Life Made Anew

18: The Competition part 1

Maki worked her butt off to get the piece as much in time as possible. She practically memorized the tempo, which was very good. But something was gnawing at her. She lied to everyone.

Well, she didn't completely tell the truth. She told them what she'd be playing, but didn't say which round she'd play it in.

She was on her way to the preliminary round, in which she'd play Chopin Etude in C minor, Opus 10., No. 12 "Revolutionary", not Liebesfreud. She'll play that for the finals if she makes it.

That is why she was worried. She wasn't sure if she'd make it to the final round, but she wanted to play Liebesfreud for Kazama. That gives er all the more reason to do her best.

Everyone was walking with her and telling her, "You'll do great, Maki." and "Do your best. We know you'll make it to finals." Things like that.

Maki ran to the performance hall to go to the waiting area, while Kamino was reading the list of performers. "Kazama, you might want to see this."

"What is it, Kamino?"

Kamino pointed to Maki's name.

Hatora Maki
Age: 17
Piece to be played: Chopin Etude in C minor, Opus 10., No. 12, "Revolutionary"

"So. She plans on doing Liebesfreud for finals, huh?" Kazama chuckled. "Oh, Maki. What will we do with you?"

"But what a piece to play! When did she have time to learn this?" Kamino exclaimed.

"We'll just have to ask her after," Sakura said. "Come on! It's going to start soon, and I want good seats!" Sakura ran off after giving a little pout. She dragged Kaname with her... Literally.

"I'll make sure to tell her about the seats!" Kaname said while being dragged off.

"They're such a weird couple," Mateo said.

Kazama muttered under his breath, "Not as weird as you two." He started walking. "Let's go before those two kill someone for seats."

"Where are Hotaru and Tomoru?" Kamino asked.

"My point exactly. Those two reserved some seats for us, but we all know Sakura has probably forgotten."

"And Sakura probably will be too busy to listen to Kaname." Mateo chuckled. They all walked to the performance hall.
—
In the waiting room, Maki was scared. Her heart was beating out of her chest, and she couldn't make herself he less terrified. All she had to do was play as she had been this last few weeks.

"Number 1, Tokiro Saoru!" The person directing the flow called out the first contestant.

Maki mustered up a bit of courage to say, "Good luck," but the girl gave her the cold shoulder.

Out of nowhere, a guy said, "I've never seen you at a contest. Are you new?"

Maki nodded. "Yeah, I've only recently started playing."

"Recently? And you're already playing Chopin's Etudes?"

"I've been told that I'm a quick learner." Maki patted on the ground to give him a seat. She held out her hand. "Hatora Maki."

The boy took it. "Raime Kaito."

"What are you playing?" Maki asked.

"Movement 3 of Sonata 14 by Beethoven."

"That's quite hard, isn't it? I've only worked on the first two movements, personally." She found that just talking to him has calmed her down so much.