Salut D'Amour

Measure 14: Reunited

KAHOKO'S POV

***

"That's my violin!" 

My words echo as the three of us freezes.

There's no mistake. The case was absolutely mine. And so was the violin.

I knew that there was something familiar with the sound of the violin even if I had no idea what piece was playing. Lili was right. The violin and I had a special connection - something only we both could understand. And in the middle of the night, the golden chord shone brighter than ever.

I take a step closer but Tsukimori-kun steps infront of me.

"Don't." He commands but I try to look hard at my violin.

The violinist unfreezes and then, does the unthinkable. He leaves the violin case and jumps off the deck!

"EH?!!!!" I scream as Tsukimori-kun and I run towards the railings where he did the incredible jump. We hear a loud thud and then some running footsteps. By the time we reached the railings, the man had already entered the hallway.

Thank goodness he's safe. I mumble and then I instantly turn around.

"I'm going to -" Tsukimori-kun runs back but instead of pursuing the violinist, I embraced my violin and tears fell from my cheeks. And for a while, I cradled it in my arms.

"Thank you...for coming back." I didn't care if the violin wasn't going to reply because I knew that just as much as I had missed her, she missed me more. And so I hugged it close.

"Hino." 

"Eh?" I look up and see Tsukimori-kun looking at me and I wipe my tears. "AhHHH! Gomen ne, Tsukimori-kun. I completely forgot..." Before I could finish, he hands me a white handkerchief. Eh? 

"Let's go Hino." His voice is soft. Unlike his icy tone, this one came with a certain warmth. At first it startled me, but then...I smile and accept the handkerchief as I get up.

"Hai." I grin as Tsukimori-kun and I walk down the stairs.

With my violin back in my arms, I feel my heart pacify itself.

Thank you...For everything.

***************************************

"You're late again Hino." Kanazawa-senpai sighs as he gets up from the couch. I apologize again and he just laughs. "Heard you were out past 1. Did you have a little date with someone?" 

"Eh?!" I cry as he mentions 'date' and I deny it instantly. The atmosphere also heightens as Hihara-senpai makes a gasp.

"Eh?! Kaho-chan! Why were you out of your room that late?! Don't do that again, please." He begs and I calm him by assuring him that I was alright. Yunoki-senpai just sips his coffee slowly but I get the feeling that he knows what really happened. As always.

"Where's Tsukimori-senpai?" 

At the sound of his name, I look at the group and realize that Tsukimori-kun was indeed, not present. Tsuchiura-kun crosses his arms and gives a triumphant chuckle at Shimizu-kun's remark.

"Well, well, well...Mr. You're Late for 30 minutes is actually late this time." He happily sings but suddenly -

"Impertinent as usual."