A/N: I told my Chinese oral examiners I hated Chinese, I have no idea how my results will turn out. Haha. Well, Tianyi is helping me fall in love with my Mother Tongue, but, I still stink at it. And, for the record, I am NOT from China.
To Stromer, I'm glad you like Shi Min, she's based off my junior and this year's Vice-Chair of the orchestra. She is a really interesting person:) I will not be using Yan He (I just discovered her existence after reading your review), but one other Chinese Vocaloids will be making an appearance in this story soon.
To Truna, thanks! I am really glad you liked the update! I hope you will enjoy this one as well!
To RukuGuki, Ling's hair is dark brown, not black, and the Wikia didn't say anything about Tianyi liking to eat when I read it (though it can be deduced from Zhan Chang Zhi Hua). Most importantly, if you think a girl loving another girl is wrong, please stop reading my stories. There will not be a "he" for Ling nor Tianyi here, this is a lesbian Ling x Tianyi story, I thought the summary made it clear enough.
Haruka
[Ling's POV]
When the food arrives, I am extremely reluctant to leave the comfort of Tianyi's bed. When I hold her in my arms, it feels as if the entire world has fallen into place and that there is nothing in the world I could possibly want. She is warm, her scent wraps around me and intoxicates me, her breath is warm against my fingers… With a groan, I release my adorable roommate and answer the door, carrying the Italian food I ordered. It isn't exactly healthy, but I do not care at all about calories and whatnot. Getting fat is the least of my worries; I burn too much energy simply by being me.
"Tianyi, dinner!" I call out, dumping the tray of food on the table and heading for the kitchen. To my surprise, my adorable gray haired roommate has beaten me to it and is already carrying the cutlery I meant to get. She looks surprised by the food again; I should start exposing her to more different foods and cultures so that she can survive in this modern era of globalization. "It's Italian food tonight."
She says nothing, but I know she is impressed and curious about the meal before her. Grinning, I tell her to dig in and do so myself, happily stuffing myself like a Christmas turkey to replenish all the hyperactive energy I have burned for the day. If I eat the amount of calories an average person needs a day, I will be underweight, I know because I used to have my food intake strictly controlled when I was younger. Mother thought I was hyperactive then… goddess, she should see me now, with more energy to burn and more things to get excited over. People tell me I have more energy than the Energizer Bunny, with all the bouncing around and mindless, hyperactive chattering I do. Well, there are worse things in the world to be compared to…
Tianyi, however, seems to find it difficult to stomach the amount of food we usually eat here. Back in her village, she must have been used to eating little and going hungry whenever harvests are poor; starvation is common in these traditional, mountainous villages and the people there have no access to healthcare, piped water, electricity or technology. It is a surprise that they even have an education system able to keep up with ours in that village and a larger surprise that a girl like Tianyi was allowed to attend school. She must have had a difficult life back in her hometown, the poor girl…
[A few days later]
Finally, the weekends have arrived, I have spent the entire week with Dizi taking care of Tianyi and I am rather exhausted. People cannot take "no" for an answer and constantly mob my small friend wherever she goes, both Shi Min and I are at our limits. Shi Min has gone to blow off steam with her section at the arcade or something, even Hui Min is being nice to her (that is an impending sign of the apocalypse), while Tianyi hides happily in her bed buried in a story book I gave her yesterday on Japanese Mythology.
"I'll be going out with my brother to see my parents. Sit tight and don't open the door for anyone, okay?" I look over at her, and she makes a cute little sound to show me she has heard and understands. Smiling, I say goodbye and head out, hoping that Tianyi will be able to have some peace and quiet today. Many of the lower ranking members of this Orchestra are desperate to stay in this school as they have no other way to survive, most of them do not even like the music they play. Hence, they are willing to do anything to remain here, even suck up to the higher ranks and become servants in exchange for an illusionary umbrella of "protection".
There are rumors spreading about the relationship between Tianyi and me due to the "Prince Charming" like way I protect her and I am sure my parents will be unhappy, but I will not deny that I do feel a strong attraction toward my adorable gray haired roommate. I hope that someday these rumors can become true, but for now, they are just false and silly remarks made by shallow people. I better not tell my parents that, nor Longya. They would kill either Tianyi or me without a doubt; maybe even kill us both…
I hate traditional mindsets, I wish people could see that the traditions judging and condemning others for being who they are is wrong and stupid. These mindsets are what stop us from moving on into the future, it hinders the progress of humanity as a whole because factions of us are still enduring undeserved suffering due to some people's religious bigotry or cultural inhibitions. Love between two persons of the same gender does not bring harm to anyone! Why is it considered a sin?
Sighing, I calm myself down and locate my elder brother, mentally preparing for a long and tiring dinner spent fending off rumors and listening to my parents and brother drone on and on about the family business. On the way to my family mansion, I already have to endure Longya's questioning about my relationship with Tianyi and my sexuality; to me, it is a sign of impending doom. If Longya has suspicions, my overly traditional, obsessed over appearance parents will definitely have even more…
Hopefully, Tianyi's evening will turn out better than my own…
Tianyi's POV
Over the past week, I have evaded the other students with Ling and my section mates' help; I do not desire to befriend anyone at all. I came here for a chance to be someone, to go somewhere in life, so that I will be able to repay my parents for all they have done for me and make them proud. I never wanted to socialize with anyone, the mere thought terrified me. Ling, however, is special, she does not feel threatening and does not scare me, I have started to speak a little more ever since I met her.
With Ling, it does not matter if I do not speak and just listen quietly, for she does enough talking for the both of us. She is content with doing most of the speaking and does not feel offended when I do not respond or reply with sentences so short they could be considered curt. Ling is a special girl indeed, we click together almost perfectly; we are puzzle pieces that fill in whatever the other lacks and lacks whatever the other has. She makes me feel at peace when I am around her; she invaded my world with force but easily integrated herself into it, changing from annoying outsider to reliable insider.
There is a knock at the door, but I ignore it because I know that Ling has her own key and will let herself in when she returns. I do not want to have to deal with another human being without her by my side, so I just immerse myself in my book, filling my mind with stories of Japanese goddesses and gods. Within the magical world painted by the words in the pages, the sound of desperate knocking disappears completely; I am in a whole other world. Time flies as I enjoy every single legend the book presents me, reading a few I particularly like again and again. This is how I would like to spend my free time, all alone with a good book, away from the hectic and terrifying social world.
It is nearly midnight when Ling returns from her family dinner, she looks exasperated and troubled, storming into the room without her usual cheery greeting and flopping onto her bed with a violent sigh. Confused and concerned, I abandon the book that I was pretending to read for the last hour or so and pad over to her, nervously touching her shoulder. "Fa sheng le shen me shi?" what happened?
"Ah, shen me dou mei you," ah, nothing at all, she replies, and chuckles faintly when I crease my eyebrows slightly to reprimand her for the lie. Sighing deeply, she says that her family is just getting on her nerves again, trying to get her to marry someone yet again. "I don't want to marry just anyone! I want to marry someone I love, someone who loves me, not some random rich guy!" she punches her pillow angrily, "I don't even think I like men!"
Realizing what she has just said, Ling clamps her hands over her mouth in shock, studying my face intently to seek out any kind of a reaction. Though I am surprised, I am not at all disturbed by it; my face is as calm as usual. The look in my eyes soothes her and she sighs deeply again, tossing her pillow violently at the other end of the room and frowning deeply at it as it rams into the wall.
"Shall we go out for a walk?" she stands suddenly, "I need to clear my head." I have no complaints and go along with it, not really bothered that it is midnight since it is a Sunday tomorrow so the two of us can catch up on lost sleep. Following after her like a puppy, I wonder where we are going.
She leads me down the long, barely lit and confusing hallways until we finally arrive at a courtyard filled with brilliant cherry blossom trees in full bloom. There is a traditional pavilion on a small island surrounded by a flowing river which stretches out into the inky black distance in the middle of the garden. A single traditional-styled white bridge leads to that peaceful little island, jasmine bushes hide amongst the cherry blossom trees, exuding a sweet and gentle fragrance, and lotuses grow freely in the slow-moving water, swaying lightly when a breeze ripples across the surface of the river.
"This is my favorite place," Ling says, heading for the pavilion with a spring in her step. Silver moonlight washes over her, illuminating her features and making her look extremely young and delicate, it does not suit her usual hyperactive and cheery image. "Barely anyone comes here; they scoff at the traditional architecture. It's stupid; they really have no idea what they are missing."
I agree with her, the traditional styled garden envelops me with a sense of peace; it makes me feel grateful for all the little things in the world I am around to enjoy. The scent of the cherry blossoms, the sight of gently swaying lotuses, the way the moonlight spilling over the scene made it all seem ethereal... How could anyone scoff at this? I follow after Ling and join her in the pavilion, watching the dark water flow dauntlessly along the river channel, progress slowed by the layers of sediment in the river bed and sides, but still flowing out to sea regardless. The river will withstand even the test of time, when we who sat here are long gone; the river will still be here.
"Watching the water… it makes me think of reincarnation," Ling breaks the silence around us, speaking softly and gently, "Life goes on and on regardless of the obstacles, even if it takes countless cycles just to travel down that little stretch of the universe's river. Even death will not stem the flow, life will simply recur."
Sighing deeply, she continues, "Then I always wonder… what happens to the people you met in your past lives, the bonds you created, the emotions you felt? Will they too recur? If they do… then is there one person out there for me whom I have loved for countless years, for countless lives?" Those are good questions; I have no idea what the answers to them are, but I feel like I really want to know.
"Wo cai… zhi you shen zhi dao," I guess… only the gods know, I reply softly. Ling smiles a little, "Maybe… our souls know as well. The memory has been forcibly erased, but the feelings will never fade." Gan qing, feelings… speaking of them, I realize that a plethora of warm, fuzzy emotions have welled up within me for the beautiful, hazel eyed girl opposite me. The light of the full moon shining on her dark brown hair makes it seem to glow, outlining her body in beautiful, stunning silver, taking my breath away.
"I don't understand why," she raises her hand to her head, resting her palm against her forehead, "but I feel… safe… around you, I feel as if I belong near you, as if my existence was completed the moment you came into my life. It's really weird, we barely met, yet you know things about me that I've never told anyone."
"I-I feel the same," I admit, I have never even talked to others unless absolutely necessary before, I have never let anyone know how lonely I truly am because I feel edgy around other people, yet the day we first met I cried myself to sleep in her arms. I trust her, I am willing to give her a loaded gun and give her the go ahead to shoot me whenever she pleases, because somehow I know she will never pull the trigger.
"I've never been this philosophical in front of anyone before," she chuckles, "Must be surprising to find out that this hyperactive airhead has a brain." I want to protest, to tell her that she is not airheaded, but the words are jammed in my throat once more. She smiles gently, understanding, and then looks out wordlessly at the scenery once more, no longer furious about her parents trying to arrange a marriage for her. The peace of the courtyard has calmed her, though I know her opinion on it will never change. Ling is not a girl who is easily swayed, she stands by her principles and her friends, she thinks for herself instead of following mindlessly like sheep, she is a fighter who will never give in to others' wills.
Ling looks back at me and wordlessly opens her arms, beckoning me to her. I have no idea why, but the me who hates physical contact and socialization and avoids it all she can willingly gets up and steps into Ling's arms, happily melting into the warmth of her body. Inhaling the sweet scent of her, I close my eyes, feeling a soul-deep contentment fill my entire being. My life cannot get any better, it feels, just by being in her arms, my world is complete. Drawing each other close, we sit in the moonlight, a wordless agreement made between us.
From here on out, we are friends.
A/N: I hope this was an enjoyable chapter for everyone! Please leave a review if you have any comments!
Haruka