Authors Notes: Schools in Japan start in March/April and end in February/March, but I'm pretending that school lets out in mid-June like many high schools in the USA do, instead of in March like they actually do in Japan, and that a 3rd year is a Junior, not a Senior.

Sometimes instead of explicitly stating which character is speaking, I use the honorifics to give clues. Hopefully, it should be obvious who's talking. f(^_^; )

There is a fair amount of the story that goes on in people's heads, so here is a quick guide.

Kazuki Hihara's thoughts

Len Tsukimori's thoughts

Ryoutaro Tsuchiura's thoughts

Azuma Yunoki's thoughts

Keiichi Shimizu's thoughts

Kahoko Hino's thoughts

Shouko Fuyuumi's thoughts

"All other character's thoughts"

Disclaimer: I do not own Kiniro no Corda or any affiliates. The only real characters I (mostly) own are Sumire Hanazawa (her looks are based off of a picture I found online) and the family members of the original characters (sort of, their personalities are mine, but not their existence). This disclaimer holds throughout the whole story.

Author's Note: As with all links in this fic, please substitute elipses with periods.

"Oi! Kazuki! Wake up!" my older brother Haruki called out while stealing my pillow, rudely awakening me from my slumber.

"More sleep…" I mumbled as I grabbed my stolen pillow and covered my head with it. "No school today…"

"There may be no school, but there is stuff to do. Now get up! Remember, we promised mom that we'd run some errands for her, and she wants us to get started. Now move it you lazy bum."

Groaning, I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes before heading to the bathroom and getting ready. Little did I know that today, I, Kazuki Hihara, would receive a revelation into my own heart.

Haruki and I ran errands for mom and then we hit the park to shoot hoops with friends. That's when everything started.

Watch this: (full version, may require installation) (veoh...com/browse/videos/category/animation/watch/v20446813XAcEzcD2) (add the www. or it won't work)

Parts: (youtube...com/watch?v=wqjL-YF7Q1E) (youtube...com/watch?v=8ZNfZeta-eo) (youtube...com/watch?v=j0vVbVmCkoU) (youtube...com/watch?v=X8G8Oifgqug)

Tired, he flopped down on the ground and hung his head.

Now that I know that I like her, what do I do? Kaho-chan, if I were to tell you my feelings, would you accept them?

Shaking his head, he packed up his trumpet and walked home with a turbulent mind.

From that point on, he found himself even more attuned to her than he was before. Seeing her sad made him sad and seeing her happiness gave him joy. They continued to discover music more and more together with the other concours participants as time continued to pass. Summer turned to fall, and school started again. While Kazuki loved vacations, he was glad that school had come again because now he had a chance to see Kaho-chan every day. But as the leaves changed colors and fell, he was ever-reminded that he had not yet told the red-haired girl his feelings, and he was running out of time.

Author's Notes: I had the idea of making an integrated fic with video and stuff, so this is the result. I don't know why, I guess I just wanted to open the story with sort of the sequence of events that led Kazuki to the realization of his feelings. Since the rest of the story didn't happen in the anime, this is the only chapter that has video integration like this. I don't remember if I enabled comments on the youtube videos, but if you can't really comment on them, then please feel free to comment on them here. =D

I promise that after this chapter I start actually doing some writing!

As always, please review!