Richard Beaubien Kimagure Orange Road Short Fic: The High Note By Richard Beaubien (Edited) [Spoiler Warning: This fic uses events and settings that take place after the end of the TV series and movies. If you haven't seen all KOR yet and are planning on watching it then you might not want to read this story as it may spoil the final episodes for you. You have been warned, so I want no flames coming at me if you do get spoiled....:] ***** It was around 1 PM on a warm spring Sunday afternoon and Ayukawa Madoka was once again climbing her favorite tree. It was a regular occurrence to see her climbing seem the tree on Sunday, a ritual that the young girl had started almost a month ago. The tree itself was nothing special, a plain old Oak tree of moderate height and only having a few branches and leaves. The district certainly had more majestic tree's for young people to climb and explore, providing breathtaking views of the city and it's inhabitants. But Madoka didn't climb this tree because it was special or because it offered a postcard view. She climbed the tree because it looked into the backyard of a house, a plain looking old house. A yard that, because of the fence which surrounded it, was only visible from the tree. Madoka took a deep breath as she finished her climb, sitting down so she could see all of the yard. The yard itself contained a small garden and a selection of trees cut in the traditional Bonsai art. In the corner was a small bench overlooking a patch of lily flowers and a koi pond. A big smile came over Madoka's face as she saw the bench was occupied by an old man with a saxophone, a saxophone which he slowly placed to his lips and started to play. The notes rose towards Madoka's makeshift concert seat, the rhythm causing her foot to tap. It was a mixture of big band music with a hint of blues thrown in though she really didn't care what the music was made of. For it reminded her of him, the person who had came to save her a month ago. The person that had stood up for her and had even given her a gift. She wanted to do more to repay him for that gift, but she could only give him one thing. Something that was from her heart. "Ahem!" "Eh!?" Madoka exclaimed as she was shaken from her train of thought. "Can I help you Young Lady?" "Well....Not really." "Oh...Then you've been hanging from my tree the last few Sunday's for no reason then, eh?" the man asked in a chuckle as he lit a cigarette. "Um...Ah," Madoka stuttered before composing herself and quickly replying with "I'm not hanging for your information Ji-san. I'm sitting." The man puffed on his cigarette before he replied in a slight giggle, "Well that you are Young Lady, but you still have explained why you're sitting there." "Well Ji-san, I happen to..I happen to..likeyourmusic," Madoka mumbled at once in a soft voice. "Nani? Could you repeat that again please." "I said I liked your music, and I climbed your tree to see who was playing it." A look of wonder crossed the old man's face as he took another puff of smoke. "Really, you like my music? And here I thought I wasn't that good." "No, your music is really great," Madoka beamed as her face broke out into a friendly smile, "It has a nice beat and a strength to it. A strength that reminds me of someone..." Madoka trailed off as she finished the sentence. "Oh, so you think it has a strength to it?" "Hai Ji-san!!! The rhythm has a lot of hidden strength to it" "Well I don't know about rhythm and stuff like that. I just play the music," the man sighed as he extinguished the cigarette on the ground. A slight frown appeared on his face before he started to speak again, "I play the music to remind me of someone too. And I guess she did have a strength about her," the man chuckled as his frown gave way to a reminiscing smile. "I'm amazed that you where able to feel that from the music Young lady." A blush crossed over Madoka's face before she started to reply in a humble voice "Well it's just a feeling I got, I get a lot of feelings from music that I listen too." "Oh really, it sounds like you have a gift,. Have you ever tried to play an instrument before Young lady." The smile on Madoka's face quickly turned to a clearly visible frown. "Not really. My parents wanted me to take some violin lessons once, but I don't like the violin." "Well you seem to like the saxophone." "I just like the music it plays, it's music is better than a violin. It's more comforting..." A hearty laugh came from the old man as he lit another cigarette and placed it into his mouth. "If you say so, Young lady, if you say so." The smile stayed on his face as a wisp of smoke reached his eyes. "Well then, would you like to try the Saxophone out Young Lady?" "Really?" "Really." "Wai! Arigato Ji-san!" Madoka exclaimed as she leapt from her seat in the tree towards the ground in the yard. Doing a small flip while falling, she landed on both of her feet and ran over to the bench to pick up the saxophone from the old man. Placing a firm and natural looking grip over it, she slowly placed her lips over the mouth piece and started to play the song which had caused her to seek out her front row seat in the tree. "BLEEEE!!!!:" the saxophone screamed as Madoka started to play it, causing the local alley cat's to screech in accompaniment. Madoka's eyes suddenly filled with tears as she started to hand the saxophone back. "Ji-san, I broke it!!" A look of whimsy crossed the old man's face as he placed the saxophone back on his lap. "Nonsense, you just need to practice. If you work hard enough I'm sure you'd be able to make great music." "Really?" "Really." "Then can you teach me Ji-san?" "No," the old man responded, "I'm not good enough to teach you. You need a professional." "But, But!!" "No But's young lady," the man lectured as he started to lead Madoka towards the gate. "Your talent is too good to be lead astray by a layman like me." "Ji-san!!" Madoka exclaimed as the gate slowly started to close behind her, "Your a great player. It would be honor to learn under you!!!" "Thanks for your praise, but I'm not worthy of it." the man smiled as he closed the gate behind Madoka. Peering over the gate to look at her, he slowly began to finish his reply, "You need to have a real teacher if you want to play special music for someone special. And you do want to play special music for him don't you?" "Hai.." "Then it's best if you learn from a sensei than someone like me. Well it was a pleasure to meet you. Ja ne!!" The face disappeared from the top of the gate, the wisps of smoke flying to the sky. As she turned away Madoka heard a faint whisper come from the man, "She has the same talent you did Yume-san. And I think she'll make as good music as you once did." The music slowly started to play again, this time a different song. A slightly sadder song but still full of strength, a song which she would someday know as 'Melody no Kenji-san' "Ji-san," Madoka cried before she started to slowly walk away. She took one more look at the tree, a tree that she had climbed perhaps for the last time in her life. It was an ending, but as the man's saxophone music filled her ears she felt it was also a beginning. A new path was open to her, and she would soon be able to make special music for all of the special people in her life, including.... **** Ayukawa groaned as the sunlight slowly filled her eyes. Slowly she rose from the bed to see that it was empty except for her. A loud yawn came from her as she started to stretch, and think about the dream she had last night. A dream which she had seen 3 times over the last month, a dream about one of the more important times in her life. When she first became interested in the saxophone, and more importantly in making her own music. "Madoka, can you get me a towel please?" "Hai!! Hang on a second," Ayukawa responded as she picked up a bath towel. Slowly she walked over to the bath room, a soft smile appearing on her face. Her music had found the audience that inspired it, and she had found the person she was looking for. A person she always knew would be waiting for her, no matter what happened. "Arigato Madoka," Kasuga replied as he took the towel from Ayukawa's hands. He started to head back into the bathroom when he saw the smile on Ayukawa's face. "And why are you so happy this morning Madoka." Kasuga teased as he wrapped the towel around himself. "I'm happy, I'm happy that I found the special person I wanted to make Music for," Ayukawa replied as she reached over to place a kiss on Kasuga's cheek. "Arigato Kyousuke, Arigato." *Fin Japanese Terms used in this fic(Some may be obvious to you, but might not be to others...:) Ji-san=Old Man Hai=Yes Arigato=Thank You Ja ne=Good Bye Wai= An expression for excitement. Think of a much cuter version of cool..:) Anyway, comments are always welcome!! Ja ne!! Richard Beaubien ---------------- Suzuki Arimi, Mizuno Ami, Aya-san forever!!!! WAI!!! Fanfic homepage http://www.anime.usacomputers.net/~beaubird