Hello, and welcome to my first Fanfic chapter ever. I started this one after I became a fan of "Love's Melody", a fanfic written by ProdigalSnake. If you haven't read this piece, I highly recommend it.

My story will take place after chapter 15 of "Love's Melody". I will discuss about why this is the case after this chapter.

Chapter 16: Kaori's anxiousness

Background:

Here are main events:

Kaori survived the surgery (yes, tears of happiness were shed).

Kaori and Kousei became a pair (sweet dream).

Tsubaki and Watari became a pair (great job for making this so smooth, ProdigalSnake!).

New musical rivals arrived. A violinist named Aurora made a bet with Kaori, threatening to take Kousei away from Kaori (very cute point).

Shusui (pianist) and Aika (violinist) were the strongest among the new rivals. Shusui's idea that musicians could only evolve through losses disturbed Kousei (Now something's moving).

While Kaori and Kousei were listening to Aurora, Kaori moved closer to her boyfriend, making him slightly nervous.

"She could do that with her mouth" - whispered Kaori, seeing Aurora's creatively holding the violin bow with her mouth.

"Yeah, amazing move" - answered Kousei, but suddenly blushed when realizing the hidden meaning potentially lied in Kaori's soft and attractive sound - "wait Kaori, that came out so wrong."

"What?" - Kaori paused a bit, and suddenly flushed as well - "Ah! How can you be so pervert? Baka! Hentai!"

"Stop! Please, Kaori! Punching is not good for a violinist's hands" - Kousei begged, unable to shield himself from Kaori's rain of fists.

"Hmm… after today, you will suffer" - Kaori stopped punishing his boyfriend, but not after giving him a good stomp on his foot.

Their mood today was brilliant, unlike the week before...

One week ago…

Affected by the talk with Shusui, Kousei walked home with a faster pace than usual, followed by Kaori. He made some tea for the two to calm down since they were not ready to practice yet. After a while, Kousei broke the silence:

"Kaori, you chatted with Aika… Is there anything interesting?"

"Uhm… the story of Shusui is quite sad. He lost his parents and his sight in a terrible accident and after that he devoted himself to music. He even thought that the accident was the way for him to evolve. Aika…" - Kaori remembered Aika's feelings, but decided not to share it - "but I don't think this story will help us improve our skills."

"I hate that idea" - Kousei clenched his fists, and his thoughts seemed to pour out - "he even showed me how I played when you were in the surgery. He judged how I supposedly transformed. Yes it was something I never thought I could play, but it wasn't because I suffered, but because I missed you, Kaori, and I tried my hardest to reach you." - Kousei's eyes expressed a rare level of certain as he looked at Kaori.

"Wow…" - Kaori tried to keep things together, having met Kousei's look. After a moment of silence, she continued - "but I think they truly have some skills. Can we reach that level? Should you ask for some help from Hiroko-sensei?"

"Kaori, have some faith in me. If we practice hard, we will beat them. I'll smash some sense back to that self-centered dude."

"Okay, I trust my boyfriend." - Kaori returned a smile.

"I love the sound of that b-word" - said Kousei - "my girlfriend".

The last few days were stressful for both Kaori and Kousei. They spent the whole day practicing together, and at night, Kousei sat before the piano refining his skills alone, while Kaori stayed in her room trying various violin techniques.

Kaori's skills started to change. Her personality was still present, but now somehow there was more peace and less fighting between her and the composer.

Despite this improvement, Kaori still thought she wasn't good enough. But it was clear for Kousei that Kaori had potential to create great music, showing the audience a beautiful merge between composer's thoughts and performer's playful spirit.

Kaori was also amazed at the effort Kousei could make. His notes were even more accurate than before, but they didn't seem like the work of a soulless machine. This time, Kousei had became a sword master, who could to cut the wings of a flying bee without killing it.

Through his music appeared a splendid ballroom in a palace, where Kousei as a prince walked to Kaori and asked her for a dance. Kaori took a quick peek at Kousei - a young prince full of life and ambition, a ruler of glorious springs, a complete opposite image to Shusui - the king of the dark winter. The spotlight as well as all the admiration were on Kaori and Kousei as they swayed on the floor.

This is all Kaori could have asked for, but somehow she felt uneasy. The natural and sweet sparkles Kousei and Kaori shared before was now replaced by the dazzle artificial light. The hand she held before was tender and a bit shy, but now it was somewhat formal and stiff. Am I beautiful in your eyes? Am I able to meet your expectation? Do I deserve you, my prince?. Her thought slipped into her music, and because of that Kousei skipped a beat as well. They were back in Kousei's room as his hand stopped.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention" - Kousei quickly apologized.

"Oh it's fine, we are practicing. Why did you stop? Next time we should finish the play before reviewing" - said Kaori. I should be the one to say sorry, Kousei.

They looked at each other in the eyes, suddenly unable to find any joke.

"We definitely made some progress, don't you think?" - Kousei spoke again.

"Yep, I was dazed by the way you play. There's no way you could escape me and join the Europe tour with that beautiful violinist" - Kaori put on a sly smile - "You are even better than Shusui."

"You are a bit biased there. But I'm sure I can surpass his level with more effort. I will show the world that because we still have each other, we can evolve and become better musicians." - a big smile appeared on Kousei's face as he looked at Kaori.

"I trust you, Kousei" - Kaori answer, but somehow she feel even more undeserving. At the end, all I can do is to trust him and rely on him.

It was already late when Kaori reached her room and stood before the scores. The violin was somehow heavier, and she couldn't find any strength left in her hands. Exhausted, she thought it would be wise to end this long day and go to sleep.

But even in dream, she couldn't escape her anxiousness. She found herself tied to a cramped place, unable to move her body. From far away, Kousei stared at the piano. When he started his first note, he felt into the sea of darkness and dragged the audience to the shore.

There was a kind and talented prince living in the castle of light. One day, his love was taken away from him by the gods. Heartbroken, angry, and lonely was all he could feel. He begged, he prayed, but in vain. All emotions motivated him to unleash his wrath towards the gods. I will kill, I will burn. I will never stop until you return her to me. Endless wars, endless ruins.

Gods are those who play with mortal's hearts. They give us hopes, then they take away our love and dreams. They seek to enslave us mortals by keeping us in pain and desperation. Kousei whispered to the audience through the unholy music.

The gods were so entertained by the prince, they granted him immortality so he could do nothing but suffer. They banished his city to the sea and tied him to his throne. The once kind prince would forever rule in the sea of darkness, and forever defy the gods.

The audiences who sat on the shore could sometimes hear the words of our prince in the waves. And when there're storms, they could clearly see a sorrowful demon, throwing all his fury toward the sky where the gods lived.

The music came in waves after waves, pushing the audience to their chairs, making them suffocated. Kousei can only evolve through losses. He is a demon. But to Kaori, she could clearly hear Kousei shouting: "Kaori, where are you? I will find you, no matter what." The voice was twisted because of loneliness and pain. Kaori tried to shout back: "I'm over here. I can't move. Come and save me." But surprisingly, she couldn't hear her voice. It's hopeless. I'm hopeless.

In the last attempt to save her lover, she prayed to the gods: "Please erase me. Please set Kousei free and help him forget me. I don't deserve him. I don't deserve his love."

Kaori was finally free from the chains. She woke up feeling nothing but emptiness. Tears started rolling from her eyes.

That morning, Kaori's play was awful. She missed notes here and there, and sometimes she didn't apply enough force, so the sound came out weird and disconnected. As a result, the two had to stop in the middle and repeat a few times, but the sounds were still not in sync.

Normally Kousei would yell about how careless and sloppy Kaori was, but today he felt something different in her tired eyes and the way she sometimes avoided his look. The violin was a bit sad and powerless.

"Is there something wrong, Kaori?" - Kousei asked softly.

"No, it's nothing."

"Well if it's about the bet with Aurora, don't worry. I didn't say I agree, so it doesn't count." - Kousei tried to lift the mood.

"Well, okay" - Kaori returned a smile.

After a moment of silence, she continued - "Hey, um... Kousei, I have something I need to do at home. I think I will return in the afternoon, okay?"

"Oh no problem at all. Let me come and help you."

"Ah no, it's personal. You keep practicing and I will be back soon."

A storm of thoughts soon filled her mind while she walked on the familiar route. What's wrong with me? Why did I play so badly? It was the waltz I have been waiting for, and it was supposed to be sweet and lovely, but I couldn't feel it. Kousei has been practicing very hard, I must have disappointed him. I'm a terrible partner.

The image of Shusui and Aika and how they played flawlessly popped up in her head. She wished she could be as good as them, but she felt hopeless. At this rate, I will drag Kousei to the same mediocre level as I am. I don't deserve to play with Kousei. Without her knowing, Kaori's feet started running, and she rushed like a madman.

The feeling she feared most - the dream she had earlier today - came back to her. If I died, Kousei would definitely transformed. He would play perfectly, and he would mature. Sorry, Kousei. I'm so, so sorry.

Tears started pouring out uncontrollably when she saw her parents inside the bakery. "Mom, dad" - Kaori spoke while her consciousness was leaving her.

I hope the quality of the chapter is not too horrible. I believe I have much and much to learn, so please share your thoughts by giving comments. Thank you!

Reason for me to write this fanfic:

Like many of you guys who came to this site after reading or watching "Your lie in April", I was unsatisfied with the way the story ended. After reading quite a few fanfics, I kinna fall in love with the piece "Love's Melody", as it was everything, and more, of what I wished for. It's a shame there's only 15 chapters when I read it, since I really wanted to see how the story will conclude. I tried to encourage the author of "Love's Melody" through my comment, but it didn't reach her/him.

So I thought it would be passive and irresponsible of me to just wait for new chapters without understanding how hard it is for the author to make them. Furthermore, I also dislike the idea that someone could only evolve through losses. If this was the message the canon version pushed to us, then I would defy it till the end.

That's when I decided I will write my version, to show my support to "Love's Melody" author, ProdigalSnake, as well as to give myself a most satisfied ending possible of "Your lie in April".