Tis the Season, Part Five & Epilogue [La Corda d'Oro, Ensemble]
Title: Tis the Season
Fandom: La Corda d’Oro
Pairings: General friendship, Kazuki x Kahoko, Ryoutarou x Len, Azuma x Nami x Miyabi, Keiichi x Shouko, Hiroto x Ousaki
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Summary: [Future fic] When the gang gets together to spend the holiday at Shouko’s family cabin, relationships are formed, tested, and broken.
Disclaimer: La Corda d’Oro and its characters do not belong to me.
[12:50 P.M.]
Ryoutarou held Kahoko’s arm as they made their way against the snowy winds. Shouko’d been worried about the inhabitants of the other, smaller cabins that decorated the mountainside, so-eager to appease her and to escape the tense darkness-they’d ventured out into the blizzard to check on them.
“Hello?” Kahoko called. “Anyone out there?” She stumbled slightly and shot Ryoutarou a grateful smile when he steadied her. “Thanks.”
“Maybe we should go back,” he said.
“I think there’s one more cabin down this way.” She pointed, although with all the snow blowing, he couldn’t really see her finger, so he just followed her blindly. (Didn’t he always?)
[12:51 P.M.]
“Fucking ow,” Hiroto swore as claws dug into his scalp. He glared up at the cat that clung to his head. “We should’ve left you behind.”
Ousaki firmly held his glasses on his face and tried not to laugh. “Our, uh, romantic weekend is turning out to be a real adventure.”
“If you want to call it that,” Hiroto grumbled.
“I do,” Ousaki said, as he ignored the wind and the snow and the possibility of danger, and tugged Hiroto with him as he pressed his back against the steadiest tree he saw, “as a matter of a fact.”
Hiroto looked at him for a moment, and then the corner of his mouth quirked upwards, and he leaned in for a kiss. Which turned into several kisses. Which turned into several kisses with the addition of some groping.
The cat looked down at the humans with an expression that clearly said, “You’ve gotta be shitting me.”
[12:52 P.M.]
“Anyone?”
“Kaho, I really think we should-”
“Hello-oh!”
“I’ve got you, I’ve got y-oof!”
[12:53 P.M.]
Both the kissing and the groping stopped when two of Hiroto’s former students fell in a heap of entangled limbs onto the snow at their feet.
“This isn’t what it looks like!”
“Yeah, neither is this!”
The cat atop Hiroto’s head rolled his eyes.
[1:00 P.M.]
Hiroto was vaguely dismayed to see how much bigger Shouko’s cabin was compared to his. Ousaki assured him that size didn’t matter, but when he looked to his cat for added consolation, the pet was already off, happily exploring the candle-lit home.
[1:03 P.M.]
“Hey, you.”
Kazuki pulled the ice pack away from Azuma’s eye so the man could squint through the dimness at Nami Amou as she entered the kitchen.
“Let’s talk.”
Kazuki handed the ice pack to her as he left them alone. Nami went over to stand beside him, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at him with a mixture of exasperation, annoyance, and reluctant tenderness.
“What are you trying to pull, Azuma?”
“I thought that would be quite clear.”
“I know,” she said firmly, “that you know that I would never get involved with a married man. No matter how scandalous a story it might make.
“Yes,” he faux-sighed. “You and your darling morals.”
“So I know you’re not really after me,” she continued. “So what is it? You’re trying to rile up your sister?” She frowned slightly as he raised and lowered one shoulder lazily. “Do you really hate her that much?”
He looked at her without the upward curve of his lips, without the glint of wickedness and amusement. “Nami. What do you think?”
[1:06 P.M.]
Len, standing by the living room window in hopes that some little specks of sunlight would penetrate the blizzard (he really wasn’t a big fan of the dark), jumped slightly at the hand on his shoulder.
“It’s just me,” Ryoutarou said softly. He started to take his hand away, but Len grabbed it before he could. “I…guess that means we’re okay, huh?”
Len’s grip on his hand tightened slightly. “If you’re not still angry.”
“I’m not.” His other hand moved to hold Len around the waist and he smiled when the violinist snuggled back against him. “You don’t like the dark.”
“Shut up.”
“It does resemble a horror movie scenario, doesn’t it?” He mused. “Cabin of Slaughter. Blizzard of Doom. The Christmas They All Died.”
“Shut up.”
“Hey, don’t worry,” Ryoutarou murmured. “Lucky for us, the virgins always survive.”
Len laughed and Ryoutarou pulled him closer, dropping a kiss on his neck. They were more than okay.
[1:08 P.M.]
Nami found Miyabi in their bedroom, curled up at the head of the bed, her face in a pillow. She sat on the bed beside and rubbed lightly, consolingly, at her back.
“Some holiday, huh?” Her muffled voice muttered.
“Yeah.” Her hand stilled briefly, and then continued. “Listen, I think that…we should…”
Miyabi inhaled deeply and turned over to look at her. “I figured.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She shook her head and patted the back of the journalist’s hand, which now lay on her stomach. “My brother and I are screwed up. You’re the only one with sense.” She groaned, her eyes falling shut. “I can’t believe I punched my own brother.”
“Well, he was being a jerk.”
She smiled faintly, briefly, and sighed. “I really used to adore him, you know.”
Yes, Nami knew. And she knew that-maybe-Miyabi could adore him again. But only if she wasn’t in the way. She loved them both so much, and the best Christmas present she could give them was the chance for them to love each other once more.
[1:11 P.M.]
Kahoko wasn’t sure what it was about Ousaki that made her want to open up. It might’ve been his warm smile, his inviting eyes, his easygoing demeanor. In any case, they were supposed to be talking about things that were not-so-heavy-violins, Christmas decorations, bad weather-when she said, “Kazuki’s going to Spain.”
“Oh?” She couldn’t see his expression, but he sounded careful, like he was testing her, like he was prodding her to see if she would crack. “That’s quite a distance.”
“Mm.” She nodded, and then her lower lip quivered, and her hands clenched and unclenched, and it came spilling out so fast she could hardly take a breath. “I don’t know if I’m going with him. He hasn’t asked me and I don’t want to assume anything, but I really don’t want us to be apart. But I don’t even know if I could go if he did ask me. Being uprooted from home, leaving everyone behind, moving to a place where I don’t know anyone and don’t know the language-the thought scares me!”
“It scares me, too.”
Kahoko audibly gasped; it’d been so dark she hadn’t seen Kazuki approach them. Ousaki took a couple steps back, though he figured Kahoko had already forgotten he was there. Kazuki took a moment to screw up his courage and took his girlfriend’s hand, looking into her eyes, though he couldn’t exactly see them.
“Just like it scared me to ask you, because I was afraid you wouldn’t want…” He stopped and she squeezed his hand. “But if you do want to, we can both be scared together.” He paused as she laughed, sounding both relieved and a little nervous. But she couldn’t possibly be as nervous as he was. “Kaho…will you…”
“Yes.”
“You…” His heart hammered in his chest. “You will?”
“Yes,” she said, and he could hear her smiling. “Yes, I’ll go to Spain with you.”
She threw her arms around his neck and he hugged her in return, biting his tongue. He wouldn’t ask her the other question, the big one. Not yet. This was enough for him, for now.
[1:15 P.M.]
Outside, the winds began to quiet and slow.
Inside, a duet between a cello and a clarinet began to play. The music was beautiful. Passionate and loud and expressing everything the two musicians couldn’t or wouldn’t say. It was a song of friendship, of budding romance, of joy and hope and peace. It was a song of the Christmas season.
[2:00 P.M.]
The power came back on.
[Epilogue]
[December 25, 12:00 A.M.]
Keiichi watched as Shouko poured champagne into glasses. Very slowly, but very sincerely, he told her, “We sounded good together. We should do it again.”
Shouko smiled shakily.
“And again.”
Shouko blushed.
“And again.”
Shouko’s hands shook.
“And again.”
Shouko missed a glass and poured champagne on the countertop instead.
[12:01 A.M.]
Len sat beside Ryoutarou on the piano bench, turning a page of sheet music for him as he played “Joy to the World”. He attempted to speak several times (he just wasn’t used to this kind of thing) before he asked, “Can I tell you something?”
“Please do.”
He took a few more minutes, and Ryoutarou waited patiently, and Len said, “I…love you.”
Ryoutarou’s fingers slowed, then stilled completely. He looked at Len, who was looking at the ceiling, and smiled. “I love you, too.”
Len’s cheeks colored, making Ryoutarou’s smile widen considerably. He forced the violinist to face him so he could plant a kiss on the man’s lips. Len kissed him back, threading his fingers through green hair, and whispered when they parted, “Maybe next year you’ll get me in bed.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He smirked. “But don’t hold your breath.”
[12:06 A.M.]
“Brother.”
“Sister.”
Miyabi sat beside Azuma on the couch, determinedly not-looking-at-him. “How’s your eye?”
“Black.” He sort-of-smiled. “But fine.”
“Good.”
“Mhm.”
She sighed after a moment, scooted closer, and rested her head on his shoulder. He said nothing and leaned his head against hers.
They fell asleep this way and Nami crept into the room and took a picture. She would frame it, put it on her wall, and she imagined what a juicy story it would make for her grandchildren.
[12:08 A.M.]
“We’re supposed to be downstairs right now, you know,” Kahoko faux-scolded as she buttoned up her blouse.
“They’ll wait for us,” Kazuki assured as he tugged on his jeans. “They understand what a…distraction you can be.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said. “Hey, will you teach me Spanish?”
“Of course I will,” he chuckled, “mamacita.”
She giggled, smacked his ass, and ran out of the room.
[12:10 A.M.]
Little over a mile away, Hiroto and Ousaki snuggled on their couch. The cat, who was deciding to be generous, started to walk by without bothering them. He would give them their privacy, he supposed, and would spend Christmas all by his lonesome.
So he was surprised when a pair of hands grabbed him and laid him down on their laps. He purred as his master and the redhead petted him and cooed, “Merry Christmas, kitty.”
He was a lucky cat, he knew, to have a master with some sense. Worshipping and adoring those who were magnificent was what Christmas was all about, after all.
Fandom: La Corda d’Oro
Pairings: General friendship, Kazuki x Kahoko, Ryoutarou x Len, Azuma x Nami x Miyabi, Keiichi x Shouko, Hiroto x Ousaki
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Summary: [Future fic] When the gang gets together to spend the holiday at Shouko’s family cabin, relationships are formed, tested, and broken.
Disclaimer: La Corda d’Oro and its characters do not belong to me.
[12:50 P.M.]
Ryoutarou held Kahoko’s arm as they made their way against the snowy winds. Shouko’d been worried about the inhabitants of the other, smaller cabins that decorated the mountainside, so-eager to appease her and to escape the tense darkness-they’d ventured out into the blizzard to check on them.
“Hello?” Kahoko called. “Anyone out there?” She stumbled slightly and shot Ryoutarou a grateful smile when he steadied her. “Thanks.”
“Maybe we should go back,” he said.
“I think there’s one more cabin down this way.” She pointed, although with all the snow blowing, he couldn’t really see her finger, so he just followed her blindly. (Didn’t he always?)
[12:51 P.M.]
“Fucking ow,” Hiroto swore as claws dug into his scalp. He glared up at the cat that clung to his head. “We should’ve left you behind.”
Ousaki firmly held his glasses on his face and tried not to laugh. “Our, uh, romantic weekend is turning out to be a real adventure.”
“If you want to call it that,” Hiroto grumbled.
“I do,” Ousaki said, as he ignored the wind and the snow and the possibility of danger, and tugged Hiroto with him as he pressed his back against the steadiest tree he saw, “as a matter of a fact.”
Hiroto looked at him for a moment, and then the corner of his mouth quirked upwards, and he leaned in for a kiss. Which turned into several kisses. Which turned into several kisses with the addition of some groping.
The cat looked down at the humans with an expression that clearly said, “You’ve gotta be shitting me.”
[12:52 P.M.]
“Anyone?”
“Kaho, I really think we should-”
“Hello-oh!”
“I’ve got you, I’ve got y-oof!”
[12:53 P.M.]
Both the kissing and the groping stopped when two of Hiroto’s former students fell in a heap of entangled limbs onto the snow at their feet.
“This isn’t what it looks like!”
“Yeah, neither is this!”
The cat atop Hiroto’s head rolled his eyes.
[1:00 P.M.]
Hiroto was vaguely dismayed to see how much bigger Shouko’s cabin was compared to his. Ousaki assured him that size didn’t matter, but when he looked to his cat for added consolation, the pet was already off, happily exploring the candle-lit home.
[1:03 P.M.]
“Hey, you.”
Kazuki pulled the ice pack away from Azuma’s eye so the man could squint through the dimness at Nami Amou as she entered the kitchen.
“Let’s talk.”
Kazuki handed the ice pack to her as he left them alone. Nami went over to stand beside him, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at him with a mixture of exasperation, annoyance, and reluctant tenderness.
“What are you trying to pull, Azuma?”
“I thought that would be quite clear.”
“I know,” she said firmly, “that you know that I would never get involved with a married man. No matter how scandalous a story it might make.
“Yes,” he faux-sighed. “You and your darling morals.”
“So I know you’re not really after me,” she continued. “So what is it? You’re trying to rile up your sister?” She frowned slightly as he raised and lowered one shoulder lazily. “Do you really hate her that much?”
He looked at her without the upward curve of his lips, without the glint of wickedness and amusement. “Nami. What do you think?”
[1:06 P.M.]
Len, standing by the living room window in hopes that some little specks of sunlight would penetrate the blizzard (he really wasn’t a big fan of the dark), jumped slightly at the hand on his shoulder.
“It’s just me,” Ryoutarou said softly. He started to take his hand away, but Len grabbed it before he could. “I…guess that means we’re okay, huh?”
Len’s grip on his hand tightened slightly. “If you’re not still angry.”
“I’m not.” His other hand moved to hold Len around the waist and he smiled when the violinist snuggled back against him. “You don’t like the dark.”
“Shut up.”
“It does resemble a horror movie scenario, doesn’t it?” He mused. “Cabin of Slaughter. Blizzard of Doom. The Christmas They All Died.”
“Shut up.”
“Hey, don’t worry,” Ryoutarou murmured. “Lucky for us, the virgins always survive.”
Len laughed and Ryoutarou pulled him closer, dropping a kiss on his neck. They were more than okay.
[1:08 P.M.]
Nami found Miyabi in their bedroom, curled up at the head of the bed, her face in a pillow. She sat on the bed beside and rubbed lightly, consolingly, at her back.
“Some holiday, huh?” Her muffled voice muttered.
“Yeah.” Her hand stilled briefly, and then continued. “Listen, I think that…we should…”
Miyabi inhaled deeply and turned over to look at her. “I figured.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She shook her head and patted the back of the journalist’s hand, which now lay on her stomach. “My brother and I are screwed up. You’re the only one with sense.” She groaned, her eyes falling shut. “I can’t believe I punched my own brother.”
“Well, he was being a jerk.”
She smiled faintly, briefly, and sighed. “I really used to adore him, you know.”
Yes, Nami knew. And she knew that-maybe-Miyabi could adore him again. But only if she wasn’t in the way. She loved them both so much, and the best Christmas present she could give them was the chance for them to love each other once more.
[1:11 P.M.]
Kahoko wasn’t sure what it was about Ousaki that made her want to open up. It might’ve been his warm smile, his inviting eyes, his easygoing demeanor. In any case, they were supposed to be talking about things that were not-so-heavy-violins, Christmas decorations, bad weather-when she said, “Kazuki’s going to Spain.”
“Oh?” She couldn’t see his expression, but he sounded careful, like he was testing her, like he was prodding her to see if she would crack. “That’s quite a distance.”
“Mm.” She nodded, and then her lower lip quivered, and her hands clenched and unclenched, and it came spilling out so fast she could hardly take a breath. “I don’t know if I’m going with him. He hasn’t asked me and I don’t want to assume anything, but I really don’t want us to be apart. But I don’t even know if I could go if he did ask me. Being uprooted from home, leaving everyone behind, moving to a place where I don’t know anyone and don’t know the language-the thought scares me!”
“It scares me, too.”
Kahoko audibly gasped; it’d been so dark she hadn’t seen Kazuki approach them. Ousaki took a couple steps back, though he figured Kahoko had already forgotten he was there. Kazuki took a moment to screw up his courage and took his girlfriend’s hand, looking into her eyes, though he couldn’t exactly see them.
“Just like it scared me to ask you, because I was afraid you wouldn’t want…” He stopped and she squeezed his hand. “But if you do want to, we can both be scared together.” He paused as she laughed, sounding both relieved and a little nervous. But she couldn’t possibly be as nervous as he was. “Kaho…will you…”
“Yes.”
“You…” His heart hammered in his chest. “You will?”
“Yes,” she said, and he could hear her smiling. “Yes, I’ll go to Spain with you.”
She threw her arms around his neck and he hugged her in return, biting his tongue. He wouldn’t ask her the other question, the big one. Not yet. This was enough for him, for now.
[1:15 P.M.]
Outside, the winds began to quiet and slow.
Inside, a duet between a cello and a clarinet began to play. The music was beautiful. Passionate and loud and expressing everything the two musicians couldn’t or wouldn’t say. It was a song of friendship, of budding romance, of joy and hope and peace. It was a song of the Christmas season.
[2:00 P.M.]
The power came back on.
[Epilogue]
[December 25, 12:00 A.M.]
Keiichi watched as Shouko poured champagne into glasses. Very slowly, but very sincerely, he told her, “We sounded good together. We should do it again.”
Shouko smiled shakily.
“And again.”
Shouko blushed.
“And again.”
Shouko’s hands shook.
“And again.”
Shouko missed a glass and poured champagne on the countertop instead.
[12:01 A.M.]
Len sat beside Ryoutarou on the piano bench, turning a page of sheet music for him as he played “Joy to the World”. He attempted to speak several times (he just wasn’t used to this kind of thing) before he asked, “Can I tell you something?”
“Please do.”
He took a few more minutes, and Ryoutarou waited patiently, and Len said, “I…love you.”
Ryoutarou’s fingers slowed, then stilled completely. He looked at Len, who was looking at the ceiling, and smiled. “I love you, too.”
Len’s cheeks colored, making Ryoutarou’s smile widen considerably. He forced the violinist to face him so he could plant a kiss on the man’s lips. Len kissed him back, threading his fingers through green hair, and whispered when they parted, “Maybe next year you’ll get me in bed.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He smirked. “But don’t hold your breath.”
[12:06 A.M.]
“Brother.”
“Sister.”
Miyabi sat beside Azuma on the couch, determinedly not-looking-at-him. “How’s your eye?”
“Black.” He sort-of-smiled. “But fine.”
“Good.”
“Mhm.”
She sighed after a moment, scooted closer, and rested her head on his shoulder. He said nothing and leaned his head against hers.
They fell asleep this way and Nami crept into the room and took a picture. She would frame it, put it on her wall, and she imagined what a juicy story it would make for her grandchildren.
[12:08 A.M.]
“We’re supposed to be downstairs right now, you know,” Kahoko faux-scolded as she buttoned up her blouse.
“They’ll wait for us,” Kazuki assured as he tugged on his jeans. “They understand what a…distraction you can be.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said. “Hey, will you teach me Spanish?”
“Of course I will,” he chuckled, “mamacita.”
She giggled, smacked his ass, and ran out of the room.
[12:10 A.M.]
Little over a mile away, Hiroto and Ousaki snuggled on their couch. The cat, who was deciding to be generous, started to walk by without bothering them. He would give them their privacy, he supposed, and would spend Christmas all by his lonesome.
So he was surprised when a pair of hands grabbed him and laid him down on their laps. He purred as his master and the redhead petted him and cooed, “Merry Christmas, kitty.”
He was a lucky cat, he knew, to have a master with some sense. Worshipping and adoring those who were magnificent was what Christmas was all about, after all.