My Lie in October

Chapter 13

The next day came quicker than Kousei expected. He went to the store in the morning to pick up the best tea he could find, hoping she liked the type.

While getting the tea ready, he pulled some egg sandwiches out of the refrigerator just in case.

The water was boiling when he heard a knock on the door. Good, he thought. I don't want to look super prepared.

He went to the door and opened it to find Sakura waiting here, holding a pile of sheet music and a big smile. "Hey there!" she said enthusiastically. "I hope you didn't forget the tea you promised me!"

"The water is boiling right now. If you come in you can have a sandwich while waiting."

She stepped inside. "Thanks!" She set the music down on the hallway table so she could take her shoes off. Kousei led her to the kitchen table after she picked up the pile again. Sakura set the music down on the table while Kousei finished up with the tea and got cups ready.

"Before I forget, here are the two Purcell pieces," she said. Kousei walked over with the pot, set it down, and took the music from her, studying them. "'Thy Hand, Belinda / When I am Laid in Earth' and 'I Love and I Must.' The accompaniment looks pretty simple," he said, nodding slowly.

"Oh, I just really like these two songs cause the form and the beauty of the notes are nice, not that the title or lyrics really . . . oh whatever. Wow, this tea looks great!" She poured herself a cup before Kousei would offer to do it for her. She sat down and took a sip right as Kousei took a seat across from her. "Wow, this tea is amazing! I don't know if i could ever drink the stuff I have at home again!"

"A sandwich would really go well with this tea."

"I bet. You have some?"

"Yeah, some egg sandwiches."

Sakura took a bite and immediately relished it. "This is the best afternoon snack anyone could have in the world! I bet I would never get tired of this, paired with the tea." She took the last few bites then said, "Sorry. I didn't want to steer the conversation from the real reason I'm here."

"Nah, it's fine." Kousei started to get a little nervous but not as bad as he thought it would get. Maybe because of the sandwiches.

"So how about you share what you had in mind first?" asked Sakura.

"Uh, sure thing." Sakura sipped more tea while Kousei spoke. "So my friends Watari and Tsubaki are asking people as well, so we thought a good group date would be the festival or the arcade and bowling."

Sakura suddenly broke into a coughing fit after spitting out some hot tea.

"Oh, did the tea burn your mouth or something? Do you need some water?" Kousei asked.

Sakura could only cough, though she was trying desperately to talk. After some time passed she managed to get out, "Did you *cough* really say group date??" *cough cough*

As she was getting her coughing under control, Kousei nodded, "Yeah. My friends thought that a one-on-one date first time would be a little too awkward, especially considering me," he said with a slight grin. "So we all thought a group date would be better. Are you sure you don't need any water?"

"No, *cough* I think I'm fine now." She was quiet for a few moments to ensure she wasn't coughing anymore. "So we're here, talking, because you wanted to talk about ideas for a, uh, group date?"

Kouse nodded. "Yeah. What did you have in mind?"

Sakura cleared her throat after she was really done coughing. Then she laughed a little. "Haha, I came here expecting to have a quick discussion on what piano duet we are going to do."

Luckily Kousei wasn't drinking tea when she said that. "Wait, piano duet?"

Sakura sighed. "Yesterday, I was shocked that you said you know what I was going to say. I was going to ask you if you wanted to do a piano duet with me for the competition since that is one of the categories. I thought there was no way you would see it coming, but you said you knew what I was talking about and said yes."

Kousei was stunned. "I thought you were going to ask me out, so I just said yes before you even asked officially. I was trying to spare you the awkwardness. Sorry, guess I should have let you ask normally."

"Well, uh, this is more awkward." A long and very awkward silence hung in the room. "Wait, so you told your friends that you asked me?"

"Oh, uh yeah. I just assumed. I'm really really sorry. They're expecting you to come cause I told them you said yes."

"My, my. What are you going to say to them?" Sakura asked, almost shamefully.

"Wait a second, you also assumed that I would play a duet with you for that competition?"

"Well, I haven't turned in the paperwork yet. It's due today which is why I wanted to choose a piece when I came over."

Another awkward silence filled the air, the Sakura broke it.

"Ok, I'll do it."

Kousei seemed confused. "Do what?"

"Go on the date with you." She blushed immediately afterwards, but tried to hide it. "I don't want you to go to your friends and say you got turned down. I also don't want you to experience that either. Plus, you've been living the last 24-hours thinking that I said yes to this, so I don't want to change that."

Kousei could hardly form any words, but somehow managed slowly, "Are, are you sure?" Then faster: "You really don't have to if you don't want to. I know this came up really suddenly for you, so don't feel pressured. Why don't you go home and think about it first? I'd hate to feel guilty for a hasty decision that you made."

Sakura slowly nodded after a while. "But what about the piano duet? Are you wanting to do it or not? I've been living the last 24-hours thinking you would do it."

He stood up and walked across the room, deep in thought. Finally, he looked at her and said, "Sure. Just mark us down and send in the form. If I change my mind later we can always cancel. Better to just have the option there."

"I still have to mark what pieces we would play," Sakura reminded.

"Just choose what you want. I'll manage."

Sakura looked a little worried, but responded with "Okay." She gathered her things and started towards the front door. Right before she opened it to leave, she said, "I'll sleep on it tonight."

Sakura stepped out of Kousei's house and shut the door behind her, leaving Kousei to curse himself over and over again.

When Sakura got home, she finished filling out the paperwork. She put a check under "piano duet," wrote hers and Kousei's names down, and filled in two pieces; "Schubert's Fantasia in F-minor for two pianos," and "Beethoven's 3rd symphony 1st movement arranged for piano four-hands."

Wow, what a chapter!! Don't know if you guys were expecting that or not. Hope you enjoy!

(A bit of sadness comes from writing to you guys, because I first published this over a week ago and not a single view. Not even a spambot!! ;_; )