See what happens when cupid aims at the wrong person.

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Chasing Pavements
But if I tell the world, I'll never say enough 'cause it was not said to you; that's exactly what I need to do if I'd end up with you.
Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements even if it leads nowhere?

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"It would be such a waste!" Hino Kahoko argued, wiping her teary eyes with her arms. "What if tomorrow, or some near day, he'll finally wake up to realize he loves me back? Wouldn't it be such a waste?" She defended, continuing to cry on her small bed. The small fairy who had turned invisible to her some time after the concours that was sitting by the window pane of her room sighed, beginning to grow weary yet at the same time pitied the poor little girl. How could he not? She was crying her heart out in despondence, despair almost getting to her.

'There's got to be some other way,' Lili thought to himself as he once more examined the condition of the redhead. Well for one, she was obviously crying. It was a good thing that her family decided to make her room soundproof for her to practice without disturbing the others. But as for now, she could cry a river and the world wouldn't know about it since she was confined in a mute room. Two, she was also a mess. If you look at her currently messed up uniform and the disarrayed room full of scattered pillows and crumpled sheets lying around, it wouldn't be of any question. And lastly, she was emotionally unstable—but of course, not in that sense. She was somehow hollow inside, seemingly being devoid of something: the reciprocation of her emotions toward a certain ice cube.

As of the moment, Lili could do nothing to console Kahoko about it. He wasn't cupid, nor did he have similar powers to hold that kind of effect. Unless...he could find a loop in this little catastrophe. Then maybe, Kahoko wouldn't be so heartbroken!

'Don't you worry, Kahoko Hino, I've got a plan!' He muttered, snapping his small fingers happily and vanished into thin air.

"But, Kahoko, you've been waiting for months now! And you keep on telling us that he still treats you so coldly!" Mio argued back on the other side of the phone. "Don't you think it's time to give Tsuchiura-kun a chance? He admitted to liking you already, right?"

"Accepting him would be like telling Onii-san that I like him in a different way! Don't you see how wrong that would just be, Mio?" Kahoko panicked, throwing her body back on the bed with her salty tears still streaming down through her face. "I'd only be lying to the both of us, Mio! And you know how much more heartbroken I would be that way…"

Mio sighed and puffed her cheeks with confusion. "So what do you expect yourself to do?" She asked. "I think the best option for now is Tsuchiura-kun. I mean, he is a great guy. Maybe you'll learn how to oversee those family-ish feelings of yours for him!" Mio smiled optimistically, hoping that her friend on the other line would sense it.

Hearing no reply, she said again: "Come on, give him a chance, will you? You'll never know until you try. And I guess there's no harm in trying. Just tell him that you'll just give him a chance and if you think it's really going out of line, then quit," Mio explained, motioning her hand in correspondence. Kahoko breathed in and was about to speak—"But only call the quits after a week! I know how you can be, Kaho-chan! Good night!"

And with that, they both dropped the line.

Kahoko's breathing was irregular, she could not feel her heart rabidly pounding against her chest as she used to when she thought of the guy she fell in love with: Len Tsukimori. It's been a year since they met; shouldn't it have been obvious that she had certain feelings for him? Well maybe she was just as dense as he. Kahoko groaned at that thought and rolled on her bed, trampling on more sheets and blankets.

She looked at the soft thing that stood on her bed that was not at all messed: A teddy bear…given to her by Tsukimori a few days after he announced he would leave next year instead. At that moment, more butterflies tangled themselves in her stomach with newfound excitement. She couldn't have helped it, now could she? She was how you would put it: Desperately in love. And she could not have felt giddier when he went up to her with that teddy bear…

She threw that bear to the floor.

"I shouldn't be thinking about you, Tsukimori-kun," Kahoko said sadly, not looking up from her comfortable bed to see where the bear had gone to. 'Well at least, not right now…'

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"Maybe I should give him a chance. I'd rather that than chasing pavements, right?" Kahoko muttered to herself quietly as she flipped their history book, bored. "Tsukimori-kun ignored me this morning when I waved at him. Maybe I really should just let go…"

"What was that, Hino-san?" Their history teacher, Morioka-sensei, peered at her intently, as if daring her to go tell the class what she had just thought. Kahoko gulped nervously. "Huh? N-Nothing at all, sensei!"

"No, I heard you say something. What is it, Hino-san? Either you express to the class and me whatever you're feeling or you get detention—it's your choice, Hino-san." She said monotonously, putting one hand on her small waist; Kahoko had never really felt so pressured in her whole life.

"I-It was just that I, you know—I j-just. Err…" She started, stuttering. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips, wishing for some way to get out of her cursed situation. "It's th-that I wa-anted to tell y-you all th-that I-I…" She continued stammering, her eyes still closed and her head still down.

"Yo, Hino-san!" She heard a familiar voice call out her name from the door, making her head snap up and her eyes express more anxiety. 'O Kami-sama, please no...' She thought, praying inside.

"No disturbances please, Tsuchiura-san!" Morioka said, glaring at the tall greenhead. Ryoutaro just laughed it off and scratched the back of his head. "You're the one who's late, sensei. The bell rang a few minutes ago," he said, not taking the threatening voice of his teacher seriously.

"I'm not leaving until Hino-san here shares something to the whole class," she stated, averting her gaze back to Kahoko. "Well?"

"I-" Kahoko started blushingly, looking at Ryoutaro and mouthing an 'I'm sorry' before looking back at her classmates. "I was just thinking of a way to announce to all of you that I'm going out with Ryoutaro-kun over there."

Morioka grinned, eyeing the two blushing supposed lovers suspiciously. "Class dismissed," she exclaimed, walking out of the room with her folders in one hand; the other dragging the wrist of Kahoko along with her. After finally exiting the room, she raised a brow at the clueless looking soccer player and told him: "You go talk with each other. I expect you to be at class in ten minutes—otherwise, you'll be counted as absent, you got it?" And she walked off.

A silence existed between the two albeit hearing the chattering of class 3-1. After a few seconds, Kahoko looked up and saw Ryoutaro looking somewhat enraged. "What in the world were you thinking, Hino-san?" Ryoutaro clutched the shoulders of the redheaded girl. "We're not really going out! What's up with you lying about it?" He asked, giving a grim expression. He snorted, "Last time I checked, you were going after the ice cube. What? You plan to make him jealous or something? Because if you are, then I will not—"

"Could you just shut up, Tsuchiura-kun?" Kahoko said almost angrily, pulling herself away from Ryoutaro's strong hold. She rubbed her shoulders gently. "What if I really do want to go out with you?" She breathed in and continued, "You know, if you antagonize me so much, Tsuchiura-kun, then maybe I shouldn't bother myself with you—" She acted sadly, hoping that Ryoutaro would buy it. She closed her eyes and looked down at her feet, still pouting. "I felt that chasing after Tsukimori-kun was so pointless; so I decided that Tsuchiura-kun would be better for me. So here I am."

She breathed again and looked straight in those olive eyes that widened most likely because of shock. "Tsuchiura-kun, would you accept me?"

Ryoutaro's vocal chords could not produce any sound, though his mouth was still agape. It was his chance! Finally, she realized that he was there! Not wanting to waste any more second debating in his mind, he pulled her into a tight hug, inhaling the soft strawberry scent from her hair. 'Finally.'

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"Once more, Tsukimori-san!" Saotome Shizuka shrieked angrily, snapping his teaching stick into two with frustration. He breathed deeply, his big belly noticeably going up and down as he took in air. Regaining his usual strict composure, he asked: "Are you off today, Tsukimori-san? Or have you been off the whole ten years I have been teaching you? Not once have I heard you play with complete feelings!"

Len Tsukimori bowed his head down in shame, pursing his lips together. What had he done wrong again? He played it with accuracy and precision, hadn't he? It was considerably perfect in technicality, wasn't it? But nevertheless, it lacked…feelings, as his sensei put it. But he changed, right? After meeting Kahoko, he irrefutably changed. His playing became perfect in that one moment he shared with her last year during camp…

"Tsukimori-san!" Len snapped his head back up to see Saotome having his pokerface back on. "Do you recall what I told you almost seven years ago?" He asked, crossing his arms against his wide chest. Len gulped inwardly; he can't recall. Feeling it through the thick tension-filled air, Saotome coughed and said: "'You will truly have a greater progress from now on,' do you now recall?"

Ah, yes, now he did. But he was not able to perceive the message immediately. He remembered how he went home still confused…and the memory of what happened while going there still left a stain on him. "But normal people quickly forget those they meet who pursue perfection," Len finished for his sensei as he slowly brought his head back down, staring at the golden violin in his left hand. Perfection…is that what he really pursued? After a year of finally knowing what perfection was like…

Ave Maria. Until now the soft notes still resonated in his ears, he could remember the feeling of his heart thumping against his chest with excitement because for that moment, he had a taste of what perfection was really like. He could hear it in his parents' music; envied the fact that so easily they could attain it, while he, who strived and suffered every day, never seemed to get it right. But with Kahoko, he knew that it was so modest, so pure. It was something he could never get with simple practicing. He poured in his entirety in that instant—he didn't know why or what had engaged him to do so since it all just seemed natural for him to play like that with her…

"I heard that the reason why you stayed behind for one more year here in Japan was because of that Hino girl you respected so much." He heard his sensei say nonchalantly. "Is there any reason behind that, my dear student?" He lifted his glasses up and gave off the intimidating glare that he kept hidden behind it. "Is there something more that I should know of, Tsukimori-san?"

Len gulped again. "I will not tolerate such rumors, Saotome-sensei, I believe you know me well enough to know that," he said calmly, putting back on his usual impassive expression. "And she has nothing to do with anything. She's just some girl from the general education department who I found intriguing because of her interest in music," he claimed, slightly clenching the bow in his hand. In actuality, he knew, it was all because of her that he took this detour in his real path. He only stayed because he needed more time to be with her…and maybe if she was able to improve enough, he could perhaps bring him along to Vienna? It would be some dream come true, wouldn't it?

"Is that so? I saw you two once, Tsukimori-san. The way you look at her and all. I know she's different." Saotome somehow teased, grinning. "Don't deny it, Tsukimori. I've known you long enough, haven't I?" With that statement, Len glared angrily but soon enough gave into defeat. It was true, wasn't it?

"Aha!" The old man chuckled victoriously. "I guess you can say lessons for today end here, young boy. Come, outside the room now." He invited, patting Len's back, motioning him to go out. After clearing their things, Len nodded to his sensei and went to the opposite direction, towards the staircase. He sighed and wiped his forehead with his free hand. 'What was it with sensei being bipolar,' he thought to himself.

"It's such a shame, though. How she's taken, I mean. Well, she might as well be since I—"

"She's taken?" Len asked, whipping his whole body quickly in the direction of the voice of his sensei.

"You're interested in knowing what I heard, boy?" Saotome chuckled again, holding his big stomach. "You didn't expect me to be one for gossip, now did you?" He asked, still snickering. "Well, I heard from Kanazawa that the pianist from the concours and that Hino girl are kind of going out now. I didn't really bother about the ideas. He was smoking there and then he told me about it. What a shame for the violin romance thing your school oh-so treasures, don't you think?" He asked, raising a thick brow to emphasize. Saotome saluted and trudged away with his big steps. But Len paid no heed to anything else other than what his sensei had just said:

'…the pianist from the concours and that Hino girl are kind of going out now…'

'…are kind of going out now…'

"Bloody hell," he blurted angrily then punched the wall with his left fist, throwing his violin case to the floor. He kept on punching the wall in frustration, almost brutally murdering his own hands: A hypocrite in his own right to do what he wanted to. When he finally ceased, he inhaled and exhaled violently, looking at the bloodstained walls and his ensanguined hands. He leaned on the wall and slid down—no one was there to stop him anyways; no one was there to watch him anguish and go emo about some girl who he was just intrigued in because of her music, right? No one was there; no one else really mattered to him but her, anyways, so it wouldn't have made a difference if someone did come along…

"Tsu-Tsukimori-kun!" A girl Len couldn't identify because of his blurry vision who walked into the corridor with a violin case strapped on her shoulder, he noticed, suddenly panicked. "What happened to you?" She rushed to his side then wiped off the blood on his fists with her delicate-looking handkerchief. "Oh, I thought that your fingers meant everything to you and your playing! You told me before that they were so important, remember? What happened, Tsukimori-kun?"

"Hi-Hino?" Len asked, dazed, then passed out.

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Do forgive me for being such a horrible writer! ^_^ I really shouldn't do this to myself, but oh well~ I'm a hypocrite who sucks so, so much. :) I'm sorry if I spell Ryotaro's name like that. It's acceptable too, riightt? :( I'll be updating this soon, if you guys want me to. And if you want more updates, just PM me and inspire me. :p Please do review! :D