Violin + Piano

Chapter 19: Memories of the past -- Photos
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Cagalli stood beside the window, her arms crossed across her chest and gazed out of the window looking at the vast horizon spreading infront of her very eyes. The golden sunlight illuminated the frame of her deep blue coffee mug. Slowly, she felt the surrounding get warmer as the sun peeked from above the tops of the building. Annoyed by the deafening silence, Cagalli softly hummed a tune quietly as she rested her head on the kitchen wall.

"Kaasan."

Cagalli turned and saw Kira standing at the doorway with a bunch of books with yellow pages and dogged ears.

"Hmm...?" Cagalli asked as she looked at her brown haired son.

"What a sight, you are awake even before I woke up. Kira chuckled as he entered the kitchen and took a seat on one of the wooden chairs tucked neatly into the dining table. Cagalli frowned a little as she took her mug and took a seat at the dining table. Kira noticed the sudden mood change and looked at Cagalli.

"Kaasan, daijobu?" Kira asked concerned with his mother's sudden mood change. Cagalli paused, a faint smile bloomed across her slightly depressed face and gave Kira a reassuring smile which allowed Kira to release a sigh of relief. Cagalli laugh as she ruffled Kira’s hair making Kira giggle. Cagalli beamed at her son as she patted his matted hair back into place and took a sip of her coffee.

"Say, what are those?" Cagalli asked pointing her index finger at the stack of books that Kira left on the table while Kira stood up to get himself a cup of carrot juice from the fridge.

"Some viola scores that I found in the attic" Kira replied without taking a look and returned to his seat with a transparent glass three quarter filled with the orange fluid and flipped open a book and glanced through it. Out of the blue, Kira stopped looking at the book and looked at his blonde mother. Cagalli noticing his gaze looked up and gave Kira a puzzled look. Kira gently took his blonde mother’s hand into his and studied her finger tips with great concentration. Cagalli opened her mouth to ask Kira the reason for his actions when she heard Kira interrupt.

"Say mum, did you use to play the viola?" Kira asked while he studied his finger tips and his mother's ones. Cagalli chuckled as she pulled her hand away from Kira's grip.

"Just because I have viola sheet music, that doesn't mean that I play the viola." Cagalli smiled as she flexed her sleek fingers.

"Then whose are these? Was this father's?" Kira asked shifting his attention from the sheet music to his mother. Cagalli looked at Kira however she remained silent as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Did I hit a sore spot?" Kira pondered.

"Kira shouldn't you be preparing for school?" Cagalli changed the subject and looked at Kira. Kira looked at the time and nodded upon seeing how late it was. He collected the books and returned to his room. Cagalli sighed as she heard Kira's footstep fade softly and the opening and closing of the door. Cagalli looked at her cup and seeing that it was empty, she stood up and walked to the basin to wash her mug. After drying her mug, Cagalli turned and paused to see an old photograph lying on the ground. Cagalli bent down and picked it up. In the sepia photo was a Cagalli saw 2 young kids standing side by side with each other. One was a boy with a dark colored hair which was unable to tell what color it was due to the age of the photograph. He was dressed in a cute striped shirt and a pair of pants and wore a pair of loafers. Standing beside the boy was a cute girl who looked a little older then the young boy whose hair had a lighter tone was tied up into a twin ponytail. Her big eyes stared straight at the camera. Cagalli's eyes widened as she saw the brownish photograph.

"Why is this here?" Cagalli screamed mentally, her had clenched tightly on the photograph as thoughts raced through her mind. Then she heard footsteps. She looked up and saw Kira looking at her. Quickly, Cagalli tried to hide the sepia photo behind her back. However the swift movement caught Kira's eyes and sparked his curiosity.

"What’s that?" Kira asked as he walked towards Cagalli and reached out to grab the photo from Cagalli.

"Nothing" Cagalli dismissed as she swat her hand like she was swatting a fly however this did not discourage Kira however it did the reverse instead, Cagalli's action made her already curious son more curious and determined to uncover the hidden item. Cagalli continued to resist making Kira's patience wear thin. Finally, it snapped, frustrated at the wild bull chase, Kira grabbed Cagalli's had roughly and yanked her hand towards him. Using his other hand, he snatched the photo out of his mother's hand.

"Kira!" the brunette heard his blonde haired mother beg she was now on her knees and tears were slipping down her pale cheeks as though she was trying to hide something from her son. But Kira ignored it and took a glance at the old photograph to have a rude shock. His eyes widened as he saw the 2 kids in the photo staring back at him with nostalgia. Seeing that Kira's guard was down, she snatched the photo away from Kira and hugged it tightly against her chest. The quick seizure of the photo snapped the violinist out of his shock-induced trance and looked at his mother who was on the floor.

"Mo...Mother..." Kira fought to remain calm as his voice shook showing the prevalence of shock cast upon the young talent. "Who is that in the picture?" Kira asked as he pointed his finger at that dreaded photo of the past. Cagalli felt her son's unrelenting gaze staring directly at her burning deep into her back. Bt Cagalli knew that she had to carry this knowledge until the day she join her big sister who passed away shortly after Kira's 4th birthday due to lung cancer.

"Mother." Kira whined realizing that his mother was not going to tell him anything. Then he suddenly found a sharp similarity between the girls in the photo and somebody that he knew.

"It can’t be...” Kira gasped as he looked at the photo once more before staring back at his mother making Cagalli’s blood run cold.

+END+

A/N: What did Kira find out? Sorry, this is on Kira & Cagalli and not on Kira & Stella. SORRY. But things just flowed this way so I wrote this chapter. :D:D Apparently, I follow my flow. :D:D Anw, please review. Thanks!!