Hey guys sorry for the long time taken for this chapter to be uploaded :P I decided to write the story together with thelightatnight (a guy from Fanfiction.net). So...enjoy!

"Yatta!" Kaori screamed in joy and threw her free hands into the air as she walked out of the hospital door, with her other hands circling around the arms of a certain young piano prodigy.

As the sunbeams hit the couple, Kousei let a tiny smile slip onto his face as he watched Kaori blabber about stuff she is going to do and at the same time silently enjoyed the contact with his frien-...girlfriend's hand wrapping around his. Looking at his girlfriend literally bursting with excitement beside him, his face grew hotter. The fact that Kaori is now his girlfriend hit him as if it was the first time. Subconsciously, Kousei gently tightened his grip around Kaori's hand, which did not go unnoticed by the violinist.

Kaori stopped her talking and in turn squeezed Kousei's hand, turning and looked at him with a gentle smile gracing her angelic features. Kousei's face turned even brighter and he broke eye contact by looking away, but all the while not loosening his grip on his lover's hand.

Kaori's smile turned impish as she decided to take the chance to tease Kousei more. Hey, it's not like just because they confessed to each other and are in a formal relationship doesn't mean she's not allowed to tease him right? Smiling, Kaori leaned toward Kousei and whispered in his ear, "Hey, wasn't it you that set the rule about us not being able to show any affection in public?"

Kousei quickly turned red, even though he just calmed down, and released her hand and started stuttering, "Well- but-but you asked about that so... A-and I love you, and I...I...uh..."

As Kousei's stuttering mess has slowly faded away, Kaori's smile developed into a full-blown giggling fit as she felt her body temperature rise despite it being winter.

Spring is just around the corner, just around the two of them. She was sure of it.

"I'm just messing with you Kousei! Don't get so worked up about it!" Kaori's giggles subsided and she pat his hand that she held before resting her elbow on his shoulder and leaned on him.

"Besides," she continued, "I actually agreed and it was your idea so...yeah."

Kousei sighed and started to walk forward, making Kaori tumble forward a bit but she was luckily able to gain her balance and stare angrily at the walking Kousei.

"Hey! I just got out of the hospital are you trying to kill me?!"

Kousei sighed again and turned around to give her a gentle smile. "No because you can't die from a fall! Well...unless you're really weak so then you'll just be injured with a scratch or two."

Kaori glared at him before huffing and stomping away past him to the park's general direction. But Kousei was confused but he quickly forgot about it and quickly caught up with Kaori.

"Wait, where are we going?"

"The park silly!" Kaori smiled as she looked ahead and stopped before turning around to Kousei. "But first, I'd like to go visit my parents. Haven't seen them since yesterday."

"Yesterday? Do they, like, come right after I leave?"

Kaori nodded with a grin before shrugging up to Kousei with a glint in her eyes. "Of course! They can't possibly see me with a guy my own age and stumble upon a forbidden scene."

Kousei turned red before he took a step back and looked down, hearing Kaori add, "Especially my dad, you'd be murdered before you even get to glance at him!"

Kousei felt a chill up his spine as he cringed in fear, dreading the day Kaori's father ever sees him being all "cozy" with her.

"Y-yeah...that's exactly what scares me the most."

Kaori laughs and pecked his cheek, looking around to make sure nobody had seen, before nudging him and whispering, "Then get prepared for his wrath for when you ask to marry me..."

Kousei reddened and he sighed before walking forward, grabbing Kaori's arm to not leave her behind. "Just- c'mon, let's go."

~0000~

"Shh...I want to surprise them," Kaori laughed. She and Kousei were silently trying to sneak into the bakery without anyone noticing her or Kousei but the ringing of the door's bell gave them away.

"Aww!" Kaori whined as she pouted and walked over to the dome full of fresh sweets. "Mm! They look so good! Where's my dad? I want one!"

"Wel-"

Before the two adults could finish their usual greetings, Kaori literally flew over to them, which startled Kousei considering he was right next to her, and gripped them tight.

"Mom! Dad! I'm back!"

"Whoa! Kaori?" Her mom rose an eyebrow at Kaori and hugged her back, the man of the group holding them close.

"Kaori's the name! I just got out, so you guys won't be getting some peace and quiet for a while," Kaori joked as pulled back from the hug. Just as she turned to introduce her parents to Kousei, Kousei chimed in without a second thought, "Isn't this how you usually were?"

"Arima!" Kousei instantly regretted his action of speaking up and ruining the moment when Kaori's father barked his name. He flinched and stared into the bigger man's eyes, which, fortunately, were not as scary as they were when they first met. "Have you been treating her well?"

"Ah...uh...o-of course!" Kousei looked to Kaori desperately for help but she just held her pointer finger to her lips and shushed him with a smile.

"He's been visiting me with our other friends Tsubaki and Watari." Kaori walked over to stand by Kousei's side, but not too close to give her parents—mainly her father—suspicions.

"With his friends too, right? Not just him?" Mr. Miyazono questioned, staring right into Kousei's soul.

"Of course! Why would I ever lie to you guys?"

"Haha...true," Kousei quickly added with a nervous smile.

"We're glad to see you again Kaori, would you like something to eat?" Mrs. Miyazono asked, sensing Kousei's discomfort as she walked behind the counter to the pastries.

Kaori perked up. "Ooh! Yes please! Kousei, do you want anything?"

Kousei slipped out of his daze from how adorable Kaori was being and said, "Oh! U-uh...I-I don't have any money with me right now..."

"It's okay." Kaori's father grinned at him as he placed a rough hand on his shoulder that almost sent him to the ground. "It's on the house for a special person like you. And for also being Kaori's friend."

What does that mean? Kousei rose an eyebrow at Kaori and pouted in question but she held a finger up to him and mouthed, "Talk later." What Kousei did not notice is a flash of worry and sadness in Kaori's eyes as she struggled to keep her smile up.

He nodded and walked over to look at all the types of pastries that were in there, but he didn't know what to get so he just told Kaori, "I'm gonna go sit down. Can you get me some canelés with milk?"

Kaori grinned with a glint in her eyes and nodded, whispering, "I know what kind of milk you like so don't worry."

Kousei nodded and turned to go sit down at a vacant table, one table away from some customers that were talking about a certain violinist who was undergoing surgery.

Wow, she actually reached them. Her music got to them enough to the point where they even heard about her hospitalization...

"Alright, here's your milk," the blonde violinist placed the milk carton in front of Kousei, "and here's your canelés. The ones in my plate are mine."

Kousei eyed her plate and his eyes widened. "Wow...why do you get more than me? Couldn't we have gotten the same amount?"

Kaori smirked and leaned forward on her forearms as she sat down across from him and whispered, "Seems like I've gotten you into the fondness of my favorite sweets! What's next? Favorite composer? Artist? Anime?"

Kousei laughed and shrugged, his eyes were shining brighter than ever. "Possibly. How many do you have anyway?"

Kaori looked down at her plate and looked back up to Kousei. "10 to 15 of 'em."

"10 to- what?!" Kousei exclaimed as he glanced down at his plate. "You only gave me 5!"

Kaori waved him off, grabbing a canelé. "Violinists need their stamina! So in that case, they need to eat. I don't know what you need a lot for, you pianists usually just sit and use a pedal and hit keys."

Kousei humphed and before he could give her a remark the two customers from earlier came up to them.

"H-hi..." one of them stuttered; it was a guy, Kousei noted.

"Hello!"

"Hi..."

Kousei and Kaori spoke at the same time but Kousei's was voice was buried by Kaori's, which was energetic and loud.

"You were the one from the Towa Hall concerto right?" the other asked Kaori, which was also a guy, Kousei noted again as he unconsciously glared at the duo

Kaori smiled and nodded. "Uh-huh! And this guy here is the guy who played the piano for me."

Kousei felt himself shiver as the newly-found attention went to him and he gave them an uneasy smile. "Hehe...yup, that's me..."

"Wow! So you two actually are going out!"

Kousei was about to retort but Kaori beat him to it.

"Oh! Oh no." She laughed a little and pointed to Kousei. "He's not my boyfriend. Just my accompanist. We just hang out a lot since he's my friend as well."

Kousei was a little hurt by the words "he's not my boyfriend" but he's knows it was necessary for his health as he looked at Kaori's father at the corner of his eyes. He was hiding behind the kitchen door, spying on them the whole time to make sure Kousei did not make any funny moves. Plus, he was glad that he wasn't referred to as Friend A anymore.

"Oh... It's because we've been hearing this rumor going around in the music facility. But, hey, it's just a rumor!" the brown-haired laughed.

Kaori laughed with him and Kousei just awkwardly chuckled along, having no idea how to socialize, as always.

"Well...we came here for a reason and that was to have a picture with you guys..." the black-haired male said a little shyly.

Kaori gave them a to-die-for grin and stood up, nodding as she grabbed Kousei by the shoulders to push him up.

"Sure! Kousei wouldn't mind, right Kousei?"

Kousei tried to ignore how scary Kaori got and nodded. "Yeah! I-I'm totally cool with it."

"Great!"

The four huddle up together and Kousei noticed how the brown-haired guy's hand was dangerously close to holding Kaori's, and it made him feel something in his gut that he's never really felt.

But right as the picture was taken, Kousei started to realize what he was feeling.

No way...I can't possibly be feeling...jealous?

"Thanks you guys, hopefully we can see you two perform again! See ya!"

Kaori waved at the two departing boys and turned back to Kousei to see him pouting in his seat.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kaori's voice went to gentle and she scooted her seat over so she could sit besides Kousei.

Kousei sighed and rested his chin in his palm. "Nothing... It's just that that one guy's hand was too close to yours."

Kaori didn't understand until she widened her eyes with a grin. Secretly, she grabbed Kousei's hand under the table and laughed.

"Oh my gosh, Kousei! Were you jealous?" Kaori whispered with a grin evident on her face.

Kousei shrugged, linking his fingers with hers. "I guess so."

She giggled silently and squeezed his hand before prying their hands away so that nobody notices their hand-holding and grabbed her bag of canelés from across the table.

"You're not gonna go back to your spot?"

Kaori shook her head and plopped a canelé in her mouth. "Mm-mm."

Kousei nodded and started to munch on his own canelés as silence grew around the two, but it was a comfortable, soothing silence.

That was until Kaori decided to add something and break it.

"Still can't believe you got jealous."

"I know..."

~0000~

"So...where do you want to go now?" a very stuffed Kousei questioned as he was dragged out of the pastry shop by an overly enthusiastic Kaori Miyazono.

"C'mon, you are so slow, I ate more than you and you still can't keep up," Kaori complained as she pranced around like an excited little girl.

Kousei glared at Kaori and huffed, "It was you who couldn't finish your canelés, you gave the rest to me and forced me to finish all of them!"

Kaori conveniently did not hear him as she hummed a cheerful tune, grabbing Kousei's arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. Kousei sighed and smiled, he just cannot stay mad at Kaori for too long, it's almost impossible.

After a while of walking and chatting, the couple found themselves in the park.

"So," Kousei started. "Back at the bakery, your dad said something about 'thanking' me for being your friend, what does that mean?

"Ummm...yeah about that...uhh..." Kaori's mood seem to take a dip as she stuttered nervously while looking down on the ground, playing with her hair with her other free hand.

Kousei sensed the change in her mood as he squeezed her hand.

"Hey, if it is uncomfortable for you, you don't have to tell me," Kousei said as he turned to look at Kaori.

Kaori took a deep breath and raised her head. "No, it's okay, I want to tell you this before our relationship gets any further than how it already is. Can we sit down first?" Kaori gestured to a spot under a cherry blossom tree, shade seeping through its petals with a few patches of golden light

Kousei shrugged with a "Sure" and followed Kaori to the shady spot under the tree, sitting cross-legged right beside her so that their knees were touching but he was too concerned about Kaori to fluster over the thought.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Kousei held Kaori's hand and hid it between them in case anybody who they know sees them.

To Kousei's surprise, Kaori pulled her hand away as she hugged her knees. She was a little hesitant about telling Kousei what she really wanted to tell him but she knew it would be more hurtful for the both of them if she hid this and expose it later in their relationship. She sighed and let her hair hide her face from the boy beside her and started to explain what has been bothering her.

"So...you know how I've always had my disease right?"

Kousei hardly understood what Kaori had said since her words came out in a small voice but he caught on and said, "Yeah..."

"Well...because of that, I haven't had any friends for a long time... It wasn't until Tsubaki found me on the rooftop you guys are always on that I made a new friend," Kaori continued while her voice was getting softer and softer with every word that rolled out her mouth, this however did not stop Kousei from letting every word of hers sink into his mind.

"Wait...so...you...were, like..." Kousei looked for the right word.

"An outcast?" Kaori offered as she smile bitterly and tears welled up in her eyes.

"That was not what I was going for..." Kousei tried to explain but was cut off by Kaori once again.

"I can understand if you do not want to continue our relationship anymore and be only friends with benefits...or something like that, since you now know that I'm actually a loner... I can understand if you don't want to be associated with someone like me..." Kaori's voice got even softer as her voice slipped into a mumble as she finally gave in to her tears.

Kaori was surprised when she felt Kousei's arms wrap around her and pull her toward him. He rested his chin on her head as he tightened his arms around her small body. Kaori was a little shocked to move but did so anyways by wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her face in his chest, Kousei not really caring if his shirt was soaked with her tears.

"Kaori...why would you think that?" Kousei's voice was soft and gentle as he spoke out his words thoroughly and carefully. "Just because you've been alone doesn't mean I won't stop talking to you because then it'll just be worse... A-and I really hate thinking about how you're just this girl with a disease who has no friends by her side whatsoever while I'm over here 'enjoying' life by sulking in my piano room with two friends who are always active with their sports. Look, Kaori, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have met my teacher, Hiroko, and I wouldn't have been able to walk out of the shadow my mom's death brought me." Kousei smiled as he thought about so many things he has to say about Kaori, the main one being, "If it wasn't for you...I wouldn't have been able to play the piano again..."

"I love you," Kousei continued, "just like I told you when we...well...when we first...uh..."

"Kissed?" Kaori supplied as she peeled her face away from Kousei, her face the same shade of red as the sunset.

"Yes," Kousei smiled, his face reddening as well, "kissed."

With that, they pulled each other in for a kiss under the glowing sunset, the cherry blossoms flailing to the rhythm of the slow wind.

But alas, the moment had to be ruined when Kaori broke away and gave Kousei one of her grins.

"Ah-ah-ah, didn't we agree to keep this relationship private?" she teased, leaving at least a foot of space between their faces, but hands still as tightly linked as ever.

Kousei pouted and crossed his arms like a little toddler and muttered, "Yeah, and now I'm suddenly regretting that decision."

Kaori giggled and reached over to grab a hand of his and grasp it back in hers, saying, "I can see that. Are you sure you want to make this be a secret thing?" She snuggled closer to Kousei and watched as children and their families hung out and played from afar.

Kousei sighed and played with her fingers on his thigh. "Yes and no. They're both safe options so I don't really know."

Kaori nodded and sighed, agreeing with Kousei. "That...is really true."

"Ye-"

"I love you too."

Kousei rose an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Kaori shrugged, repeating, "I love you too. You said you loved me, which is a surprise, so I'm responding." She flashed him a grin. With that, both of them fell into another comfortable silence, content with the fact that they are on great terms with each other and that there are no problems that could interfere with their relationship.

"You know what?"

"Kousei?"

The two of them spoke together as they both turned to each other.

"You go first!" they both said together in perfect sync, their faces red.

As the both of them realized how close their faces was, they blushed and turned away, only for them to turn slowly turn back and have their lips abruptly meet. However, this time, neither of them turned as they shared the kiss. For a moment, it seems to them that nothing in the world matters anymore as the scenery behind them slowly faded away into an indistinguishable blur behind them.

All that matters was that they are with each other.

When they finally broke the kiss, gasping for air, both red faced with hearts racing, Kaori managed to question, "What was the thing you were going to say?"

Kousei smiled and pulled Kaori into an embrace. "The same as you," he responded.

Sorry for the cliche ending, it just happened. It worked out pretty well, we guess?

it was decided that cliche and fluff works better here 'cause hey, cliched fluff is the best fluff :D And these two musicians are basically titled cliche when it comes to romance. Thanks to Kousei.

Tell us what you think of this chapter because I (we) swear we tried our hardest :D

Well, thanks for reading ^_^

Good night/good morning/good afternoon/good evening!