okay, so it's not really a sequel. nyahaha. ^-^

Prologue

"And speaking of the concours, did ya see the girl who plays the clarinet, Natsu? She's really awesome. And she's pretty nice, too; I got to talk to her earlier at the practice room—"

"Haru, I swear, you are such a child."

"Hey, I'm older than you are!"

"Five minutes, big deal."

The boy called Natsu sighed.

"I still can't see why you chose to enroll in the General Education Department."

"Hn," he replied, "I'm taking lessons outside of school, anyway. I want to experience a normal high school life. Besides, there's not much difference between the Gen-Ed and Music Departments, really, if you ask me."

"I know better than to ask you."

"Ugh, Mom's right, you are too much like Dad."

"You always talk behind our backs."

"Not when we're watching TV."

Thy turned into the left road, and then the large trees revealed the vast, sprawling lawn of a villa. The freshly laid bricks glistened in the bright afternoon, like a giant colossal ruby, with chunks of highly polished diamonds, which were of course the windows. They were drowned in the sweet smell of handpicked roses from the garden, and it gave a gentle red relief to the bright orange inferno.

"Aunt Shoko!" called Haru loudly as they approached the front door, "Happy birthday!"

"Haru, Natsu," she smiled warmly as they approached the cyan-haired lady. "It's good to see you again."

"We've been busy with the concours."

"Yeah, and Natsu's busy drooling over Uncle Ryou's daughter."

"Shut up."

Shimizu Shoko laughed, and then she led them inside the house. The large majestic oak door was pushed open, immediately hitting them with a smell of fresh Italian leather from the sitting room chairs. The combination of Western and Eastern decorations never failed to take them aback, despite having visited the place hundreds of times before. The walls looked as soft as butter, but were thankfully as hard as stone, which said something about how welcoming they looked.

"Yuu's waiting for you upstairs, Haru."

"Oh, haha."

An olive-haired man grabbed Haru by the neck. "You rascal. You ran off with my PS3 again. Where'd you hide it? I've been to your house earlier."

"Sheesh, Uncle Kazuki! You're earning buckets! You can buy another one anytime—ow, you're strangling me—and you're supposed to be my godfather!!" he yelled as he struggled to squirm out his grasp.

"Tch—your royalty of a father can't afford to buy you one?" jeered a tall, dark green-haired man with a really low, masculine voice, "Still the old, stuck-up block of ice, I see."

"Keep your thoughts to yourself," snapped another voice which was cold as ice, "I see you're still the old Tsuchiura who lacked the power of conversation but not the power of speech."

"Nice line, Dad."

"Nahahaha!"

"Uncle Ryou," interrupted Natsu as he approached Tsuchiura Ryoutarou, "Can you spare me a ticket for the next month's playoffs?"

"Don't talk to strangers, Natsu."

"Oh, come on, guys, that's an ancient grudge. You bicker like toddlers."

"Dad and Uncle Ryou are ancient people, hahaha."

"You are so shallow sometimes, Haru."

"Hey, Mom's here!"

"I'm sorry I'm late," apologized the red-haired lady as she hurried inside the house, her hair piled up in a French chignon. "I had to finish tons of paper works."

"Hoo, it's been your excuse for every time you ran late for the past, what, ten years? Come on, Kaho, be creative!"

"Shut it, Kazuki."

"Where's Uncle Aoi?"

"Upstairs playing checkers with Yunoki."

"Huh, you think they're gonna end up marrying each other someday, hahaha."

"HARU!!"

"Sorry, sorry! Geez, can't even joke around here. I'll go upstairs and join Yuu, then."

Kahoko shook her head as she watched her eldest son breeze up the stairs. The rest of her friends settled down the large sectional sofa in the middle of the living room. Her back, arms and legs ached after almost six hours' worth of standing and pacing as she lectured her students. She leaned against Len, and he automatically wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Natsu," called a sing-song voice from Kahoko's left. She smiled as Manami appeared behind the girl, and Ryou stood up to help her carry the large tray laden with large cups and a huge pot of tea.

"Riri!" replied the red-haired boy fondly, and he opened his arms just as she leapt into them. Natsu looked exactly like Kahoko, but his attitude was more reserved, like his father. The boy's obsessed with competitions, technique refinement and aced academically—he and Haru had just entered Seiso Gakuen two months earlier. Haru looked exactly like Len, and Ryou would always comment how freaky it was to see a younger 'Len' laughing and joking and eating like there's no tomorrow.

Ryou's little girl, Riri as she was fondly called by Natsu, settled comfortably in his lap. He listened patiently to her little tales and smiled as she recounted the triumphs of her day.

"I had my first violin lesson today, Natsu," she recounted eagerly, "I'm going to work hard so we'd be able to play a duet someday."

He smiled, and it sure was something he rarely did. "I'm going to look forward to that day, then."

"You think those two are couples by the way they snuggle up to each other."

"My daughter's only six, Hihara-senpai—"

"I can wait," muttered Natsu softly as Riri showed him her new toy.

Len and Ryou choked on their cups.

"WHAT?!"

Natsu looked up, embarrassed and red-faced, as if he hadn't intended the words to be heard by the grown-ups. He immediately placed Riri on the seat beside him. "I—I mean, I—I," he spluttered and then he stood up hastily. "I—I'll join Haru and Yuu upstairs—P-please excuse me—"

"I want to go with you, Natsu!"

"N-no, you stay here—"

"You better give her what she wants," snapped Ryou impatiently, "She wails like a banshee."

"Oh."

Quite tall for his age, he effortlessly scooped Riri in his arms.

There was a moment of silence as the two disappeared into the second floor.

"Huh," blurted Kazuki after a while. "Sort of like a Romeo and Juliet situation. You know, Montague versus Capulet, hahaha."

Len and Ryou looked at each other, harrumphed and looked away simultaneously.

"You'd be in-laws, then! Nahaha, what a twist of fate—"

"Kazuki," pleaded Kahoko, "You're provoking them."

"Ah, second generation love. What the hell?" laughed Amou Nami as she sipped her tea. "It's kind of weird. Interesting, though."

"You said it," agreed Kazuki. "Well then," he announced as his kids ran screaming down the stairs while Haru and Yuu ran after them; their faces covered with awful-looking Halloween masks, "Kanazawa-sensei and Keiichi's in-charge of the barbecue. I'll go check it out."

"You mean snarf everything down—"

"You got a spare board, Shoko?" asked Ryou, "I'll make Tsukimori eat dust."

"You wish. Best of three?"

"Deal."

---

"OI!! EVERYONE OUT IN THE GARDEN!! DINNER'S READY!! KIDS!!"

Kahoko opened her eyes as she felt Len's hand on her cheek. She'd fallen asleep on the sofa, apparently.

"Kaho? Mio and Hihara-senpai are calling."

She smiled as he helped her up. Hand in hand, they walked off to the direction of the garden.

---

"Happy anniversary."

Tsukimori Kahoko felt Len's arms close around her waist as they stood on the balcony of their home. So much time has passed, and they've been through a lot of stuff. It was still hard to believe that she really is going to spend the rest of her life with him.

"I fell asleep," she murmured, "What happened to the checkers match?"

"Draw," he replied sourly.

"Then why was Haru so cheerful when we drove home?"

"He made a bet against Hihara-senpai. 10,000 yen," he added helpfully.

Kahoko laughed. Haru and Kazuki acted like best buddies. Even with kids of his own he was still the same childlike, boisterous senpai. She had been more than happy to play matron-of-honor when he tied the knot with Ariadne, an Asian magazine editor roughly eight years ago.

"You slept through Ousaki-senpai's performance," he supplied, "even Kanazawa-sensei sang his favorite opera piece."

"Rats! Why didn't you wake me up, then?"

"You looked tired," he explained and he tightened his hold on her.

She turned around to embrace Len. The wind blew gently, and its soft swoosh ruffled the curtains sheltering their room. It was another wonderful night sky; the stars twinkled like a handful of blazing diamonds scattered over a cloak of inky blue velvet.

Seventeen years.

"Gross, Natsu. You're making out with a child!"

"Shame on you! Your mind isn't so much twisted as badly sprained!"

"At least wait for her to grow up, okay? You're really freaking me out. Even Yuu agreed it was freaky."

Len chuckled as their boys argued on the garden below the balcony. Kahoko joined in, until he asked her in a 'serious' tone, "Do you really think I'd have Tsuchiura for an in-law?"

She burst out into quiet laughter.

"Prospect scares you, Len?"

He frowned. "Not really."

"I—don't—want—to—"

"Just once."

"Geez, Natsu. I play the electric violin, for Kami's sake. How am I supposed to play a duet with you?"

"Use Mom's violin."

"I don't want to."

"What's up with the 'I'm-so-cool' attitude? We used to play the piece together."

"You said it yourself, we used to. It makes me feel like a girl."

"Oh, come on."

"Alright, alright!" Haru yelled, "Just once, okay? Geez. Uncle Kazuki would laugh at me when he hears about this—"

A close circle of family and friends. Two wonderful sons. Len. It was fulfilling, really, how she could reflect twenty years back and realize that everything she'd worked hard for bore fruit. What more can a woman ask for?

Double notes floated in the air. Marked by a spontaneous chromatic modulation that was surprising to the ear yet clearly purposeful and beguilingly expressive, they marveled at the piece that brought them together. The inky darkness was full of pinpricks of light, twinkling here and there as they looked up. A light, cool breeze shifted his hair and brought with it the pine scent of the woodlands behind them. Kahoko's hands circled his neck and they swayed to the rhythm of Ave Maria.

"Dad!" yelled Haru, "Your promise!"

Len laughed and he pulled away. "Tomorrow," he called back.

"Promise?" inquired Kahoko, an eyebrow raised.

He shrugged. "Playstation."

There was a loud thud and a yelp.

"Ow! Why'd you hit me with the bow?!"

Len pulled her into another kiss, and she laughed as he carried her back inside the room. He kicked the door close behind them, and very gently he laid her down the bed.

"I love you."

She loved him, first with the honest innocence of a child, then with the passion of a woman. She felt his fingers at the nape of her neck, lightly playing with her hair as he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss.

The music reached their ears, muffled as it was. It would always be their one and only tune.

"I love you more," he whispered, and he bent down, again, to claim her lips.

---

my friend allie (Talbot-Stark) inspired me to play with a second-generation fic, (you're the best, allie! hug! ^-^) and so i took tune's chapter fifteen for a prologue. things would get a tad clearer on the next chapters, hopefully, and i hope i would be able to come up with decent ideas. otherwise, i'd scrap this. neh, kiotsukete! ^-^