Life Made Anew

24: Rivalries Forged

"Break time: OVER! Time to get back to work!" Kamino yelled at Maki. Kamino let Maki take Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years off from practicing. With school back in session, Maki's lessons with Kamino returned as well.

"I expected that. Let's go now!" Maki screamed with excitement. She had practiced whenever she could when Kazama wasn't around. She could play everything now, but not all at once. Kamino's lessons will help her to do that.

She still did lessons with Kazama, but it was mostly technique stuff.

"How far have you gotten?" Kamino asked.

"I've worked on everything until I could play it all separately, but I need to start piecing the last half with the first half."

"Let's do that then. First, piece the parts of the last half together."

Maki took it in chunks of 16 bars, and tried to put it with another 16 bars. It didn't take her long to do each 32 bar phrase. After she got another 32 bars, she put both 32 bar phrases together, and kept going in this way until she could play a quarter of the last half. By that time, it had been two and a half hours.

"We'll continue this tomorrow. Good work today. You have improved tremendously." Kamino stood akimbo (with hand on her hip) (Yes, that is actually what that word means.) next to the piano.

"Wow, that is the first time you complimented my playing."

"Really? I thought I did before, but I really do mean it. I have almost no doubt that you'll surpass Kazama before long." Kamino looked away. "You have already surpassed me, and in only four months."

"No, I can't believe that I've surpassed you. You're still teaching me, and I'm learning a lot by doing this." Maki hugged her. "I won't surpass you until you have nothing else to teach me, and that won't be for a while."

"Thank you, Maki." Kamino smiled.
—
A few days passed, and Maki put the final half together completely. Her hand was starting to be able to play things without her hand hurting too much, but she needed a lot more to be able to play the entire thing without her hand hurting so much that she couldn't play any more.

Kazama had taught her a few exercises to be able to develop those chops. (Chops refers to the ability to play fast pieces without your hands growing tired.) Maki incessantly played those warm ups for five minutes on her first day during winter break without stopping, no breaks in between. Each day, she took it up a couple of minutes until she hit an hour.

Kazama finally asked this question one day: "Why do you keep practicing that one warm up? Does one of your pieces require you to have a lot of chops?"

"Yes, I need a ton for my finals piece."

"But an hour at a time?"

"Have you heard of playing faster or longer than necessary?" She leaned her head up because Kazama was looking down on her.

"That is true. Keep it up. You're getting a lot better each day; I can tell." He smiled.

"You won't be looking down at me for long; I'll be the one looking down on you." Maki smirked in determination.

"I expect to be impressed by your finals piece, but will you make it to finals?" Kazama asked.

"Why don't you listen to my prelims piece and tell me?"

He nodded. Maki breathed deeply and started playing. Her piece was Chopin's Etude no. 4 in C# minor.

It was quite fast, but Maki played it well, regardless. Kazama grinned. She's good.

She finished and impressed Kazama. "I think you'll make it, but it depends on who attends. There will be a lot of good people playing there."

"And I'll beat them all. I'll try my best to win!" Maki said with determination.
—
Before they knew it, it was February. The competition date was closing in. Maki has finally learned all of Ballade in F minor, and she has worked on it incessantly. The competition was the Saturday after Valentine's Day.

And today is Valentine's Day.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Kazama!" Maki held out some chocolates for Kazama. She gave him a kiss on the cheek right before it.

"How can you be so happy? Shouldn't you be tense? The competition is in a few days."

"Shouldn't we use this time to be loose? Yes, it's close, but if we tense up now, we would play worse when the date comes."

"You're right. I'm fine, but it's your second completion. I thought you'd be really tense."

"Nope! I'm confident in my playing." She smiled brightly.

Kazama gave her his gift. "Happy Valentine's Day." They kissed each other. "Know that no matter what, even when we become rivals soon, that I'll always love you."

"I know, Kazama. I will too."

Sadly, they had school today. But the end of the week held the completion for which they had long awaited.

"Maki! Kazama!" Sakura waved frantically at them, clinging onto Kaname's arm, like a maiden in love, which she was. An energetic one at that.

"Hi, Sakura!" Maki ran over to her. Tomoru and Hotaru soon came as well. They all had chocolate, such was the normal gift on Valentine's Day.

Mateo and Kamino waited for them in class, which Maki had to leave, because she was in a different class.

But when the day was over, Maki went to work. She ran to the music room and played a run-through of Ballade in F minor. There was an electric piano, so knowing that Kazama was still in the building, she took the headphones and put them on to where only she could hear it.

Kamino soon came into the room, and saw her playing. She guessed that Maki wanted to do a run-through before going home. Kamino had basically memorized where the notes were and knew where Maki was in the piece.

She's so determined, Kamino thought. Just the fact that the date is this close has filled her with determination.

Maki finished her run, and got approval from Kamino. "I didn't hear you, but I could tell that it was good."

"Thank you, I couldn't have done this without you."
—
Maki left the school with Kazama. They planned to spend the rest of the day together. They went to get dinner. (Maki practiced for about an hour and a half.) Kazama had worked a lot to get some money, and he took her to a more expensive restaurant.

"Ah! This is so romantic!" Maki's eyes were sparkling.

"I can tell you like it."

"Of course!" Their were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The floors were carpeted and the tables were covered with cloths. Everything about it screamed romance. Even the lights were dimmed.

Maki and Kazama ordered their food. "Are you ready, Kazama?"

"Of course. What about you?" He returned the question.

Maki nodded. "I hope I don't mess up in prelims. I want you to see how far I have come in finals."

"So you'll play for me? Thank you."

Their food came thirty minutes later. They ate and left. On this romantic day, their rivalry in the contest was forged and assured.

The competition is just around the corner.
—
I apologize to everyone because this book is reaching its climax. The end is near.