17Goodnight, everyone! Hehe, and good to know you all. This is absolutely my first attempt (double mark on attempt) to make any fanfic. I just had this bugging in my head while i was ill like, um, a month ago? yeah, i'm sure taking long to finish it. Gyabo! I just tought that maybe i could write something, so there it is :)
Please forgive me on any grammatical errors, or other mistakes that i made. it'll be soooooo nice of you if you come read and review it. errr, no flames please? I'm just a newbie here so i really don't know what to expect.
Oh, and Nodame Cantabile and its characters weren't, is not, and will never be mine. It's Ninomiya-sensei's.
Ringtone
"Nodame, you idiot! Pick up the phone!"
Mukii… Senpai's soo scary, she thought while forming a peculiar pout on her cherry lips. She immediately flipped her cell phone off after hearing that angry voice from her senpai. It was the first time she checked her cell phone in a week; she had left it somewhere the last time she had a Puri Gorota marathon and forgotten it. When she finally found it (slipped and hid under her full-of-trash couch), there were full of emails from her school friends, even some from Mine and Masumi-chan. But to her surprise, there were also 21 voice mails, all from a particular senpai.
Didn't that mean he had called her at least three times a day? She giggled happily over the amusing thought; Senpai has been very stingy when it comes to showing any affection, but 21 voice mails almost equaled a hug! Hehehe…
"Oi, I made bouillabaisse, are you coming?"
"You're coming, aren't you?"
"Nodame, I'm HUNGRY!"
"Nodame, if you're not eating here, don't come tomorrow either!"
"Oi, are you busy with something? Why haven't you picked the phone up?"
And so on to the 21st mails…
She listened to all mails, feeling extremely content with her beloved senpai's voice. Although he almost yelled in every mail, she felt really really happy upon hearing him again. She was busy preparing for her exams last week, so busy that didn't even give her a chance to spend a dinner with him. She had been missing him, yes, and now she had all 21 voice mails full of him! Yay! Those mails will be most useful when he has to travel again (along with the shirt she had always managed to steal before he left). She could play them over when she didn't have the original. But, wait... Why wait until senpai travels again? Nodame can just use it now…
She grinned devilishly as a brilliant idea climbed to the top of her brain. Scrolling up to the first mail (she had decided she liked it the most), she began to do the necessary clicking to realize her idea.
Chiaki Shinichi had been humming some random song while cooking his specialized curry this evening. He had been in exceptionally good mood, all thanks to a certain pianist who was now sitting at the table, passionately waiting for the dinner. It was just about time for her to visit again. Anyway, is she getting skinnier? I wonder if she's been eating proper meal…
"Senpai, that smells delicious! Hurry, hurry, Nodame is hungry!" she hopped excitedly at her chair.
"Now, now, it's just normal curry," he said while putting the plates on the table (extra large servings for her), grinning happily about being complimented (not that he'd say it though).
"Itadakimasu!"
The two started eating (their first dinner together after a long week). The fact is Nodame continuously chewing with vigor, while Chiaki sometimes stole glance at her. He just couldn't imagine how a dinner would be without that sound she's making ("haun~"). It would be cold, he guessed, and gloom, and not as delicious as it was. Just like the taste of dinner last week.
"Nodame, what had you been doing the past week?" he asked curiously.
"Nodame was busy preparing for the exam. The teacher made me stay until very late at night! Fiuh… Nodame's happy it's over…." She explained exaggeratedly, her mouth was still full of food.
So, she was having exam, Chiaki thought with great relief, I'm glad she's studying seriously; I thought she was abducted by some pervert oldmen!
"So how was it, the exam?" he asked again.
"Eh? The exam? Well… er… It, it was… f-f-fine…" Mumbling that, she averted both of her eyes; her voice was full of uncertainty.
"Don't lie!" he slapped the table; she jumped out of shock, "You didn't practice well, did you?! I know you didn't! You're still playing sloppily whether it's in Japan or Paris! That's why I told you to practice, and look at the score! What piece did they make you play?"
"Rach piano no. 2..."
"But we've played that before! You played that three days straight without even stop! How could you forget that?" his mind flew to the fourth day after his first piano concert with Strezemann back in Japan.
"But it sounds… it feels… different without senpai."
Her answer was simple, yet enough to soften his heart. Stupid girl. A piece is still a piece, no matter who you play that with. But deep inside he felt like it was their piece, and he's actually happy she felt that way too. He was about to say something when another voice broke.
"Nodame, you idiot! Pick up the phone!"
Did he just speak his mind unconsciously? That voice was sure like his! But he wasn't the type of person who just spoke whatever was in his mind, was he?
The voice kept calling, as Nodame hastily searching in her bag. When she finally found the source of that voice, she flipped her phone and put it right on her cold ears.
"'Allo? Lucas, what is it that you call? Nodame is having dinner with senpai, you know… Ah? No way! Your grandfather said that? No way! But what did the others say? Come on, tell Nodame!"
She continued talking in happy tone with Lucas for about fifteen minutes until she eventually hung up. As she turned her face back to her senpai, her mouth began forming a pout. Chiaki was looking at her with fiery eyes, obviously was mad about something she never knew.
"What, senpai? You're making scary face again…"
"Don't just make other people voice your ringtone!" he slapped the screaming girl's ("Gyaboo!") forehead, "And definitely not my voice!"
"But, senpai, isn't it good? That way Nodame doesn't have to miss senpai again when you're away. Nodame has your shirt, your photograph, and now even your voice recorded on her cell phone. Besides, wasn't it senpai who called Nodame 21 times?" she reasoned happily (how could a person smile after being slapped? He would never know), tugging his arms with her big fingers.
He didn't have chance to reply, as she continued her rant, "Ah! I know! Why doesn't Nodame record her voice on senpai's cell phone too? Then senpai won't have to miss Nodame again, ne, senpai? Wow, that's a great idea! Now, senpai, give me your phone!" She said that even more ecstatically, feeling very smart and started looking everywhere for his phone.
"Not in a million years!"
"Gyaboo!"
He had slapped her again.
She didn't stay long that night, not even bother to eat desserts. Chiaki felt bad (a little) over the fact that he had made her irritated. But, hey, didn't it happen all the times?
The most famous former conductor of R*S Orchestra wasn't having a good sleep tonight. He had been sleeping for only two hours when a dream started bugging him. Not a nice one, surely. It made him restless; he woke up several times sweating quite heavily. The problem was that every time he tried to get back to sleep, the dream appeared over and over again. It was driving him nuts as if a crazy little kid was tugging his sleeve while he tried to conduct a rehearse. He definitely hated this kind of dreams, not to mention it was among the weirdest dream he ever had.
In the dream, he was wandering through a forest (A/N note: three guesses on what forest!). The first step felt very easy but difficult at the same time. Yet his feet kept taking him deeper and deeper inside the wood. Oh, and the forest was so weird, too. It was full of Puri Gorota figures and figurines, and then there was a giant Moongoose (whether it's a real Moongoose or just a person wearing costume he was unsure) who was holding pianica and snake at each hand. The Moongoose smiled continuously at him as if saying, "Welcome to our dear forest!"
Although he felt very awkward at first; his worries gradually faded away as he walked through the forest. As a matter of fact, he began to like being in the forest, alone, as though the forest was all his. He liked the comfort it gave and the fresh breeze coming from the trees. He loved the sound of small animals rustling not so far from him. Well, to put it simply, he felt like this forest was playing an orchestra, and he was happy to be in it, to be part of its music. He felt… kind of peace.
But then came something he didn't expect. The sky turned from bright blue to a gloomy gray, the green leaves rapidly changed to reddish-orange of autumn. And it even snowed! He could hear the music changing quickly from soft pianissimo to the 'bang, bang, bang!' of triple fortissimo. The scared Chiaki ran as fast as his feet would allow him and tried to find an escape, but when he finally saw the exit door, it turned to be the door of an airplane. No way would he want to ride any plane in this bizarre weather! 'Not in a million years!' he frowned.
Nevertheless, the dream was starting to be weirder and weirder. Now all the animals were singing some odd song while dancing and pushing him to a corner. Puririn was casting a spell under her breath, and suddenly Chiaki's face was becoming so much like Kazuo. Wait, was she spelling at him?
"Senpai…"
That sound! Chiaki knew it was Nodame's voice, but where did she come from? The voice came in and out, like it was from a very, very faraway place.
"Gyabo, if he ever found out…"
That again! Chiaki was now groping through the thin air to find the source of the voice, but there was no such thing.
Something was vibrating tremendously somewhere near his body, causing him to open his eyelid at once. It was his alarm, or to be precise: his cell phone's alarm that was bugging his sleep, telling him to wake up at exactly seven o'clock in the morning. But he didn't remember using this voice as his alarm tone!
"Gyabo, if he ever found out… Ah, it's recording already?! Erm… what's Nodame gonna say? Ah… err… What about this… Chiaki-senpai, it's your lovely wife Nodame calling. Pick up the phone please."
[…]
He should have known it.
It was her doing.
As he listened to the one and only Nodame alarm tone over and over, he could picturing her sneaking to his room in the middle of the night, doing this so-called recording while he was sleeping. That woman was sure strong-willed; she determined to have what she wanted, especially when it comes to showing her affection (or love, perhaps?) towards him. I'd better be careful.
The alarm was still ringing, he didn't want to stop or snooze it yet, because he wanted to hear it again, the funny voice of his wife-wannabe. But her mission was conducted sloppily, right? It was suppose to be my ringtone, but she made it my alarm tone instead.
He sighed, then smiled, then chuckled, then smiled again.
Right. For the mean time, this will be my alarm tone.