References :
Love Lullaby (Yasashiku Dakasete) from Magic Knight Rayearth
Don't own the song, but it's awesome! XD
Miyon sat across from me in the dressing room, golden eyes glaring daggers at me. I tried to avoid her gaze as Himeka hurried to put on my make up and dress me. There were reporters and cameras outside the door, trying to ask me questions and sneak a peak at me before I got on stage.
"Would you quit sweating, I've redone your make up several times already...!" Himeka huffed as she hurriedly applied my mascara. I glanced down at myself seconds after I felt the tingling sensation throughout my body and checked my watch.
It was midnight.
I transformed instantly, glowing for a brief moment until I had grown taller and my curves were shown under my silky royal blue dress. My dirty blond hair changed to a pretty platinum blond and grew a few inches longer so they were just a little bit past my waist. Himeka pulled away, checked my make up, and then stepped behind me to pull my hair into a long braid.
I strained to hear when a very loud reporter shouted a question and waited for my response.
"Do you have a name? Or do you prefer we call you Athena?!"
I looked to Himeka and she nodded.
"The name Athena works for me!" I shouted back, and there was a long moment of chatter at my first response after hours of trying to get me to talk. Micchi had told me my popularity would rise when I kept my identity a secret for a while. After I had enough fans, I could start talking and answering questions.
Miyon hadn't spoken to me since the contract incident, but I could tell she was upset. All she'd done was glare at me for the past week.
When 12:30 hit, it was time for me to go onstage.
I stood up and Kazune immediately stepped into the room, "You ready, Karin-sama?"
I nodded and he gave me a quick, comforting hug as he whispered for me not to be afraid, even though my legs were shaking and my body was trembling as well. I was scared I'd do something to embarrass myself on stage.
"Don't worry!" Himeka put a hand on my shoulder, "Your gracefulness will kick in soon. It's apart of being a princess."
My giggle was cut off by the faint cheering just outside the dressing room door. Thousands of people had squeezed into the audience just to see me. And now it was time for me to give them what they wanted.
"Here she is, the singing goddess you've all been waiting for, Princess Athenaaaaaa!"
The announcer headed off the stage as the audience erupted into applause as I replaced him. And seconds after, a hush fell over the auditorium when I brought the microphone up to my face to speak.
"Um..." my voice echoed, "Hello, everyone. I hope you like my song, and thank you for coming."
Camera's flashed, slightly brighter than the stage lights, and made me lift a hand for a moment to block the light. I then turned to my left and gave Himeka the signal to start playing the song I had prepared.
I closed my eyes and felt the nervousness fade as I danced to the intro of the song, heart thumping as my time to sing approached. The slow first few seconds of the intro changed to upbeat.
And then I opened my mouth.
"Hiroi umi wo... kakemeguru kaze no you ni. Anata no yume wa kazoekirenai... hikari wo hanatsu no. Donna toki mo kizutsuita hane kakushite .. Asu mukau ushiro sugata wa mou, mitaku nai wa.."
I twirled on the stage, getting into the music as my voice flowed freely out of me and reached the correct pitch at the correct time. I was happy being on stage like this, reveling in the encouraging cheers of the audience. The song slowly came to it's close, but I wasn't quite ready for it to come to an end.
"I'll give you, I'll give you, tsubasa yasumete mo, yume wa owaranai waaaaaa. I'll give you, I'll give you...Shinjiru kokoro ga areba chikara ni naru..."
I spun around one last time and closed my eyes to prepare my voice for the "big finish" and the very last line.
"I'll give you... my love LULLABY...oooh.."
When the song ended, there was a brief moment of silence before the crowd erupted into applause. I smiled and thanked them just before I was yanked off the stage by Himeka and Miyon.
They rushed me into the dressing room and quickly locked the door. I placed my back against the door and slid to my bottom, eyes closed as I tried to breathe. It had been a rush of excitement for me and my heart was still pounding. It had been so much fun, but still a bit scary.
"You did great!" Himeka and Micchi were at my side, pulling me back to my feet.
Kazune stood with his back to the dressing room door to keep it closed as a bunch of fans that had escaped onto the stage tried to open it. Miyon stared at me blankly.
"We better go."
We made an agreement with the owner of the concert building to perform whenever there was enough time. Miyon seemed a bit satisfied after that, but the silent treatment continued for about another week.
The performances continued whenever a Black Cat showed up trying to put a human under a spell, and each time I sang, the rescues were successful. Kazune, Miyon, Himeka, and Micchi would fight using magic when there was a very unique foe who was not affected by the sound of my voice.
I had at least 20 or 30 concerts a month and was invited to go on tour several times, but since the Black Cats were only in Tokyo, there was no need. I would have accepted, but for some reason, Kazune and Micchi thought I would get too stressed.
I was starting to get annoyed when they kept saying this and started to limit the number of concerts I had a month. I felt fine! I was having fun and the concerts always went smoothly.
I realized exactly what they meant by "stressed" when I collapsed just before a performance one day.
