[34] Little Songbirds
Chapter 34: Little Songbirds
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Nothing much worth mentioning happened after school ended and we returned home. At night though, the production director of LoveMy sent a voice message in our LINE group chat to let us know about the next shooting's details.
["We will be leaving for a trip tomorrow evening after y'all's school ends. We are visiting Mt. Fuji this time. Don't worry, we aren't gonna climb it, it's closed at this time of the year anyway, we'll only spend our time around its outskirts. In a resort, on a hill. We have reserved a resort for you kids to stay in since we'll be spending the next three days there."]
The next three days. I suppose the next episode will start with us getting into the bus, and then spending some time in the resort, while the episode after that will have us explore the area and return. Not bad.
However, this time I'll have to ask for a proper leave from Shizuka Sensei.
"Speaking of," I muttered as I lay on my bed, chewing gum. "I wonder when Shoko will return. I want to meet her tomorrow, otherwise we'll have to wait until after I return from the trip."
Soon, the night rolled to an end and the brilliant sun shone over the world. I awoke from my slumber and soon found myself in my classroom.
....
The buzzing of children filled my ears as I took my seat. I put my hand on my chin and looked outside the window. The seat to my left was empty; the view would have been much better if that was my seat.
Nobody came to interrupt me. Socializing in this place didn't interest me much, so while people tried to talk to me before, I hadn't entertained them enough that they'd come to talk to me again. Thanks to my size and the general appearance of a prince living in a different land, the kids in the class liked to watch me from afar.
To ignore the gaze I could feel even right now, mostly girls staring at my distant gaze, I closed my eyes. The right side of my face rested on my hand as I buzzed off all sounds from my surroundings and hummed a song in a low tone.
"Stay with me..."
Huh? But that's what I'm humming-?
"Mayonaka no door wo tataki...
Kaeranaide to naita ano kisetsu ga ima me no mae~"
I frowned and opened my eyes hearing a subtle singing in my ear, matching my hum. I blinked involuntarily when I found a face too close to mine, pink eyes staring into mine as her similarly pink lips moved to sing along my hum.
"Hey, isn't that..."
"She looks kinda different."
"What's up with that voice?!"
She smiled when I opened my mouth and couldn't say anything. Her voice had a level of fluidity and pitch that humans should be forbidden from having, enough to captivate my current human ears. My shock seemed to fuel her ego as she grinned, her volume increasing along with it. She took a step back, standing high and singing in a voice that made all the students turn to her.
"Stay With Me... Mayonaka No Door Wo Tataki~ Kaeranaide To Naita Ano Kietsu Ga Ima Me No Mae." Shoko trailed off in a long tone, spending a few seconds taking the gazes of everyone, before locking eyes with me again. Her gaze lasted a lifetime. "Do you think the 'operation' was a success, Aqua?"
How do I tell her that I'd have dragged her to my room right now if this was my 9th life? Her voice was sweet beyond words, a part of me wanted to make her do all kinds of sounds. Plus, she had her usually loose and messy hair in a clean ponytail, she looked so much more confident now.
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"I think you know the answer already, my little songbird." I spread my arms. "Glad to see you're back."
Shoko's lips widened as she leaped at me, putting her arms around me even as all the students gawked. Even Shizuka Sensei who stood on the door with a stunned face at the sound her ears had heard just earlier, broke out of her daze as she saw her students getting too close in her class.
Shoko assimilated with her Sacred Gear nicely enough if she could not only speak so fluently but sing at that level. What is this peaceful feeling?
* * *
"This is a miracle. I'm beyond glad to see you're doing this well, Shoko." Shizuka Sensei had no idea how a deaf girl could learn to speak so well in such a short time even though she got cured just recently.
Everyone was sitting in their seats now, except for Sensei who stood behind the podium, and Shoko who stood in her seat, both of them were looking into each other's eyes.
For some reason, I didn't feel like singing it. My recent endeavor with a half-vampire, Tsubasa may be the reason, or maybe the simple mention of vampires that Shoko just made earlier. I got reminded of my time in the loop. In the Time Loop.
"I have died every day waiting for you,"
I started, my eyes closed and my sense of reality blurring. Memories became vibrant as I saw the face of a woman whom I tried to save for a thousand years. And failed.
"Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you.
For a thousand years.
I'll love you for a thousand more...
And all along I believed I would find you.
Time has brought your heart to me-
I have loved you.
For a thousand years.
I'll love you for a thousand more..."
I finished. I didn't open my eyes and stayed in that position for a long minute. Finally, I let out a breath and opened my eyes. My gaze met the wet gaze of Shoko, as she was blankly staring at me with quivering lips.
"Y-you do sound old and sad now, Aqua," she said as I laughed, but it didn't reach my eyes. "Much more than anyone I have seen in the last few days."
"Yeah? Surprising. Anyway, this is why I don't like singing. It makes me a bit... sentimental. Songs are a strange thing." I told her, reaching out a hand and wiping her cheeks as tears were rolling down. "Looks like your Gear lets you feel emotions from the voices you hear. Sorry, you had to feel this."
Shoko hesitated a little and then spread her arms, pushing herself against me again and hugging me. I hugged her back. Hugging was a common thing between us now, after the first time I hugged her tightly when she retained her hearing. Oddly enough, there were no weird or romantic feelings between us even as we hugged. It was comforting, but she probably didn't even understand how intimate this was. This was simply a reflex for both of us.
Minutes passed like that, and we heard the bell ring.
"We should return now."
"I want to sing for you,"
"We can do it later, girl."
"No." She said, her tone soft just like her hug. "I learned this one myself. It goes like this..."
~Don't stay awake... for too long. Don't go to bed. I'll make a cup of coffee for your head. It'll get you up and going... out of bed. It was the Deathbed song. How ironic.
She started slowly and then let loose of her voice, her hug tightening around me yet somehow feeling relaxed as if she was telling me to fall asleep. As if she found me like a wounded little puppy in need of care. How adorable of her, she cared. I'm glad I didn't sing anything sinister; [Many Men] would have scared the shit out of her. I remember I sang that like a crazy bastard one day when I massacred the Tang Clan.
I had to admit that her voice was unreal. She sounds so out of this world. Naturally, as a man who has lived thousands of years, I have heard much better than this, but my current humane ears found her voice like nectar. How to explain? Her voice sounds. so... delicious. Why would Fate ever have constructed this lovely voice to be sealed?
I leaned back on the armrest of the bench, almost lying down, with her on top of me. Did she really not find such touchy scenes odd? I didn't mind though. She could lay on me all day and sing and I'll be fine.
At one point, her singing was just a hum. Her lips were near my ear and we were on the verge of napping. It was about them that a cough caught us off guard.
"Ahem- Aqua," a girly voice said, causing me to open one of my eyes, and then the other. "How careless. You're being like this during school hours while on campus?" The red-haired princess of destruction shook her head as our blue eyes met.
How troublesome, how dare this bat-winged little girl interrupt my relaxation time? I'll forgive her since it's her, and she looked amused rather than mad.
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