Ambitious Love
is a seven-chapter fanfic based off the anime Sound! Euphonium.
The story begins with Reina revealing to Kumiko that she's leaving Japan. She has been accepted for an overseas scholarship to Juilliard School, a prestigious art school in New York City. The two end up splitting apart and it seems unlikely that they'll ever meet again. That is until one day Kumiko, now a physician, notices one of her critical patients is someone from her past.
Ambitious Love is a Kumiko/Reina Dark Fic set several years post-series.
This fanfic contains examples of:
- Adaptational Villainy: Taki goes from being a slight jerk and a stern teacher, to an abusive wreck who tries to kill his wife because If I Can't Have You….
- The Alcoholic:
- Taki abuses both alcohol and drugs.
- It's implied that Reina is an alcoholic.
- Big Brother Instinct: Mamiko gets angry at Reina for coming back after hurting her little sister Kumiko so much in the past.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Reina marries her childhood crush, and high school music teacher, Taki, however, isn't content with the marriage. He is also abusive.
- Cigarette of Anxiety: Kumiko smokes when she's anxious.
- Dark Fic: The original series is a relatively lighthearted school-based drama. This fanfic on the other hand begins with Reina splitting up with Kumiko, with her next appearance being after a botched suicide.
- Destructive Romance: Reina admits that both her and Kumiko don't cope with loss well. After they went their separate ways in high school, their relationship has been rife with strife.
- Driven to Suicide:
- Kumiko and Reina are reunited when Reina turns up in the delivery room having overdosed on pills. Reina has attempted several times in the past in order to escape Taki.
- After Kumiko left her the second time, Kumiko tried to kill herself.
- Drowning Their Sorrows: Implied when Reina drinks a large amount of wine even before noon.
- Domestic Abuse: Taki is this to Reina. He's verbally and physically abusive, but Reina feels she needs him for career reasons and he won't let her leave.
- Heartbreak and Ice Cream: Natsuki mentions that after the second time Reina left her, Kumiko spent a week eating nothing but ice cream and sleeping pills.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Taki feeds Reina pills and and tries to make it look like she attempted suicide. He wanted to get her put into a psych ward. Since she actually did attempt a few days prior, it isn't that unreasonable to think she would again. Unfortunately for him, a witness saw him running out of the house and thus Reina's "suicide attempt" became a "homicide attempt".
- Mid-Suicide Regret: The story starts off with a botched suicide attempt. Reina takes a bunch of pills and afterwards decides she doesn't want to die. She got herself to the hospital and, to her surprise, her ex-girlfriend Kumiko is a physician at the hospital.
- Mistaken for Romance: After Kumiko and Reina stop talking to each other, rumours spread amongst their classmates that they're fighting over a boy (likely Shuichi).
- Operation: Jealousy: After Reina and Kumiko have a fight following Reina's news, they mostly ignore each other until Reina's last day in Japan. Kumiko ignores Shuichi's advances except for when Reina is nearby. Everyone but Shuichi notices that she's just trying to make Reina jealous.
- Slash Fic: Of the Kumiko/Reina sort. Kumiko and Reina are mutually attracted to one another, but Reina always runs away from the relationship.
- Sleepy Depressive: After Reina abandoned her the second time, Kumiko became very depressed. She did little but sleep and eat ice cream. This led into a suicide attempt.
- Suicide by Pills: Reina took a bunch of pills, decided she didn't want to die, then got herself to the hospital. To her surprise, her ex-girlfriend Kumiko is a physician at the hospital.
- Timeskip: The second chapter skips ahead several years, over ten to be more specific.
