Amais listened to Kasimir's story, knowing that it was more accurate. She looked at him then up at the administrator and nodded.

"What he says is true."

The band director slammed his hands on the desk causing Amais to jump in suprise and shrink back, "You little liar! Your opinion shouldn't count in this! My story has more of the truth than his!"-he pointed again-"Why listen to her?! She's just a student and we're the teachers!"

Amais stayed quiet and didn't know what else to say, immeadiately berating herself in her mind for her cowardice.

"You want me to nearly break your other arm?" Kasimir threatened, eyes darkening a bit.

The administration member immediately stood up, out of his chair. "Enough! I've had enough violence for today." He glowered between them. "Vittorio. This is your first day and you're already causing trouble." He heaved a heavy sigh, scratching his head. "However. Nagamiya verified your story. Two against one. So, I believe Mr. Vittorio was justified." He glanced at the band director, pointedly. "Please refrain from further disrespect towards the student body. Or there will be trouble."

A big grin broke out across Kasimir's face, smug, pleased.

Amais was suprised again when Kasimir threatened the band director again, in front of the administrator, no less. She knew it was her fault. Neither of them should be in trouble.

She took a deep breath and stood, head turned towards the administrator, "May I go now? It's still a while till class will end, sir."

As much as twenty more minutes seemed. Nevermind the time, all she wanted was a breath of fresh air and to get away from the band director before he cornered her in some place alone.

"You may go. If there is trouble with him again, please. Don't hesitate to ask for help," the man agreed, nodding.

Kasimir was grinning. Widely. He stood up, stretching. "I've got a class in twenty minutes. I've got to get my stuff set up. I'll see you all at a later date..." He waved to Amais and headed out into the hallway towards his classroom, without another word.

When the administrator gave his approval she nodded, "I'll be sure to do that, thank you."

Smiling at Kasimir she also waved and hoped that he could make it to her performance. If not, such was life. With a goodbye to the administrator and a quiet apology to the band director she also took her leave.

Fortunately, photography was her last class for the day. Her quick footsteps bounced off the walls and distracted her from thinking too much on the event. At least it ended the way it did...all she was worried about was the outcome. Once making it back to the classroom, she found that most of the students returned to the room, including Amaya and Reika. They quickly walked toward her and pulled her to a more deserted side of the classroom asking her what happened. With a small smile, she explained the situation, the resolution, and her worries.

"You really think he'll attack you?" Amaya asked.

Amais shrugged, "There's the possiblity. Though I'm more worried about the band members in general. They are a frightening bunch when angry."

Amaya and Reika looked at each other, thinking about what to do.

Kasimir went through his last class of the day wearily, napping in his chair. He felt so tired...but he would definitely make Amais' performance tonight. He was looking forward to it. He hadn't heard good live piano music since he last saw his brother...and that hadn't been a very peaceful reunion.

He sighed, stretching a bit. He grumbled a bit when the thought of the band director crossed his mind. If he ever harmed one of his students in any way, he would have the man's head. Kasimir really needed to learn how to control his temper.

Amais' friends kept the rest of the conversation off of the event and what could come of it. They only spoke about the preformance and asked what she would preform. She only replied saying that it would be the usual maybe with a requested audience peice. The bell rang and Amaya went to meet up with a few art club members and Reika made sure to stay with Amais as they walked to the dorms.

They resided in the Estelle dorms, one of the two offered for the girls. There was suprisingly enough room for those who decided to triple. The duo went up a couple flights of stairs and Amais brought out the key to unlock the room. Going in first and Reika locking the door soon after, kicking her shoes off, she set her things aside by her own bed and flopped down onto it.

"Nap?" Reika asked, amused.

"Maybe." Amais sighed, "I never thought all of what happened today would happen to me. Never had I imagined that I'd end up meeting an administration member...for that kind of thing."

"You get used to it." Reika laughed as she sat at her desk and turned on her laptop. "Get some sleep, girl, else you won't preform so well."

"Mm'kay." The pianist turned over and closed her eyes.

Kasimir still hadn't moved into the teachers' dormitories, though there was a room there for him. He'd found them too lavish, and unfair to the students, who had much worse dormitories. He had an apartment a few blocks from the school, but he was too lazy to start heading home. Sighing, he shrugged his shoulders, hearing a satisfying crack from one of his arm bones. Then, he stood.

Kasimir headed out of his room, locking it behind him. He was attempting to find the teachers' dormitories. He did get lost a few times, but he finally located the correct dormitories. Luckily, there weren't any teachers in the hallway to confront...not that he could see, anyway.

Kasimir fished around in his pocket, trying to find his schedule. His room number would be on there. After he located it, he scoured the place, thoroughly, until he located the correct room. He fumbled with his key and opened it. Of course, it was lavish, but empty, he noted, as he stepped inside. He closed and locked the door, and then collapsed on his bed, grunting wearily. He wouldn't move from there until he needed to.

Amais wasn't sure how much time had passed before someone shook her awake. When she rolled over and opened her eyes, she saw Amaya smiling down at her and Reika changing by the closet. The girl had to blink hard a couple of times so that she wouldn't fall asleep again. She wondered what time it was so she sat up groggily and looked at the digital clock by Reika's bed. A small yawn came from Amais as she found that she recieved at least an hour and a half nap.

"Reika said to wake you up so that you can finish the requirements for your lab."

Nodding, Amais slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, bending down to fetch the lab information in her bag, soon moving over to the desk soon afterwards.

"Knowing you," Reika began as she slipped into her top, "in about fifteen minutes you'll finish that, just like the litte genius you are."

"Haha. Right. If I were a genius I'd understand math." Amais shot back, not very amused, and stretched, "Thanks for waking me up, Amaya."

The brunette shot her a thumbs up once Amais started her assignment. It was the game plan: finish homework, get ready, head to the resturant, let 'Mom' dress her for the preformance, and then preform.

Kasimir kept an eye on the clock, but started to drift off...once he jolted out of that, he set the alarm for seven forty-five, so he would have enough time to get to Amais' performance, as he promised. Once it was set, he gratefully sank into bed, eyes snapping shut.

He'd had a long day. He'd already brushed with the administration...so much for starting off on the right foot. Now, he'd have them watching over his shoulder like a ravenous hawk, making sure he did absolutely nothing wrong. And he wouldn't, as long as no one else pushed their luck with him. He had a feeling he hadn't seen the last of that band director...

Amais let out a pleased sigh when she set down her pencil on her lab book and proceeded to strech a bit before standing to get changed out of her uniform. Amaya and Reika were both doing things in their laptops. From Amaya's rapid typing Amais concluded that the girl was chatting online and Reika made a few clicks here and there. Shrugging she went to her own little closet to change into some casual clothing. Getting out of her uniform she slipped on a jade skirt and black shorts underneath, pulled a plain white shirt over her head and zipped up the black boots Reika gave her for her birthday last year. Her emerald eyes glanced at the clock, reading the time to be six fifteen.

"Want to head out now so that you two can coo all you want over whatever I'm going to be dressed in?" Amais asked.

Amaya immeadiately shot out of her chair, shutting down her laptop without even a goodbye to whoever she was talking to, "Let's go!"

Reika laughed and followed suit, albeit more calmly than Amaya, "Sure."

With that, the trio left their dorm, making sure to lock it as they walked off into the city. The resturant wasn't such a far distance away and there was no need to take a bus. The only time they actually did was so they could avoid whoever would hide in the forest that surrounded most of the school.

Once they reached the more populated area, the three went straight for the resturant. Amais went in first, only to be brought into a tight hug.

"Our cute little nightingale!"

"Hi, Mom." Amais greeted the woman. She was the boss' wife and had asked most of the employees to call her 'Mom'. Many thought it was odd, but Mom didn't care about what other people thought.

"Let's go get you changed! Amaya, Reika, your table is always free for you two."

The woman brought Amais to the back and into the dressing room. She kindly told Amais to wait while she went and fetched the dress she made. So, Amais took this time to relax for a little while before Mom came back and fussed over her.

Kasimir just couldn't fall asleep long enough to get a good rest. He would sleep for five minutes, then wake up...sleep, then wake up...over and over again. Grunting, he finally gave up, sat up, and rubbed at his eyes for a moment. Then, he headed into his bathroom and ran the new brush there through his long, flowing, snow white hair a few times. Best not to look too scruffy--his long hair was enough to make people stare.

After deciding he looked somewhat presentable, Kasimir headed downstairs and out of the dormitories. He also didn't mind walking there--it gave him something to do. As he walked, he looked for the appropriate place. He hoped he wasn't getting lost, because everything was starting to look the same.

Amais complied with everything that Mom told her to do. Arms up, down, turn, spin, look down, look up, and so forth. For a performance that lasted only about an hour or so, Mom loved to go all out. She couldn't help but smile and think about her own mother. It had been six years now since her parents divorced. Before she could think about them any further, Mom turned her around to face her.

"Oh! I knew it would look great on you!" Mom exclaimed.

Amais smiled and turned to look at herself in the mirror. Mom had made her a long black dress with dark green lace decor along the top and around the waist.

"It looks beautiful!" Amais exclaimed.

"Not as beautiful as the one wearing it." Mom turned to leave, "You have a while before you perform. Why don't you relax? I'll go get the other two."

Amais smiled then went to take a seat and took a few deep breaths to help her relax.

Kasimir finally decided he'd made it to the right place, and he stopped in front of it, studying it. "Huh...the name matches. I guess I'll try my luck and see if anyone in there recognizes me."

He stepped inside, but not too far. He lingered by the door, still in the gentlemanly clothes he'd had on for his teaching day. They seemed 'fancy' enough, anyway. He hadn't felt like changing, but he did want to keep his promise to his new student. He loved music, and hadn't seen a proper piano performance since the rift with his brother started to wrench its way open...

Before Amaya and Reika made their way to the back room they both looked back at the door and saw their new teacher, they waved hello and pointed to a table by the piano. Most of the other customers were already filling up the resturant, performance time was usually the busiest of the night. The resturant's owners loved piano music so the large grand piano was in the middle of the resturant. The fact that it was in the middle was odd to some people but they enjoyed the music from the regular performers anyway.

In the back room, Amais fiddled with her hands and bit her bottom lip, and stood when Amaya came rushing in to hug her.

"You're so cute!"

"Thanks." Amais laughed, patting Amaya's back so that the girl wouldn't crush the life out of her.

Reika stood at the doorway and smiled, "By the way, Kaz came."

"That's good to hear."

"Most of the usual audience members are here." Amaya added before letting Amais go and turning to join Reika who was giving the emerald eyed girl a thumbs up, "We'll see you in a few minutes! Good luck!"

She smiled, watching them leave, and waited till she had to perform.

Kasimir breathed a big sigh of relief as he trudged over to the indicated table. He'd always been terrible with directions...given that he didn't have a good sense of direction to begin with. So, he was glad he didn't screw himself over this time. He'd been looking forward to this all day.

He sat down, sighing, and eyed the piano. It was a nice model...his brother had purchased a similar model, but he wasn't sure if it was the exact same one. Nero always made beautiful music...it was such as shame they'd grown apart so quickly. Everything had just unraveled so fast...Kasimir had tried to save their relationship, but it was far too late. He would never forgive himself.

Old thoughts aside, he straightened up in his chair, waiting patiently for her performance.

Sorry for the late reply. I've been busy with testing.

---

Mom's son, Matt, went out into the middle of the resturant with a microphone in his hands. He brought it to his lips and announced,

"Ladies and gents, I'd like to thank you for coming to Beautiful Heart tonight. For you one of our regular pianists will be performing tonight! Please help me welcome our own nightningale!"

Amais took a deep breath in anticipation, taking a step from the back and into the resturant, she was met with applause. She smiled at the audience and even waved to Kasimir happy that he came. She took her seat at the piano, her fingers paused above the keys, and brushed one ever so lightly. Then she began to play. Her song was simple, sweet, and it flowed. A couple of minutes into the song, she lost herself in it, her heart and body playing the keys as it remembered.

((That's okay!))

Kasimir waved back of course, a smile on his face. He watched as she sat down and steeled herself.

And then she began to play.

And Kasimir was lost. Lost in memories of home, without his crazy...stalker...creature. Memories of his brother. He closed his eyes, absorbing the music like some sort of instrumental sponge...

Amais often lost herself in her memories back when she was a happy child. At least, this part of the peice represented it. She moved on to play the part of her memories that held the explaination that her mother and father were getting a divorce. The melody was confusing, it was unclear which part was right or wrong, just as she was when she was ten. Amais didn't understand back then and now she was slowly beginning to understand why they did.

The song was her life, in its own memoriable snippits.

Off to the side, Amaya whispered to Reika, "I love it when she plays Memoria...although, it is a bit sad."

She didn't hear them...nor did she even pay attention to what was going on between the silence and the whispered orders and quiet servings. Amais kept on playing, pretending that her mother could hear her play the piano, even though her mother was a whole world away.

Kasimir, being near-expert on music, could almost hear the emotions flowing through her fingertips and onto the keys. It was both soothing and sad. It filled him with longing memories of his brother, whom he very much missed.

He didn't tear his eyes from her or listen to anything anyone else said to him. He was in a complete trance...

Amais continued playing for the long hour that she was to. She played through the memories of her father's remarriage, her step-mother's disapproval for her music, and of the hope for every summer when she flew to over to China to see her mother.

When it came time to end her piece, she began to play the lullaby that her mother taught her when she was a child. It was a crowd favorite. Once her performance was over, the female stood and bowed.

Kasimir clapped politely, grinning. He didn't regret coming to see her performance, despite the fact that it dredged up partially unwanted memories about his brother. He had quite enjoyed it.

He decided to order a drink before he left, and quietly did so.

Amais rushed back to the back room as calmly as she could. While there she quickly changed and went back out into the resturant. She approached the table where her teacher was sitting.

Smiling, she asked, "What did you think?"

Kasimir smiled, sipping the drink he had ordered. "You are very talented. You should go completely professional. You could make a fine living that way," he informed her, contently. "Like my brother..."

A small smile formed on her lips and she looked to the side at the ground, "Thank you, but my step-mother disapproves, saying that I won't make much of a difference if I pursue music. She wants me to go into the medical field...to make a better difference."