The Afterlife Sonata (Your Lie in April fanfic)

1-A Spring Without You

Kousei was sitting still in front of the domestic Steinway piano. In his hand was a picture of the late Miyazono Kaori, with his frozen gaze at it. The glistening indigo eyes of the violinist were still with joy and sparkle, even it was just on printed on photo paper, and Kousei stuck his eyes on it.
Sorrow was still in him, after losing Kaori this spring. His somber blue eyes started to cry. He cannot stand it longer.
Minutes later, Seto Hiroko opened the door, attaining Kousei's attention.

"Hello, my dear virtuoso pianist!"

"Ah, Miss Hiroko!" Kousei blurted out, wiping his eyes.

"Kousei, I knew what you're hiding. I guess you should move on now, and get up onstage."

"And what should I perform?"

"A Chopin Etude, Opus 10 No.3. If you win the Maihou Music competition, you get the chance to compete abroad."

"Miss Hiroko, what should I do then?"

"If you do your best to be champion of the Chopin Piano Competition... then you will get a scholarship and transfer."

"So I'll be leaving Japan, if that happens?"

"Surely."

"But I can't leave this house. I still wanted to feel that Mom is with me..."

"I feel you, Kousei."

"Please..." Kousei gasped as he saw the sheet music given to him. It was unlike the other Chopin Etudes, for it is a solemn and a heartwarming melody. His knobby hands had already gotten used to fast compositions during the former times he was joining contests.

"Play it freely as you want, long as it is a prima vista. I would like to feel what Chopin had wanted us to feel."

"Okay, I'll do it, Miss Hiroko."

---------

In the Miyazono Café, Nao and Tsubaki are enjoying for some time. Mrs. Miyazono saw the short-haired jock, and she thought she knew her well and then approached her.

"Ah, if this isn't Ms. Sawabe!"

Tsubaki looked to her right. "Yes, it's me, Sawabe Tsubaki! What can I do, Mrs. Miyazono?"

"I should be asking that. What do you want?"

"Ah..."

"Oh, I meant to say, are you the Tsubaki that Kaori had always told me?"

"Maybe..."

"She told me that Tsubaki was a best friend of hers. However, Kaori forgot to tell me the surname since the surgery."

"Ah, it's Sawabe, Mrs. Miyazono!" Nao surmised.

"AAH! That's embarrassing, Miss Kashiwagi!"

"Enough of that surname-calling, Tsubaki."

"Kaori told me before that she wanted to lend that Tsubaki something..."

"What was it, Mrs. Miyazono?" Tsubaki inquired. "I may not be that Tsubaki, now I had to go..."

"I have an IDEA!!!" Nao snapped, "Mrs. Miyazono, please lend Tsubaki the violin of Kaori!"

Tsubaki blushed. "NEIN!"

"Why not try to do new things instead of sulking at the corner all the time?" Nao said while they waited for Kaori's mother to get the instrument.

"Here it is. Take great care of it!"

"Hey, Tsubaki, it's now yours! You can now fulfill your dreams of being onstage with..."

"AHHHHH! I HATE MUSIC!" Tsubaki blurted out, "I AM NOT A MUSICIAN BUT A USELESS JOCK!"

"Jocks aren't useless, and so is this violin to you, Miss Sawabe." Nao coldly remarked.

"Ah, I guess this is the Tsubaki I am waiting for. She knew Kaori a lot, and please give it to Tsubaki, Miss Kashiwagi."

"SAWABE!!!" Nao said while pulling Tsubaki outside the café. "Let's go home!"

---------

At home, Tsubaki laid down the violin on the floor and opened the case. She noticed that the rosin was only half left, and she began to get a piece of paper and write something:

This violin case, pink and filled with cute stickers, is not a case of a regular musician. The rosin... half left... makes me think that Kaori spent her time playing the violin not only in concerts, maybe for sole consolation. Now I feel her with it. I can't let go of it now...

Tsubaki cannot control the grief of losing her best friend. Despite the jealousy she once felt towards Kaori, it was now replaced with feelings of loneliness, and now that she's gone forever, Tsubaki had no choice but to move on as well. She looked out a window, and saw a Kousei developing his wonderful musical ability.

---------

Kousei was halfway through the Etude Op. 10 No. 3 as Tsubaki continued to watch him. Hiroko smiled at the late Arima Saki's only son, while his fingers danced gracefully like a ballerina on the keyboard.

"Kousei, my dear! I see your improvement!" Hiroko remarked after Kousei finished the piece successfully. "I assure you that you have a place already at the Chopin Piano Competition."

"Thank you, Miss Hiroko, for doing part of the duties my mom should be doing right now."

"It's nothing, Kousei."

"I had played it for Mom, for you, and..."

"Who?"

"Hmm... Koharu?"

"Maybe. Well, again if you win that international competition, you can study abroad."

Tsubaki shut down the windows, and tears start to roll down from the bout of confusion. Was he going away? Would Kousei leave Tsubaki?

---------

[A.N.: Special dedication for 'Master' Frédéric Chopin, without his emotional composition style and the school he founded then I guess I never started this fanfic XD]