▃▃▃▃▃ "I can't believe that snake got the part".

"daishō-san did very well. he deserved it", kita stated, delicately writing as his brush smoothly dipped onto the wet ink stone.

     "are you sure granny won't be sad that you didn't get the main character?", etsuko asked, to which kita had just nodded.

     "may I ask what happened on stage...?", the girl hesitantly questioned.

kita paused as he briefly glanced up at the girl's curious gaze before looking back down at his paper.

"I...felt that it'd be a bit inappropriate if I were to fill that role meanwhile shimizu-san's playing as komachi. I'm sure granny wouldn't mind if I just joined the band", kita stated.

     "HUH?! THERE'S A BAND? I WANT TO JOIN!!", etsuko shouted, to which kita had raised a brow in amusement.

     "can you play an instrument?", the dull-eyed boy asked. "and I thought you were on props?"

     "well...what are my options?", etsuko asked. "and I thought so too, but it turns out that the school had enough money to buy brand new props for the show, so I guess I don't have a job anymore".

     "well, there's the shakuhachi, taiko, koto, and shamisen".

     "eh? wasn't irihata-sensei going to teach us how to play the flute later in the year? how am I supposed to know how to play it now if he hasn't taught it yet?!"

     "irihata-sensei wasn't going to teach us. everyone's expected to know how to already play it by the time we start", kita stated, to which etsuko mentally cried a little.

'rich people shit. who gots the time to do all this crap?!'

"mmm...then what instrument will you be playing, kita?"

"I was debating between the shakuhachi and the koto", kita honestly said. "you?"

     etsuko hummed a bit. the girl didn't know how to play any of them, but if she was to learn one, wouldn't it be smarter for her to learn the flute since they're all supposed to play it for irihata-sensei later in the year?

     "the shakuhachi", etsuko answered.

     though just before kita could say anything else, the girl had sat up on her futon so quickly that she nearly tumbled off the wooden platform and smacked her head on the floor.

"I'm going to be back soon! see you later kita!!", the girl shouted as she hastily ran out the door, leaving the male utterly befuddled.

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"welcome haru—"

"hey madam red!! is misa-chan here?", etsuko asked, to which the woman had hesitated a bit.

"umm...let me go...check on her for you", madam red smiled as she swiftly left, meanwhile etsuko twirled around, getting another good look at the royally decorated restaurant.

     madam red had returned with the petite girl, who for once didn't have her long brown hair bundled up, and didn't have pounds of makeup slapped onto her face.

     the girl's eyes darted away from etsuko as she tried to shield her vision by using her blunt bangs that were slightly parted to the left.

     "hi misa-chan!!"

     "it's nice to see you again, haru-san", the girl shyly greeted.

     madam red chuckled. "well I'll leave you two to talk then", the woman said as she quickly left to go assist another one of the geishas.

"may you take me to one of the private rooms please?", etsuko asked, to which the geisha had heavily blushed at the thought of alone time.

     "t-this way please", the girl choked out as etsuko followed her into a plain room with a short coffee-brown tea table placed at the center.

etsuko took a seat on one of the mats as misa-chan poured some piping hot tea into the petite cup, careful not to spill it or make a fool of herself in front of etsuko.

"thank you misa-chan~", etsuko smiled as she immediately chugged the tea, burning her tongue in the process.

"I-I'm sorry for not warning you!! and...misa's my geisha name. my real name's yamaka mika", the girl muttered.

"ah, so yamaka-san!"

"you c-can just call me mika if you'd like", the brown-haired girl bashfully admitted.

"alright then! mika, I was wondering if you could help me with something", etsuko requested, to which yamaka had immediately nodded.

"please, let me know what I can help you with! I wish to repay you for saving me last time", the girl enthusiastically exclaimed.

"it's kind of embarrassing...but I was wondering if you could teach me how to play the shakuhachi!!"

     "....eh?"

     yamaka had thought that perhaps etsuko would've wanted to eat dinner together or maybe even go out to the fields and have a nice date.

     after all, she was a very pretty girl.

     "u-umm...m-may I ask why?", yamaka awkwardly chuckled, to which etsuko had just nodded.

     "so we have this school play where only a select few could play instruments, and I want to be one of them!!", etsuko smiled.

     "oh really? what's the play called?"

"it's called sotoba komachi. komachi's being played by shimizu-san", etsuko muttered.

"ah, I've heard about shimizu-san. she's known as the belle of the town!", yamaka smiled, to which etsuko had unconsciously clicked her tongue.

"I see..."

"and who's playing shôshô?", yamaka asked, to which etsuko had just scoffed.

"you probably don't know him, but he's got green hair and small eyes. daishō suguru", etsuko spat with distaste, hating the boy's name just as much as the actual person.

etsuko was met with silence, causing her to glance up as she noticed a grim expression on yamaka's face.

"u-umm...d-did I say something wrong?", etsuko mumbled, seeing as yamaka's eyes suddenly started watering, making her feel even more guilty.

"o-oh...m-my apologies, haru-san. it's just...nothing really...I'm okay. I just got a bit emotional at the mentioning of the play. it's quite the tragedy isn't it?", yamaka lightly laughed, to which etsuko just hesitantly nodded.

"anyways, you wanted some help on the flute right? here, let me go get one for you to practice on", yamaka slightly smiled as she quickly left to go retrieve the said item.

     etsuko hummed as she waited for the girl's returning, wondering if it was really the mentioning of the play that had made her instantly so upset.

     "haru-san, I've thoroughly cleaned this for you. if you'd like, you can even borrow it. I used to play on it when I was younger and first beginning", yamaka smiled, handing the bamboo-made instrument over.

     "why thank you so much!!", etsuko grinned, holding it as she randomly placed her fingers over the holes and blowing into it aggressively.

     "h-haru-san, you need to hold it like this", yamaka instructed as she replaced the girl's fingers over the holes, making her hands seem more elegant.

     "and place your bottom lip on the edge, right here", yamaka pointed, to which etsuko had looked way better than earlier, less like a baboon.

     "now make sure the air is blown slightly across and into the hole", yamaka said, watching as etsuko did as instructed.

     etsuko huffed as she made no sound whatsoever. and after a numerous amount of tries, there was no hope for the girl who had lost all motivation.

"UGH! WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT?!"

yamaka chuckled. "well, no one ever said that it'd be easy. however, you can take it back to your dorm and practice some more. I promise you, once you get a note out, the rest will be easy".

etsuko sighed, nodding with fatigue as she pulled herself up, heading back towards the academy.

"thank you for your help today, mika".

the girl smiled, slightly blushing. "no worries, haru-san. if you ever need anymore help, don't hesitate to come back".

"I surely will", etsuko promised, to which the girl had headed off as yamaka closed the door to the room, slumping down onto the ground.

sighing, she debated whether she should go to the school play or not.

'not for him...but for haru...'

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セレンディピティ
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