"Come on!" The girl said as she walked towards her house after school. Two boys accompanied her, one with a soccer ball and one with music sheets. Under the bright sun, the three kids walked down a narrow street with high walls that separated the houses that were next to each other. Even though the wind was a bit chilly, the three of them seemed not to care about it. Through the pink petals of Sakura flowers, the girl skipped while the soccer boy chased his ball and the boy with his music sheets calmly followed them.

"Let's go watch her play the violin! I heard she was super good!" The girl turned around and started to walk backwards.

"And pretty!" The boy with the soccer ball said. The girl gave a look but the boy seemed like he didn't really care.

"Plus you like music right?" The girl asked the boy with the music sheets.

"I don't." He replied.

"Then why do you have music sheets out right now?"

"I had music class at the end of the day."

"Why are you taking music classes then?"

"Because," the boy paused, "it's mandatory."

"OK, fine, I lost." Then the girl walked in front of both of the boys and turned around. "Both of you, follow me." The boy with the soccer ball rolled his eyes but obeyed while the music sheet boy just walked behind both of them without any comment. After a while they ended up in front of a tall, brown building.

"Towa Hall?" The boy picked up the soccer ball. "Why are we here?"

"Because," The girl said while dragging both of them inside, "I'm forcing both of you to watch the show."

***

Inside, there were a lot of people. The girl dragged both of the boys into the hall and they found a seat for each of them in the middle of the hall. The stage was bright under the spotlight and the hall was filled with people's whispers and murmurs. There was a short announcement that notified the people about the starting time and after a few minutes, the lights went down and the only light left was on stage. First, a black haired boy with a bow tie came out and played his violin. It wasn't bad, the music sheet boy noticed, all the dynamics were well played. The next one was a girl, with a white dress that missed a note in the beginning. Suddenly, there was a snoring sound and everyone found that they were staring at a boy with a soccer ball. The girl tried to wake him up but he still continued to sleep.

Few players passed and the music sheet boy didn't notice. Then, the mood seemed to change and everyone's attention was on the stage; there was a girl with brown hair, that rested just below her shoulders, carrying her violin in one hand. She seemed very nervous but she tried to hide it. The boy lifted his head from the music sheets and looked at the stage. The boy with the soccer ball also woke up suddenly and started to listen to the music. The girl on stage placed her violin in between her chin and her shoulder and started to play. The music seemed like a different song as the girl played with exaggerated dynamics. Then, the mood changed again and the girl looked at the pianist who seemed to be worried about something. The girl moved her bow really fast and started to ignore the tempo marking and the dynamics. Then she decided to skip some rests. When the song ended, the boy with music sheet was shocked while all the others stood up and cheered loudly. The girl smiled widely and bowed. Then she left the stage with her accompanist. The judges shook their heads and quickly marked their papers. When the whole thing ended, the girl asked the two boys.

"How was it?"

"It was worth it." The boy with the soccer ball said.

"You slept through almost the whole thing." The girl said.

"What do you think?" The music sheet boy lifted his head once again from the music sheets.

"I thought it was interesting," the boy paused, "and different." Then, a girl ran towards them with a pink violin bag with random stickers on it. On her way, she was stopped by two little girls who gave her a card and a flower bouquet. They smiled at each other and the violin girl still ran towards his way.

"KOUSEI!!!" The girl shouted towards the music sheet boy. He stood there still, stunned by what was happening. This girl, the girl who seemed to play another song, knew him. For some reason, a feeling of warmth came into him. Suddenly he realised that it was the same way he greeted his mother when his performances finished when he was younger.

"Kousei!" The girl now stood in front of him.

"How do you—?" Kousei started to say but the girl cut him off.

"How was the performance?" The girl asked as she started to jump up and down excitedly.

"You were awesome!" Tsubaki said and Watari smiled at the violin girl.

"Uh," Kousei said, "I really liked it. It was really nice even though—"

"REALLY?" For some reason the girl was really excited and continued to shout. Everyone stared at her but they all smiled because of her performance that they really enjoyed.

"OK, so how do you know me?" Kousei asked, still confused.

"Kousei, she's in your class." Tsubaki said. Kousei tried to remember but still had no idea who she was.

"Kaori Miyazono, nice to meet you!" The girl tilted her head slightly and put a hand between her and Kousei. Kousei took the hand and Watari made a tiny smile. Tsubaki and Kaori looked at him.

"Can I have a handshake too?" Watari said to Kaori and she smiled. They shook hands too and Watari started to smile widely as Tsubaki hit him hard on his back.

And that was when Kousei's black and white music life turned into a colourful one.