Face The Music (A Saimatsu Story)

Kaede Birthday Oneshot

A/N: Still a non-despair AU but it isn't a part of the main story.

-Kaede Akamatsu's POV-

All of the days had melted together and by now, I didn't know what day it was. All I knew was it was a Friday in March. Nothing special. My mom comes and wakes me up, telling me that my boyfriend wanted to stop by later today.  Shuichi... I wonder how I got so lucky as to have Shuichi Saihara love me as much as I love him. Well, I have some time to kill before "later today" so I decide I want to practice my piano, first. My fingers feel as though they're moving on their own. I have no control over them as they sweep and dance across the keys, making beautiful sounds. That's something I love about piano... it's beautiful. It makes beautiful sounds and it makes people smile. I'm so happy that I make people smile... When I finally get up from the piano, I grab a book, considering that, after I got dressed, I had a bit more time before Shuichi comes. Before I know it, the doorbell rings. 

"Kaede, your boyfriend is here!" my mom shouts up the stairs. Having been eagerly awaiting his arrival, I jump up, open the door, and practically fly into his arms, wrapping my arms around him.

"Nice to see you too, Kaede," he said, a smile on his face as he hugged me back and softly kissed the top of my head. 

"Come in, we can head up to my room," I say, having done this many times before. I really wanted to play him some piano. It's kind of tradition that when he comes over, I play him a song on the piano. I take his hand and lead him upstairs, to my room. 

"Sit," I command, pointing to a chair in my room. Without question, he obliges. "I have a very pretty song to play for you this time, it's called Clair de Lune by Debussy! It's very soothing, and pretty. I think you'll love it!" I sit down on the piano, and again, my fingers flew, as if controlled by some otherworldly force, across the piano keys. I'd been fully transported into my own world, a world with just me and the piano. When I was done, I turned around, vaguely aware that Shuichi was still there. 

"Did... you like it?" I asked, nervous. 

"Kaede I... that was beautiful!" he said a grin spread widely on his face. I sit down next to him and start playing with my hair. After sitting in silence for a bit, he turned to me and said 

"Hey, wanna go to the park? There's really nothing to do here," he says. I was enjoying his company, but I guess we could go to the park. I answer with a simple "sure" and we head out. We started walking down to the park down the paved road. I grab his hand and he turns to me, in surprise. He grabs it back and squeezes mine once. I take a step closer to him and rest my head on his shoulder as we continue walking. Before I know it, we're in the park, trees and flowers around us. He leads me over to the picnic area and we sit over by a bench. I gently kiss his cheek, and we sit just like that until I hear something behind me.

"SURPRISE!" 

"Eek!" I shout, turning behind me. I see fifteen smiling faces staring back at me, one for every person in my class. Rantaro, Ryoma, Kirumi, Angie, Tenko, Korekiyo, Miu, Gonta, Kokichi, Kaito, Himiko, Maki, and Shuichi. All of my friends. 

"Wh-what's this for?" I ask, seeing a picnic having been laid out behind us while Shuichi and I were sitting on the bench. "Shuichi... you were in on this, too?!"

"Of course, Kaede. It was my idea, after all," he said, with a smile, "Happy birthday, sweetheart." 

A/N: S-sweetheart...

Right then, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.