Words and Actions
By Pathetic Rainbow

Dedicated to Sarah Patrick

Magic

"I wonder if there are still some left in the classroom…"

"I'll go get them, senpai!" She volunteered energetically. Even after a somewhat long session teaching children in the institution, she still found enough energy to do more.

"Thanks! You're a great help, Hino-san!" Ousaki smiled at the redhead. Kahoko nodded and ran. "If you don't manage by yourself, call for us, okay?"

"I got it!" Kahoko turned around, waved at him, and continued to run to the building.

The children left about some minutes ago and the concour contestants who came, together with Ousaki, were left to clean everything up. Len -who didn't actually want to clean- stood up and told Ousaki, "Ousaki-senpai, I'll go follow her, I'm sure she needs help with it."

Not waiting for a reply, Len walked to the door. Before he could reach for the doorknob, Ousaki said, "I'm sure she'll need it." Len turned around to find an Ousaki who was grinning like a Cheshire cat. He quirked a brow and quickly exited as if he was in a rush.

"Found them!" Len heard from the open room. He peeked inside and saw Kaho, walking towards the left violins. "It's just two of them so I can carry them alone…"

"Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever touched a normal violin…" He heard her say.

Kahoko positioned herself, ready to play the violin. Not wanting Len's identity to be found out, he leaned on the wall beside the door, listening to Kahoko's version of Eine kleine Nachtmusik, the piece they had played earlier on.

Len was shocked (okay, maybe surprised?) at what he had heard. But before he could step in to comment on it, the other violinist said, "What a horrible sound…"

"Come to think of it, I never learned how to use my left hand…" She continued, her voice somehow full of remorse and regret. She put the violin down, and held the bow tight. "But, I've always known that…"

"Known what?" Len decided to step in, his glare, icier than ever. "What have you always known?" He continued, stinging Kahoko with every word.

Her eyes, she had noticed, had started to water. Kahoko gasped lightly and turned around, staring at the blue-haired violinist who was walking toward her right now.

"What's the meaning of that sound just now?" She heard him ask—no, she heard him demand. "Won't you explain, Hino?"

She covered her mouth. No way..., she thought. Had he heard her play awfully like that? Had he discovered her secret?

"Sorry! I'll help, Kaho-chan!" Hihara-senpai said –shouted- bursting through the other door. He stopped when he saw the two violinists both looking somehow disappointed. "What's wrong with you two?" He asked.

Kahoko took this as an opportunity to run away—from her lies, from her own form of deceit, and from Tsukimori.

"Kaho-chan! Is everything alright in there?" Mio asked from the other side of the door, her concern for her friend showing obviously.

"Kaho!" Nao called, her somewhat gruffly boyish voice softening.

"Locking yourself up won't do you any good, Kaho-chan!" Mio kept on knocking after many futile attempts to catch Kaho's attention.

"Could you just please leave me alone?" A dry voice replied, probably because of all the crying she had done, it turned dry. But nonetheless, it was Kahoko's.

"No! Come on Kaho! We're your best friends!" Mio argued, pounding some more on the hard wood. Nao grunted in her place and ran her hand through her short ebony hair. "It's no use, Mio." She sighed.

"Girls," Kahoko's mother butted in, "I think that's enough for now. As her mother, I understand her need to sort out… her feelings."

"B-but Hino-san!" Mio tried to protest, "Kaho-chan is—"

"Is doing just fine." She cut. "I'm sure of it. Right now, she needs rest and some peace."

"But Kaho-chan, she-!" Mio tried to argue some more, but was stopped when Nao covered her hand over her friend's mouth. "Ah. Arigatou, Hino-san." Nao stated. "We'll be on our way now." And with that, the two girls left the Hino residence.

What am I to do with you Kaho? Her mother sighed then knocked and said, "Kahoko? Kahoko, dear, is everything alright?"

"Hai, Okaa-san." Kahoko replied dully, her sniffling getting the better of her.

"If everything's fine, then why won't you open the door?" She asked again.

"Because I don't want to," Kahoko replied.

Her mother sighed. "Can you let me in?"

"H-hai." Kahoko shuffled to her feet and opened the door, revealing her thin frame in braids and wearing silk pink pajamas and fluffy bunny shoes. Her eyes were red and puffy, while her room emitted a gloomy aura.

Her mother, sighting her daughter in that kind of state, gasped, took her hand and led her to the bed. "Kahoko, what's the problem now?" She turned to her disconsolate daughter and caressed her arm. "Do you know how much this pains a mother, seeing her daughter so down?"

"I just have a problem concerning school activities, is all." She lied. "The stress is getting to me, I think." How long am I going to continue this lie?

"Is that all, honey?" Her mother asked; Kahoko nodded her head slowly, staring at her forgotten stuffed toys at the corner in the room.

"Alright." Kahoko's mother stood up from the bed. "I trust your answer." Her mother smiled at her and Kaho smiled faintly in response.

"Dinner will be served soon. And I bet you're older sister will be arriving, too. You better wash up before she interrogates you." Kahoko's mother stated and laughed lightly.

"Hai, Okaa-san." She went up, closed the door, and fell back onto her bed. She stared at the red violin case laying limply on the floor of her room, surprisingly getting by unnoticed by her other family members. What am I to do with myself?

"Tsuimori-sama," the maid knocked on the door, "Dinner's served."

"Ah. Hai," he replied. A frustrated sigh came out of his lips. He knew of her secret, what now? She reacted as if it was a big thing...

Well, it was a big thing. Because of that violin, she got in the concours... meaning she lied to everyone? She wasn't the one who played those pieces? It wasn't her music that everyone fell in love with? It wasn't the music that everyone grew to accept? She wasn't the Kahoko Hino they knew? So much for the thought of respecting her because of her so-called 'honest music'...

Len was lying on his bed as he sighed again. How many times has he sighed this day?

Someone knocked on the door again. "Len-kun, everyone's waiting for you downstairs." This time, it was a gentler voice who said that.

"I'll be there, Okaa-san." Misa Hamai just nodded from the other side. "Oh. I forgot to tell you," Len stood up and headed towards the door. "We have a guest waiting."

Guest? Who's the guest? "I think she's going to study in the same school as you..."

Len opened the door and faced his mother, giving her a curt nod before going down the stairs. When he was halfway down, his mom shouted. "Wait, Len! Wear your best suit!" Len turned back and quirked a brow at her, he sighed and went back inside his room. Hamai Misa just smirked in satisfaction.

"Okaa-san?" Len and Misa were already at the doorway when Len walked back, pulling his mother with him. "Who's that girl?" His mother just sighed and explained.

"She's Kisami Kira, a relative of the founder of your school." He glared at her and asked, "Why is she here?"

"Because she's a fiancée candidate." She smirked happily and dragged him back inside the dining room. Inside stood a man that appeared to be in his mid-thirties and a young lady that seemed to be the same age as Len. A fiancée? But I'm only seventeen!

"Konbanwa, Misa-san, Tsukimori-kun," the girl said. Len inspected the girl from head to toe. The girl was 5'4 in height, had hazel-colored eyes, and vermillion hair… she resembled Kahoko so much that you may even think they're twins…

"Hino..." Len muttered under his breath inaudibly.

"O-Oh, how discourteous of me!" The girl laughed at herself foolishly. "I'm Kisami Kira, nice to meet you, Tsukimori-kun." She flashed a smile still similar to Hino's.

"Shall we eat then?" Len's father butted in.

"Of course, Tsukimori-san." Kisami replied.

Len ate silently while his parents and Kisami laughed merrily at different subjects brought up with their light dinner conversations.

--

"Ah, Kisami-chan, would you mind if you played something for us?" Len's father asked her.

"Iie, I don't mind at all, Tsukimori-san. What should I play?"

"Anything you like." Misa replied. Kisami nodded and headed towards the grand piano they had near their living room.

"I'll play Chopin's The Revolutionary Étude," Kisami declared.

--

"Thank you so much for dinner, Tsukimori-san." Kisami smiled at Len's parents while waving her hand.

"It was our pleasure, Kisami-chan." Len's father told her.

"Len, why don't you escort Kisami-chan to her home?" Len's mother requested. Len groaned and walked towards Kisami.

"Be safe!" Misa shouted before their figures disappeared.

The walk was silent for the two of them. Kisami attempted to make a conversation with him at least ten times—and gave up on her last one. She sighed when they reached a house just as big as the Tsukimori's.

"Thank you, Tsukimori-kun," Kisami turned to Len and smiled widely again. Len nodded and turned his heels.

Kisami grabbed his sleeve. "I'll be studying in Seiso, you know? And I'll be your classmate! Isn't that great, Tsukimori-kun?" Len's eyes widened at her statement. Classmates?, he thought distastefully.

Len turned again, retreating. "Hey! No good-bye ki-?" Kisami shouted from afar. She sighed when she saw the silhouette of the blue-haired guy disappear. "Never mind…"

"So… I'm a Cinderella whose magic wore off now, right, Lili?" Kahoko turned to the fata who was sitting on her windowsill with a sad expression.

"I'm really sorry, Kahoko!" Lili flew to Kahoko's shoulder and knelt there, begging for forgiveness, crying his heart out. "My magic can't turn back time! I'm really sorry!"

"It's alright, Lili, at least I can't lie to anyone about anything anymore…" Kahoko tried to reason out, carrying Lili with her right hand. After she practiced some more in her room…

"More precisely! More powerful! More, more, more!" Kahoko cried. Gripping the bow of her violin tighter and forcing it down on the strings stronger, she cried again. "I have to match up with the others!"

She played more rashly than ever…

More… more… more…

And her strings snapped.

Lili appeared, shocked. Had the violin called him after the strings broke?

"B-B-But!" Lili tried to protest. "But what?" Kahoko asked Lili. Lili looked down on the floor and Kahoko sighed. "How did you get here anyways?" Kahoko tried to change the topic.

"Don't you dare change the topic, Kahoko Hino!" Lili retorted.

"Lili! Stop sounding and acting like my dad!" Kahoko chuckled.

"Do you even know what that violin did that changed your life?" Lili asked, bringing back the topic again.

"Of course!" Kahoko answered. "It got me in the concours, I became friends with a lot of people," including Tsukimori-kun... she added mentally.

"I heard that." Lili grinned at her.

"Oh please! It's not as if…" Blood rushed to Kahoko's cheeks, making her blush all of a sudden. Lili continued grinning in amusement.

"It's not as if!" Kahoko tried to continue. "It's not as if?" Lili asked her in a mocking tone.

"I l-like h-him…" Kahoko said in a low whisper, audible enough for Lili to hear.

"Because of the violin, you learned how to love not only music, but Tsukimori-kun as well right?" Lili asked, still grinning. More tinges of red and pink went to Kahoko's cheeks when he asked that.

"I-Iie! Lili! I don't like him!" Kahoko said as she tried to crawl to the corner of her room. But Lili only followed. "If not like, then love!"

"I-Iie! I don't love him!"

"You're better at lying now." Lili tried to point out.

"Stop grinning!" She shouted, her panic rising up to her face.

"Why should I?" Lili mocked.

"Kahoko, is everything alright in there? I hear shouting…" The doorknob twisted then the door opened halfway, revealing Kahoko's mom. Kahoko mouthed 'Lili'

"Riri?" Her mom asked, concerned. She shook her head and mouthed 'Lili' again. "Fifi?"

Kahoko pointed to the wall beside her –where Lili was.

"I told you, no one else can see me but you!"

Kahoko mouthed 'Ah'. Kahoko's mom sweat dropped. "Dear, are you alright? You've lost your voice now, too?"

Kahoko nodded with eyes wide as she pointed to the door –where Lili flew to. "Oh, you want me to go out? Alright then…" She shook her head vigorously, but her mother wasn't looking.

When her mother closed the door, Lili burst into laughter and tears. "You should've seen your face!" Kahoko put an irritated look on her face. She grabbed a notebook and wrote: 'WHY CAN'T I TALK?!'

"Ah, something a little magic can do! Remember, your voice is still considered as an instrument!"

She wrote on the notebook again: 'GIVE ME BACK MY VOICE!'

"Fine, fine. You're no fun at all…" Lili waved his wand and Kahoko regained her voice.

"No fun!? How about you lose your voice!?" Kahoko shouted.

"Okay! Okay!" Lili said, avoiding any other arguments.

"Let's see, Cinderella… I can ask another fairy to erase Len's memory about that!" Lili exclaimed, making Kahoko's eyes widen again. "I'd lie again if that happened, any other options?"

"None." Lili sat on Kahoko's shoulder. "Cinderella… Hey, I kind of like that name! Cinderella! Cinderella!" Lili chanted in a singsong way, chuckling.

"Hey, Lili..." Kahoko said smiling idly to herself. "I wonder what will happen tomorrow…"

"You'll see, I guess." Lili replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, okay? While you're here, maintenance, please!" Kahoko smiled at him.

What'll I maintain, your violin or your heart? Because there's only one thing I could fix between the two… Lili thought, before using his magic to repair her broken violin.

First La Corda Fic. Yayy! XD I don't feed on reviews so it's fine if you don't give but… they're highly appreciated! XP

Sorry for the errors in this chapter; I'm only eleven! :D I'm still improving. ^-^