The story begins with Kae in the midst of her piano lesson. She asks Sensei what a passionate kiss feels like, as she rocks back on her piano chair. He walks over and points at her with his cigarette. "Don't do that, you'll damage the chair." There's a loud crash as she falls backwards.
Sensei:"Ah... there! You've spoilt it."
Kae:"Give me a break! Which is of greater importance? A chair or your student?"she asks as she rubs her aching back. "The chair."is Sensei's reply ^_^
She's been attending this Piano School for the past 5 years. Kae argues with Sensei(Goshima Masayuki) over the way she plays her piece and she leaves in a huff after insulting him, as she resents the way he treats her like a child.
On his way out, Sensei spots her at the window and she scatters his music scores in revenge. As they make their way home, she sees that his hand is bleeding and he remarks that it must be a papercut from the musicscores she scattered. Noticing that she looks upset, Sensei deliberately remarks that it hurts. ^_^
The next day, Sensei laughs as he discovers some ointment and bandaids when he raises the piano cover. He snidely remarks to Kae that if it was for revenge, why bother and that he's surprised by her concern for him. Kae coolly answers that she has absolutely no idea of what he's talking about and Sensei replies that he thought he'd play her a song in return, but since she didn't know what he was talking about.......
Kae picks the song "Say You Love Me" by Patti Austin and tells Sensei to continue playing and not to stop. The next day, the shop manager has a chat with Sensei during his break and they talk about Kae. He remarks that Sensei and Kae have been getting along pretty well lately and that she's already 16 and will be a young lady in just 2 or 3 years, to which Sensei reacts with a dazed look, dropping his cigarette. He exclaims that she's just a kid! The shop manager says that Sensei is real slow and he's looking at things too simply. Sensei thinks "what the hell is he talking about??"
Sensei finds Kae slumped over the piano asleep when he enters the classroom and he ponders over what the shop manager said. (Has it been 5 years already?) he thinks to himself as he smoothens her fringe back. He then proceeds to wake her up - by pinching her nose, timing how long she'll last. Kae wakes up gasping for air and demands to know if he did something to her whilst she was sleeping, he denies it, naturally!
The shop manager and the only other teacher at the school(Uchida) turn up at the club Sensei is performing at, in the evening. They tell him that Kae is on her way as well, as it wasn't appropriate for her to turn up in her uniform, she had to make a trip home for a change of clothes. Sensei is surprised when he spots Kae in a dress and a scarf around her neck. I guess he's too used to seeing her as a kid and only in uniform. ^_^;
"Wow.. Sensei looks great!" Kae remarks as she comes in huffing from hurrying over. As Sensei performs on stage, he ponders over his queer feelings (it's an extraordinary feeling... she's no longer the brat from 5 yrs ago. Is this how a father feels when he discovers that his daughter is growing up?)
He's still in a daze and we see that they are in the midst of yet another piano lesson. Kae remarks that if he needs to go to the toilet, he should do so, as she notices that he's preoccupied. She notices that the wound on his hand has healed and laughingly remarks that, if there was a scar, she'd have to say she'd take responsiblity for him - he laughs in response. Kae reaches out for Sensei's hands "what long fingers you have. When I first met you, I was so surprised your hands were so beautiful. I couldn't sleep that night, wondering what it'd be like to be touched by such hands. It's pretty funny thinking about it now, but I honestly felt that way back then."
Sensei is expressionless as he withdraws his hands from hers - "Leave reminiscing to old folks. Just practice your piano like a good kid should." But he wonders about the queer feelings he has. "Sensei, do you know I actually hate playing the piano?" Kae tells Sensei. "Then why do you bother coming here?" he replies. "Because I like it." "Didn't you just say that you hated it?" Sensei smilingly asks. She grabs him by the collar and kisses him and they stare at each other in silence.
The shop manager and Uchida mention that something must have happened, as Kae has been absent for the past few lessons and that she'd normally make her way there, even if she was having a fever. They ask Sensei, who pretends that he has absolutely no idea what's going on. Sensei thinks to himself that the feelings he has for Kae are not paternal at all. He glances out the window and notices Kae standing by the street.
Sensei:"Hey, you've already made your way here, still intend to go back? Thanks alot for declaring such a challenge."
Kae:"I'm sorry, does it put you in an awkward position?".
Sensei:"It is awkward, I can't treat you like a child any longer, I'd have to take responsibility for you."he smilingly replies. Kae flings herself into his arms.
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- I Feel The Presence Of You In My Mind --
Kae bumps into Sensei on the way to class whilst she's with 2 friends. They're surprised that Kae actually takes piano lessons, as it's so unlike her, and guess that she's doing it for the sake of her piano teacher.^_^ They're stunned when they see Sensei, saying that she's so lucky to have a grown-up for a boyfriend as he seems so self assured and mature, plus it didn't hurt to know that he looks like a model. Kae gets upset when she overhears some customers remark that a highschool student doesn't match Sensei, and that they don't look like a couple.
Kae remembers her first lesson with Sensei, when she crawled under the piano refusing to come out. And Sensei with a bandaid on a face with numerous scratches - all for trying unsuccessfully to get the lesson started. Back to the present - "Watch your head." Sensei mutters under his breath, just as there's a loud bump. Yup, Kae's already done it. ^_^; Sensei insists on bandaging her wound that's started bleeding, even though she tries to resist. She blushes and feels ill at ease whilst he's tending to her forehead, much to his amusement. Kae thinks to herself that if she were a grownup and mature woman, she wouldn't have reacted in such a way.
Sensei's heading out for another evening performance at a club and informs the shop manager that he's leaving early for the day. Kae is excited about the performance and want to go, but Sensei replies "that isn't a place for a kid to go alone." Kae breaks down in tears when she hears this remark and mutters "Stupid Sensei."before running off to the classroom. Uchida and the shop manager are amused as they know that Sensei is actually worried for Kae. Why don't you just come clean by saying, "I don't want you to go bcos you might get picked up by other guys at the club. And though it's a classy place, it's still dangerous at night."they snigger at Sensei. Sensei ignores them as he heads in Kae's direction. He finds her hiding under the piano and asks her to get out from there. She refuses, thinking that he's angry with her, she remarks that being in love makes her cry, makes her feel lost and being in love with Sensei is so tiring. He pulls her out from under the piano and kisses her. Kae thinks "Being in love is such a bother, just a single kiss and you feel like you're in heaven."
"Sensei you're smoking too much!" Kae complains as she sees the overflowing ashtray."Am I?" replies Sensei absently as he reads the newspapers."Of course you are! Is your mouth so lonely?"Kae reaches over and pulls the cigarette out of his mouth as she leans over to kiss him. "I won't go easy on you.I'll grow up into a remarkable woman, on par with you. You'll regret underestimating me."she thinks.
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- Humidity was at it's highest that day --
A guy with a baseball cap reaches out to grab a piano score that was caught by the wind as it blows past him. He turns and spots Kae and her friend picking up the musicscores she dropped. "All unhappiness was gone in an instant."
We see him(Nakayama) walking past Kae in the music school. He thinks (Are you heading back now? How was class today? Is it possible for us to.....?) But all he does is silently walk past Kae. This is already the 12th time he's using the excuse of fetching his 2 younger brothers from class, just to see Kae.^_^ (Even though I've dated other girls before, it's the first time I'm in love.)he thinks. Back home, his brothers tell him to use the musicscore he picked up as an excuse to approach Kae and he says that's the last resort! He's surprised when they tell him that Kae already has a boyfriend.
Kae asks Sensei what time he finishes work for the day and he tells her, earliest 10pm. She wants to wait for him but he disagrees as it'd be too late and her family would worry. He further annoys her by patting her on the head and telling her to be careful on her way home."Don't treat me like a kid!!"she fumes.Uchida tells Kae the Sensei has a pretty hectic schedule so he's really busy for the moment. Kae says that he's promised to bring her to an amusement park the next weekend - she intends to go for all the fast rides! Uchida sympathises with Sensei.^_^
Back to the 2 bros, they're pumping info of Kae's boyfriend into Nakayama. They tell him that Sensei looks like he's 30, and his name is Goshima. They remark that highschool girls are all flighty anyway and it's just for fun, hopefully she won't get taken advantage of. Nakayama starts imagining Sensei looking like a fat, dirty old man. ^_^ He approaches Uchida to enquire about Goshima and he points him out. "Hmm... he does look like a dirty old man indeed."he remarks, as he mistakenly thinks that the shop manager is Goshima.^_^ "hahha... you think so?" replies the shop manager laughingly. Uchida corrects him, and points out Goshima, who's beside the shop manager.(Ooh... that's definitely a playboy. Those 2 stupid brothers of mine, he doesn't look like he's 30 at all!)he thinks. He spots Kae sitting at the couch and plonks himself down beside her. "Hot today isn't it?"he asks Kae. "Um... yeah..."replies Kae. (She answered! She answered me!! It's great to be alive!)he thinks with tears in his eyes. Whilst Kae looks on thinking if this guy is ill?^_^
Sensei asks Uchida who's that guy sitting beside Kae, and Uchida tells him that he's got 2 brothers attending the school, but he thinks that his motive for visiting the school is Kae. The sniggering shop manager asks Sensei if he's worried and what's he going to do about it? "She's not a kid, nothing needs to be done."is Sensei's cool reply. "Ooh... he replied more seriously than usual, that shows that he minds."Uchida and the shop manager mumble.^_^ Nakayama watches entranced as Kae folds her musicscores into aeroplanes and releases them out the window. She tells him that Sensei'd probably lecture her if he saw what she was doing. He asks her is she means Goshima, and what he's like? She tells him that his personality sucks, he's proud, sarcarstic, curt and doesn't keep his promises.^_^; By now, Nakayama has tears in his eyes and is trembling with violent emotions towards Sensei and Kae thinks "this guy, he's really ill."
It's 9.35pm and Kae is asleep in a chair whilst waiting for Sensei. Uchida asks if they should turn on the light to wake her up, but Sensei says that he's driving that day and he'd fetch her home, as he cradles her in his arms (she's about to fall off the chair ^_^ )
Kae argues with Sensei about him breaking his promise again. His hectic schedule causes him to cancel yet another date with her. She claims that she knows he's busy, and that's why she makes her appointments waaaaay in advance. He gets exasperated with her and tells her she should be more obedient, mentioning the fact that she was a hindrance the night before. She ends up throwing her shoes at him, "You don't consider the feelings of others at all! You stupid old man!"she slams out the door. Meanwhile, Uchida and the shop manager who have overheard everything, are trying their darnest not to laugh as they repeat the remark "stupid old man."
Kae meets Nakayama out by the backdoor in the rain whilst she hides out. Nakayama is incensed that Sensei treats Kae so shabbily and he thinks that he won't let him off lightly. He's stunned when Kae says that she actually doesn't mind Sensei calling off their date, it's just that he's so indifferent, she feels insecure. Nakayama claims that Sensei doesn't care for her at all! If it were him..... Sensei arrives looking for Kae, and carries her, surprising both Kae and Nakayama. She tells him to put her down, but he says that her feet are dirty, should she be walking about the store like that? And could she stop getting into situations that inconvenienced others? ^_^ Kae replies with a popped vein "well, you don't have to carry me like a kid do you?" Sensei replies "you are one." Sensei slips Kae's shoes on for her as she sits on the piano and she asks him if he'd be worried if she were to be with other guys. Sensei tells her, what's there to worry? Since she isn't a kid.
Nakayama broods about the scene he witnessed. And he thinks that perhaps Sensei is just too rough and curt in his mannerisms and speech, but maybe that doesn't reflect on his true feelings. He tells his brothers that he isn't giving up though! And he finally approaches Kae as she finishes her class.
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Translations done by Rin 2003
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