White Wing

My Sin

I decided to take the liberty of practicing in Procella's living room. The piano was a pain indeed, but a very beautiful one as well. And I was halfway through a song I had learnt when I pressed the wrong keys and sighed.

A gentle shuffling of feet alerted me to the presence of another person in the room. The little green-haired kid who had the audacity to actually hold a silent staring contest with me stood nearby with a little black cat—Yamato, I believe—in his hands. He dropped the cat, who landed on his feet and walked up to me, jumping up and sitting on the bench next to me.

"I will smite you," I said to the cat, who ignored me and started playing with the hand I had on the seat. "...perhaps I will not smite you today."

"Your posture is wrong," said a quiet voice. Why, this little boy has the voice of an angel as well.

"Huh?" I asked, looking over to Rui. He walked over to me, his expression unchanging. A mortal dared to say I was wrong—

He placed his hands on the keys, and I realized what he meant; my wrist was bent a little differently. Oh, he was right.

"Your wrist will hurt if you continue like that."

I nodded, and mirrored Rui. Yamato hopped down and Rui sat down next to me; I watched in fascination as he started to play, his hands dancing over the keys. The song was familiar too, as if it was something I'd heard before.

Ah, Rainy Moment. A beat so happy and gentle, and lyrics sad and dark.

So I sang to his keys, as his notes became gentler to match my voice. The song faded out, and I heard a cup being set down on a table. Rui didn't turn back, but I did.

"I see why the president was determined to have you," said Shun, as Hajime nodded in agreement.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked, as Yamato apparently decided he didn't like the floor and hopped onto Rui's lap instead.

"I needed to talk to Shun," said Hajime. I noticed he looked weary, like all the nights he couldn't sleep had finally caught up to him.

"And I always welcome a visit from my Black King," said Shun, as I pretended to faint from sheer horror.

"Shun," said the exasperated Black King.

Shun smiled in response.

-----------------------------*-----------------------------

"I think you're ready?"

"For what?" I asked Ayano, six months after I had begun learning under her.

"For your debut."

And she wasn't kidding. The president had a song written for me. I listened to the melody, realizing this was a song of gentleness and sorrow all the same. He also handed me lyrics, telling me how to sing it was up to me.

But I knew just by hearing the song and reading the lyrics, exactly how it was supposed to be sung.

Shun took me to the recording studio, and ran me through the technicalities of the studio, while I felt a slight pang of guilt for how rude I was to him before.

"I'd like to apologize." I almost cringed as I said it. An angel apologizing was almost unheard of. An angel apologizing to one of demon descent has never happened in the history of the Celestial realms.

"For what?" Shun asked, smile on his face.

"For being so rude to you before," I sighed as we turned the corner.

"That's alright, little angel," Shun said, reassuring me. His eyes fell upon a group of girls who were standing outside a room. "Hello princesses."