Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Her first lecture since starting university… Asuka made sure to get in early to make sure she secured a good seat. Anticipating it might be busy, she arrived 10 minutes before her lecture began. Luckily, the classroom was unused, so she entered a somewhat empty lecture hall. There were some people who were more eager and arrived earlier than her, but she was one of the first to arrive. She sat there reflecting on the path that got her here. From leaving Kitauji and the band behind, moving to Tokyo and the start of her new studies. She thought back to her final year as vice president for the concert band, how she almost gave up, thought about Oumae-chan who provided support even though she probably didn’t realise. Asuka reflected on her move and despite the fact that she “gave up” on concert band, she still brough along her beautiful silver euphonium. She wasn’t sure why because in her tiny dorm, there’s no way she’d be able to play, nor did she intend on joining any concert bands. Her mind then drifted to her closest friends, Kaori, and Haruka. Though the trio all went to Tokyo to further their education, Haruka and Kaori ended up at the other campus. Asuka did have to admit, she felt sad at the prospect of being unable to see her best friends every day.

Lost in thought, she didn’t realise when a boy with black scraggly hair walked up to her. He was sporting a plain black t-shirt and dark blue jeans.

The boy turned to her and said, “This seat taken?” and gestured to the seat beside her.

The sudden interaction jolted Asuka out of her train of thought, she immediately snapped out of her internal thoughts, put on a gracious smile, and replied, “Nope, in fact this seat is open for the taking, if you so dare” Asuka beamed at him taking time to carefully analyze and try to decipher what kind of person this stranger is. She continued “In fact, since you asked so nicely, I’ll even offer you a piece of candy!”

A trick Asuka was all too familiar with, in fact one she pulled on her kouhai Katou-chan back when she first joined Kitauji concert band. The boy looked at her with his piercing grey eyes.

“Thank you very much” he replied, as he reached towards the fake hand Asuka was keeping neatly tucked into her sleeve, he suddenly grabbed the wrist of the fake hand yanking it out of Asuka’s sleeve.

“Ha, nice try. Good trick. I’ll still be keeping the candy and the seat” the boy said with a charming smile.

Asuka looked stunned that he so quickly saw through the trick. As the boy sat down, he introduced himself “By the way, I’m Hanagawa Rika. Nice to meet you…”

Asuka knew where he was leading and continued with “Tanaka Asuka, nice to meet you too Hanagawa-san.”

It was then when the professor walked in. An elderly fat man with a head of grey hair, he spoke with a clear voice as he introduced himself to the class. Clearly much of the class was also first year students attending their first ever University lecture. After brief pleasantries and introductions, the professor began going through course expectations and began his lecture.

In what seemed like ages, the professor finally finished and dismissed class. As everyone began to pack up, Rika turned to Asuka and said, “Hey Tanaka-san, when’s your next class?” Asuka checked her schedule again simply to give her time before responding, where in reality, she already knew her schedule like the back of her hand.

“Not until the afternoon, what about you?” she replied.

A smile spread across Rika’s face “I don’t have class for a few hours either, I was going to check out the club fair. Would you like to join me?” Asuka hadn’t given much thought about joining any clubs in university, after spending so much time in the concert band in high school, she wasn’t sure if she had it in her to do anything else. Though, its not like she had anything else do to, and this person seemed rather interesting.

“Sure, I’d be interested to see what types of clubs they offer here.” The pair set off towards the club fare, making small talk and comparing schedules to see if they had any other classes in common.

When they arrived at the club fair, they were both taken aback by the sheer number of little booths set up. One dedicated for each club available at the school, it ranged from typical sports and intermural teams to much more obscure things such as the yakimikan appreciation club. Rika first broke the silence with a simple “wow, I knew they had a lot of clubs here, but seeing this is a whole other level.” Asuka silently nodded in agreement. Rika continued “I did check the school website for a list of clubs, it was quite a long list. Is there anything that you wanted to check out Tanaka-san?”

Asuka thought about it for a moment before replying “Not really, was there anything you were looking at?”

In all honesty, Asuka just wanted to wander around, and see what was offered. Immediately her eyes drew towards the section of the club fair which displayed most of the music ensembles. As if reading her mind, Rika spoke up “Yeah, actually, I kinda want to check out the school’s concert band. I used to play in high school.”

Asuka turned to him with a hint of surprise on her face “Oh really? I did as well” she said enthusiastically.

“What did you play?” asked Asuka “Was it the best instrument in all of the concert band?” she added as she pushed up her bright red glasses.

Rika returned with a big grin on his face “Of course, I get the feeling we played the same instrument. On three. Three, two, one…” “Euphonium” they both shouted out in unison, resulting in a small laughing fit.

Rika smiled “Guess I was right, must be destiny huh.”

Asuka smiled gently “be careful what you get yourself into.” The two walked towards the booth set up for the concert band.

As the pair approach the concert band booth, they are greeted by a short girl with black hair sporting two braids down each side of her head. She greets them with a warm smile, with her soft voice she introduces herself, “Nice to meet you, are you interested in joining the concert band?”

The two first years nod their heads in silence. The girl continued “My name is Hidaka Yuka, and I’m the assistant director. I’ve been a TA under Iwate-sensei for a few years, he’s the director of the band. You two are both first years I take it? What instruments do you play?”

Asuka was the first to respond with “Eupho, I’ve been playing since I was very young.”

Rika followed up with “I play eupho as well, not for as long though.”

Yuka’s eyes light up with excitement “Really?!? TWO eupho players? That’s great. We just had our most senior euphonium player graduate, so we are in need for some fresh blood in euphonium.” She pulled out a clipboard and a pen “What are your names? If you’re interested, I can help get you registered.”

Rika responded first “Rika Hanagawa.”

“Asuka Tanaka” Asuka followed with a small cheer.

Yuka wrote some notes on her clipboard and handed them both a sheet of paper “Please fill this out with some personal details, and hand them back to me. Also, I just want to let you know that for those not majoring in music, you will have to undergo an audition process to see if you will be allowed into the band. Is that alright with you both?” The two first years nodded their heads. “Great, I should have some spare copies of the euphonium audition music. Also, if you need a room to practice in, because I know euphonium is too loud for the dorms, here’s directions to practice rooms.”

She hands them both a map of the campus with the music building circled, and a note written down on where various practice rooms could be found. She then reaches for her bag underneath the table, and pulls out two sets of sheet music, and hands one to each. “Best of luck in your auditions, you should receive an email shortly with details regarding your audition.”

The pair thanked Yuka and went on their way. As they departed, Rika checked his phone for the time “Oh shit, I gotta meet up with someone for lunch before my class. I gotta run or else I’m gonna be late. Tanaka-san, do you want to meet up later today to check out the practice rooms?”

“Sure! I’d be happy to go along, it’ll be nice to have some company” Asuka replied with a friendly grin.

“Awesome, I’ll see you at 5 in front of the music building then” Rika said before taking off. Asuka sighed to herself, that boy had a lot of energy, truly something else. She checked her watch noticing she had a bit more time to kill before heading to class. Maybe it’s best to familiarize herself with campus and her surroundings. Off she went to do a little bit of exploring, and perhaps a little bit of people watching too.

“I of course play the greatest instrument in the band, that being euphonium. Same as Rika.” Itsuki laughed a little.

“Funny to see that you are just as passionate about the euphonium as Ri-kun. I’m sure the three of us will get along great. If it’s practice rooms you’re looking for, those two have so far been unoccupied.” She pointed towards the two rooms across from the one the trumpet player occupied.

“Thanks sis. I’ll be sure to stake my claim on the territory right away” replied Rika as he hurried to occupy the empty practice room.

This left Asuka and Itsuki by themselves, Asuka simply observed Itsuki, noting the physical similarities between her and her twin. The similarities between the two were striking, even up to their postures. Though something about the sister made her slightly easier to read than the twin brother, Asuka felt that she had an easier time understanding and reading the thoughts of Itsuki than Rika. Itsuki was the first to break the silence “By the way Asuka-san, do you mind me calling you Asuka-san? Do be careful around Rika. I know he’s my twin and all, but he has this strange ability to read people. It’s honestly a little uncanny… Just a fair warning to you. I’m sure you’ll ace the audition and I’ll see you in concert band.”

Asuka stewed on the warning (or was it a warning?) given by Itsuki before replying in earnest “Thanks for the heads up Itsuki-san, but I’m sure it will be fine. Plus, I’ll have you with me, right? I’m sure the three of us will make great friends.” At the mention of a trio, Asuka immediately thought about Haruka, Kaori, and herself. How were the other two doing at the other campus? Asuka was going to video call them later today, and I’m sure they would have lots to tell her about their first day of university. She couldn’t wait to hear from them again. She looked at the room across the hall to see Rika-san admiring the inside of the room, stretching about, and making himself at home. She then turned towards Itsuki-san and excused herself before heading upstairs and going back to her dorm. The walk back was plagued by comparisons between her old and new friend trio. Thoughts of how she would balance these new relationships and friendship groups fleeted across her mind. She was sure she could handle it though, nothing that Tanaka Asuka couldn’t handle.

Chapter Text

Asuka looked up at the large building before her and consulted her campus map that Hidaka-sensei gave to her confirming this was the music building. She checked her watch; she was right on time. She looked around and didn’t see Hanagawa-san, hopefully he would arrive soon. She’d hate to have befriended someone who has a habit of being late. Sure enough, she saw the boy running over waving at her, she subconsciously checked her watch, 5:02, not terribly late, she’d accept it for now. She put on a friendly smile to greet him. “Hey good to see you” the black-haired girl said.

Rika returned with a smile of his own “Shall we go do some exploring? Find some coveted practice rooms so we can ace those auditions.” Asuka nodded and the pair headed inside, heading downstairs towards the basement as indicated by Hidaka-sensei’s map. Asuka noticed that Rika was leading the way without the aid of a map, she wondered if it was because he had studied it before hand or he knew where he was going… Either way, Asuka was going to trust that the boy knew where he was going. Surely enough, they found their way to a large hallway with many rooms.

Rika turned to her and said “I’m pretty sure this is the place. Seems like there’s a lot of sound-proof rooms where we can practice our hearts out. Let’s find one so we can stake our claim before others get to it.” The pair walked around the hallways looking for empty practice rooms when they heard the faint sounds of a trumpet. A knowing smile spread across Rika’s face and quickened his pace towards the trumpet sounds. Asuka, not wanting to get left behind, followed suit.

They soon arrived at the source of the music they heard. Someone left the door slightly ajar to where some of the music being played could be heard in the hallway. Asuka was taken a bit aback, the trumpet player had great tone, and the notes came out with great clarity. Though Asuka personally preferred the sound of Kaori’s trumpet to whoever was playing now. Rika reached to open the door and while Asuka tried to stop him from disturbing the musician inside, the black-haired boy fully opened the door and shouted out “Oi, May-chi, I found you.”

Upon hearing this, the trumpet player turned around and Asuka could get a good view of the musician. Her jet-black hair went down to her shoulder blades, she had a sharp face and the same piercing grey eyes as Hanagawa-san. She seemed to have a similar fashion sense as Hanagawa-san, sporting a light grey t-shirt with light blue distressed jeans. Asuka presumed they were siblings but admittedly wanted confirmation before saying anything about it.

The trumpet player then spoke up “Hey Ri-kun, what’s up? Did you just come here to bother me or something? Oh, and it looks like you brought a friend.” The trumpet player gestured towards Asuka as Rika stepped aside to give the trumpet player a better view of Asuka. The trumpet player stepped forward and extended a hand and greeting “Nice to meet you. I’m Itsuki Hanagawa, I’m Ri-kun’s twin sister. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Asuka smiled and reached out and gently shook her Itsuki’s hand “Asuka Tanaka, at your service. I met Hanagawa-san in class this morning.”

“Please, call me by my first name, or else it may get a bit confusing having both me and May-chi be ‘Hanagawa-san’” interjected Rika. His twin quickly followed up with a similar sentiment “Please, feel free. My brother calls me ‘May-chi’ but that is a bit of a childish nickname I’m trying to get away from.”

“Is the nickname ‘May’ because your name is written as itsu (五) and tsuki (月)?” inquired Asuka.

“You got that right. You’re one smart cookie, no wonder Rika wanted to make friends with you. Just make sure you don’t end up doing all his homework for him.” Quipped Itsuki, “but do please call me Itsuki. Anyways, why are you here Rika, did you miss me that much after we both left for the same campus this morning?” she said with a teasing smile towards her twin brother.

Rika took the comment in stride and replied without missing a beat, “don’t flatter yourself. In fact, we are here to check out the facilities. We both signed up for an audition to join the concert band here.”

A flash of surprise ran across Itsuki’s face, “ah so you’re going to join ME in the concert band. Sasuga little brother following in the footsteps of his big sister” she smiled with pride.

Rika snorted, “again, don’t flatter yourself too much. I know being a music major and all that you automatically qualify for the concert band, but don’t think that we are joining because of you. Also, you were only born a couple minutes earlier.” Asuka and Itsuki giggled a bit at this comment. Itsuki smiled and turned towards Asuka and asked “So, obviously I know what instrument my brother plays, but what about you? What do you play?” Asuka smiled and in typical Asuka fashion, dramatically spread out her arms and in the most theatrical voice possible.

“I of course play the greatest instrument in the band, that being euphonium. Same as Rika.” Itsuki laughed a little.

“Funny to see that you are just as passionate about the euphonium as Ri-kun. I’m sure the three of us will get along great. If it’s practice rooms you’re looking for, those two have so far been unoccupied.” She pointed towards the two rooms across from the one the trumpet player occupied.

“Thanks sis. I’ll be sure to stake my claim on the territory right away” replied Rika as he hurried to occupy the empty practice room.

This left Asuka and Itsuki by themselves, Asuka simply observed Itsuki, noting the physical similarities between her and her twin. The similarities between the two were striking, even up to their postures. Though something about the sister made her slightly easier to read than the twin brother, Asuka felt that she had an easier time understanding and reading the thoughts of Itsuki than Rika. Itsuki was the first to break the silence “By the way Asuka-san, do you mind me calling you Asuka-san? Do be careful around Rika. I know he’s my twin and all, but he has this strange ability to read people. It’s honestly a little uncanny… Just a fair warning to you. I’m sure you’ll ace the audition and I’ll see you in concert band.”

Asuka stewed on the warning (or was it a warning?) given by Itsuki before replying in earnest “Thanks for the heads up Itsuki-san, but I’m sure it will be fine. Plus, I’ll have you with me, right? I’m sure the three of us will make great friends.” At the mention of a trio, Asuka immediately thought about Haruka, Kaori, and herself. How were the other two doing at the other campus? Asuka was going to video call them later today, and I’m sure they would have lots to tell her about their first day of university. She couldn’t wait to hear from them again. She looked at the room across the hall to see Rika-san admiring the inside of the room, stretching about, and making himself at home. She then turned towards Itsuki-san and excused herself before heading upstairs and going back to her dorm. The walk back was plagued by comparisons between her old and new friend trio. Thoughts of how she would balance these new relationships and friendship groups fleeted across her mind. She was sure she could handle it though, nothing that Tanaka Asuka couldn’t handle.

Chapter Text

After a long first day, Asuka finally retired to her residency room. Fortunately for her, she had been lucky enough to share her dorm with a single roommate. Her dorm consisted of two bedrooms with a shared living space. She had yet to spend significant time with her roommate as they really only interacted on move-in day. Since then, her roommate had made herself sparce. Either that, or their schedules mismatched perfectly. She flopped down on her bed and took a look around her room. It was a small room, but large enough to fit all of Asuka’s belongings. One corner was occupied by her bed and beside the bed was a desk which was clean from lack of use, not that Asuka was one to have an unclean workspace. She then turned her eyes to her euphonium which lay in its case beside her desk and next to the door. She resolved herself to begin practice tomorrow as long as it did not interfere too much with her studies. While she was on her own and would likely hear little interference from her mother, she’d rather not see her grades slip and risk a repeat of what happened last year with Kitauji. On the other side of the room was some more shelves and a closet. The room was rather plain, but it didn’t bother Asuka too much, her room back in Uji didn’t have much in it anyways. She preferred to keep things nice and tidy.

Asuka felt her phone buzz in her pocket, and she reluctantly got up out of bed to check. There were two notifications on her phone, one was an email to book an audition slot for concert band, and the other was from a Line group chat she had with Haruka and Kaori. She moved herself to the desk and cracked open her laptop so she could check out the email more thoroughly, at the same time she opened her phone to see what Kaori or Haruka had said. She checked the notification, and it was a message from Haruka.

Haruka: Hey Asuka, Kaori and I want to go shopping in Shibuya on Saturday, u wanna come with?

Asuka checked her calendar which lay rather empty for the time being, knowing that she’d find the time regardless to see her friends, she typed out a reply:

Asuka: Sure, what time are you thinking?

While waiting for a response, Asuka took this time to see how long it would take for her to get from her residence to Shibuya station, as she was checking a notification came up. A reply from Haruka. She tapped the notification to open it up to see what Haruka had said:

Haruka: let’s meet up at 11, we can do some shopping then go for lunch.

Haruka: let’s meet in front of Hachiko, seems like a fitting place to meet up

Asuka smiled at her phone; how corny could Haruka be. She’s such a sap for picking that place, but based on what Asuka knew about Shibuya, Hachiko did seem like the best place to try to rendezvous with someone. She didn’t know the station that well and feared it may be hard to find each other, and any other place would probably have too many people around, so Hachiko seemed like a reasonable location.

Asuka: Alr, I’ll see you there 👍  

Asuka then moved on to her next order of business, her audition for concert band. She opened up her email and opened the registration page. The first prompt was to select her section, Asuka immediately homed in on the “bass” option and was redirected to a calendar where she could pick between the following Monday or Tuesday. As well as a few timeslots throughout the day. She checked her schedule to see what time would not overlap with her classes. The perfect time slot Monday afternoon between her classes stood out to her. It gave her just enough time to leave class to get her euphonium, warm up a little, and put her euphonium back before her next class. The perfect opportunity, and she gladly registered herself for that slot. Now all that’s left is to start practicing, but that would probably have to be left until tomorrow. It was already getting late, and Asuka was getting tired. She’d begin practice after class tomorrow. And with that, she retired to her evening activities.

Chapter Text

“Another day, another set of first classes” Asuka thought to herself. After going through three similar speeches from lectures about the importance of their studies as well as a congratulations and caution for their life of university, Asuka was getting a bit tired of it all. She was looking forward to getting into her studies. Luckily, she only had two more first classes left to go, one of which was about to begin. She sat down ensuring that there was ample space on either side of her should her newfound friend wish to join her and looked around, Rika-san should be in this class with her, making sure she looked rather nonchalant about it.
Right as Rika walked in, his eyes immediately found Asuka. She was pretty easy to spot given her stature and beauty. Not to mention the fact that those bright red glasses did her no favours in blending in, not that Asuka wanted to blend in much, she naturally stood out quite a bit. Rika passionately waved towards Asuka and speedily approached the desk where she was sat.
“Phew, glad I found you, this is a pretty large lecture hall” Rika greeted.
“Seems like you spotted me very quickly” quipped Asuka in return.
“Well, your beauty does stand out amongst the crowd, not to mention you’re pretty tall, so there’s that too” joked Rika.
Asuka smiled slightly at the comment “I’ll have you know that flattery will get you nowhere and that Itsuki-san provided me sufficient warning of your character.” Asuka enjoyed this type of banter and was glad that she had found a friend who could go toe-to-toe with her like this. Haruka was a bit too slow, and Kaori seemed a little soft when it came to banter like this.
Rika put a hand to his heart “Oh you wound me ojou-sama. And must you drag my dearest Onee-chan into this? How dishonourable.”
Asuka closed her eyes, tilted her head back and let out a bit of a sigh, yet she could help but smile at her Rika, it was nice having a friend like him around.
As more people filed into the classroom, as did their professor. A tall woman who seemed in her mid forties walked up to the podium to begin setting up. Her shoulder length brown hair reminded Asuka of Oumae-chan’s hair if she grew it out from her signature bob. She heard Rika whisper “damn” under his breath looking at their professor who walked in. Asuka chuckled quietly to herself pretending not to notice. The professor soon began the lecture and focus quickly shifted to taking notes and paying attention.
“And that’s all we have time for today, so I’ll stop the lecture there. Have a good day!” said their professor in her sweet voice that drew the attention of everyone in the class. Upon hearing this, the class began to collectively pack their things, putting away laptops, notebooks and all the likes. Asuka packed away her notebook into her bag, still processing the lecture she had just received, believing it best to take some time after class to process the new information. It worked well for her in high school so why fix habits that didn’t fail her. She then began to plan the remainder of her day; she had no more classes for the day which left her enough time to get some ample practice before the evening came. As if sensing her intention to practice for the audition, Rika piped up “You got any more classes on the day?”
“Nope, I’m done for the day” Asuka replied with a smile.
Rika continued “So are you going to practice for the audition? Did you book an audition slot yet? When did you book it?”
Asuka was taken aback by the flurry of questions from the black-haired boy yet responded to his barrage of questions with impressive poise “I was going to grab my euphonium and start practicing. I scheduled my audition for Monday afternoon, so I need to spend some quality practice time with my euph.”
“Well, best of luck to you then. I’ve booked my timeslot for Tuesday morning, nothing like some euphonium playing in the morning to wake you up. Plus, it was the only time slot that worked with my schedule” the boy added that last part rather sheepishly. “Anyways, I have some things to take care of, but I was going to practice too later today, maybe I’ll see you around.”
And with that, Rika shouldered his bag and left the classroom waving Asuka goodbye as he walked out. The girl with the red glasses sighed to herself “what an interesting guy” she thought to herself. Most of the class had filed out by this point, and the next class was beginning to come in. Realising this, Asuka hurried packing her stuff and quickly left the classroom.
Thankfully for Asuka, there was an available practice room for her to use, in fact this early in the term, it seemed that most practice rooms were left unused, auditions have yet to take place, so band practice had yet to begin. Asuka closed the sliding door slightly leaving a small gap so the room wouldn’t get too stuffy. She opened the clasps of her euphonium case and opened the lid. She took a moment to marvel at the sight of her silver-plated euphonium, one that she took care of throughout her “career” as a euphonium player. Despite not being used since Nationals, Asuka still took good care of her instrument, making sure to clean it every so often to make sure it was in good condition. From time-to-time Asuka questioned why she even bothered maintaining it, it wasn’t like she was planning on playing it after high school. Yet Asuka still felt herself unable to resist the alure of her euphonium, it looked so lonely sitting neglected in the corner of her room. Regardless, Asuka was glad that she maintained such good condition of her instrument. She lifted the instrument out of its case and quietly said “hello old friend” before attaching her mouthpiece and beginning her usual warmup sequence. Starting with long tones, transitioning into lip-slurs to warm up her lips, then transitioning to scales going up and down to warm up her fingers. Starting slow and gradually speeding up the tempo of her scales to give her fingers and lips the time to warm up. It was a routine Asuka was all too familiar with, and while this time seemed a bit more rusty than recent memory due to her having not played in months, she quickly was able to get back into the swing of things. Playing the euphonium came so naturally to her, that you’d think she’s born to play this specific instrument. That last thought made Asuka laugh to herself a little, maybe it was genetic. After feeling properly warmed up, Asuka took out the music Hidaka-sensei gave her at the information booth. The euphonium player had already taken the time to read through the pieces for her audition just to get a sense before actually trying to play them. From the looks of it, they didn’t seem particularly challenging, but Asuka knew better than to underestimate the audition. Having done some extra research on the school’s concert band, she found out that her school had a fairly reputable concert band having competed and even winning gold at nationals a few times in recent years for the University level competition. Setting up the music, Asuka got to work learning the pieces, practicing challenging excerpts and ensuring that she would be able to play whatever parts she may be asked to play during the audition.
An hour had passed, and Asuka felt that she had made decent progress towards the audition pieces, so she decided to take a break and have a sip of water. While she enjoyed being able to practice alone, where she could be more focused on her own playing, she did begin to miss practicing with the bass section at Kitauji. Her thoughts travelled back to then reminiscing of the sounds of practice, the sound of Midori-chan playing her contrabass, Gotou occasionally giving helpful advice to his girlfriend, Riko, and the look of focus that her beloved little Oumae-chan had while trying to nail the most difficult parts of whatever piece she was practicing. Even Katou-chan and Natsuki who practiced just as diligently despite not being on the competition team. Thoughts turned to Natsuki whom she nominated as band vice president, along side Yuuko as band president, she was certain the band was in good hands.
As she reminisced about her final year at Kitauji, the tall girl couldn’t help but remember that piece. She had given her notebook to Oumae-chan assuming that she would be putting down her euphonium forever, and so she didn’t have the sheet music with her. However, for that particular piece, she didn’t need it, she had long since committed it to memory. And so, with longing in her heart, she began to play the strong yet sentimental melody of the piece her estranged father gave her many years ago. Her mind adrift as she danced through the delicate phrases of the song, finding solace in a piece that is so haunting yet so beautiful. Before she knew it, she had reached the end of the piece, finding herself back in reality she let out a satisfied sigh, not as good as she had played for Oumae-chan that day on the riverbank, but it wasn’t bad even by Asuka standards. Asuka jumped when she heard someone quietly applauding from just outside the room she occupied, as she turned around to see what was going on, someone opened up the sliding door to her practice room that she kept ajar.

Chapter Text

The sounds of a trumpet accompanied by a piano filled the room, one of practice rooms which had a piano, designated for those either majoring in piano or in need of an accompanist. Playing the piano was a boy with scraggly dark hair and piercing grey eyes, standing near him playing the trumpet was a girl with long straight black hair with similarly piercing grey eyes as the boy. The Hanagawa twins, as they were often called, displayed incredible musical synergy between the pair. Rika effortlessly able to draw out the best of Itsuki’s trumpet through his piano accompaniment. The boy never felt bothered having the supporting role, in fact he felt quite proud of himself when people showered his twin with praise after accompanying her trumpet playing. Despite this, the boy was quite musically gifted himself, some even say it rivals or surpasses that of his twin sister. Not only was he a talented pianist, but he was also a very capable euphonium player. This led to those close to the twins asking why Rika decided not to pursue a career in music while his sister did. To this, the boy would joke and say “well at least one of us needs a stable career to support mom and dad” but in truth, the boy simply didn’t want to. He was content simply helping his sister achieve her goals.

The pianist/euphonium player suddenly stopped his playing. “May-chi…” his sister immediately knew what he was getting at and lowered her trumpet with a sigh.

“Yeah, yeah, I messed up. Let’s try again from bar 37.”

Rika nodded, waited for his sister to count them in and then resumed playing. After years of playing with her, Rika knew immediately when Itsuki made mistakes in her playing, while they didn’t happen often or were very subtle, her brother always made a note to stop and correct her.

“You know, you’re never going to win any competitions if you keep playing like that” Rika stated as he stopped playing. May-chi seemed to be making a lot more mistakes than usual and seemed distracted. He could easily tell there was something wrong with his twin sister.

His sister let out a dejected sigh, “yeah, I know. Maybe we should take a break for now? It’s not like there are any major competitions coming up anyways. I just want to try to stay on top of my game. Also, I can’t disappoint when concert band starts up.” Itsuki added that last part with a slight smile. Rika knew his sister enough to have an inkling of what’s going on. He debated whether or not he wanted to press the issue or not, he knew his sister better than anyone else and had the knack for seeing through her. It was a useful skill when helping his twin through her problems but sometimes he felt it necessary to give her space to solve her own problems. He decided to let it slide for now but made a mental note to address it later if issues still persisted.

After a few more practice runs they finally made it through without Itsuki making any major mistakes. As they finished, Itsuki removed the trumpet from her lips and let out a relieved exhale and smiled.

“You look tired, do you want to call it a day? I’d like some time to practice for my audition coming up. Because unlike somebody I don’t automatically qualify to join the concert band” stated Rika as he gestured towards his euphonium case which lay on the floor near the piano bench.

“If you wanted to join that badly, why didn’t you apply for the music program in the first place? You certainly would be able to get in, its not like you’re a worse musician than me.”

“Just didn’t really think about it too much I guess” shrugged the euphonium player.

“Do you want me to stick around, or do you want to practice alone? I’ve had a few classes under Iwate-sensei, so maybe I could give you tips and pointers on how to impress him.”

“I won’t complain if you stay and help me practice. I to enjoy spending time with my onee-chan.”

Itsuki rolled her eyes, “that’s not making me want to actually help you.”

Rika smiled and pulled out his euphonium and began to play. Rika loved playing the euphonium even though he started out as a piano player. He picked up the euphonium in middle school to join his twin in concert band. It had been quite the effort convincing his parents to get a euphonium, but the combined effort of the twins was enough to get their parents to cave. Rika took pride in is 4-valve euphonium, while others may think that having the 4^th valve on the side made it easier to play, Rika felt that having two different hands to press valves was a big awkward. So, he preferred a more standard 4-valve euphonium which worked just as well as they were often a little cheaper. The rest of the day was spent filling a practice room with the sound of euphonium with the occasional break when Rika needed a sip of water or Itsuki wanted to give pointers and suggestions. Rika was confident in his ability to pass the audition even without the help of his sister, but he would be lying if he said that having her around to help him didn’t aid in his self-trust. That’s what Rika loved about playing music, it gave ways of communicating without speaking, you could leave your emotions raw on the table and made them easy to be read and understood by others. By the end of their session, Rika was pretty certain about what had been bothering his twin sister and felt all the more confident in passing his audition. Soon the Hanagawa twins would be reunited (once again) in a concert band.

Chapter Text

Asuka turned around to see who her uninvited audience was. Admittedly, she was not opposed to people listening to her play, but she did not expect someone to be listening in on her practicing for concert band auditions. The door slid open and revealed a tall man with well kept grey hair, he looked around his 50’s with dark brown eyes. He wore a white collared shirt with a navy-blue dress vest sporting a similarly coloured tie and wore dark dress pants. As Asuka opened the door, the man had a friendly smile on his face as he gave a gentle applause.

“Sorry if I surprised you” the stranger said in a gentle yet firm voice “but your euphonium playing is very good. My name is Iwate Ren, I’m a professor here and I run the concert band. Are you a first year? Hidaka-sensei mentioned that two first year euphonium players are interested in auditioning for concert band.”

Asuka took a moment to collect and compose herself, so this is Iwate-sensei, the conductor for the concert band. Asuka wondered what he would be like, would he be like Taki-sensei who pushed them to be the best they could, or would he be more like the conductor she had in first and second year who did not push the band. Either way, Asuka would have to pass her audition first to find out.

“Nice to meet you Iwate-sensei” Asuka bowed in respect. “I am Asuka Tanaka, one of the first-year students who spoke to Hidaka-sensei at the club festival. I was just practicing for my audition.”

“Nice to meet you too Tanaka-san, your playing is some of the best among my recent students, so I look forward to your audition. I’m also sure that you’ve heard that we are light in the euphonium section, but that doesn’t mean you will be guaranteed a spot” Iwate-sensei said with a stern look on his face. “What high school did you come from?” the conductor continued.

“I attended Kitauji and was part of the concert band there. I was the vice president and drum major during my final year” replied Asuka.

“Ah yes, Kitauji. I remember seeing that in the list of schools that attended Nationals this past year. A former colleague and friend of mine was on the judging panel. Your school’s first time at Nationals I believe, and under your leadership no less. I’m sure you will make a fine addition to our concert band.”

Asuka smiled in appreciation “Thank you sensei. I will do my best in practice and hopefully I will be able to join.”

“Good, I look forward to hearing your audition. I must get going now, but before I leave, I just wanted to let you know that there is an instrument storage room just down the hall. I understand that carrying that euphonium to and from the residency building may be a hassle, so if you would like to store it there, feel free. There are some other students who store their personal instruments there as well.”

“Thank you, sensei.” Asuka offered a shallow bow as Iwate-sensei turned and walked down the hall in the direction of the instrument room. Good thing there was a place to store her instrument, even after one trip, she decided it would probably be best to store her instrument in the music buildings if possible. She began packing up her instrument and headed towards the storage room hoping to find a nice spot to store her beloved euphonium. Easily enough, Asuka found a room labelled “Instrument Storage Room”, and as she entered, a friendly face was there to greet her.

“Good afternoon, Asuka-san, come to find a place to store your euphonium?” Itsuki turned to Asuka and smiled before returning to place her trumpet case on a shelf.

“Good afternoon Itsuki-san. In fact, I am, Iwate-sensei recommended me store my euphonium here. Nice that I won’t have to keep taking it from my room to here.” Asuka replied as she began scanning the bottom shelves for empty space.

Itsuki hummed in understanding “Yeah, Iwate-sensei passed by a few minutes ago. We spoke briefly about concert band. He seems interesting, curious to see how concert band will go. He’s also teaching my ensemble class tomorrow. Oh, and you can store your instrument right there” she pointed at an empty space towards the back of the room beside a euphonium case “Ri-kun is keeping his instrument there and you can put yours there too. Maybe they can even be friends” Itsuki added with a giggle.

“A wonderful idea, thanks Itsuki-san.” Asuka got down to slide her euphonium case in the space beside Rika’s instrument.

“By the way Asuka-san --” Itsuki nervously paused causing Asuka to look up at her with a questioning expression “do you want to add me on Line?” she asked, pulled out her phone.

Asuka wondered briefly why she was so nervous, was it perhaps that she was just a bit socially awkward or was there another reason. Either way, Asuka reached into her pocket to retrieve her phone and accepted Itsuki’s invitation.

“Did you also get Rika’s Line? If not, I can give you his as well.”

“I did get his Line, but thanks anyways” responded Asuka.

“Cool, well thanks Asuka-san, I guess I’ll see you around then, and good luck on your audition.” Itsuki offered a half smile towards the taller girl before waving and heading off.

Maybe this girl was a little socially awkward Asuka thought to herself, must be why Rika is so outgoing then. Asuka felt the dichotomy of the pair to be very fascinating, being so physically similar yet having strangely different personalities. Well, making new friends is all part of university, Asuka thought to herself. While she did cherish making new friends, she look forward to this weekend where she would be able to meet up with her best friends from Uji, Kaori, and Haruka.

Chapter Text

After a long week of classes and practices, Asuka looked forward to seeing her best friends. It had been some time since they last spent time together. Ever since their graduation ski trip, the trio rarely had time to spend time together between various obligations and preparations for university such as moving out of Uji. Since the start of classes, each of them found themselves quite occupied with their school and personal lives, so they didn’t have the time to exchange many messages between them. Nonetheless, Asuka was looking forward to seeing them, Kaori in particular. The taller girl knew that the trumpet player held Asuka in a special place in her heart, and while Asuka felt the same, she wanted to push Kaori to make the first step. Many times, the euphonium player debated putting those feelings aside and be the first to make a move. However, she kept convincing herself that it would be best for Kaori, and their prospective relationship, if the more reserved trumpet player could learn to break out of her shell. If she could do that, then Asuka would know that Kaori was strong enough to handle it, all she wanted to see was her growth, and the euphonium player would do everything within reason to see her beloved friend flourish. Asuka recalled something she had said to Oumae-chan one day when they stumbled upon Kaori practicing her trumpet after losing out on the solo to Kousaka-san. “She wants to accept herself” Asuka said to Oumae-chan when talking about Kaori. The trumpet player had been practicing for a while, and Asuka knew as much. Her dear friend was trying to prove something, not to anybody else, but to herself, and Asuka wanted nothing more than to help her. If that meant giving Kaori space and time to herself, then Asuka was happy to oblige. Helping her others was what Asuka felt was most important.

With minimal issues, Asuka arrived on time to Shibuya station and while unfamiliar with her new surroundings, found Hachiko easily enough. Just follow the signs for “Hachiko exit” and that was sure to lead her to the famous dog statue. As Haruka suggested, there were some tourists crowded around Hachiko trying to take photos with the statue, there were far less people than inside the station. This made the spot an ideal place to meet up, it also fit very well with the story of Hachiko. Asuka recalled reading the story in her youth about a dog that would wait for his owner every day at the station after work, even after his owner passed away, the dog continued to patiently wait every day outside the station. In the dog’s honour, the statue of Hachiko was placed, and served as a reminder of the importance of loyalty. Quite fitting for a reunion between the trio of best friends from Uji, if not a bit cheesy in Asuka’s mind. The tall girl looked around hoping to spot the brown bob of Kaori or the short double twin tails of Haruka, and sure enough, she saw Kaori emerging from the station. Asuka waved towards the former trumpet player who jaunted towards her best friend.

“Asuka, it’s been a while, how are you.”

Asuka could not hold back her smile “Good, and where’s Haruka?”

“Oh, Haruka said something came up and she’ll be a little late. I told her that we can meet up when she’s done.”

“It’s just like her to have something come up last minute. What are we going to do with her” Asuka sighed. “Anyways, is there anything you wanted to do while we wait?”

“Well…” Kaori said rather sheepishly “there is a trendy new café around here, do you want to go there?”

Asuka smiled and laughed a little “That’s such a Kaori suggestion of you. But that sounds like a great idea, lead the way.”

“It’s over this way. Its not too far from the station.”

Kaori began guiding herself and Asuka towards the café she found, occasionally checking her phone for directions to make sure they were headed the right way. While they walked, they made some minor small talk, catching up on how moving in went, how the first week of classes went, and what its like living away from home. As they were nearing the café, a small accessory shop caught the eye of Asuka. From the store window, she noticed a variety of cute jewelry and some bracelets, she fancied the thought of herself and Kaori getting matching bracelets, it would be very cute if they did. Asuka turned to her companion and noticed her looking at the same shop.

“Do you want to check out that shop quickly? I’m sure we have time” Asuka suggested.

Kaori turned to look at Asuka with an endearing smile “Asuka, its weird how sometimes, it feels like you can read my mind.”

Well, Kaori wasn’t entirely wrong with that. The former trumpet player was pretty easy to read for Asuka, something about her intentions just seemed so pure and obvious.

“And I didn’t even need my crystal ball to figure that out” shrugged Asuka.

The pair headed into the shop and began looking at some of the accessories, a variety of necklaces, earrings, and bracelets of various colours were presented. One set of bracelets caught Asuka’s eye, two identical looking golden bracelets one with beautiful ocean blue sapphire spheres while the other was sporting spheres of bright red rubies.

“Kaori, how about we get some matching bracelets? Aren’t these so cute?”

“Oh wow, those are really cute, sure let’s get a matching pair.”

Over hearing the conversation, the elderly woman shopkeeper approached the pair and told them about a special promotion they had. If they bought a pair of matching bracelets, they could get another pair of select accessories for half price. The shopkeeper gestured towards the section of accessories that they could choose from, and the pair went to check them out. As Asuka looked at the collection of beautiful and multicoloured jewelry, Kaori called out to her.

“Asuka, come check these out.”

Her friend waved her over where she stood near some accessory rings. Kaori pointed towards two gold rings with the band twisting into a heart shape at the head of the ring and in the bottom left part of the heart one had a small red sphere and the other had an identically shaped blue sphere.

“These would match the bracelets super well, don’t you think?” asked Kaori.

“I think that’s a lovely idea, lets get them.”

The pair went to pay for their accessories and thanked the shopkeeper for her services and left the store pleased with their new accessories. They decided to have Kaori wear the red bracelet and Asuka the blue one because it matched their eyes. They then opted to have mismatching ring colours with Asuka taking the red one, and Kaori taking the blue one. Asuka couldn’t help but laugh a little as they sported the rings on their left pinkies, it seemed like something from an anime, two best friends getting matching rings. On top of that them being the traditional red and blue colours that they had picked out. Asuka was also a bit surprised that Kaori had picked out rings for them, she hoped her “friend” was trying to tell her something and the taller girl hoped that meant that Kaori was gaining confidence in making a move. A girl could dream.

After their short detour to the small accessory shop, the pair soon arrived at the café Kaori wanted to go to. The pair got themselves a table and continued catching up, how Kaori was doing with nursing school, and how Asuka was fairing with her own studies. It had been a while since they were able to café surf together, a hobby which they both enjoyed and something they did quite frequently back in Uji. Asuka loved listening to the shorter girl talk about her life, the euphonium player was more than content to sit back and listen to Kaori’s stories of what she had been up to since they last saw each other, describing what it was like rooming with Haruka, the strange habits that she discovered of their close friend now that they lived together. Realising that she was doing more than her fair share of talking, Kaori turned the conversation to the subject of Asuka, “So what have you been up to?” asked Kaori.

“Nothing much, just going to classes. Oh, but I did decide to audition for the concert band.”

“I did hear our school had one” replied Kaori “They’re pretty good, I heard they’ve been to Nationals a few times. But they don’t hold practices at my campus” Kaori paused. “I guess you couldn’t get away from band, could you.”

Asuka smiled “I guess not. If I pass my audition, you should come watch a performance, wouldn’t it be nice to see me perform for once?”

“I will definitely watch you guys play, and I’m certain you’ll get in. You’re the best euphonium player I know.”

“Aw Kaori, that’s so sweet of you to say” hummed Asuka. “Well, I’ll make sure you keep that promise.”

Kaori soon fell into silence, and the pair simply sat there sipping their drinks and enjoying each other’s company. Asuka could tell from the look on Kaori’s face that there was something she wanted to say, Asuka gave her a questioning look in an attempt to draw whatever thoughts stirred within the former trumpet player. Kaori blushed and looked away from Asuka’s intent and analyzing blue eyes.

“Asuka…” Kaori paused briefly “I’ve been thinking recently…”

“About what?” Asuka hummed melodically.

“About how we might not be able to spend much more time like this… together… what if life takes us down different paths?”

Asuka frowned and shook her head “You know, Kaori, I would never leave you. Even if things were to happen, I would never let us stray apart. But, if there is something you want to tell me, tell me soon or you may always regret it.”

There it was, Asuka’s push, pushing the former trumpet player to reach deep within her and find the feelings she had hidden or refused to accept about herself. Asuka continued “Kaori, I will always accept you for you. No matter what, I just hope you can accept you for you as well.” She hoped this would be enough of a push for Kaori to begin to accept herself.

Kaori sighed in defeat “Asuka, it really is uncanny how it feels like you can read my thoughts. Thank you, your words mean a lot to me. I feel so much more confident knowing you have my back. To tell you the truth, I… I…”

*RING RING*

The sound of Kaori’s phone ringing pulled both of them out of the intimate moment that was just beginning to flourish. The former trumpet player checked the caller ID, saw it was Haruka calling and immediately picked up. “Oh, you’re here? Do you want us to meet you at the station?” “We’re at a café right now.” “It’s no big deal, its close to the station, we should be there soon.” “Ok, see you later.” Kaori put down her phone and offered a sheepish smile to her companion. “Sorry about that, Haruka is here, and I told her that we’d meet her at Hachiko.”

Asuka managed to hide her disappointment with a cheery voice, “let’s get going then, better not keep Haruka waiting too long.”

Asuka was a bit disappointed in Haruka’s sudden call ruining the mood, she made a mental note to give a good talking to the girl when they were alone. The pair exited the café and began retracing their steps back to Hachiko station where they found Haruka waiting for them. Together, they took a few selfies with the famous dog statue and Haruka commented on their new accessories noting how cute they looked. The reunited trio then headed towards the well known 109 building and began exploring the streets of Shibuya. They talked and laughed and reminisced time spent together in the past, enjoyed each other’s company in the present, and discussed plans to be together in the future. It wasn’t until she got home when Asuka lamented the fact that she got so close to (probably) pulling a confession out of Kaori, yet she still was so far away. The love between a euphonium and her trumpet remained dormant for another day.

Chapter Text

The sound of trumpet echoed through the room, despite the trumpet being seen as a fanfare type instrument with a bold and regal sound, Itsuki had a talent for producing melancholic sounds from her trumpet. Some even mistake her sound for that of a horn. She liked playing pieces that were more emotional and expressive in nature, something about appearances being deceiving and showing a side that others did not think existed was something that Itsuki enjoyed about playing her instrument. She appreciated that her trumpet teacher would often provide her with music that suited her taste, while also encouraging her to play more traditional trumpet pieces. The breadth of her playing ability was one of the reasons people often praised her trumpet playing. The Hanagawa sister had been practicing since early in the morning, there was nothing she found more therapeutic than putting her time and energy into honing her craft. She took a brief break from practicing to take a sip of water and rest her tired lips, while she rested, she found herself humming the piece the trumpet player spent the bulk of the morning practicing. It was a regal yet sad piece from a western musical arranged for the trumpet. The original song was sung in English which Itsuki had listened to, and though she didn’t fully understand the English lyrics, she did get a rough translation and got a better idea of what the song was about. The song was about someone pronouncing their love to a woman, and the grand feelings of love she made him feel, and without her how lonely the singer felt. Itsuki became enamoured with the piece, and even a little bit sympathetic for the singer, understanding the feeling of someone you care deeply about leave you. A knock on the door pulled Itsuki out of her trance, she turned towards the door as it slid open. She was greeted with the all-to-familiar sight of her twin brother smiling at her.

“Hey May-chi, I knew I’d find you here. I told mom that you might be here practicing, so she wanted me to bring some lunch.” The boy held up a bag containing two bento boxes prepared by their mother, Itsuki also noticed that Rika’s other hand was holding his euphonium case.

“Thanks” the girl said quietly. She gestured for her brother to come in and set her trumpet down on a stand. “How did you know I was in this room specifically? Knowing you, you probably just knocked on a whole bunch of random doors hoping to find me.”

Rika laughed at his sister’s comment “I figured you were in one of the rooms near by since there’s a piano here, but I won’t lie, I had two awkward encounters before I got here” the boy smiled and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

Itsuki rolled her eyes as her twin sat down and handed her a packaged lunch, her brother certainly was an interesting character. The pair proceeded to eat their lunch in relative silence, occasionally breaking it to make light small talk between bites. After they had finished, Itsuki pointed towards Rika’s euphonium case which he had set down near the door. “Were you going to practice more for your audition?”

Rika casually shrugged, “maybe just a little bit, but the main reason I brought that was because I wanted to play with you. But there’s something that I want you to look at first.” Rika pulled out his laptop and opened it up to show a video of the most recent concert band National competition for the high school division. Rika fast-forwarded to the 16^th highschool to perform, making their first appearance at nationals, Kitauji, as the camera paned to show the entire orchestra, Rika paused the video and turned towards his sister. “Look, do any of those faces look familiar to you?”

Itsuki squinted trying to make out the tiny faces of all 55 members of the competition group but found it difficult to pick out faces from the zoomed-out camera. Seeing his sister’s hesitation, Rika continued on “Look there” he pointed at the euphonium section where two euphonium players were sat. A shorter girl with chestnut hair in a fluffy bob that was hard to miss and seated to her left was a tall girl with straight black hair and red glasses. Itsuki paused briefly before realization dawned upon her “Oh, Asuka-san”.

“Yeah, I was rewatching Nationals, and I noticed a familiar face. Their school performed pretty well, but that’s not the only thing I wanted to show you.” Rika continued forward until he reached the performance of the band’s free choice piece, Crecent Moon Dance. He skipped to a timestamp he had repeated for himself many times since this morning, right to the trumpet solo, and played that part for his sister. They both watched intently as a girl who bore similar features as Itsuki, except with deep violet irises, stood up and played the solo to near perfection. Rika could tell that the girl was playing for someone she loved dearly, from her demeanor and attitude, Rika could see it right away. Once the soloist finished, he paused the video and turned to his twin “Pretty good huh?”

Itsuki nodded in response “Yeah, she’s pretty good. I learned the solo a while ago, her version of it is pretty good.”

“I knew it sounded familiar. Can you play it for me?”

Itsuki was a bit surprised by this request wondering what spurred the sudden request from the euphonium player. She reached into her bag and pulled out a folder full of sheet music of pieces and fished out the sheet music her trumpet teacher had given her for the solo of Crecent Moon Dance. Placing it on a stand, she lifted her trumpet to her lips. Taking a dramatic breath in before beginning to play. Her high notes rang out with stunning clarity, and each phrase was played with care. Rika intently stared at his twin while she played, he was careful to analyze every note and every phrase. On the other hand, Itsuki found herself getting lost in her playing, drawing from her emotions to guide her playing. While both the trumpet soloist from Kitauji and Itsuki were quite talented and clearly very practiced with this trumpet solo, Rika couldn’t help but notice some subtle differences between the way they played the section. The girl from Kitauji played with confidence, as if she was shouting to the world, it was as if her trumpet playing was screaming “Hey I’m the best, look at me”. It was as if the girl was making a bold declaration of love. With Itsuki’s playing, Rika found it much more melodic, emotional, and wistful. It was like she was searching for something, searching for acceptance within herself. Rika knew his sister often struggled with this and as much as he tried, he knew he couldn’t be the one to make Itsuki accept herself. However, with her playing now, Rika could feel there was something else in her sister’s playing. There was a greater sense of longing in her playing that he’d only heard once before. Itsuki finished playing and slowly lowered her trumpet “So… what do you think?”

Rika continued staring off into the distance, tapping his chin. He thought carefully before replying to his sister.

“May-chi, what do you think of Asuka-san?”

The girl was unsurprised by her brother’s response, given that she had known him for their entire lives, she knew that Rika had a habit of knowing what she was feeling and when something was weighing heavy in her mind. She simply nodded in acknowledgement knowing that he hit the nail on the head.

“She seems like a nice person, I’m glad you introduced us. I also heard that you dragged her into auditioning for band” she replied cautiously.

“She reminds me of someone…”

“Luna-senpai” Itsuki whispered.

“So, I was right then. You’re caught up on Luna-senpai again” Rika nodded solemnly. “May-chi, I just want you to know that I will always accept you for you. No matter what, I just hope you can accept you for you as well. We’re twins, and remember what mom and dad always said, we’re here to support each other.”

“Feels like you do most of the supporting for me” Itsuki quietly quipped gesturing to her trumpet.

Rika smiled and continued “Trust me, you’ve been there to support me, you just never realised it. Believe in yourself May-chi, that’s all I want. But I will say, be careful with your feelings towards Asuka-san. I don’t want you or her getting hurt because of what you feel towards Luna-senpai.”

The pair sat in silence for a while, both absorbed in their own minds. Rika wondered if he pushed too hard if he should have gone a little lighter on his twin. He’d never seen her be this quite before, sure he gave her plenty of reality checks in the past, but never had it received such a reaction from her. Meanwhile, Itsuki pondered the advice given by her twin (younger) brother, maybe he did have a point, but how would she deal with her feelings? Rika was again the one to break the silence between them “Would you like me to play you something?”

Itsuki nodded silently in response.

“This is a really beautiful piece I learned a few years ago from my piano teacher.” Rika began as he took a seat at the piano bench. He removed a folder of sheet music from his bag, pulled out a piece and began placing it on the piano stand. “This is a really nice piece by famous overseas composer Tchaikovsky, it’s called ‘October’ and is supposed to represent the autumn season. Seems like a fitting homage to Luna-senpai because American schools start in the fall.”

Itsuki groaned at the antics of her brother, “I didn’t need to be reminded of that last part you know.”

Rika chuckled before setting himself up to play, adjusting the bench so that it was at the right height, and getting his fingers in the proper position to start playing. He took a deep breath and began the piece. The room they were in began to fill with the beautiful sounds of Rika’s piano playing. The sweet and sentimental melody of October surrounded the pair, the dissonance and the harmonies combined with Rika’s natural sense of when to push and pull with rubato really drew out the emotional element of the piece. Rika, like his twin, enjoyed playing pieces that were more expressive in nature, allowing him to make the most of his ability to push and pull the tempo of the piece. He felt like the piece was putty in his hand that could be pulled and pushed at the whim of his fingers. With light touch on the trills, and a firm rhythm feel in the triplets, Rika danced his way through the piece drawing out the essence of autumn. He so well encapsulated the feeling of melancholy and sadness of watching the leaves fall, yet in the light and hopeful melody, there remained reason and desire to look towards the future. The perfect expression of autumn. Rika reached the end of the piece and lingered on the final chord, sitting still for a brief moment before turning towards Itsuki who began applauding quietly.

“Seems like you haven’t lost a step.” Itsuki said after Rika got up from the piano bench.

“Thanks, I still feel a bit rusty having not played that piece in a while, but its really nice.” Rika continued “Now that we’ve each played for each other, how about we play something together?” Rika pointed to his euphonium case.

Itsuki smiled and picked up her trumpet “Sure, what do you want to play?”

“How about the usual?”

Rika shot his twin with a knowing smile, and she sighed and rolled her eyes in response.

“Geez, why do you like that piece so much? I know it was the first song we played together in middle school, but are you really that attached to it?”

Rika continued to smile through the teasing of his sister. “It’s a great piece, and quite fitting given what we were talking about before. ‘The Place Where Love Was Found’, an appropriately named piece given we were just talking about Luna-senpai” Rika returned the teasing of his sister.

Itsuki stared back at her brother with a deadpanned face and retorted with a flat voice, “I hate you.”

Rika let out an earnest and genuine laugh causing Itsuki’s face to soften up a bit. “Fine, I’ll still duet with you” she continued “its not often I get to duet with my little brother on trumpet and euphonium.”

Rika pulled out his euphonium choosing to ignore the “little brother” comment and the pair prepared themselves to begin playing. They have played the duet so many times that they both had their respective parts committed to memory. Itsuki counted them in, and they began playing together. Once again, the room they occupied was filled with the sound of music, this time it was a beautiful duet by the Hanagawa twins. The proud and slow piece was almost ballad like, yet with a steady tempo, it left little room to play with the tempo, which the twins loved to do. A piece that was a statement, a declaration, of a place where love was found. Both twins became fully immersed in their playing, as if they had become one soul playing two instruments. It was times like this when Itsuki felt nothing but happiness, it was times like this when Itsuki felt like she could accept herself for who she is. When the trumpet and her euphonium were playing as one.

Chapter Text

Itsuki lied down on her bed, mindlessly scrolling through photos of her high school days, remembering the day she met Luna-senpai.

Itsuki looked up and found herself awestruck at the size of her high school, it was a much larger building than her middle school, and there were so many more people here too. Standing next to her, Rika gently elbowed her in the side “Snap out of it May-chi, your eyes are starting to glaze over.” With a reminder from her brother, she was brought back to reality. She offered one of her trademark deadpan stares back at her brother. The boy continued “So we’re joining the concert band here, right?” Itsuki simply nodded in response. Itsuki’s first impression of high school was one of amazement. She would be further stunned when she joined the concert band.

After classes, Itsuki and Rika met up with each other and began their hunt for the music room to join the concert band. They had done their research and decided to go to this school because of the academic reputation and the fact that they had a relatively strong concert band, they often won gold at Prefecturals and participated at many Nationals. Itsuki could never forget the sight before her the first time she opened the door to the music room. Greeting her was a 2^nd year student, she was tall with long straight black hair with bangs parted at the center. She also wore a pair of ruby red glasses, one could easily see the resemblance between this girl and Asuka-san, but to Itsuki, the girl she met that day was something special. She greeted the pair warmly and introduced herself as Luna Hoshiyama, the first-year ambassador to the concert band and resident euphonium player. Luna-senpai immediately caught the eyes and heart of Itsuki, and though the trumpet player didn’t realise it at first, soon enough her beloved senpai would become much more than a senpai to her. Itsuki envied her twin brother who got to spend much more time with Luna-senpai due to them playing the same instrument and being part of the same section. Rika became fast friends with Luna-senpai and fortunately for Itsuki, would often invite her to hang out with himself and Luna-senpai. He also had the occasional habit of having something conveniently “come up” last minute, leaving the two of them alone. Itsuki was certain her twin was trying to set her up, but she could never push herself to accept her own feelings. She feared that her senpai didn’t feel the same way and that she would ruin their friendship, and the friendship she had with her brother.

As the year progressed, the trio grew closer, and Itsuki realised that her feelings towards Luna-senpai were more than just friendly. Rika was one of the first to figure it out and often tried to play wingman for his twin, though to little avail, largely due to Itsuki’s shy and reserved nature. The girl was a bit awkward and tended to question herself and doubt her actions. It didn’t help that Luna-senpai was an amazing euphonium player, her musical talents far exceeding anyone else in the band making her incredibly popular. Yet she was always humble and rarely allowed herself to shine in the spotlight. It was in no small part due to her that the band managed to reach nationals once again, however they fell just short of gold, winning a silver at Nationals. Despite the impressive achievement, Itsuki still felt disappointed, she knew she had it in them to win gold and coming this close made it hurt so much more. After the results were announced and everyone left the auditorium, the trumpet player found a quiet spot amongst some greenery to sit and sulk. Imagining all the ways she could have pushed herself to be better, all the ways she could have pushed the others to be better, all the ways she could have helped her school win gold. She looked up and saw Rika off in the distance talking and joking with some of his friends and bandmates. She once again envied him this time for his ability to laugh things off. How was he able to keep up such a good mood? Burying her head into her knees, the trumpet player felt a light tap on her shoulder. The dejected trumpet player looked up and saw the beautiful face of her favourite senpai smiling back at her. Those ruby red glasses and deep blue eyes always did wonders in cheering up Itsuki. Luna-senpai sat down next to the girl.

“You alright May-chi?” Luna-senpai was one of the few people who Itsuki allowed herself to be called by that nickname, she assumed her senpai must have picked it up from her brother. Not getting a response from her kouhai, Luna-senpai continued. “You played great today, so did everyone else. I’m proud of everyone’s efforts. There’s always next year for us, and for you the year after that.” Luna-senpai offered Itsuki a comforting pat on the head. The euphonium player got up and reached out her hand to the saddened trumpet player, “come on, lets go meet up with the others. I heard they want to take a group picture of the band.” Itsuki took the out-stretched hand and was pulled up to her feet. She followed her senpai back to the others where she managed a smile for the group picture, and somehow managed to keep smiling through the rest of the school year.

To no one’s surprise, Luna-senpai was elected as band president the following year. Her talent and charisma made for the perfect leader, and she took her new role in stride, the band had never felt more invigorated and inspired in part due to their short comings the previous year but also due to Luna’s exceptional leadership. Despite her new responsibilities, Luna always found time to spend time with the Hanagawa twins much to Itsuki’s delight. Band rehearsal began just as it had during Itsuki’s first year finding out the pieces that they would be playing for this year’s competition circuit. Like every year, the band had to make one selection from a predetermined list followed by a free choice piece. This year, their free choice piece was called “October”, this one not composed by Tchaikovsky. As the music was being passed around for each section, the trumpet player snuck a glance towards the euphonium section consisting of Luna-senpai and her twin brother Rika. The two were engrossed in conversation pointing to a particular section of the piece. They seemed to be going back and forth about something with stern looks on their faces with Rika nodding along with whatever Luna-senpai was saying. Itsuki couldn’t help but wonder what the pair was discussing. Itsuki turned back and began reading through her part, the piece seemed interesting, she had never heard it before and made a mental note to take a listen when she got home. Soon after, the band was dismissed into sectional practices, Itsuki quickly grab her twin’s attention before he took off.

“Hey Ri-kun” the trumpet player said grabbing onto the shoulder of her twin.

“What’s up May-chi?” The boy turned around to face his sister, euphonium in hand.

“What do you think of the free choice piece?”

Rika eyed his sister suspiciously, understanding the true meaning behind her question.

“If you’re wondering what Luna-senpai and I were discussing, it’s the euphonium solo. Luna-senpai said she was told to play it, but still wants me to learn it for some reason. Anyways, I gotta get going, see you after practice. Oh, and Luna-senpai said she wanted to go for sweets with the three of us. You down?”

Itsuki eagerly nodded knowing that after practice she would get to spend time with Luna-senpai. She was also motivated to play her best knowing that Luna-senpai was playing a solo for their free choice piece. She would do everything in her power to not let Luna-senpai down. Itsuki spent that rehearsal practicing very hard even receiving complements from her section leader about how dedicated her practicing was and how good she sounded. Even in her second year, Itsuki had become the best trumpet player they had. Soon enough, sectionals had finished and as Itsuki began packing up, her brother and her senpai greeted her at the door of the classroom. The trio left and went to an ice cream shop they frequented. Taking their normal orders, they sat down at their usual table outside the shop and began with some light conversation. Itsuki could feel something off about the atmosphere between them Rika was being much quieter and pensive than his usual self. Itsuki wondered to herself if something happened during practice, it is quite unusual to see her brother in this state. Itsuki wasn’t quite sure what to do in this situation, it was usually Rika who was the one to defuse awkward situations, so she was a bit out of her depths. As if sensing her unease, Rika looked at his sister before turning towards their senpai, “So, Luna-senpai, what did you want to tell us?”

“I’ve decided that I am going to pursue a career in music.” Luna-senpai paused, seeing no reaction from the pair, she continued on “I’m looking to apply to some overseas music schools in America.”

Itsuki’s heart shattered. America, she thought, so far away from Japan. Her heart sank at the thought of her beloved senpai moving overseas, would she ever see her again? Her thoughts began to spiral out of control, feeling thoughts of anxiety, anguish, abandonment, disappointment, longing, desire, love. Once again, it was Rika’s voice that pulled her out of this trance. “That’s very impressive senpai and I wish you all the best. I’m sure you’ll make it, you’re one of the best euphonium players out there. But why tell us? And why tell us now? It’s still early, isn’t it? You could have told us once you made it and we could celebrate together” Rika gave an earnest look at their senpai.

Luna-senpai looked away briefly at Rika’s barrage of questions before turning back and addressing the pair, “I wanted to tell you guys because you are important to me. I didn’t want to surprise you with any sudden news. If I get in, then we can properly celebrate.”

Rika smiled and softened up his face. He seemed satisfied by their senpai’s response, and eager to distract Itsuki and lighten up the mood, quickly changed topics to talking about band and the sectional they just had. Itsuki was thankful that she did not need to contribute to the discussion as the pair talked the ins and outs of the euphonium parts for the new pieces. She was at a complete and utter loss for words.

Later the pair departed with Luna-senpai waving them a sweet fair well as the trio went their separate ways. During the walk home Rika could sense how shaken up Itsuki was over the news about Luna-senpai’s decision to study abroad. While the news surprised him as well, he suspected that the band president was considering it already. What he didn’t anticipate was just how heartbroken Itsuki would be over this news, sure he knew that his sister harboured strong feelings for their senpai, but even so this was more than what he expected. Despite it all, Itsuki did a good job at hiding her heartbreak. Her expressionless face was something many had grown accustomed to. If it wasn’t for the years of knowing her habits, he would have hardly guessed that she was suffering from internal strife. As they walked home in silence, Rika put a gentle hand on his sister’s shoulder.

“May-chi, do you want to talk about it now or later? I won’t force you to talk if you don’t want to, but I think we should talk about it sooner rather than later.” The girl continued to walk in silence.

“Fine, then. How about we take a detour on the way home?” Itsuki said nothing as her brother led them to a place, they were all to familiar with. A small playground located a few minutes walk away from their house, a place they often played at when they were kids, and even now still went to from time to time. Rika sat down at the pair of swings the twins loved to use, his sister plopping herself down on the one right next to him. The girl sat still as her brother began rocking himself back and forth.

“Everything alright?” whispered Rika in a quiet comforting voice.

“I’m just surprised…”

“And heartbroken?”

Itsuki simply nodded knowing there was no need to try to hide anything from Rika, he had known for a long time that the girl harboured more than friendly feelings for Luna-senpai. While he couldn’t relate to her feelings of heartbreak, it pained him to see his dear twin look so upset.

Rika continued on “have you ever considered telling Luna-senpai how you feel about her?”

Itsuki continued to stare blankly at the gravel beneath her shoes. “I’m just not sure how to tell her…”

“I think you should May-chi. If anything, it may help you feel better getting it off your chest.”

“I’m just scared…”

“Scared of what, scared that you’ll lose her? May-chi, at this rate you’ll probably end up losing her anyways. I know it sounds harsh, but its true. I say this because you’re my twin sister and best friend. I hate seeing you like this. Please, if you’re not going to do it for yourself, do it for me.” Rika really hoped that his words would help Itsuki. He really wanted to give her the push she needed. The boy knew that the girl had trouble accepting herself and doing things for herself. If he could encourage her to do something for him, then maybe that would be the push she needed to finally be self-indulgent for a change.

For a long time, the pair sat in silence, what felt like an eternity for Itsuki to mull over her thoughts before finally deciding to speak. “How about this, I will confess to Luna-senpai if we win gold at nationals.” Itsuki looked up at the sky which began to tint orange from the sunset. Rika though Itsuki’s proposal was a terrible idea. Tying her confession to an event largely outside of her control was just asking for more disappointment and heartbreak, yet the boy could not say anything seeing that his sister finally came to a decision (albeit a disappointing one) by herself. This also seemed to get her out of her funk which Rika was happy for. However, Rika began making plans to get Itsuki to confess should they not win gold at Nationals. He was a forward planner after all, and he would stop at nothing to see his sister happy.

Chapter Text

Asuka propped up her face with her hands and let out an exasperated sigh. Today’s the day of her audition, and she had spent significant time practicing on Sunday, yet her practice had been marred with thoughts of Kaori. Oh, how Asuka hated distractions during practice, she often chastised others for getting distracted with their social life back at Kitauji, yet here she was being impacted by troubles of her own. It was odd for the black-haired girl who never had issues putting thoughts of Kaori aside to focus on band practice, but something about Saturday stuck in her mind. She did manage to get a few quips at Haruka about her (unfortunate) timing and hinted at her ability to ruin special moments between herself and Kaori. Either way, Asuka felt confident in herself despite practice not going how she wanted to. Because of the girl’s innate ability and strength in euphonium playing, the session was fruitful even if it didn’t adhere to her normal practice standards. Asuka pushed thoughts of Kaori to the side, this was not the time to be thinking about that. Class was about to begin, and shortly after she would have her audition for the concert band. Speaking of class and band, Rika-san had yet to show up, she wondered if something was keeping him up. He didn’t seem like the type to skip class for no good reason. As if on cue, she saw the grey-eyed boy walk into class and take a seat beside Asuka.

“Good morning” he greeted her pleasantly, and Asuka returned the morning pleasantries.

The boy eyed Asuka carefully as if sensing there was something going on in the euphonium player’s life, but before the boy could press any issues, the professor walked in signaling the start of the lesson. What was simultaneously the longest and fastest lecture she had endured; Asuka had finally made it through the other side of class. As she was packing up her stuff, Rika turned towards his fellow euphonium player.

“Good luck with your audition, let me know how it goes.”

“Thanks” replied the black-haired girl, “but I won’t be giving any free tips on how to appeal to the jury. You’ll have to pay for that” Asuka joked.

Rika let out a small laugh “Thanks but no thanks, May-chi has been giving me more than enough ‘advice’ on how to sway Iwate-sensei and Hidaka-sensei. I’m sure I’ll be fine. You on the other hand…” the boy said as he eyed Asuka, suddenly shifting to a much more serious tone “do your best, try not to let whatever it is distract you too much.”

Asuka let out a surprised “eh?”

Seeing the girl’s confused reaction, Rika gave a shrug. “You have similar mannerisms as Itsuki, seems like something’s distracting you. There’s something about you Asuka-san, something that makes you seem special. Anyways, best of luck to you.”

The boy waved goodbye before exiting the classroom with haste. What a weird guy Asuka thought to herself, was it really that obvious that she was distracted by thoughts of Kaori? Something about that boy’s eyes just seem to see through her. The thought made Asuka feel rather exposed perhaps this was the warning that Itsuki-san had mentioned. Though it felt like the boy had good intentions, Asuka was still uncertain since the roles were typically reverse with her being the one to see through others and help them with their problems. Afterall, what Asuka valued most was helping others, her ideals and desires could come second to that. Though she did wonder about Rika-san’s statement, was she really that similar to Itsuki-san? Maybe she ought to spend some time with the trumpet player to find out. He also called her “special” something that Kaori and Haruka had said about her. Was there truly something so different and special about Asuka? The girl didn’t think so herself, but maybe the others just didn’t see it. As Asuka headed towards the music buildings to grab her instrument and prepare for the audition, she did her best to clear these errant thoughts from her head and focus on the task ahead. As Rika said, she wouldn’t pass her audition if she couldn’t keep focus. It was time for Tanaka Asuka, star euphonium player at Kitauji (and all-around awesome person) to shine.

Asuka made her way to the school’s performance hall and to the location of where her audition was being held. She followed the instructions provided in the email to enter through the musician’s entrance around back. As she arrived, a young lady sat at a desk with a laptop with a friendly smile she greeted the euphonium player “Hello, are you here for an audition?”

Asuka smiled pleasantly, “Yes, Tanaka Asuka.”

The woman typed on her laptop and a few moments later confirmed Asuka’s audition timeslot. The receptionist directed Asuka to a greenroom that she could use to warm up if she wanted and told her to wait there until the professor was ready. Asuka followed the woman’s directions and easily found the green room. This greenroom was rather small with a single chair and music stand set up in the middle. Asuka pulled out her euphonium and began to warm up a bit, just making sure she was loose enough to play while not overworking herself so that she would be tired for the audition. After feeling sufficiently warmed up, Asuka spent the remaining time simply relaxing and trying to get herself into the zone and soon enough she was called in to do her audition. She entered the concert hall where a chair and music stand were set up in the middle of the stage. Seated near the front of the stage were Iwate-sensei and Hidaka-sensei who both greeted Asuka with a friendly smile. Asuka walked in and remained standing while introducing herself.

“I am Tanaka Asuka” she introduced herself with a bow “first-year student and I play the euphonium.”

Iwate-sensei and Hidaka-sensei nodded as they looked down and made some notes. They then began the audition asking the girl to play various parts of the audition music starting from various sections. Asuka played each part with confidence and certainty knowing that she had each part practiced to a tee. With every cut off with a “that will be enough thank you” Asuka felt a little bit of tension release from her body. She wasn’t sure exactly how long the audition lasted, whether it was considered quick or long, but eventually Iwate-sensei gave the final “that will be all for today. Thank you very much.” Asuka let out a small sigh of relief and set her instrument down in her lap, waiting for dismissal from her sensei’s. As they typed out notes, Iwate-sensei spoke up, “Tanaka-san.”

“Hai” the girl replied.

“How long have you been playing euphonium for?”

“I have been playing since first grade.”

“I can tell you have been playing for a long time” Iwate-sensei noted “you are very practiced at your craft.”

Asuka smiled and thanked Iwate-sensei for his kind words.

“I am wondering if you want to join my ensemble class this term. It will give you a wonderful opportunity to improve your musicianship. While I can’t guarantee your place in the ensemble, I can say that you are an excellent musician and from our registration numbers, it seems like there is a good chance you get in. That said, I think joining ensemble class will help both yourself and the group. If you want to join, I can talk to your advisor and work out your schedule.” Hidaka-sensei nodded in agreement with Iwate-sensei’s suggestion.

This request from Iwate-sensei surprised Asuka, firstly implying that she had done so well in the audition that she was quite likely to land a spot in the concert band and secondly, joining the ensemble class… In all honesty, it never crossed Asuka’s mind to join a music class, she just never thought there was a point. But if she was going to join the concert band, it may be best for the group if she joined the class and who knows, maybe it would be a lot of fun and she would learn a lot and become a better euphonium player. It would probably also beat sitting through boring lectures all day.

Seeing the euphonium player hesitate, Iwate-sensei continued on “If you’re worried about being a non-music student in the ensemble class, we are asking most members who get in through auditions to join the class. As it stands, there’s some extra space for students like yourself. However, if you would like time to think it over, that is alright as well.”

Asuka genuinely wasn’t sure of what she wanted, while she wasn’t too concerned with her academic responsibilities, she pondered if she wanted to go down the road of being a more dedicated musician. She ultimately decided it would be best to mull it over for a little while before making a final decision.

“Thank you for the offer sensei, I would like time to think things over if that would be alright. When would you like a response by?”

Iwate-sensei nodded thoughtfully “Thursday at the latest, but the sooner you give a response the better. It gives us time to sort your schedule if need be.”

Asuka nodded and thanked Iwate-sensei and Hidaka-sensei before returning to the greenroom. As she was packing away her euphonium, she checked her phone and saw a Line message from Rika asking how her audition went.

Rika: so how did the audition go?

Asuka: pretty good, hopefully I got in 🤞

Asuka: good luck to you tomorrow

Rika: Thanks!

And with that, Asuka picked up her euphonium and headed towards the instrument storage room before heading off to her next class. The girl sighed to herself, just as she finished with one thing, another thing came up. Now not only was she bogged down with what to do about Kaori, but also whether or not she should join ensemble class. It seemed like her troubles were never ending, as one thing stops, the next begins and so begins the next piece in Asuka’s life.

Chapter Text

Asuka spent the night giving some thought to what she wanted to do, her indecision getting the better of her once again. It’s not like she couldn’t be decisive when she wanted to, but she often found herself getting stuck weighing the pros and cons of a situation often times to her own detriment. She decided to sleep on it and think about it the next day. However, tomorrow came and she still sat undecided, mulling through the benefits and drawbacks of her situation. She pondered the issue as she sat preparing herself for her next lecture. She checked her watch and figured that Rika should be coming in soon, she made a mental note to ask him how his audition went. She didn’t hear from him this morning but figured that he would let her know how it went or they would just meet each other in class. As if on cue, the boy walked in and strode directly to the seat beside Asuka and struck up a conversation.

“Hello Asuka-san, how are you?”

“I’m good, how did your audition go?”

“It went well, thanks for asking. Not that I ever doubted my ability” the boy said with a cheeky smile "I might have gotten in, but I don’t want to be too confident about it. Anything can happen after all.”

Asuka simply nodded in agreement as the boy continued. “Anyways, if you have time later today, did you want to go to a sweets shop with Itsuki and I? She heard about a new shop that opened up around here and has been begging me to go. I thought it would be fun to invite you as well. If you want to that is.”

“Sure, I’d love to go with you. Sounds like fun.” Asuka flashed one of her trademark smiles and seized the opportunity to get to know the twins better. Part of her wanted to do it just to get closer to her new friends and another part of her wanted to see if what Rika said was true, that herself and Itsuki shared similar qualities. It also seemed like a prime opportunity to try to figure out Rika, something about the boy just seemed off to Asuka but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Rika told Asuka to meet them by the train station after they were all done classes for the day.

After her classes ended, Asuka spent some time chipping away at her schoolwork and reading ahead for future lessons. It still felt a little odd for her not having to practice her euphonium playing, but without knowing the results of the audition she didn’t want to commit to practicing. After she was satisfied with her progress, she closed her books and headed towards the station to meet Rika and Itsuki. As she arrived, she spotted Rika who immediately turned towards her and started waving. Asuka picked up her pace slightly and went to greet her friend. As she approached, it occurred to her that Rika’s twin was not there and to pre-empt her question, the first thing that came out of Rika’s mouth was letting Asuka know that Itsuki was going to be a little late. “She said she needed to talk to her trumpet professor and would be a few minutes late” he said.

Without much else to do, the pair waited by the station for the other Hanagawa twin to arrive. Asuka noticed that Rika was periodically checking his phone, she presumed he was just talking to his twin letting her know that they were waiting for her. When the boy noticed Asuka watching him, he quickly diverted attention away from what ever he was doing.

“So, audition went well yesterday?” the boy asked.

“Yeah, I think it was pretty good. How about yourself?”

“I think I absolutely smashed it” the boy said with a wide grin. Suddenly, like a light switch, his voice dropped into a much more serious tone. “By the way, did Iwate-sensei ask you to join ensemble class?”

Asuka was taken aback by the boy’s sudden inquiry and let a little bit of surprise show on her face, “yes, he did. Why do you ask?”

Rika nodded slowly, “I figured. He asked the same from me as well. I figured something was nagging at you. You seemed a little lost in thought during class today. I suspect there’s still more, but I don’t want to pry too much into your private life.”

Asuka was shocked by the boy’s deduction though slightly unsurprised. She’d already gotten the sense that Rika-san was a bit different than others. He was far more perceptive and had the knack for understanding people and their problems, almost like herself, if she dared go that far. She made a mental note to just be careful around the boy as she nodded in response.

“I’m honestly not too sure what I want to do” Asuka let out with a bit of a sigh.

“Why not join? Its not like the class is that hard, Itsuki said herself that it’s a lot of fun. Plus, you get to meet your bandmates. I for one plan on joining.”

“Still, I’m not sure if its worth it. Seems like a lot of effort to go through.”

“Well, I’m not going to force you to join the class if you don’t want to, but just to let you know that at least May-chi and I will be in that class with you. And wouldn’t it be a shame if you just let your abilities slip by the wayside? Seems like a waste for the former vice president of their high school concert band.”

Asuka raised her eyebrow in surprise. “How did you know? I don’t think I ever mentioned it before.”

Rika shrugged nonchalantly, “I was watching last year’s high school division National competition. Saw you and your school. You guys played pretty well all things considered.”

“What do you mean all things considered” Asuka replied in a half joking tone.

Rika did his best impersonation of Itsuki’s deadpan stare and mimicked her tone of voice “you know what I mean.”

Asuka was briefly stunned by the near impersonation of his twin, though Asuka supposed she shouldn’t be surprised considering, you know, they were twins. They were bound to have a good handle on each other’s mannerisms. But still, it was enough to momentarily stun Asuka and send Rika into a fit of laugher which Asuka soon joined.

“Anyways” said the boy “I think you should join us. It would be a much more interesting class with you in it.”

“I’ll think about it” replied Asuka.

Rika carefully observed Asuka, “you know, Asuka-san, I feel like you always act like your indecisive, when it seems like deep down, you already know what you want.”

“How do you know I’ve already made a decision?”

“Am I wrong?”

Asuka sighed as the boy seemingly saw straight through her. She knew she had the habit of being noncommittal, but it was for the best. No one could get upset if she never took a strong stance, its how she got through the band schism in her second year of high school and helped her out in many other situations. However, in this case, the boy had hit the nail on the head she was already pretty set on joining should the girl pass the audition. Why Asuka didn’t want to tell her fellow euphonium player of her decision one way, or another was a bit beyond her. Perhaps part of it was the boy himself and his ability to understand people. Taking her sigh as a response, Rika was back to checking his phone. He seemed to be intently conversing with someone and looked up to let Asuka know that Itsuki would arrive shortly. After this, he put away his phone and the pair began scanning around for Itsuki’s jet black hair and grey eyes. Rika was the first to spot his twin, pointing Asuka towards her, the pair began waving the trumpet player over. When Itsuki spotted them, she eagerly waved back and began jogging over. As she approached, Rika noticed something flash across her face, so subtle that likely no one but her twin noticed. It was a flash of shock, surprise, perhaps a little bit of heartbreak, then realisation. Rika knew and admittedly felt a little bit of sympathy for his twin, guess she still wasn’t truly over it. But Itsuki did a good job at masking it and quickly realised that it was actually Asuka standing beside her twin brother. She approached and greeted the pair apologizing for her lateness. The trio then set off towards the ice cream shop.

The trio walked in relative silence, Itsuki seemed rather pensive, and Asuka was unsure of what was bothering the trumpet player. Not wanting to disturb her, Asuka was content to just walk in quiet, living in a world of her own thoughts as well. In what was becoming the norm, Rika was the one to break the silence of the group.

“It feels pretty good doing this again, don’t you think Itsuki?”

“Yeah, I guess…” Itsuki said without much enthusiasm.

Rika gave his sister a slight jab in the side, “come one, doesn’t this just bring you back to our high school days?”

Itsuki said nothing in response, choosing to simply continue walking forward with a deadpan expression. Asuka turned towards the pair and raised a questioning eyebrow at Rika.

“We used to go get sweets with a senpai back when we were in 1^st and 2^nd year” Rika offered with a shrug. “Though since she graduated, the two of us haven’t gone much. Its different without her.”

Rika’s sentiment made Asuka realise just how grateful she was that Kaori, Haruka, and herself had stayed in close contact after high school. It also made her wonder how Oumae-chan was doing, maybe she ought to check in on her and Natsuki at some point just to make sure they don’t miss her too much. Asuka did wonder though, why the twins didn’t reach out to their senpai. It was clear that they both missed her, so why not get in touch, especially since they would all be in university now surely, they could coordinate something.

“If you’re curious about what happened, our senpai is studying in America, so we haven’t seen her in a little while” Rika offered.

A brief expression of shock flew across Asuka’s face at the boy’s sudden statement offering an explanation of what was on the euphonium player’s mind. Itsuki also seemed understand what happened and rolled her eyes before quietly whispering to Asuka, “I really don’t know how he does it, he just seems to know what other people are thinking.” Asuka sighed and Rika let out a small snicker, before picking up the pace and walking in front of the pair.

“This really does remind me of the days with Luna-senpai” Rika rested his hands behind his head as he continued walking forward.

Before long, the group arrived at the ice cream store and after ordering, sat at a table near some windows by the entrance. The sweet treat the trio was having helped improve the atmosphere a bit, Itsuki had stopped brooding and Rika seemed very pleased that his sister had lightened up. Asuka was glad that the minor tension seemed to have disappeared and enjoyed simply observing the dynamic of the twins. She noted that Rika was definitely more of the outgoing and joking type. He was constantly making quips, joking, and teasing his twin sister. The boy was definitely very clever with a quick wit. His sister seemed to take each comment in stride, brushing off comments or just giving Rika a deadpan stare and the occasional eye roll. The girl was far more reserved and provided for an interesting dynamic between the pair. It was clear the two were very close, and even without the knowledge that they were twins, Asuka would have figured the pair had known each other for a long time. Asuka sat there watching the twins go at it, she enjoyed watching what was unfolding in front of her and hearing them interact going from talking about who was responsible for dishes, laundry, and dusting to making in-jokes and talking about a shared past that Asuka did not understand. Eventually they turned to talking about their academics with Itsuki offering a not so gentle reminder for Rika to not slack off with his homework.

“Yeah yeah, I’m doing my work, I’m keeping up. I don’t need you to keep pestering me about it” the boy said with an overdramatic sigh.

Itsuki responded to Rika’s dramatics with an expressionless stare “Look, I get that you’re a good student and all, but still, you need to make sure you’re putting in the work.”

“You sound just like Luna-senpai. Just because she’s not helping me study anymore doesn’t mean I need you to take her place.”

Asuka smiled at the twin’s seemingly endless banter. Noticing the grin on the girl’s face, Rika turned towards Asuka.

“Having fun there?” he asked the euphonium player.

Asuka immediately put on a serious face and raised her arms into an X and replied, “no comment” causing the trio to break out into laughter.

“This really does take me back to the time we spent with Luna-senpai, don’t you think May-chi?”

“It sure does.” Itsuki replied wistfully.

Asuka’s interest had been thoroughly piqued with the twins again mentioning this “Luna-senpai” person, who were they and what made them so important to the twins? Before she could ask, someone’s phone began to ring. Rika pulled out his phone and checked to see who was calling.

“Oh, I better take this call. Sorry, I’ll be right back.” The boy hurried outside as he picked up his phone, as he was leaving all they heard was the faint “Hello?” before Rika left to step outside.

As soon as Rika was out of earshot, Itsuki let out an exasperated sigh, “that Rika, he didn’t even tell me that it was you who’d be joining us. All he said was ‘do you want to go to that ice cream store? I have a special guest who can join us.’ He never said who it was though, said he wanted to make it a surprise.” The girl looked down and fiddled with her spoon.

Asuka looked carefully at the trumpet player “does this have anything to do with this Luna-senpai Rika keeps bringing up?”

“Sort of… I guess” replied Itsuki as she continued to fiddle with the spoon in her hands. She then looked up and was met by the soft blue eyes of Asuka staring at her. Asuka looked at the girl in an encouraging way, wanting to hear more about their senpai. Itsuki sighed and continued, “Luna-senpai was the band’s first year ambassador when we joined, and club president for our second year. She was really talented and played the euphonium, just like Rika. She was one of the first friends we made in high school.” Asuka nodded in silence, encouraging the girl to continue. “She was a really talented euphonium player, and everyone loved her. But she never made a huge deal out of herself even if she was by far more skilled than everyone else. Its also kinda funny because she looks a little bit like you, Asuka-san.” Itsuki paused to look at the girl sitting across from her, “but there’s still enough differences to say you don’t look exactly alike. But that’s why I was a bit surprised when I saw you from afar, for a moment… I thought you were Luna.” Itsuki laughed weakly and continued, “but that’s a bit silly, she’s studying music in America right now, there’s no way she’d be here.” The trumpet player trailed off upon mentioning the departure of Luna-senpai.

Asuka reached out and put a gentle hand on top of Itsuki’s hand, “she must have meant a lot to you.”

Itsuki nodded, “she was, is special.”

There it was again; a word Asuka could seemingly not avoid “special” this time used to describe someone close to Itsuki. What does it mean to be “special” and why is that something we say about other people? How do we know when someone is truly special? Asuka wondered to herself, was there anyone that she would consider “special”? She wasn’t sure if she had the answer to that right now. The pair sat wordlessly for a while waiting for Rika to return from his phone call.

Eventually Rika came back and apologized for leaving them briefly to take the call. Noticing the quiet atmosphere, he asked what the matter was. Itsuki told him that they were talking about Luna-senpai, and Rika went on a brief and excited tangent on how great Luna-senpai was. Giving much the same praise as Itsuki gave and made a brief comment on the physical similarities between Luna and Asuka. The trio then decided it was about time to head back, as their paths diverged, the twins bid farewell to Asuka for the night and Rika suggested they hang out more often.

“Oh yeah” Itsuki pipped up before they split paths, “I heard from Iwate-sensei that audition results will be released tomorrow, so look out for that. Anyways, goodnight, Asuka-san.”

“Oh, thanks for letting me know. Have a good night you two” replied Asuka as she waved goodbye and headed back towards her dorm.

Asuka spent the walk back thinking about what she had heard about Luna-senpai, she seemed very important to the twins with Itsuki calling her “special”. Asuka pondered what it meant to be special. Thinking about Kaori, was she special to her? Asuka wasn’t sure that she’d go that far, but her trumpet playing best friend from Uji definitely held a significant place in Asuka’s heart. On the thought of Kaori, Asuka thought to see if the three of them could hang out some time soon, she missed them. When she arrived back to her dorm, she was surprised to see an envelope sitting on her desk, with neat handwriting, the front was simply addressed “Asuka”. Asuka picked up the envelope and noticed something was written on the back side, turning it over, she read the note on the back of the envelope and pulled out her phone to send a very important message.

Chapter Text

Itsuki worked harder than anyone that year, driven by her desire to have Luna-senpai reach nationals and to win gold. On the one hand, she wanted nothing less than to show the country just how talented her band, and particularly Luna-senpai, were but on the other hand she knew that Rika would force her to honour their agreement. When she wasn’t practicing, the girl was thinking of a billion scenarios of how she could confess her feeling to Luna-senpai. It was one way to calm her nerves and prevent her from going insane from all the practice. Itsuki’s hard work did not go unnoticed, fellow bandmates complimented her on the trumpet player’s work ethic and dedication to practice. Not to mention Itsuki was able to maintain solid grades on top of all the practice and was a top student in her class. Yet despite the girl’s talents, she was still very insecure about herself and often questioned if the practicing was worth it. Rika and Luna often were there for Itsuki, making sure she was taking breaks during practice, ensuring she was staying hydrated especially during the summer months. Itsuki could feel the pace start to pick up around her as the year progressed with one thing standing out in particular. The fact that Luna-senpai started to get busier and busier with her own practice. The elder euphonium player had begun her commitment to attend a music school overseas and had been practicing immensely for auditions. Like Itsuki, Luna-senpai also had strong grades so the only point of concern would be passing any auditions. Despite her schedule, Luna-senpai always made sure she had time to spend with the twins and recently seemed to be spending more time with Rika in particular. Itsuki felt a smidge of jealousy towards her brother for getting to spend more time with their senpai, but she never wanted to pry into their relationship.

One day after practice, Itsuki waited by the school entrance for Rika so they could go home together. She saw her brother’s silhouette come into form and he appeared to be in deep conversation with Luna-senpai. As the pair of euphonium players approached, Rika looked towards his sister and offered her a wave before turning towards their senpai, giving a curt bow, and hurried to Itsuki.

“Hey, sorry for the wait” the boy said with a sheepish smile while scratching the back of his head.

“No worries” replied Itsuki in her usual spaced-out tone. “Where’s Luna-senpai going?”

“She said she had some stuff she needed to discuss with sensei. Something about auditions and somethings about upcoming practices.”

Itsuki shot her brother a slightly concerned look which her brother simply responded with a shrug. The pair began walking home, a heavy silence hung between them. A Luna-senpai shaped silence hung between them with neither wanting nor knowing how to approach the subject. In an unusual series of events, Itsuki was the one to break the silence.

“So, what were you and Luna-senpai talking about earlier?”

“She was just giving me tips and pointers about my playing. She’s been on my case recently. I get the feeling she’s trying to bring up a worthy successor” the boy paused. “You’ve been thinking about her a lot recently, haven’t you?”

Itsuki continued walking at a slow even pace, “yeah, it’s hard not to. It’s our last year playing together and after that she’s going to America.” She continued to stare directly forward.

Rika snuck a quick glance at his twin, “May-chi, I really think you should tell Luna-senpai how you feel.” The boy looked forward and walked at an even and steady pace as he spoke. “I know you said that you would if we win gold at nationals, but then she leaves not long after. The sooner you find out, the sooner you’ll stop having to think about it.”

Itsuki continued walking in silence. Rika wasn’t sure if his words were getting through, his twin seemed completely lost in her own mind. All he hoped was that she would eventually come to a decision, it sucked seeing her like mope like this.

The days went on, and everyone fell into a very usual routine, between school, band practice, and spending time with Luna-senpai, the twins were always busy with one activity or another. How they both managed to stay on top of everything while maintaining a strong academic standing impressed many of their peers. Soon enough, July rolled around and with it came festivals abound. On a rare off-day from band practice, Itsuki had taken the time to get caught up with some homework. With the Prefectural competition slowly dawning on the horizon, the band had started preparing for it but the festival atmosphere in the air was making the students restless, so they decided to take today off from band practice. Deciding she had done enough studying for now, Itsuki closed her books and checked her phone where she saw a message from Luna-senpai.

Luna: May-chi, do you have plans for the Tanabata festival?

Itsuki: Not this year, I usually go with Rika, but he is going with some friends this year

Luna: did you want to go to the festival w me?

Itsuki’s heart fluttered, managing to quickly compose herself, she anxiously typed out a response.

Itsuki: I’d love to

Luna: cool, lets meet by the station

Luna: oh, and bring your trumpet 😊

Itsuki was puzzled by this request but shrugged it off. She was happy enough getting the chance to spend time with Luna-senpai.

Itsuki: sounds like a plan

Itsuki put down her phone, leaned back and let out an excited sigh followed by immediate panic as she now had to find her best yukata.

After what felt like the longest day to Itsuki, she finally was preparing herself for her outing with Luna-senpai. With the help of her mother, she put on her yukata and tied her jet-black hair into a tight ponytail. She also put in her favourite earrings, a pair of gold earrings in the shape of a five-pointed star. As Rika was also getting ready, he noticed his twin getting dressed up, and took the opportunity to make a light quip.

“Going to see someone special?” teased her brother.

“Naturally” replied his twin curtly.

Rika noticed that Itsuki had also placed her trumpet by the door. Gesturing towards it, he threw a questioning look at Itsuki. In turn she offered a slight shrug before picking up her trumpet and heading out the door. Arriving at the station, she was greeted by the lovely sight of Luna-senpai standing there in an ocean blue yukata with images of yellow flowers decorated about. Her yukata was tied with a large yellow ribbon and her shiny black hair was tied into a bun. Itsuki could not help but fall even more in love with what she saw as the most beautiful person in the world standing before her. Itsuki’s eyes then quickly turned to see that her senpai had brought along her euphonium and she quickly realised the reason why her senpai asked her to bring her trumpet. Itsuki walked towards Luna-senpai at a steady pace, trying not to trip over herself in awe of Luna-senpai and as she approached, was greeted warmly by the euphonium player.

“May-chi, I’m glad you came. You look so beautiful” gushed Luna-senpai who swiftly pulled her in for a hug.

Itsuki suddenly did not know what to do with herself before quickly regaining her senses and melted into the embrace of her senpai. When the older euphonium player let go, the trumpet player felt her cheeks warm and greeted her senpai. “T-thank you Luna-senpai… Y-you look really good too.”

“Awe thanks May-chi. I picked out this blue one because I figured you’d be wearing red. Makes us a good match don’t you think?”

Itsuki nodded her head feeling the heat further creep up her cheeks. The euphonium player continued on, “oh, and you don’t need to call me ‘senpai’ when we’re out of school you know. We’ve been friends long enough, just call me Luna.”

“Oh, ok Luna…” Itsuki paused as it was a bit unusual for her to refer to Luna without the ‘senpai’.

“Anyways” Luna said cheerfully, “I see you brought your trumpet. That’s good. Come on, there’s a shrine near the top of that mountain, not many people go up there, so we should have the place to ourselves.”

Luna grabbed Itsuki with one hand and pulled her euphonium onto her shoulders with the other hand and pulled Itsuki towards a small mountain near the station, away from the flow of the crowd. The pair continued to walk hand in hand as they trek through a small, wooded area. There was no one else around and Itsuki was acutely aware of how it felt holding on to Luna’s soft hands. She tried not to think too much about how their hands fit so perfectly together, as if they were made for holding each other. The trumpet player was glad the sun was beginning to set, and the light was starting to fade, she didn’t want anyone to see how red her face likely was. Despite, or perhaps because of this, Itsuki didn’t let go of Luna’s hand nor did Luna release Itsuki. The pair continued their ascent hand in hand. Half way up the climb, they arrived at the shrine. They both took time to write their wishes and hang them on the tanabata tree and offered prayers afterwards. Once they finished, they took their instruments and continued their ascent to the top of the mountain. By then, the sky had gone dark, and their path was only lit by Luna’s phone flashlight and the soft glow of the moon overhead. They carefully made their way to the summit where Itsuki was greeted with a beautiful view of their neighbourhood.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it” Luna said as she set her euphonium down and rested her arms over a railing.

“Yeah… It really is” Itsuki replied in awe. To see her entire world from the top of a mountain was really something else. All the lights emitted from the tiny apartments and houses beneath her, she could also hear the faint hustle and bustle of the streets below as the people continued their festivities.

“Come on, lets play something” Luna pointed at their instruments on the ground. “I want us to play something together, here.” The euphonium player pulled out some sheet music from a side compartment of her euphonium case. “Have you heard of the piece ‘The Seventh Night of July’?”

Itsuki nodded, “Yeah, I’ve heard it before. It’s really nice.”

“Well, I took the time to transcribe the alto sax solo for trumpet, and I thought that we could play it together. I’ll play the euphonium part and you play the alto sax part which I’ve written for trumpet.” Luna held out the pages for Itsuki to look at. On a single score she had the parts for trumpet and euphonium for the solo part of the piece. Itsuki read through it quickly, it seemed simple enough and nodded in response. Luna set the music down near some large rocks as a make-shift music stand and the pair began to play. The air began to fill with the sound of euphonium and trumpet. The dreamy wistful melody wafted through the air, the feeling of desire and longing present in the sounds coming from both instruments. Itsuki felt herself lost in the music. She cherished this feeling of being able to play with the one she loved so much, being able to share such an intimate moment. The feeling of creating music together. Once they finished, the pair put down their instruments and simply looked at each other enjoying the silence and each other’s presence. It was Luna who broke the silence first.

“It’s a beautiful piece isn’t it.”

Itsuki hummed in agreement causing Luna to continue on.

“There’s two reasons why I wanted to play that with you.” Itsuki looked curiously at Luna. “The first is that it seems like a fitting piece given the day. The second thing is that I love the story and I want to share that feeling with you. My goal is to study music in America, and I know that if I make it, we’ll be far apart. We may only see each other once a year like the stars in the legend. But I want you to know something May-chi.”

“what” the trumpet player whispered.

“I want you to know that we’ll always be connected. Look up at the night sky.” Luna pointed up towards the moon with Itsuki following with her gaze. “No matter where we are, we’ll always be under the same night sky. We’ll see the same moon. We’ll always be connected like that. Not to mention our names are connected by the moon as well. In some western languages, ‘Luna’ is a word that refers to the moon. Even if we are far apart, I want you to look up at the moon and think of me, because I know that when I look at the moon, I think of you.”

Itsuki continued to stare up at the bright moon above her. She stood in silence staring up and simply existing. There was nothing else she wanted more than for this moment to last forever.

“Let’s stay here a little longer” said Luna, “the fireworks should start soon, and we’ll get a good view from here.”

The pair stayed at the summit of the mountain as the fireworks display began. Watching the beautiful display light up the night sky, standing there watching it with Luna, Itsuki could not be happier. At some point Itsuki noticed that their hands had intertwined again, forgetting how that happened, Itsuki was content to just stand there thinking of nothing but Luna and the world around her meant nothing else.

Chapter Text

After the festival, it was crunch time for the band. With the Prefectural competition just around the corner, everyone was working their hardest to win gold and qualify for Nationals. There was a heightened sense of anxiety as each member worked to perfect their craft spearheaded by none other than Luna Hoshiyama. Everyone was trying their best and working super hard which made Itsuki very happy. Yet she also felt the anticipation creeping up on her as the days passed, counting down not only Prefecturals but also hopefully to Nationals, and beyond that, Luna’s impending graduation. Itsuki also noticed (or thought she noticed) a slight change in Luna’s behaviour as well, the euphonium player seemed to be making a bigger effort to spend alone time with Itsuki. It might be her imagination, but it seemed like the pair were spending more time together. Over the past year, Itsuki had grown accustomed to having Rika join in on their outings, but it seemed like as the days went on, Rika was less and less involved in the outings between Itsuki and Luna. Though the trumpet player didn’t want to read too much into the situation, otherwise she might begin spiraling down rabbit holes and realistically she didn’t have time for that. Speaking of her twin, Itsuki noticed a shift in her brother’s demeanor too. He had begun to spend much more time practicing his euphonium and on his school work, unusual for him as he was first and foremost a piano player and he often slacked off on his homework claiming that he already understood everything and didn’t see the need to do it. Itsuki thought back to what Rika had said to her a while ago “I get the feeling she’s trying to bring up a worthy successor”. Was Luna trying to pass on her legacy to Rika? Not a bad choice in Itsuki’s mind, she knew Rika better than anyone else and she knew how capable he was. He’s an incredibly dedicated worker and a talented musician to boot, surely, he had the ability to lead the bass section or even the entire band. His social skills also made him a fan favourite amongst the band members, he seemingly got along well with everyone and always knew if something was bothering someone. Maybe he wanted to prove that he was a “worthy successor” to Luna, or maybe there was something else, Itsuki wasn’t sure. But one thing for certain was that she was glad to see everyone (including Rika) work hard to pursue their goal of winning gold at Nationals after coming so close last year.

Finally, the day of Prefecturals rolled around and Itsuki found herself a quiet corner of the greenroom their band was assigned. She sat down and watched everyone mull about before her, watching people make their final preparations, reading over their music for the billionth time, and watching the third year senpais attempt to calm the nerves of the first years. The anxious energy was very evident in the shuffles of everyone around her. She watched as Luna strode around the room gracefully relaying information between students and sensei as well as helping some particularly nervous students calm down. As she watched Luna mill about fulfilling her role as the band president Rika sat down next to her.

“Feeling nervous May-chi?”

Itsuki shifted her gaze from Luna to her twin brother. He had set his euphonium down and taken a seat on the floor next to Itsuki.

“I feel fine.”

“Good. I’ve noticed you’ve been in a good mood since the festival. Let’s hope that carries over. Let’s go out there and show everyone what we’ve got.”

Itsuki nodded in agreement.

Soon after, they were called up to go backstage and prepare for their performance. The twins shot a knowing glance towards each other, wordlessly wishing each other the best of luck and Itsuki went to join her trumpet section while Rika went to join up with Luna and the bass section. Even though everyone was silent standing backstage, Itsuki could still feel the anxiety in the air. She looked towards Rika and Luna who were standing side by side. She noticed the subtle signs that Rika was feeling tense, while the boy was good at masking his emotions, Itsuki was prone to seeing minute details in his body language, like his shoulders being raised more than usual or the way he was very subtly practicing his fingerings by flexing his fingers into his palm. She wasn’t the only one to notice these subtle movements though as she saw Luna place a hand on Rika’s shoulder and whispered something into his ear. The boy then gave a small nod and relaxed himself. Itsuki then felt a hand on her shoulder as well, turning to see it was Tsugumi-senpai, the leader of the trumpet section. In her low soothing voice, she offered Itsuki some words of encouragement, “don’t worry Itsuki-chan, we’ll do our best.” Itsuki nodded at her senpai’s words and soon they were ushered onto stage.

Itsuki would always be stunned by the blinding lights the moment they walked on stage. No matter how much she mentally prepared herself for the flashbang, she always found herself being surprised by just how bright it was. But that’s what she loved about being on stage and playing for a crowd. The spotlight was on you and your bandmates, it provided an opportunity to show everyone in the audience how hard you worked and allowed the performers to reap the fruits of their labour. The band settled into their places very quickly and Itsuki snuck a quick glance towards the euphonium section sat near the middle of the group. Both Rika and Luna were as confident as ever and looked ready to take on the world. Itsuki took a deep breath in and let out a long exhale. Their conductor walked up to the stand, raised his baton and the band began to play. Once they started, Itsuki thought of little else but the music she was playing, her head emptied of all thoughts other than the music in front of her. The band sounded better than ever, and everyone was playing to their fullest potential and after they finished their first piece, they moved on to the free choice piece, “October”, featuring a euphonium solo by Luna Hoshiyama. Luna played beautifully that day, the sound of her euphonium rang loud and true. It was as if she was pouring all of her emotions into the solo and everyone around her felt it. Itsuki knew that they had it in the bag.

After they finished there was much relief amongst the group yet still the anticipation of the results announcement remained. Everyone felt confident that they would win gold, but there was still the unspoken fear of a dud gold. The possibility that even if they win gold, they would not be chosen to represent their school at Nationals. No one dared to speak it into existence but in the back of everyone’s mind, it was a definite possibility and scary thought. After all the performances had wrapped up, all the students gathered back into the auditorium for the announcement of the results, to everyone’s relief, their school had won gold. Upon hearing this, the band erupted into cheers, but their joy was short lived as they quickly moved on to announcing the schools which would be representing the prefecture at Nationals. The crowd went silent, a mixture of closed eyes, praying hands, and tight grips on the hands of those nearby were abound. Itsuki could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She looked to her right to see Luna staring almost emotionless towards the podium, the trumpet player reached out and squeezed the hand of her euphonium playing senpai, who offered a light squeeze back. Then the announcement came… They did it, they qualified for nationals. Elation amongst the band as everyone celebrated their accomplishments. A smile spread across Luna’s face as she turned towards Itsuki. “Good job” was all her senpai said before the trumpet player flung herself at the older euphonium player bringing her to a tight embrace.

“Your solo was amazing” Itsuki said with her face buried into Luna’s shoulder.

“Thanks” Luna replied quietly, “you know why I played so well.” Luna offered a thoughtful pause, “its because I was playing for you.”

It was then that Itsuki finally gave in to all the emotions surrounding her and the tears began to flow, tears of joy, tears of wonder, and though she’d rather not admit it, tears of lamentation.

After the excitement was over, Luna had to leave and help sort out some logistics along with their conductor. As she was preparing to board the bus to return back to school, Rika found his way to her side.

“Nice playing today May-chi.”

“Thanks, you too.”

“I saw you talking to Luna-senpai after the results.” Rika looked his sister dead in the eyes, “knowing you, I’m guessing you didn’t tell her. I’ll be honest though, part of me hoped that you did.”

The pair got onto the bus and sat down at a pair of seats with Itsuki taking the one closer to the window. She gently stared out the window and finally responded to her brother, “No… I didn’t tell her.”

Rika sighed, “well, I guess I can’t really tell you how to live your life. But I do think that you should tell her.”

“I will… if we win gold at Nationals. Like we originally agreed.”

“But that’s what I don’t want you to do. I want you to make a decision on your own. Don’t rely on other things happening. Be decisive.” Rika paused realising he may have been a little harsh on his twin sister. “Look, I just don’t want you backing out last minute if we win gold at Nationals because you get cold feet.”

Itsuki simply stared out the window and nodded. She understood where her brother was coming from, but she wasn’t sure if she could do it. She knew there were multiple times the trumpet player could have confessed her feelings towards Luna, but what was stopping her. She wasn’t entirely sure. The remainder of the ride back was quiet, neither of the twins were too interested in talking especially considering the ride of emotions they just went through. They were both emotionally and physically drained from their performance.

After their success at the prefectural competition, the band took a much needed and well-deserved break. Seeing that it was the summer break as well, many of the band members took this time to pursue their other hobbies that weren’t religiously practicing for Prefecturals. Last year, the Hanagawa twins spent much of their summer break hanging out with Luna. However, this year Luna was going overseas with her family to do some tours of music schools in America. Itsuki tried her best to keep herself busy and not think about the impending departure of Luna, but it was difficult and there was only so much that Rika could do to help. Though she did appreciate him trying to distract her with various activities. He seemed to understand what she was going through and was rather (if not a bit uncharacteristically) sympathetic.

Once the summer break was over, the band was back in full fledge practice mode. Everyone began gearing up for Nationals and looked to take their performance to the next level. After returning from America, Luna seemed to be even more psyched to show up at Nationals. Seeing the band president be so invigorated lead to a boost in motivation from the rest of the band as well. It was the last dance for all the third years, and everyone wanted to do their best for them. To avenge their senpais from last year and to finally claim gold at Nationals. It was clear that everyone shared this unifying goal and the mindset to work towards it. The days flew by in a whirlwind of practice, school, followed by even more practice. Finally, the All-Japan National high school concert band competition was on the horizon and the anticipation in the air was palpable. As the competition approached, Itsuki became more and more aware of the impending departure of Luna, the trumpet player had not heard much from her senpai as she was busy preparing for Nationals as well as practicing for auditions. Itsuki felt so conflicted, she wanted Luna to succeed and live out her goal of studying music in America, but the selfish side of Itsuki didn’t want Luna to leave, she wanted Luna to stay close where she couldn’t possibly lose her. She thought about it a lot, she knew that it wasn’t her choice to make and that the thing that would make Luna happiest would be to study overseas. If that’s what made Luna happy, Itsuki would be happy with it as well. There was also the matter of Rika. Itsuki knew in the back of her mind that her twin brother would make sure that she honoured their agreement, if they won gold, she would confess. However, she was still having mixed feelings about it, would that really be the right time to confess? Would she have time to prepare? To steel her nerves, and most of all allow herself to be vulnerable in front of the one she cared about most. Luckily for her, Rika hadn’t been pestering her much about it, in fact the boy seemed preoccupied with practice of his own. Between practice for concert band, keeping up with piano lessons, and school work on top of that, the boy spent much of his time at home either in his room doing homework or in another room practicing one of his two instruments. Though the boy did always shoot her a look whenever he caught his twin staring at Luna-senpai.

It was a week until Nationals and sectionals had just wrapped up. Itsuki waited by the school entrance for Rika so they could make the trek home together. Luckily Rika showed up not long after Itsuki finished, the boy was followed by Luna.

“Hey” waved Rika towards his twin, “Luna-senpai is gonna be walking with us.”

Luna waved at Itsuki who shyly waved back.

“We won’t be able to do this for much longer, so I wanted to make the most of the time we have left” Luna said with a smile.

Itsuki returned a smile yet felt her heart break a little on the inside.

The trio walked in relative silence; only light small talk filled the space around them. The air hung with words left unsaid. As they reached their diverging point, they stopped to bid each other fair well.

“Are you guys worried about Nationals?” asked their senpai.

Itsuki remained silent while Rika responded, “maybe just a little. I think we all want to do our best, the two of us want to do our best… for you.”

Luna smiled and patted her kouhai gently on the shoulder, “Rika, I know you’ve been practicing really hard. We’ll do great, let’s win gold, shall we?”

Rika offered a slight smile and Itsuki nodded her head.

“I know once we’re done with rehearsals, we won’t see each other much at school, so let’s make sure we spend lots of time together.” Luna continued, “I’m definitely going to miss you guys, but our time together isn’t over yet, so let’s make the most of it ‘kay?” Luna smiled and gave a cute wave as she turned left the twins alone. The pair continued to walk home together in silence. Rika had a bad feeling about things, he just hoped that his intuition was wrong.

Finally, the day of Nationals had arrived, and everyone was busy with last minute preparations. After loading all the equipment, the students began boarding the busses that would take them to the concert hall. Curiously, Rika had chosen not to sit next to his twin leaving Itsuki with an empty seat beside her. Itsuki began to lose herself in her own thoughts, thoughts of the journey to get here and thoughts of Luna. She was suddenly jolted from her thoughts when Luna senpai asked if the seat beside her was taken. The trumpet player shook her head, and the band president took the seat beside her.

“Hey, May-chi” Luna softly nudged Itsuki.

“Hm?” she replied.

“No matter what happens today, lets enjoy it.” Luna paused before continuing, “after the results announcement, can you meet me in the same greenspace you were sulking around last year?”

Itsuki returned with a deadpan stare and flatly replied, “you remember that.”

“Of course, how could I forget my dearest kouhai looking so sad. I had to do something. Anyways, would that be alright with you? There’s something I want to tell you.”

Itsuki could see the earnestness in Luna’s eyes, there was something very deep and sensitive behind those blue spheres of hers. It sent Itsuki’s heart into a spiral as she tried to formulate a coherent response. A simple “sure” was all the trumpet player was able to muster before turning towards the window to avoid her senpai seeing the red creep up on her cheeks and began thinking about just what Luna wanted to tell her.

Once they arrived at the venue, everyone became swept up in preparations and organization. Itsuki saw very little of Luna which was probably for the best given it would probably distract Itsuki. While she was going through her usual pre-performance routine in the band’s assigned greenroom, Rika approached his twin.

“Hey, mind if I bother you for a sec?”

“When have you ever been concerned about bothering me” Itsuki replied flatly.

“You just seem a little distracted, though I guess what I want to say probably won’t help. But I do think that no matter what happens, you should tell Luna-senpai. Did she ask to talk to you after the competition?”

“Eh? How did you know?”

“Lucky guess I suppose. Either way, perfect time to tell her, don’t you think?”

“I’ll see…” Itsuki realised that Rika clearly knew more than he was letting on, but with their performance just a few moments away, the trumpet player wasn’t sure she wanted to press the issue.

“May-chi… I just want you to do something. Don’t let indecision be the reason you have regrets.” With that, the boy left Itsuki alone as he went to prepare himself.

Finally, their group was called to head backstage. As the students were filing out of the greenroom, Itsuki felt a tap on her shoulder, she turned around and saw Luna standing next to her carrying her euphonium.

“Best of luck May-chi.”

“Thanks, you too. You’re solo has been sounding great.”

Luna smiled, “you wanna know the secret behind why it sounds so good?”

Itsuki’s silence was Luna’s sign to continue as she whispered quietly to the trumpet player, “it’s because I play for you.” Luna walked off with a smile on her face leaving the poor girl by herself as her heart fluttered and she nearly passed out. Tsugumi-senpai was there to steady her fellow trumpet player before she fell over in the middle of the hallway.

“Careful Itsuki-chan, we can’t risk losing a member just moments before our most important performance of the year. That Luna…” Tsugumi-senpai said while shaking her head, “she’s definitely something else.” Itsuki thanked her section leader for steadying her and the pair continued their way backstage.

Once again, the bright lights of the stage dazzled Itsuki, once she got over her momentary blindness, she made her way on stage with her fellow bandmates and took their seats and prepared to play for the most important competition of the year. The National competition felt much grander than the Prefectural competition, there were many more people in the crowd watching and there was a clear heightened sense of anxiety in the air. Yet when their conductor stood up to the podium, Itsuki felt a sense of calm, and thus began their performance for the All-Japan National Concert Band competition.

The performance passed by in such a blur yet each second ticked by agonizingly slowly, conscious of each and every note they played, the band sounded better than ever with everyone playing completely in sync. When it came time to their free choice piece, Luna’s solo rang true and for a moment, everyone in the audience was captivated by the band playing before them. It was a stunning performance that left the audience in awe. After they finished and walked off stage, there was a collective sigh of relief as the anticipation of playing was gone. Once all the performances wrapped up, everyone reconvened in the concert hall in anxious anticipation for the results. Itsuki sat on her own near the edge of the row, spotting Rika at the other end giving comfort to an anxious horn player in their year. Her eyes turned to band president, Luna-senpai, and vice president, Tsugumi-senpai, who stood on stage ready to receive the prize awarded on behalf of the band. Soon it was time to hear their results, as their school was called, Luna-senpai and Tsugumi-senpai took measured and even steps across the stage while everyone else waited anxiously from the stands. Itsuki closed her eyes as they results were delivered… and they had done it. They had won gold at Nationals. Everyone erupted into cheers and tears of joy, Itsuki leaned back with a huge smile on her face. She looked over and noticed Rika who in between celebrating with his friends, flashed a quick and knowing look towards Itsuki. She knew what he was saying, it’s time to confess.

After the results were announced, Itsuki managed to slip out to the green area where she agreed to meet Luna. Standing there again reminded her of how she felt just one year ago, the disappointment she felt when they received silver. She felt like she should be happy that they won gold this time, earning redemption for the third years and achieving the highest honour possible, yet Itsuki could not get over the sense of dread and fear building within her.

Finally, Luna arrived, “Sorry to keep you waiting, there were a lot of people who wanted to talk to me. But honestly, I just wanted to talk to you. You played great today.”

“Thanks.” Itsuki paused, “there’s also something I wanted to tell you.”

“Oh? Then I’ll let you go first then.” Luna suddenly dawned a very serious expression.

Itsuki took a deep breath, “no, you said you have something you wanted to share, you go first. Please.”

“Ok then.” Luna let out a slightly disappointed sigh, “I wanted to wait until after our performance so it wouldn’t distract you, but I wanted to tell you that I got accepted into a music program in America. I’ll be studying in New York next year.”

“Wow” Itsuki was stunned and felt her heart shatter, “congratulations.”

“So” Luna continued, “what did you want to tell me?”

Itsuki was still reeling from what Luna just told her, she wasn’t surprised about this, the trumpet player had known for a while that Luna intended on studying in America, but to hear that she got accepted suddenly made it a reality.

“I… I… I’m really proud of our performance today. And… And… even though we’re done with band, lets… lets…” Itsuki struggled to hold in her emotions.

“It’s ok May-chi” Luna pulled the girl in and held her tight, “we still have plenty of time before I leave, we can spend as much of it together as you like.”

The pair remained like this for a while, with Itsuki holding back her tears and Luna holding onto Itsuki, until Rika approached and called the pair over to take a group photo.

“So how did it go?” Rika quietly asked his twin.

Itsuki’s silence was all Rika needed to know the answer, his sister failed to live up to her promise.

The remainder of the school year felt like a blur to Itsuki, without the routine of concert band, she was free to spend much more time with Luna and her brother. They spent much of their free time together and Itsuki could not be happier, however when it came time for her to leave for America, Itsuki was in shambles. The trumpet player managed to hold it together until after they said their final goodbyes just before Luna left to go to the airport, but the moment she left and the door closed, Itsuki retreated to her room and began crying. Letting loose all the tears that had built up since Nationals, all the regrets she had and everything she had failed to do. Itsuki only allowed herself to cry then because its only when we’re truly alone that we allow ourselves to cry. Rika sat in his room, powerless to help his twin sister, he knew the pain she was going through yet couldn’t do anything to help her. It was then when he felt the tears begin to fall too. For he also felt alone, and its only when we’re truly alone that we allow ourselves to cry.