"You asked Aikawa to lock up when she finished moving the clothes into the apartment, right?" Hiroki asked, turning his head to Nowaki as they made their way up the stairs towards the entrance to the theatre where the evening rehearsal was being held.
"Yes, I did," Nowaki said, nodding. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open before nodding. He turned the screen towards Hiroki. "She just sent me a text message to tell me where she hid the key."
"That's good," Hiroki said, smiling slightly as he got to the top of the staircase with a slight grunt. He patted his belly.
"You look absolutely gorgeous tonight, Hiro-san," Nowaki murmured, reaching out to rub Hiroki's back. Hiroki blushed, pinching his lips together as he looked down at the ground before his feet.
"Shut up, idiot. I only changed into a pair of jeans," Hiroki huffed.
"A pair of maternity jeans," Nowaki corrected softly, speeding up slightly and stopping in front of Hiroki, blocking him. "It reminds me that we're going to see our baby in less than four months."
Hiroki felt his blush spread to his chest, and he feared Nowaki could see it through his pure white maternity top.
"I'm going to be late to rehearsal," Hiroki said, wriggling slightly. Nowaki chortled and pecked Hiroki's forehead. They continued slowly down the hall towards the double doors to the auditorium.
"What have you come up with as an excuse for fainting last week?" Nowaki asked softly after a long silence. Hiroki groaned.
"Absolutely nothing. I have nothing to excuse this huge tummy, either," Hiroki said, pausing to gesture to his large stomach. He thought for a moment, then apologetically patted his belly. "Sorry, baby, I didn't mean to call you huge."
Nowaki sighed, flashing Hiroki a half-smile.
"Do… Do you think that maybe it's time to just tell them the truth?" Nowaki asked slowly as they approached the double doors. He put his hand on the handle, but made no move to open it. Hiroki pondered, swaying on his feet slightly and cupping his hands under his baby bump.
"I don't know," Hiroki muttered. "I mean, nobody there knows that I'm gay, or that I'm your lov-"
"I think they know," Nowaki interrupted. "I mean, you come in with me every Saturday. And uh… I kinda freaked out and yelled 'Someone call an ambulance for my lover!' when you fainted last weekend."
Nowaki scratched his head sheepishly as Hiroki froze and stared at his idiot lover with a horrified look on his face.
"You're kidding."
"No. Sorry, Hiro-san."
Hiroki put his face in his hands and shook his head.
"Well, at least it was only the Japanese who understood you."
"…Actually, Kanagawa-san was translating everything I was saying into all of the other languages so we could get you moving as quickly as possible."
Hiroki groaned, tipping his head back and shutting his eyes.
"I'm really sorry, Hiro-san."
"No… No, you were just worried for me," Hiroki said slowly with a deep breath, willing himself to relax and remain calm for the sake of the baby. He lowered his head once more and opened his eyes. Nowaki stepped forward, tipping Hiroki's head to the side and pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek.
"You are doing an amazing job, Hiro-san," Nowaki breathed. "You're trying to keep the stress down for the baby, aren't you?"
Hiroki blushed as he was caught red-handed.
"Ha, don't worry, the second this kid is born, I'm killing you twenty times over for everything you've done," Hiroki said with a wry smile. Nowaki straightened, laughing nervously.
"Should I be afraid right now or can I believe that you're just being adorable?"
Hiroki hummed a chortle and craned his neck to kiss Nowaki's cheek.
"Let's just go in and see what happens."
Nowaki held the door open for Hiroki as he warily slipped into the auditorium. No one seemed to be paying attention though, as everyone was crowded around the grand piano. Hiroki glanced at Nowaki, and they made their way towards the stage. As they got closer, they could make out individual voices shouting in different languages. All of them sounded heated and angry. Hiroki turned to Nowaki as he squinted and cupped a hand around his ear.
"What do you hear?" Hiroki asked over the shouting of voices.
"Um… from the English that I can make out, it sounds like they're saying something like… 'missing'… oh, one just said 'solo'."
Hiroki wrinkled his brow in confusion, and as Nowaki parted from him to sit in the visitor row, he walked the steps up to the stage. Kanagawa ran into him almost immediately.
"Kamijou-kun! You're here!" he said excitedly, gripping Hiroki's shoulder.
"Uh… yeah, about the whole fainting thi-"
"Everyone! I found our soloist!" Kanagawa shouted, rapidly repeating his outburst in several different languages and grabbing Hiroki's wrist. Hiroki glanced down into the visitor row as he was dragged across the stage, catching Nowaki's equally bewildered stare. The entire alumni group went completely silent as they turned to stare at Hiroki. Hiroki blushed furiously as he was brought to the grand piano.
"What do you mean 'soloist'?" Hiroki asked, flustered. He managed to wriggle his wrist from Kanagawa's grasp, but an open binder of sheet music was thrust into his hands. It was open on the English song, an intricate a capella song.
"Kamijou," Director Gales said, standing from her seat on the piano bench. Hiroki jumped, not expecting the woman to speak to him directly. She came around the piano and put a hand on Hiroki's shoulder.
"Yes, ma'am?" Hiroki answered hastily.
"Our English high tenor had a family emergency and had to fly back to America. We've just received news that he won't be returning to Japan for the alumni concert. We've had all of the other tenors audition to take our tenor's solo in the English song, but none of them can hit the high notes. Kanagawa said that you would be able to hit it and still maintain a steady vibrato. Is this true?"
Hiroki blinked, somewhat taken aback by Director Gales's stiff yet accurate use of the Japanese language. He sputtered, flapping his lips and speaking incoherently.
"I-I-I-I have no… I have no idea wha-"
"Kamijou-kun, try it! We're really counting on you here!" Kanagawa exclaimed, pushing Hiroki towards the center of the stage.
"B-But… this is in English!" Hiroki protested, clutching the sheet music to his chest and digging his heels in a failed attempt to escape. He snapped his panicked eyes to Nowaki, who was already tensing on the edge of his seat, ready to jump up and rescue his flustered lover.
"You remember how to sight read, right?" Kanagawa asked, stopping Hiroki in center-stage and gripping him by the shoulders.
"Sight read? Y-Y-Yeah, I guess so, bu-"
"Then just sing your line on 'la'. See, this is the solo line," Kanagawa explained pointing to a line on the sheet music. Hiroki's heart fluttered, his eyes widening at the wide skips between notes. "Director Gales will play your notes on the piano as you sing, so if you get lost, just listen for your next note. She's really just looking to see if you can actually hit the high notes and hit them well. The key is B flat minor, and it's in four-four time. Good luck, Kamijou-kun."
Kanagawa backed away, and Hiroki was suddenly alone on the stage, his knees wobbling. He vaguely heard Director Gales play his starting note, but the pitch didn't register. He shakily began, his voice cracking.
"Stop, Kamijou. You're off-key already," Director Gales scolded. The other directors snickered, quietly translating her words into their own languages. Hiroki felt his face burning as he hunched his shoulders and buried his face in his sheet music.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"Don't curl up like that. Stand like a singer. Do you want to do a few warm-ups?"
"Um… no, I'm f-fine," Hiroki said quietly, straightening and lifting his chest. He furrowed his eyebrows and held his sheet music out in front of him.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
Director Gales played the starting note again, then counted out loud to four. Hiroki tapped the beat with his toes and began, his voice wavering a little at first but hitting the notes spot on. He continued through the song, and the further he got, the more the confidence within him grew. By the time the high notes started, his vibrato was in full swing. His voice rang out powerfully throughout the auditorium, an overtone surfacing over the top of his melody. He wasn't even aware of it when Director Gales stopped playing the piano, and he continued to sing the song on a simple 'la'.
The song ended, and Hiroki's voice continued to echo throughout the auditorium several seconds after he stopped singing. He blinked when no one said anything. He turned around slowly, facing the other alumni.
"Kamijou," Director Gales said, slowly standing from her bench. Hiroki cringed.
"I'm sorry, I hadn't sung in several years before the first rehearsal, so my tone is probably a little ru-" Hiroki began hurriedly, shutting his binder and outstretching his arm to hand it to Director Gales. She, however, went to Hiroki and pushed the binder back to him. She began shouting things in English, turning back around to face the English alumni. They scowled at her and Hiroki, muttering things to themselves. Director Gales turned to Hiroki and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Kamijou, I've requested for my octet to make you a copy of this piece with the proper pronunciation for the English words. I'll assign you special practices on Friday, so-"
"Wait!" Hiroki shouted suddenly, jumping away from Director Gales. He was so confused and irritated, and he was developing a headache from the stress that was suddenly being dumped on his shoulders. Hiroki felt himself go off the deep end. "Just hold on a second! I can't do rehearsal on Fridays!"
Director Gales blinked.
"Why not? They'll be in the evenings, so you don't have to worry about your job at the scho-"
"That's the day that I get my weekly check-up!" Hiroki snapped.
"What on earth do you need weekly check-ups for? You're a young man!"
"They're not just regular check-ups! They're my weekly pregnancy reports!"