Disclaimer: I do not own Tumbling or Kamen Rider Kiva, nor am I profiting from it any way. This fiction was written solely for my own pleasure.

Warning: This fiction contains shonen-ai. This means romance between guys. If this makes you uncomfortable in any way, then don't read this. I am in no way responsible for those who do not heed this warning.

Summary: Tumbling Post-series. AU w/ crossover with Kamen Rider Kiva. Premise: "What if Takenaka Yuta was Kiva?"

Azuma Wataru wondered why it took him so long to realize that while he considered Takenaka Yuta like a brother, he hardly ever knew anything about the kind captain's life outside of tumbling. But he's about to discover a whole other side of Yuta's life, a side fraught with Fangire politics, obsessive violin playing, and unimaginable danger.

Pairings: Wataru x Yuta, eventual Mizusawa x Kiyama, onesided Yuta x Tsurumi, Hino x Mari, Nago x Megumi

Fangire Spring

Chapter 1- Beach Volleyball, Omurice, and Yuta's Mysterious Job

By fieryrondo

Azuma Wataru scowled. It was an expression that made even the courageously suicidal cringe. The frown that was like a mandate from heaven—or perhaps, more appropriately for the former Karasumori gang leader-a verdict from hell that promised much suffering and pain.

Despite facing the visage that sent grown thugs bawling, Takenaka Yuta had the gall to laugh gently right in his face.

"Ne, Wataru, what's got you all upset? Remember, we're here to enjoy ourselves." The captain then turned to help Mizusawa and Tsuchiya build their sand castle.

The Kanto Regionals were over. Summer break had started and with it swept days of scorching sun and cool evening breezes. Though they were still holding daily practices, everyone had agreed to take a few days off to relax before hitting the books (Wataru inwardly cursed the hefty pile of work that he knew was waiting for him at the end of the day. Even with his club activities, he was still just a little behind in terms of credits and he would have to work hard to catch up).

Wataru could hardly believe that the Kanto Regionals had been just about a week ago. He could still feel the deep satisfactory thrill of executing the triple back hand spring, the racing of his heart as he performed Hino's finishing tumble, the glowing warmth as they soaked in the thunderous, appreciative applause. Though they had technically lost, it was clear to Wataru and everyone else that they had been the true winners.

Heck, even that old chair-lady baba was impressed, Wataru mused. His thoughts wandered to Shouko-sensei—whoever knew that stiff lady would actually defend them?

Thanks to Kiyama's characteristically blunt prompting, Kashiwagi-sensei had finally plucked up the courage to ask Shouko-sensei out. Nippori, who had been heading out for his part-time night job, had seen the two walking home together, and reported that the two were positively all "love-love" with each other. While Wataru did not doubt Nippori for a minute, he doubted whether or not Shouko-sensei could actually be all "love-love" with someone.

Maybe for Kashiwagi. He's got weird taste—maybe they suit each other after all.

Wataru sighed.

Man, some people have all the luck in the world when it comes to love. Why couldn't I have been one of those—

He suddenly yelped when he was doused with a bucket of cold sea-water.

"Ryosuke!" Even if they were best friends, there was no way Wataru was going to just take that impromptu shower. Wataru knew an attack when he saw one—even if it was done with friendly intent.

"What?" The blond-haired Ryosuke raised his eyebrows as he relaxed in the lounge chair, looking every inch the innocent, non-pranking person. But Wataru knew him better than that. He thrust out a bare arm to point at Ryosuke.

"You know what you did!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ryosuke broke out into a mischievous grin."You sure you aren't just getting on in your age?"

Wataru spluttered. Nippori, who'd been arguing with Kaneko (who did not want to be buried from neck to toe in sand), noticed and tossed Wataru a towel.

"Here you go, Aniki. I thought you weren't going to swim till later."

"I was! Until Ryosuke decided to freeze me to death!"

"Just checking to make sure you were still there. You had a weird look on your face," Ryosuke said. "What were you thinking about?" His eyes lit up before grinning. "Ah, Mari-chan?"

"Oh, shut up." Although Wataru had finally gotten over the shock, the sting of rejection was still fresh on his mind.

"Mari-chan…" Wataru sighed. He shot a dirty look at Hino, who had his back turned.

"That cocky little brat," Wataru said dully as he watched Hino tapping away on his cell phone. "Bet you he's sending another text to Mari-chan."

"Cheer up, Wataru," Yuta said as he approached them, carrying a large plastic beach ball. Mizasawa was right behind him with a bundle of net. "And don't be too mad at Hino-kun. It's not his fault that she likes him."

"I know," Wataru grumbled. "But that doesn't mean he has to rub it in my face."

Hino looked up. "Azuma-senpai, did you say something?"

Wataru buried his face in his hands before letting out a muffled frustrated scream.

"Ne, Wataru, why don't we play some beach volleyball?" Mizusawa suggested, smiling pleasantly.

"Ahh, sure." Anything to get his mind off of Mari and Hino.

Yuta looked around. "Hmm, we have three. We can play with two teams of two if we can get one more person. Anyone else want to play?"

Ryosuke scratched his head.

"Beach volleyball? How should I say this…it's not really my thing."

"Wimp," Wataru teased, giving his friend a friendly shove.

"Kiyama, won't you join us?" Yuta asked.

Kiyama closed his eyes.

"Sure."

"Yosh, we've got four," Yuta said, slipping into his captain mode. "Now for the teams. How about...Mizusawa and I versus Wataru and Kiyama? That sound good?"

"I'm game," Wataru said, digging his toes into the sand before standing. He stripped off his wet shirt and threw it on a pile of sand. He slapped Kiyama heartily on the back.

"LET'S DO THIS!"

"Out!" Tsuchiya called out.

Wataru ground his teeth. What was with the ball? True, he'd never played beach volleyball but how hard could it be to hit a big plastic ball over a net? Volleyball was truly a confounding sport. Despite his best efforts to hit the ball, the ball always went either straight into the net or out of bounds.

Kiyama, his partner, was performing just as bad, if not worse. While he had good reflexes and a height advantage that helped him reach the ball, he stumbled a lot on the sand. Not to mention that Wataru kept crashing into him whenever the ball flew between them.

Wataru spat sand from his mouth when he slipped and fell, his face planted on the ground. He growled as he heard snickers from Ryosuke and the other watching team members ("You can do it, Aniki!" Nippori called out). He accepted a hand from Kiyama who helped him up.

"Sorry about that."

"Wataru, are you all right?" Yuta asked after exchanging high-fives with Mizusawa.

"Except for that tenth time when I ate sand, I'm fine," Wataru huffed. "Man, beach volleyball is hard…I didn't know you guys were this good."

"We're really not that good," Mizusawa said. "We've played a couple casual games before but you guys aren't doing that bad. Is this your first time?"

Wataru and Kiyama nodded.

"What a boring game," Hino said from the sidelines. "Whoever knew that Azuma-senpai was so bad at volleyball?"

"What'd you just say?" Wataru advanced menacingly.

"Well, what if we rearrange the teams?" Yuta suggested, hastily intervening. "To make it more balanced. How about me and Wataru versus Mizusawa and Kiyama?"

Mizusawa glanced at Kiyama. "I'm fine with that. How about it, Kiyama-kun?"

"Ah."

Mizusawa and Wataru switched places.

"Ne, Yuta…let me give it to you straight. I kind of suck at this." Wataru wasn't quite sure he felt the need to say that. Maybe it was simply because it was pretty obvious that he couldn't score a point in volleyball to save his life (even staying upright on both feet in the sand was a challenge). Or because Yuta was really good at hitting the ball and returning it from difficult positions and he felt bad for dragging the guy down.

"It'll be all right, Wataru," Yuta said with a smile. "The trick is to not kick up the sand too much with your feet so you don't trip. It's just like rhythmic gymnastics—stay on your toes."

Wataru nodded. That sounded like it made sense. He'd been digging his heels too deeply in the sand, which was why he tripped so often. Balancing carefully on the balls of his feet, he crouched down.

"You guys are going down!"

Yuta served the ball. Mizusawa received it and sent it flying towards Wataru. But this time Wataru was ready. He jumped and smacked the ball straight down over the net.

"YOSH!" Wataru and Yuta high-fived each other. A couple of appreciative whistles and clapping followed, ending with Nippori's "Go Aniki!"

Mizusawa smiled.

"Not bad, Wataru." He turned to Kiyama. "Ne, why don't we step the game up?"

Kiyama slowly nodded determinedly.

A fierce rally began. Mizusawa seemed to be everywhere at the net, making it impossible for the ball to go through. Kiyama, gaining confidence from having such a skilled partner, fumbled less with the ball and sent the ball to several tricky areas that were difficult for Yuta to reach and respond to. When Yuta sent the ball flying towards Kiyama, Kiyama swiped at the ball.

Yuta, who clearly did not expect Kiyama to retaliate—since the stoic ex-street fighter had missed every other ball before—froze.

Wataru, without thinking, threw himself at Yuta to knock him out of harm's way.

Sand flew. Tsuchiya gasped. Nippori made a strange, choking sound in the back of his throat. Ryosuke dropped the crab he was holding onto Kaneko's head.

Wataru had somehow landed sitting up, his legs straddling Yuta's waist.

Wataru could feel the blood rushing to his head, pounding. Yuta's slender frame heaved as he struggled to catch his breath. His neatly brushed hair was all mussed up, the long locks sticking and curling out to the sides. His eyes met Wataru's.

Yuta broke into an awkwardly shy smile.

"Thanks for the save."

"TAKENAKA!"

Yuta breathed in sharply and jerked his head around to see who had spoken.

It was Tsurumi. Despite the hotness of the weather, he still had his red and gold Washizu jacket on.

"Tsurumi," Yuta said, his voice dropping low and serious.

"Takenaka, what are you doing?" Although the question was directed at Yuta, Tsurumi was staring at Wataru. Wataru glared right back. He never quite understood why Yuta seemed to tolerate that stuck-up guy, but he supposed it had something to do with Yuta's captainly way of dealing with people.

"Playing beach volleyball," Yuta answered.

"Why?" Tsurumi demanded. "I thought you guys were serious."

"We are serious," Yuta said, his gaze sharpening. "Sometimes it's healthy for everyone to unwind a little. Have some fun."

Tsurumi's customary scowl twitched.

"Aah, it looks like you guys are having fun." The scowl seemed to darken. "I didn't think you swung that way, Takenaka."

Yuta flushed bright red. Wataru leapt off and drew back his arm, his fingers curling into a fist—

"Oy, Wataru!" Kiyama moved quickly, catching Wataru's arm in mid-strike. Ryosuke and Nippori were already on their feet and flanked Wataru as he extricated himself from Kiyama's hold.

"I wasn't going to actually punch him," Wataru growled, glowering at Tsurumi. "Not that he doesn't deserve it."

"Leave it, Wataru." Wataru froze at the frost that now laced Yuta's voice. Yuta slowly turned to Tsurumi.

"Tsurumi, leave."

With a guarded expression, the young Washizu captain left after shooting one more glare towards Wataru.

"Somehow, the atmosphere's changed," Ryosuke remarked as they watched their captain quietly walk off in the opposite direction Tsurumi had left.

Wataru nodded, feeling uneasiness creep into his gut as he watched Yuta's retreating back.

Ryosuke was a pretty easy-going guy. Despite his wild fluctuations from hot-headed anger to a sleek devil-may-care attitude, he was highly sensitive to the people around him. He saw the deep compassion under his best friend's blustery retorts. He saw Kiyama's unwavering drive to protect them, looking out especially for Wataru and Tsuchiya. He saw the overflowing—oftentimes, overwhelming-love Natsuko-san had for her son (and of course, feared her motherly ferocity when it bared its fangs).

He also saw the dark glimmer of desire in the Washizu captain's eyes when he spoke to Yuta at the beach. Veiled under the pretense of cool hostility, it was a look that had not gone unnoticed. Yuta had looked torn between sad understanding and a quiet anger that had the potential to explode into a screaming whirlwind.

"Ah, it looks like you guys are having fun. I didn't think you swung that way, Takenaka."

Wataru had predictably gone after the stuck-up Washizu captain. Ryosuke didn't blame him. If Wataru hadn't smashed Tsurumi's face in, Ryosuke would have done it. Yuta had worked hard to put the team together. He was a fine leader, even if he didn't have the same fiery charisma Wataru had. It was his strong gentleness that guided them through and led him to convince the others to stand up against Akabane's gang, even if it meant risking forfeit into the Kanto Regionals.

So, in Ryosuke's book, Yuta, was family. And no one got away with insulting his family.

As they returned to enjoying themselves, Ryosuke, peering through a pair of sunglasses, discreetly kept a careful watch on Wataru and Yuta. Yuta seemed to have recovered from the incident and was back to his usual cheery self—unless he was the type of person who was very good at hiding his own feelings. It didn't surprise Ryosuke if the captain would be so capable of masking his troubles. Undoubtedly he'd had to make a lot of tough calls in the past and put up a strong front as leader so that they could draw strength from his confidence.

Wataru, on the other hand, was too straightforward to ever do such a thing. He maintained a permanent scowl for the rest of the day, occasionally muttering violent things under his breath (Ryosuke caught "that Washizu bastard" quite a few times). Despite Nippori's and the others' efforts to cheer Wataru up, he was still in an irritable mood when they all packed up at the end of the day.

"Maa, you're not still upset over that Washizu guy, are you?" Ryosuke asked Wataru.

"I can't help it! The things that teme said to Yuta…I can't forgive a thing like that so easily. Especially from that snobbish Washizu guy."

"Are you sure you're not still mad because we lost to them at regionals?" Kaneko asked. "I don't like them much either since they've always made fun of us but we do have to acknowledgement their strength."

"Heh, what strength? They just got lucky this time. Next time, we'll definitely get them!" Wataru declared, thumping his chest with his right fist.

"Baka, there won't be a next time," Ryosuke pointed out. "We're graduating next year, remember?"

Wataru groaned.

"Not necessarily," Yuta interrupted. "Because we took third place, we're the reserve team for the Kanto region. Of course, we only have a chance to compete if Washizu or Central Chiba suddenly pull their teams out right before Nationals."

"Really?" Nippori asked, looking excited. "Why would they do that?"

"In cases of illness or injury," Mizusawa explained. "Even if one player is injured or sick, some teams will forfeit just because they don't want to humiliate themselves with anything less than their best performance."

Wataru gave Mizusawa a wide-eyed look of shock.

"That's so…cowardly of them."

"Well, I can't blame them for making the decisions on those grounds," Yuta said. "Nationals are on a totally different level than regionals. The average score for Nationals teams is usually around 18.5. So in perspective, Washizu's 18.950 score is actually not the best score, since there are teams in Japan that score above 19 at Nationals."

"So if Washizu all got stomach-aches or broke a bone or something—"

Ryosuke chuckled inwardly at the image of a constipated Tsurumi.

"We'd get an invite," Yuta said. "But I would turn it down anyway."

"Eh? Why?" Wataru asked.

"At this point, we're not ready for Nationals, especially since we haven't been practicing as much as we usually do," Yuta said. "But that's not what's important."

"What's important is the level of Tsurumi's motivation. He is one of the most dedicated rhythmic gymnasts I know. He will take Washizu far into Nationals, all the way to the final round, even if it kills him."

"Man, I'm ready for some of Natsuko-chan's omurice!" Ryosuke loped smoothly, his bag swung over his right shoulder in a secure but almost relaxed looking grip.

"Oy, Ryosuke! Don't address my mother so familiarly!" Wataru shouted as they walked along. Everyone in the rhythmic gymnastics club had decided to come along, except for Nippori and Yuta. Nippori was heading for his part-time night job. Yuta surprised everyone by saying he also needed to work.

"You work, Yuta-senpai?" Tsuchiya asked.

"Aa, I do," Yuta answered, fingering a lock of his hair. Under the glare of the street lamps, his hair looked a shade lighter. "It's a seasonal thing, so I mostly work only in the summer."

"Where do you work?" Nippori asked. "Hey, maybe we can go to work together?"

"At a concert hall," Yuta said, eyes downcast. "It's pretty far from where you work, Nippori-kun, so I don't think that'll work. But it was a good idea though."

"Hehh, we should come visit you, Yuta," Wataru said. "We've been to Nippori's lots of times. Maybe you can get us free tickets or something. Do they have any good bands there?"

"I don't think so. It's mostly classical. And maybe opera, sometimes."

Wataru made a face. "Classical? Like violins and pianos? Never mind—that stuff's boring."

A flicker of hurt crossed Yuta's face. It came and went so fast that Ryosuke, the master of reading faces, almost didn't catch it.

"Yea, yea, there's no way Aniki would go to listen to a bunch of old men play," Nippori chimed in.

"I see," Yuta said as he checked his watch. "Well, I'll remember not to bring it up again, Wataru. I'd better get going. I don't want to be late."

"I have to go too, Aniki!"

After everyone had said their good-byes, they made their way to the Azuma restaurant. Azuma Natsuko greeted them all cheerfully and began rustling up some of her famous omelette rice.

"I wonder why Yuta-senpai has to work," Tsuchiya said as he twirled a spoon.

"I've always wondered that, too," Kaneko said. "I don't think his family ever had money problems."

"His family?" Ryosuke asked.

"Come to think of it, I've never heard Yuta talk about his family," Wataru realized as he helped hand out the plates.

"Isn't that strange? And we've all gotten to know each other so well!" Kaneko said. "Ne, Mizusawa, you're pretty close to Yuta. And Tsuchiya, you knew Yuta back in middle school, right? Maybe you could tell us more about Yuta's family."

Tsuchiya shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know much more. I know that he's an only child and that his parents are always away on business, so they're hardly ever home."

"Sounds a bit lonely," Kiyama interjected.

"It is," Mizusawa said, taking a sip of water. "I'm surprised Yuta turned out to be so kind and warm. Although his parents regularly send him enough money for him to get by, I don't know how he managed to pay all the bills and things. He never talks about it. I imagine that he must do all of the chores and run all of the errands. He also cooks for himself, too, since there's no one else to do it for him."

"How sad…" Natsuko sighed from over the counter."Though you could learn a thing or two from him, Wataru," she added with a piercing stare.

Wataru flinched from his mother's reprimand. "All right, all right. I'll help out."

"Maybe we should visit Yuta-senpai," Tsuchiya suggested. "Yuta-sempai smiles so much and he does so much as captain, I wonder if he ever feels lonely."

"No way, he's got us," Wataru declared and then cried out when Natsuko whacked him across the head with a wet dish towel.

"Don't be so quick to assume, Wataru! Haven't I taught you anything? About not jumping to conclusions when you don't have all of the facts? It's because you're like this that you're always getting into trouble."

"Yosh, we should visit Yuta right after dinner!" Wataru said. "We can surprise him. Where did he say that he worked at?"

"He never said," Hino said, looking up from his phone. "Just that he worked in a concert hall with classical music."

"Then he must definitely be bored!" Wataru declared. "We should go! How many concert halls can there be in Tokyo anyway?"

"According to Google, like 150," Hino said, rapidly pressing buttons on his phone. "And that's in the greater Tokyo area."

"So many!" Kaneko gasped. "I didn't know there were so many."

"Not all of them have classical music tonight though," Hino continued. "If I narrow down the number of concert halls to keep only those that are playing classical music then that cuts it down to…ten halls."

"We don't have time to go to ten different concert halls," Kiyama said. "Are you sure it's okay to do this? Don't concert halls have some kind of rule that only people who pay can go inside?"

Wataru waved a hand. "It's gonna be fine. We can just tell the boss that we're Yuta's friends."

"Oh, Kiyama-kun has a point," Mizusawa said. "Concert halls are really strict about not having visitors. Well, maybe it's okay if we see Yuta at a ticket office—"

Hino snorted. Every head turned towards him. Feeling self-conscious, Hino looked down at his plate before turning to Mizusawa.

"Mizusawa-senpai, I've found it. Here's the address to copy down." Hino handed him the phone. Mizusawa quickly copied it down. Kiyama, who was sitting next to him, looked over Mizusawa's shoulder. His eyes widened slightly in recognition.

"Suntory Hall, it's got those fancy rooftop gardens." He flushed a little at the confused faces the others were giving him. "My aunt took me once to a piano concert when I was five."

Ryosuke laughed. "Eh, besides enka, Kiyama likes piano, too?"

"Urusai," Kiyama scowled. "I was forced to go. Besides, I don't really remember it. I fell asleep ten minutes in. If I remember right, it's not too far from here."

"It's a couple blocks down," Mizusawa confirmed. "Do you guys want to head over there right now?"

"Sure." Wataru's reply was followed by the chorus of scraping chair legs and murmurs of "Thanks for the meal."

"Hino-senpai, where are you going?" Tsuchiya asked.

Hino lifted his phone in the air.

"I can't come with you guys this time because I'm going on a date with Mari-chan." Hino continued to smile smugly as Wataru emitted a strangled cry. "We're going to watch a movie and then get ice-cream afterwards."

"Have fun with Satonaka-chan then, Hino-kun," Kaneko shouted over Wataru's agonized wails.

"I thought you'd gotten over her already, Wataru," Ryosuke exasperatedly sighed as they all walked towards Suntory Hall.

"She was his first love," Mizusawa said wisely. "The first love is always the hardest, I think."

"Mizusawa-senpai sure knows a lot," Tsuchiya commented cheerfully.

"That's why I'm your senpai," Mizusawa joked, though his eyes briefly lingered wistfully on Kiyama. "But you'll recover, Wataru. You'll find someone better than Satonaka-san, someone who you fit with better."

"I can't think of anyone better than Mari-chan," Wataru sniffled.

"Come on, we're here already, Wataru," Ryosuke said. "So get a grip. Remember that we're here for Yuta. If he sees you looking like…well, looking like this, he's going to worry."

Wataru exhaled as he strode towards the row of shining glass doors.

"Yosh! Let's go see Yuta!"

"Wait, wait, baba, what do you mean we can't go in?"

"Baba?" The woman at the ticket office repeated, looking scandalized.

"Ne, Wataru, let me handle it." Ryosuke shoved Wataru aside and flashed a charming smile.

"So, Asuka-chan, one of our friends works here and we all came here to—"

"Ryosuke? Wataru?"

Wataru wheeled around.

"Kashiwagi-sensei?"

"Shouko-sensei!" Tsuchiya exclaimed.

Wataru looked at the two teachers. Kashiwagi-sensei was dressed in a suit and tie, looking pretty much like he normally did except he was in black and white. Shouko-sensei looked quite pretty in a tastefully short black dress. The two were holding hands, though Shouko-sensei self-consciously pulled her hand from Kashiwagi when the boys ogled at them.

"What are you all doing here?"

"Asuka-chan" seized the moment to protest.

"These delinquents were trying to concoct some kind of lie so that they could get in for free."

"Oh, that's not good, you guys," Kashiwagi began. "I know you guys may be excited to see Yuta tonight but you have to follow the rules—"

"Since when do we need to pay to see our friend?" Wataru demanded.

"If your friend is employed by a concert hall," Shouko-sensei answered.

Mizusawa's brow creased. "Wait, how did you know we were here to see Yuta?"

"Kashiwagi-sensei, were you worried about Yuta-senpai too?" Tsuchiya asked.

Kashiwagi looked at them uncertainly as he fingered the program in his hands.

"Well, it was a bit obvious that you were here to see Yuta—"

"Minna, what's going on here? There's a quartet playing right now and they can hear you—"

Wataru lifted a hand in greeting.

"Yo, Yuta. What's with the outfit?"

Yuta was wearing a black dinner jacket over a white dress shirt with a marcella front, a black cummerbund, black trousers, and polished black shoes.

Kashiwagi spluttered while both women present—Asuka and Shouko-sensei—looked shocked.

Yuta's eyes widened and his mouth fell open upon seeing everyone.

"Ne, Yuta, we all came here to visit, since we figured you were bored here."

Yuta's eyes darted wildly from face to face. When his gaze reached Mizusawa, Mizusawa's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. Ryosuke's eyes narrowed in sudden realization.

"Wataru, maybe we should—"

"Takenaka-san! You're supposed to be on stand-by back-stage right now." A short, balding man in a black suit grabbed Yuta's hand. "What are you doing here in the lobby?"

"Wait, Tachibana-san," Yuta tugged on the man's sleeve. "Wait a moment, please. This is important."

"Backstage, Takenaka-san," Tachibana snapped. "You shouldn't even be in the lobby right now—"

"I know but my friends—" Yuta quickly turned to Asuka. "Mamoru-san, can you show my friends to some seats in the balcony? I know this is last-minute but they came all this way. We can work out the pay later."

Asuka practically fluttered her eyelashes and curtsied at Yuta, who coughed and looked away.

"Of course, Takenaka-san," she said sweetly. "Reiko will take over while I'm gone. Right this way." She showed the boys to a pair of elegantly carved wooden doors.

"Right, now that's been sorted out, we'll be getting back," Kashiwagi-sensei said.

Wataru, who was still very much confused, turned around to call Yuta.

"Yuta! What's going on?"

Yuta was already running back, sprinting for the corridor that led to the backstage area.

"I'll explain everything later!"

"Man, these are nice seats," Ryosuke commented.

"We're right in the very front," Kaneko observed. "We're lucky—these seats can't be cheap. They're probably on the higher end of the ticket prices."

"Shhh!" An irate woman in a black dress hissed from the row behind.

Wataru growled but Kiyama stayed his hand.

"This is a concert hall, Wataru. You make any kind of noise, they'll throw you out."

Wataru slouched into his seat.

"Man, this sucks."

"Shhh!"

"I thought the last piece was beautiful," Mizusawa said softly. "I don't know much about classical music but it was done very well."

"I agree, Mizusawa-senpai." Tsuchiya whispered. "The flutist was really good."

"They're pros, what'd you expect?" Kiyama said.

"That last song was sooo long," Wataru whined. "It took a whole hour."

"You're exaggerating, it took about ten minutes," Kaneko said. "And remember to don't start clapping when the song's not done yet."

"But it was done," Wataru protested as the audience broke into dignified applause when the piece was finished. "She stopped, didn't she?"

"It's still the same song but they break it up into several parts," Mizusawa explained. "I think they're called movements—like the chapters of a book. So she stops in between movements but the song's not over."

"Is that how it is?"

"…performing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, our very own violin prodigy, Takenaka Yuta, who will be accompanied by acclaimed pianist—"

"Wait, did they just say Takenaka Yuta?"

Wataru's mouth fell open as Yuta strode across the stage, with a violin and bow in hand.

Next Time: Chapter 2- Yuta's Bloody Rose, Hino's Date with Mari-chan, and the Arrival of IXA