DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. This is a fanfic written for entertainment only.
A/N: Life is quite interesting – you're free doing nothing for a week then bam! Bombarded with works for 2 weeks straight. XD Ah. This one is a 3 shot story and uses the same format as 'Paper Cranes'. I got the idea when I was writing a chapter of 'Dahlia'. I know I should be doing chapters of my other fictions but I can't resist the temptation. X"D As usual, English is not my first language. Pardon my bad grammar and stuff. (n.n);
This doesn't make sense at all. She will never do something like that. She's not the type that will leave things she can manage halfway through its completion. I know her well enough to guarantee this.
And what is this with her going through a hard time in her life? I've been receiving and reading countless letters from her where she tells story of how wonderful her life is in the village, how friendly everyone is in the area, how much she enjoy her life farming and how happy she is for being able to contribute something to the village she's living in. She doesn't know how to lie – if she do she's very terrible in it.
There is no such thing as 'I can't stand how Life is treating me' and 'I give up' in her dictionary. No. She's way too optimistic and treasure one's life, hers as well, to do something so absurd like that.
I refuse to believe the thing that befalls her – Lillian is never the one to commits suicide.
FILTH IN THE BEAUTY – Part I: Fall
"I'm sorry about your loss."
Mikhail pauses from writing and looks up, meeting the face of the village's mayor – her sad expression indicates her sympathy to him. Mikhail let out a weak smile. "Thank you," he said and bends down, resuming where he pauses earlier.
"You know, you're always welcome to stay at the farm. There is no one living there at the moment," Ina continues as she watches the violinist jots down the required information of himself in the guestbook. "I don't mind if you want to spend your time staying in the village there. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind as well."
Mikhail closes the book and lifts up his face to level Ina's. "Thank you for the offer," he said, handing the guestbook to the female mayor. "I prefer to stay here in the Town Hall. But if you don't mind, I'd love to visit the farm during my stay here."
"Of course I don't mind," Ina answers as she accepts the book with a-rare-smile of hers. "I'll have Rahi send you the key to the house later," she continues as she handed the violinist a key to his room.
"Thank you very much, Ina," Mikhail said as he takes the key from the mayor's hand. "There's no need to rush though. I'll be in my room the whole day today so Rahi can come anytime he wants."
"I understand."
"Please excuse me," Mikhail slightly bows to the older female and turns away, walking towards his room.
As soon as Mikhail is inside his room, he closes his eyes and breathes out a deep sigh of relief. He opens them and the view of a room similar to the one in Bluebell's Town Hall greets him. He scans the room; it's pretty much the same without any significant differences to the room he used to frequent in back in the village on the other side of the mountain. He sighs once again before walking towards one of the bed and plops himself down on it, his arms stretches on both sides and his eyes are focus on the white ceiling of the room. He kept his blank stares for a couple of minutes before closing his eyes.
Mikhail's thoughts wanders to a brunette farmer who previously had been so active running around doing errands for the villagers of both Bluebell and Konohana, the one who spent her time working until late evening taking care of her animals and crops and the one who didn't mind listening to him playing violin almost every day during her visit to him. He remembers their first meeting last year when she stays in Bluebell before moving to Konohana at the end of the same week. It occurs in the same season as he in now – he goes to her house to introduce himself but the sight of her skirt lifts up to her thighs as she fixes the knot of her boots turns their self-introduction into ten minutes of awkward stutters and blushing. Such awkwardness continues for a couple more meetings before they both laugh it off, commenting that how silly for them to acts so seeing that both are already an adult and adults shouldn't dwell on a petty little thing like that 24/7. Of course, being the gentleman Mikhail is, he nevertheless apologizes for his intrusion of a private moment of hers.
The violinist enjoys spending his time with the brunette farmer. She drops in almost every single day to his room in the Town Hall even though her house is on the other side of the mountain. He is happy with her frequent visits but he worries about her safety – she is, after all a female and the thoughts of her walking alone on the mountain late at night with wild animals roaming around the place displease him. He expresses his concern about her well-being and is confuse when said farmer chuckles and tells her not to worry; her owl will take her back to Konohana so there is no need for her to climb up and down the mountain. Mikhail frowns at her words but nonetheless he believes her and comments that her pet owl must've been very strong for it is able to carry a human down the mountain.
Seasons change after their first meeting and soon the friendship the violinist and the brunette farmer shares bloom into something more intimate, closer than just being friends. They realize that they've fallen to each other and both laugh at the proposal to become lovers that come out from their mouth exactly at the same time. The brunette farmer's optimistic and kindness charms the violinist to no end and he feels that there is no need for him to chew over several things he can think of in search for inspiration for his music because being with her, ideas automatically come flowing into him in; she is his source of never-ending muse – her presence alone sparks new ideas that he himself can't tell where they emerges from.
Mikhail smiles when the moments they've gone through together as a couple passes his mind. Being in a relationship with her affects him not only in his point of view of life and its surroundings but also in his music, in the tone he plays to his audience. He receives quite a lot comments that his music changes – the quality of his music improves, the feelings and mood he convey through his playing are much more relaxing and peaceful; they're more expressive than before. Mikhail chuckles when someone asks him if he turns sentimental after meeting his beloved. The violinist is not really a romanticist but he does think of his beloved whenever he composes a song. Isn't it natural for one to think of a dearest one whenever said person is doing something that he or she loves?
A knock on the door snaps him from his reverie. Mikhail sat up and his eyes move to the door of his room.
"Yes?" he calls out, still doesn't budge an inch from his seat.
"I'm here for the key," a child's voice is heard from the other side of the door. "Mom said to give the key of the farmhouse to you. I have it here with me."
Mikhail rises from his seat and walks towards the door, opening it. "I'm sorry for bothering you," he said as he smiles down at the black-haired boy who shows up a fist-with a set of keys inside the balled hand-at him. "Thank you for delivering it here, Rahi."
Rahi shakes his head as he places the keys on the palm of the older male. "I don't mind doing this," he grins at him. "I like Lillian and–Ah," his grin disappears and immediately he looks down onto the floor. "I…I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Mikhail continue smiling as he pats the boy's head with his free hand. "I'm sure Lillian is happy knowing that you like her."
The black-haired boy looks up to the violinist. "Of course I do! Everyone in Konohana loves her! Is it not the same in Bluebell?"
"Ah, true. Everyone in Bluebell loves her as well."
"See? Lillian is a great person! She's kind, sweet, beautiful and hardworking. I've never seen her without a smile even when she accidentally cuts herself with her sickle while cleaning her farm."
"Lillian can be quite clumsy sometimes," Mikhail chuckles as he remembers the incident the black-haired boy is telling him. "It's a good thing that she's not seriously hurt because of her clumsiness…Rahi?" he cocks an eyebrow when he notices the boy is silent and his focus is once again fixes on the ground.
"Hey, Mikhail," Rahi calls out, his voice is quiet and Mikhail can see that he is hesitating about something for some seconds before looking up to him again. "Why did Lillian jumps off the cliff? I…I thought she is happy with her life and all but…"
Mikhail is taken aback by the black-haired boy's question. He notices the tears that start pooling up in the younger boy's eyes. "I don't know, Rahi. I honestly don't know why such thing happens."
"…I…I see…," Rahi said as he forces-this is clear to Mikhail's eyes-a smile. "B-by the way, do you want to go visit the farm now?" he asks and at the same time changes their topic of conversation. "I can go with you!"
"You sure?" the violinist smiles back at the boy, relieved that he is no longer feeling sad about the brunette farmer's death.
"Yeah! Mom said I can go with you if you want!"
"Really? I can't pass up a company now, can I? Let us go then."
"Yeah! I'll go tell mom first! Wait for me outside!" Rahi said before running off to the first floor of the Town Hall.
Mikhail watches with a smile the boy running away and as the boy's figure disappears from his eyes, he switches his focus to the keys in his hand. The violinist recalls Lillian's words written on the last letter he received last season. He thinks it's weird that a letter composes of depressed words and dishearten feelings was written by the same happy and optimistic Lillian he knows. He thinks that it's weird for such letter to arrive because Lillian's previous letters had never mention anything about how unhappy she is for not being able to win any of the cooking contests even though 2 years have passed – unable to secure winnings on said contest slowed the progress of reuniting Bluebell and Konohana. Lillian is sick and tired of his useless self and since she no longer have confidence in herself and in continuing her life, she thinks it is better for her to be dead; she can contribute nothing even if she is alive. He refuses to believe in the words written on her letter thus he plans to search for the real reason of her death in the village where she lived.
Mikhail turns to Rahi as the boy calls out to him from the stairs he's climbing down and points a finger to the exit. The violinist smiles and follows the boy, exiting the Town Hall together with the younger. They walk together side by side with Rahi with enthusiasm talks about the festivals that occurs in the village. The boy abruptly stops when they come across a tree.
"You should see this tree during Spring," Rahi said as he continues staring at the tree in front of him. "They're really pretty."
Mikhail, standing beside the boy looks first at the boy before switching to the tree. "They?"
"The flowers of this tree," the black-haired boy turns to the violinist and beams happily. "Cherry Blossom."
A/N: I use 'Cherry Blossom' instead of 'Sakura'. (n.n) First chapter done. Hope you enjoy that. XD
