When the Stars are Shining Over You (Your Lie in April Fanfiction)

3: A Life Full of Risks

"So, I heard that you decided to do the performance with her." Tsubaki said as they walked down the street after school.

"Yeah..." Kousei sighed. "I think I made a mistake."

Tsubaki looked at him with concern.
"Your fingers won't work?" Tsubaki asked and Kousei nodded miserably. Tsubaki suddenly stopped and took Kousei's hand. She looked at it, the smooth hand that use to protect her from dangerous actions since Tsubaki used to be a little girl who liked to take risks when she was a kid: She liked to jump off bridges with her friends into the river. Kousei was always scared so he would stop her from jumping until that one day when Tsubaki pushed him down and he almost died. Now the hand of her best friend was damaged severely, fingers stuck together as if his skin was melted. His pinky was stuck to his ring finger, his middle finger stuck to his index finger. His thumb seemed like it was attached to the palm but he could still move it. It seemed like now he only had 6 fingers all together. Tsubaki sighed and she let go of the hand.

"I'm sorry." She said and she continued to walk down the street. She stared at her feet and at her hands which seemed perfectly normal compared to his.

"I should have held you back. I shouldn't have let you go. Then at least you could have..." She turned around and found Kousei behind her, who was staring at her. "Saved your fingers." Tsubaki finished and turned around and stared at her own fingers. "I had my own hands. I could have stopped you. Even though your mom wouldn't have survived, at least your fingers..." Before she finished her sentences, she found her feet in front of someone else's feet. They met parallel in front of each other. Then, a pair of damaged hands appeared on top of Tsubaki's hands.

"It's not your fault." The calm voice of Kousei spoke. "Why do you think it's your fault?" Suddenly, one by one tears dropped from Tsubaki's eyes and rolled down on her cheeks.
"Sorry... I'm so sorry..." The tears dropped onto her own hands as she continued to cry. Kousei put his on top of hers as if he was trying to cover the tears from falling onto her hands. He handed her a handkerchief and he embraced her as she cried onto his shoulder. She continued to say sorry and Kousei continued to tell her that it was okay. That nothing was her fault. That the reason why his life was like now was not because of her.

                                       ***

Skipping school might seem nice but having an exam on that day isn't. Kousei and Kaori walked to the hall where the performance was going to be held. Tsubaki and Watari accompanied them. Watari was another childhood friend of Kousei's, a very naughty child doing dangerous things with Tsubaki when he was young. Now he was a very athletic boy, captain of the soccer team and a really popular guy in their school. Kousei couldn't think about anything else. The music kept repeating itself over and over again and his finger seemed like it had stopped working, almost as if they were numb. When they reached in front of the large brown building, they separated with Kousei and Kaori going into the waiting hall and Tsubaki and Watari going into the theatre. Kousei felt his sweat falling on his back even though he was in an air-conditioned room. He stared down at his music sheet and practiced his fingering with a curved back. He was panicking. He knew that this wasn't going to work until Kaori hit his head really hard with her hand.
"Ow, what was that—" He looked up towards her who had starry eyes.
"Look at me." She said and Kousei stared into the enticing eyes. "You are always looking down." Kousei just realise that he was staring into the music sheet that was on his knees which made him bend down to stare into it.
"That's why you have no hope. Have some hope! Look up and you'll see all the stars that are shinning over you. I know you think this is a risk but look at everyone out there," she pointed towards the door that led to the stage, "look at all those people wanting to hear our performance. It doesn't matter if I pass the exam or not. The only thing that matters is—"
"If your music reached them. If they inspire someone to do something." Kousei ended her sentence for her.
"Number 265, Kaori Miyazono, please get ready." A voice called out.
"See," Kaori said, "Köchel number 265, Mozart's "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." She turned around and gestured me to follow her.

"The stars are shinning over us."