Author's Note: 'Kissing Audition' has me stumped right now in the later chapters. I needed a break, so I polished up this story that I began a few weeks ago. Enjoy :)

Piano lesson

Ryotaro grinned at the adorable violinist who was stomping her feet in frustration. "I don't know what's wrong with me, Tsuchiura-kun. I guess it's just not a good day for practicing Mozart."

"Let's take a break from it, then. Is there anything else you would like to play?"

"I'm not playing violin well at all today. I'm sorry that I've wasted your time now that we've booked the practice room…"

"It's really no problem…Uhm, would you like to learn something on the piano?"

Her face brightened. "Oh, that's a good idea. Yes!"

"What would you like to learn?"

"Anything! I've never tried it before."

Since the piano bench was the only seat in the room, he shifted himself to one end of it and beckoned for her to sit next to him.

"Okay. The first thing is to sit properly. You should be sitting straight, but relaxed." He leaned around to look at her posture. "Ah, you're still a little slumped." He put his big warm hand on the curvature of her spine, at which point she reacted to his touch by arching away from him.

"Relax a bit. Relax your spine until it rests against my hand here." She reluctantly adjusted her posture until she made contact with his hand. Now she was feeling all tingly from being so close to him. She planted her feet more firmly on the floor and resolved to keep her attention seriously on what he was teaching her.

Ryotaro smiled to himself. It was fun having excuses to touch her.

"Now for your arms. You want to be close enough to the keys so you don't have to curve your back when you extend your arms…Good…" He put his hands on her shoulders. "Relax your shoulders…Good." He left his hands there for a couple extra seconds and gave them a squeeze before leaving them. Maybe if he could get her accustomed to his touch, he could gradually persuade her to see the potential for romance…

"With our hands we want the fingers to be curved." He took one of her hands and molded her fingers over top of his. He played with the positioning of her fingers until her hand was just the right shape. Kahoko was almost breathless from all of the unaccustomed physical contact with her muscular friend.

"Hino, are you paying attention?"

"Uh…yes."

He could see the effect he was having on her and loving every minute of it. What guy wouldn't enjoy watching his favorite girl tremble when he touched her?

"Show me, then."

"…Curve my fingers like this…" She approximated the position he had shown her.

"Pretty good. Maybe more like this…" Perfecting the shape of her hand was another opportunity to stroke her soft skin, if only for a few more milliseconds.

"Let's have you play some notes now." Leaning close to her (to reach the middle of the piano) he showed her where middle C was and demonstrated how to play C D E F G with her right hand.

Her face lit up with delight as she replicated the notes. She played them a couple more times before Ryotaro took her hand in his once again. "Use your fingertips to press the keys. That way you will have the most strength and dexterity." He had one of her fingers in his hand and was pressing the tip of it. "See how strong that is? It's the same for violin, right?"

She nodded a little quickly.

"Let's look at the left hand. For now let's put you in middle C position. Find middle C and put your left thumb on it…that's good…keep your fingers curved, though. Never straight…OK, play each of your fingers, descending from middle C……Good. What are the names of those notes?"

"C…B A G F?" She looked up at him for approval.

"Yes" he smiled. She was so cute. He was dying to give her a hug. "Would you like to learn a real melody?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

"You're familiar with 'Ode to Joy' by Beethoven, yes? It's actually pretty easy to play. Put your hands in position…Good…" He reached a long arm around her so that he could shape both of her hands. "Excuse my reach…curve your fingers more." She was so drugged by his proximity that she found herself fighting the impulse to lean back into his warm embrace. She sternly admonished herself for such thoughts and resolved to focus on the teaching points.

He was loathe to remove his arm from around her. She was such a sweet bundle to wrap around. He would have to think up another opportunity.

"Find E with your right hand. That will be your first note…Good. Watch me." He could have demonstrated the melody an octave higher, but by playing it in her octave he had more body contact with her. "E E F G G F E D C. Watch again. E E F G G F E D C. Give it a try. If it's too much, I can give you fewer notes."

She was familiar with the melody and was able to reproduce the sequence he gave her. Once again she smiled from the sheer joy of playing the notes.

He showed her a couple more sequences until she could play the first half of the piece. Before he could show her how to play the next part, she was already spontaneously figuring out the notes on her own.

"Very good! You have a good ear. Do that part again."

When she got to the end of what she knew, she was puzzled about how to get the low note, since it was out of the right hand's reach. This was the opportunity Ryotaro was waiting for. "I'll play the low note when the time comes. For now, you just concentrate on the right hand until you've mastered it."

She began playing the second half, trying not to be distracted when his arm went around to her left side. At the appropriate time, he played the low A of the melody. "Great! Let's practice that a few more times and then you can play the low note yourself. Repetition is important, so let's play it 5 times."

As they went through the repetitions, he leaned as close as he dared. As his chin touched a couple stray red hairs, he inhaled her perfume. He was feeling the pull of desire.

"That's 5 repetitions, isn't it?" she asked. When his arm left her side she felt as if she had lost something. She wondered if all piano lessons were this physical. An image of Yunoki-sempai giving her a piano lesson suddenly flashed through her mind's eye and she shuddered to think what he would do. No, she was definitely safer with Tsuchiura-kun.

"Yes. So, if you play the low A with your left hand, which finger will that be?"

She put her hands back in position and found the A with her 3rd finger.

"Good." He rested his large warm hands on her shoulders. "Relax shoulders, Hino……OK, the last part of the melody is the same as the second line that you already know."

"Like this?" She played the notes and faltered a bit when she felt his hand in the middle of her back. She looked at him but he said nothing. There was an unfamiliar look in his eyes as he watched her. She assumed he was waiting for her to adjust her posture, so she sat straighter. He removed his hand and wrenched his attention over to the keys.

"...Uh...Good. You can play the whole piece now."

She put her hands in place and began playing. She had hardly executed the first few notes when she felt his hand on her left shoulder. Okay, why is he doing that again? She once again did a mental check that her shoulders were relaxed and she continued playing. When his hand remained, she began to wonder about his motives. Was it her imagination, or was he leaning against her? She continued playing. When she got to the end she waited for him to let go, but he didn't.

He looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Tsuchiura-kun, you're sitting very close to me."

He cleared his throat. "I know I am. I want to make sure you maintain correct posture. Play through it again."

She was dubious, but preferred compliance over confrontation. The question mark in her head got bigger, though, when after she resumed playing, his left hand fingers combed through her hair to tuck it back behind her ear. She got goosebumps as his fingers casually trailed down her neck before resuming their position on her shoulder. OK, she was officially confused. Could it be that he was just being helpful, making sure that her hair wasn't in the way?

The distraction had made her miss a few notes, so she backtracked to play the sequence properly. His left hand moved to the back of her neck and slowly traveled down her spine. It was such a sensuous feeling and her mouth opened to exhale slowly. Her instincts were telling her that her handsome friend was making love to her. She turned her head to see if his face held any clues. "Tsuchiura-kun?" She wasn't sure what she was asking, actually.

His warm hand remained at the small of her back as he bent to touch his lips to her hair. "Concentrate on the music, Hino" he said in a low velvety tone of voice.

She protested "But you're..." He interrupted her with authority: "Focus on the music."

She now knew for a fact what he was doing, and she wasn't actually sure she wanted it to stop. Though she was confused about having her friend touch her so intimately, it felt good and she wasn't ready to lose his warmth. Not quite yet. She was a little curious...

Her heart quickened with anticipation as her fingers began again at the beginning. What would he do to her next?...She played slowly, knowing that would give him more time to caress her. E E F G G…She shivered when she felt his hand stroking the small of her back…repeat the latter couple notes…G G F E D…His right hand fingers combed through her hair at her temple, followed by his mouth…C C D E…She inhaled sharply when he kissed her neck. She was breathing more heavily now and struggling to sit up straight…

"Keep playing, Kahoko…" he whispered near her ear before gently sucking on her earlobe. She played E D D before leaning against him. His lips were on her cheek…E E F …one hand cupping her jaw…G G…She abandoned any hope of playing more notes and turned into his mouth that covered hers in a warm kiss. His thumbs slowly traced her cheekbones as he slid his mouth over hers. He delicately sucked on her upper lip before resuming broader strokes. She was quite helpless in the hands of this strong, sensual man that was lavishing her with his affection. All she wanted now was to let him do whatever he wanted with her.

Impatient to be inside her mouth, he put his hand on her knee and began tickling it. When she gasped he took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. Gently and thoroughly he used tongue and lips to arouse her until she was kissing him back with fervor. She was alternately petting his chest and grabbing at his shirt as he excited her with his ardor.

Satisfied that she did want him, he pulled back to look at her cheek that was flushed with desire. Cradling her face in his hands, he spoke his truth. "Kahoko, I've been waiting forever for you. Will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

She was stunned. First a passionate kiss, then he's using her first name, and now his confession...He was waiting for her, looking impatiently worried. Did he expect her to answer right away? "I…"

He knew they were meant to be together. What was she waiting for? He softly kissed her lips and looked at her earnestly. "Say yes, Kahoko."

"But…" She just needed a bit of time to think…

Another kiss, deeper this time. "Say yes…" he said in a deeper tone against her lips.

Tsuchiura-kun had become very important to her these past few months, and she knew that he would do anything for her…but was she ready to have a boyfriend?

"Please say yes"…he kissed her jaw, her neck, and whispered in her ear "Please say yes, Kahoko"…He was kissing a trail across her cheek, each kiss followed by his "Say yes…" ... "yes…" His lips had returned to the corner of her mouth… "yes"…She could barely breath from anticipation…He quickly covered her mouth with his and his tongue slipped inside as if to tickle a response from her…She was thinking that even to have him do this to her occasionally was reason enough to be his girlfriend...Now she wanted to answer him, but couldn't because he had taken over her mouth…she moaned…he moaned…she moaned again and then he clued in, releasing her to study her face.

She endeavored to catch her breath while watching his expectant face. She gave him a deliberate nod and he grabbed her by the shoulders. "Is that a yes?" he almost shouted.

"Yes!" she answered with a smile.

Once again he claimed her mouth and gave her his...until they were interrupted by a knock at the door. They both turned to see Len Tsukimori with violin case in hand, frowning at them with distaste. "I have this room booked from three until four."

Ryotaro and Kahoko looked at each other first with embarrassment, and then they spontaneously began laughing. Ryo put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her tighter to his side as he addressed Tsukimori with a smile. "We'll just be leaving, then…" he turned to her "...Right, Kahoko?"

She nodded as she choked down another giggle. The two of them gathered their things with as much dignity as they could muster under the circumstances and let themselves out, leaving Tsukimori's scowling face behind. Once in the hallway, Ryotaro stopped to look at her with a sense of occasion and held out his hand. She placed her hand in his and they began their journey down the hallway as a couple.

The End