Hey! Look! There's the moon! That must mean that, surely, our time is coming soon…
The sun shined brightly over Arisugawa, covering the bright white school in a golden glow. It was lovely, yes, but all of the students were waiting for something else, something more, and something less.
We don't want to see that gold, big and bright and beautiful and bold! We want to see silver, shining over the school forever and ever and ever.
Then at last, with the hour drawing ever closer and closer, the sun finally dipped below the horizon, turning the school red and orange. Further and further down, the sky darkened, but it never turned black. In place of the sun came the moon, bright white and silver, making the school glow, as if the very stones and foundation were coming to life.
Out, out, out, the girls came. The school truly was coming to life in that regard. Countless little angels sneaking out of Heaven and into Eden, through the gardens, into the secret basement hidden by foliage and trees. This was their forbidden fruit, and nothing tasted sweeter. A playful snake waited for them at the door, hissing wonderful tunes to them.
"Shhh! Shh! Keep it down, everyone! Quiet!" she grinned, holding a playful finger up to her lips. "There will be more time for fun and games later!" First, they had to sneak past the Lord's watchful sentinels. So the girls moved in small packs, leaving the Academy at different intervals, as if creating their own rhythmic dance, and making sure to never miss a single beat.
All the little angels packed themselves into the deep, dark underground, below the roots of the tree. The room was dimly lit, but cheerful. Besides, eyes were only secondary for what they were doing that night. Ears were much more important.
We won't see any evil so late at night. We won't hear any evil over the sound of the music. We won't speak any evil. The girls were all in a solemn vow never to breathe a word of this to anyone outside of the quiet, protective light of the moon. It was a pact tighter and more honorable than that of the 12 Disciples, although there were far more than 12 girls in attendance tonight.
Four of them led the way: Miyu Sakurada, Haruna Kasuga, Kurumi Shiratori, Miiko Takeshita.
"Is everybody ready?!" Kurumi whisper-shouted and all the other girls waved their arms in wild, delighted response. With the moonlight still spilling in from above, illuminating the room better than any of their little fairy lights, the secret, Heavenly music began to play.
The moon looks beautiful tonight, doesn't it?
Shall we DJ?
Let's dance!
As the cat sat on the pier, its eyes too roundly shone, is the crescent moon smiling?
As the music filled the room and the air, joining and intertwining with the moonlight, every girl grabbed another's hand and began to dance. Miyu led the way from their little improvised stage, smile just as white and shiny as the moon. Haruna was busily working the DJ booth, but it was the first time any of them saw her without frown lines creasing her forehead. She was no less engaged with DJing than she was in anything else she did, but for the first time, she was so lost in the music and the moonlight that the stressors and worries that usually followed her around like specters were completely and utterly absent.
Kurumi and Miiko smiled mischievously at one another before grabbing one another's hands, spinning round and round and round, like a DJ disc, like the moon glowing softly over their heads. They had a single, small spotlight to shine down on the four performers on the little "stage", but it paled in comparison to the glory of the real moon.
The little spotlight moon wavers, as the real moon awaits its turn. Pining for the moon! If it's now, no one will see it! A secret party! Let's turn the silver disc together!
Miyu gestured for the audience to join her. It was time to dance! And they would dance anywhere and everywhere! Some of the girls came up on stage with the rest of Lyrical Lily while Miyu made her way down. Haruna found a brief pause in the music to wave excitedly at the new arrivals. They crowded around her turntables, eyes as wide and bright as the moon, as they watched her work her musical magic.
"C'mon, you guys! Everybody, let's go!" Miiko and Kurumi again cried out to their many, many schoolmates. All eyes and ears turned towards the exit of the secret basement. Then, eyes became even wider still.
Outside? They want just to go… outside? It sure was risky business, wasn't it? But that only made it all the more exciting! One by one, the girls filed back out into the shining, silver light of the glowing moon. The rest of the campus grounds seemed to glow as well and everyone gasped in awe and breathless delight as the cool, midnight air swirled all around them.
The moon is winking, it watches over the Midnight DJ as the lonely tropical fish swim about while bathing in the moonlight. The girls raced, danced, and played through the moonlight gardens, whispering and giggling as they moved to and fro with and against the music. They passed a little pond in the far corner of the garden where they saw golden fish turned silver with the moon's helpful, protective glow. Over their heads, the mirrorball continued to spin.
Miyu, Haruna, Kurumi, and Miiko stayed halfway between the secret basement and the rest of the Academy and students. They were able to stretch the musical equipment fairly far out, but especially with Haruna's DJ booth, they were unable to completely join their schoolmates in their wild romp through the Academy's Eden. The quartet watched the other girls as they raced through the night. They looked even more like angels now than ever before, the moonlight granting them all pearlescent halos and making happy smiles shine even brighter. They were all glowing.
And I? I am pining for the moon! Miyu raised her eyes and a hand up to the sky, pining to caress the beautiful, wonderful celestial body that granted them the peace and secrecy to spend night after night in ecstasy, becoming one with the music.
"Let's keep turning the silver disc together!" Haruna smiled at her three companions, and they smiled back, four hands placing themselves on the discs, knobs, and sliders of the DJ booth. Let's fall in love with the moon!
The sun was wonderful in its own right, and perhaps most of the nuns of the Academy would argue that it felt more proper to admire the sun than the moon, but all of the students would've begged to differ. The treasure I found that day… Let's turn the disc of time in our secret base!
Night after night, they sang and danced and partied with moonlight and music filling the garden and air all around them. The sunken, smiling crescent moon filled up on the seventh day. From a half-moon, the growing, glowing sphere seemed to turn into a silver coin, even finer and more precious than the purest, brightest gold.
In hearts, the moon wanes quite rarely. Moonrise! Perhaps a normal person would've lived for the sunrise, for the daylight, but not the students of Arisugawa. No matter the time of day, the moon always stayed with them. If it wasn't shining up in the sky, it was shining inside of every eye, every girl waiting in anticipation until nightfall again so that the parties and music could begin again. There was no mystery to the students of Arisugawa where the moon went when it was on the other side.
When at last we must say goodbye, and the moon finally leaves the sky, I know it will be in my heart, on the inside, and from it, we shall never truly have to depart. The moon was more than just a stone hovering in orbit around their planet, reflecting the sun's rays long after the sun, itself, had gone to bed. It was a symbol of everything they loved. Music, freedom, joy! It was late-night secret parties. It was bonding and dancing. It was forgetting about all of the rules and stressors of the daylight, if only for a short while. It was togetherness. Not all of the girls shared classes with one another, so the chance to engage in these late-night romps kept them all closer together.
We are one under the light of the moon! Miyu's eyes were still glued to the shining white ball overhead, its glow reflecting beautifully off the smooth, stone walls of the Academy. She wanted nothing more than to take a trip so high up in the Heavens, and behind her, she could hear Haruna still spinning her silver discs. It was the closest they had to a moonbeam that they could hold in their hands. It was their way of luring just a little bit of that divine magic and music in, sharing it with and from the Heavens above.
Let's turn up the moon! A treasure that keeps spinning, let's turn the disc of time with a moon-song!
"Miyu… May I have this dance?" Miyu turned around in surprise. The DJ booth was still playing its wonderous tune, but Haruna was no longer manning the station. Instead, she held out a hand to the other girl, hand white as the moonlight filled it. Miyu's surprise melted away into warmth and she nodded as she took Haruna's hand. Now it was her turn to be illuminated by the moon.
Haruna pulled her away and they spun round and round the little DJ booth. Haruna felt the heat rising into her cheeks, but the cool midnight air kept her calm. Miyu's smile was radiant and glowing as she squeezed one of Haruna's hands and reached out with a free one to caress her cheek affectionately. Haruna's heart skipped a beat as the silver dics on the DJ booth skipped a beat at the same time.
Kurumi and Miiko were right there, laughing and clapping and cheering.
"But we're not gonna let you two have all of the fun!" Miiko declared.
"Yeah, Chairman, save a dance for me, too! And share Miyu!" Kurumi pretended to pout as she butted her way between the other two girls. Ordinarily, Haruna would've been livid and humiliated, but tonight, under the magical light of the moon, she only smiled and shook her head fondly. She took Kurumi's hand while a laughing Miyu took a giggling Miiko's.
They spun round and round again, an endless remix and refrain, trading partners back and forth, back and forth, dipping and diving and dancing under the warm, watchful, white eye above.
"Ha, ha, ha! Wow, Chairman, didn't know you had it in ya!" Kurumi grinned as Haruna suddenly dipped her so that her hair was mere inches away from the ground. Haruna only gave her a playful, almost feisty, wink in return.
"You must understand, Kurumi, that carrying around all of that DJ equipment makes quite the excellent workout!"
Kurumi beamed up at Haruna as the moon beamed down from above and she playfully rubbed Haruna's arms, feeling her muscles.
"Oooh! Miiko wants to try that, too!" Miiko cried excitedly, then before Miyu had the chance to speak, suddenly she was also inches above the ground. Kurumi and Haruna both blinked in surprise before bursting out laughing. Miiko looked ecstatic. "Whee! This sure is fun, huh?!"
"Yes, it most certainly is," Haruna agreed, nodding and smiling gently. Then she and Miiko both lifted their partners back to their feet before trading off once again. This time, it was Miyu and Kurumi, and Haruna and Miiko.
On and on the quartet danced, hand passing to hand, with only the moonlight remaining consistent. No matter who was dancing with whom, the moon was always a third partner, its beams never ceasing to reach down and hold and intertwine their hands as well.
Fall in love with the moon! Fall in love!
The final strands and strains of music, magic, and moonlight stayed with the other girls of the Academy long after the night had ended, and the day returned. It was a glum sight, watching everyone depart from Eden, back to Heaven. But the moon was still there, in their hearts, minds, and memories. Besides, it wouldn't be too long before the moon returned to its rightful place over Arisugawa, and the dance could begin anew again.