[34] Little Songbirds

Chapter 34: Little Songbirds

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Nothing much worth mentioning happened after school ended and we returned home. At night though, the production director of LoveMy sent a voice message in our LINE group chat to let us know about the next shooting's details.

["We will be leaving for a trip tomorrow evening after y'all's school ends. We are visiting Mt. Fuji this time. Don't worry, we aren't gonna climb it, it's closed at this time of the year anyway, we'll only spend our time around its outskirts. In a resort, on a hill. We have reserved a resort for you kids to stay in since we'll be spending the next three days there."]

The next three days. I suppose the next episode will start with us getting into the bus, and then spending some time in the resort, while the episode after that will have us explore the area and return. Not bad.

However, this time I'll have to ask for a proper leave from Shizuka Sensei.

"Speaking of," I muttered as I lay on my bed, chewing gum. "I wonder when Shoko will return. I want to meet her tomorrow, otherwise we'll have to wait until after I return from the trip."

Soon, the night rolled to an end and the brilliant sun shone over the world. I awoke from my slumber and soon found myself in my classroom.

....

The buzzing of children filled my ears as I took my seat. I put my hand on my chin and looked outside the window. The seat to my left was empty; the view would have been much better if that was my seat.

Nobody came to interrupt me. Socializing in this place didn't interest me much, so while people tried to talk to me before, I hadn't entertained them enough that they'd come to talk to me again. Thanks to my size and the general appearance of a prince living in a different land, the kids in the class liked to watch me from afar.

To ignore the gaze I could feel even right now, mostly girls staring at my distant gaze, I closed my eyes. The right side of my face rested on my hand as I buzzed off all sounds from my surroundings and hummed a song in a low tone.

"Stay with me..."

Huh? But that's what I'm humming-?

"Mayonaka no door wo tataki...

Kaeranaide to naita ano kisetsu ga ima me no mae~"

I frowned and opened my eyes hearing a subtle singing in my ear, matching my hum. I blinked involuntarily when I found a face too close to mine, pink eyes staring into mine as her similarly pink lips moved to sing along my hum.

"Hey, isn't that..."

"She looks kinda different."

"What's up with that voice?!"

She smiled when I opened my mouth and couldn't say anything. Her voice had a level of fluidity and pitch that humans should be forbidden from having, enough to captivate my current human ears. My shock seemed to fuel her ego as she grinned, her volume increasing along with it. She took a step back, standing high and singing in a voice that made all the students turn to her.

"Stay With Me... Mayonaka No Door Wo Tataki~ Kaeranaide To Naita Ano Kietsu Ga Ima Me No Mae." Shoko trailed off in a long tone, spending a few seconds taking the gazes of everyone, before locking eyes with me again. Her gaze lasted a lifetime. "Do you think the 'operation' was a success, Aqua?"

How do I tell her that I'd have dragged her to my room right now if this was my 9th life? Her voice was sweet beyond words, a part of me wanted to make her do all kinds of sounds. Plus, she had her usually loose and messy hair in a clean ponytail, she looked so much more confident now.

[Image Here]

"I think you know the answer already, my little songbird." I spread my arms. "Glad to see you're back."

Shoko's lips widened as she leaped at me, putting her arms around me even as all the students gawked. Even Shizuka Sensei who stood on the door with a stunned face at the sound her ears had heard just earlier, broke out of her daze as she saw her students getting too close in her class.

Shoko assimilated with her Sacred Gear nicely enough if she could not only speak so fluently but sing at that level. What is this peaceful feeling?

* * *

"This is a miracle. I'm beyond glad to see you're doing this well, Shoko." Shizuka Sensei had no idea how a deaf girl could learn to speak so well in such a short time even though she got cured just recently.

Everyone was sitting in their seats now, except for Sensei who stood behind the podium, and Shoko who stood in her seat, both of them were looking into each other's eyes.

"I don't want to bother you," she said. "But I realize everyone is curious, so maybe it's better if you announce it to everyone now instead of answering every curious student who will ask you about this later. How did you learn to talk so fast?"

Since deaf people couldn't hear anything, they never got to learn how to speak. So it was unusual, a miracle, seeing Shoko able to speak like this. Sing, even.

Shoko smiled, and only I noticed that she was about to lie. There was that slight strain in her eyes when she lied. "It's some new kind of neurotech. The American billionaire Elon Musk's company made it. I think most of us have heard about it by now. It lets us connect our brain with a computer, and using that technology they had my brain literally download the Japanese language pack along with some others."

"Ooohh!" The students cheered in thrill.

It wasn't entirely a drill. Technology in this world was more restrained; in the mid 2020s, there was a big incident with Artificial Intelligence, and all the countries in the world had to come to some kind of secret decision to take against it. However, big companies still held power over them, and with the help of such Artificial Intelligence, the growth of everything was exceptional. In fact, there are a few beta neuro-linked VR games available in the market. So Shoko's lies weren't hard to digest.

It must have been her little sister, Yuzuru. Good grief, that girl can make stories.

"Alright, then," While I was thinking all this, Shizuka finished her conversation with Shokon and let her sit down. "Everyone, make sure to not give Shoko trouble. Treat her well, I won't be so nice otherwise. Ah, and Aqua-kun." She looked at me, her lips formed a thin smile. "Take care of her as usual. Looks like she's very fond of you."

"Naturally, she's my responsibility." I gave her a nod. I felt Shoko's gaze slowly turn to me as I said that, but she looked away the moment I turned back.

How cute.

* * *

It was lunch break, and I sat on a bench on the left of Shoko. I had my eyes closed and my head resting backward as we talked.

"So... how've you been, Aqua?"

"Great. Had a fight with some weird guy but it ended well."

Shoko listened to me with a smile on her face, while I was relaxed with her talking, she was happy with mine. I could tell she was happy without having to open my eyes.

"What are you, Aqua?"

"A Martial Artist these days. Did I tell you that your voice sounds very lovely?"

"That's the fourth time, yes." She giggled as I opened my eyes finally. We were sitting under a cherry blossom tree, the pink leaves waving in the air above us. "You like cherry blossoms?"

"I like your hair more."

"Is this what people call flirting?" Shoko tilted her head and gave me an innocent look, still smiling. "I think I'll feel weird if someone else said that to me. But I am so glad since it's you... I am so happy that I can finally hear you at all, actually. You said I sound lovely, but to me, you sound extraordinary. And old. Odd. Why would it say you sound old?"

I shifted a little at that, turning to look into her eyes. "Your Sacred Gear says I sound old?"

"It does," Shoko smiled. "I don't know how it works, really. It has a lot of information in it, accumulated throughout history. I can't access them all yet, my brain can't take it. However, the bits I do have access to allow me a basic picture of the world we live in. Vampires are real, the Devils too, and God is dead, I heard."

She must know a lot if she even knew that God was dead. "That's true, I can confirm. Though I am certain it's talking about the Biblical God. Luckily for us humans, there are other Gods in this world. Many others. Most recorded pantheons are real. For example, the majority of the Shinto Gods we know are real and should be alive."

"Mhm," she hesitated and then nudged her shoulder against mine. "Let's not talk about those. I just want to talk about you. Can you sing me a song? I wanna hear you sing."

I laughed, nudging back to her. "I think you're more suited for singing, love. I don't... like singing."

"Why not?"

"It might make me sad."

"My power says you sound sad anyway," she replied. "It doesn't make sense why it would say that though."

I looked into her eyes. Am I sad? Odd. It's true that I have lived through a lot of regret and sadness, but I doubt it shows up in my voice. Is it just sending the depth within the age of my voice? What an interesting Gear.

"Can you... sing for me? Aqua." Shoko's eyes were dreamy as she asked, it was a look I couldn't get over. The feeling of seeing a weak person grow confident like this all because of yourself feels great.

"Let's see..." Perhaps she deserves a wish since she went through so much.

The rustling of leaves served as the music, the wind flung my hair back, and the cold breeze of spring kissed my face. What nice weather.

I closed my eyes and leaned back on the bench. I searched for a song in my head. The weaving of my sword, the strikes of my palms; memories returned where I had a dance with life, where I'd sing modern songs to keep myself entertained. The plum blossom petals that floated through the sky when I swung my sword, just like the cherries on the tree above my head –reminded me of a lovely song. Should I sing it?

For some reason, I didn't feel like singing it. My recent endeavor with a half-vampire, Tsubasa may be the reason, or maybe the simple mention of vampires that Shoko just made earlier. I got reminded of my time in the loop. In the Time Loop.

"I have died every day waiting for you,"

I started, my eyes closed and my sense of reality blurring. Memories became vibrant as I saw the face of a woman whom I tried to save for a thousand years. And failed.

"Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you.

For a thousand years.

I'll love you for a thousand more...

And all along I believed I would find you.

Time has brought your heart to me-

I have loved you.

For a thousand years.

I'll love you for a thousand more..."

I finished. I didn't open my eyes and stayed in that position for a long minute. Finally, I let out a breath and opened my eyes. My gaze met the wet gaze of Shoko, as she was blankly staring at me with quivering lips.

"Y-you do sound old and sad now, Aqua," she said as I laughed, but it didn't reach my eyes. "Much more than anyone I have seen in the last few days."

"Yeah? Surprising. Anyway, this is why I don't like singing. It makes me a bit... sentimental. Songs are a strange thing." I told her, reaching out a hand and wiping her cheeks as tears were rolling down. "Looks like your Gear lets you feel emotions from the voices you hear. Sorry, you had to feel this."

Shoko hesitated a little and then spread her arms, pushing herself against me again and hugging me. I hugged her back. Hugging was a common thing between us now, after the first time I hugged her tightly when she retained her hearing. Oddly enough, there were no weird or romantic feelings between us even as we hugged. It was comforting, but she probably didn't even understand how intimate this was. This was simply a reflex for both of us.

Minutes passed like that, and we heard the bell ring.

"We should return now."

"I want to sing for you,"

"We can do it later, girl."

"No." She said, her tone soft just like her hug. "I learned this one myself. It goes like this..."

~Don't stay awake... for too long. Don't go to bed. I'll make a cup of coffee for your head. It'll get you up and going... out of bed. ?It was the Deathbed song. How ironic.

She started slowly and then let loose of her voice, her hug tightening around me yet somehow feeling relaxed as if she was telling me to fall asleep. As if she found me like a wounded little puppy in need of care. How adorable of her, she cared. I'm glad I didn't sing anything sinister; [Many Men] would have scared the shit out of her. I remember I sang that like a crazy bastard one day when I massacred the Tang Clan.

I had to admit that her voice was unreal. She sounds so out of this world. Naturally, as a man who has lived thousands of years, I have heard much better than this, but my current humane ears found her voice like nectar. How to explain? Her voice sounds. so... delicious. Why would Fate ever have constructed this lovely voice to be sealed?

I leaned back on the armrest of the bench, almost lying down, with her on top of me. Did she really not find such touchy scenes odd? I didn't mind though. She could lay on me all day and sing and I'll be fine.

At one point, her singing was just a hum. Her lips were near my ear and we were on the verge of napping. It was about them that a cough caught us off guard.

"Ahem- Aqua," a girly voice said, causing me to open one of my eyes, and then the other. "How careless. You're being like this during school hours while on campus?" The red-haired princess of destruction shook her head as our blue eyes met.

How troublesome, how dare this bat-winged little girl interrupt my relaxation time? I'll forgive her since it's her, and she looked amused rather than mad.

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