Chapter 21: Ironically Synonymous Hate

The loud cheering and applause brought Emi back from a world colored with crimson. She was as red as her dress. The scarlet scenery around her started to fade back into multicolor. She began to wonder why the reddish background seemed so realistic. It was then she realized she was crying. 

'My eyes must be puffed with tears already..' thought Emi as she waved to everyone and bowed. 'It's confirmed.. I reached them. It's probably one of the best performances I've ever delivered.. but there's only one more thing to find out. Did I get to reach him?'

The moment Emi opened the wings leading to the backstage, instinct took over her. She fell into Kousei's arms and broke down. It was the first time since she was five that she bawled like that in public. It really was embarrassing for anyone else, but she didn't care. She really needed to let it all out in Kousei's tight embrace. She was crying like a baby.

"I never actually imagined that you still had more tears in there..", he whispered.

"The hell does that mean, stupid?", Emi grumbled. She kept herself hidden within Kousei's shirt as she thought. 'I'm probably drenching his shirt with my tears already.. I've always been a crybaby.. I just didn't show it often.. but this is annoyingly embarrassing..'

"You were already crying the whole time..", Kousei just confirmed Emi had been in that state since the beginning of the performance.

"Got my message?", asked Emi, pertaining to her performance from a while ago.

"You're not going anywhere, Emi.. I'll chase you to the ends of the earth..", replied Kousei, which made Emi look up to him wide eyed. He had a stern expression on his face. 

'I guess I did reach him..', thought Emi in awe. 

"Get dressed before you catch a cold..", he added. Watch me crush everything you just showed me out there.."

Emi gave him a smile that seemed to almost break into crying again. "Don't make me laugh.."

"Now that was a classic one liner from Igawa Emi herself..", a strikingly familiar voice said. 

Emi looked towards where the playfully proud voice came from, and it gave her quite a pleasant surprise. 

"And this is really touching, you guys..", the overly recognizable blonde boy added, referring to Kousei and her hugging. 

Emi instantly took two steps backwards with that. She began feeling hot everywhere as she turned as red as her dress again.

"T-Takeshi! Long time no see.. How'd you get in here?", she asked. He was most probably there the whole time without her noticing.

"I've got my friends here in Okutsu..", Takeshi said, referring to the backstage crew of the event who hosted the competition every year at Okutsu Music Academy Theater. "How are you, Emi?"

"Still the same. You? I thought you'd be in Milan.."

"Extended my winter break in Japan to apply for college..", Takeshi answered. And then, he shifted his attention towards Kousei with a blank stare. "And since I'm in town.. I've decided to watch an old friend, who ditched me in Milan, play.."

"I was really planning to go to Okutsu in the first place, Aiza-san..", Kousei said before he chuckled awkwardly.

"Takeshi!!", Takeshi replied, correcting Kousei on how he should've addressed him. "It's Takeshi!"

"You only went here to watch Kousei, Takeshi?", Emi asked Takeshi while she gave him a look similar to when a grizzly bear was about to deliver a final blow.

Takeshi took a step back and cowered in fear for a moment, but he immediately composed himself afterwards. "No offense, Emi.. but you and I share the same thoughts on who we really consider a true rival..", he said as he gestured towards Kousei. That was a good answer. Arima Kousei had become very dear to Emi, but her desire to defeat him never waivered. "It was nice seeing you again though..", he added before he smiled.

Emi gave Takeshi a friendly hug before going to the dressing room. "It was nice seeing you too, Takeshi.. I'll see you after the competition..", she said while they embraced. She had to tiptoe a little though. 'These boys really grow like trees in such a short period of time..' 

Takeshi blushed a little bit and waved goodbye as Emi walked away.

"Oi Arima! She hugged me first. I've got no intention of stealing your girlfriend. Got that?!", Emi overheard Takeshi talking to Kousei since his voice was too loud. And then, she heard Kousei laugh a moment later.

'I'm not his girlfriend, dumbass. Yet.. I think I'll just let that pass without denial. I feel good about it..'

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Emi immediately went to her seat in the audience after dressing up. No one noticed her since everyone's attention was focused on the one playing on stage. Being the center of attention for almost the entirety of her life, she learned how to deal with people as genuinely as possible. But she really did not like the spotlight.

The turn up was great for a piano competition. The theater was packed. Unlike the ones they joined back in middle school, the venue sat right in the middle of an actual music school. As expected, there were a lot of musical enthusiasts around, and they all went there to watch.

"Sensei!", Emi called out to her piano instructor, Ochiai Yuriko, when she saw her. Her face lit up as she approached her. She really did make the effort of coming even if Okutsu was halfway across the country.

"Emi..", she said with tearful eyes as she wrapped her arms around her student. She sat down beside her. "That was great, Emi. That gave my heart a squeeze. I'm so proud of you..", she added as she still held Emi's shoulders with her hands.

"Then, I'm sorry to have caused you such pain. It's not good for your health. That was dangerous!", Emi jested before they both giggled silently. "Thank you so much, Ochiai-sensei.."

"Dangerous indeed..", a woman's voice came from Yuriko's other side. 

Emi gasped the moment she saw who it was. Butterflies started to fly around her insides as well, and for the ten thousandth time that day, she turned red. 

"That was a beautiful dress too.. you looked absolutely gorgeous in it, Emi-chan..", the stunningly beautiful short haired woman added. 

Emi almost fainted when the woman addressed her in such an endearing manner. It was Seto Hiroko, her childhood idol and role model.

"Thank you so much, Seto Hiroko-sama..", Emi replied to her disappointment since that was the only sentence she could come up with. 'What in the world is she doing here?'

Suddenly, Emi felt that she should've been more conscious on how she played. 'I should've given my all. Was that performance enough? I feel that I could've done better..'

"Whoa kiddo.. no need for formalities here.. Kousei's next. Better give him all your attention..", Hiroko replied before flashing a smile. Emi still couldn't stop blushing at the thought of her actually speaking to her.

'Right.. She's here because she's Kousei's teacher.'

However, Seto Hiroko had never watched his competitions for the past three years. Kousei said that she had to focus on her career as a pianist in Tokyo, and she needed to continue teaching another important student. Also, she couldn't just leave her daughter, Koharu, alone since the child was still very young. They had most of their piano practices on video calls as a result. 

'But what's so special about this competition that she had to come see for herself?..', pondered Emi as she gradually shifted her focus back on the performer on stage.

There he was, finally, the defending champion of the Western Japan high school division of the Maihou piano competition, Arima Kousei. If he won today, then that would be three in a row. 'If he hadn't refused to represent Western Japan in the inter high.. he would've probably won that too.. not me. As much as I don't want to admit it.. I'm still catching up to him..'

Kousei still played the score to the dot. However, he wasn't a slave to it anymore. Every single time he hit a key, colors seemed to explode from the piano. He was no longer a human metronome. Arima Kousei was just simply a human being pouring his very heart and soul perfectly. That boy on the stage, wearing a new dark blue suit, was about to do it again.

The moment Kousei touched the keys, the intensity of the atmosphere skyrocketed. The pressure in the theater crushed everyone inside that it made every single person gasp for air in unison. 

Emi herself held on to the back of her seat. Considering her own playing, she gradually built a crimson environment throughout the duration of the performance. But he just simply blasted red everywhere instantaneously.

Piano Sonata No. 18 in D Major, K. 576 by Mozart was what Kousei chose to play. It was considered to be one of the most difficult pieces to perform, but he just made it look like it was child's play. Not only did he follow the score perfectly, he also imbued so much emotion that was filled with a lot of determination in it.

The first movement's score was marked at "allegro", and he gave a very precise interpretation of it. It felt like he was relentlessly chasing after something, and that something could've been any of the spectators. 

Including Emi, everyone was catching his or her own breath. No matter how much one evaded him, he still caught up. Even if one pushed him away, he still pressed on. His perseverance was very evident. 

Somehow, Emi got the feeling she couldn't escape him.

They were all being devoured by Kousei's imagery. The crimson colored horizon was accompanied by the sounds of burning wood. The world was ablaze as the dogs barked. The heat of the battlefield felt like it was about to melt Emi in her seat. 

But it wasn't a battle. No one was fighting back. It was a hunt. This was his world as his mind played it. The "trumpet sonata", or otherwise known as "the hunt", was what Mozart called it.

Suddenly, Kousei slowed down. The score was marked "adagio" at this point. This was the second movement of his chosen piece. It was supposed to give everyone the impression that the prey had been cornered. It was time to finish it off. The hunter was contemplating on how to deliver the final blow. He was carefully moving about to put an end to the chase.

The image was probably ingrained into everyone's thoughts already. However somehow, Emi got a different perspective of it. Yes, the scarlet sky remained. The burning of wood was still heard. The sensation of heat lingered as well. Although her senses perceived the same things, the scenery changed for her.

Kousei's playing brought her back to the summer after their first year in high school. The campfire blazed near the shore. The sun just set a few moments prior, causing a red glow over the horizon. And the heat of the summer day continued to endure the winds of the approaching evening. The two stayed even after their classmates went home.

His blue eyes peered into her soul through her scarlet ones, something that never really happened often. There was a dire need to look away, but she wanted to stay within his gaze. Slowly, their faces inched closer. She locked his lips with her own, suddenly. She did that to make the moment last longer. She kept him there until the red sky revealed the stars. That was the first time they kissed.

"So are we dating now?", he asked after they broke the kiss. He was blushing all over, and she was too. But there was a strong confident air coming from him.

"No..", Emi should've said otherwise, now that she thought about it. "Let's just enjoy the moment, Arima-kun.."

There was a lot of harmonic exploration in the second movement as Kousei continued playing on the stage. It allowed him to relay his message more clearly to everyone with this method. It still very much followed the score, but there was a lot of his personality in there. Instead of a more brutal and violent end to his prey, "the hunt" seemed to resort to slowly make the hunted submit to the hunter.

"…Igawa Emi-san, my girlfriend..", Kousei's words from the past started to resonate in Emi's mind. "Because we're sort of together?", flashbacks continued.

Emi was being pushed to a corner. This music coming from the stage was a trap. Once again, she thought to herself that she was beaten. There were many times before that she had rejected him in many different ways. And this was the greatest rejection she could've ever given him. 

Still, Emi realized she could never really live up to saying goodbye to him.

'Because he will always come after me..'

"Why can't you just be my girlfriend, Emi?", Kousei asked in another flashback as Emi listened to the rich harmonies coming from the stage. The sounds were soft, but they mercilessly caressed her soul. It was painful but blissful at the same time. He was going for the kill, but she felt more alive. The irony of them being together was they're not together. 

'There's no "us".. but we somehow always end up in each other's embrace..', pondered Emi as she was once again, on the verge of tears. 'Okay fine, Kousei. Stop it.. I get your point.. I'm not going anywhere..'

"My, my.. what have you taught this boy, Seto-sensei?", Yuriko asked in the background. "Why do I feel terrible for not actually swooning in this boy's music? I really am getting old.."

"I didn't teach him that, Ochiai-sensei. I guess he's really just at that age..", Hiroko answered, making Emi look towards their direction. Then, she suddenly leaned forward with an endearing smile to have a good look at her colleague's student. "Isn't that right, Emi-chan?"

And then, Ochiai Yuriko gave her student a worried look. "Emi.. are you alright, my dear?"

"Of course, sensei..", Emi lied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're crying again.."

"Eh?"

Emi was left stunned. She didn't even realize that her tears were overflowing already. She looked at the stage once more. She watched Kousei play again. 'I've been trying really hard to push him away.. but then, he does it again..

'I hate it when he does that..'

Translation Notes:

Inter High School National Championships - the fictional national competition for the purpose of this series. Podium finishers from the Western and Eastern Japan competitions are the only ones qualified to participate in this competition. Igawa Emi is the current holder of the title.

Featured Music:

Piano Sonata No. 18 in D Major, K. 576 - also known as "the Hunt", or the "Trumpet Sonata" with its hornlike opening. It was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as part of a set of six for Princess Friederike of Prussia in 1789. It was his last and arguably one of the most difficult piano pieces to play. Unlike in chapter 10, Emi interprets this piece according to her perspective as Kousei performs this in the Maihou Western Japan piano competition in this chapter.