Your Lie In April - The Second Sonata

Chapter 21: Sadness and Sorrow

"Oi.. you went overboard there, Kousei! Almost stealing my thunder.. tsk..", said Taka as he reminded me to bow to the audience while I was lost in thought. "But that's exactly what we wanted, right?", he added.

"Did I?", I asked as we stood up straight to wave at the audience. "Sorry, man.. didn't expect the song to hit me like that..", I added before I chuckled.

"I know, right? You connected to the song quite a lot!", Taka said as we walked back to the backstage. "But don't apologize, man.. I should be thanking you.. so thanks..", he said right before he shook my hand.

I glanced at the audience towards Kaori once more before going through the wings. She was already wiping her tears and laughing, as she talked to Watari who was seated beside her. Well, that was a familiar sight, me on stage, those two watching together.

What's next? Chasing trains?

Ever since I saw Kaori at the park outside of Towa, I wondered what she had been thinking. Coming from a person who knew her very well, her turbulent shift of expression wasn't something new at all. However, remembering how exactly we met each other was something out of the usual. It was definitely a rapid development even for her.

I really wanted to know more about what she suddenly remembered because I did have a feeling that there was more to it. However, something told me that Kaori didn't want to share it. It was like she suddenly built a wall for some reason, or reasons I shouldn't be meddling into. I had no right to begin with, anyway. She was probably making it clear that it was none of my concern.

But I really want to know.

"Kousei, you alright?", said Emi, which brought me back from the world unknown. I was probably spacing out again. I forgot that Emi was waiting for me at the backstage.

"Yeah.. I guess I just overdid it..", I half lied. There was more to just by overdoing the performance.

"Hmm.. you two did quite a show for a simple recital", Emi replied with a slowly forming smirk on her face. "Anyway, if you need to rest, it's fine. Taka and I will handle spring break practice later."

"No.. I'll go. Taka performed too. It would be unfair to him if I didn't come", I replied with an awkward and exhausted smile on my face. "But let's eat lunch first."

Two times, I lied to Emi in that situation. It wasn't that I didn't know why I lied, but I knew that it would hurt her if I said the real reason why I wanted to go to band practice. I really was curious and interested in Kaori's reemerging memories.

But spring break practice later that afternoon was unexpectedly normal. Taka surprisingly still had a lot of energy left in him. Ganryu was spurting out complains every now and then. Emi still relentlessly gave orders as we progressed through the song round by round. And Kaori seemed like she behaved as if nothing happened in the morning. She was just her usual pleasant and outgoing self.

However, it could be the same case as her having a "bad day" where no one would actually notice that she wasn't having a pleasant time. Only those who knew her very well would be able to reach that conclusion.

Out of nowhere, a water bottle came flying towards my nape. Luckily, I was able to dodge it. Unfortunately, a second bottle made contact on my forehead.

"Idiot! Will you concentrate?!", a yelling Kaori exclaimed towards me as we paused recording the keyboards and vocals. "You're spacing out again!", she added, which reminded me that nothing was out of the ordinary.

The recording studio that we rented was several times larger than that of Okutsu's. It was said that professional recording artists regularly used this. The entire place was divided into many rooms, each had a specific instrument to record. The control room, with all that glorious blinking lights, was in the middle. Kaori and I were in the room where we record the keyboard and vocals.