Chapter 15 – Giorno d'Estate in Italia

One week passed in the blink of an eye. Were they able to find the answers they were looking for? Were they able to set aside their differences and combine their play? Would their efforts even matter in the face of overwhelming talent? Only the musicians can answer those questions on stage.

The group made their way separately back to Towa Hall this time. Now that the stakes were higher, they were competitors before they were friends. "How you feeling, princess?" asked Takeshi.

Emi breathed in a deep breath of air and released slowly. "Wonderful."

"Good, then let's win this!"

"Ready?" asked Kaori as she gave a slight shoulder bump to Kousei.

"Yeah," responded Kousei firmly.

As soon as they arrived, they saw Aurora, Nash, Shusui and Aika standing at the entrance. "This time, Shusui. Count on it!" said Nash as he walked away.

"Whatever you say, Nash," said Shusui coldly.

"Well, let us have a good match as always Aika!" said Aurora as she gave her friend a hug and then turned at the new guests. "Ah, ready for your side of the promise?"

"Yeah, as soon as we beat you!" said Kaori as she held onto her partner defensively.

Aurora laughed. "You guys are still going on about that?"

"I look forward to your answer, Kousei," said Shusui. "But make no mistake, we'll be going at you full force today." Kousei simply nodded in response and the group went their separate ways.

Only the top ten performers of day one made it into the second round, while most of the hype was around the top four finishers of round one, the others were no pushovers either. Each of them giving their own unique and spectacular performance and each earning a big round of applause. Until finally there were five performances left.

'Mommy, mommy look! I can finally do it too!' exclaimed a little girl as she danced around with her little violin in her arms.

'That's wonderful, sweetheart! Playing solo is great but one day mommy hopes to see you play with someone you care deeply for as well.'

'Just like you and daddy?'

'Mhmm!'

'Alright I got it,' said the little girl as she raised her violin bow, 'I'll give you the greatest performance ever alongside a great pianist, just like you and daddy!'

'Then it's a promise! My dear…'

'Contestant #1103, Aurora Blandelli'

"Looks like I'm the first one to go again," said Aurora to herself before walking onto the stage. Her greeting this time much warmer than her last. Having proven herself in the last round, many have come just to hear her magical performance again. Among the crowd, she could spot the 4 year old girl that watched her last time and gave her a big smile. "Sorry dear Kaori, I can't disappoint my fans, can I?"

She started off with a cheerful beat at a moderate pace, not slow enough to be considered a walk and not fast enough to be considered a run, but a peaceful roll on a bicycle through a summer day morning. 'Giorno d'Estate in Italia - A Summer Day in Italy by yours truly.'

She wasted no time showing off her magic as she stopped her play yet preserved the melody she started off with and proceeded to layer another tune on top of it. The second layer was slow, then broke out into a small flurry of fast notes, before coming back down again. Unpredictable and free, an image of a spirited girl riding her bicycle in a small quaint town. Aurora didn't stay on that tune for long, a brief introduction of the character for now. She then held her violin bow with her mouth and began tapping on the strings on her violin, creating a up-tempo beat to go along with the steady bicycle theme. Once the beat was set, she went back to the tune of the spirited girl that never seemed to stay still. As soon as the audience got comfortable with one melody, the tune would change pace and key.

"Three melodies yet only one violinist…"

'We're not done yet!'

A fourth melody then began to emerge, intertwining itself with the rest of the song with ease. It was a complicated mix of the different chords yet it seemed so simple to understand. Each of the different layers supported each other and simply enhanced the main tune of the spirited girl. Adding to the image, filling it with multicolored foliage, and finishing it off with a fresh and soft summer breeze. It was a song that called out to its listeners, asking them to come along for the ride with the spirited girl. A song that was like a painting, with so many parts that one could focus on and draw meaning from.

The climax was absolutely brilliant as the tempo picked up and the audience could feel the scenery whirl by as the bicycle sped up. Finally, the tempo slowed back down as it signaled the end of the spirited girl's journey, before a light twirl of notes finished off the song leaving the audience with only an image of a bicycle and the spirited girl's destination a fantastical mystery.

*Author's Note: Short but I'm planning to upload each performance one at a time, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! If you guys are wondering what song the performance was based off of, just search "AMAZING street musician! (Epic Violinist Music Video) HD" on YT.

CelestialSky: Thanks for the review, hope you got all the characters all sorted out now XD

Shits and Chips: I was scared too o.O

Danbred: Thanks for the review, hope you like the next few closing chapters!

LeeZee: Absolutely! Go ahead! It's actually quite an honor to hear someone is turning my fanfic into an actual manga XD I'm happy you like the storyline and no I'm not from Japan, I think I've used -san once since I felt the need to emphasis Sakamura's prestige :P