Life Made Anew

16: Time with Mateo

Kamino blushed a lot. "W-what did you say?"

"Let me rephrase it. What do you think about love?" He asked.

"What are you? Some kind of player?" She stormed off. "Stop trying to hit me up."

She now had an idea of what he asked her. "Did he ask her if I was single?" She blushed. She still couldn't entirely get over Kazama; she didn't want to. She wanted to remember how she felt for him. She still loved him, even if she couldn't be with him.

"It's a genuine question. I'm not trying to hit on you." Kamino was startled. "I just want to be friends and get to know you."

"Fine, let's talk after class. The bell's about to ring again." They walked to class together. It wasn't too far from where they were.
—
A few boring lessons later, class finally ended. Maki left her seat and ran to Kazama's class and hugged him. She didn't care if anyone saw her; in fact, she wanted people to notice.

Mateo and Kamino left the room together. Maki smirked and laughed an evil laugh.

"Umm, Maki, you're making me nervous now." Kazama laughed. "What are you thinking about?"

Kaname was hurt. "No... Improper. Grammar.. Must... Fix it."

"Kaname, no!" Sakura ran over to him and helped him. "Are you okay?"

"Okay, Kaname," Kazama started. "About what are you thinking, Maki?"

Immediately, Kaname recovered and pushed him glasses up on him face after they fell down during his collapse. "Much better. I feel rejuvenated!"

Everyone laughed. "Oh, Kaname. You never cease to amuse us." Maki stopped laughing then.

"I don't see how any of what I do amuses anyone. But I digress, finish your conversation with him. Sakura and I shall go."

"Bye, Kaname." He walked out of the room. "Back to the conversation at hand, I was thinking about Mateo and Kamino. He has been spending a lot of time with her. What if they end up being a couple?"

"We shouldn't dabble (interfere) with their relationship this time. This one could be sketchy and quite fragile."

"Yeah. Oh! Kamino is supposed to work with me on a bit of Chopin today."

"Right, about that. She wanted me to tell you that she wants you to build up a larger repertoire (pieces that one can perform) before she'll teach you his Etudes. She wants you to learn some of Chopin's Preludes first."

Maki pouted and folded her arms and puffed her cheeks out. "Fine."

Kazama poked her cheeks. "Don't be like that. Etudes are meant for those who are proficient at piano. I don't think you are ready yet. I was playing for almost a year before I went onto any composers Etudes, much less Chopin's."

"Didn't Franz Liszt start writing Etudes because of Chopin?" Maki asked.

Kazama nodded. "Liszt started many things because of Chopin. Chopin set the precedents for Etudes and Ballades, while Liszt indirectly learned from him and wrote his own."

Maki nodded and was fascinated. "So Chopin was an influential composer."

"And regarded as one of the best and created one of the most difficult repertoires for piano."

"Wow, so I'd start with other composers Etudes first?"

"Exactly."
—
Maki walked home with Kazama. She was to have a lesson with him today. She was going to start with an easy prelude by Chopin.