I wrote it in the summary, but I'll say it again, this is something I would have done if I had complete control of Kanade in the game. As such, this story may contain information that is a spoiler for the anime (considering that right now only one episode has been released).

I do not own Kiniro no Corda 3/La Corda d'Oro Blue Sky or any affiliates.

Kanade saw red. What was Ritsu saying? Was he serious? The boys didn't even pause their arguing as she strode straight up to the tall, indigo-haired boy. None of them noticed her until the loud crack of her hand contacting with Ritsu's cheek stunned them into silence.

"Hi-Hina-chan?" Daichi asked uncertainly.

"Kanade…" Kyouya murmured in shock.

Ritsu just stared back at her with wide eyes behind his wire-rimmed glasses, a red mark in the shape of a handprint steadily growing darker on his left cheek.

Tears rimmed her eyes as she stared down at the floor. "Leave."

"Kohinata…."

"I said for you to leave!" she shouted at him. "Go to the hospital and have a doctor look at your wrist." She waved back at some of the other orchestra club members who had been cheering them on backstage. "Anyone here will be willing to go with you."

Now that the shock was starting to wear off, he was beginning to get angry. "I said I'm staying."

"And I'm saying that you're going."

His jaw set stubbornly, about to make a retort.

"There's no reason you have to stay here." She locked her gaze with his firmly. "You knew something like this might happen. Why else would you have made Kyouya the first violin for the second song?"

His eyes narrowed as he straightened up. "I'm staying."

She shook her head vehemently, the tears beginning to pour. "Please, Ritsu, go look after your wrist. You love the violin, don't you? If you wait here, you may not be able to play in the next round, or even for the rest of the competition, or possibly the rest of your life! I know you want to lead us to the championship for your mentor, but do you really believe he would be happy to know that you've possibly thrown away the rest of your life for this one trophy?"

His eyes widened, disarmed by the pleading, tender look on her face.

"Please, Ritsu, you're worth so much more than that." Her expression softened to a smile. "You've done your part for this round, so let us handle the rest while you take care of what you need to. No one will think any less of you. Please, have faith in us."

"She's got a point, Ritsu," Daichi broke in.

She could see him struggling with her words, but eventually, their bespectacled leader nodded tersely and looked over at the group of students who had come to cheer them on. "Tadano-kun, will you go with me?"

"Of course," Genki Tadano answered with a determined look on his face. "I'll get the ice from Haru and call a taxi and then we'll go."

"Thank you." Ritsu looked over at Kanade's bowing hand. "Kohinata…does it still hurt?"

She blushed bright red in embarrassment. In retrospect, hurting her hands not long before they had to go onstage was probably not the best idea, but she had just been so angry…. "…It still stings a little," she admitted before adding, "but I think it'll be fine by the time we go on."

He simply watched her with an unreadable expression on his face. "Good."

"Prez," Genki called from the doorway.

As Ritsu turned to leave, he stared back at his younger brother.

Kyouya frowned. "What?"

"I'm counting on you."

The younger boy flushed and averted his gaze. "Get going already, idiot brother."

Ritsu nodded, and made to leave before pausing and striding back to Kanade. "Kohinata." He fished something out of his pocket. "Take this."

With a confused look, she took the silver ring that resembled a tiara. "What is it?"

He paused before explaining, "It's something I've always carried. Ever since we were children, I've thought of it as a good luck charm." He smiled a little. "Don't be nervous; you're not alone. Music will always be by your side, so do your best."

She grinned back at him. "We will," she promised.

Then, with a last nod, he turned and left.

Just a short little thing, but it did feel nice to get out some aggression. When Ritsu first was like, no I just messed up my wrist for this competition and I'm going to hang around here to listen to you guys play even though I really have no reason to, I seriously wanted to punch him in the face. Yes, I understand that you want to bring the glory days of the Orchestra Club back for your mentor, but geez, think about your health a little, will ya? Thankfully he was only out for the semi-finals, but seriously, that was a new grade of dumb. Why is there no Lili?! He would have told Ritsu straight up that music is what's important here, not winning some competition. *grumbles*