Double-update because I won't let my master show me up! -shakefist-
...and now I have to go because my parents are yelling about something.
[Chapter Eight -- When Fate Caught Up to Us]For Yurina, waking up had been extremely difficult and painful lately. She wasn’t yet used to manuevering with the bulky cast on her leg, and it was annoying to sleep in and drag around. The crutches that the doctor had given her were clumsy tools that didn’t help much, and were generally more of a hindrance than a help.
However, she wasn’t moving much more than she needed to everyday. The store that she got her food from was just down the street, but she wouldn’t have to visit it again for another week. Other than that, she only struggled out of her bedroom in order to get to her piano.
Her current situation was ver y stressful. Even though she knew that Momoko was only her temporary replacement… her job was on the line. She had heard stories about performers that would get injured and some of them were never able to fully get back into the swing of things.
And with her troupe… only the absolute best were accepted. Already, she was one of the weaker performers, and she had a feeling that after she recooperated completely… chances of still having a place at the theater were slim.
Yurina rested her fingers on the piano keys, letting out a sigh. She was about to begin playing in order to try and forget some of her worries, when she heard that familiar tapping at her window.
“Good morning, Yurina-chan.”
The tall girl couldn’t help but smile, and as she always did, she leaned over to try and catch a glimpse of her mysterious visitor. But as always, the other girl was hidden from her sight.
“Why do you always hide from me…? Am I ever going to get to see you?”
“…Probably not.”
“Are you afraid of me?”
“…It’s more like… the other way around.”
Yurina was puzzled. “But I’m not afraid of you…”
“I know. I want it to stay that way.”
“I bet it’s not as bad as you make it out to be…”
“People are scared of me because they think I’m crazy. Somehow they assume that… just by looking at me. I don’t want you to see what they see.”
The tall female’s heart hurt for this poor stranger. Never before had she met someone so very broken. She wished that there was more that she could do, more than just playing the piano. But perhaps that the music was all that the other needed right now.
“…I’ve been writing something new lately. There aren’t any words yet, and it’s not quite finished, but… would you like to hear it?”
“Yes… I would like that very much.”
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Risako had caught up to me by this point, and as soon as she saw Maasa, she started to freak out just a little bit. And by that, I mean that she picked up this board that was leaning against the dumpster in the alleyway, and started waving it around like a maniac.
“Alright you big bully, back off! I got this piece of wood and… well… I don’t know karate or anything like that but I’ll kick your butt if you hurt Momo-chan.”
Both Maasa and I merely rolled her eyes, and the taller girl turned back to me, wearing a very aggravated expression on her face.
“Well, thanks to you, I have to go find Saki and tell her that I lost the kid.”
I frowned. “And just how exactly is this my fault?”
“If you hadn’t been
distracting me, I would have never taken my eyes off of her, and we wouldn’t be in this mess right now.”
“Okay, first off, you were the one that went and grabbed me and all that, so that’s your problem, and then secondly, I didn’t see you around when I first walked up to Tokunaga-san, so obviously you weren’t watching her very closely to begin with.”
Maasa threw her hands up in the air, and it looked almost like she was trying really hard not to rip some of her hair out. But she didn’t answer me verbally, so I think that she couldn’t argue anymore because I was right. Risako had been watching our exchange with interest, and was still holding the board, just in case.
“Look, that doesn’t matter, though. You’re right in that we should probably tell Shimizu-san what happened.”
“What do you mean
we?”
“Um… wait, Shimizu?” Risako had dropped the board, and she was now
very interested in the conversation.
“Yeah, why?”
“Well… I used to know a girl with that name…”
“So?”
“So, she’s the reason why Miyabi’s such a bitch.”
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The prodigy was walking along towards the theatre like she did every morning, where she would be early and would have the stage all to herself for about an hour. There she could practice in peace and quiet, with no one to bother her.
Normally she didn’t stop for anything on her way to work. Didn’t look anyone in the eye or stop to say hello or to gaze at anything around her. She didn’t stop to watch the people performing on the street, because she thought they were beneath her and it was a waste of her time.
But today, something in particular caught her eye.
A small crowd had gathered around a girl who was dancing to some frantic, unknown rhythm that only she seemed to be able to hear. Her moves were complex, intricate, and fluid, and impossible for anyone else to repeat.
And in that moment, when Miyabi recognized just who that girl was…
She could have sworn that her heart almost stopped beating.