, anyways.

No words were spoken, for they needed their lungs as well to cooperate. They just let the air give them a voice and lead them ahead.

When they had made it to the edge of the park's grass, Kaori was the one who had made it first. They both skidded to a stop—well, just Kaori since Kousei fell after trying to stop—and took their time to catch their breaths.

"I...," she huffed, "win!" Sweat formed on Kaori's forehead but she smiled through the exhaustion and pulled through to stand up straight, but while Kousei was trying to pick himself up she ended up losing the feeling in her legs and stumbled; she had tried to reach for something to help her stay up and that was Kousei's back, but he wasn't energized or strong enough so he fell back down with Kaori laid on his back.

He felt the air get squeezed out of his lungs and groaned in pain and looked over his shoulder. "What the hell?!"

Kaori was still out of breath, but she still had the strength in her lungs to laugh and say, "Sorry!"

Kousei groaned and let himself lay flat on the ground, his cheek dug into the grass. "It's okay, you're not even heavy anyways."

"Smart move." Kaori grinned and pushed herself up, her breath catching itself once again. She sat back on her bottom, watching as Kousei flipped onto his back after a few seconds. "Not gonna lie," he said, smiling as he adjusted his glasses as he looked at a sweaty Kaori, "this grass is comfortable."

"Indeed it is. I don't want to lay down, though. Not in this state."

"Hm?" Kousei pushed himself up and sat on his own bottom, scooting over to sit in front of Kaori. "Why?"

"If I do lay down then I'll get sleepy and want to stay unless you pick me up."

Kousei scoffed, amused. A half-smile was on his face as he stood up, reaching his hand out for her own. "Then get up, now."

Kaori smiled up at him and reached up to grab his hand, pulling herself up with the help of her own strength and of what was remained of Kousei's. "Thanks," she said.

"No problemo," Kousei had said, taking Kaori by the hand and leading her to the sandlot. "Let's get going the—"

That was only if Tsubaki hadn't run into them and bump into Kousei.

"Hey! Watch out, Kousei!"

"Wha- Tsubaki?!"

Kaori smiled, jumping over to Tsubaki to give her a bear hug. "Tsubaki!"

Tsubaki smiled and laughed, hugging Kaori back. "Hey there. What're you guys doing here? I saw you guys just laying here and then made it over here by the time someone—" Kousei felt the glare through the top of his head since he was looking at the ground—"didn't see their surroundings and just walked nonchalantly."

"Look, I honestly did not see you, I apologize." Kousei reached up to pat Tsubaki's head. "We came here to gather you and Watari to join us."

"Really? Why? And where's Watari?" Tsubaki shrugged off his hand and heard Kaori chuckle at Kousei's face after the action.

"Well, yes really because Kaori and I wanted to hang out with you guys for a while throughout the week before we leave. And I know Watari doesn't have practice so I was gonna call him, or something," Kousei explained.

"Oh..." Tsubaki's eyes lowered to the ground for a short moment, her face softening. "Makes sense, I guess."

"I don't like it either." Kaori wrapped her arm around Tsubaki's shoulders, smiling to make the atmosphere better. "But we should make the most of all the time we have together as a group!"

Kaori reached up into the air and pointed her finger at Kousei, making him take a step back. "Now you! Call Watari!"

Kousei hastily took out his phone, rigid like a soldier. "Got it!"

Kaori removed herself from Tsubaki watching as her friend also took a rigid form as well. Kaori pointed her finger just the same. "And you! Take a nice, well-rested break with the four of us when Watari answers!

"If he even answers," Kousei muttered, removing his phone from his ear.

"If he answers!" Kaori turned to Kousei. "What do you think he's doing?"

"Probably out with some girls."

Both Kousei and Kaori looked at Tsubaki, but Kousei was surprised to find her looking more angry than amused.

"Uh-"

"Anyways," Kaori interrupted Kousei and changed the topic, "let's walk over to his house while we have time."

"Um..." Kousei reverted his eyes back to Tsubaki for a split second, but he knew she was trying to keep a few emotions in check so nodded to Kaori. "Yeah, let's go." He turned when Kaori and Tsubaki started walking, being assured they were behind him. He wanted to do one more thing though, which was calling Watari one more time.

Kousei waved his phone to the girls. "I'mma try again, alright?" When he was given the signal to do his business, he walked ahead of the girls and did just that.

That was when Kaori knew that was her chance, so she stayed a few seconds glued to the ground and grabbed Tsubaki and pulled her back with her, walking at a slow, reasonable-distance behind Kousei.

Tsubaki was confused, but when Kaori pulled her in and whispered in her ear, "I know," she turned insanely red and started panicking.

"What?!" Tsubaki harshly whispered, only being left with a wink and a grin before Kaori ran up to Kousei and practically jumped him.

The playful jeering was all Tsubaki heard from ahead of her, but she didn't mind the "PDA" at that moment because she was more than occupied with the many thoughts in her head after what Kaori had just told her.

She...knows? Tsubaki looked at the couple from behind, seeing as Kaori almost choked Kousei as she was on his back. But...—her eyes remained focused on Kaori's bubbly, smiling, and joyful face—what does she know...? Is it... Tsubaki turned red, and suddenly she forgot what she was even thinking about; she forced it out of her mind as she joined the bickering couple along the sidewalk, all of them acting like close friends instead of a boyfriend, girlfriend, and the third wheel.

I really took a whole ass year to update I'm so sorry sdkjdskj I don't really even have an excuse besides the truth of it being school and writer's block. I've had this chapter written down a long, long time ago but lately the motivation has been coming along. I soooo dearly want to rewrite this story because I started writing this when I was 11 or 12-years-old, I'm 15 now sksksk hopefully one day I can do that though. There is so much I want to change, especially schoolwise cause my dumbass chose LA since I live in that area and I wasn't even thinking twice that I could just research on the areas sjfdkfjahfjh I am - disappointed in myself. I know it's short btw, I'm really sorry I just wanted to get something out especially since its one of my readers bdays tomorrow (idk if it's today for them but it's on the 17th it's the night of the 16th rn) :( But next chapter it hopefully won't take as much as before to get this one out ekekksadjfk ok bye guys till next time !