Red Velvet Fever

Chapter 1

Len Tsukimori stared down at his golden colored violin as she peacefully lay in her case. His face calm and unreadable, he gently slipped his fingers under her smooth neck and carefully lifted her out of her slumbering cave. He unlocked the bow from his own resting place and tightened the bleached horse hair. Once it was to a perfect tension, he swiftly and gently swung her up on his left shoulder. He shifted a bit to get comfortable before placing the bow on the A string. In a swift stroke he brought the bow down, listening with trained ears to the tone and pitch of the sound. With his right hand he carefully turned the peg so the string pulled tighter, in turn making the sound higher. He did so until it was a perfect A. He did the same with the G, D and E strings. Adjusting them lower or higher to match the perfect sound he had memorized since he was but a child.

"Mr. Tsukimori?" the rough voice of the stage manager asked peeking into the small soundproof room. Sounds of Len's mother's performance pulsed in waves of soft classical notes as it engulfed the room. Len turned around to the stage manager, slipping his violin off his shoulder. "Your mother is almost finished with her selection," he told Len, "Are you ready?" Len nodded.

"I suppose," he answered calmly. On the outside he kept his usual composure, but his insides screamed with nervousness. He wasn't afraid of the crowd. He had been in front of plenty of those. He still believed he was not skilled enough to be playing with a musician like his mother, but she had practically forced him to. She was so skilled and full of emotion.

As Len quickly rosined his bow, his thoughts drifted. Skilled...full of emotion...that was how Hino Kahoko used to play her violin. The very corner of his lips couldn't help but twitch as he remembered when they had played Ave Maria together during the retreat. Every not was perfect...but not entirely matched with the score of the original music. Hino-san's playing held emotion...in turn leading Len to do the same. Even though he would never admit it to any soul...he missed the way Hino used to play. Slowly but surely it had given him a bit of emotion in the notes he played as well.

"Tsukimori!" a hushed voice yelled from the hallway. Len sighed and grabbed his violin, walking out into the hall that led backstage. He was still troubled...but for some reason thoughts of Hino calmed him. Like it always did...

"Have a good day at school, Tsukimori-sama," the driver smiled at Len.

"Thank you," was all he said. Before getting out of the nice car, Len saw the drivers eyes blink in surprise. Len usually didn't say a word to anyone in the morning. Len wasn't normally a morning person but even in the afternoon he didn't speak much to the people his mother had hired to "take care" of him while her and Len's father were on tours. This morning though...he was in an unusually good mood. Hino Kahoko's music had filled his dreams last night. He also vaguely remembered waking up early this morning and playing Ave Maria...at least he though he had played that piece. He had been half-asleep so he really doubted it was a decent enough performance. After he had played, he didn't even properly put his violin away before he fell back onto his bed. Not bothering to put the blankets over him.

Just as he turned the corner to Seiso Academy, he saw Yunoki Azuma's sleep black limo pull up right in front of the gate. Yunoki had always been one to flaunt his wealth. Len on the other hand, liked to keep his a secret. He would rather live a life with his violin and music than one with fame and women.

As Yunoki stepped out of the limo, about ten girls squealed from the sidewalk. Yunoki looked back in the limo with a friendly smile. Len strained to see the face of the person he was motioning too. Usually Yunoki came to school alone...

Suddenly a body stumbled against Len's shoulder. Len's head snapped to his right to see the green haired trumpet player, Hihara Kazuki.

"Sorry Tsukimori!" Hihara exclaimed with his loud, child-like voice as he backed up, scratching the back of his head. Len just sighed and continued to walk past Yunoki's limo. That had ruined his morning...

"Good morning, Tsukimori!" A soft voice called out. Len turned to the voice. Hino's smiling face was beaming at him from above Yunoki's open car door. Len blinked. Why was Hino with Yunoki?

"Hino-san!" Hihara exclaimed as the limo driver shut the door behind Hino.

"Good morning, Hihara-sempai," Hino said to Hihara before turning to Yunoki, "Thank you very much for the ride Yunoki-sempai." Yunoki smiled that annoying smile of his.

"Of course, Hino-san," he said, a lock of his long purple hair slipping from his shoulder. Hino smiled back at him, then noticed Len was still standing a few feet from her. Her smile brightened as she turned to him. Len didn't smile back, even though a part of him wanted to. He just turned around to step through the gate.

As Len walked across the grounds, he couldn't get Hino's innocent smile out of his mind. He glanced up at the large clock located above the main entrance. He still had twenty minutes before he had to be at Music History. He had time to practice a couple songs in a practice room before the bell rang.