"S" is for the Smell of Your Love and Coffee ☕ Saimatsu ☕

Piano Competition

Kaede kept taking deep breaths, reminding herself to stay calm, that everything would turn out fine. Thankfully it was working. None of the contestants were allowed to see their family and friends before the competition so Kaede was left all alone.

As more and more contestants were called, Kaede grew much more nervous. The list of people before her was getting shorter and shorter. Then they called the person before her. Kaede became extremely anxious. She took out her music sheets and began putting them in order. She had to keep reminding herself that her performance would make people smile, it would make her friends smile. That's when she heard it, her name. She quickly got up, and made way to the stage, with one goal in mind, winning the competition.

Kaede hoped that by participating in competitions and winning she would be able to make a name for herself. She'd be able to hold concerts where her music could reach many more people and make them happy.

As Kaede stood infront of the audience, she was reminded of her childhood. How she would perform in child competitions and always put in her best effort. How she wouldn't get mad if she didn't win because she knew the other person earned it. How happy she would get when she did win, and how happy she made others. She could hear everyone clapping as she walked on stage. Though there was a particular section making more noise than others.

She scanned the crowd and found what she was looking for. All of her friends. The first person she spotted being Shuichi, of course. He looked almost as if in awe, his gaze somehow gave her more courage. Kaede bowed, and took her seat at the piano, organizing her sheet music. She had a lot of pieces to go through. Most pieces being from Chopin, one of her favorite composers.

Kaede made sure to include pieces of all types, soft, loud, intense, sad, happy, calm, all of it. Though the genre was always the same, classical. Kaede loved classical music more than any other genre.

Kaede's fingers danced around the keys, letting the music flow out of her fingertips. Each time her fingers touched a key, she could feel the nervousness slip out of her. Each note came naturally, without her having to think about it. She looked like a complete natural, her face relaxed, emotion seeping through each key, not messing a single note up. Piece after piece, key after key, note after note, high after low, Kaede perfected everything.

To the crowd Kaede played like a goddess, moving her fingers at an unbelievable speed, not missing a single note, hardly looking back at her music sheet, being able to play with her eyes closed, and not to mention the fact that she looked like a goddess too. Kaede had slight makeup on, her hair was curled slightly more at the ends. Her purple flowy dress adorned her body well, a shiny necklace was the cherry on top.

"Holy shit, Kaede's actually really good at this" Kokichi said.

"Could you please keep quiet Kokichi, we're trying to listen" Shuichi hushed.

"Ooooo, he's all ears for his girlfriend isn't he" Kokichi eagerly whispered.

Shuichi didn't say anything, there was no point in arguing with him.

As Kaede wrapped up her last piece, Claire de Lune, she began to realize how many people really were there. As she struck the final key, she could feel a sense of happiness and relief wash over her. Kaede stood up from the piano, bowed, and was met with smiles of hundreds of people. She herself smiled too, this was all she ever wanted. Everyone was clapping for her. Suddenly, she heard people chanting her name. Kaede quickly scanned the crowd, immediately finding the faces of her friends, all of them chanting her name.

All wore huge smiles on their faces, but, Kaede liked Shuichi's smile the most.

The pianist bowed once more before taking her leave. Backstage, all the other pianists congratulated her, saying that her performance was beautiful. Kaede sat back down at her seat, two pianists on her right immediately began complimenting her. Both saying things like "You're definitely gonna win" and "You played beautifully!"