The Accompanist

Chapter 5: Violet-Chan

It had been a week since Boutarou started learning Liebesleid and he only had one page left to master.

But as much as he wanted to lock himself up in a practice room and prove that he could learn the seemingly impossible piece to its completion, he promised to be somewhere else.

"Yo! Boutarou, where you going?"

"Hm? Oh. Hey Chiho. I'm headed to a concert." He strolled down the hall towards the exit, running his fingers through his hair one more time for good measure.

"Oh? You mean the one Sayuri-chan is performing at?" Her gaze narrowed as a grin spread across her heart-shaped lips. "Someone has a crush already?"

"Shut it Chubs, I just want to see how she plays before I accompany her."

"Oi." Isuke's voice joined the conversation as his thin arm draped around Chiho's rather wide shoulders. "I'm the only one that gets to call her Chubs."

"Ew, Isuke, quit acting like I'm your property." Shrugging off his arm, Chiho folded her tan hands in front of her face, acrylic nails pressing lightly into her skin. "That being said, I am a fair maiden! Everyone is probably targeting me... What do I do?"

Boutarou ignored her arrogance and straightened the collar of his shirt. "See you guys later."

"Boutarou," Isuke called, "We're meeting Shiki for dinner at Clown McBurger around six if you wanna come!"

"Already planning on it." With a wave of his hand, he left campus.

. . .

Boutarou picked his seat in the middle of the auditorium, eyes scanning the crisply folded program for Sayuri's name. It seemed like she would play 8th... And this was a violin competition. Listening to the same piece played over and over again wasn't exactly appealing to him. But for the sake of getting a girlfriend... he would endure it.

He would even go so far as to prove that he had been listening to the other performers by studying their playing style to make conversation afterwards.

It was all planned out.

But by the second performer, Boutarou was already sawing logs.

When he snapped back to the land of the conscious, he saw Sayuri bowing and walking off stage. Crap. How did people listen to these things? How did they stay awake?

On top of playing the same piece over and over again, most of the performers had no passion. They were doing their best to make the piece "perfect" instead of letting their emotions rule the interpretation. There certainly was a balance, but after listening to Sayaka for so many years, he just...

He wasn't supposed to be thinking about her anymore.

Flicking himself in the forehead for good measure, he walked out to meet Sayuri in the hallway, ignoring the side glances from people that he passed by. Whether it was because he was asleep, or because they knew him, he wasn't sure.

The second she came into view, he put a big smile on his face. "Wow..." He did his best mimic the fake enthusiasm that he learned how to show after years of boys trying to woo Sayaka but having no idea how well she'd just played. "That was amazing. I'm sure you're going to win."

She blushed and turned away. "Y-you made it?"

"Of course," he said with a charming smile, "how could I miss your performance?"

"Ah! Well... Will you..." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Accompany me for the next round..?"

"It would be an honor." But on the inside, a pang of discomfort spread throughout his back. I guess she must be some sort of hotshot... Already assuming she placed without seeing the results.