itâs not often the phantom player finds the time to shot some hoops. since leaving high school heâs been more focused on classes than playing. considering he decided not to play after high school, thereâs not much of a reason for him to really practice as much. but tonight is one of those rare nights that heâs at a local park with his old ball.Â
        of course, baskets are still not something heâs good at. over the years heâd gotten better but he canât even touch where some of his old friends are. and itâs almost pointless to the phantom shot every time, takes away the fun. so basically heâs just shooting and missing 6 out of every 10. but itâs fun regardless.
Finally, Seoâs shift had ended at the cafĂŠ. It was some kids birthday, and the parents had reserved the whole building for the small brat. Oh god, why did she just have to have work on that day? It was complete hell, with kids constantly asking her to get them a soda, then ordering everything else on the menu. Luckily she was just a waitress, and didnât have to make all of the food that wasnât even touched.
All of the songs that the children made her sing were sung half-heartedly, and the owner of the cafĂŠ could tell. Still, he gave her a small bonus for putting up with the gremlins, mostly because they were still amazed by her singing.
Seo got to the park, needing to let loose a bit. Normally she would have headed straight for the basketball court, but she didnât have her basketball with her, which completely sucked.
Just as the brunette was about to head for the monkeybars and just swing back and forth, with her legs holding onto the bars, she heard the regular thumping of a basketball. From what it sounded like, it was being thrown at the hoop, hitting the headboard, and then the pavement and into the hands of whoever was throwing it. And man, they sounded like they really sucked.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Seo made her way into the courts. There was a blue-haired boy throwing the basketball at the hoop. At that moment, it hit the backboard (what a surprise, he really did suck), and went straight into Seoâs hands.
     one of hikaruâs friends had told him they would set him up with a date, though he had declined the offer at first. he just⌠hadnât felt like dating anybody. nobody had caught his eye. but they kept talking about their plans so much that eventually hikaru had just decided to roll with it. so, he told them to go for it and heâd see what would happen. after his friend had left, he had the thought cross his mind to stand the other up, considering he didnât even want to let it happen in the first place. though, he chose to go instead. he didnât really have anything to do that night, so why not?
     at the time specified, hikaru made his way towards the⌠oddly specific location. he hadnât thought much of it when he was first told, but the more time it had to settle in his mind, the more odd this all seemed to be. at that point, hikaru was more curious to see what the big deal was than meet the person heâd been set up with.
     but before he knew it, he spotted a girl sitting on the pavement against a pole. was⌠was this what his friend meant by âmaking sure sheâd showâ? with a sigh, he quickly made his way over to her, kneeling down to begin to untie her as she had requested.
     ââŚsorry about that. are you alright?â
She rubbed her wrists, looking at the small marks the rope left on her skin. âYeah, yeah, Iâm good,â Seo waved off any concern this stranger might have, looking around distractedly for an escape route. She had to get out of this place before the person that was supposed to meet her came.
Curse her friend. That person knew how hungry she was, and knew that she never bothered to learn the streets of Bellevue.
The only shops that were around her was some weird bar - definitely something she wanted to avoid - and a fast food fish shop. Who ever thought of making a fast food fish shop? Most fish was disgusting to eat, and Seo would never eat at a place like that. Hopefully it would shut down soon and be replaced by Swiss Chalet or something.
Unluckily for her, Seo couldnât find any subway stations in her line of sight. There were a few bus stops, but Seo had never used the bus in this part of the city before. She just never needed to.
âSo, I guess Iâll get going. Thanks for untying me!â She slowly turned around after saluting a goodbye, and walked the other way, slowly picking up speed.
As much as this girl seemed like a piece of work, more self centered than Link was used to⌠She did at least seem keen to humour his request. For a vessel so barbed, she had the voice of liquid silk and for that, Link decided he too in turn would humour her.
Raising his instrument to his lips he waited for a dip in the melody before he joined in, matching her song with ease, his fingers floating over the holes of the ocarina with practiced ease.
It didnât take long to find a harmony to compliment her vocals, his own eyes slipping shut as he played. The music was his voice. He was unable to sing, to speak, but when he played he too was able to decorate the air with beautiful music⌠He too could be heard.
When their shared song finally came to an end, he let out a slow breath, taking a moment before finally pulling his lips from the instrument as he opened his eyes once more. A genuine smile fell over his lips as he just nodded his head to her, his chest filled with a contented glee at being able to play along side someone else, able to listen to such a beautiful voice sing like he used to in the Church his late adoptive father ran.
âThank youâ He wrote on a small scrap he had left, sliding it to her.
Her voice easily went from a B to an E, then went down to an A. It actually wasnât the beginning from a song she just made up, but one she heard before playing on other peopleâs phones. Honestly, Seo couldnât remember the song title, not caring much for pop music; the brunette usually listened to rock and punk rock.
Link joined into the song, easily matching her own notes. Maybe Seo was going too easy on him. After all, he might know the song. Twenty-something seconds in, she decided to change it up, and do a sort-of remix. Her voice suddenly went from an F to an E, and then even higher to the max of her vocal range.
At this point it wasnât some pop song, but her own song. No - it was their song. Link was able to keep up with the Lorelei, and somehow make it sound even better.
By the end of the song, Seo was panting, despite having barely exerted any energy. Thatâs just how into it she was into. It had been a long time since she sang with even a semi-talented musician, all of the ones at her competitions being idiots that couldnât tell the difference between a half note and a quarter note. Most of the time Seo had to record her own music in the background, knowing she couldnât rely on anybody else to play her sheet music correctly. And yet Link, Link was somehow able to play even better than she could, without sheet music or anything.
Amber eyes quickly read the note - probably because it only contained two words: âthank youâ. âDonât know why youâre thanking me, but no problem bro.â
Link would be the perfect asset for Seo. Instead of being forced to make videos with crappy background music, she could just sing on top of it, real-time. And for the music competitions at school, she was always able to have a musician with her. Even knowing a bunch of other students from the college that were also majoring in music, none of them were close to being as good as the blond.
âSay, Link. How would you like to help me out? You see, I do music competitions at Enyo College, since Iâm a part of the glee club. Do you want to be my on-stage musician?â
Is this a date? Please tell me it isnât | Hikaru & Seo
@trlcksters
Itâll be fun. Yeah, right. And Seo was the Queen of Bellevue. She had no idea why or how she got dragged into this mess, and all she wanted to do was go home. Except, she couldnât due to her arms being roped to the telephone pole. No matter how hard she tried, she was stuck until the person she was supposed to meet came.
Her friend, if they could even be called a friend now, had told her that Seo should hang out with this boy they knew. Without hesitation, the girl had shot down the offer, stating that she already had her time being used up by basketball, youtube, and work. But noooo, she had no choice.
Before she knew it, Seo was being tied up to the pole, no explanation. Only a simple wave, and she was stranded until the boy came. Just great. And the fact that her stomach was rumbling didnât help make the situation better.
Then, some boy, hopefully not the one that was supposed to meet up with her. âDude, would you mind untying me? Iâm kind of tapped here.â
Idol were all the rage in Japan, as they had been for quite a long time. His parents had never approved of the idol industry, or as they called it: a fad. The legions of screaming boys and girls that waved their Kingblades in their idolâs colour, executing a complex cheer to show their support for their idol. Yu thought it was sweet. His parents thought it was a waste of time.
During his time at Bellevue, Yu had begun his search on enjoying that which he had always been denied. That was how he stumbled across a rhythm game called School Idol Festival. Despite the lack of intriguing plot, he found the characters more than interesting enough to make up for it. The songs were catchy despite their simplicity and he felt attached to each of the nine idols in a different way.
That was why he found himself sitting on a park bench in the garden staring at his phone in the evening. Soon enough, the English version would finish its maintenance and then it would finally have caught up to the glory of the Japanese version. As he watched his chibi idols dance on the loading screen, he became aware of a real voice drifting on the wind. Turning around, he sported a girl around his age belting out a catchy tune.
âWhat are you singing?â It seemed that while waiting for school idols, he had found a real one instead. Â
âSaa genki na kao de doko e ikou?
Ikitai to omou to koro e
Hayaku hayaku Go!!â
Seo hated to admit it, but the music as really catchy. It wasnât her preferred style of music, with most of the songs being really up-beat. The brunette could barely tolerate pop music, wanting to listen to rock instead.
âTanoshisa wa kokoro no mochikata shidai kamo ne
Iya na koto wa kusha kusha ni marumechae
Sou da sou sa Go!!â
Maybe it reminded her a bit of home. Ever since coming to Bellevue, Seoâs been listening to songs in English, the ones played on the alternative radio station. All of the songs by these school idols were in Japanese, the language Seo had almost forgotten since moving. It just wasnât needed here.
âSora o miagete namida ga kawaita mitai
Susumou susumou susumou anji o kakete mita!â
Maybe Seo would have been a school idol if they had been as popular when she was in high school. After all, she was part of the glee club, something which she continued in college. Heck, she even had her own YouTube channel and was called âLoreleiâ! It was true that she would have hated to be in those costumes that they always wore, but the girl had been forced into fancy clothes before.
âIma koko de mitsu- wait, what?â
She hadnât realized she had been completely jamming out to the song. Seo took her earphones out and looked at the boy in front of her. âWhat did you say? I couldnât hear you.â
She was late, again. It wouldnât be a surprise to her boss, considering she was perpetually late to work. Actually, it was the old geezerâs fault for giving her the morning shift on a Thursday, when he shouldâve known that it takes her forever to get out of bed and bus there. It didnât matter that Seo didnât have class that day, it was still torture.
The girl flew down the flights of stairs and stumbled into the lobby of the apartment. Her amber eyes rested on the mailboxes near the door, something she hadnât bothered to check in a while. Nobody today sent letters; everything was done by text or email. Even Seo had upgraded from the flip phone she had back in high school to a Smartphone, which was much easier to send messages on.
Just as Seo was about to exit the lobby and run to catch the bus, something told her that she should check her mailbox. It was just a gut feeling, but she never seemed to be wrong with those.
As she inserted her key and turned it, she felt hopeful for some reason. Maybe her mother sent her rent money? The numbers in her bank account were steadily falling, and she was going to get kicked out soon if she couldnât pay the rent. Her job barely covered the cost for food, not to mention rent and video games. She desperately needed money⌠or a roommateâŚ
Inside were two white envelopes: one from Ryosuke and one from her mother. It was understandable that her mother would write a letter, her barely knowing how to turn on a phone. But Ryosuke? What was Seoâs idiot brother up to now?
Dear lil sis,
Happy birthday!
âŚ
Oh, right. It was her birthday a week ago. Seo had completely forgotten. She remembered how last year for her birthday she was in Brieve, partying with her friends. It was a blast, egging houses and receiving presents. Practically everyone in town knew that it was her birthday, and she felt so special.
This year was different. Seo didnât have anyone in Bellevue that she would necessarily consider a friend, and it had even slipped her own mind completely. It seemed irrelevant. After all, nobody wanted to brag that they were 20. She was getting old, and that was not something Seo was excited about. It just meant less energy and more responsibility, as if university and work werenât enough.
Seo skimmed the rest of the letter, not really caring for what her brother had to say. Just the regular bullshit everyone said for someoneâs birthday. Or in this case, wrote. It mentioned about something with him wanting to visit, but Seo knew that he could never afford a plane ticket on his own. Like her, he was a waiter, and only received minimum wage. Good luck getting here, big bro.
The (belated) birthday girl ripped open the other envelope, hoping that it was less boring than the first. Then again, her mother was one of the most boring people ever. Luckily for Seo, it was short.
My little girl,
Happy birthday! I canât believe youâre 20 now. I included a cheque for the next two months of your rent as a present. Enjoy!
Love,
Mom
As promised, there was a cheque with-
â1400âŹ? Fuck yeah!â Heads turned towards her as she shouted gleefully, but Seo didnât notice. She was too busy thinking about the crap she could buy with it. Good thing that she opened the mailbox.
And with that, she skipped outside the door and headed to work.
â I need help. â (I don't think I sent one yet .-.)
(NOT ACCEPTING)
âDepends on what you need help with. If itâs basketball, Iâll help. Running away from the coppers? Down for it. Singing lessons? Boring, but I guess I could. Doing your homework? Hell nah.â
âdid you think i wouldnât notice you sneaking out?â
(NOT ACCEPTING)
âDude, youâre the one that asked me if you could crash at my place because you were scared of the monster under your bed. Itâs two in the afternoon and I have a class to go to. Itâs not like Iâm sneaking out. And what are you, my mother? Because I managed to sneak past her before.â
Alice in Wonderland: My muse is drunk and relies on your muse for saftey
(NOT ACCEPTING)
Seo was making her way downtown, walking fast, faces passing. She needed to get on the next subway home bound and then she could finally go to sleep. It was already pretty late in the evening, the stars slightly visible despite the light pollution. It was surprising to see the stars at all considering she was in the part of town full of lights that advertised the different bars and clubs.
A door to one of the bars on her right opened, and a man stumbled out. It was obvious he was flat-out drunk. Seo couldnât care less about him, with only thoughts of her warm bed on her mind. His fault, his problem. She wasnât going to help anyone out. But it didnât seem like she had much of a choice.
The man somehow managed to wobble over to her, and lean on her. He was muttering something under his breath, probably unaware of it. â...pretty girl... big boobs...â that was the only thing discernible. Pretty soon Seo felt something wet on her shoulder. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be drool. Wait, had that freak fallen asleep on her?! While standing?! It was so disgusting. Worst part was that the washing machine in her apartment was broken and this was her favourite shirt.
Luckily, someone else was walking down the sidewalk. âYooo! You! Can you take care of this dude? Heâs completely wasted. Get him a taxi or something, I donât have a penny on me.â Without waiting for the strangerâs reply, Seo ran off, leaving the man to fall to the ground. There was no way in hell she was going to babysit some drunkard.
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