For her to have the mind set; if Takahiro can do it. She can do the same; however, people have always told her, how naive that mindset was, copying Takahiro. There"s nothing remotely unique about her. Nothing she is remotely good at. But up until now, that was always hidden and sealed away.....
Ruka"s thoughts broke off upon seeing blue hair, she had been relaxing in the park. When she catches a glimpse of blue hair from the corner of her eye. Considering how close the girl was, Ruka knew she must have been s.p.a.cing out for quite some time.
"Arin?!"
"Ah, good morning Rukchan."
"Err morning.."
Ruka was taken back by the girl"s cheerful response, considering how she was kneeling on the ground.
"You were jogging?" Ruka asked.
"Ah-huh!"
"Since when?"
"3:30!"
It"s been 4 hours hey...
"When did you sleep?"
Ari tilted her head in confusion, and Ruka mentally facepalmed. Of course, that was a stupid question. She did hear from the others how much of a hard worker, Arin is. But this is the first time she"s seen it. Ruka rummaged through her bag but only managed to find a worn out looking towel.
Gah. The least she can do is having something like a clean towel around. Let"s see... Ruka looked around and spotted a store from the corner of her eye. Perfect!
"Can you wait a bit? Don"t move."
Well, she doesn"t think the girl can move anyway.
.
.
When she returned, she found that the girl was staring intently at something and sees her staring deeply at the papers sticking out of her bag.
Gah, she forgot about those.
"Writing a song?" Ari asked.
"It"s finished, I recorded it earlier...but.."
"...It failed?"
…. Ruka nodded.
"Ah-huh, this song is bad."
Ruka sweatdropped, isn"t she being a bit too blunt? She does know it"s bad, but still. She could hold back. Come to think of it, "Taka"s song.."Ruka started.
Lila happily responded, "Ah? Did you see? He did so well!"
The girl"s sudden happiness surprised her. Why is she suddenly so cheerful? Unless... Ruka thinks back to what she saw backstage and then a few days back. It can"t be, can it? Everyone knows the relations.h.i.+p between her and Karas.h.i.+msenpai was natural.
Since she came here, she"s become popular. But no other guy attempted to get close to her since. Karas.h.i.+msenpai is there. And yet, she can"t help thinking that there"s something going on. She"s never been good with this stuff though, she is probably mistaken.
"Arin writes really good songs," Ruka commented.
She doesn"t reply to the girl"s words but doesn"t dismiss it completely either.
"Yes, that"s probably why the guys in RAY wanted me here."
"...I don"t think that"s the only reason."
Ari nodded, "Ah-huh, I know. Everyone"s been very kind to me since I got here. I really appreciate everything."
"But...You miss your hometown right?"
She"s not good at reading people"s emotions, but ever since Yumeko introduced this girl to her. Ruka noticed that there was something of about her. She always looked so cheerful. But, there"s hidden loneliness in the girl"s eyes.
"Ah-huh, I do. I miss everyone. I miss him.."
Although it was something she expected, this was the first she heard of it.
"Arin, you had a boyfriend?"
"Ah-huh."
"Your still together?"She asked but it"s surely impossible. But even if it is impossible..she still wants to ask.
Surely it"s impossible. After all, that"s happened between her and Karas.h.i.+ma Haruka. However, the girl tilts her head in confusion before nodding.
"Yes, we are together."
"..."
Uh, Ruka is speechless. What on earth is she supposed to say at this stage?
"Is that strange Rukchan?"
"I"m pretty sure I"m not the one to ask whether it is strange or not."
Rather, she"s still stunned about these turn of events. At least give her a chance..to digest this information.
"Does Rukchan have someone she loves?"
"Until that day comes... I will protect you."
Her cheeks reddened. Thankfully Arin didn"t notice.
"You see Rukchan, being in love isn"t exactly rose coloured gla.s.s. ...At the start when I was in love. I didn"t even know." Ari said.
"You didn"t know?" Ruka repeated.
Ari nodded, "Yep. I just wanted to get closer to him, I just wanted to know him better. I liked it when he called my name, whenever he held me. I wanted him to always smile for me."
Oh, those feelings...
"You couldn"t tell it was love...um, because of even I.."
Even someone like her knows. Why is it this girl who clearly radiates love, doesn"t know. Her thoughts break off when she catches a glimpse of a CD popping out of the girl"s bag. "Oh, that"s..."
While physical CD"s are still around, they"ve mainly moved on to a more digitised version. There"s a physical version, that allows you to connect it to the web. Seeing one of the old fas.h.i.+oned CD"s certainly stood out to her.
Ari laughed at her expression, "Rukchan, do you want to see?"
"Uh...yeah."
It"s embarra.s.sing getting caught.
Once Ruka had the CD case in her hands, she recognised it immediately. How could she not?
"Angels Winter Wish."
"Ah-huh. I carry it around as a good luck charm.."
A good luck charm? Even though this was one of the songs that exposed the big scandal between Teras.h.i.+ma Sumire and Kanagawa Ren? While she was only young when all of that was happening. Ruka wasn"t stupid. Originally when the song came out n.o.body really noticed a thing, that"s what her parents said. However once she was born, others started speculating things.
Arin must have understood her expression since her gaze softened, "But, despite all, that"s happened. It"s a good song isn"t it?"
"Eh."
Ruka was a bit taken back, she wasn"t expecting that sort of response.
"It really is a very good song. Whenever I listen to it, I feel very peaceful and content. After all. The lyrics and the music were written so beautifully, anyone listening, anyone with a love so deep can truly relate."
Hearing the girls words, Ruka paused. So the love between her boyfriend and her was that strong? Then, what"s with her and Karas.h.i.+msenpai right now? It doesn"t make much sense. But maybe she"s missing something here.
"Arin, you play the guitar too?"
"Ah, yes!"
It"s then Ruka noticed the various materials scattered in the surroundings... Did she bring all this stuff out to practice in the morning? It"s one thing to be jogging so early. Ruka clenches her fist, "Arin, you really work hard, you"re so dedicated too...Even though you just debuted in j.a.pan. Maybe it"s the international factor?"
Ah, what is she doing saying all of this stuff? It"s useless complaining. Besides, deep down, she should already know what the problem is.
At that comment, the girl stood up, and walked over to the railing, "There"s a nice breeze!"
"Nice...it"s freezing this morning."
Now that she stopped running, she could really tell how cold it was.
"Arin, what are you doing?" Ruk asked, suddenly seeing the girl close her eyes.
"Listening to the sound of the wind!"
"The sound of the wind..?"
"Ah-huh." she smiled and extended her arms out.
"When you gently held me that day.
Our first meeting, after several years.
I was so happy.
But I understood.
The two of us could no longer be together like before.
I remembered the pain
and wished for a miracle.
I wanted time to stop."
Wo---wow, she"s so good!
What is this?
Whenever they sang in vocal cla.s.s, Ruka has never seen Ari hit that note before. Or maybe, she"s been holding back? Rather, she"s fluent in English...? That"s amazing all on its own.
"The sound of nature, the natural surroundings. People"s voices, a single movement. All the sounds make up the rhythm of the world... Together they form a beautiful melody."Ari turned around with a bright smile."I want Rukchan to see it, the moment a melody is born when everything comes together being surrounded in a natural environment. You see I"m a pretty simple person. If there"s something I want to convey, even if it"s painful for me - I will discard that pain in order to get the message across."
"...and if I don"t have anything important to convey?"
Ari laughed softly and took a step forward, so she was in front of her. The girl wore a beaming smile on her face, her gaze gentle as she replied softly, "That"s impossible."
"Impossible?"Ruka repeated.
"Yes."