Disclaimer: I do not own Kiniro no Corda or any affiliates.

"I'll be right back with a hard-boiled egg Hihara-senpai!" Kahoko cried, running to fetch said egg from her bag over on the bleachers.

"An egg?" Kazuki exclaimed quizzically. He winced as his swollen cheek began to smart. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" he hissed as he gingerly touched his aching cheek.

"That softball really hurt!" he remembered ashamedly how the ball had seemingly come out of nowhere and collided with his face as they walked together. "How embarrassing to be knocked down right in front of your crush!" he thought in agony, tugging on his hair to emphasize his distress.

Kahoko ran back, egg in hand. "Hold still, Hihara-senpai," she said as she reached for his face. She slowly began to rub the egg on his swollen cheek with the palm of her right hand as her left hand held his face steady.

"Tssss…" he hissed in pain as the egg touched his stinging cheek.

"Hang in there, Hihara-senpai. My mom told me that if you rub your cheek like this, then the swelling will subside soon."

As she focused her eyes on her task, Kazuki gazed deeply into her eyes, her nearness casting a spell over him. As she continued to rub his cheek, he was drawn closer and closer to her face. He knew that he shouldn't, but her allure was too powerful.

"Such lovely eyes...They're like a transparent, liquid gold. Depending on the angle and lighting, they look darker, more like the gold of brass. When she's happy, they light up and come alive. They fairly glow with life...I could gaze at them forever and never tire of them..." His face slowly drew nearer.

When Kahoko felt a warm breath near her cheek, she shifted her gaze away from his cheek. "H-Huh? H-How did he get so close?" Kahoko finally noticed how close their faces had become. He had oh so gradually closed the distance between them from about a foot to a couple mere inches. How had she not noticed it? She sharply inhaled, her golden eyes locked on his amber. Despite herself, she could feel her heart race and her lips begin to quiver.

They held that position for what seemed like an eternity: hearts racing, lips quivering, drowning in each other's eyes and closeness.

Kazuki let out a breath with a shudder before he finally closed his eyes and began to draw away. As reluctant as he was, he couldn't help but feel that this wasn't the way their first kiss should be.

As he pulled back, Kahoko felt her heart sink. "I thought he was going to kiss me…" she thought in disappointment. Her eyes widened. "Am I…disappointed?" Shock began to grip her. "I…I need to go…"

"Hi-Hihara-senpai…" she heard herself say. "I…I need to go do something…I'll leave the egg with you." She got up and slowly walked away. As she rounded the corner she broke out into a run and collapsed on a bench in the garden. "What just happened?" she wondered aloud.

Kazuki sat against the wall Kahoko had just left, gripped with guilt. As he held his head in his hands, remembering her retreating back, he asked aloud, "What have I done?" He rubbed his temples as if to express the weight of his indiscretion.

"I have to apologize to her," he determined, shakily rising to his feet. He broke out into a run, hoping to find her quickly. "Where could she be…? Not there…No, not there either…Wait, is that her in the garden?"

The sight of her confused, heavy-hearted face broke his heart. He slowly walked over to her, head bowed in remorse. "Kaho-chan…" he whispered softly.

She shot to her feet. "Hihara-senpai…!" she cried out, her face a mixture of emotions. Her eyes widened as she trembled ever so slightly.

His heart wrenched. "Is she…afraid of me?" He closed his eyes in anguish. "How could I scare her like this? I'm the worst!"

"Kaho-chan, I'm so sorry!" he bowed. "I…I shouldn't have done that. It was inappropriate of me. I'm so sorry!" He raised his head briefly, just enough for Kahoko to see the emotion in his eyes. He lowered his head even lower and whispered, "I didn't mean to scare you…Words can't express how sorry I am…"

"Please raise your head, Hihara-senpai! I can't stand seeing you like this…" she begged.

He shook his head, keeping his head down. "I don't deserve your forgiveness, Kaho-chan. I've done a terrible thing. I…I almost took advantage of you, and right after you were kind enough to help me too! I made you experience something awful and frightening…" his voice broke.

"Please don't be so hard on yourself! You didn't frighten me! I…" she looked down at her feet and confided, "I'm just confused…The whole thing was so sudden and shocking…I really don't know what I think or feel...I don't know why I was so disappointed afterward…It was the strangest thing..."

Kazuki's head snapped up in astonishment. "You…You were disappointed? Why?" he asked, flabbergasted.

Kahoko looked up at him in agitation. "That's the thing…I don't know!" she cried fervently.

He felt time slow around them. "Do I dare…?" he asked himself. His heart pounded loudly in his ears as he took a deep breath to steady his nerves.

"Umm…Maybe…Maybe I can help you figure it out…?" he breathed, his own boldness frightening him slightly.

"How?" she asked in cautious curiosity.

"Uh, well, uh…maybe…" he fidgeted uncomfortably, still debating whether this was a good idea. "Maybe…you were hoping for a different ending…?" he trailed off.

"A different ending?" she asked in puzzlement. "What do you mean, Hihara-senpai?"

Before he could talk himself out of it, he quickly strode to her side and pulled her into his arms. His eyes locked with hers as he brought their faces to their previous proximity.

Her eyes widened and she froze in his grasp. As she stared back into his amber eyes, she felt herself falling into them. Her pulse roared in her ears. Her heart galloped. Her lips trembled, a shuddering breath escaping them, unconsciously expressing her desire.

Kazuki bridged the rest of the distance between them as his lips swiftly claimed hers.

How long had he longed for this moment? His first kiss…he was glad it was with her. Before he had met her, he had never cared much about girls in that way—a couple passing crushes here and there, but nothing like this. He knew deep in his heart that he loved and cared for this girl like none other. He pulled her a little closer, pouring all of his feelings into the moment.

Kahoko marveled at the warmth and love that spread through her body. "So this was the different ending," she thought with happiness, as their lips mingled. When the bell rang faintly in the distance, she pulled a hair's breadth closer, allowing their kiss to linger. "Just a little bit longer…"

Hello! This is my second fan fic that I've ever written (first published), and my first one-shot, so any suggestions on how to improve it would be more than welcome.

I got the main idea for this fic from a scene from a Taiwanese drama called "Wei Xiao Pasta," or "Smiling Pasta," starring Cyndi Wang and Nicholas Teo. In the drama, Teo's character accidentally gets a bruise on his cheek while preventing her from...it was either falling or crashing into some kind of lamppost, and Wang's character tries to bring down the swelling by rubbing an egg on it. It was a super cute scene. Since Kahoko has taken care of Kazuki's injuries in the past, I thought this could be a somewhat plausible scene. (^_^)