The Power of Music (Klara, Girls und Panzer)

A Second Encounter

As lunch began Alexi whistled to himself as he strolled towards a familiar room in the school. As he reached it he opened the door and was surprised to see Klara standing by the windows playing her violin.

Seeing this made a smile form on Alexi's face as he quietly shut the door and sat on a nearby desk. He then sat patiently, listening to her play another beautiful song. He had no idea what it was or what it was called but nevertheless it still made him feel happy inside.

As she reached near the end of the song Klara turned slightly and noticed Alexi watching her, she let out a slight gasp upon seeing him but continued to play. She then proceeded to play the last few notes slowly...

As she finished she was met with applause from Alexi as he stood up and looked at her with a smile.

"That was beautiful~" He said with a smile, causing her to blush slightly and look away bashfully.

"T-Thank... You..."

Seeing this reaction made Alexi blush himself and scratch the back of his head nervously.

(Alexi in head) "Why is the atmosphere so awkward..."

"S-So uh... D-Did you get here earlier today Klara?" Alexi asked, trying to make her and himself feel more at ease.

"Da~ I-I... uh..." Klara stuttered looking away once again "N-Never mind..."

"What is it?"

"I... I wanted t-to hear you p-play this time..." She muttered softly, shakily pointing to his guitar case that was on the table behind him.

"O-Oh, really?" Alexi replied, losing what he had left of his composure as he was shocked she actually wanted to hear him play.

"S-So c-could you?... F-For me?..." She asked with an innocent expression as Alexi stuttered more.

"A-Ah... Well I haven't really practiced much and-" Alexi started, not wanting to play badly in front of her. But in response to his words her expression began to turn to one of sadness and her lip quivered slightly...

"O-Okay then..." She muttered as she turned away slightly.

(Alexi in head) "That's just unfair! How could I say no to her now!"

Alexi then let out a sigh as he undid the two clips holding his guitar case closed and lifted it out.

As he did this Klara heard the sound of the clips being undone and turned around with an eager expression, clasping her hands in front of her as she watched him prepare to play.

(Alexi in head) "Damn... She played me like a fiddle... er violin..."

He then let out one more sigh as he began to play his long time favorite song.

(Alexi in head) "E, B7, E, B7, E, A, E, B7" He thought to himself as he strummed and picked the first verse.

Klara watched on with wide eyes, smiling as she watched him play.

"A-Ah..." She muttered softly again as he finished the first verse, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Yes?" He replied.

"D-Does that song have lyrics to it?..."

"Ah well yeah it does but er... I'm not a very good singer~" Alexi replied with a chuckle, causing Klara to giggle softly herself.

"I'm sure you sing beautifully~" She replied with a wide smile, causing his heart rate to increase.

(Alexi in head) "Well there's a critical hit to my heart..."

"W-Wait a minute!" Alexi announced loudly after his heart recovered a bit.

"I though you said you could only speak a little bit of English?! You sound like you speak just fine to me!" Alexi yelled, raising his voice more than he intended to...

"I... W-Well..." Klara stuttered, her lip quivering once again.

Upon realising he'd been a bit harsh, Alexi put his guitar down and softly muttered, "I'm really sorry... I shouldn't have yelled at you..."

"I-It's fine really... T-The reason why I said t-that was because, well... I-I've b-been told my accent it not very nice to listen to s-so... I just tend to speak Russian so people either d-don't complain or j-just avoid me..."

"So that's why you were surprised that I joined the club, you're used to everyone avoiding you?"

"D-Da... Yes... A-And now I've spoken to you w-with my accent you p-probably want to leave the club..." Klara answered with a downcast expression stepping over to her violin and putting it back into it's case softly.

"It's okay... I-I'm used to it by now..." Choking up slightly as she finished.

Upon hearing her words numerous thoughts filled Alexi's head, and he struggled to work out what to say...

"I'm not going anywhere!" He announced, feeling his heart rate increase as she turned to him with a surprised expression.

"R-Really? B-But..."

"I don't think you accent is annoying or anything..." He muttered, feeling his face heat up as he continued, "I-I think it's k-kind of cute a-actually..."

"A-Ah..." Klara muttered with a gasp, her face turning bright red as she faced him.

"D-Does t-that mean you'll come back tomorrow?!"

"Of course~" He said with a smile, gathering all his courage to put his hand out and place it on her shoulder.

"Thank you Alexi!" She said happily, leaping forward and wrapping her arms tightly around him.

(Alexi in head) "What happened to the reserved and shy girl from before?!"

Though shocked at first, Alexi soon regained some of his composure and put his arms up onto her back causing to to smile even more.

The pair stayed like this for a few moments before...

*BRRRRRRIIIING*

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

As it did, they parted and looked away from each other bashfully.

"I-I'll s-see you tomorrow~" Klara said with a smile and blushing face, looking into his eyes once more before hurrying out of the room with her Violin case in hand.

"B-Bye~" Alexi muttered as she left, nearly falling over in shock as he realised what just happened.

"I look forward to it~" He whispered to himself with a smile.