Imperfect Cadence

The last two chords ended in a progression from the first to the fifth, the imperfect cadence was left echoing around the empty music room, the unfinished tone lingered, leaving her oddly satisfied and empty. It left her yearning for more, craving for a conclusion.

It's the same odd feeling that hit her whenever she saw Nozomi.

The pianist's fingers was brought down on the keys for the last time before lifting them off the keyboard, dissonance ringing in her ears matched her discordant feelings. She slammed the lid shut, it looked like another unfulfilled day after all.

She didn't get to spend much time with Nozomi either today, the senior was dragged off to another parfait date by her other two batch mates and it was all her fault to begin with.

The metronome on the piano ticked in quietness as the pages of the score gently flapped.

Somehow, it felt like the silence in the music room was too loud.

The door to the music room slid open, she could hear Nozomi's footsteps even before she stopped playing, wondering if today would be the day she would receive the answer she wanted. The snow was rapidly melting, the white covers diminished as day passed, the cherry blossom season was coming. There was not much time left.

"We are going out for some parfaits. Do you want to come too?" Nozomi had asked kindly, the senior's hand reaching out for the pianist's shoulder. The black and blonde duo by the music room's side watched the interaction intently, refusing to step foot inside, because it was something Nozomi had to do herself. Nozomi retracted her hand at the last moment, choosing to look over the pianist's shoulders. She grinned at the blushing face, lightly blowing at the violet eyes.

"Maaaaaaaaki-chan?"

Maki looked away, hoping her red hair was enough to conceal her impending blush. Someone once told her that when you're in love with somebody, everything looks colourful. The pages of her score were painted in purple, her piano was no longer monotone, her world was colourful but the pain lingered. Maybe she regretted falling in love because simplicity was her style. She took a peek at the two other seniors standing guard by the door.

And she was green with envy, like the colour of Nozomi's eyes.

"I-I…" Maki found herself unable to reply, those probing eyes were looking expectantly in return. A minute silence took over before Nozomi reached out her other hand, ready to grab her junior's.

It was then she made her decision.

"Go ahead with Eli and Nico," Maki replied, facing the monochrome instrument once more, the scores brought her comfort that she needed. Simplicity was what she desired.

"You're no fun Maki-chan! I'll text you later then!" Nozomi pouting, before turning her back and giving a wave. The other two then proceeded to lug Nozomi away, each taking either sides, where she was supposed to be.

Where would she fit in the trio?

The phone on the black piano was left cold, the screen not lighting up once in these five hours after her seniors left. The scores on the piano lid were scattered, raided by the evening wind that blew through the open window, bringing in the fallen petals from the outside. The chalk markings on the board reminded her that April would be soon.

Maki sighed, finally leaving the seat to reach out for the scores on the floor. She touched the hand-written piece, feeling the indents and her own harsh writing with her own fingers. If only everything was black and white, she wouldn't have so much to think about right now.

Why was Nozomi such a difficult person to figure out?

She sighed again, before giving up and sitting by the wall, hugging her knees. The metallic device was finally put to use, she put on her ear piece, trying to get herself lost within once more. Chopin's Ballade No. 1 gently played, she congratulated herself on shuffling the very track that she wanted to hear. The notes sang of exuberant feelings, before diminishing and toning down, the sorrow pieced her through.

She recalled how the senior always seemed to catch her on days that she felt down, never failing to make her laugh with stupid flirtatious texts. She hated the flamboyant way Nozomi carried herself, talking like she knew everything, always somehow reading her mind before she could figure it out herself.

I like you too, Maki-chan!

It didn't take long for that voice to shatter her thoughts and the first year found herself desperately clinging onto this line, running it through her mind over and over. The image of a blushing Nozomi came next, almost rivalling her own, the reddest she had ever seen, the adamant tone was so sure, so reassuring.

I like you too, Maki-chan!

She hated how she became so reliant on someone she promised that she would never need, the overly meddlesome person waded her way in and decided not to leave. She hated how she wanted to be the one to voice out everything that Nozomi didn't have the courage to say, desiring to know everything about Nozomi like just how Nozomi could read her like an open book. She hated how important Nozomi was to her.

They were in the music room then, alone with each other, Nozomi was her first audience to this new piece. It wasn't like she was wanted Nozomi to be the first one to hear it, she just needed an advice from a senior, she managed to convince herself then. The smile on Nozomi's face calmed her soul, she found herself wanting to play her best and she found herself wanting to play for Nozomi.

Maybe it was the brief exaltation from completing the arrangement and watching how Nozomi seemed to be move to tears. Or maybe she could no longer deny it herself.

"N-Nozomi, I-I have something to tell you," She coughed out before ending it with three simple words.

"I like y-you." She looked away, regretting it immediately, because she could hear the smallest sound of a gasp. She couldn't picture the surprise on Nozomi's face.

"I like you too, Maki-chan!" And the pianist was engulfed in a hug so tight she could barely breathe, the tears that seemed to be reluctant to fall just now flowed freely from the emeralds.

She hated that she destroyed the friendship they had by wanting more. Maki wondered if it was a lie, maybe it was all part of her hallucination, because the topic was never brought up anymore, but the distance between them increased.

The scores on the piano lid were scattered, raided by the evening wind that blew through the open window, bringing in the fallen petals from the outside. The chalk markings on the board reminded her that April would be ending soon.

There was no time left.

The tugs on both of her arms seemed a little rougher today, Eli and Nico didn't slow down the pace when she pulled away, the purple-haired third year anxiously shot unanswered questions as she was dragged into the dessert shop.

"What's wrong Nicochi? You have that grouchy-" Nozomi began, poking her spoon at the melting ice cream.

"Shut up and stuff yourself with ice cream," Nico interrupted, before proceeding to stuff herself with spoonfuls of the dessert. The sound of metal hit the glass, Nico was furiously shoving the spoon.

They all jumped at sudden slamming of Nico's hand on the table-top, Eli lightly scolded her girlfriend, laughing and giving Nico a slap on the back in return.

"I'm fuming," Nico continued, before cradling her head with both of her arms, "And now thanks to you I have a brain freeze."

"What's wrong Nicochi?" The shortest of the trio shot back Nozomi's previous question, staring intently into confused green eyes, "More like what's wrong, Nozomi!"

Eli sighed, pulling Nico's collar back to no avail and hugging Nico's waist when it didn't stop Nico from completely jumping on Nozomi. That finally elicited a reaction from her angry girlfriend and Nico sighed, turning around and burying her face in Eli's shoulder.

"You tell her Eli, I hate doing this," Nico mumbled weakly.

"We could tell that something is off between you and Maki," Eli said plainly. A gasp was heard, the Russian was surprised to find the source of sound coming from beside her instead.

"Ohmygod Eli you're so bad at this, what happened to being tactful? Where did all your social skills go? I can't believe I ended up falling for a stupid dork like you. Why are we even friends?"

"That hurts Nico," Eli whined, letting go of her girlfriend in her arms.

The banter continued, the topic of Maki was unconsciously dropped, before Nozomi finally chuckled.

"You two are so noisy," She grinned at the scene of Nico yanking on Eli's collar and the normally stoic Russian splitting her face into a smile. The grip on Eli's collar loosened, the smile was frozen on Eli's face.

"What's wrong now Nicochi, Elicchi?" Nozomi asked, it seemed like she hit a pause button somewhere.

"You finally smiled," Nico replied, retracting her hands, throwing a couple of fries into her waiting mouth, finally relaxing her tensed shoulders.

"Don't think we didn't notice you've been down these few weeks…" Eli added, sighing herself, scooping up the last bits of ice cream left.

"We're here for you." They finished, covering their palms over Nozomi's cold ones.

She spilled everything that she's got, her two friends beside her clinging on to every word she had to say. She spoke of her insecurities, how she should be doing something because she's the senior of them both, how she couldn't give Maki an answer. Nozomi spilled everything, tears included, she needed to cry it out anyway. The two warm hugs around her made it better and she thought, just maybe she could do this.

"We are graduating soon aren't we?" Muffled words leaked out from the cracks between her fingers, she buried her face into her knees.

Summer would be coming soon, their endless college entrance tests was a simple indication. What would Maki do then? How would Maki cope? Would she be replaced?

"I shouldn't have said that I like her. It's a good thing that she thinks I just like her in a friend way. The same way the senior likes a junior." She managed to cry out, admitting this had hurt more than she thought it would.

"No way! You should've seen the way Maki's face lit up for the entire week after you said you like it too," Nico retorted. "That stupid tsundre what is she doing…"

The streetlights flickered on, the indigo cape wrapped itself around the skies, she should be texting Maki now, but just seeing the contact on the screen pained her.

"Maybe it's better if she gets over me." Nozomi suggested, pulling a smile over her face. The tears stopped flowing, she reached into her pockets and gripped the phone tightly, feeling the vibrations from the incoming texts. "Maybe it's better this way?"

"Don't give us that smile," Eli reached forward and wiped the dried tears away with her sleeves.

"Just answer me, do you love Maki? Romantically?" Nico sighed, whipping out her phone.

"I-I do…" She couldn't deny it.

"Did you know what Maki texted me a few days ago?" Nico piped up, holding out her phone instead. The small words on the screen were familiar.

Someone once told me that when you're in love with somebody, everything looks colourful. Do you feel that too? With Eli? Why is it that it's so colourful it hurts?

"Nico-chan! I'm on it nya!" The call ended, Rin hastily grabbed the arm of the person next to her, shouting "I'll be out for a while Mom!"

"Rin-chan! Where are we going?" Hanayo gasped, willing her legs to keep up with Rin's speed.

"Kayo-chin and I have some important mission to do nya! Time to cheer up our Maki-chan!" The bicycle outside fit them perfectly, they found themselves biking all the way to Maki's house, with Hanayo desperately clinging onto Rin's waist.

The door opened to a very surprised Mrs Nishikino, though they were welcomed with open arms. They found themselves tip toeing on the wooden boards, the sounds of keyboard smashing could be heard from the second floor.

Mrs Nishikino shook her head, before saying, "She's been like that ever since she reached home."

The door to Maki's room had a surprisingly childish tag, there was a doodle and a bunch of stickers pasted on it. Rin gently pushed open the door, just in time to hear the last dissonant chord.

"N-nyaaaaaaaa!"

"M-Maki-chan!"

The voice of her two friends alerted her to their presence, and the pianist found herself chuckling at two terrified faces.

"D-Did we come at a w-wrong time?" Hanayo squeaked, grabbing Rin's hand tighter. They had no wish to be pounded like the poor keyboards, no one messed with Maki-chan and her fiery hair.

"Did you come here to ask me for answers to today's homework?" Maki replied instead, putting the scores away. "I bet Rin gave you a hard time the entire afternoon."

"No! Rin is here for a very important thing nya! Also I finished my homework!" Rin retorted, earning a rub on the head from Hanayo.

"What is it?" The overly energetic shouts from Rin was giving her a headache. "And tone it down will you?"

"You should hear it for yourself! Stupid Maki-chan!" Rin increased her volume instead, tossing her phone on Maki's bed. "Don't you dare hurt Nozomi-chan! Who was the one that said she wanted to know everything about Nozomi? I doubt you even know how she feels!"

"I didn't! I'm hurt too! She doesn't even like me Rin!" Her left fist banged the keys on the piano. "She doesn't even like me…"

The phone on the black piano made its way to the ground, cracking the screen and lighting it up.

You have (0) messages.

"She promised to text me just now," Maki found herself laughing even as tears fell, "I have zero messages."

"Nozomi is hurt too," Hanayo pulled Maki in for a hug, "You avoided her for days… Even during practice…"

"It's because I realized she doesn't like me that way! And she has Nico and Eli. She doesn't need me!" She shouted. It was immature, childish even, but it was something that bothered her. She was upset, because Nozomi never declared what they were. Were they friends, or were they something more? Senior and junior? What was their relationship?

"And you have us!" Rin finally said, hugging both of them with her shaking arms. "I'm sorry Maki-chan I just-"

"She is graduating soon." Muffled words leaked out from the cracks between her fingers, she buried her face into her knees, collapsing on the cold floor. She finally admitted, the truth had hurt.

What would Nozomi do then? How would Nozomi cope? Would she be replaced?

She hated how she became so reliant on someone she promised that she would never need, the overly meddlesome person waded her way in and decided not to leave. She hated how she wanted to be the one to voice out everything that Nozomi didn't have the courage to say, desiring to know everything about Nozomi like just how Nozomi could read her like an open book. She hated how important Nozomi was to her.

She hated how they would part soon.

"That doesn't change anything," Hanayo reached forward and wiped the dried tears away with her sleeves.

"Just answer me, do you love Nozomi?" Rin questioned, cupping Maki's cheeks with her palms.

"I-I do…"

The scores on the piano lid were scattered, raided by the evening wind that blew through the open window, bringing in the fallen petals from the outside. It reminded them that April would be ending soon, but that didn't matter much anymore.

The sound of ringing bells signalled the last of the lessons, all of them had an extremely long day, college talks and extra lessons flooded their timetables. Muse practices were cancelled, the sun was beginning to set.

Maki gripped the cracked phone in her palms tighter, determined footsteps made her way to the third years' floor. For once she was glad that cleaning duty existed, because a lonesome third year was in the classroom sweeping the floors.

"Nozomi?" The door slid open to reveal the face that she has been avoiding, the sparkle in those green eyes seemed to have dimmed over these few days, but Nozomi was still colourful nonetheless. The setting sun painted the classroom in a colour of closure, maybe it was time they seek theirs.

"Maki-chan?" And she decided right then, that she would like this colourful world better than her old one. She couldn't deny how much she loved Nozomi sparkling in her eyes.

"You told me that when you're in love with somebody, everything looks colourful. Did I paint yours like you painted mine?"

"I-I…" Nozomi stuttered over her words, before turning around because facing those violet eyes was so painful. "No, you didn't."

"Remember I once said I want to read your mind like how you read mine?" Maki chuckled, pulling out the cracked phone. "Guess I still can't do it, but our friends could read us too."

"Just answer me, do you love Maki? Romantically?" Nico's voice rang through, followed by Nozomi's weak muffled voice. "I-I do…"

"I win this time Nozomi," Maki stepped forward, hugging the senior from the back. "It doesn't matter if you graduate, I'll still love you. Wait for me."

The evening wind that blew through the open window, bringing in the fallen petals from the outside. It reminded them that April would be ending soon, but that didn't matter much anymore.

A/N: I have to confess I played Your Lie in April's ost a million times while typing this. I have so much feels.