For L,
who inspires me to write and live
Disclaimer: I do not own Your Lie in April or any anime characters consisted in the novel.
A/N: Thanks Rebecca Holmes for her meticulous revision.
The Prologue
"Kids, I' m happy to be able to have a heart-to-heart talk with you on your commencement day – a day that bears great importance to you." said the white–haired old man standing on the stage in the center of the packed auditorium. He held the microphone in trembling hands, his eyes half closed lifelessly.
This was the commencement day of a middle school, attended by the graduating students of the third year. After enduring three hours of long and tedious speeches, the restless students could not endure another one and showed disgust on their faces; some played on their smart phones with their intimate classmates, yelling "go there" in frenzy; others discussed the anecdotes about their classmates, sometimes leaning back and laughing, sometimes raising paws to give that gossip guy a smite; and some had even entered dreamland, snoring thunderously that the snore could be heard throughout the whole auditorium. All of them thought of it as another cliched speech not worth hearing.
Except for one.
"Hey, wake up, wake up!" In the last row of the auditorium, a boy reached his hands and woke up his friend who was sitting next to him by shaking the latter's head. The boy had a pair of unpleasant dead fish eyes, black hair like wild weeds, and a single hair that stood proudly on his head. His friend was a yellow-haired boy with fair skin, golden pupils like wheat and a soft look.
"What's wrong, Hikigaya?" The woken boy rubbed his eyes reluctantly, stretched slowly and asked.
"Listen to his speech carefully, he's my grandpa!" urged the boy with dead fish eyes, "He will grumble a lot if no one listens to his 'nonsense'."
"He's your grandpa? But you don't resemble him at all." said the surprised ywllow-haired boy, eyes wider. Indeed, they did not resemble each other: nothing was similar except the dead fish eyes and the standing hair.
"I always want to help you, but this time I can't." The yellow-haired boy replied lazily, then put his hand comfortably behind his head, wanting to fall asleep again. "We've been asleep for three hours. Boring."
"But he is different! He is a renowned social activist, who can always attract attention wherever he goes. Unfortunately," sighed the dead-fish-eyed boy as he lowered his head, "he sometimes gets misunderstood and even had his life threatened."
"How can some be so barbarous and senseless in 2072." said the yellow-haired boy, holding his fists. "Well, I'll listen to him for your sake."
The old man on the stage stood trembling, a little excitation in his calm voice, "She was a legend to our generation. Sunny, optimistic, a believer in justice, and somewhat naive. I know you won't understand that much, but at that time, we truly conceived of making the world a better place, so she naturally became our idol. Somewhat naive, isn't it? But after all, youth free of naivete is not worthwhile." teased the smiling wryly old man, inducing a little dull laughter among the audience.
"Who is he referring to?" The yellow-haired boy supported his cheek with his left hand; his eyes were wide open.
"Sun, a superhero of my grandpa's generation, who was very famous back then," said the dead-fish-eyed boy, swinging his head in the air, "You don't know this, but when mentioning her, my grandpa's usually lifeless eyes will glow. He will also say that she inspired many people of his generation, including himself."
"I remember that; my grandpa Natsume also mentioned the one named the Sun and his decision to become a teacher was also because of her." The yellow-haired boy suddenly realized that, put his heads on his cheek and cried out.
"Unfortunately, the light appeared for only five months before vanishing. It was dark over the city then; people perished one after another. It was her who kindled herself and dispelled the darkness, finally ..." The old man began to choke, his voice faded and sobbed slowly. He took out his handkerchief and gently wiped his tears, and then said, choking again, "Later, we discovered her identity upon seeing her diary: a fifteen–year–old girl. Yes, she was as young as you fellows."
Loud shocked gasps broke out below the stage.
"This is her." With twitching hands, the old man took out a photo of a yellow–haired and blue–eyed girl who was as bright as the sun, "We later found out that she was a famous violinist who loved sweets and playing with kids. She was a naive guy indeed." The old man smiled wryly, sighed resignedly as if recalling his old friend.
He kept telling the legend of Sun, and the students below the stage kept listening to his stories without sleepiness but with concentration. "Last but not least, I hope that you can remember her name – an ordinary, but unusual name: Miyazono Kaori."
A steady burst of applause was heard below the stage.