Music of the Night

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Haru was getting suspicious when Arthur met her just as he promised back at train station.

He had a goofy smile on his face, but that's just his default expression, right? But what was weird was his gait, usually clumsy or ungainly was now giddy with a little bounce as if-

No...

No way!

'She can't possibly be,' Haru paused in her thought. 'Nah, she still has those stalker feelings for that useless ex of hers! Then again...'

"You look happy, Arthur," the dwarf rabbit remarked as the both of them boarded the train back to campus.

"Oh, just the idea of us earning money from our own produce," he sighed dreamily. "And the fact that I have a new friend."

Ah, so he's not hiding it! "Oh? And who is this 'new friend' you're talking about?"

Arthur's head was turned to her direction, his cloudy blue eyes sparkled under the train's harsh lighting. "You won't believe me but it's the harlequin rabbit who scratched me, Mizuchi."

Haru almost wanted to slap herself from hearing the news.

"Wait, you're meeting up with her?" she questioned, edging closer to the Honduran white bat's face. "As in like a date?"

"Sort of," Arthur answered hesitantly because the fact that the president of the gardening club was too close to his personal space. "We are just friends, Haru. I believed she's genuine about us being friends."

'Yeah right,' Haru rolled her eyes. 'Next thing you tell me that hedgehogs have wings under their spines!'

"Just from experience," Haru placed a comforting paw on his wing. "Be careful who you choose as your friends and enemies. Sometimes, they will just use you and will use what you lack as an advantage."

"I'm aware of that," Arthur nodded, his eyes blinked. "My dad used to tell me that even when I was only three. That animals without sight will have to find our ways into the world differently. It was frustrating at first but then I learnt the ropes. He told me that no one is going to pity me for being blind so I will have to find another way around to catch up with everyone But you don't have to worry about me, Haru."

Haru sighed, seeing that this bat has to learn everything by himself. After all, he did manage and has proven to her that he is capable even if he is blind. All she could do was pat him on the shoulder before checking her phone.

Arthur decided to wrap his wings around himself like a blanket before taking a quick nap. He has his ears slightly up in case.

Slowly, he drifted off into his dream.

Unlike other animals, his dream was just sounds he has never heard off or fragments of his memories.

... 

"Lysa! Be reasonable!" the frustrated sighs came from a voice. In the background, the sounds of  a baby bawling was echoing the whole room. The baby was either scared, hungry, or even wanting attention.

"Why must he be born blind?!" the shrill voice demanded. "I asked for a beautiful son but what came out of me was this blind bastard-"

There was a sound of some animal grabbing her, grunting was heard. 

"Y-you're hurting me, Kirk!"

"Not as much as you are doing it to our son. The minute he opened his eyes, you almost dropped him from where you were hanging. He could've been hurt, Lysa!"

There was firmness in  his tone that masked anger.

"So? We could always try for another one and sell him to those gypsies. I'm not having that THING for a son."

"Then I'm not having you as a wife," he clicked his tongue. "Blind or not, he's my son and if you don't want to be in his life, then leave."

There was a pause in the argument and the wailing from the baby became louder and more strained with coughs that sounded like it was strangling him.

"Kirk, you can't be-"

"I want you to pack your things, sign the papers I will print out for you and never come back."

There was pain and anger in his voice. He wants to comfort his sweet, bright baby boy but he has to deal with her first.

"What happened to you, Kirk? You've changed..."

"I never did. You flew too close to the sun and went out of orbit."

Once the grumbling and muttering left, the weak cries of the baby became his only priority. The baby could feel the warm laps of the tongue grooming him on top of his head. There was a rocking motion, making the baby cling onto the warmth. A small kiss on the cheek and a nuzzle was enough to make the baby's cries softened and subside.

"Shhh," the voice comforted him gently with love. "I'm here....I'm here, Arthur...."

...

Arthur was woken up by the sound of the train stopping just at the destination he and Haru were getting off.

His mind was still shaky of the shrill shoutings in his dream but he shouldn't pay much attention to it. After all, some dreams are so lucid that they don't make sense even when he could hear them clearly.

He returned to his dorm to try and decpiper what the numbers meant. He smiled a small smile before saving the number into his phone contacts.

He won't contact her now because he has other things to worry about today.

Arthur brewed himself some peppermint tea and decided to play his harmonica to sooth his soul. It was an exciting day today despite it being a trip to the shop to sell the herbs with Haru.

The song that resonated with the harmonica brought him a sense of memories he wished to cherish and create now that Cherryton is a new chapter in his life.

But then, how many chapters will he have before his own book of life is finished?

He was hanging upside down between the gaps of the bunk bed again to play the tune. Again, he had his window opened so that everyone could hear the beautiful melodies. He was amused when he eavesdropped other students wondering who was the mysterious musician.

Just then, there was a knock on his door.

Arthur placed an empty glass close to the door to listen to his visitor.

"Hey Arthur, it's me," said Aoba. "I thought of hanging out with you since it's still a slow day today. Jack's here too."

This made the Honduran white bat chirped a bit at the thought of hanging out in his own room. He wondered if he should tell them about his meeting with Mizuchi. Would they believe him? He would also wonder if his old friend Sameer would have anything to say about this?

Chuckling to himself, he opened the door to let his friends in.