InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A new beginning, a new hope ❯ a whole new world ( Chapter 2 )

“Who's there? Who are you?” Rin found herself surrounded by pitched darkness and the only figure that was in view was a white shadowy shape situated a few feet away from her. She rubbed her eyes vigorously to clear her vision but to no avail. Even under the deficiency of adequate lighting, she could make out that it was a man with long silvery hair dancing elegantly all around him. He has…. What was that? A crescent moon on his forehead? Doesn't that look awfully familiar? She was sure she had seen him somewhere before but his features were all fragmented and utterly unrecognizable.

 

“Wait, don't go! Please! Come back!” Rin called out desperately as the figure dissipated much to her disappointment into thin air.

 

“Peep peep peep peeppppppppppp…. Peep peep peep peepppppppp……”

 

Rin awoke with a start and robotically clicked on the button to put a halt to the rhythmic chimes of the alarm clock. She reached to give her throbbing temple a good massage, and at the same time, letting out a rather drowsy yawn.

 

It's that same dream again, she mused.

 

She had been having this recurring dream for five years, that same man, the same distorted face and the crescent moon. It was still all so strange to her. Rin rubbed her eyes as she reached to pull the curtains to let some morning rays into her bedroom, the same room she had been residing for these few years, since she had lost all her memories from a serious illness back then, so she was told.

 

However, aunt Higurashi, Kagome and the others were eager to fill her in with most of the information regarding her past. She was their cousin and had been living with them since her own parents passed away during a ship wreck. She was struck down with a persistent high fever five years back and since then, she hadn't remembered anything at all. But, she heaved a soft sigh, she distinctly recalled how she had meticulously endeavored in the picking up of those the minute processes of life all over again, from the smallest things like using a pen, a tooth brush, cutleries to more complicated stuff like functioning the television, the microwave and especially the computer. It felt as if she had never touched these things before. They all seemed so new and unfamiliar at that time and she was like a new-born baby, absorbing every bit of information much like a sponge.

 

“Oh… I'm going to be late for the rehearsal!” Rin jumped out of bed and dashed purposefully for the shower.

 

As she allowed the warm moisture from the rain forest shower to drizzle on her hair and body, she ran through in her mind her tight schedule for the day. She had to arrive at the music school by nine for the orchestra rehearsal, the one which she was so unprepared for. She had only managed to run through the drowning stack of scores once. Sixty-eight pages just for the violin part only! And all jammed packed with little black notes. My gosh! How did those composers come up with all these stuff anyway? She never stopped to be amazed by that.

 

The violin. Her thoughts fell on that little musical instrument she had fallen deeply in love with and had picked up for almost four and a half years now. Its high-pitched and soulful resonance had never once ceased to captivate her, drawing her to it. Her cousin Sota, also Kagome's younger brother, had encouraged her to start lessons on the violin in an attempt to sooth her and redirect her attention from those haunting dreams. And she agreed, it does have its effects on her sometimes, especially when there's just so much to practise for, she had absolutely no spare time to engage herself in other activities or musings.

 

“Rin…………….. Are you almost ready? Breakfast is served. You're going to be late………” A sweet motherly voice echoed through the hallways from the kitchen on the first floor and Rin was half running and jumping two steps at a time down the stairs.

 

“Ohayo, Aunty Higurashi, Gramps, Sota!” Rin's agitated panting was greeted by a bright and welcoming smile from the medium build young man at the table while the middle aged lady was still back facing her apparently busy with her cooking. Grandpa Higurashi, on the other hand, was struggling underneath the table to pull some strange object from the jaws of Buyo, the cat.

 

Sota passed the girl a box of cereals and then proceeded to pour some milk into the bowl as she pulled a chair and settled beside him.

 

“So, are you prepared for the rehearsal later?” Sota directed a little wink at Rin while placing a spoon into her breakfast bowl.

 

“Arigato, well, I only played through it once. You have no idea how scared I am now. I've heard so many horrible stories about the conductor, Mr Tanaka,” Rin started on her cereal occasionally looking up at Sota.

 

“Yes, so I've heard,” the young man was chuckling rather charmingly. “He does have a way with words.”

 

“Yumi-chan told me that once, the school orchestra had the rare honour….” at this point, she stuck out her tongue and then continued. “of performing his own symphony for the first time in Tokyo.”

 

Rin swallowed the food in her mouth and carried on. “The flautist, Ota, who had a solo part in the first movement made a terrible mistake and Mr Tanaka immediately shot him with the death stare. After that, throughout the rest of the piece, every five minutes, whenever he had the chance, he would mouth `fuck you' at Ota-san.”

 

Finding that he could no longer control himself, Sota burst out laughing while lightly slapping Rin on her shoulders. The two then giggled in unison.

 

“Yes,” Sota had to agree with the girl. “But Ota told me that after the whole performance, Mr Tanaka actually went up to him and said that the mistake he made was quite a nice change to the original composition. You don't know how relieved Ota was after hearing that.”

 

Their little conversation was momentarily interrupted by a porcelain plate coming at them from opposite the table.

 

“Sunny-side eggs, Rin, your favourite. Eat them while they're still hot,” The short-haired woman knew all of the girl's likes and dislikes, having them all at her fingertips. To Rin, Aunty Hiragushi was almost like a mother to her, now that she had no memories of her own parents. The middle aged lady took extreme pain to tend to her every need and Rin acknowledged all these displays of kindness and care, registering them dearly in her heart. She wouldn't have gotten on so well if it hadn't for Sota's mother and the rest of this heart-warming family.

 

“Okay, gal, if you're done, let's move,” Sota got up from his seat and proceeded to collect his cello from the corner of the room. “Go getcha stuff. I'll meet you at the car.”

 

“Hai,” Rin responded to that immediately as hurriedly scrambled to pick up her violin case from the coffee table in the living area. “I'll be there in a while. Bye, Aunty, Gramps, we'll be back before dinner.”

 

Upon hearing the sliding sound of the front door, the middle aged lady turned and directed her warm gaze at the old grandpa seated at the table now scrutinizing at something in the daily newspaper.

 

“Don't they just look so adorable together, Sota and Rin? There's this thing about the two of them. They kind of just click so well.” Mrs Higurashi could not hide her excitement about the topic. “They behave almost like a newly wed couple already.”

 

“Yes, I dote on the girl too. But what about her past? She came from the warring age, don't forget that.” Gramps found a need to remind the cheery lady.

 

“Well, that's in the past already. The girl's so pretty and sweet and oh, she is such an excellent match for Sota. Can't believe that gentle creature had been living with demons all her life. How I wish she would become my daughter-in-law.” Mrs Higurashi's eyes were half dazed and twinkling, as if picturing the ringing of wedding bells in the church. And whatever grandpa said after that was completely muted from her ears.

 

Out in the yard of the Higurashi shrine, Sota assisted the girl in packing her violin into the boot after heaving his own enormous case into the back seat of the six-sitter. With a clipped smile, he proceeded to open the car door for Rin to get into the passenger seat and gave her a little nuzzle on her chin while the girl ginned back warmly. He pushed on the metallic handle and closed it firmly after making sure that she was safely and comfortably belted.

 

She wound down the window, allowing the gentle breeze to caress her face as she inhaled the fresh morning air deeply. Sota, though giving most of his concentration to the task of being the driver, passed rhythmic glances at the girl. After a long silence, he started rather tenderly.

 

“You don't look very well. Had a bad dream last night?” Sota was always so observant that Rin was not at all startled when he made those comments. On many occasions, he was forever the first to see through her feigned cheery and chirpy look and recognize that she was actually upset over something.

 

“Yeh… the same one again. Nothing unusual. I still can't make out his face but I'm kind of getting used to that.” Rin was touched by his concern. “I'm more worried about the rehearsal later. It's the first time I'm playing while you're the soloist. I don't want to screw up your Elgar Cello Concerto.”

 

“Nah…. Get your mind off that already, gal. Besides, I'm also bluffing my way through,” Sota finished with a genuine laughter.

 

“You're teasing me again. You play so well,” Rin turned to hide her slightly flushed cheeks. That was the Sota she had come to know these five years. He was always so humble but never slacking in his practices even till wee hours in the night. And gosh, he's just so talented and charismatic, and whenever he played on the cello in school, all the girls would just flock up like bees to honey, whispering, tugging naughtily and giggling to one another.

 

Observing the girl's telling gestures, Sota decided to give her some space on her own and focus his attention instead, on the road.

 

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From the writer's desk:

 

Hi everyone,

 

I hope you're not too confused or bog down by those musical terms up there. I can help to explain a little.

 

A concerto is actually a piece of music composed for a solo instrument backed by the orchestra. So, a cello concerto would be a piece written for the cello as a solo instrument with orchestra accompaniment. In the case of our story above, Sota is the soloist while Rin is playing in the orchestra.

 

As for Mr Tanaka's composition, a symphony is actually a piece purely written for the orchestra with no major soloists involved. It usually consists of four parts, known musically as `movements'. However, some of the musicians from the various sections may get little bits of solo parts and in the case of our story, Ota got it and screw it up due to stress perhaps. Ha Ha.

 

 

I think you would have guessed by now that I'm a violinist myself and I couldn't help but to add a little bit of my life into it. And mind you, those stories about conductors… they are all true! So are those coming up in later chapters.. Ha Ha

 

 

Enjoy reading…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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