Disclaimer: I do not own La Corda d'Oro or any of its characters.
Rating: K

Author's Note: This is my first La Corda d'Oro fanfic, and it has been a while since I've written any fanfic at all, so please be kind. Reviews are always appreciated
Enjoy! ^^

That's a Lie

Yunoki Azuma was always in control. Borne of 18 years of life in a family that demanded only honor and obedience, he had learned early on that his own thoughts and desires must be kept caged within himself. He never had to worry about being stirred into a temper due to irrational emotions.

She was anything but irrational. True, she was annoying as all hell and straightforward to a fault, but never irrational. Especially not when he let her go after that altercation on the rooftop, and she only looked at him and smiled.

He told himself that nothing had changed about his feelings for her. She was his plaything, something he could amuse himself with, in her helplessness and ignorance, in her hair that gleamed like rubies and her eyes like stars. He was exactly the same as before, and not just about her. About everything, really.

Nothing and everything had changed. He felt his heart flare with resentment when he heard her speak Kazuki's name in fond affection. His eyes swam with red anger when he learned that Tsuchiura walked her home almost every evening. His hands shook with almost unrestrained jealousy when he saw Tsukimori gently adjusting her fingers on her violin. His head pounded with disgust when he found Shimizu lying on her lap, in a sleep he could only describe as a dream come true.

But even if a little something may have changed, it meant nothing to him. He wasn't angry, or jealous. He didn't feel cheated or betrayed.

Despite everything he had done for her. He had treated her like a princess, protected her from the scathing words and eyes of everyone in the school. He knew that she was right in saying that it was unnecessary, but still he continued to do so. Though he wasn't quite sure why, and it unnerved him because it was the first time he was unsure about anything.

He didn't expect anything. He knew that when all expectations stopped, anything received felt like a blessing.

Or perhaps a curse.

He was perfection, and perfect beings do not weep.

Not even when she broke his heart, just as he learned that he had one.

He felt no pain. All this... it was never too much for him to take.

Because, yes, Yunoki Azuma was always in control. Always.