Chapter 13: Pursuing Image

Kousei stared at the ceiling for a few minutes after he woke up. Sleeping or waking did not make a difference. The whirlwind inside his thoughts never ceased to blow his mind away. He kept hearing her question to him the other evening.

"Yuujin A, who were you in my life?..", Kaori asked as she walked with Kousei outside her house the other night. He just finished talking with her parents and was on the way home.

"You kept asking me the same question..", Kousei replied.

"I never really got the answer."

"I told you. I'm just Friend A."

Kaori stared at Kousei blankly for a few moments. He knew in her mind she was having none of that. But he can never go beyond being Friend A. That would be forcing her too much.

"It would be cheating if I said more. You need to ask the right questions..", Kousei told her again as they stopped at the corner. He looked at the walkway ahead before looking at her again. "I'm good from here. You can go back now. Thanks for having me over."

"I'm not done with you yet..", Kaori said coldly, which actually surprised Kousei. A feeling of terror crept upon him as he saw her fiery eyes.

"A-Alright.. So what's on your mind?..", Kousei asked.

"Aren't you supposed to ask why I keep asking that question?"

"Oh.. I sort of didn't know that."

Kaori sighed, but her mood made a hundred eighty degree turn again. "As far as I can remember.. it is highly encouraged to help me remember things by asking why I ask specific questions. It's a two way thing, y'know. So?"

"Uhh..?", Kousei stared at her for a while. Kaori was giving him that eyeless smile again. She had no idea how much he had missed that sight. But it also meant something. She needed something from him, and he only realized it when her flip flop slipper was on his face already.

"You're so slow, you dummy! If you keep on staring at me like that, I'll forget more things than I could remember!..", Kaori exclaimed while she picked her slipper up.

'I almost forgot she had that tendency to throw things..', thought Kousei as he massaged his partially sore face.

"Ask me why!..", Kaori added angrily. Her mood swings were as turbulent as a winter blizzard.

"I'm sorry.. so why did you ask that question?"

"Hmm.. lemme think..", and Kaori actually pretended she was thinking. "First of all, you hugged me the moment you realized I was really there.. in front of the principal. That was unexpected.."

"Then you called me a pervert..", Kousei answered coldly.

"Why wouldn't you be? It felt like you were feeling my entire body..", Kaori said while she covered herself with her arms as if she was naked.

"I did not!..", Kousei exclaimed while he flushed red all over.

Then, Kaori put her tongue out like a child. But she continued. "Then my dad talked to you as if he really liked you. He was always strict with me when it comes to boys.. and when my mom saw you, she actually hugged you like she missed you."

"Your parents are good people. You're fortunate to have them."

Kaori suddenly found herself falling silent. She frowned as if she was about to change her mood again. "Yuujin A..", she said while staring at her feet.

"Yes?..", Kousei replied while he looked at Kaori intently.

It took a few moments before Kaori actually said something. And before she did, she looked up straight towards Kousei. She was blushing. "Were you my boyfriend?"

Kousei almost took a backflip. He felt his entire being go hot. His head was steaming, and his nose was probably about to bleed. He was flushing so badly that he wasn't sure how to answer. 'But I guess she got a somewhat right question this time.'

"Not even close..", Kousei told her to lessen the heat. The redness in their faces gradually subsided. "You once even told a group of children that I was what you call a villain..", he added and chuckled a bit. "That I was 'an enemy of womankind' once they learned I made you cry, and that I was mean to you.."

Kaori looked at Kousei for a while with her lips slowly curling into a smile. And then, she eventually burst out into laughter.

'That's actually the greatest thing I've ever heard in a while..', pondered Kousei with a faint smirk on his face.

"Sounds like something I would say..", Kaori said gleefully.

A knock on Kousei's bedroom door blasted him back to the present. Yes, he was still just staring at the ceiling. He sighed since he really didn't want to get out of bed yet. It was the winter break after all. But the knocking persisted.

"Yes? I'm coming..", Kousei almost painfully said as he stood up to open the door. However, the door already opened before he even got the chance to stand up straight.

"Get up, kiddo. Breakfast is ready..", stated Hiroko. She had been up early everyday since they got home.

"You do know it's the middle of winter break, right?"

"Yes. And you've been saying that every morning since we got here. You need to start practicing by nine. Got that?"

'Of course. The Maihou Western Japan Piano Competition is about a month from now. Not that I needed much preparation.. but since I'm with Hiroko-san for the break.. she's coaching me, and I have to play under her rules. I knew it. Coming home was a bad idea to begin with..'

"Do I really have to practice this early?..", pleaded Kousei.

"Yes. I have to be somewhere by three. Best be done by that time..", Hiroko replied coldly before walking away. "And please put some clothes on. You don't want to give Koharu some nightmares."

Kousei turned pale the moment he realized he only had his boxer shorts on when Hiroko woke him up.

Piano Sonata No. 18 in D Major, K. 576 was the piano piece that gave life to the previously empty house. Its "hornlike" opening gave it its nickname, "the Hunt". It was the piece Mozart made for his last performance. Kousei chose to play this because it was able to give him the impression that he was chasing something very elusive. It was very much like his current situation, the hopeless quest for unknowable answers.

One more thing, K. 576 is considered to be one of the most difficult pieces ever made. The prodigy, Arima Kousei, had to be at his best to be able to play this. His teachers, including Seto Hiroko, were expecting him to nail this since he placed first in the preliminaries two weeks prior.

"Again. You hit that one too early, Kousei. Be patient..", Hiroko pointed out. Then, she sighed while she looked at her student. He was drenched in sweat. "It's supposed to give you an impression of a hunt. Not a chase."

Kousei squinted as if trying to make out a confused look. He scratched his head and stared blankly at his teacher. "Is there a difference?"

Hiroko just simply crossed her arms and smirked. "If you chase your prey, you'll be forced to run after it. It'll make you even more impatient with the thought of tiring out soon..", she said as she walked towards the piano. She hit the keys that Kousei missed out afterwards with perfect precision. "Hunting requires patience, so you could take your prey down in the right moment..", she added right before hitting the last note.

"Okay, Seto-san. I'll do my best..", Kousei acknowledged with a smile as he looked at his elder.

Hiroko almost popped a vein in her head with the way her protégé had addressed her. "That's Hiroko-san for you, Arima Kousei. Now. Again.. From the top..", she fumed, making the smile on Kousei's face vanish.

"Eh?! From the beginning?"

"No, from the end..", Hiroko replied blankly, confusing her student. "Of course, from the start, stupid."

"B-But Hiroko-san.. it's a fifteen minute piece!"

Hiroko just simply shook her head and sighed. It was actually noon time already. They were both getting tired since they had been practicing since morning.

"You're supposed to be used to this already. It's your last year in high school..", Hiroko said, referring to the length of the piece. Unlike in junior high school where contestants were only required to play under ten minutes consisting of a portion from two different pieces, the high school division made them perform the original and longer renditions of single piano pieces. "Okay. Since it's noon, let's have a break and eat lunch. I'm hungry anyway..", she added with a bit of disappointment.

"It's okay, Hiroko-san. Let's have one more go before lunch..", insisted Kousei while smiling awkwardly. Then, he hit the keys once more. This time, he did it with proper timing.

Unfortunately, the piano prodigy failed to paint the proper image of a hunt with his music. Imagery wasn't working very well since his thoughts were drifting somewhere else. He couldn't stop thinking of Miyazono Kaori and her reemergence from beyond death.

'Yuujin A, who were you in my life?..', Kaori's voice resounded in Kousei's thoughts as he played his chosen piece.

'How do I answer that? I was a friend. No, it was more than that, but I couldn't tell her yet..

'I was the boyfriend? Not even close. We never made it that far.. and stop blushing, stupid Kousei!

'I was her accompanist. Yes, that should be an honest answer. That's right, I think I'll tell her that.

'What else? I don't know. It really boils down to this. I really was nothing more, but Friend A..'

While Kousei continued to play K. 576, the thought of Kaori lingered in his thoughts. 'The way she smiled with her eyes closing and her cheeks reddening was refreshingly maddening. Her laughter was something I thought I'd never hear again. No masterfully composed music can ever replace that. And when her tears fell, it still gave me the feeling I drowned in them that it ached so much to breathe..

'A lot of things never really changed about her. She still gave me that curiously childish look. She almost jumped over "dare you" bridge the other day.. if I hadn't warned her that it was frozen. She tackled and beat me to a stray cat just to pet it too. She again, played with random children on the streets, and she didn't even know them. She ran and raced a train as if she still really thought she'd win. And all of these happened in that single twenty minute or so walk the other day. Miyazono Kaori will always be Miyazono Kaori. But she had forgotten what we had..

'But of course, since three years have passed, there were some minor changes besides her loss of memory. Despite deciding to wear her glasses instead of contacts, she became more beautiful. In fact, she was beginning to show signs she will become a very beautiful woman. She of course, put more weight.. but in a really good way since last I saw her she was sickly. She also grew a little taller. And some of her features have matured. Her curves were more womanly that it actually drove me crazy. Wait. Why am I thinking of this? I really did deserve to be called a pervert by her.. but oi.. I'm just a guy..'

And then, Kousei hit the last key of the sonata. He was drenched in sweat and was catching his breath. It was a very difficult piece after all, but he was able to pull it off.

"Hiroko-san..", uttered Kousei while still catching his breath. "What do you think?"

"Much better.. though it still doesn't add up to what you were trying to show. No.. it didn't look like you were in a hunt..", answered Hiroko, to her student's confusion. "It actually seemed like you were pursuing someone.. a girl I suppose?..", she added making Kousei turn red. She just laughed at his reaction after that.

"That was really unintentional..", Kousei kept blushing.

"It's still a kind of hunt, kiddo. I guess you still managed to relay your message..", Hiroko said, convinced Kousei did well this time. "Interesting.. The hunt for Emi's elusive 'yes'..", she added before she gave off a sinister laugh as she walked downstairs for lunch.

Kousei's redness lingered, but he realized that Hiroko got the wrong image. He was thinking of Kaori the whole time he was playing, but his teacher got a picture of him pursuing Emi's commitment to a relationship with him. Somehow, a connection between them was trying to reveal itself, but he couldn't see it.

'I guess I really am dense..', thought Kousei.

Later that afternoon, Kousei decided to keep practicing (probably until he passes out) even after Hiroko left. She said that she had to coach another student. There would be less polishing on his own, but the momentum was already there. So, it would be such a waste not to take advantage of it.

'I still haven't polished the "allegretto" in the third movement, in my opinion though. It should have been the playful part of the piece, and its texture should be lighter in this movement..', pondered Kousei while playing the said part of the piece. 'However, the "allegro" in the first movement, seemed to have lingered. It sounded way too aggressive. As Hiroko-san explained.. I was too impatient.'

"Eeeeep!! It's way too heavy.. don't smash it in the end, you already brought it down, y'know..", Kaori said while she covered her ears.

"I know. I guess I'm just tired already. But I think I-..", Kousei stopped mid sentence. Then, he took a backflip and almost jumped through his own window.

"Oh, no you don't! Not this time!..", commanded Kaori while holding the back of Kousei's collar, pulling him down in the nick of time.

Kousei fell on the floor with a loud thud. Then, he sat up, massaging his head. "S-sorry.. I thought I saw a ghost.."

"You're watching way too many horror films, Yuujin A..", stated Kaori as she sat down crossing her legs on the piano bench, facing Kousei. She squinted and gave him that curious stare again.

Kousei looked down before he flushed when he realized how close Kaori was to him. She had her hair tied up high this time, so he got to see her facial features better. She was adorable especially in her winter outfit. But she was still wearing her glasses though. 'But wait..'

"How did you get in here, by the way?..", Kousei asked before suddenly, the sound of someone running up the stairs approached.

Translation Notes:

Maihou Western Japan Piano Competition - the fictional piano competition created solely for this series. It is conceptualized as a combination of the Maihou and the Eastern Japan competitions from the original prequel series. However, it is hosted by the fictional music school, Okutsu, which is located in the far west of Osaka, Japan, hence Western.

Allegro - tempo indicating fast, quickly, and bright play.

Allegretto - moderately fast tempo.

Featured Music:

Piano Sonata No. 18 in D Major, K. 576 - also known as "the Hunt", or the "Trumpet Sonata" with its hornlike opening. It was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as part of a set of six for Princess Friederike of Prussia in 1789. It was his last and arguably one of the most difficult piano pieces to play.

In this chapter, Arima Kousei chooses this piece for his upcoming competition. Even if the composition should've given an impression of someone hunting as said by Seto Hiroko, Kousei somehow ended up painting a picture of him courting a girl while his thoughts were drifting towards Miyazono Kaori. It was assumed that the girl he was pursuing was Igawa Emi.