The way this story is set up, each chapter will alternate between two girls (Runa and Mizuko) and Ryubey. At the end, they will overlap; part of the mystery is finding out how (note: they do not necessarily take place in the same time frame).

Anyways, lots of foreshadowing hints in here-some ridiculously subtle-so see if you can pick them out. And one of the comments: there is no connection between Ryubey and dragons (at least, not really) despite the name. It's more for a phonetic reason, but that's all I'll say for now.

Chapter 2: The voice of a dove

Oh gosh, I hope I'm not late… Runa muttered, clutching her schoolbag tightly to her chest. When she reached the door to the theater, she opened it slowly, wincing at the creak it made. Her ears were instantly flooded with a gorgeous, familiar singing voice. She carefully closed the door behind her and rushed into the theatre, taking a seat at the front row. The girl on stage was in mid-song, eyes closed and hand pressed to her chest lightly. She was slightly taller than Runa, with a sweet disposition and minty hair that fell in soft ringlets. Runa closed her eyes, letting herself become lost in her best friend's soothing melody. The girl finished her piece, giving a courtesy to the panel of judges before her. Runa leaped up and applauded loudly.

"Way to go, Mi-chan! Stunning! Beautiful!" The judges turned to glare at her interruption, and she sat back down sheepishly.

"Thank you, Mizuko. We'll having our deciding round of callbacks tomorrow, so please prepare accordingly," one of the judges informed her.

"Thank you so much." Mizuko gave another courtesy before existing the stage. Runa grabbed her bag and ran back out of the theater to greet her friend.

"Mi-chaaan!" The taller girl just managed to turn and catch Runa in her arms.

"Morning, Runa," Mizuko greeted her, grinning.

"That was gorgeous, Mizuko," Runa gushed, pulling away and doing a little twirl. "You'll get the part, I just know it!"

"I sure hope so," Mizuko laughed, scratching her cheek awkwardly. "I woke up with a bit of a sore throat, so hopefully that didn't affect my voice too much."

"Nope! You sounded beautiful as ever." Runa clasped her hands together. "Say, do you want to go get some cake to celebrate your audition? I've got some extra money."

"Sure." Mizuko nodded. "I mean, I'll have to go home and practice for tomorrow at some point, but I'd love to go the bakery with you. Oh, and Runa?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks for coming to my audition...I think having you in the audience encouraged me to sing better." Runa stared at her incredulously.

"But of course I came! You're my best friend, Mizuko! I wouldn't miss your auditions for the world." Runa left out the part about Mizuko also being her only friend. Runa was awkward and clumsy, so she was an easy target for bullies and spent most of her childhood playing by herself. When she first met Mizuko, they were partners in class for a project. The singer was one of the nicest people Runa had meant. She was friendly and warm, if not a bit pensive about her singing talents. And her voice…it was as sweet as a dove's.

The two headed out to their local bakery. Runa ordered her favorite: a strawberry shortcake. Mizuko,however, didn't order anything.

"You sure you don't want a bite of my cake?" Runa asked, delicately removing the small strawberry off the top to save for later.

"I shouldn't," Mizuko admitted. "If you eat sugar before singing, it can affect your voice. And I'm going to practice a bit more tonight for callbacks."

"Ah. Fair enough." Runa ate a forkful of her cake. "It's great cake, though. Makes me wish I actually had money, so I could come here more often. Of course, I could always try and bake a cake myself, but I'd probably set the kitchen on fire. It's a good thing I have you as my lab partner in chemistry, or I'd have surely blown something up by now!" Runa looked over at her friend for a reaction. Mizuko had her head down, mumbling under her breath.

"What are you doing? You're not placing a silencing curse on me or something, are you?"

"What? No, nothing like that!" Mizuko laughed. "Sorry. I'm just practicing the notes I missed in the audition today, so I can hit them tomorrow."

"Got it." Runa watched her friend for another moment, then sighed. "Man, I wish I had a cool talent like you, Mizu-chan. I'm really not that great at anything…well, besides eating cake." She took another large bite for emphasis.

"I'm sure you'll find something you love," Mizuko reassured her. "You just have to try out a few things, you know? Maybe you're a star athlete. Or a great writer! I'm sure when you find what you're good at, you'll be brilliant at it."

"But it won't be like you and you're singing," Runa sighed, poking at the cake with her fork. "I'm only mediocre at anything I do. A 'jack of all trades and master of none', if you will."

"I honestly don't think I'm that good at singing," Mizuko said, looking down. "Did you see the auditions before me? They were incredible! To think I have to compete with people like that if I want to get the part…"

"But you want the part, don't you?"

"O-of course!" Mizuko nodded quickly. "Getting the part would be a dream come true!" Her gaze dropped. "I just sometimes wonder if it's out of my league…"

"It's not! The judges would have to be deaf to not give you the part." Runa looked up thoughtfully. "Although, maybe I can bribe the judges with cake..." Her eyes shifted outside the bakery window for a moment, and focused onto something unusual sitting on the sidewalk across the street. At first glance it appeared to be an ordinary cat; but it had strange white tendrils coming from its ears, ending in small golden hoops. It was staring directly at her. It was almost cute…except for its' eyes. They were bright red, and a bit unsettling. Another car drove by, and the cat creature was gone.

"…Runa? Earth to Runaaa…" Mizuko was waving her hand in front of her friend.

"O-oh! Sorry about that. I just thought I saw something…" she shook her head. "Anyways, what time do you sing tomorrow?"

"I think around 8 or so. I'll text you."

"Ok! I'll be there!" Runa finished off the remnants of the cake and returned the glass plate to the counter. As the two left the bakery, Runa noticed Mizuko's gaze had fallen again.

"What's up?" Runa asked worriedly, titling her head sideways so she could see her friend's face.

"O-oh! Nothing, I'm just…thinking…"

"'Bout what?"

"Well...the callbacks."

"You mean about how you're going to balance school work and acting when you get the part?" When Mizuko looked up in confusion, Runa grinning at her.

"You're going to get the part Mizuko. You're the best singer they've got. After the second round of callbacks, they'll realize it."

"I guess we'll see." Mizuko mustered a small smile in return, although she wasn't all that reassured. She'd never admit that to Runa, though, especially when her best friend was trying so hard to cheer her up. They parted ways at the intersection, returning to their houses for the evening. Runa thought about the exchange she'd just had with her friend. Mizuko hadn't seemed all that confident in her talent. She never was, but today she seemed particularly nervous.

She's got a beautiful voice, so it's only natural she'll get the part.

...Right?


The following week, Runa sprinted out of her class at break to check the bulletin for the cast list. She stared for a moment, and then burst into a grin, pumping her fist in the air.

"YES! MIZUKO'S GOT IT!" She quickly glanced around to find her friend and tell her the good news. Her callback audition had been pretty great, although Mizuko insisted that she missed one of the higher notes. Her friend had been a nervous mess up until the announcement that the cast had been chosen, no matter how hard Runa had tried to console her. And now, it was her name scribbled beside the female lead on the casting list.

"Oh, Runa!" Runa recognized the voice in an instant and whirled around to meet the gaze of her best friend.

"MI-CHAAAN!" Runa pounced on her friend, causing the two of them to nearly topple over.

"Yougotityougotit YOU GOT IT!" she cheered.

"I know!" Mizuko replied, beaming. "I can't believe it! All your support must have really helped!" She gave Runa a wink. "Assuming you didn't just bribe the judges with cake, of course."

"Nope! You got it through talent and talent only!" Runa stopped mid-cheer and looked up at Mizuko in confusion.

"Wait, you already knew about it? How?! The results were put up during class!"

"O-oh! Well…" Mizuko looked off for a moment. "Er, I got an email notification earlier!"

"What, and you didn't tell your best friend?" Runa questioned. Mizuko opened her mouth to reply, but Runa suddenly pulled back, jokingly putting her hands on her hips.

"Ohhh, I see how it is! You wanted me to be surprised, huh? Honestly, Mizuko, I spent all of math class chewing on my nails over you; you could have atleast hinted that you already knew."

"Yeah, sorry..." Mizuko laughed nervously.

"But it's awesome that you got the part! Although, I totally knew you would."

"Didn't you just say you were chewing your nails over it in math?" Mizuko teased. Runa just stuck out her tongue at her. The two girls shared their first laugh in what felt like ages. And all jokes aside, Runa was just happy to see Mizuko no longer fretting over auditions.

But despite her happiness, there was also something...off about her friend. Runa couldn't decide on what, but Mizuko seemed to have changed since the last time Runa saw her. It hadn't bothered Runa initially, but she couldn't shake the feeling of uncertainty that crept into her since she met up with her friend. She leaned in, examine the singer closely.

"Hm? What is it?" Mizuko asked, noticing Runa was studying her.

"You seem...different," Runa said bluntly. "Changed your hairstyle, maybe?"

"...yeah, that's it," Mizuko shifted uncomfortably. "I was aiming for smaller curls. You know, so I match the part. The original actress in the show had crazy hair."

"Makes sense," Runa nodded, satisfied with the answer. Mizuko sighed in relief, hoping her friend hadn't noticed her initial discomfort. However, a feeling in her uniform pocket made her tense.

"Well, now we're going to have to worry about line memorization, huh?" Runa stated. "But don't worry, I'll help you as best I can! In fact, if you want to start today…" Runa stopped talking when she noticed Mizuko's expression. Her friend had her hand in her pocket, and she looked worried.

"Mizu-chan?" Runa asked curiously. "What's up?"

"N-nothing," Mizuko shook her head. "Sorry."

"Are you feeling ok? Do you want me to take you to the nurse's office?"

"N-no, I'll be fine. Just…I have to go do something. I should be back for our next class, but if I'm not, please apologize to the teacher."

"Oh…alright." Runa replied with uncertainty.

"Thanks. Let's go to bakery after school again, ok?" Mizuko gave her a wan smile before turning and running off down the hall. Runa watched her best friend go in confusion.

What's gotten in her? Runa wondered. She should be ecstatic about getting the part, but before she ran off, she seemed genuinely concerned about something.

Is she having family troubles? Did a boy ask her out? Something was definitely going in, Runa was sure of it.

And furthermore, why won't she tell me?