EDIT 12/4/15: seems I posted the first chapter up by accident. No idea how. Here's the proper part three...

Review Reply to Guest (Chapter 1) So sorry for not posting this link in the previous part, but here it is now: . /post/112533936155/we-all-know-kousei-and-kaori-wouldnt-spend-their
Obviously, replace the things in brackets with the actual symbols ^^

Review Reply to Guest (Chapter 2): Good to know you liked this! I'm aware that some of my ideas of how things would turn out might be odd to some, but good to know you are enjoying the fic! Thanks for the review.

Review Reply to kaosei: There are a lot of things I want to say in response, but that would make this author's note too long, so I will just say these two things: 1- I don't understand what you mean by a 'big name' and 2- Saki is the name of Kousei's mother, and I have explicitly mentioned this in the chapter. So it's not as if the name came from nowhere.
If you're still confused, post an ask to my tumblr page (link on my profile) and I can give you a fuller explanation to my reasoning there.

Anyway, general notes! This is the final part. I was originally going to focus on two later generations, but much like the entire fic sprouted from one-shot into three-parter, the story of one of the generations just got too big to the point the other felt a bit unnecessary. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this final part, and do leave feedback!

Youichi was not happy.

"What do you mean, Satoru wants you to come?" Youichi glared at his friend as they stood in the park after school. Aki looked sheepish and fiddled with his backpack. They had been walking home from school, and had decided to cut through the park to get sweets with their weekly pocket money when Aki had asked Youichi for a favour that annoyed him.

"Mum and Dad are working, and it's his first performance….look, please. I'll never hear the end of it. " Youichi rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Fine, fine! I get it, Aki. I'll come with you tomorrow to Satoru's piano recital."

…

Sitting in his seat next to Aki, waiting for the next performer to come on stage, Youichi had never been more bored. He wasn't sure of the point of playing songs by long dead people- especially since they were just so boring. The music sounded like old-people music, like funeral music or something along those lines, and he didn't get why anyone would like to hear music that sounded like what you'd hear when you died.

And then the next kid came on stage.

The girl was tinier than any of the other children, and looked even tinier as a result of her wavy dark blue hair, which was very, very long, and only half tied up in a light purple ribbon, which matched her dress and shoes. She stumbled across the stage in a way that was very different to the too-serious walks the other children had done. Youichi stared, gripping his slushie cup tightly, leaning forward slightly to get a closer look. Then he heard some of the adults in the audience sigh and coo at how 'cute' she was and he remembered himself for a moment, but that all changed again when she finally got to the piano and started to play.

For the entirety of the song, Youichi was no longer sitting in a concert hall, holding a slushy. He was walking through a dream, soft lights and colours surrounding him. And weirdly, when he looked up, he could see the stars. It was…pretty and he had always thought pretty things were soppy and girly. Not this time. This prettiness seemed like…a place he wanted to be, more than anything else. It made him feel happy, and warm on the inside. Nothing like dead-people music at all- in fact, he'd never felt more alive than he was while listening to that song.

Why do I feel like this? He wondered. Where are all these pictures and feelings coming from?

When the piece finished, he was shocked to realise that there were tears forming at the edges of his eyes. Discreetly, he wiped them away. He didn't want Aki to tease him, after all.

…

When the recital finally ended (the rest had been boring, because nobody else had played like the girl), he could barely contain himself as he waited for Aki to get Satoru so that they could all go home, and as soon as he had separated ways with them, he ran as fast as he could to tell his parents that he wanted to be a pianist.

But they didn't think he was being serious, and instead laughed and explained how music wasn't 'a real job' and that he was better off sticking to his previous ambition of running an ice-cream parlour. He felt like explaining he didn't want to be a pianist as a job, he just wanted to learn how to play in such a way that someone could be taken to a whole new world. But their laughter annoyed him, and so he defied them, silently. He looked up videos of pianists on the internet, read books in the library, and made notes which he kept in his secret space under his bed. He tested his memory on all the different aspects of music, in the same way he learnt new spelling words. But he said nothing of this to anyone. Not to Aki, or Aki's family, or to any of his friends or teachers, and definitely not his parents. He kept it all secret, even though he wasn't completely sure why he needed to.

Soon, Youichi was able to visualise everything he needed to do before he could play any of the many pieces he'd memorised. The only problem was, he had nowhere to really practise. He wasn't able to find the time to sneak to the music room in school, and he could hardly ask his parents for a piano. He supposed he could have asked Aki if he could practise on Satoru's piano, but that would have meant telling them about how he had changed, and he wasn't about to do that. In any case, as March approached Aki told him that his family would be moving overseas, so he wouldn't have been able to, even if he did come clean.

…

One lunchtime in the May of fourth grade, when his other friends were all off for some reason or another, Youichi decided to try and use the school's music room. And like a dream entering the waking world, the girl he had seen almost a year ago was sitting at the piano, playing a Chopin piece he had come to appreciate. She was slightly taller, and her hair was longer, but she looked much the same. But now he was seeing her from a much shorter distance, he saw how her eyes were a chocolate brown colour.

Those eyes widened in surprise as they took him in. He wondered what the kid was thinking.

"You've come to practise? Nobody comes to practise here, ever!" Her voice was pitched lower than he'd expect, and it took him by surprise, as if he hadn't been stunned enough by her presence.

"I…erm…actually, I just want to try the piano."

The little girl frowned.

"What do you mean, try?" she queried. "Haven't you played before?"

Youichi glared, not liking the insinuation. She was just a little kid, she had no idea about anything. He reached into his bag and pulled out the folder in which he kept all his precious, secret notes.

"I've been trying to learn! But I don't have a piano, so I can't!" Now someone else knows my secret. Oh, fun!

"You want to be a pianist?" she asked. Youichi nodded as the girl regarded him with a long look. After a long, long look, she smiled. In fact, she beamed, and looked overjoyed for reasons Youichi could not even guess at.

"Okay." She got off the bench, and stood by it. He walked to it, and then realised that he didn't know her name, or why she was in his school. He hadn't seen her around before, and he thought that he would have.

"Wait, do you go to this school?"

"I'm in the first grade!" the girl said, as if she was surprised he didn't know, "My name's Yumiko Aiza-Miyake. What's yours? You're a sempai, right?"

"Youichi Uemura. Fourth grade. Don't bother with the sempai stuff."

"Oh, okay! Then you can call me Yumiko. 'Aiza-Miyake' is too long anyways." Unexpectedly, Yumiko giggled. Youichi found himself smiling at the sound, even as he sat and stared at the keys of the piano. Now he was confronted with an actual piano, his dream seemed like an impossible one.

He rested his hands on the notes, and tried to remember all the things he had spent ages and ages looking up. Then, he began to play the same piece that Yumiko had been playing when he'd unexpectedly interrupted, mostly because he couldn't think of anything else in that moment, but also because for some reason he thought it was fitting.

When he finished (or rather, trailed off), he turned to Yumiko, waiting to see what she thought. She seemed to like it, because she was grinning, looking even more ecstatic than she had when he'd told her he wanted to learn the piano.

"Do you have a teacher, se-ah,Uemura-kun?"

"Gee, what do you think?" Yumiko's smile faded for a moment, but then she seemed to brighten up again, and she stuck her finger up in the air, as if she was telling him to wait.

"I have a lesson today. Come with me, kay?"

"Uhhh…."

"You said you don't have a teacher, so share mine! Nakahara-sensei's really nice, really, really, really nice. I'm sure he'll say yes."

Youichi blinked at that, but he thought it might be a good idea. The only problem was if the teacher said he had to ask his parents. That, and he wasn't sure how he felt about sharing a teacher with this overly cheerful little kid. Who, as it turned out, wasn't as annoying as most little kids, but still.

But this is a chance, silly! You could learn properly, on an actual piano!

"Okay, fine. Should we meet after school?"

"Hmmm….school gates? Is that a good place? I don't think you'd want me to come to your class."

Yumiko was right, but he didn't want to say that. It didn't seem right. So instead, he told her that he was fine, and spent the rest of the lunchtime watching her play on the piano. Bringing music to life, the way she had the first time he'd seen her.

And three hours later, he was sitting at a piano for the second time in his life, playing like his life depended on it. But this time, he was aware of his mistakes, cringing as he stumbled through the piece. Yet somehow, eventually, he finished, and he waited for the teacher to tell him that he wasn't good enough.

"So, you've been trying to learn to play the piano, but without a piano?" the teacher-an old man who was only slightly scary- asked, instead.

"Y-yeah." Youichi blinked, not sure what to do now there was no criticism.

"I see. That suggests to me that you really want to learn."

"Yes-eh, uhm…" Youichi struggled to remember the teacher's name, then remembered "Nakahara-sensei. Yes, Nakahara-sensei."

Nakahara simply nodded, then looked towards Yumiko, who was sitting on a settee in the corner of the room, staring at them the way Youichi normally watched exciting movies. When they had arrived at Nakahara's house, Yumiko had pelted the teacher with a passionate and enthusiastic plea to 'teach Uemura-kun, PLEASE', telling him about their lunchtime encounter in a way that made Youichi cringe. Nakahara didn't seemed too pleased at the intrusion, but clearly thought Yumiko was a good kid or something, because he had agreed, on the condition that he played. Which he had.

Maybe Yumiko's idea was a good one. For a first grader.

"Why, may I ask, do you want to play so badly?" Nakahara queried. Youichi considered his answer carefully. Yumiko was in the room, so it would have been embarrassing to say that it was because he had seen her, specifically. It would have been generally embarrassing anyway, so he decided to give half an answer.

"I used to think music like this was dead, and boring, and not nearly as fun as making ice-cream. But one day I heard someone play music in a way that was really, really cool! It was like I was in some whole other universe, or something. And I figured that I could try and do that too, so I can take myself back to that place. And maybe someone else, too."

Nakahara had smiled when Youichi had mentioned ice-cream, and that smile hadn't left his face. He nodded in approval when his explanation had ended, but that didn't prevent the question he had been dreading.

"Do your parents know, about how much you wish to play?" Nakahara asked very seriously.

Youichi reddened, and looked down at the floor. He suddenly felt ashamed of how much he had hidden his new passion from everyone. He knew it was wrong, and he didn't dare to look at either Yumiko or his potential teacher.

Nakahara sighed.

"I see." He paused, and then continued "For the time being, you may share lessons with Yumiko, even though you do have a lot of catching up to do. You are good for someone who has barely touched a piano before, but you're nowhere near the level of most pianists in your age group, or even in Yumiko's. I'll make sure you're up to that level at the very least. But, we need to be clear on something."

Youichi looked up at that, wondering what Nakahara was going to tell him to remember.

"No more dishonesty. Being a pianist becomes part of the blood, and you cannot hide that. So, promise me this, Youichi-kun. No. More. Secrecy."

Youichi mouth dropped open. He was really getting a teacher. He couldn't believe it. When he looked over at Yumiko, she was just as surprised, but she also seemed proud.

"I promise, Nakahara-sensei!"

…

Youichi kept his promise. As soon as he got home on that day, he told his parents that he wanted to play the piano. And he didn't back down. It didn't take them long to realise that he was serious, and after going to talk to Nakahara, they paid for him to have some lessons of his own, so he didn't need to share them all with Yumiko. They also bought a piano for him, albeit a second-hand one. But it was enough for him, and being able to practise at home soon paid off. But his newfound honesty didn't stop at his parents. He also told his friends, and was no longer shy about using the music room at lunchtimes to play for a while. Indeed, some of his friends would come to watch, which made him pleased. He also had an occasional audience at the Weaving Fragrance Café, owned by Yumiko's parents, for they had a piano in the actual café area, there for customers to play on as they pleased. Yumiko and Youichi would even duet together from time to time.

He also began to think of Yumiko as a friend. The lessons and duets they continued to share did have something to do with that, but he found he enjoyed her company outside of those times, too, despite her being a girl three years younger than he. Although he didn't like nicknames, when Yumiko took to calling him 'Yocchan' he accepted it, and in return he called her 'Yumi'. They often walked home and to lessons together, and he soon found out that the reason for her odd walk was that she'd been born with one leg slightly shorter than the other. It was barely noticeable to him, but it required lots of operations to correct it, so he also visited her whenever she had a stay in hospital. When he discovered that her favourite things (apart from piano music) were bluebells, chocolate and cats, his father helped him spend the better part of a weekend trying to figure out an ice-cream recipe that would result in chocolate ice-cream that was bluebell coloured, and then took it in a cat-face shaped bowl to give to her in hospital. In return, she got her father to make caneles like the ones sold in the café she lived above and give them to him for free.

But to her credit, she didn't really let her leg interfere with her life. When she wasn't using crutches or in hospital, she would run with him and climb up the jungle gym with no fear, and she didn't seem intimidated by his friends-at least, the ones who had stayed with him. A few friends had distanced from him, claiming he was a 'loli-con', but he didn't really care. The friends he did have (including Yumiko) were his true ones, as far as he was concerned. The others didn't matter, although sometimes he wondered what he would have done if Aki, who had been his friend since before kindergarten, had been one of those 'others'. But he had lost touch with Aki, and so he wouldn't ever know what he would have made of their friendship.

…

"Hey, Youichi, do you feel up to making some ice-cream today?" Youichi's father came out of the kitchen just as he came in through the front door. Youichi considered the offer. It was a warm day for September, and he didn't have all that much homework to do, but truth be told, he jumped at any opportunity to make ice-cream. So he agreed, and as soon as he had changed into home clothes and put his school things away, he helped his dad drag out the large ice-cream stirrer from the kitchen and assemble it, before scouting the kitchen for ingredients.

"What flavour should we make today, Dad?" he asked, examining the shelves of flavourings.

"Well, given that I have a day off and your mother's working late, how about we choose one of her favourite flavours?"

"Like strawberries with honey? We could keep the honey for afterwards, mix it in when we're actually serving, rather than adding the honey at the beginning."

"You're the expert now, son!"

"Daaad. That's not true!" Youichi couldn't help but grin as he found the rest of the ingredients he needed and set them down on the counter. As soon as he was able to walk, his father had made him help out while he made ice-cream on sunny days, using recipes that had been passed from generation to generation. Eventually, Youichi had got the hang of it to such an extent that not only could he do the whole process alone, he had adapted the recipes to his own tastes. The bluebell coloured ice-cream was a good example of this. For the longest time, ice-cream making (and eating) had been his only enduring interest as he tried and discarded many other hobbies, none of them holding up to the standards in his mind. Until he had learnt the piano, that was. Now he had two things he enjoyed, and he was glad of it.

They worked silently for a while, going through the procedure that father and son were so comfortable doing, and it wasn't until Youichi had been turning the handle on the old ice-cream maker for a while that he decided to broach an important topic.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hmmm?"

"You know how I'll have to decide what high school I'll be going to soon."

"I'm aware. Have you got any preferences?"

"Well, Nakahara-sensei says that I have a good chance of getting into any of the nearest music-oriented schools. And truth be told…I think I want to try."

Youichi's father stopped to look at him.

"You want to go to a musically focussed school? Are you sure about that? As far as I can remember, you'd have to live in dorms if you got into any of them, and aren't they awfully competitive?"

"They are…but that's what I want to ask you. The Eastern Japan Piano Competitions, they're an important one to go for if you're applying to high-school. The schools tend to pick the best of the entrants to attend their schools. There's also this scholarship I could go for. The Kaori Miyazono Foundation. It supports young musicians, in particular those 'who show real innovation and flair' and also it helps those who struggle more than normal to become good musicians- you know, like if they have illnesses or they're really poor. Nakahara-sensei thinks that I could be eligible for the first category. But even if I only win the prize the foundation offers rather than one of the scholarships, then I still have a good chance of being accepted. So, would you let me try, at least? Please, Dad?"

Youichi only realised how much he had talked when he got to the end of his final sentence and found he was out of breath. He stopped turning the handle, and looked at his dad, who looked thoughtful.

"You're…really serious about the piano, huh?" He mused, half to himself. He picked up the box of strawberries, and put it down again. "I'm still having trouble believing it. You were always such a restless child."

Youichi waited patiently rather than protesting.

"I guess you're not that child anymore, huh? Play something for me, then."

"Eh? You hear me play all the time."

"Ahh, that's a bit impromptu, don't you think? Relax; I can hear you from here." Youichi's father laughed heartily. Youichi shrugged, and left his father to the ice-cream while he went to the living room, where his piano stood. He sat down, and then after a few moments, he decided to play the Arima piece 'Second Chances'. It was one of his favourites.

When he finished, he turned to see his father hovering at the door.

"That song was definitely written by a parent." His father said, simply. Youichi blinked.

"Erm…I think that the composer wrote it when his wife was expecting their child, but Yumi knows all the stories better than I do." He was a fan of the idea that when someone played a song, they became part of its story, and so the songs origins weren't the ultimate answer, so to speak. Yumiko, on the other hand, was deeply interested in the inspirations for all the songs they played.

"So, I was right. Anyway," Youichi's father cleared his throat. "Do what you must, in regards to high-school. Just make sure you tell your mother first, at least. "

"Sure. Thanks, Dad. Should we get back to the ice-cream now?"

"Yes, I think we should."

…

Youichi entered the Eastern Japan Music Competition, and somehow managed to make through all the rounds up until the final. He ended up fifth overall, but also won an award for 'Audience Favourite', as well as getting a scholarship from The Kaori Miyazono Foundation. He was accepted by a fairly good music school, and lived in dorms there, and got by just fine. Yumiko came to visit him a lot in the dorms, and sometimes, he would take her around the school building on illicit tours that he somehow never caught doing. Of course, he always went home to visit, particularly if Yumiko was in the hospital, although she'd been having less and less of those operations.

And as they grew, Youichi felt his feelings towards Yumiko grow and change. Or, rather, the maturity helped him to recognise them for what they were. As a nine-year-old, he had fallen in love with the six-year-old Yumiko on stage, and afterwards, when he met her and got to know her, he had fallen in love with the real girl, too. And he suspected that she felt similarly. She had often declared to both him and family members that what she really, really wanted to do was marry him, and while it was something that could easily be dismissed as childish ramblings before, it was less easy to do so as they grew older.
But neither of them said anything. They didn't need to. Instead, they slowly edged closer towards their feelings. One holiday, while walking to the Wavering Fragrance Café, their hands brushed against each other, accidentally, but instead of springing apart, Yumiko took the opportunity to hold his hand, properly, and once he had gotten over the surprise, he gripped her hand back. Often, while watching movies on Youichi's laptop in his dorm room, the two of them would fall asleep together, Yumiko leaning on his shoulder, Youichi's arm loosely around her waist. They told each other their feelings whenever they played the piano for or with each other. The first time they kissed was on Yumiko's sixteenth birthday, soon after she had been accepted into the same high school Youichi had attended, when they were walking through the park at night. But for the most part, they kept the passionate side of their relationship private, not that their feelings weren't obvious to everyone who knew them. And that was perfectly fine by them.

On the day that Yumiko was due to graduate from high-school, Youichi only had lectures in the morning, and so he spent the day visiting various shops for what he needed, and then headed to the school, waiting patiently by the gates as he watched the other excited students stream out of the gates, clutching to their certificates in their scrolls and chatting excitedly. Yumiko was doing the same when he spotted her, but as soon as she spotted him she broke away from her little group and ran clumsily to him, her impossibly long hair flying out behind her

"Yocchan!" she stumbled to a stop, and grinned.

"Yumi." He said, simply. Yumiko laughed.

"Yocchan."

"Yumi."

"Yocchan."

It was an old joke of theirs, and they repeated it until neither could bear it and they both broke down into giggles. When they managed to calm down, they regarded each other. Then, Youichi held out his hand, expectantly. Yumiko's cheeks pinked, but then she stretched out her own hand and placed it in his. Their fingers locked, and they walked down the road, holding hands.

"So, Yumi." He began. "You've graduated now. What are you going to do with your life?" he grinned, indicating he was teasing. Yumiko beamed back.

"Silly Yocchan! You know what I want to do! I want to marry you!" her beam faltered, and she paused.

"Can I?" she asked. "I mean, may I?" Her eyes widened as she looked at him searchingly, and for a moment he was reminded of the day he had wandered into the music room of his elementary school, only to see her at the piano, playing a song called 'Cherry Blossom Ghosts'. It was an obscure piece, and not all that many people knew it, even within the music world. But it was now his favourite, because it reminded him of her, no matter where he heard it.

They stopped under a cherry blossom tree, hands still entwined. Youichi used his free hand to dig in his pocket.

"You know, "he said conversationally, "Usually, it's meant to be the guy that proposes, but we're not exactly traditional. But anyway, I figured that I should at least get a ring." He let go of her hand so he could open the box, and then held it out so she could see the sparkly ring within.

Yumiko's eyes widened, and tentatively, she reached towards the ring. She picked it up, and hummed as she did so. Recognising it as Arima's piano duet 'Incomplete Symphony', he began to hum the other part as Yumiko slipped the ring on her finger and admired it from all angles. As he predicted, it fitted her perfectly.

She looked up and smiled at him, letting the song fade away. The cherry blossoms spun and danced around them as they regarded each other for a moment. Then, Yumiko leapt into his arms.

"Yocchan, I love you!" she declared. He hugged her tightly, and then spun her around and around.

"I love you, too." He told her as they both laughed under the cherry blossoms, paying no attention to the others going by. And as they did, the ghost of a cherry-blossom girl watched from afar, feeling satisfied that she hadn't been forgotten, but also happy that here, in front of her, was yet another love story that had gone right.

Quick disclaimer that I still don't get the whole fourth grade, fifth grade etc system, so there may be some mistakes in that regard.
Also, if you do a tumblr search of this fanfic's title, I have drawn some fanart of various characters as they appear in certain moments of the fic, and will probably continue to do so.

But anyway, thanks for reading!