Hi there! Ayamiko95 is back after completing her suspense-filled, crazy and dramatic La Corda D'oro fic "Because I loved her", and so I'm back again with this new fic which received the most votes in the poll. Thanks for those who voted. I hope you guys will enjoy this fic as much as you enjoyed "Because I loved Her".

Disclaimer: I don't own La Corda D'oro

Ayamiko95, present...

The Price of Loving

Chapter 1

"You have got to be kidding me."

A scarlet-haired General Education student said with shock, as the people around her became silent. The girl's tear-streaked face looked so pitiful...and so is her situation. The person standing across her is her fellow Gen-Ed and best friend.

The light brown haired girl held her right cheek which has been slapped just now, her eyes were also filled with tears. "I'm sorry Kahoko." she whispered to her best friend.

Kahoko shut her eyes tightly. "I can't believe you Nami!" she cried, she turned around and ran out of the classroom. Kahoko ran blindly along the hallway, avoiding the eyes which looked at her with pity. Yes, That's what everyone feels for the scarlet haired violinist—pity.

Who wouldn't, after knowing about the famous couple— the star player of the soccer team and concourse pianist, and the rookie but skillful violinist— has broken up because the guy cheated on his girlfriend. And most of all, is said to be secretly dating his girlfriend's best friend!

"Azuma!" a light green haired Music Student waved at a long purple haired male. His usual cheerfulness was nowhere in sight.

"What's wrong Kazuki?" Azuma asked, though he didn't seem that much concerned.

"Did you hear? About Kaho-chan! I really feel bad for her." Kazuki frowned.

"Yes, it's truly unfortunate."

"I asked a few of my female friends what they think might happen to Kaho-chan, they said the pain would be enough to..." he hesitated for a whole and then a pained expression was on his face, "enough to break her..."

"Break who?"

Azuma and Kazuki looked up to meet the blue-haired violin prodigy standing in front of them.

"Tsukimori-kun!" Kazuki gasped in a childish way.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but you were both occupying the hallway and I need to pass through." Len said bluntly.

"Oh. We just heard that something had happened to Hino-san." Azuma said casually, eying Len.

Just the mention of his fellow violinist's name raised his curiosity, but he didn't dare to ask for more information. "What happens to her is none of my business." he replied indifferently.

"Ah! But you see," Kazuki still went on, Azuma wanted to stop his friend from talking because he wanted to dare Len to ask about her, but what can he do now, "Tsuchiura-kun was actually cheating on Kaho-chan! And then I heard that Amou-chan is the girl who...who stole Kaho-chan's boyfriend! A-and she might break!" Kazuki panicked, with his innocence.

Len looked at his upperclassman in a way which showed that he did not quite understand what he meant.

"And so, please excuse us." Azuma said, pulling Kazuki by the arm, "classes will be starting soon Kazuki, we better go."

"But Kaho-chan...I want to go see her." Kazuki began protesting.

"You have to give her space Kazuki." Azuma said, walking away with his friend in tow.

Len stared straight ahead as Kazuki's news sunk in. He knew it. He knew that that green haired pianist wasn't descent enough for Kahoko. Still, he can't do anything about it. It's almost a year ago since the concourse had finished. When it was official that Kahoko and Ryoutaro had begun dating, he already gave up on his feelings for her. While yes, it was his first time to realize that he was in love, first time to be in love, he needed to let go. No use being the sore loser.

Len checked the clipboard for available rooms and he could see that none are available at the moment. Instead of spending his time worrying about her, he has to practice hard since he'll be leaving for Europe soon.

He decided to try going up the roof to play for a change, the air there would be cooler. Len sighed, as he was walking he could hear people gossiping already, sometimes he could heard Kahoko's name or Ryoutaro's name in their conversation. What really happened? He didn't want to look interested because it might send out false rumors all over the school. Who wouldn't want to know anything about the Ice Prince's interest, and yes, he has been aware all along that that is his nickname around campus.

He breathed in the hot humid air as he stepped into the rooftop. Summer is really the season that he hates the most. He placed his violin case and music sheets on one of the benches, luckily, he was alone.

Or so he thought.

He heard someone sobbing. He walked behind the entrance to the rooftop and saw a certain scarlet haired girl sitting on the floor, pressed onto the wall, her face buried on top of her knees as she cried, arms wrapped around her.

"Hino?"

Kahoko flinched at the voice. No, no, no. Not that familiar voice. Why him? The campus is so big, why of all places did she choose to come here and most of all be spotted by him? She didn't want to be looked down than she already was. She didn't dare look up to see his expression.

"Are you going to be alright?"

Kahoko jumped at the unexpected question. She looked at Len and saw him crouched down beside her, taking in her expression. His face was filled with worry which she had never seen before. Her eyes overflowed with tears again, she couldn't help herself but she threw herself on him as she cried harder. Len sat back at the impact, he was surprised at what just happened.

Here he was, with the girl he just tried to give up on not long ago. What was he supposed to do? He wasn't good with comforting anybody. He watched her cry as his mind race in panic over what to say or do. But when he came to terms with what he was going to do, he settled on stroking her long scarlet hair.

Kahoko froze on the first touch of Len's hand, but she found it soothing, and soon, she found herself being comforted. She pulled away and wiped her remaining tears, apologizing as she did so.

"I'm really sorry for that Tsukimori-kun," Kahoko apologized, standing up and brushing the front of her skirt. "I was just really upset and couldn't think straight. Look, I've ruined your vest."

Len shrugged his vest off his shirt as he stood up, "It's fine. At least your better."

"Eh?" Kahoko blushed, then she mentally scolded herself. Your heart just got broken, what are you thinking? But then, Kahoko started wondering why Len was being really nice to her, unless he also heard...

Len could see the shocked expression on Kahoko's face and he knew that she already realized he knew about what was happening.

"I'm sorry, but Hihara-senpai told me about it and then I heard others talking about you on my way here. I don't mean to pry with other's business, anyway, I think it's better if you talk to it about someone, that would make you feel better." Len said, turning around to leave.

"Can I...talk to you then?"

Len looked at her in surprise. Kahoko grew red as she realized what she just said, she waved her hands in defense.

"I mean...I mean, no. Um, you must be really busy Tsukimori-kun. I'm sorry. I'm sure you need all the time you have."

"It's fine."

Kahoko stopped blabbering in embarrassment and looked at him with surprise. Len looked away in annoyance in order to hide his embarrassment.

"I have some spare time." he said shortly.

Kahoko nodded and followed him as he walked into the front of the rooftop and took his seat across where he placed his violin. He laid his vest on his lap. Kahoko hesitantly took her seat beside him. It was silent for a while.

"I..." Kahoko started, unsure of how to start.

"Just don't mind me and imagine that you are talking to one of your friends. I won't be commenting much anyway unless you ask for my opinion, though I can't guarantee I can help much."

Kahoko nodded and looked at her hands, while Len looked at her worriedly. She took a deep breath.

"I knew that something was wrong." she began.

Len could hear the change in her voice. Her usual cheerful voice was now replaced by a tormented one.

"He started to forget the schedules we've set up ahead of time. I always thought that it was just because he was still having a hard time balancing his piano playing and his soccer. My friends says otherwise, but I never believed them. Then there were suddenly these articles saying that Ryoutaro and I weren't understanding each other anymore, that our relationship was already in jeopardy. I've been so surprised reading articles like that because I never told Nami that anything was wrong, in fact all I've been telling her was how great things were between Ryoutaro and me."

Kahoko closed her eyes tightly, like she was seeing everything right in front of her eyes and she didn't want to have to look at it.

"And then, Nami started avoiding me then too. I just couldn't understand why she was writing all those false articles. I talked to Ryoutaro about it but he didn't seem to care, so I thought that everything will still be fine between us..." she trailed off.

She could remember every detail that happened. Every pain she felt. Everything was so fresh. Because it all just happened yesterday...

"Hello? Ryoutaro? Is anything wrong?" Kahoko asked anxiously on the phone.

She was standing somewhere in the park, the sun had already set and Ryoutaro hasn't arrived yet. She already tried calling her boyfriend five times but he hadn't picked up, until now.

"Kahoko? Oh shoot, what time is it already? I'm sorry, I'll be right—"

"No," Kahoko said, wiping away a tear, "It's alright, don't bother. From the sound over there, I'm pretty sure you're enjoying yourself right now." She could hear the loud music and a few familiar voices of Ryoutaro's friends.

"I'm really sorry. Look, I'll make it up—"

"Enough Ryoutaro. It's okay, I understand. You guys just won your recent competition right? It's okay. It was really selfish of me not to think that you might want to enjoy and party with your friends after that victory. I'll just walk home, I'll be—"

"Ryoutaro? What's taking you so long on the phone? Come on! Let's dance."

"Wait a minute Kahoko," Ryoutaro said, then he shouted, "Oh shut up Nami, you're drunk already."

Giggle. "I'd prefer to be drunk with you."

Kahoko heard the voice near to the speaker of the phone, the girl was close to her boyfriend.

"Ryoutaro?" Kahoko said anxiously, somehow the voice of the girl sounded familiar.

"Hey, I'm sorry about that." Ryoutaro said, getting back on the phone, "You were saying?"

"Who was that?" Kahoko asked, she didn't care if she sounded jealous, she's his girlfriend after all. What was he doing with another girl?

"Calm down Kahoko. That was just a friend of mine, I'm sure you've met her already. Anyway, she's drunk, so don't think of something, because I can feel it from here that you're creating your own conclusions."

Kahoko blushed because she knew he was right. "I'm sorry."

Ryoutaro chuckled, "Well, I'll just see you tomorrow in school." he said, hanging up immediately.

Kahoko stared at the phone, feeling that something was wrong. Who was that girl? It seems like she was really getting too close with Ryoutaro regardless of her being drunk. She raked her head for answers whether Ryoutaro had mentioned anything about today, or where he and his teammates usually hang out during times like this. Then she remembered a particular place where he took her once when he introduced her to his teammates as his girlfriend.

As soon as Kahoko reached the place, she sighed in relief. Yep, she could see Ryoutaro's other teammates coming out of the place. It seems that the party just ended.

"Junosuke-kun!" Kahoko called out to one of Ryoutaro's best friends on the team.

Junosuke looked up and when he saw her, shock was registered all over his face. Kahoko walked towards him.

"Kahoko-san, what are you doing here?"

The way he said it, Kahoko thought he was accusing her of something.

"Isn't Ryoutaro here? Well I thought he was since he said—"

"Hey, Junosuke! I thought you were going ah—"

Kahoko stopped talking. She couldn't bare it anymore so she started crying again. Len just sat beside her in silence, his hands clenched into a ball.

Kahoko remembered why she thought the voice was so familiar, because it was the voice of her very best friend. "I just couldn't believe what I saw." Kahoko said, bringing her hands to her face. "She was all around him, and the expression on his face, it was like having her there was so normal."

"Hino..." Len said gently, he couldn't bare to see her cry, at the same time, he couldn't bare to hear her story any longer. The more he was hearing it, the more he wanted to knock Ryoutaro out. But violence is never his greatest point.

He sighed anxiously as Kahoko continued crying. He turned away and had an idea.

Kahoko didn't know what to do.

It felt great telling it to somebody. But now that she was able to let it out, she didn't know how to stop. She was like a dam which broke, she doesn't think stopping now is a possibility. But suddenly, her ears picked up something.

A melody.

She slowly looked up through her tears and saw Len playing his violin.

He was watching her as he played. He could see that his idea was working, Kahoko had calmed down a bit already and she had her eyes closed, listening to his music. If there was one thing he had learned from her about music, it was that music had a certain healing power in them. And he guess that she was right.

"Thank you, Tsukimori-kun, that really helped me a lot." Kahoko murmured as Len placed his violin back into its case.

"I'm glad I was able to help." Len said, letting some of his real emotions slip.

Kahoko looked at him, she didn't know this comforting side of him. He could see that he was struggling. That he didn't know what to do. But what he did for her just now, made her forget everything that hurts. Not completely, but enough so that she doesn't have to break down anytime soon.

"Maybe I should come to you if I have any problems again," Kahoko said. She had meant it as a joke, but she knew that she meant them for real.

"As long as you'll be alright." he said shortly.

Kahoko stood up and smiled, "Thank you Tsukimori-kun! I really feel so much better, well then. I'm off to class!"

As Kahoko closed the door behind her, she looked at the floor, "I can't..." she looked at her hands which played her violin, "I won't play music, I won't be able to play music like that. I can't play...I...I can't afford to remember every memory I have with him..."

Len sighed as he watch her disappear. Was she really alright? She didn't look like it. He ran his fingers through his hair, like he does every time he has to think of something which seems complicated. What is he to do? He thought he had gotten over her already, but it seems like he was wrong about that part...

A/N: Review please. I hope you guys enjoy this. I'll update this depending on the reviews. If this chap gets more reviews than my other pending fics, I'll put this in my priority list. :D Thanks.