Ritsu and Misaki play the violin in the JS Philharmonic Orchestra. After getting each other for stand partners, they decide one day to meet in one of the music rooms and practice for the upcoming concert. What they don't know, is that when their semes overhear that they are having a "practice session" with another guy, Usagi and Takano secretly follow them to make sure no one makes a move on their ukes….

INSIDE THE MUSIC ROOM:

Ritsu was opening his violin case, with his sheets of music already laid out before him. He glanced at the clock. Takahashi should be here soon…

Misaki burst through the door. "Onodera, am I late? I'm sorry, my-uh-landlord was asking me some questions and it took a while." He panted, hands on his knees, with his case strapped to his back. Geez, Usagi-san was taking this practice session so seriously! Did it matter how old his stand partner was?

"No, not at all" Ritsu smiled. "My- um- boss also had a brief discussion with me before I left so I arrived just now." Takano! Just because he was practicing with his partner for an hour or so didn't mean his boss had to get so angry! "Oh, and since we'll be seeing each other for a while, why don't you call me Ritsu? Since we'll be practicing together and all."

"Sure! Then, you can call me Misaki! I hope we can become close friends, Ritsu" Misaki grinned. Misaki went to stand next to Ritsu, placing his violin case on a chair. "Alright, let's get started."

Misaki flipped through the sheets, noting any unfamiliar musical terms/symbols that he ran across. "Hmm, which position do you want to take?" he asked, pointing at a divisi in the sixteenth measure.

Ritsu studied it. "Let's see. Well, for now, I'll take the top and you'll be on the bottom, 'kay?"

Misaki nodded. "Okay. We can always switch off later if we have too."

Ritsu turned the metronome on to a count of 140, the minimum concert tempo. "This is about how fast we'll be going."

"'kaaaaaay... Eh?" Misaki appeared to be struggling with his case.

Ritsu walked over to him. "What's wrong?"

Misaki tugged on the case's zipper. However, the zipper always stopped abruptly half way around the case. "Nggggh….the zipper is stuck."

"Here, let me help you with that." Ritsu tugged, gently at first but when the zipper refused to give, he yanked it forcibly, almost yanking the case off the chair.

"Hey, not so rough, be more gentle!" Misaki reclaimed his case and tried again, succeeding on the 5th time. "See?"

Ritsu shrugged sheepishly. "My bad."

"Right then, let's begin."

After a few minutes…

"FASTER! FASTER, MISAKI! YOU'RE RHYTHM IS WAY OFF!" Ritsu shouted jokingly, yelling to be heard over the recording they were playing with.

"YEAH? WELL, YOU NOT USING ENOUGH FORCE!" Misaki shouted back loudly, smiling as cymbals crashed in the background. "HARDER, RITSU! HARDER!"

With one final crashing chord, the 1st movement ended, leaving both of them panting from exertion.

Ritsu gasped for a breath. "Jeez, that pace is too much for me. And the top position….it's a lot harder than I thought it would be."

Misaki lied on the ground, chest heaving. "I think we should start off slower next time. As for the top position, that's why we're here practicing, right?"

"I guess so." Ritsu put down his instrument to drink from a water bottle.

He heard from behind him, Misaki say, "Ow…"

"What is it, Misaki?"

"Oh, it's nothing," He winced, massaging the palm of his left hand. "It just hurts a bit after practicing for so long."

Ritsu reached over and grabbed his hand, poking at the palm. "That's because you were so tense when we were doing it. You have to loosen it up a bit more next time."

"Of course, I'd be tense! You're much better than I am and more experienced with this, too…" Misaki turned his head to face the wall, not wanting to show his friend such a downhearted look.

Ritsu patted him on the head. "That doesn't mean anything. We're equals, okay?"

Misaki smiled a little. "Thanks." He sat up, holding his violin in his lap.

Ritsu frowned as he saw the white rosin dust coating Misaki's fingerboard. "You should clean that white stuff off."

"Huh?"

"Here." Ritsu took out a small cloth from his case and handed it to Misaki. "It's sticky, so you have to clean it off."

"Oh, I see." *sigh* "I told you I was new to this." Misaki took the cloth gratefully.

"Well, you'll just have to learn," Ritsu laughed.

"Could you show me how it's done?" asked Misaki meekly. To think that such a great violin player had to be paired with a newbie like him was embarrassing.

"Here, I'll put it in now and show you." Ritsu placed the cloth on the fingerboard and under the strings.

"Just inside like that?" Misaki asked.

"Yeah, and then just go up and down." Ritsu began gently wiping away the rosin dust from the fingerboard.

Misaki watched closely. "Oh, I see!" The white residue quickly disappeared, leaving the instrument sparkling clean again. As he reach out, to retrieve the violin, Ritsu's sleeve brushed across the f hole (yes, those curved holes you see on a violin are called the "f" holes).

"Ah!" Ritsu cried out in surprise as his arm was pulled along with the instrument.

"Ah? Why is-"Misaki stared, confused.

"I-it's stuck!" The button on the cuff of his sleeve had gotten stuck inside the violin.

"W-what! Whoa, it really is stuck inside the hole!" Misaki tried manipulating the button but to not avail.

"Wait wait wait wait wait! Uh, ah, here. Can you try to-" Ritsu, panicked, this being the first time his arm was stuck to a violin.

"Crap! It's stuck! Why don't we-" Misaki began shaking the violin, trying to force the button out.

"Owowowowowow! Stop moving!" Ritsu's arm was getting wrenched out of its socket.

*POP!* The two of them froze. They looked down to see that Ritsu's arm was free. But where the button had been….was only a piece of snapped thread. They looked at Misaki's violin. Misaki picked up his violin and shook it slightly. A small rattle could be heard as the button rolled around inside.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

At that moment, Usagi and Takano burst through the doors, concern written all over their faces.

"MISAKI!" "RITSU!"

Misaki and Ritsu were spazzing out, yelling, surrounded by their music sheets, and shaking the violin wildly, as the button rattled around. "NOOOOOO, THE BUTTON GOT INSIDE THE VIOLIIIIIIIIIN!"