HtH118 – The Proposal
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Mistrál has a daring plan.
Light piano music floats out the second floor room. Seated on the piano bench is our neon diva. Her hands move softly across the keyboard, tapping out a song both vibrant and full of stirring emotion. The high notes sing of past triumphs that walk softly into the night. On the last resonant note, Hikari slips her hands off the keyboard, and turns to the pair of girls looking expectantly at her.
"That was amazing as always, Hikari. Mistrál thanks you for your tremendous help!"
Standing behind her is Mistrál, who is folding up a tall tripod with a black handphone attached to the end. The distinctive bunny print on its back marked it as Minara's; the tall golden-eyed girl is hopping up and down, excited at the possibilities that had just opened up. With the recording over, Minara had a flurry of questions for her,
"I didn't know that you could play like that! You can... you can sing as well right? I heard Piaccta say so once..." Minara shakes her head a little bit, perhaps wanting to act a little more formally, "What I mean is, the next time I do a cover, would you be willing to sing with me?"
Mistrál for once is the sensible one, and lightly taps Minara on the back, showing her the recorded footage saved on her phone, "Friend Minara, I appreciate your eagerness to embark on a new project--- as Mistrál, I am excited to work on this song cover first."
Hikari smiles, and leans back on the empty air behind the piano bench, both her hands on its back while leaning herself backwards, just enough so that she doesn't fall over. That was enough of an answer for Minara, who practically squeals in delight on the playback of the recording, swinging her arms left and right with her good sister-in-law! Hikari observes this free-spirited laughter from the two embarking on a shared adventure, our local tinkerer already scheduling a time to work through the audio they already have...
"You two are pretty close to each other now."
The honest observation from Hikari did not come from nowhere. The two girls had indeed gotten much closer to each other in recent weeks, and it was plain for all the house to see! The pair would arrive at mealtimes together, Mistrál supporting Minara's little vtubing sideprojects like this song cover; and in turn, Minara helping push carts of large wooden crates into the tinkerer's basement. It was a happy little give and take.
Mistrál gives a small smile to Hikari, who always had an eye for this sort of camaraderie.
"Good sister-in-law, what do you think about performing this cover to a live audience?"
"Live?" Minara starts a bit, not quite understanding Mistrál's meaning. "But we are always live..."
"How about in real life, here?"
... In real life?
Going live on a livestream is one thing, but performing live was a completely different terrain altogether... It demanded something a little more than what most privacy-conscious vtubers were willing to give. Not having a 3DLive avatar between the audience and herself felt unnatural, and scary.
But...
The girls here don't seem to have problems with that.
In fact, isn't there a special day that the girls set aside to do exactly that?
"You don't mean... sing on a Reading Day?"
This time it is Hikari who is surprised! What a daring proposal! Reading Day is the one day that guests were sure to come into the house. The event had been going on for a few weeks by now, and it was always the highlight of the week where the girls come together to organize this weekly event. In fact, if Hikari had not remembered wrongly...
"Why not? Does friend Minara rate your own singing skill lightly?"
Minara waves her hands in front of her, "No, it's not that! I mean, it's a Reading Day, so I thought its not right to impose on you all and your special day. Besides, I'm sure it would be a pain to make space for me..."
"Ah! Then there is no problem, for one, I regard Minara as part of the house already. It also happens that Mistrál is the meeting manager for this week!"
There it was.
Certainly, it was not a coincidence that Mistrál had chosen this week specifically to raise this idea.
Minara had no idea what a meeting manager is, but from the sounds of things, it sounds like her good-sister-in-law could pull some strings, knock on doors to make it happen! Encouraged on by the other blue-haired girl,
"Well, I don't exactly want to just jut into the middle of the Reading Day..." Minara fidgets a little, "If there is a way I can help you all out..."
The tinkerer immediately pulls out a piece of paper from her lab coat pocket,
"Mistrál is glad friend Minara asked! This here is an agenda [14] which we use to plan out future events..."
The two true-blue friends loudly discuss their plans in the room, Hikari silently observing this scene.
The cover of the piano lid softly closes the day.
She too, smiles, remembering the road she walked here from.
"A story doesn’t need an abundance of lines but rather the right ones that echo true emotion and connection." - Hikari Eiko
Glossary
[14] Agenda - A table that keeps track of roles that are booked for an event. An important tool for any 'livestream manager'!
We are trying something different! This is a simul-posting at the same time as the Scribblehub release! Go check out the entire series at this link!
