Chapter 11 ~ Flashback (Aria)
The days leading up to the mid-semester examinations breezed by in a blur to the celeste-hair. She'd spent the bulk of it cooped up in one of the private recording rooms on the secluded fifth floor of building twelve working on her upcoming performance. Of course, Aria's mind was far from worrying as far as the exams were concerned.
After her fallout with her blue-haired fiancé, Aria made every effort in the book to get some distance from him, going so far as to wrench her arm free of his grasp one afternoon when he'd picked her up for lunch after a two-day grace of his presence. She'd promptly stomped off to Ren's side after that. The latter had been so dumbfounded by her actions he hadn't remembered to toss any form of rivalry smugness in Masato's direction as she plucked him viciously from the chorus of girls about him and stalked off.
If not for the looming exams, Aria guessed her avoiding her Starish fiancé would be the talk of the school and glad she was for the academic distraction. Obviously she couldn't keep up the childish avoidance. Her father would learn of it if she did, or worse, Masato's father.
'More time', her thoughts chimed. She needed a little more time. Aria was still too mad to entertain him without her inner she-devil threatening to rear her demonic self. She'd thought back to their tempestuous conversation.
"So that's it—I'm your stupid fallback girl."
"Aria, that's—"
"You say you have no desire to marry me so what's with this arrangement, Masato? Am I some…some tool to make her jealous? So you can win her heart from Ichinose-kun?"
"That's not true!"
Aria concluded there was more to it. But whatever 'more' was Masato sure hadn't been willing to tell her then. Would he be willing now?
'No'. She didn't think so.
"Ouch! Watch it sweetheart, I need that arm you're dislocating," Ren complained once they were alone, breaking her out of her reverie. Aria dropped the orange-hair's appendage.
"Sorry," she mumbled, still somewhat out of sorts. Ren eyed her warily. He rubbed his nape at length, not really knowing what to say to her.
"I knew something was up when you two didn't come back that day but…"
"Please don't," she replied curtly.
He shrugged. "Suit yourself, Cinderella. But if he hurt you—"
"He did, but I don't know…why…he did…" Aria contemplated. True she had no clue why Masato had done what he'd done but more than anything it was why it hurt her to begin with that was still driving her up the wall.
"Aria?"
Her fondness of him; she hadn't expected that. The celeste-hair looked up at the third Jinguji son's voicing her name. He seemed confused. As he should be, Aria decided—she was confused too. "I just need to be by myself for a while, Ren," she turned to leave.
"Hey Aria! Oi!"
"Do me a favor and tell him to leave me be for a while."
Aria flicked the switch to kill the mic's recording. She gulped down several mouthfuls of spring water from her canteen before settling at the main chair and propping the heavy-duty headphones on for a listen, effectively drowning out all sound from the immediate atmosphere, replacing it with that of her recorded vocals meshed together with the instrumental backing track. Critical as ever, Aria listened for the beats, measuring the steadiness of her rhythm to a 'T', more pleased with the results now after hours of practice.
She scanned intonation and pitch next, looking out for any traces of strain on those nitty-gritty high belts. All in all, it was the emotional content necessary to convey that Aria focused on the most. Because she had chosen the song thinking about him; because she wanted to vent, to make him understand—because he was going to be there and Aria knew that in that one moment in which she would stand on stage that he would be looking at her. And she was going to let him see her…raw.
Aria stared at her decoratively-painted fingernails as she waited backstage. The first two days of the examination had her feeling the rush of excitement for her friends and classmates performing while at ease to finally breathe fresh Spring air during the hours outside. She'd been shut indoors far too long practicing the past week that the change in scenery was nice. Heck it did wonders to lift her spirits.
The celeste-hair found herself paying decent attention to the majority of performers. There were many good ones, few less so, and then there were the standouts that really clamped her attention. Aria liked those. Being memorable was a trait much needed for an idol and the seventeen-year-old heiress was pleasantly surprised to note her room mate from A Class was one of those shocking few.
The brunette's song choice had staggered everyone to silence when she'd initially announced it and Aria had caught herself searching the crowd for a sign of Shinomiya, curious as to what he would think. She hadn't managed to locate him, but Miki's performance was definitely wow-worthy. The girl's hyper-ness radiated off of her easily on-stage to the audience below and Aria had cheered and hollered enthusiastic cries of encouragement and awe amidst the many others. She swore she couldn't get over the petite's deep, rich contralto tone that did beyond justice to Shinomiya's song.
The second day saw a mass of nerves as the hard-hitting performances from day one had ruffled most of the participants to follow. Fewer standouts to Aria's notice but she was delightfully amazed by the performance of a dark-haired girl with silver highlights nearer towards the end of the day's line-up.
'Sukunami Yuiren', Aria committed the girl's name to memory.
She liked her tone. It wasn't entirely unique the way Miki's had been the day before but it carried her song choice well. Watching the girl strut around all confident on the stage Aria could see she had an atypical flair. It left something to be said considering the girl was from B Class and the lion's share had been shaken from their predecessor classmates' performances.
Today was finally day three. Aria had drawn the luck of being amongst the first few to start the ball rolling. Some of her fellow students waiting with her didn't seem to like the idea of going first. After all, it added pressure. One had to be good enough to leave a lasting impression going on so early, not to mention set the bar high enough.
Aria didn't mind though. Years of experience and tutelage under her mother—the strict, part-Austrian prima donna—had, if anything, seasoned her for life on a stage. Aria had found that after the initial years the nerves and butterflies no longer plagued her performances. In its place, excitement and euphoria.
'Still…'
She tugged at the ribbon in her hair, functioning as a hair band separating her neatly-combed bangs from the fashionably scraggly tendrils of her much longer celeste locks.
'Masato…'
Aria wiped invisible dirt off her loose-fitting black statement shirt and neon-pink tapered skinnies, then stooping to re-tie the laces of her classic black Converse sneakers.
He would be watching…
Aria shook the pensiveness out of her expression. No, she wasn't nervous about his presence, but it did bother her.
"You say you have no desire to marry me so what's with this arrangement, Masato? Am I some…some tool to make her jealous? So you can win her heart from Ichinose-kun?"
"That's not true!"
"Then what is?"
Aria wanted the answer to her question. What she was about to show him was bordering dangerously between intense and unstable. It was going to be harsh, in-your-face, raw, dramatic, and uncontrolled on so many levels. The exam didn't matter, but her emotions did; and so was winning his trust. Aria was going to make sure she delivered a performance from the heart.
Within minutes Tsukimiya-sensei fetched her for her turn, eleventh of the day. The cross-dressing idol teacher of A Class ushered her onto the stage, microphone in hand and Aria made her way to the center, wearing not a smile or a grin like the majority had done waltzing into the limelight but a piercing look of solemnity. The audience shut their noisy traps, fazed, probably thinking she'd gone unhinged. They sat in unorthodox attention.
Aria paid them no heed. She scanned the crowd, searching for one face in particular, letting her eyes bore into his when she found him, a silent beckoning to watch her as the pop punk instrumental kicked in introduction. The heiress brought the mic to her lips, and rocked…
A proof of existence denied,
Standing still in the middle of the crowd,
As the broadcast reached its end,
My breath…stopped.
Can you see it? My shadow has vanished
And this blooming flower as well has been left behind
My throat runs dry and I try to recover.
Those are just excuses.
Aria held the audience captive with the lyrics, voice taking on a rough, edgy tone that went discordantly well with the song's feel, not forgetting it being a vocal quality wholly unexpected for a classically-trained singer. She noticed the judges' bewildered stares, the shock on more than a few familiar faces in the crowd, neglecting them all before launching into a display of vocal pyrotechnics she would soon be known for—her crazy high register belts.
This lying heart fell
And you burst out laughing
Just like me
You lied,
And as you broke apart, you burst out laughing again
If I reach out my hand towards this breaking you
Something will look back at me
I want at least to cut off it all and go back in time…
Her movements gained ground with the intense emotional buildup—chaotic, crude, utter and complete pandemonium. Aria fretted wildly across the stage, pulling at invisible threads of strength, pounding heavy fists against an imagination-conjured wall, celeste hair whipping around her distressed frame in poetic semblance to the persona losing her mind in the song…
Rising to the surface, shaking
Will my screams disappear?
Those words I'm unable to…remember,
Will they end?
Ahh!
This lying you is breaking
And I burst out laughing
You casually lied,
sighed, and merely broke apart
Show me, show me, please show me,
Something that will create a reflection
I want to rewind those faraway memories
Of you, smiling
Of me, breaking.
Ahhh!
Aria's last note was a lengthy, trilling scream; bone chilling and possibly glass shattering if not for the precision of her vocal control. The heiress let the instrumental end in its abrupt fashion. Silence ensued. Hundreds of mouths hung agape, hundreds of bulging, disbelieving eyes, but she fixed her scarlet gaze on his purple one alone.
Masato appeared stunned. Good or bad, who knew what to say, but Aria, still panting hard from all she'd laid bare on the table smiled her sweet accomplishment at him. She watched him blink his surprise before paving her way off stage. The applause came then and it was a while before the audience calmed. By then, Aria was long gone.
Author's Note: And now all three leading ladies have sung their first songs in the story! Featured song in this chapter is 'Flashback' by Akiakane. Credits for lyrical translation go to Belisaria from her tumblr 'forget-me-not'.
Please R&R if you like and do stay tuned!