Music of the Night

Chapter 52

Chapter 52

The next morning, Arthur couldn't stop thinking about the morse code message. He wondered if it was just a friendly 'I love you' instead of a very intimate 'I love you' he has heard from romantic movies and audiobooks.

"Hey Arthur!" Aoba called out to him from the shower. "How come you have three brushes besides your toothbrush? I think one's enough for your fluffy fur."

Arthur laughed as he was drying his fur. "One's for my fur, one's for my wings while the last one's for my ears. I'm a bit particular about how well I'm groomed. Oh, and I used apple-scented shampoo with peach-scented body wash."

The bald eagle has never met an animal so careful about his well-being. Aoba wondered if the message was bothering him. Because Arthur has been mumbling to himself and kept making himself three different types of tea in the morning.

He wondered besides the letter, what did those gangs do to him last night?

...

Once both bat and eagle were done, they walked out of the carnivore dorm towards the main building. Aoba mentioned that he has to attend a meeting for the drama club, leaving Arthur to walk upstairs to the roof of the gardening club.

He was tackled to the ground by an unknown force.

"Arthur!" the angry yet relieved tone from Haru made the Honduran white bat smiled. "Don't you scare me like that! Not a text? Not even a call? You could've been a carnivore's dinner!"

"Haru," Arthur hugged her tight. "I'm fine. I obviously had the most interesting experience last night but you know school and this garden is more important. I hear the flowers and plants murmuring their mornings."

Haru rolled her eyes. "You were missing for the rest of the evening and all you can think about are the damn flowers?! Hell, you have a few bruises and marks on your face!"

"I do?" Arthur blinked his cloudy blue eyes before touching his face. "I never knew."

Haru sighed and hugged him. "I'm just glad that you're okay and not a single limb is missing from you."

Arthur laughed. Haru really acts like an older sister to him despite their height difference. The both of them chatted along with tending the garden. They were so close to their target goal of raising enough money to buy whatever they desired. For Arthur, it was his trumpet.

When the both of them were having their break, Arthur was hanging upside down while Haru was reading the school's paper. She was commenting on how the newspaper club likes to sensationalise the littlest things.

"I hope they don't expose me for playing the music throughout campus," Arthur shivered. Haru looked up at the Honduran white bat with a tilted head. "I don't get it, Arthur..."

"Don't get what?"

"Why won't you play in front of a live audience?" Haru questioned. "I mean here during assembly or even at the drama club? You're really good."

The Honduran white bat fluffed his fur. "Well...I like the gardening club. Also I'm not too familiar with Cherryton and the customs despite being here for at least a month now. Back in my old home, I knew the animals there and even the places where I feel less alone. Plus, Gryphon Cross had a band which I had no issue playing with other members. So in a sense I'm not comfortable playing in front of anyone here because of you know..."

"Yeah, I get it," Haru nodded, still remembering how all students still warned each other about her going out with any male in the school. But she was past that for now!