3 Chapter 3: Your Lie in December

Kousei actually thought that the party was just solely in the theater. It was not expected that it was rowdier backstage. People were clapping, yelling, jumping, dancing, and doing all sorts of horseplay like everyone won the lottery. A lot of them were congratulating their small band as if they just became champions of a competition. When they left the backstage before the performance, only the crew were there. Somehow, the people multiplied when they returned.

One schoolmate even got Kousei a glass of something that tasted so bitterly sweet that it made him almost vomit.

"Is this alcohol?..", Kousei asked said as he realized that the boy passing on drinks had gone over to someone else already to offer another one.

"We're under aged, keep it subtle, man..", Kousei added but was completely ignored.

Ganryu and Taka somehow managed to disappear into the mob while Emi remained beside Kousei, holding his hand. He could tell that she was doing much better than he was. She was in her element, after all.

"As expected from the Piano Pair..", Kousei yelped in terror as if he imagined the police finally caught them doing under aged drinking when an old man's voice spoke to them. "Once again, congratulations on a job well done."

It was Nakagawa-sensei, one of their teachers, not the police. But still, Kousei felt nervous and paranoid that the old man might catch him drinking.

"Thank you so much, Nakagawa-sensei..", Emi immediately replied while bowing.

Kousei bowed as well, hopefully concealing his obvious awkwardness while he thought of how Emi came to his rescue. "Thank goodness she was there to save the day. I was never really good with socializing especially right after taking a shot of who knows what type of sake."

"It's really astonishing to see you both working together in our great school. But I still look forward in seeing you again against each other in Maihou next year. You both will be there, right?..", Nakagawa said.

Then Emi and Kousei shot smirking glares at each other. Yes, they were sort of dating, but they were fierce rivals first.

"Yes, Sensei. We'll both be there..", Kousei answered with a little bit more confidence this time.

After a few minutes of chatting and shaking hands with different teachers and schoolmates, Kousei began to feel tired. Trying not to be socially awkward was a drag for him. He felt like he was missing something, like he had this mysterious urge but could not quite pinpoint it.

Then Emi squeezed Kousei's hand. When he looked at her, he quickly understood it. She gave him the look that simply said, "I can handle this, it's okay. Go to your corner and rest..", without saying a word.

"She's the best, isn't she?..", thought Kousei with a faint smile. "Sometimes I couldn't help but feel like I was being unfair to her."

"Thank you, Emi..", Kousei whispered to her then she flushed a bit. He knew she loved being called with her first name by those dear to her. "I'll just be in the studio."

Emi was very good with people. Everything about her was so genuine, and yet ironically, she hated being in the spotlight. No one really knew how she did it, but everyone loved her.

The studio was dark when Kousei opened the door as he arrived. "Finally.. a moment of silence had been given to me."

As Kousei closed the door, a complete silence engulfed the room. The soundproof walls of the studio completely blocked the noise outside, the perfectly quarantined area in school if one thought the opposite of chaos was a disease as of the moment.

Kousei stood for a few moments and pondered in his thoughts. "What was I supposed to do again?"

Then Kousei found myself walking towards the bench in front of the grand piano. He finally realized what he was itching about. He had an overwhelming urge to play the piano.

"That's right. The guitar didn't feel right. My fingers are itching to touch the keys..", Kousei told himself as he started playing Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9".

It was the 24th of December, after all. It was going to be Christmas eve that night. Christmas season had already started weeks ago in Tokyo Disneyland, and what better way to celebrate the holidays with a piano other than playing Japan's most popular Christmas carol.

Although Beethoven did not intend to make the song for the yuletide season, somehow it ended up as Japan's favorite Christmas song.

"They even sing it in German everywhere, and the Japanese couldn't understand it for crying out loud..", thought Kousei to himself as he played the piano. "There was just really something about this song that connected us to snow and pine trees."

Still, while playing the song, Kousei did not feel satisfied. And so, he gradually shifted to another piece. He tried his best to make it smooth. He then thought about the blonde girl on stage while he transitioned to his original composition for her, "Watashi no Uso" (My Lie). It told about the sad melodic tone of her letter that she gave him about three years prior. He made the song according to her perspective. However sorrowful the piece, there was one part where it shifted into a cheerful melody, the lie itself. It was the confession that changed his life forever. "It permanently painted color on my black and white."

"I was very sure that it was only my imagination that placed her there on the stage. Well.. I did always lose my mind whenever I performed, so it was forgivable..", thought Kousei as he played his composition. "However, I really did wish that she haunted me so I could talk to her.. and hear her voice again. If so.. then it just confirmed that whenever I performed on stage.. I reached her."

Then Kousei hit the final note of the piece to a stop after being drowned in his thoughts about the blonde girl of his past. "How about now? That was your song.. Did I reach you? Come back and haunt me again.. Ask for caneles.. Let's go to school at night.. How about looking for fireflies after? Just please.."

"It's a beautiful piece, Kousei. I actually wished you never stopped..", Emi said, causing Kousei to almost jump straight to the studio's window in horror. Good thing it was made of tempered glass, although he was still white as snow when he stood up with a slightly bleeding head.

"Were you there the whole time? You almost killed me of a heart attack..", Kousei said to Emi, implying that she scared him. Well, he was afraid of her to begin with.

"Halfway through 'No. 9'. I didn't want to stop you. You were so into it. Nice transition too..", Emi replied and actually confirmed that Kousei transitioned well to the next piece. "Anyway.. someone's looking for you. Let's go."

Before Kousei even got to ask Emi who it was, she was already out of the door. "Typical Emi.. she never waited and always moved forward. It was a good thing but can be annoying sometimes."

As soon as Kousei stepped out of the door, an extremely familiar voice screamed, "Kouseeeeiiii!!!". He knew already what was coming after. But before he could even react, all the air had left him, and he was already falling to the ground with someone hugged tightly on his midsection.

Watari ambushed Kousei with a tackle like they were kids imitating their favorite professional wrestlers. He stood up immediately after that, then wiped his glasses with his shirt.

"Wow, up already? You're a lot stronger than how I remember you, buddy..", Watari said while he put his arm over Kousei's shoulder. "And I have to tiptoe just to headlock you now, huh? Digging the hair as well, bro."

"It's great to see you, Watari. It's been a while", Kousei replied, simultaneously putting an arm around Watari's shoulder as well. "What're you doing here? You have a girl in Okutsu?"

"What do you mean by I have a girl? I'm here to watch my best friend perform, of course!..", Watari answered, pretending to be offended. "You were awesome, by the way. Where's Emi-chan? I saw her a while ago. Introduce me, Kousei."

Kousei stared at his best friend blankly. "I knew it.."

"I'm here..", and Emi had to show up immediately, flashing that smile of hers. "You must be Watari-kun. I heard so much about you from Kousei."

Kousei thought. "Watari-kun?!? Where did that come from? I could see my best friend melt with hearts in his eyes as soon as she talked to him."

"Oh forgive my manners..", Kousei intruded. "Igawa-san, this is my best friend, Watari Ryouta."

"It's with great pleasure to have finally met you..", Watari seemed to transform into a gentleman, flashing his looks while he held Emi's hand for him to kiss.

"And Watari, this is Igawa Emi.. my girlfriend..", Kousei added.

As soon as Watari heard how Kousei introduced Emi, he literally fell backwards with feet up as if the world fell over him. Emi immediately turned as red as her dress and gave an awkward smile while she looked away.

"Girlfriend, huh? That's not official though..", Emi shot back as she glared at Kousei, forcing herself not to smile uncontrollably. Kousei just gave her a confident smile.

"Eh??! You cheated, Kousei. Why didn't you tell me earlier?..", Watari responded as soon as he got up. Kousei just laughed out loud until Emi shot a glare at him again.

"No fair! You always get the good ones. Now, Emi-chan too? Before, it was Tsubaki. Well.. that's a bit complicated. But even before that was Ka..", Watari added but stopped midway as if he remembered something. "I'm sorry. Got carried away there, I guess..", he continued and chuckled awkwardly after.

An ear splitting silence followed. "Thanks a lot for roll calling the ghosts of Christmas past, Watari..", said Kousei in his thoughts while trying to telepathically communicate this to his friend.

"Oi.. Tsubaki got me back up good, Watari. It really just didn't work out with the distance, you know..", Kousei said just to break the silence and also glanced at Emi to rule out if what he just said was enough for her to murder him. Thankfully, she was fine with it because she knew about everything to begin with. "Good Boyfriend no Jutsu.. complete honesty about the past..", Kousei added a jest and a thumbs up to make things less awkward. "And yes.. that's a high level jutsu."

Kidding aside, the three of them decided to go to a Korean barbecue nearby to serve as a reunion dinner. Watari agreed to be a third wheel as long as they split the bill, which was not a problem at all.

"Who would've thought that catching up was such a drag?..", thought Kousei while they walked on a Christmas lit street leading to the barbecue place. "I mean.. me and Watari kept in touch, but seeing each other in person after almost three years is a different story."

Apparently, Watari and Keiko did date exclusively at one point but did not work out due to the distance. Well, no one who knew him could actually think of him being a one woman man in the first place.

"Or was he just messing around with me since we were with Emi?..", thought Kousei as they entered the Korean diner.

Also, Watari managed to become the captain of his high school football team when he was just in his second year. If there was one thing Watari was committed to, it was football.

"How did you do that? That's great..", wide eyed, Emi asked Watari while they ate together.

"Because I'm awesome..", answered Watari with a smug look on his face. Emi smiled without a hint of awkwardness while Kousei waited for any sign of a weird response.

"But yeah. I just worked hard on it. I can't postpone on becoming a superstar, you know. I only have a year left before I nail that college scholarship..", Watari added, which made a lot more sense.

After they ate, they joked around on how stuffed they were. The beauty of Korean barbecue was that one could eat as much as one wants. And the three did such up to a point where they regretted it.

"I'd really like to ask for the bill now, but I don't think I could stand just yet..", Watari said with noiseless laughter in between. They kept laughing as well. "And you know what's worse? If we don't ask for the bill, the barbecue will just keep on coming. And we have to eat it.. or else we pay extra..", he added with more laughter. "And that's not even the worst part. To top it all off.. I think I'm gonna shit my pants if we keep laughing like this on a very stuffed belly."

When the three friends finally got tired of laughing, Kousei took a deep breath and wiped his tears from laughter. "So why are you really here, Watari?"

"I already told you, buddy. I wanted to see you perform..", Watari answered, trying to look convincing. "Okay fine.. maybe I did do a little bit of girl watching..", he added, sounding a little more honest.

"Liar..", Kousei answered coldly with a smirk.

"I'm not lying, man."

Kousei shot his best friend with a sarcastic expression. "Sure.."

"Wow, really? I just wanted to see my best friend perform again."

"Nice try.. Is this one of your desperate attempts to get me to go home?..", that silenced Watari.

For the past year, Watari did try a lot of antics just to make Kousei go home during school breaks, including faking to be sick and hospitalized.

"But I must say.. this one's a good one. I really do appreciate you coming here, buddy..", Kousei said genuinely this time.

"So you're finally coming home?..", Watari asked with a big and pleading smile on his face.

"No..", Kousei blankly answered, and Watari stumbled backwards again.

"Oh come on, Kousei. You've been stuck here in Okutsu since we got here in tenth grade. Maybe it's about time..", even Emi started to convince Kousei to go home. "We're all going home with our families for the winter break, anyway."

"If that's the case then I should really stay here. It's easier for my dad to go here since we're closer to the airport..", Kousei argued. "Besides.. even Hiroko-san plans to visit me here."

"But you didn't even go home the past three summers as well. You didn't have any reason to stay here..", Watari argued too. "It was boring with just Tsubaki and me, you know."

"Correction.. I had a summer job..", Kousei replied, immediately defending myself.

"For what?..", Watari asked.

"For myself, of course. Gotta save up, you know."

"Watari-kun, it's no use. He's pretty much convinced himself to stay here forever. He's not going to listen..", Emi said while she shot a piercing look towards Kousei saying, "I'm gonna kill you later, even of you keep insisting on staying here no matter what".

Watari sighed with great disappointment. However, he still managed to smile a little.

"It hurts me to see my closest friends feel my pain sometimes..", Kousei thought as he smiled faintly at his best friend.

"Well if that's what you want, buddy. But yeah, you were really awesome on that stage. You looked so happy. I'm glad. Warms my heart..", Watari said sincerely.

"Thank you, Watari. See? You're actually so smart if you're not being shallow..", Kousei jested and laughed. Emi smirked as well.

"Eh?! And what's that supposed to mean?!..", Watari exclaimed as he quickly went towards Kousei to give him a headlock. Kousei just laughed it off and tried to do a counter, but he was no good with wrestling. Emi just laughed at them, obviously very entertained with their dynamics as best friends.

When they left the restaurant, Watari said his goodbyes and proceeded to go to his hotel. After that, Emi and Kousei decided to take a short stroll before going home since Christmas eve was usually spent with a special someone in Japan. The couple would not be seeing each other until after the winter break since Emi decided to go home to her family for the holidays, anyway.

"You'll miss me, right?..", Kousei teased Emi.

"Such confidence, Arima Kousei-kun. Where did that come from?..", she reacted with a little nudge and that ever elusive smile. Then she looked down, trying to hide her slowly reddening face. "Of course I will.. but not so much since you'll call me often, right?..", and there she went again with that deadly look.

"That's a promise..", Kousei might've lied.

Walking around the snowy park near Okutsu in silence was nothing nearly awkward for them. Kousei and Emi had been "exclusively" dating for about two years already, and these kinds of things had become trivial for them. Him holding her hand was enough to relay a thousand messages at once while she completely understood everything.

"Kousei..", Emi spoke at the same time squeezing Kousei's hand.

"Yes?..", Kousei replied as he looked at her eyes. They both flushed but did not look away.

"Why won't you go home?..", Emi asked intently.

Kousei thought of the right words for an answer. "Okay.. here we go. She's about to kill me. I guess I have to be completely honest this time. There was no use arguing with Emi.. I won't win."

"I don't think I'm ready..", Kousei answered out loud.

Emi broke her stare. She sighed and closed her eyes afterwards. Kousei could definitely feel her pain because that pain was his to begin with. "Too many painful memories there?..", she pressed.

Kousei was not sure how to answer that, but he just managed to say, "yes". Just when he thought that she was going to proceed in murdering him, she hugged him tightly instead.

"Kousei, it's alright. I understand..", she whispered. This was supposed to make him feel better, but in actuality, Kousei felt worse.

Kousei felt like a complete jerk. "I'm being unfair to you, am I? I'm keeping you hanging and waiting.. until I could finally say that I've moved on."

"That's why I need you to go there.. so that we could finally say that we're ready for the next step.. okay?..", Emi answered while she held Kousei's face with both of her hands.

Kousei just nodded in silence before Emi kissed him. "Good boy. But no pressure. Go home when you think you're ready..", she added before walking ahead towards the dorms.

Kousei could tell that she let her tears drop even if she desperately tried to hide it by hurrying home. "I'm terribly sorry Emi..", he thought to himself while he held an old letter with a black cat sticker inside his pocket.

"I promise I'll fix this for you..", Kousei might have lied again to himself.

Snow fell a little heavier later on that night. It was as if the weather desperately tried to conceal all the brightly lit decorations of that season. However, it never stopped many of the couples to enjoy themselves by watching the showcase of lights on a gargantuan pine tree in the middle of Okutsu. Even Watari himself stopped by to admire the enormous Christmas decor.

"You ditched me again..", said Watari on his cellphone. "You were supposed to come here too."

A girl with long brown hair from the other side of the line fried some chicken as she held her phone in between her shoulder and ear. "You already know my family's here to spend Christmas eve with me."

"Yeah.. I guess I knew..", said Watari with a hint of dismay. "This tree in front of me just gets me a bit sentimental, you know."

"Really? There's a big tree there? You should've said sooner, baka!..", exclaimed the girl.

"Well.. your fault for not coming here, Tsubaki."

Tsubaki let out a long sigh as she watched her chicken cuts fry. "You know how it is, right? In time.. the three of us can see a much bigger tree than that."

"I guess that's that..", answered Watari as he began to walk to the hotel. "I better start packing for home."

"What? You're going home already?..", asked Tsubaki.

"I've got no business in the hotel already."

"What about you bringing Kousei home?"

"I never said I was giving up on that..", said Watari with a little smirk on his face. "I'm using my ace this time. If that doesn't work.. god knows what."

Tsubaki paused quickly in worry as she put the fried chicken in a strainer. "Oi.. don't you think that's a little underhanded?"

"It's our last break before college. I'm using all means just to get him back home..", said Watari with a hint of reluctance. He sighed after a few moments of silence. "Tsubaki.. trust me. I want to save him as much as you do."

Translation Notes:

Maihou - the media related group that sponsors most of the musical competitions in the fictional world of this story. It was first mentioned in one of Kousei's competitions as a child.

Good Boyfriend no Jutsu - literally means "good boyfriend's technique/skill/spell".

Featured Music:

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 - also known as Beethoven's 9th, is the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. One of the best-known works in common practice music, it is regarded by many critics and musicologists as one of Beethoven's greatest works and one of the supreme achievements in the history of western music. Along with Friedrich Schiller's text, "Ode to Joy", it has become the most popular Christmas song in Japan.

Watashi no Uso - one of the original theme songs of the original anime series. It was used all throughout the series especially with sad scenes, but was most notable during the time when Kousei read Kaori's letter.

In this chapter however, the song is treated as Kousei's original composition, describing what Kaori might have been feeling while she wrote the letter. It should be noted that Kousei included a piano instrumental version of the original anime's first OP's intro, "Hikarunara" by Goose House, at the end of his version of this piece to point out the positive changes brought about by Kaori's lie in April from three years before.