text, un: bellabelle

[doreimi]

[Pre-Post Narration | For Context Only]

[Josuke had wanted to hear her play the violin. That's how it all started, really. That's what brought her to one of the rehearsal rooms in the Lunatian Academy's music wing, armed with the violin she's had since her arrival in Prismatica yet whose case she hasn't even opened yet. For all she knows there isn't even a violin inside it, except that it's weighted as though there is, and why would anyone give her a violin case that doesn't have a violin in it, anyway?

She takes her time remembering how to begin. She tightens and rosins the bow. She reminds herself of how her fingers fit onto the strings, how the balance of the bow fits in her hand. It's been fifteen years since she last did this, but the muscle memory is still faintly there to help her along.

Her first attempt is predictably poor. She's back to the basics, starting from scratch, running through simple scales until the warmup starts to soak in, and little by little things start coming back to her. It's slow going; she makes more than her fair share of mistakes, sometimes simply fumbling the time signature, other times having to stop altogether to try to remember what comes next.

But eventually, she works her way up to a little tune — just a simple melody, rudimentary at best. It's funny; if she closes her eyes, she can almost imagine she's back at Budo-ga Oka, warming up with the rest of the club. Yumiko-senpai, settling into her first chair. Shuffling feet. Strings tuning up. It's so stupid that we're not supposed to wear nail polish, isn't it, Reimi-chan? It's not like it makes a difference!

Yumiko-senpai to her right, and then on her left was...

In the third-place position, it was...

Preoccupied as she is with her thoughts, she's actually playing more competently now than she'd been before, less focused on the particulars and more just letting muscle memory take over while she spirals deeper and deeper into thoughts of her school club. Whispers and giggling cut short when the conductor took his podium and rapped his baton, drawing everyone rapidly into sudden solemnity.

Kaidou-kun, you're not even in this club! What're you doing hanging around the door like that?

Kaidou-kun was so cute, he was the dreamiest guy in the whole school, not at all like...

The person playing third chair violin was...

Sugimoto, if you ever expect to earn a solo, you know you'll have to wipe off that nail polish. That sort of flashy extravagance has no place on my stage.

Reimi-chan, that pale pink makes your hands look so cute!

The person to her left was...

Oi, Kira, you weirdo, don't you know it's not polite to stare at girls? You have to treat a lady right! Watch, I'll show you how it's done — hey, Sugimoto, c'mon, are you going home? I'll walk you to the bus stop.

He was there.

He was there staring at her hands.

She doesn't drop the violin. She's stopped playing long since; the bow is trembling in her hand, and her fingertips are on the verge of being cut from how hard they're pressing into the strings, but she sets the violin back in its case and sits very still, feeling cold and scooped-out and vibrating with pins and needles all at once.

She gets up from her chair, feeling clumsy but restless, pacing the little room a few times before eventually stumbling to the nearest wall and sliding down it, pressing her back hard against the smooth, solid surface like she needs the reassurance that there's something protecting it, something that wouldn't let a knife get through.

He was always staring at her hands.

She stays there, huddled in the corner, for a long and silent time.]

[/Pre-Post Narration]


my friend josuke said i should try playing the violin again. i used to play a while ago! i was pretty good at it too back then but it turns out i'm not anymore. i thought about making a recording of myself playing so i could send it to people but it's no good. i don't even remember how to play a single note, ha ha.

but that's okay. i'm trying a lot of other things that aren't violin now. did you know that ballet is really hard? i guess that sounds kind of stupid but it turns out they say you're not even supposed to go en pointe until you've had two whole years of practice. i don't know why i thought it would go faster than that but it looks like i've got a really long way to go. i've missed out on so much.

it's pretty neat to walk around the city in the middle of all this geistnacht stuff too. i think there's been a party or a festival pretty much every night, hasn't there? i'm not sure if i believe all that stuff about the boundary between the living world and the afterlife getting thin but the costumes are pretty fun and the candy is too. some of the other "treats" people are giving out seem pretty indecent though but maybe that's just me.

i don't have a costume yet! i should get one. are lots of people dressing up this month? what are you dressing up as?

Comments

text | un: fantasma

[teaserving]

i havent touched a piano in awhile but i plan on it
anyway
i think you'll find something that clicks for you
dont rush yourself

sexy murder inmate

[doreimi]

i remember you said you knew how to play! i guess i kind of spoiled my surprise, i was going to play the violin for you but it turns out i can't. kind of a dud surprise i guess, ha ha.

i just really wish it wouldn't take so long. i think it would be great to be good at ballet.

...

are you an inmate who committed murder or who got murdered?

text, un: diablo

[thedarkbond]

wow that's a lot harder than the dancing i know... (*ﾟﾛﾟ)
also i think the indecent stuff is pretty normal here...they were giving away some weird stuff when i arrived and that was ages ago （　´∀｀）
anyway i haven't decided what i'm dressing up as yet but it'll probably be something dramatic
like a video game boss or something ೕ(˃ᴗ˂ ๑)

[doreimi]

oh really?? what kind of weird stuff were they giving away? i think i'm pretty new by comparison so i probably missed that.

dramatic...are you going to wear a cape?

text | un: tarrlok

[bloodisthicker]

"Indecent" is just how this place tends to play out, unfortunately... but, well, other than that, it's not a bad place to broaden your horizons. You kind of have to have an open mind here if you want to make the most of things.

...I'm also not really sure about costumes. That's never really been my thing, which probably sounds a bit boring.

[doreimi]

is that how you feel about it? being here, i mean, have you been making the most of things and broadening your horizons?

i think it's pretty hard to pick a costume, honestly. it seems like it would be easy but i think it's harder than it sounds, finding one that fits your personality.

text | j.valentine

[torsion]

I play piano. Bordering professionally, so I understand the sentiment. I feel it's as uncommon as powerful magic, so I think you should -- if it interests you, anyway -- give it a go.

As for the holidays (Halloween?), I tend to be the sort to give out "treats" over tricks and not dress up, personally.

[doreimi]

i have a friend who plays the piano too. i was sort of excited because i thought maybe we could play together but then it turns out that that's not going to work, i guess. when did you start taking piano lessons?

geistnacht sounds a lot like halloween, i think, but that's more of a western holiday so i've never really celebrated it before. i guess you dress up and go to parties? that part sounds fun.

text | un: kishibe

[penpoint]

I didn't know you played the violin, Reimi. Do you at least like ballet?


And no costume.

private text

[doreimi]

do you want to hear a funny story?

i was in the music club at school, second chair violin. i was pretty good at it, too, there was another girl who was better than me but she was older so after she graduated i probably would've gotten her chair. so sometimes i got home late from school because we had after-school practice that ran long.

so one day you had something you wanted to show me, maybe it was a gold star on something you drew at school or something like that, but you ran out of your house and down the street to our porch to wait for me to get home from school. and my practice ran late that day so you fell asleep on our porch swing, and your mom didn't know where you were.

so then i got home late and i found you on the porch and a few doors down your mom was calling everybody in the neighborhood asking if they'd seen you, and when it all got sorted out you folded your arms and said "i wasn't lost! i was waiting for reimi!" like it was so obvious that your mom just should have known.

you got mad at me, too, for taking so long to get home. it was awfully funny.

un: CFHS

[nonehorse]

Miss Sugimoto, you seem like you've been very busy lately! Violin, ballet...Nothing in half-measures, it seems. But everyone has to start from the same point, which is neither on key or en pointe; I believe in you!

It looks like I've missed out on a lot too, lately...I didn't even realise we were so close to Halloween. Or Geistnacht? Is that what they call it here...?

I went trick-or-treating with an American friend, once. Although he definitely enjoyed it more than I did, it was still fun to see everyone's costumes and wear my own. So maybe I'll have to try it again. If I do, I might dress up as Professor Van Helsing. I feel like that's a little personal joke with myself, and you can't go wrong with classical literature! Do you have any ideas at all for your costume?

[doreimi]

it's almost like i'm making up for lost time, haha. but i think it's mostly that i don't really know what i want to do with myself, so i have to try a lot of things and maybe one of them will stick.

i think geistnacht is the word they're using for it, yup. it sounds a little different than the halloween i know, though. they've been saying that on geistnacht the barrier between the living world and the afterlife gets thin, and i don't think that's exactly a halloween thing? but i don't really know.

...professor van helsing from dracula??? that's kind of offensive, though, isn't it? :(

[byanyother]

[ there's a lot to unpack in that message--but why not focus on the simple things first? ]

I haven't thought of a costume yet either. Why don't we help each other think up ideas?

[doreimi]

oh, um

sure, okay. i'd like that.

there's always the usual halloween stuff, right? black cats and witches and ghosts?

[text]

[spah]

I've done some pretty crazy Halloweens, so this Geistnacht ought to be interesting. I'm thinking of being 0a worker bee. Or a turtle... or a zombie. I've done a lot of costumes, all honesty.

If you ever pick up your violin again, though, let me know. I got a guitar. We ought to play together.

[doreimi]

a worker bee would be a pretty cute costume i think. would you have wings and yellow and black stripes??

people have been telling me i should take lessons at the academy with a tutor. if they have tutors for things like that. how long have you played the guitar?

text, un: redemperor

[glorifies]

I play both the violin and the piano. I haven't practised the piano in some time, but I was fortunate enough to receive my own violin in the previous world I was in prior to being here. Whenever you'd like to pick it up again, I can help you, or perhaps we can even play a duet.

As for costumes for the holiday - I've never actually gone trick or treating before. I think a dressing up as a pirate might be fun, though.

[doreimi]

...really? just like that, you'd help me out like that? that's really nice of you...

and...i think there's a lot you could do with a pirate costume, really! Lots of different ways to make it fun and personalized. Like you could be a captain, or a shiphand, and have a big hat, or even a parrot on your shoulder...

text | un: pArtyLiKeItS1999

[nipzips]

whoa i didn't know you were trying out ballet too

it does look really hard. i can barely stand on my toes for very long

[doreimi]

yeah, i guess you need a lot of muscle and flexibility to support yourself so you can do the moves without hurting yourself...

i knew it would take time but i didn't think it would take years, i guess, haha...

text | un: ladyofthewind

[sheisthewind]

What is ballet?

[doreimi]

oh it's...it's a kind of dance. it's set to classical music and the movements are really graceful and elegant, and you wear special shoes that let you balance on the tips of your toes for some of the moves.

it's really beautiful and classic, and takes a lot of talent.

text. un: dracula.

[goneforawalk]

i think it's fine to pick up new hobbies, though i'm bad at following my own advice

how are you liking ballet despite the lengthy training before you

that said, i don't know what to be for halloween

what should i wear, do you think

[doreimi]

hi, dracula-san! before we get into that, there's something i promised i would do, so please bear with me, ok? it's a joke!

what happens when a vampire gets sick?
he can't stop coffin!

text, un: sougo_i7

[koboreta]

You seem like a very motivated person. I've never played the violin, but I'm a musician too, so I think I understand some of what you're feeling.

Before I started writing music, I hadn't touched a guitar for a while. It's frustrating to not be able to pick an instrument back up and play it like no time has passed, but I can tell you from experience that it comes back quickly. It may be rough at the start, but if you start practicing again little by little, I'm sure you'll improve much faster than a beginner. You'll remember much more than you realize.

...Ah, I'm sorry. I wound up rambling. Either way, I think it's great that you're trying new things. I hope all of your endeavors work out for you.

[doreimi]

no it's ok. it's...good to know that maybe it won't be like this forever, haha. maybe i can find some music for some songs i remember knowing and it'll...you know. um, jog my memory.

you play the guitar?

username: cloudywolf

[liveandforgive]

Haven’t decided on a costume yet. I’m supposed to have one for a party.

[doreimi]

it's actually kind of hard to think of one, yeah...is it specifically a costume party that you're going to, or are you just dressing up for the fun of it?