Penny for your thoughts?"

"Oh, hi there Kahoko. I didn't see you coming."

"Haha! I'm not surprise. Would you mind if I join you?"

"Not at all."

"Thanks! You know I've been seeing you oddly dazed a lot. Well, that sound pretty normal for you, but I can tell something's bothering you…. Well?"

"… Kahoko, do you think being a push over is bad? I mean, when your too shy to stand up for anything, and just let others get their way, do you think that reflects something negative about you?"

"Hmm… I suppose so. Although I doubt Shoko has any serious personal issues of her own. It's just that way she is, veeeery timid."

"Um, but I didn't mean her…"

"Riiiight… anyway, I'm worried about her sometimes, too. Just the other day she got shouted at by Len because she almost tripped over his case. What a jerk that guy can sometimes be."

"I know, I was there."

"Yeah, and I can tell you were pretty upset even though your face didn't tell much."

"…"

"Keiichi, in the violin, the most fragile string is also the one with the highest pitch, and therefore the most melodious at proper intervals. Same is true with the cello, right?"

"Yes, we have the A-string. It's sometimes annoying how it easily breaks if not tuned carefully."

"Like a beautiful flower; can't let it fall on the hands of a beast now, can it? You have to be gentle with it, make use of hands that care, rather than crush. We don't always use our bows roughly, especially on the thinnest strings for the softest of tunes. We need gentle hands, Keiichi, very gentle hands."

"Gentle… hands…"

A-String

I don't Own this anime... sorry, the title's too long

Upon entering the room, Keiichi did the first think he'd often do before practice; appreciate something beautiful.

"Good afternoon, Shoko!" he said quietly.

"Good afternoon, Keiichi!" and she returned the greeting with twice the softness in word-flow.

The boy was starring blankly for awhile, until he thought he'd stared enough. Shoko was of course unaware, cleaning her instrument with a peaceful expression on her face that explains Keiichi's intent look.

Out came the bulky cello from the case, followed by the newly polished bow. Shoko admired the sight of Keiichi's small body gracefully maneuvering the big thing around, and then continued with her business. A thought came to mind however which caused her to stop.

"Um, I'll be moving to another room now. You might need to practice. Excuse me."

The boy expected that from her, and he didn't like it.

"Why?" Keiichi suddenly asked coldly, "you were the first one here. Why don't you ask me to move instead?"

"Um, I, uh… I'm so-sorry…"

"Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong…" the bridge of the cello was gripped tightly by his rather small hands, yet no trace of any emotion still. Just a bored, default expression.

"You're right. I'm terribly sorry, um, I mean, I-I! Oh dear…"

The sight of her trembling form caused so much guilt inside of him, but he just couldn't get the message out properly. How does he do it?

"You're always like this, so small and so inferior to others. People always push you around like you're a nobody." His voice was as soft as always, but it pierced through a part of Shoko's shrinking esteem. "Are you a nobody? I don't think so…"

The girl didn't know what else to do, except just stand there and let penetrating words get to her. At this, Keiichi's displeasure doubled.

"You play with such grace and serenity no word can explain; you think a nobody can do that?"

He roughly positioned the bow and immediately bombarded the walls of the room with powerful tones. Shoko was taken aback; it clearly gave voice to the untapped emotions of Keiichi. The said cellist was mindlessly releasing all his contained sentiments, of her, of the way she was being treated, of the way he feels for her, of what he wants for her…

"You're not a nobody! You're not!" he mumbled under each bow, "Stop looking down at yourself. Give meaning to the reflective masterpieces of your playing, the soul of your piccolo withers everytime someone pushes you around. Please, Shoko, don't let that happen. Don't let them, treat you this way. You're not a nobody! You're not! You're not! You're…"

And snapped went the A-string, taking a deep cut on Keiichi's point finger in the process.

"…not a nobody. You're Shoko… you play very well; you make such a wonderful sound. Please…"

Keiichi stared plainly at the crimson liquid slowly being secreted from his wounded finger.

"…how bothersome… See, Shoko? When I gave an up-bow carelessly, it damaged the A-string." His voice seemed to have mellow down, though it hardly changed the whole time. "The A-string is very fragile, and also very elegant went used properly. It's stupid to bow it the way I just did."

"Keiichi, your finger."

Shoko quickly ran over to him and attended to the wound.

"Yes, like a tender flower, never to be handled by a brute, but only with gentle hands." He watched as Shoko cleaned the refuse and the wound with her tongue, and then wrapped it up carefully with her handkerchief.

It was Keiichi's turn to attend to her. With his palm he captured Shoko's round cheeks, making her face him. He has never grown tired of anything with such loveliness, especially those in her eyes. Deep inside them he gazed.

"Oh, Shoko, your so beautiful," he began, "and so tender, like a flower." Her skin felt smooth and soft under his gentle strokes. The sensation made Shoko feel secure under his touch, and she took hold of the warm hand to savor such feeling.

"I won't let you fall in the hands of brutes. No, I won't let that happen."

With tears flowing from her eyes she gave Keiichi grateful smile, the only thing her confidence managed her to do. But it was enough for the boy. He shared the expression, finally able to convey what he feels without doubt of its meaning. A few moments later, Shoko found her body watering from the stressed moment, and so falling in to the arms of her new found knight, the two shared a long due embrace.

Keiichi took a deep breath and pulled her closer. In her ear he whispered the sweetest and most sacred of all words. Shoko's eyes widened…

end