Sora CANON By xxHanabi

---------------------------------------------

Chapter 1
His smile was sweet. It was like something that was just beyond my grasp, something that was rare, or maybe a once in a lifetime experience. And when he smiled... it made me want to smile. I couldn't explain why. Maybe it was because it meant so much, that little notion that rarely graced his pale thin lips.

I grasped the neck of my mahogany violin a little tighter as I listened to him play in the next room. The notes... they were surely dancing, dancing across the strings of his gold violin, which made the sound mine somehow could not.

Being around him made me confused. I was happy, and yet, frustrated with his indifference. I was glad, yet kind of disappointed. My stomach writhed at his every word, which pierced me in a way that was completely parallel from the way the graceful words of his instrument did.

And when I heard him play, it made me elated, as the soft sounds picked me up and placed me somewhere where I forgot my troubles. At the same time, it made me tense, because I knew that the music his violin played was real. Genuine. Not magic. I tightened my grip on the bow, and sighed, lowering the instrument from my chin. I couldn't concentrate anymore.

I returned my violin to its maroon case and rested my fingertips on the edge of the desk that it was supported by. Minutes flew by like seconds, and before I knew it, the music from the room next door had stopped short. I realized I'd been spacing out and quickly gathered my things, opening the door to the practice room that I'd occupied for the past two hours. I noticed that he was also leaving and gave him a smile, asking, "Are you done practicing too?"

"No," He replied, closing the door behind him, "I'm going to practice at home instead."

I sweatdropped. I should've known better. He practically revolved around his violin. It made me feel kind of lazy, like a slacker, even though I spent more time practicing then I probably should've.

"Oh, I see." I closed the door to the practice room behind me as well, and prepared to leave altogether before he stopped me.

"Hino-san."

I blinked and turned my head. It had been awhile since he'd addressed me with a title, "Yes?"

"Kanazawa-sensei... he hasn't told you anything about the fourth concur?"

"...Not yet."

"...I see."

It was quiet in the hallway, as both of us stayed enveloped in our own thoughts, not really sharing them with one another at all.

"Well, I guess I'll be heading home now." I said uneasily, shuffling towards the door that was lead away from both a person I wanted to stand beside, and a person I wished to stand so far away from that not even if I strained my eyes I could see him. Tsukimori-kun simply nodded.

-------

With a sigh, the red haired girl who had been pressed to enter the concours, by a fairy, was taking her time on the trek home. Everything seemed a little duller today, what with the gray clouds blocking the normally bright and colorful sunset. In fact, it looked as if the sun had already set, though, with a glance at the silver colored watch strapped to her wrist, Kahoko knew that there was still another good half-hour before the sun slipped beneath the edges of the horizon.

And how she had missed the blatantly obvious fact that the sky was about to pour bucket after bucket of water onto the normally dry streets was beyond her.

But in the end, she was naturally the one who was running home, soaked to the bone, not a single inch of her was dry. Stopping underneath the shelter of a bus stop, panting from her sprint down the steep hill that lead to Seiso Academy, Kahoko wrung out her hair, and prepared for the last dash home.

In the meantime an amber-eyed boy stared out of the window of the black car in which had been sent to escort him home. He hardly even looked twice at the girl running for home, and she hardly even looked twice at him. His rather noticeable bright blue hair was darkened by the tinted windows, and smeared by the water that flowed in steady rivers down the smooth glass.

Well, maybe the boy took a double take, as only someone truly special can miss bright ruby red hair against the gray and blue hues of a thunderstorm. But he wasn't the kind of person who would crane himself around in his seat, and besides. It wasn't as if he had the time to be escorting a rival all over town just because it was raining.

"I'm home." Kahoko called, a good 5 minutes after she'd caught a split second glimpse of a white car that still seemed spotless in the falling rain.

"Ah, you're soaked to the bone!" The violinist's mother fussed, handing her a towel as the girl switched from her dress shoes into the orange slippers she shuffled about her home in, "You'll get sick you know!"

Kahoko gave her mother a knowing smile and said, "You say that every time I walk home in the rain."

"Well, it's true! You will get sick! It's cold out there!"

"Alright, alright, I'll be sure to bring an umbrella next time." Kahoko ascended the stairs to her bedroom and placed her violin case carefully on the floor, pulling out a hand cloth to wipe off the water. What an exciting way to get back home, running and splashing through the rain like that. Kahoko never really brought an umbrella to school, mostly because it was completely unnecessary.

Even so, she sneezed and shivered, still dripping wet. A warm bath wouldn't hurt at all.

She made her way quickly to the bathroom across the hall, and let the water run as she stared out the small window that let light filter in when the clouds weren't in the way. If you really squinted at the sky, and really tried to look for it, there was still the glow of the sun, hiding just behind the gray sadness, waiting to appear and make everything seem a little more alive again.

A smile crossed her lips and she sat down on the edge of the tub, waiting for the water to fill.

-----

The sky was crying.

The sun was just taking a break!

The sound of rain really is music in itself.

It's wet...

Since when was it pouring like crazy?

"Can't you play something a little happier Len-kun?" My mother called from the other room, "It's already sad enough, thanks to the weather outside! You're going to make the sky cry more then it already is!"

"Alright." I called back, and shuffled through the music on my stand. It wasn't as if I didn't have any happy music, it just... wasn't in my room at the moment. I sighed and decided to search through my father's collection of violin pieces.

He would definitely have at least one piece that wouldn't be depressing. I couldn't find any kind of piece I was even remotely interested in playing. Joyful songs weren't challenging. They were all simple, meant for entertainment of people who didn't know how to make music themselves.

As I dragged my finger along the edged of the alphabetically arranged pieces, I grew bored quickly, and was just about to forget about practicing at all today, until my finger hesitated.

Pachelbel's... Canon.

I blinked and remembered when Hino-san had played this song for the concours. Pulling it out of its place on the oak shelf, I returned to my room, ignoring my mother who was examining me with a surprised look.

I placed it on the music stand and opened it, surprised to find it old and scribbled all over with the scrawl that was unmistakably my father's. I tried my best to ignore it and played. I hated it. I stopped within two measures. It sounded terrible when I played it, compared to... Well, I suppose it just wasn't my style.

I played on, regardless of how horrible it sounded to me. I stopped again, however, when I noticed that I'd made a mistake. My fingers trembled for a split second and I shook my head, trying to clear the thoughts of remembering Hino-san play this song with so much feeling, so much more enthusiasm.

I tried again, but I just couldn't do it. Her smile got in the way of my vision, and the notes eluded me, my memory of the notes, which I'd played so long ago, were just a step away. But, the step was one that I seemingly couldn't take, her singing violin standing in my way. It wasn't long before I was frustrated and decided to take a break, leaving the confines of my room to get a glass of water to clear my head.

"That was very nice, Len-kun. Though, you sounded tense."

"I skipped three notes, and forgot the diminuendo on the 18th measure." I stated blatantly, "Far from nice, in my opinion."

"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself," My mother laughed, "You need to enjoy what you play, like that girl whom played this song at the concours. It was a lovely performance, because she wanted to play the song, am I right?"

I paused, the glass of water inches away from my lips before I smiled, a barely noticeable smile and scoffed, saying, "Yes."

----

The sky was crying.

The sun was just taking a break!

The sound of rain really is music in itself.

It's wet...

Since when was it pouring like crazy?

"Aaaah, I'm so boooored!" I groaned, sprawled out across the couch, one leg tossed over the back of the couch, an arm hanging behind my head across the arm rest, and another arm flailing limp over the edge of the seat.

"I heard you the first time, Kazuki." My brother sighed, turning a page in his book, which he was reading quietly, while my mother washed the dishes, smiling as she watched to two of us bicker in a good-natured way.

"Why won't the rain stoooop?"

"Go outside and do a rain dance for me, it might stop for you." My brother suggested with a smirk, "It didn't work the last time I tried."

I pouted, my head craning over green couch to make sure my brother could see my face, before pouting at my mother who was laughing at our daily, yet crazy antics.

"You're on his side?? Again??!" I asked in a disappointed tone, really only trying to entertain myself, instead of give my mother trouble. She didn't seem to mind though, she never did.

"I'm on both sides!"

My brother shook his head and said, "There's no neutral stand in this argument Mom. Either he goes outside and does a rain dance for the neighbor's or he stays in here, moaning and groaning as if he died and became a zombie without even closing his mouth."

"I wouldn't be if I could play my trumpet!!" I protested.

"Your father is sleeping." My mother pointed out, and I sighed.

"I know." I mumbled, turning over on the couch and talking into the armrest, "I hate the rain. It makes everything feel sad and dreary."

"Take a look on the bright side." My brother replied, throwing a newspaper at me as if he expected me to red it, "At least you know the rain'll eventually stop."

"Don't jinx it!" My mother laughed, and I threw the newspaper back at him.

"The bright side huh...? Is the sun just taking a break?"

The open aired kitchen and living room erupted in laughter, that was loud enough to make me flush, but quiet enough to not wake my father.

"What??"

End of Chapter 1

::♩Back♩:: ::♩Top♩::

Credits

• Layout © Kaitou Icery
• Maintained by Kaitou Icery
• La Corda D'Oro characters and series © Yuki Kure, Koei, and Lala
• Crescendo © Since December 04, 2006
• Textures: Aethereality [dot] net and Celestial Star [dot] net
• Images: Redmadness Forum for the manga pics. The rest of the images/screenshots, I took myself from various episodes.
• Hosted by: Kokoro @ Baka-Saru.net
• Part of my mini domain: Aternal Abyss