▃▃▃▃▃ it was way too serene; it was oddly weird.

kita shinsuke was not used to the silence that resonated throughout the squeaky clean room; the neatly folded sheets, the perfectly stacked books, the teapot that was filled with a warm, delightful jasmine tea.

     nothing was out of ordinary, so why did the dull-eyed boy feel that something was slightly off?

kita gently placed his book down as he stood up, pacing around the room as he made sure that nothing was disarranged.

     "maybe it's about time I practice", kita mumbled to himself as he unsheathed the koto that the school had momentarily rented him.

     as he placed the thirteen-stringed instrument onto the tea table, kita took a seat on the mat, kneeling.

strumming the strings elegantly, kita internally felt a bit more at ease as he occasionally pressed down on one of the strings to create a more darker and queer sound.

     this was exactly what kita needed to soothe his soul.

routine.

routine made him feel good. repetition, perseverance, and diligence made him feel good. rules made him feel good, because it was like an outline, and it gave him what he needed to be successful.

     so why was it that kita had felt this pitiful feeling gnawing at him, begging him to do something else? what else could he be doing other than practicing, reading, cleaning, and preparing to impress his granny at the school play?

     it was one of the rare moments where he wasn't disturbed by the twins or suna. he should've been delighted, but he wasn't.

     a presence was missing.

     for two days straight, etsuko was gone as soon as class was over and came back after kita's bedtime. hence, the boy honestly did not see the girl unless it was in class, to which he was concentrating on the instructors.

but it couldn't be. kita couldn't possibly be upset that he was alone with his peace and quiet.

     this was long awaited and he finally received his deepest desires, or at least he thought he did.

     kita's brows furrowed as he stopped plucking the strings. there was no point in him practicing if his heart and mind was elsewhere.

"kita?"

     the dull-eyed boy suddenly snapped out of his trance as he saw etsuko walk in with her flute in her hand.

     "oh haru...you're back", kita mumbled, to which the girl had lightly chuckled.

     "yeah, I came back to get my music. I'll be back later. I've got to go practice with kenji!!"

"kenji...?"

"yeah! shirabu kenjirō. I gave him the nickname of kenji", etsuko smiled as she snatched the music sheets from her back, getting ready to head out once more.

"no worries. I won't bother you anymore. practice lots so that you can do well in tryouts tonight!", etsuko cheered as she slammed the door shut, heading towards room four.

     "I'll see you later and good luck!!"

     kita only hummed silently as he stared at the shoji, where etsuko had last lingered before disappearing behind the door.

     the dual-haired male sighed, wondering what was wrong with him.

     diverting his attention back to the koto, kita cleared his mind fully, or so he thought. he couldn't help but have a little voice linger in the back of his mind.

     'I wonder how haru's practice is going'.

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     tryouts were a bit wack for etsuko, as the girl had suddenly felt her nerves bust through the ceiling of the stage's building.

surprising both shirabu and iwaizumi, etsuko had made vast improvement over the last two and a half days with the shakuhachi and reading music.

     though granted, shirabu wasn't a nice teacher either. the copper-haired boy made sure that etsuko was able to read every note on the page that he had written prior to their session.

     on top of that, shirabu would make the girl repeat a note at least 20 times, perfectly without cracking, before she was able to move onto the next note.

     to put it simply, it was ultimate hell, but it had paid off.

"now, for the results that you've all been waiting for! kita shinsuke on the koto", principal nekomata first announced, to which everyone had clapped, especially etsuko, who was very proud of the boy.

     "iwaizumi hajime on the taiko! and because we've had many stunning tryouts, this time round, we will have two shamisen players: tsukishima kei and yamaguchi tadashi!"

     etsuko irritably sighed as she felt a nudge to her side, making her look over at shirabu, who was staring straight ahead.

"you need something?"

shirabu scoffed. "how do you think you played?"

"mm...well better than I did two days ago", the girl lightly chuckled, making the copper-haired boy furrow his brows.

"seriously".

"ah...well...I kind of freaked out and you know...played a few wrong notes, so I'm not too confident, but it's alright, because I had fun these few days learning with you", etsuko smiled, making shirabu finally glance over.

"y-you what?"

"I had fun", the girl simply answered. "I've never even held an instrument before, so honestly speaking, it was quite thrilling for my first time", etsuko admitted, very grateful that she even got a chance to hold a shakuhachi.

     "oh".

     shirabu didn't know what to say as principal nekomata cleared his throat, making everyone look up.

     "and for the flutes, we have shirabu kenjirō...and sugawara kōshi!"

     shirabu somewhat worriedly looked over towards etsuko, who had on a wide smile and was clapping as if she were the one to be chosen.

     "congratulations kenji! guess you don't have to worry about me bothering you anymore", the girl joked, to which shirabu had just clicked his tongue.

     "you're forgetting that we're to be playing the shakuhachi soon for irihata-sensei, and you're still way too behind", shirabu stated.

     "eh?" etsuko tilted her head to the side as she processed the boy's words.

     "are you saying that you'll help me more then?", the girl questioned, nudging shirabu consistently as she wriggled her brows.

     "quit doing that with your eyebrows! it's disgusting", the boy fake gagged, though not denying the fact that he's going to continue helping.

     "tch. sensitive much?", etsuko muttered, to which shirabu was about to make a comeback before he calmed himself.

     "anyways, iwaizumi and I made a deal that we would be going out to celebrate if we made it into the band. would you like to come too?", the boy coughed out.

     etsuko hummed, about to respond before she felt another person sit beside her.

     "haru, would you like to have dinner with us tonight? atsumu says that he misses you", kita said, to which the girl had started laughing.

"a-atsumu?! kita, are you lying to me?", etsuko chuckled, to which the dual-haired boy had awkwardly avoided the girl's gaze, making her hold back her instinct on wanting to pet his head.

"sorry kita-san, but etsu's coming to dinner with iwaizumi and I", shirabu butted in, to which etsuko had questioned when she had said that.

"did he say that? or did you force him to", kita calmly asked, to which shirabu had glared at the male, though kita was not intimidated in the slightest.

sensing the tension, etsuko just awkwardly smiled, patting both males' backs.

"how about we all eat dinner together tonight? plus, kita made it onto the team too!", etsuko cheerfully suggested, to which shirabu had huffed, meanwhile kita hesitantly nodded.

"great! well, I'll see you guys at the cafeteria no later than 6:25!", etsuko chirped, leaving the two boys sitting alone on the stage.

as etsuko had escaped, the girl questioned whether she'd have to pay for everyone's food or not.

"dear lord, please let them pay for themselves!", the girl begged.

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セレンディピティ
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