Music from the Heart
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. I also do not own Utada Hikaru or her song used in this chapter.
Chapter 07: Be My Last
People say it's hard to wake up with a blurry vision – to wake up with eyesight so bad that it hurts not being able to see anything.
Being blind is a different case.
I wake up and can't see anything. My world is black. There is no white, no shades in between…
But I still have time… I still have time to fix it. My sight.
Deep inside, to tell the truth, I don't know if I have ever forgiven Shippo, who caused me to be this way.
I lie on my bed, and if I could see, I would be staring at my ceiling. My ceiling, which is painted light orange, because orange is my favorite color.
Tomorrow is the day of the competition: Tokyo's Talent. I pull up the right sleeve of my shirt and allow my fingers to stroll down my bruised skin. His fan club had been after me again. Who knew girls could be so vicious over a guy? But then again, even without ever seeing his face, I have…
I shake my head. 'What are you thinking, Rin?'
I sit up on my bed and shake my head. My cheeks are burning. "Stop thinking about him!" I put my cold hands against my cheeks to cool them down. "Focus on the competition! You need to prepare a solo!" And then it hits me.
That's right… my solo.
"Hey Rin!" Kagome came up from behind. "I have to tell you something about the competition."
I turned, "Sure, what is it?"
"If we make it to the finals… do you think you will be able to perform alone?"
"Where… Where will you guys be?" I asked worriedly.
She giggled. "We'll perform the instrumentals if you want. We decided… that if we win, we'll give you the money so you can heal your eyes. If you perform solo… I think that might be better than if we performed as a band."
"I thought everyone liked how we sounded…"
"Oh, there's nothing wrong with the band! We really couldn't have done it without you. If we hadn't met you… we probably wouldn't have gotten this far. Just think of it as a thank you. If you don't want to sing alone, that's okay too. We just thought you would really love to sing by yourself… to show your true colors."
"I… I will think about it." I bowed. "Thank you."
I thought that if I said yes, it would seem selfish. After all, we were going to perform as a band, so shouldn't we end like one? But they all reassured me that it would be all right. They were all fine with it. So I agreed to their proposition.
'If this works out okay… I really owe them a lot!'
"You can sing the background voices and I can fix it so that it'll play at right times," Miroku explained.
I nodded and put the headphones on. I closed my eyes and sang.
I'm kind of nervous.
I'm kind of… doubtful?
How will I act in front of thousands of people that I cannot see?
A pain travels through my head. I flinch. 'I'm running out of time…'
"Rin, you did great!" Sango reassures me from backstage.
I'm sitting in front of a mirror and sweating. I pretend to be able to see my reflection as Ayame works on my hair.
"It felt good… to perform in front of the crowd."
"We got pretty good feedback…" Miroku says. "I think we have a pretty good chance on finals."
I smile. 'I was really scared… my head began throbbing halfway through. If we make finals….'
And then I hear the stage quiet.
I hear the sound of the piano and by the tune I can tell it was Sesshoumaru performing. I think he is the last to perform.
"Three finalists… I'm almost positive he will be one of them," Kouga muses.
"Feh. Don't encourage him!" Inuyasha growls.
"It wasn't encouragement! It was just a hunch, that's all."
"I think Sesshoumaru-sama plays beautifully," I say without thinking.
A hand is placed on my shoulder. "I agree whole-heartedly," Kagome says. I can guess that she's glaring at Inuyasha because he huffs as a reply.
'Sesshoumaru-sama… certainly, if we were to go against each other, you would win hands down…'
It would be called talent to be able to play the piano blindly. But I feel that would merely be a way to win through sympathy. Is it wrong to think that…?
A white light.
I blink, which is weird, because why would I need to blink? I reach out and my hand touches something cold. The mirror?
"Is something wrong?" Ayame asks worriedly.
"I…" I shut my eyes and slam my fist against the table. A pain shoots through my head again. Darkness cannot blur, but I can see that something is different… A flash of brown. The floor?
"Rin!" I hear someone yell. "Are you…"
I sit up and open my eyes to darkness.
"Calm down," a voice soothes.
"Where am I?" I reach out with both arms, trying to feel the environment, yet two strong hands catch them.
"Rin," the voice says. I finally realize that it's Sesshoumaru. "When I walked backstage after I was done, you fainted."
"Oh, I see," my cheeks burn. "The competition…?"
"We both made it to the final three."
"Ah…" I smile. "That's good to hear."
"Are you…" he pulls me close and whispers in my ear, "running out of time…?"
"I…"
"What are you doing?" Inuyasha barks. I flinch at the sudden voice and my arms are released.
A chair light scrapes across the floor. "Nothing," Sesshoumaru replies, and his footsteps fade away.
Kagome starts, "Rin, if you're not well..."
"It'll be okay," I interrupt. I smile. "Don't worry. I'm fine now."
"We're on in ten," Kouga calls. "Are we still up for it?"
I nod.
Kagome is on my right, and Sango is on my left. Both of them links arms with me and walk me up on stage to the solo microphone. I can feel the lights shining upon me. They are probably very bright because it's very hot.
"We're cheering for you," Sango says and then they both leave my side. They were playing the music in the back, in the dark, because the focus is on me.
"She never rehearsed this with us… right?" I hear Sango say to Kagome.
"It'll be okay," Kagome says positively.
I smile to myself, but when the crowd suddenly becomes quiet I get nervous. My fingers clutch to my dress unconsciously. I can't give up after getting this far. I take in a deep breath, signifying Kagome to be ready with the guitar, and begin.
Kaasan doushite (ahh…)
Sodateta mono made (ahh…)
Jibun de kowasanakya (ahh…)
Naranai hi ga kuru no? Ahhh…
My recording joins me.
Ahhh… Barabara ni natta koraaju
Suterarenai no wa
And then it leaves.
Nani mo tsunagenai te
Kimi no te tsunaida toki datte...
The recording joins me again vaguely.
Be my last... Be my last... Ahh…
Be my last... Be my last...
Douka kimi ga, Be my last...
Ahhh…
Narenai doushi de
Yoku ganbatta ne
Machigatta koi wo shita kedo
Machigai de wa nakatta
Ahhhhh….ahhh….
Nani mo tsukamenai te
Yume miteta no wa doko made…?
With my hands… With my hands
With my hands… Ohh with my hands
Watashi no te de... Be my last... Ahh…
Itsuka musubareru yori
Kon'ya ichijikan aitai
Nani mo tsunagenai te
Otona butteta no wa dare?
Ah, ahhh…
Be my last... Be my last...
Be my last... Be my last...
Douka kimi ga, Be my last...
Ahh…
I end up clutching the microphone as I finish. My head is down, panting from all the emotions I put forth into my song. Suddenly voices erupt in applause and whistles. I wipe the sweat and tears away and bow. "Thank you, everyone."
And then my world goes black.
Author's Note: Alas, summer vacation is here. I know I kind of forgot about this story… And I am very sorry. I thought about just deleting this totally, but then I figured, I got this far, I can probably finish it off quickly. I hope this wasn't too bad. Thank you for your support!
For the song, Be My Last by Utada Hikaru, please refer to this video. I was going off this for Rin's solo in this chapter: www youtube com/watch?vBtJoFAFKFM. Apparently errors occur when I post a link, so for the spaces just replace them with a period!