Clothes are Memories

She ran like the wind. Running like she was late to school again. Only this time, she was not on her way to school. She picked up speed and ran faster, not caring that she was wearing high heels, that people were staring at her, that her head was pounding with the ache to see him one last time. Meanwhile, he had just flagged a taxi. "To the station please, arigato." The driver helped him put most of his luggage in the boot. The only one he kept with him was his hand luggage. He secretly opened it to reveal an ordinary-looking scarf that he gazed rather sadly at.

He was glad that he'd managed to keep his promise of watching her perform one last time, at least by the skin of his teeth. It would have been easier if it were an ordinary situation, but no, today, of all days, was the day he must leave for Austria. He got in to the taxi finally. But just as he did, he saw a red-pink-white blur flash through the corner of his eye and he glanced just in time to see her dashing around the street frantically.

"Please stop!" Kahoko yelled.

Tsukimori-kun's face registered both shock and amazement at her arrival as he got out of the taxi. They faced each other, a few inches apart, she puffing and panting, he holding a breath without his own knowledge uncertain of what to say or do. All she wore was her heels, dress and a thin black dress-coat that did little to keep her warm. He was dressed to suit the wintry conditions back in Austria. His awareness now came back as he almost snapped, "What are you doing here, Hino? What about the competition?!"

Kahoko immediately cowered at his tone as she struggled to focus on his face. "Well...*huff*!" She replied, while calming her heart rate, "I saw that *huff*you had come *puff*and I tried to go see you*huff*, but Tsuchiura-kun said you'd *puff*already gone, so...here I am! I was worried when I didn't see you at the start and hones..."

"I'm sorry I arrived late," Tsukimori cut her off gently, but sincerely, his usually tabula-rasa face showing a hint of remorse. But Kahoko was determined to let him go with a clean conscience. "I-iie! Not at all! You don't have to apologize!" She went jazz-hands as she tried to make them both feel slightly better. "It's good that you at least came..." Tsukimori's eyes widened. Was she really gonna let him get away with his own actions?

Then the taxi honked impatiently. Kahoko became alarmed. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting Tsukimori-kun. The car's waiting..." "Yeah."

'What to do, what to do?!' Her mind thought erratically. Now she was really flustered.

"S-s-sorry to hold you up! Honestly, I...!"

"Hino."

"As long as you came, I'm really happy! You stuck to our promise! And...!"

"Hino!"

She stopped ranting. 'What did I do now?!' She wondered.

"Really," he huffed, "You must calm down a bit. And you had to run out dressed like that." His gaze shifted from her dress to her face.

"Your last performance...It was really splendid, you know."

Her expression changed from flustered to somewhere between happy and surprised. He noticed that she was shivering in the cold slightly, now that the warmth from her run had faded. He unbuttoned the large coat he was wearing and draped it over her shoulders, leaving him in his plain black sweater. And that's when the redheaded violinist came to a realization. 'Ever since I heard him play Ave Maria, I have been chasing after his footsteps. That would mean...I have been chasing after him...'

He turned and headed towards the taxi. So many emotions, euphoria, despair, sadness, all bundled up in one giant firecracker, seemed to implode in her as she called out to him one last time, hands trying to keep his coat on her shoulders.

"I...I will work really hard!"

He turned to imprint an image of her face onto his mind one last time.

He flashed that smile at her. That smile only she was allowed to see. She smiled back at him, happy that he was pursuing his dreams elsewhere while she goes her way in their motherland. Bittersweet tears formed on her eyes, as she watched him get into the frickin taxi.

"From now on...I always will..."

Those were the last words on her mind as she clutched the coat that he had so gallantly bundled her up in before departing. She stood watching for a minute, then walked solemnly, slowly, back to where she had come from, the coat still around her shoulders.

He, on the other hand, kept on looking back at her until the taxi went around a bend and she disappeared with the street that her little feet ran on. He kept quiet on the way, thinking about the scarf she had given him. He clutched at his hand luggage, knowing that the scarf she gave him was still there. He had somehow decided to pack only that one scarf, along with the blue and silver one that his mother gave him as a goodbye present.

"I wonder if...She will truly go ahead with those plans of hers..."

Those were the last words that came into his mind as he sat there quietly, hand luggage in hand, waiting until the taxi took him to the train station, where he gave the driver payment, then hopped onto a train bound for the airport and took his plane to Austria.

Back at home, Kahoko reflected on the competition. She had taken her time, wiping her eyes while walking away from Tsukimori-kun, thinking of what kind of country Austria would be, but then got back to earth realizing that the competition results might be in any minute. She gathered speed and eventually arrived, puffing and panting madly, bumping into Mori-san, who hissed anxiously, "There you are! I was so worried! Here, give me those..." Kahoko chucked Tsukimori-kun's coat and the little black one that she was wearing when she went to look for him into Mori's capable hands. "Put those in my bag, please!..." Kahoko called as she simultaneously flattened her wind-blown hair, elbowed Tsuchiura-kun rather violently out of the way (Oi, Hino! What hap...OUCH!) and ran up to the stage, just in time to hear the judge say, "And the winner is..."

It wasn't her. She didn't care. She was too flustered to care, that she wasn't the winner, that she'd never be accepted by Saotome-sensei after it, that he'd never planned on accepting her even if she won anyway. She gulped and held her head high, until it was all over and Mori had met her with comforting words that went into one ear and came out of the other. She chatted briefly with Tsuchiura, who seemed rather troubled, but comforting as a best friend should. Then Mori gave her a lift home. She waved goodbye to her long-time friend and accompanist from the window of her room, as she watched Mori's car drive away.

"Kahoko! Don't you want dinner, dear?" Her mother called from downstairs.

"No thanks, okaa-san! Not tonight, I'm tired..."

Kahoko wriggled out of her dress and into a pair of pyjamas. She undid her hair and then extracted the coat out of her bag. She admired how leathery it felt, though it was actually made from some heavy warm cloth. It had a few pockets, but nothing inside them. It was of a light beige shade, that complemented her scarlet hair, as much as it did his blue hair. Tsukimori-kun. She misses him a lot. His advice, his stern voice reprimanding her, if she made a mistake in her playing. She could still hear his voice saying things like, "What's this, chalk scratching on a blackboard?!" and her own voice laughing at him, "Yes teacher..."

She giggled to herself at the memories. Then she held it to her face. It smelled new, as though it was bought five minutes ago. It smelled of her favourite perfume and the special shampoo she used for showering on special days, but it also had a fragrance that she'd smelled before, though not in over 6 months. A mixture of sea minerals and mint. It smelled of Tsukimori-kun and, for a moment, she thought he'd actually forsaken going to Vienna and come back just to give her a hug and reassure her.

On an impulse, Kahoko tentatively put it on, wondering if he'd be OK with it. He was taller and bigger than her, therefore the coat covered the bottom half of her face, but she didn't mind. It was her secret, a comfy little secret that only she, Tsukimori and Mori would know about. Mori-san was blown away by the gesture and teased her over how they would be exchanging each others warmth if he hadn't gone, to Kahoko's embarrassment.

"Hmmmmm, I think I'm going to have some sweet dreams tonight, Tsukimori-kun..." She mumbled contentedly, as she turned off her light, tucked herself in bed and fell asleep gazing lovingly at the violin case at the foot of her bed.

Faraway in Vienna, capital of Austria, Tsukimori-kun was asleep, too, drowsy from the after-effects of jetlag. It had taken him less than a week to arrive and he was very tired. He still managed to be polite to his homestay family, after they had greeted him and taken him under their wing at the airport. They gave him a good room and he decided that he was too tired to eat anything, let alone practice. But no, he won't sleep yet until he had taken a look at...

He put his violin case at the foot of his own bed and dug into the bag that contained his hand luggage. He pulled out the scarf and held it in his hand, admiring its colours and simple, yet complicated pattern. He had worn it a few times on the plane, but never bothered to examine it in detail till now.

Tsukimori-kun smiled briefly at it. Red, blue, gold. He was the blue material, broadening horizons in music and geographical distance. And she was the red diamond that overlapped and crossed each other, simple, yet complicated, in musical expression and emotions. The gold diamond pattern embroidered into the red? That was another thing they had in common, apart from music and a mutual respect (Maybe we could call it love, though they wouldn't admit it openly) for each other. Gold eyes.

He left it on the bed to take a shower and change into some nightclothes. Then he wrapped it around himself. Just as he'd tied it loosely around his neck, he realized it had already been worn before, albeit briefly. By none other than her.

He bowed his head down to let himself be engulfed by that faint scent of hers. The scent of flowers and fruit that reminded her of the infectious cheerfulness that could only be rivaled by Hihara-senpai. That's when he thought she'd had the nerve to actually tail him to Vienna and was sitting next to him with her arms around him. He stood up and looked around his room wildly. Nothing. "It must be the jetlag," He whispered to himself, "Nevertheless..." He then adjusted the scarf a bit, turned his light off and was soon fast asleep under the covers with a calm, contented look on his face.

They still stuck to those habits. It was like a good night ritual to them both. She wore the coat, he wore the scarf and since neither had each others addresses, they never communicated. But he also wore the scarf whenever it was even the slightest bit cold and never bothered to touch the one his mother gave. She only wore the coat at night or whenever she had the house to herself and not even her family or Mio, Nao, Amou-san, not even Tsuchiura, knew.

FIN