A twelve-year-old girl knelt beside two people.
"No..." whispered the girl.
"Be strong my child. We love you, always."
"Kasan, tousan. Don't leave me."
"We are sorry. But now the burden is yours to shoulder. It's a heavy one, but I know you can do it."
Tears threatened to fall.
"No I can't..."
"We have trained you well." The mother of the child strokes away a stray hair that covered the child's forehead. The father wiped away the tears that ran down the checks. "Be strong, Michi." Her father dropped his hand. "We will always be with you." Her mother's hand dropped.
"No..." Michiru gave a heart retching cry.
As the music died down, the entire hall exploded with applause. The audience stood up to give the violinist a standing ovation. The violinist bowed and made her way to the back stage.
"Well done! Excellent performance Kaioh-san," one of the back stage crew congratulated her.
"Arigato," she bowed slightly to the person and made her way to the dresser room. She carefully placed her glass violin in the case. After applying rosin on the string of her bow, she placed it in the case also. She closed the case and sat in front of the dresser mirror.
knock
"Hai?"
"Michiru. Remember that there will be a ball tonight that you have to attend tonight. Do hurry up," said her manager.
"Hai, Yamou-san."
She stood up and decided against changing so she freshened up her make-up, picked up her violin case and left the room.