HtH97 – Hikari’s Rehearsal
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Eclair walks in on Hikari doing a rehearsal on stage.
In a glittering realm bathed in warm stagelights, a hand slides across a lyre. For Hikari, this is the first time she handles the instrument. The notes she plucks are untested steps into uncharted territory.
Even so, our 'neon diva' is most at home with rhythm and symphony, each note that reaches her keen ears becomes a part of her repertoire. Occasionally, she stumbles on a note or two with good nature, smiling to the venerable instrument in hand before trying again. Perhaps that was the most valuable thing of all, that she was given the space to try, and try again, without any fear and judgment.
Still, she couldn't quite reach the notes she was looking for.
The girl was not discouraged, for the realm she was seeking was quite sublime. It would be stranger if she were able to reach it in a day!
That was when she heard the doors to the theatre hall crack open just slightly---
"Oh? I thought I would find you here, Hikari."
Who else would slip through the theatre hall doors but Eclair Baudz, our house's dramaturg? When she comes down the familiar red-carpeted steps, Hikari takes a gentle bow in her direction. It does not slip our sharp-eyed dramaturg that in that fluid motion, her neon kimono sleeves obscure the instrument she was playing just then.
"... that's a harp, no, it's a lyre, isn't it? Were you practicing?" Eclair asks with head-tilting curiosity.
"Ah! What an intimate knowledge of music you possess, Eclair! Indeed, I had recently overheard a serenade that filled me with unfettered emotion, and sought to replicate it's rhythm---" Hikari puts the harp in full view now, strumming a few notes, but smiling at the end and shaking her head as if to say 'no that's not it'.
Our dramaturg also tries to get onstage; but instead of using the stairs at both sides, she decides to give herself a little hop from the front of the stage, using both hands to push herself up! Alas, Eclair's arms are a little too short to hold up the world, so she decides to... roll herself up on stage! With zero elegance, she puts one foot across the front of the stage, and uses the flipping momentum to get up instead!
She makes it!
Having put herself onstage and lying on her back, she quickly pivots, and sits at the stage's edge, feet dangling in invitation to Hikari.
It is of course, an invitation that Hikari accepts, setting the lyre down at her side, the first pair of dangling feet is joined by a second pair.
"Truth be told, I don't know the first thing about music at all..." Eclair admits a sheepish smile coming over her face, "I suppose that's where I could learn from you? Were you preparing a song for the upcoming livestream?"
For the first time, Eclair notices something strange. A flicker of an emotion that crosses Hikari's face, a close-eyed, genuine beam of happiness that appears for a singular moment, and also, Eclair thought she was imagining it, accompanied by a touch of vulnerability,
"It's for someone special."
"What's the song about?"
Ah, Eclair had walked into the question by herself! Holding the kimono sleeve's side to her mouth, Hikari returns the playful answer in a familiar tone,
"It's a love song~"
Oh! See how the dramaturg almost falls off the side of the stage, a puff of steam rising up from her red face, hands waving circles in the air as if it would prevent her fall! Luckily, she steadies herself in time, coughing into her closed fist! Decorum! The decorum of the house dramaturg must be maintained!
When the coughing subsides, the feet dangling continue, with Hikari's feet danging just an unnoticable fraction faster than before!
"Well!" Eclair is still red-faced, now knowing what Hikari was pouring her passion into! "That, that certainly is something that resonates with me..." Eclair stops herself in time again, holding the side of her head in her hands, wondering if the words had been too forward! The laugh that comes from beside her reassures it isn't, so our dramaturg continues in the only way she can,
"Now that I think about it, I have never heard from Hikari what kind of music you like..."
Now, this was the familiar territory of our 'neon diva'! Free, unbound melodies gush out of Hikari's heart--- oh, the world that was open to our 'neon diva'! In her heart, she heard a burst of cymbals, fast drums, and electric guitar chords that came together to form an energetic anthem! The music swells to a crescendo, leaving only the sound of heart beat--- before the song goes into the melody's final and heroic reprise!
Then, the scene changes just like she had crossed over from the battlefield to a bar room--- smooth saxophone is accompanied by quick, light-hearted tunes from a keyboard. A cheery and slightly mischievous co-operation forms between the two players, each one playing their free-spirited heart out. At each pause between jazzy beats, every light follow-up from the keyboard giving the saxophone player more and more courage, ending on an improvised note that slides across the floor on their knees, golden instrument in hand!
But the one tune that found Hikari's heart naturally escaped her lips, she hums with clicking fingers a foreign chorus, Eclair listening along intently. And when she reached the middle of the verse---
"You gave me wings and made me fly---"
"... You touched my hand, I could touch the sky~"
Why, Eclair's impromptu continuation caused even Hikari to pause mid-verse; and this time, it was Eclair's turn to rock her boots a little faster than usual! Had Eclair always known how to sing and was just being humble? Or perhaps Hikari had just hit upon a song that Eclair was familiar with by coincidence? In any case, the cheeky smile across Eclair's face pretty much said, "What wrong? You can go on~!"
So go on Hikari did,
""I lost my faith, you gave it back to me,""
With this unexpected resonance, the larger girl simply laughed, and leaned her head on her dramaturg's shoulder, enjoying the unexpected serenade. The singing would continue for some time, their usual roles reversed just this once! Like Hikari, her dramaturg wasn't singing perfectly--- she sang fully-hearted and unguarded; and perhaps that was what mattered.
Oh, what a marvelous feeling this stirred up!
For a long time now, Hikari had been searching,
searching for the word that describes that inexplicable feeling in her chest.
Hikari had a word for it.
But for now, she would like to enjoy her dramaturg's singing a little longer.
She felt alive.
She felt... home.
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!
