Sᴘʟᴀsʜᴇs & Sᴛʀɪᴋᴇs | Nagi Seishiro √

11. 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

It had been a week since the Mikage siblings were discharged from the hospital. Reo returned to school after the first week, but Rea stayed home for another week at her mother's behest, ensuring her bandages were changed without risk of damage to the healing wound.

Kaori and Kai visited Rea every two days, updating her on the latest news and helping her catch up on missed lessons. Rea discovered that Kai was an excellent tutor, much like his brother, making it easier for her to grasp the missed school material. His teaching style reassured her that missing school wasn't as challenging as she had feared.

On this particular day, Kai had swimming practice at school, and Kaori had left for her painting class after school hours. Rea found herself alone throughout the day. In the morning, she lounged lazily in bed, attended to by her maid, Yumi, who served her breakfast. Later, she sat at the kitchen island, observing the chefs at work while engaging in conversation with Yumi. She was even offered snacks by the chefs, a rare occurrence as no Mikage family member had ever lingered in the kitchen beyond giving instructions.

Rea began to realize that there was much about the servants in the Mikage household that she was unaware of. She felt a pang of guilt, understanding that these servants had their own families to support with the wages they earned here. Yumi, for instance, was a housewife with no children, looking forward to starting a family in the future. Then there were the two cleaners for the downstairs area, one of whom had a harrowing backstory. Her husband, an alcoholic, had subjected her to daily abuse until she sought a divorce, which enraged him enough to sever her ring finger bearing the wedding ring. Hearing this deeply unsettled Rea, revealing to her the harsh realities of the world beyond her awareness. The other cleaner was a mother of twins who attended elementary school.

After lunch, Rea retreated to the piano room. This space had been a gift from her father when she was six, and she had been playing the piano ever since. Though she had once had a private piano tutor, her dedication to swimming had left her with little time to practice. However, today she felt inspired and placed her fingers on the ivory keys, creating music. Searching through her collection of music books, she picked out her favorite piece, "Marutsuke," and began to play.

Reo entered the house using crutches and jokingly remarked to Nagi, "You should start bringing your clothes here, Nagi. You've been hanging out here quite a bit lately."

"I just like being here, you know, to help you, Reo," Nagi replied, feigning innocence.

"Cut it out, Nagi," Reo retorted, raising an eyebrow. "We both know you're coming here because you want to see my sister, not because of me."

"Nope."

As they made their way towards Reo's room, they could hear the music resonating through the halls. Reo chuckled, recognizing the tune. "Do you know what's being played?"

Reo glanced at Nagi, who was engrossed in a mobile game, resting against the bed beside him while sitting on the floor. "I'm not really into that."

"Alright then, I'm going to take a shower," Reo declared. "Could you ask Yumi-san for help? She's probably downstairs now."

"Sure thing." Nagi stood up, finished the level he was playing, and decided to proceed to the next level after sending Yumi to assist Reo, ensuring he wouldn't be interrupted for a while. As the music abruptly stopped, Nagi wondered why it had ended so suddenly, without a proper conclusion.

Moments later, the music resumed, its melody resonating more distinctly downstairs compared to the faded sound in Reo's room. Curiosity piqued, Nagi followed the sound to its source. Approaching a particular room, he was surprised by the sight that awaited him.