This story is going to pick up pace. I'm sieving out certain contents that don't serve to push the storyline forward, and after doing that I realized that there will be a time skip once more. It's finally coming to the time I had been anticipating: what I labeled as the 'Disease Arc'.
Note/ Disclaimer: I do not own the songs 'If We Hold On Together' and 'The Art of Renoir'. However, I translated the lyrics for Yukimura's 'The Art of Renoir' myself from a traditional Chinese version of the lyrics. I tried to keep to the original text or rather, the traditional Chinese version as closely as possible and the way Chinese language works is a bit different from English so when I do a direct translation, it'd inevitably seem fragmented and broken. I do not own the song and lyrics, and I have to thank the translator 綾心夢 who first translated it to traditional Chinese so I could translate it to English. You should go listen to the song on YouTube :) The original title is ルノワールの画集 it's a pretty nice song, though not Yukimura's best I would say. I recommend 宣告 (Declaration), the lyrics for this song is much more captivating.
Higher than the Wind
School Trip (2)
The night after the practice match against Shitenhouji, a solemn ceremony took place at the inn. With the boys team as their witnesses, and the unanimous approval of all the third years on the girls team, Hana and Heibi officially stepped down and handed the baton over to Tsugi and Kichi.
She'd be a hypocrite if she said that she didn't see it coming, so Tsugi accepted the keys to the club room – symbol of her new leadership position – placidly.
Perhaps too much adrenaline was gushing through her veins as a result of her promotion to captain, on the very same night as the ceremony, Tsugi lost sleep. She tossed around in the futon, unable to convince her consciousness to turn off. Giving in to her brains, she stood up and put her feet through the slippers provided by the inn, deciding to go outside for some fresh air.
It would seem that she wasn't the only one who was up tonight. When she passed by the balcony near the leisure room, she saw the most beautiful scene ever.
Basking in the presence of the moon and blue hair glowing in its light, it was Yukimura Seiichi.
Arms slung over the railings, Yukimura was dressed in a plain white shirt with the semi-long sleeves messily rolled up to his elbows. The lower hem of his shirt was barely tucked into a pair of azure blue camo shorts which revealed his long, slender legs. He was really thin, she noted, there was not an ounce of fat on him. It were all lean muscles, and Yukimura's muscles weren't the scary kind which rippled and screamed prowess like Sanada's, they were smooth, defined and graceful.
Perhaps it has to do with his casual outfit, Tsugi thought than he looked rowdier than usual and a little more... boyish. Not that she thought of him as feminine before, but his inborn grace frequently rendered his gender a matter of little concern. She had seen him in the Sun, and he didn't look half dazzling as he does now. A question then arose in her mind: was there not a limit on his charisma?
Hearing her footsteps, he turned around. Little twinkles of mirth danced across his eyes as he greeted her teasingly, "Congratulations, Yanagi-buchou."
His chapped lips – probably a result of the summer heat waves – formed an arc larger than what his lips would usually take on.
She returned his natural smile with a smile of her own, "That title has a weird ring to it."
She walked up to him and he shifted aside, making some space so that she could drape her arms over the railings.
"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" He angled his chin towards the moon.
"Certainly so," she nodded, a soft look in her eyes as she admired the glowing white sphere hanging in the sky, "do you like the moon, Yukimura?"
He shook his head.
"I prefer the Sun."
"That's a surprise. You look like you're much more suited for the moon, you know," said Tsugi, making a reference to his pale skin.
"Is that what they say about me?" His laugh was a merry jingle.
"You mean the girls in class?" asked Tsugi.
"Yeah."
"Well… at times they do speculate about the private life of the 'Child of God'."
"You're rather subtle about it. It's the same on the boys' side, you know. I heard from Renji that sometimes the boys from our class would bring you up in their conversations too," responded Yukimura with a shake of his head. Rikkai Dai may be a prestigious school, but starchasers existed everywhere. The number of chocolates he received (but did not accept) was indicative of it. If that wasn't enough, people still do talk about the Kaguya-hime from last year's Ocean Festival even up till today. But only those within the club and their classmates could connect the name to her face. Boys were intrigued by the 'mysterious feel' to her and it doesn't hurt that she was cute even without the fancy kimono and elaborate makeup. He was informed by his wonderful right-hand man Renji that more than a couple of boys from class were interested in her.
It was a little irritating, actually. Though he would never consider them nearly a threat.
"Geishi told me about that," she replied with a light nod, flat tone reflective of her indifference towards the subject.
She has changed.
Yukimura tilted his head to face her and he studied her profile closely. A year ago she'd have gotten flustered and waved it off, a year later – now – she was taking it in placidly.
It was a change for a good, but Yukimura didn't celebrate this change on her.
A common trait in Yanagi's… she was already a private person to begin. Such changes only widened the distance between them.
But – a smile resembling the nebulous clouds rolling about in the skies above their heads crawled onto his face – had he ever mentioned that perseverance was one of his virtues?
"A number of boys in our class are rather interested in you," Yukimura calmly pointed out, keeping the conversation on a certain topic.
"I'm pretty sure that the number you're speaking about doesn't even come close to a fraction of the girls interested in you."
If she noticed what he was doing, she wasn't showing it.
"A pity that you're not amongst them," he suddenly said, voice laced with quaint sentiment.
He could tell that she wasn't expecting that from him. Instinctively, she turned around and looked him in the eyes. Though inconspicuous, Yukimura caught a vestige of red on her cheeks; evidence of her brief flustered moment.
It was clear to him then, that despite the changes on her; she was still the same girl from a year ago. Like her 13 year old self, the 14 year old Tsugi still wore her heart on her sleeve, and she wasn't immune to him. Something stirred within Yukimura, something warm and fuzzy, something which accelerated his heartbeat.
Perhaps it was really the moon which bewitched them that night, everything that they have kept bottled up within them for so long was released.
"Yanagi, I like you," said Yukimura, voice strong, confident and bereft of hesitations, "I can't say that it's love yet, but I like you."
No longer was he going to let her just laugh it off and beat around the bush, he was done with doing all that.
All sounds ceased to be for a short moment, when the 'Child of God' blurted out a confession without any ornamental words or additional details. It was really just a simple declaration of his feelings.
And Tsugi realized that in spite of his frail appearance, Yukimura was truly powerful. Just yesterday night she told Hana that she didn't like him that way, and that she didn't understand what love was, but all it took was three words for Yukimura to shake her resolution.
I like you.
It was three simple words which perhaps even a nursery kid could put together, three simple words which formed a powerful sentence.
It was strange to hear that coming from Yukimura, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. Tsugi wasn't half as proficient as Yukimura when it came to working with emotions, but she was no fool. She could feel it, when Yukimura didn't make any attempts to clarify their ambiguous relationship with the public, when he did those little things… the duet, the public dedication, the crocus, the date, the midnight call, how he always gave in to her requests – oh, oh, oh. When did it happen, when was her memory filled with him?
She gazed into those impossibly beautiful ocean-coloured eyes, mesmerized by the swirling pattern in those orbs of impeccable blue. They say that the eyes are the windows to a person's soul and you can tell a lot by looking into a person's eyes, but Tsugi couldn't see anything from Yukimura's eyes. His eyes were like the endless depths of the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench, they reflected nothing – not even herself.
And that broke the spell. She blinked, and the glazed look in her eyes faded away, her facial features relaxed and her expression calmed down.
Her equanimity was restored once more.
"Yukimura," she begun, "I-"
But she was cut off by a finger which found its way to her lips.
The seraphic ocean-haired boy gave her no chance to finish her sentence. He could tell that the answer wasn't going to be what he wanted, so he stopped her by placing a finger on her lips.
"I'm in no hurry to hear your reply," Yukimura smiled, exhibiting his pearly-whites, "after this trip, I will be going on a month long training tour to China… think about it over the month, would you?"
Tsugi remained quiet, after Yukimura stopped her… she realized that she couldn't find it in her to raise a rejection again.
"To be frank, I overheard parts of your conversation with Izumi-buchou yesterday. I was in the garden at that time too. Yanagi, you claim that you do not know love, but if you truly do not, then you shouldn't feel anything when I do this."
Yukimura lowered his face to her height. Slowly, his handsome face inched closer and closer until their noses were barely a millimetre apart. Tsugi could feel his breath on her face, she was certain that he could feel hers too.
For every centimetre Yukimura closed in, Tsugi's heartbeat went a little wilder. Every pulse was strong and palpable, her head felt giddy from the rush of adrenaline. She shifted the weight of her body from her legs to the railings – her knees felt like jelly, she was pretty sure they were going to give way soon.
She wanted to move, to push him away, but space was limited in the small balcony and she couldn't budge nor make him budge. They were trapped in that position if Yukimura didn't move.
He only stayed like that for a few seconds, but it was an eternity worth of time for Tsugi who felt… helpless. She was reminded of the Yukimura she had seen after Ocean Festival last year – the dominating, forceful and insanely charismatic Yukimura Seiichi.
He was now a splitting image of the Yukimura Seiichi back then. But that sounded wrong. It was him, but a different him. It was still Yukimura Seiichi. That Yukimura Seiichi intrigued her, that Yukimura Seiichi accelerated her heartbeat.
Perhaps it was the moon – no, it must be due to the moon, she decided, Tsugi found herself nodding obediently, an act of compliance which led to the appearance of a… victorious smile on Yukimura's face? Tsugi shook the thought off, but Yukimura's smile did seem a little too wide, his pearly-whites a little too shiny, thin lips a little too luscious – god, now she was going mad.
She thought his lips looked chapped barely half an hour ago, and now she thinks that they look luscious. Could her brain go more haywire than this?
She didn't know how she found her way back to the quarters – perhaps Yukimura walked her there, she wasn't so sure, too much was going on in her mind, it was like someone manhandled her even though all she had was a conversation with Yukimura.
She fell asleep in her futon not long after she reached her room, but she'd soon realize that even in dreamland reality wasn't going to cut her any slack.
Needless to say, Tsugi didn't get much rest that night.
~x~
Even though the third day was supposed to be free and easy, somehow, the boys team and girls team ended up hanging out together anyway. Someone suggested going down to the karaoke lounge, since they already paid for the package and all it'd be a waste not to make use of it. There was a chorus of agreement, notably mostly from the third years and the only first year there. Second years weren't that thrilled by the idea – with the exception of Nio and Kichi. Still, majority wins.
"Ne ne, mura-buchou, aren't you going to sing?" Kirihara scooped near his captain who was in an unusually good mood.
"That's right that's right! Our newly appointed captain should sing too, don't you guys think so?" Himeko wrapped an arm around Tsugi's shoulders and grinned widely.
"A duet perhaps? Puri," Nio suggested slyly.
"I've already selected a song," Tsugi was well-prepared against such a situation, "it's coming out on the screen now, in fact," she pointed to the giant television set in the middle of the room.
"That's such a shame! It's be nice if we could hear you two doing a duet, I bet you two will sound good together," Himeko looked disappointed.
Deciding that it will be better for her not to respond to that, Tsugi took over the microphone from Senko.
"Let me see… hmm Diana Ross' 'If We Hold On Together'? Somehow I can totally see you singing that," Himeko peered at the screen and threw back her head with a bright laugh.
Don't lose your way
With each passing day
You've come so far
Don't throw it away
Live believing
Dreams are for weaving
Wonders are waiting to start
Live your story
Faith, hope and glory
Hold to the truth in your heart
If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and I
Souls in the wind
Must learn how to bend
Seek out a star
Hold on to the end
Valley, mountain
There is a fountain
Washes our tears all away
Words are swaying
Someone is praying
Please let us come home to stay
If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and I
When we are out there in the dark
We'll dream about the sun
In the dark we'll feel the light
Warm our hearts, everyone
If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
As high as souls can fly
The clouds roll by
For you and I
- Diana Ross, 'If We Hold On Together'
Tsugi had a good voice, it was magnetic, soothing and very alluring, but it was clear that she wasn't accustomed to Diana Ross' version of the song, which means that there could only be one possibility –
"Seriously, Tsugi!? I didn't expect you to be into animated films!" Himeko blurted out without any deception, causing the second year's face to redden for the second time since her match against Natsuki.
Twelve pairs of eyes were on her, the intensity once again emptied her mind of any superfluous thoughts and she reacted calmly, "I have a childhood too, Atsunaya-senpai."
"Whose song is this? 'The Art of Renoir' by… unknown?" Marui read out the title on the screen, disrupting the conversation.
"It's mine," said Yukimura, and he stood up, walking over to Tsugi to receive the microphone from her. She stole a quick glance at him and passed the metallic object to him without making further eye contact. In contrast to her unease, Yukimura looked dignified. He didn't return to his seat but took up an empty seat nearby – the seat directly opposite of Tsugi.
He briefly looked at her for a second and as if on cue… the song begun.
まぶしい君のビューティフェイス
透き通る風キラリ
触れたくて 夢に見て
ただ 見つめて
たたずむ君はひとり
水色の袖 フワリ
緑の木々 ここはどこ
見失って
いつか今が
思い出にかわっても
忘れないでいたいよ
ねえ 流れる時の中で
少し赤い君の頬
恥ずかしそうな上目遣い
何度も開くページ
白いキャンパスに
君の面影なぞり
想いはせるよ 時代を
ただ ただ
そうさ君の名は Miss I
決して会えない OH Miss I
金色の髪がほら
肩に落ちて
どんな色で
塗り重ねればいい
気持ちをたどって
ねえ 使う絵の具はこれかな
横顔はまるで陶器
あまりにも有名な君の
何度も開くページ
夢中で描いた
君の面影なぞり
上手くいかないよ でも
ただ ただ
まぶしい君のビューティフェイス
透き通る風 キラリ
触れたくて 夢に見て
ただ 見つめて
(Your dazzling beauty face
Shining in the transparent wind
I want to touch what I saw in my dream
But I only gazed at it
You who is standing alone
Pale blue sleeves lightly fluttering
In the green woods where is this
Lost the way
Even though there will be a day
When now will become memory
But in the torrent of time
Na I don't want to forget
Your face is a little red
Your expression seems shy
The page I had flipped to so many times
In the white schoolyard
Painting a copy of your profile (1)
This feeling defies time
But, but
That's right your name is Miss I
The impossible to encounter oh Miss I
Golden hair
Falling over your shoulders
No matter what colour is used
It's fine as long as I can colour it
As I draw I mull over my own emotions
Na was this the colour used
You who is too famous
Whose side face is like porcelain
The page I had flipped to so many times
Mesmerized, I keep drawing
Painting a copy of your profile
Although I can't draw a beautiful picture
But, but
Your dazzling beauty face
Shining in the transparent wind
I want to touch what I saw in my dream
But I only gazed at it)
- Yukimura Seiichi (Nagai Sachiko), 'The Art of Renoir'
(A/N: I pasted the Japanese lyrics as well just in case anyone happens to know the language, since my translation of the lyrics is unlikely to be completely accurate)
As the epitome of perfection, it was only right that Yukimura had a natural flair for singing as well. He chose a song with rather strange lyrics, but it was as though the song was written for him – his voice complimented the melody perfectly, or was it the other way round? But was it their imagination? They thought that they felt a deeper, subliminal message within the song…
Curious eyes fell on Tsugi who was sipping her drink and looking everywhere but at another individual in the room. He was reminding her of the happenings of the night before, she knew. But she wasn't ready to face him yet. It was the first time she has ever been confronted like that, and her mind was in a state of perturbation.
It was an ostrich mindset, but she told herself that she has a month before she has to face Yukimura regarding this issue again, it's alright, she told herself, she will get it straightened out within this one month and properly face Yukimura when he was back from China. Things would be fine. Everything will be alright.
But you know, time breeds problems. The longer you sit on something, things were bound to go wrong. If Tsugi had been a little braver and truer to herself, perhaps the road ahead of them would have been a lot easier. Unfortunately time does not rewind either, so when Yukimura fainted at the train station on the second day of his return… everything started spiraling out of control.
(1) Painting a copy of your profile: In fact, this line means that Yukimura is using another piece as the 'model', meaning he's copying the painting. This is actually a common practice for an artist-in-learning. I couldn't find a suitable translation for this in English so I left it awkwardly phrased like that. Interestingly, this song is thought to be based off the painting of Irene (Miss I), part of 'The Art of Renoir' which Yukimura enjoys.
Yukimura confessed sort of, it was actually not part of my original plotline but the timing was right, and the moonlight was beautiful – so there was a change of plan. For Chinese readers, the song 月亮惹的祸 literally played out in my head ROFL – hence the line "Perhaps it was really the moon which bewitched them that night, everything that they have kept bottled up within them for so long was released."
If everything goes according to plan, 6 chapters remain. So until then… can you show me a little more support by leaving me some reviews? I honestly don't know what you're thinking unless you tell me, and it kinda' saddens me when I see so many views and yet so little reviews. So yeahs, drop me a review okay? Be it an indication of support or concrit, as long as it's not pointless flaming I welcome all your feedback.
I listened to a truckload (okay, frankly it's just 5 songs playing again and again) of love songs while I wrote this. Is this fluffy enough?