Afternoon in Sakura Meadow

The moment I met him, my life changed. Everything I saw, everything I heard, everything I felt. All the scenery around me started to take color. The whole world began to sparkle. -Kaori Miyazono

Your Lie In April: one of the most underrated, beautiful, and tragic animes I've seen yet. Now officially of one my favorite animes. Hence my short story:

Breathless, tired, I slow my run into a walk. My melodica in one hand and flashy, sticker-covered violin case over my shoulder, I round Towa Hall, cross the road and skip towards the meadow one block away.

Exercise never felt so exhilarating as it did now.

I glance at the clock – three o'clock at the dot. Good. The concert won't start for half an hour. I still have time. With the courtesy of Tsubaki-chan, I will soon rendez-vous with her old friend Watari Ryota, soccer captain and ladies' guy. Tsubaki can say whatever she wants about me to Watari. That I'm in love with him, for instance.

That is a lie.

But, I suppose, a harmless, silly little lie of a typical teenage girl who is harboring a secret.

I stumble over my heels.

"Arrrgh..."

Off went my awkward heels – who needs them, anyways? Same goes for my tight, itchy leggings. For good measure, I suspend my things on a branch.

I wade out through the soft grass to the lonesome igloo standing in the middle of the clearing, where I clamber to the top and glance around. The multiple sakura trees stand out so well against the blue-white afternoon sky. But neither Tsubaki-chan nor Watari-kun are here yet. All the better...I can wait it out. Meanwhile, I'll play, and thus dedicate, my music to this glorious sakura meadow.

The first song that comes to mind is the one from Castle in the Sky. That song was stuck in my head all morning. But I really like it. And there's something strangely romantic about a song from a non-romantic movie.

I stand a little taller, bring the reed to my mouth and blow, while with the other hand, I play on the mini keyboard. Playing isn't a problem; I already have the notes memorized perfectly.

The notes ring out proudly and clearly across the meadow, just like Pazu's trumpet. Except I don't have a trumpet, but a melodica. Though a trumpet's brass notes would sound more empowering. Boo.

Then... as if Mother Nature also wants to contribute to my music, the wind picks up, gently caressing my hair and bare legs as I play on. Pigeons take flight on the wind, scattering countless sakura petals headed my way. I think they like my music! The afternoon sun warms my back and strokes my cheeks. And the sky – it's the perfect combination of blue and white...

Everything is beautiful, so very, very sweet and beautiful. The music, and the nature – and the freedom of the warm wind! I want to live in this moment forever.

Baby, I mentally reprimanded myself when tears sprang to my eyes. How can you cry at a time like this?! Be happy – be happy while you still live in this moment! We talked about this, remember? Remember, Kaori?! Be happy!

But I am – I am! I do everything in my power to gain precious moments of excitement and joy, before I lose that chance. Slowly, I became more bold. Like the time I went up the down escalator back at the shopping mall; how many people even dare try that? I braved contact lenses. I am now near flunking most of my school subjects because what is the use when education will not help me in the future? I jump off the bridge whenever I need a little pick-me-up. (People think I'm delusional, but they've no idea. Mwahahaha.) I revel in life by enjoying the most ordinary. Yesterday, for instance, I shared a canele snack with my cat friend, procrastinated from homework when I took a long walk and rolled in the fragrant sakura petals in the grass. Then I came home, laughing like a tipsy drunk, to the bemusement of my poor parents. I was actually laughing upon witnessing and remembering Tsubaki-chan, nanny-goat that she is, pleading, yelling and flinging stray baseballs at Kousei to show how much she "cares" for him and his abandoned music career.

I tried. I tried shoving the truth into the back of my mind. But now, when I pause to bask in this golden moment...

The truth catches up to me.

I don't have much time.

And fresh tears spill over.

It's all right, I console myself. It would be almost shameful to not cry...

And so I play on while freely crying at the same time. I cry because the wind...the sakura trees...the caneles...the atmosphere...is music to my ears. No, more than that – it's part of life! And all of that is slowly slipping away.

But mostly, I am crying because I am doubtful. I doubt that I could succeed pulling off this lie: that I'm in love in Watari.

Shall I truly get to perform with you, Kousei, onstage before I leave forever? Can I finally give you, you self-obsessed "Human Metronome", back the flair and color in your life to play the piano again? Can I achieve this so I don't have to bring my regrets to Heaven?

At that point I finish playing and snap out of my reverie. I was dimly aware of the tears that stain my cheeks. Less so of a certain black-haired boy with glasses, spying at me in the distance.

It wasn't until I wiped away my tears to put on a braver face, played Bremen Town Musicians with some little children, and literally threw my melodica in fury at the same black-haired boy whom I mistook as the stalker-pervert type...that this April got a little more interesting.

*Sobs*

Observation: The song that Kaori played on her melodica in ep. 1 is from the Castle In The Sky soundtrack "Morning in the Slag Ravine." That part intrigued me a little. Also, I correlated my fanfiction's title to that same soundtrack title.

Thanks for reading!