This story takes place before, during, and after the events described and portrayed in the anime and movie adaptations of Hibike! Euphonium and Liz and the Blue Bird. It is centered on Mizore and Nozomi. Fair warning- this is coming from somebody who has not yet read the light novels. On top of this, Hibike! Euphonium 3 has been announced but not released, so it is most likely that some details I put in the fanfiction are wrong or outdated. I do not own Hibike! Euphonium or Liz and the Blue Bird, nor do I own any of the characters from them.
It really was a beautiful book. At least, that's what Mizore told herself as she read it over and over again.
Mizore, of course, was thinking about the book that Nozomi let her borrow. Well, Nozomi had only let Mizore borrow it for a little; she went to check out her own copy from the library after becoming invested in it. Again and again, Mizore renewed the book from the library, to the dismay of the librarian, who was dubious of Mizore's ability to return the book in a timely manner. But was it really the book itself that drew Mizore so close? She herself pondered, as if trying to convince herself that she was unaware of the real reason. But she knew it; she was just the same as the Blue Bird.
For context, Mizore was ridiculously talented at the oboe, even more so than some professionals. The reason she had worked so hard and gotten so good was for the aforementioned Nozomi. Nozomi was a relatively tall girl with mid-length black hair that was usually pulled back into a ponytail. Back in middle school, she found Mizore sitting alone, as she always had, and invited her to join the band alongside her. This was a first for Mizore, as she unfortunately had no friends to speak of (or to). But alongside, and for, Nozomi, she joined the band, practiced for hours on end, and honed her skills to be as close to perfect as a high school girl's could be.
Though there were bumps along the road that was their friendship, most notably during their first and third years, Mizore and Nozomi remained inseparable. Or at least, they were very close. As Mizore paged through her book for the sixth time, her eyes began to glaze over the pages. She was in love with the story, but reading it became monotonous after a while. She laid her head down, staring at the blowfish that swam around, seeming to hover and stare back from time to time.
Mizore thought Nozomi. "Inseparable," she had thought of the two. But where was Nozomi right now? Mizore wasn't entirely sure, but it was very likely that Nozomi was with her other friends from the flute section. Mizore was never sure what to feel when such a thing happened- when her best friend was out with groups of her other friends. She could feel jealous, but that would be wrong of her. Mizore knew she had no right to try and reserve Nozomi all to herself, no matter how much she may want to. She could feel bored, but that would also be wrong. Mizore definitely had other friends that she could talk to, text, or even hang out with, and it would be unfair to them to sit around and mope while she could spend time with them and enjoy herself. But for some reason, she felt different when spending time with other people.
Yuuko was the immediate second choice, but that meant Natsuki would be there as well- they were a package deal. Mizore had no gripe with either of them, in fact she liked both of them very much. However, the dynamic worked best when there were groups of two. Without Nozomi, Mizore would have been a third wheel to a bicycle, or perhaps Nozomi would have been a missing fourth wheel from a car. The same situation could be applied to her fourth choice, Kumiko, since she came with Reina. There was another option, though. She could hang out with Ririka.
Ririka was a really nice girl, who seemed to treasure spending time with her senpai far more than most other kouhai. Mizore rested her chin on her hand. It made Mizore feel nice that there was someone who was so intent on becoming close to her. Mizore pulled her phone out and opened her text conversation with Ririka. She looked at it briefly. It mostly consisted of Ririka sending "thank you"s and photos from their times hanging out. Surprisingly, whenever Ririka and Mizore texted, they would have decently lengthy chats. In person, it was hard to get her to speak for more than a few words. But over text, she was able to hold decent conversations. Mizore began to type.
Hello, Ririka, what are you up to this afternoon?
Ririka, who was always the first to initiate conversations between the two, was taken aback by Mizore's text. She screenshotted the notification because it was the first time such a thing had happened, and it was therefore a thing of beauty. She then began to type swiftly in response.
Hello Mizo-senpai! I've been free, how about you?
I'm free as well. Do you want to practice with me for a little while?
Again, Ririka took a screenshot of the message. "How amazing..." she thought as she went to retrieve her oboe.
The two practiced the piece for a little while. Ririka was grateful that her senpai was helping her, and Mizore was grateful to not be alone. After practicing, the two chatted a little- that is to say- Ririka chatted at Mizore. Regardless, they had both enjoyed the afternoon, and they had both become closer friends. The two left the school, where they parted ways to walk to their respective homes.
Mizore was glad that she didn't spend her afternoon all by herself. She thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Ririka, but for some reason, time passed differently than when she was with Nozomi. Really, time passed differently for Mizore any time other than when she was with Nozomi.
The next day, Mizore and Nozomi met early to practice their duet. As they walked through the large high school to make their way to the band room, Mizore felt lighter. Hearing Nozomi's footsteps making their way to her seat, seeing Nozomi's hair sway left and right as she walked, hearing Nozomi play her piece, seeing Nozomi smile during breaks- they all made Mizore feel like she was riding on cloud nine. Her playing slowed, and became sloppy by her standards, as she considered her spinning head. Why could she only feel this way when she was with Nozomi?
Nozomi noticed that something was off from Mizore's playing. "Hey, Mizore! Everything okay?" she asked with a warm, slightly concerned smile.
The smile melted Mizore's heart, and it was precisely for that reason that Mizore knew everything was not okay. "I'm… feeling funny." she replied slowly and deliberately. She was staring intensely at the music sheet, like if she looked away, something bad would happen. She wasn't exactly feeling funny; she was just feeling so happy right now, that it felt almost wrong. "Or maybe… I'm happy?" she thought aloud.
"What's with you and turning statements into questions?" Nozomi asked with a laugh. "And if you're happy, good! I'm happy too!"
After practicing for a little while longer, the two departed to go to their respective classes. Mizore stared at the floor as she walked to her class. Her cloud had leveled with the Earth and turned into fog.
Nozomi had a spring to her step as she walked to her class. She was incredibly happy to have just spent time with her favorite person, knowing that she would get to do so again later in the day. On top of that, she was going to spend a few hours out of the night as she had been the past few nights- looking for gifts. Mizore probably didn't suspect anything, since she was pretty forgetful, but Nozomi had spent an hour looking for gifts for Mizore, for her birthday, last night and the night before. She felt a little bad, leaving Mizore all by herself, but she would make up for it on her birthday.
During practice- or during breaks that were taken during practice hours- Nozomi and Mizore chatted. Because Mizore was incredibly hard to make talk, Nozomi had trouble coming up with ideas for birthday presents initially, but she eventually came up with a few ideas. The last of these ideas would be purchased after practice today. She was going to find a copy of a few books, but most importantly Liz and the Blue Bird, for her to own. In her mind, Nozomi memorized the few bookstores that she would be checking out; she couldn't afford not to find a nice copy of the book, so she had to check more than one place.
"Nozomi… do you… enjoy reading?" Mizore asked, seemingly out of the blue. Without realizing it, Nozomi had left her phone open, showing that directions to her first-choice bookstore were on the screen.
"Ah!" Nozomi exclaimed as she quickly turned her phone off. "N-not really, I just need to get better at it for tests, so I need some material!" she replied quickly, to save face. However, she didn't account for the fact that Mizore was very well acquainted with the bookstores of the town.
"Oh, well… there are closer bookstores that sell books like that…" Mizore replied, straightening her hair. "Do you… want me to take you to one?" she asked. She was eager to spend time with Nozomi, unknowing of the reason that Nozomi wanted to go to a bookstore in the first place.
As much as it pained Nozomi to do it, she had to reject Mizore's offer. "I'm sorry, I can't tonight! Maybe some other time?" she replied, doing her best to convey to Mizore that she genuinely wanted to spend time with her.
Mizore lowered her head ever so slightly. "Oh…" she replied, not quite sadly, but definitely hurt. "Is she avoiding me?" Mizore thought as she straightened her hair again. "She's going, but she can't go with me?"
Just as Nozomi was about to provide an explanation, practice was about to be on again, so they had to hurry back to their seats and begin to play. After practice was over, Nozomi began to walk to Mizore to make sure she was feeling alright. Just as she did, though, one of the flute girls tried to strike up a conversation with her. Nozomi was polite, but her patience was not infinite, so she briefly chatted with the flute girl before making an excuse to leave. But as the crowd parted to let her through, she saw an empty seat instead of Mizore.
Mizore was again stuck in an emotional limbo. However, this time, instead of feeling a whole lot of nothing, she felt sad. She entered the chemistry lab, walked over to the blowfish, fed them, and walked out. She had no intention of sticking around at the school this afternoon. As she walked out of the front doors of the building, she began to hear something. A familiar, though faster than normal, trot was making its way closer to her. Mizore turned around to see a worried-looking Nozomi marching towards her. "Mizore…" she began, but paused, as if worried that Mizore would interject. After no interjection came, she continued. "I really do want you to show me the bookstore, can we do that tomorrow or the next day? I feel like we haven't hung out outside of school in a while…" at the last statement, she rubbed the back of her neck.
Mizore's face lit up. She nodded. "Are you… meeting with some friends at the bookstore today?" she asked. Obviously, Mizore had given some thought about why Nozomi was going to the bookstore. She didn't read that much, so this was the conclusion Mizore came to.
Nozomi smiled. "Good, she's clueless!" she thought. "Yeah, but it's one of the flutes. I was worried you'd feel awkward around them, you know?" she explained.
Mizore nodded and straightened her already-perfectly straight hair. "Then... I'll see you tomorrow..." she said as the two went their separate ways. As Nozomi went to find the books on her list, Mizore went home and laid down. She definitely felt relieved that Nozomi wasn't avoiding her, but she was still all alone at the moment. She decided against staying at the school, so she couldn't ask anyone to hang out or practice, so she just pet her cat while listening to music. She let out a long exhale. "I miss her…"
Nozomi was successfully able to find the books that she wanted to get Mizore without having to go all around town. She took them home, boxed them up, and pulled her phone out.
Hey Mizore! Before we go to the bookstore tomorrow, we need to stop by my house! Is that okay with you?
To her surprise, Mizore responded immediately.
Of course! Then will you come with me to feed the blowfish?
I'd love to! Alright, I'll see you bright and early then!
She set her phone down and smiled. "I can't believe she doesn't realize her own birthday is tomorrow!" Nozomi thought with a giggle. She stretched her arms and laid back on her bed. "No harm- it'll just make the surprise better!"