Chapter Thirteen: Reunion
"Are you seriously telling me this? This isn't some kind of joke?" Tomoyo slammed her palms against her desk excitedly.
Sakura, her best friend, grinned and shook her head. "It's no joke Tomoyo! The head of the committee for the senior prom asked Life to be the opening band for the evening!" The two girls jumped and down squealing excitedly. They stopped, only to see the class looking at them amusedly. Sakura grinned and blushed. "Sorry."
"So when are you going to talk to the others about it?"
"I will tonight, after the performance. I don't want to make a big decision like this on my own that's for sure."
"Good idea. Speaking of tonight's performance Rika's boyfriend is coming tonight. That should be interesting, no?" Tomoyo wiggled her eyebrows mischievously as Mr. Terada entered the class and the bell rang.
Sakura smiled wide but replied softly, "It should be." They took their seats as class began.
School was out and students were preparing to leave to either go home or go to their extracurricular activities. Shaia was on her way to the gym when she heard soft music coming out of the music room. "There is no choir or band practice today. It's beautiful. I wonder who is in there…" Slowly she walked over to the room, the door being slightly ajar, and went inside.
Inside Naoko was with her cello practicing. Her uniform once as usual being different from everyone else's consisted of an ankle length skirt and sleeves reaching all the way to her wrists. Naoko's eyes were shut focusing on nothing else except the music being produced from her cello. Raw emotion could be felt in the music and all Shaia could do was…listen.
Finally the song came to an end…and there was brief silence. "That was beautiful." The cellist startled turned straight towards the door with wide eyes. Shaia noticed this. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to surprise you. I was walking by when I heard you playing. I've never heard a cello before up close. It was lovely."
Hearing Shaia's words, Naoko took a deep breath and smiled. "It's okay. Thank you." She gently laid her cello down.
Shaia held out her hand. "We've never met officially. I'm Shaia."
Naoko paused for a moment before revealing a larger smile. She extended a covered arm. "I'm Naoko."
"So tell me, Naoko. How long have you been playing? I've heard you perform in that band called Life. It's an amazing group."
"I've played since I was six. My parents took me to an orchestra concert and I became fascinated with music. I played ever since. Life was created while I was still in middle school. We started in the garage with me playing occasionally. Been a part of the band ever since."
Shaia looked at her cello and then back at Naoko. "Your love for music is really great. I think I will check out Club Blossom more often." She got up with her belongings. "I should get going now though and leave you to your practice. It was nice to finally meet you." With that she left to return to what she was doing.
Naoko sat silently to herself a while longer and went to pick up her cello when she started to hear yelling. "How could you?" The musician turned around startled a second time. This time it was Kira, her eyes full of hurt and anger. "Why is everyone trying to take the one true friend I had away? First the slut and now a freak?"
"So you knew?" Kira for the first time since she started screaming looked at the girl in the chair. Naoko's voice was soft…yet cold. "You knew that she was your only true friend? Seems you are more aware than I realized…that's good to know."
Kira was surprised by the tone of the girl's voice but did not let that deter her completely. "I hate you."
"I don't care."
This time Kira was completely silenced from the unexpected reply. Naoko got up and walked over to her. "I am not here to gain your love. Don't you think for a second that because I remain silent most of the time that I fear you. I've been through more than you realize…you can't scare me." She stood in front of Kira with her arms crossed. "No one is trying to take your friend away. She introduced herself to me…I am sure she did the same with Sakura. We have not been trying to steal your friend…you are losing her. Don't blame us for something that is your fault. This is your problem. Work things out with her. She is your only true friend after all." With that, Naoko returned to her seat, picked up her cello, and resumed practicing.
Kira stormed out the room to the sound of gentle music.
Like Rika had argued with Kyou before, Mr. Terada looked just like them when dressed down yet at the same time, he had a very mature look about him. Like he had promised, he would check out Club Blossom and support his girlfriend. He knew the band was good but just how good completely stunned him. "Hey, Mr. Terada, what do you think so far? The band is really good don't you think?" Tomoyo was absolutely grinning at the look on their teacher's face.
"They're amazing! I did not see this at all. They're great. You guys are really talented."
Tomoyo and the others all grinned happily at his response…especially Tomoyo. She purposely forced Rika into a brand new outfit she designed for tonight rather than using Sakura as her guinea pig (which the emerald-eyed girl did not complain about at all). Thankfully Rika was content with the outfit because it fit her personal style. Mr. Terada seemed happy too as he watched his girlfriend perform on the stage.
While Tomoyo was watching these two, Eriol was watching someone else. "Hey, Syaoran…I want to talk to you about something."
"Sure. What's up?"
Eriol looked at his cousin and then back to the stage. "We have a great group of people to call as friends don't you think?"
Syaoran was puzzled by the question but looked back towards the stage while answering. "We do. Albeit many of them have been through some rough times, I really think it made them stronger." He looked at Sakura in particular and his amber eyes grew softer. "Our friends are great."
"We really love you guys who come every week to support us. You are amazing!" The crowd responded to Sakura with cheers and applause. "Before we step down and take a break we have one last song that we would like to perform. It is…an old song…one of the first songs I had ever written during a rough time I was going through. I don't know if we ever performed this one here before but I hope you all like it." Sakura gave her friends in the band a soft smile and counted them in.
It started with a piano solo by Elrick. The melody was quiet and mellow as Sakura began to sing.
Is anybody out there?
Does anybody see
That when the lights are off something's killing me
I know it seems like people care
Cause they're always around me
But when the day is done and everybody runs
Naoko and Chiharu came up to perform for this song and soon the strings could be heard with the piano.
Who will be the one to save me from myself
Who will be the one who's there
And not ashamed to see me crawl
Who's gonna catch me when I fall
The drums and finally the guitars entered, completing the harmony.
When the show is over
And it's empty everywhere
It's so hard to face going back alone
So I walk around the city
Anything, anything to clear my head
I've got nowhere to go nowhere but home
Who will be the one to save me from myself?
Who will be the one who's there
And not ashamed to see me crawl
Who's gonna catch me when I fall?
It may seem I have everything
But everything means nothing
When the ride that you've been on
That you're coming off
Leaves you feeling lost
Is anybody out there
Does anybody see
That sometimes loneliness is just a part of me
Who will be the one to save me from myself?
Who will be the one who's there
And not ashamed to see me crawl?
Who's gonna catch me when I fall?
Who's gonna catch me when I fall?
Who's gonna catch me when I fall?
And not ashamed to see me crawl?
Who's gonna catch me when I fall?
The song ended and the crowd was silent for a while. Finally there was applause as the band came down from the stage. Syaoran turned to Eriol once more. "This was written during her time in middle school wasn't it?"
Eriol merely gave a quiet smile.
It was almost time for the band to return to the stage. However, Life was busy having an exciting conversation.
"I cannot believe you guys were asked to play in the opening for prom! This is so exciting!" Meiling was jumping up and down squealing excitedly.
Sakura turned to the rest of her friends in the band. "I really appreciate you guys being so willing to play."
Kyou laughed. "Of course we'd be willing. We never had a problem before!"
Takashi nodded. "It will be lots of fun. Talk about a great way to end the senior year. I don't think I have heard a greater end to prom night since that day ten years ago…Chiharu that really hurts."
Chiharu huffed and crossed her arms. "We don't need a story from you right now."
"But Chiharu…"
"No means no." Everyone else then started laughing at the disappointed look on Takashi's face.
"It seems that you have been doing well." Sakura and the others turned towards the voice and the laughter died. The smiles disappeared.
Sakura was the first one to speak, her voice soft and filled with fear. "Arata…why are you here?"
The young man merely shrugged his shoulders. "I came here to see you." Sakura fell limp in her seat. She started shaking and soon had to grab on to the table for support. Tomoyo and a confused Meiling and Syaoran went over to Sakura immediately.
Eriol jumped in front of Sakura to face Akira head on. "You know that's not what she meant. You should not be out. How did you get out so early and why are you here?"
"I was a minor when arrested. I got out for good behavior and received lots of counseling. I guess you could say I got lucky. I just came to talk because I found out about Kohana."
"Leave now."
Akira shook his head. "Why is everyone so tense? I simply came to talk. Don't you think I deserve to know about my daughter?"
Eriol grabbed Akira by the throat and slammed him into a wall nearby. "No, I don't think you do at all! Now leave!" A crowd had started to gather. Mr. Terada pulled Eriol off of the guy before a bigger scene could be created. Akira glared at Eriol while holding his own neck. Rather than retaliating however he left without saying another word.
Everyone immediately turned to face Sakura. The girl was pale but the shaking had stopped and she had calmed down a bit. Tomoyo placed a comforting hand on her best friend's shoulder. "We should go home."
"…we still have the second half left to do."
"But Sakura, you can barely stand. We'll talk to the manager…" Sakura slowly stood up and looked into a pair of concerned, amethyst eyes. She was pleading…Tomoyo got the message. Taking a deep breath she finally gave in. "If you will be okay then I guess we can let you go."
Sakura gave a weak smile. "Thank you." She turned to the others. "It's time to go back on stage. Shall we?" With that the others watched their dear friend walk towards the stage still not fully recovered.
Syaoran frowned. "I really wish she would just call it a night."
Tomoyo sighed. "That's Sakura for you. I think this is her way of coping with what just happened."
Rika gave Mr. Terada a small smile and stood up. "If this is her way of coping then the least we can do as her friends is support her." She walked towards the stage. Everyone looked at Rika and then at each other. They all understood. The others in the band got up as well and headed towards the stage.
Mr. Terada turned to Eriol who was staring at the table he was at. Tomoyo was trying to calm him down. "It is nice to know that you guys are so loyal to each other."
Tomoyo gave him a sad smile. "With everything Sakura has been through, it's the least we could do." No one else said another word as they watched Life on stage.
Sakura took a deep breath and then smiled at the crowd. "Thank you guys for waiting on us! Here's a lively song from Life to get things started. Let's have fun!"
A/N:I apologize for being so late with the chapter. Had an extremely rough semester and online course to complete. But I am done...for now...so here's my goal: at least one chapter a week. To keep this up will take a lot of work but I am determined to complete these stories this year. All I ask is that you R&R kindly. I know I am not the best writer here but with constructive criticism (emphasis on constructive) I will try to improve in those areas I lack. Besides, who doesn't like reviews? It's great encouragement. :D Anyway, that is all! Happy Independence to all of you from the United States of America (mine is several days away ^_^ )! Hope you guys have a great day!
Catch Me When I Fall – Ashley Simpson