Palette! And Shades

Chapter 3. Clandestine Rendezvous

“Dang your juniors are great!” ABCDE told Nazarene as she smiled weakly and the other band members praised them as well. However, Kuu doesn't seem to be paying attention to the audition.

“May I excuse myself?” Kuu whispered to them as the next auditionee was already performing. “I have terrible diarrhea and it’s lights-off so I think I won’t be noticed.”

“Yep. Go now so you won’t blow up here. Come back immediately okay?” Jiro said and Kuu leapt away from them, taking advantage of the situation. Once he was on the door of the theater, he once again scanned the crowd and then left afterwards. He pulled off his phone and texted Josef.

“After the seventh performer, excuse yourself and come to the old music room. Take a picture of me and her once you see us but do it silently.”

“Hey. Just who do you think you are commanding me like that?”

“Oh. No one- best of luck at the exam and thesis ‘kay?”

“I was joking. I’ll do what you said. You can count on me. Love ya!”

The outside of the venue was not a surprise to him since the entire student body was in the theater- well- except for one. Anonymous.

Kuu ran towards the old music room on the fourth floor by jumping tirelessly at the staircase, hoping to see her again. Kuu went there every single day trying to catch a glimpse of her- but she never came back anymore and that made Kuu sad. Every time he went there, he would wipe out the dirt from the shelves, clean the piano, and surroundings so that Anonymous would never sneeze because of dirt.

“In the bright sky, there’s a place waiting for us….”

When Kuu was on the third floor, his pace suddenly stopped because of a voice he heard clamoring at the halls. He walked silently as the voice, accompanied by the out-of-tune piano lulled him like a gentle but sad tune touching his heart.

“Oh, love, oh, love…

We will make our love shine through the dark…”

It was without a doubt the song they performed at the nationals and on the opening ceremony, but it was supposed to be sung in a happy tone because it wasn’t a sad song after all- but the singing- the voice- and the piano was so sad that it was heartfelt. Heart thumping, Kuu walked as silent as he could to not tamper with the sound that caressed his very soul upon entering his body- it was like standing in front of a sad canvas with the painter unknown and unrecognized. He hurriedly leapt into the stairs- and at last, he came and saw a familiar silhouette from the glass part of the door- Anonymous.

“If I could be with you…. If I could just move mountains….”

Anonymous was the one playing the piano- and the one singing soulfully with a pure voice. Kuu opened the door and sat on the seat reserved only for him, as the only audience allowed to watch Anonymous [Akuji] play the piano- and once again, she failed to notice his presence.

“If I could cross the oceans….”

“If I could sail the seas…”

_________________

A male voice suddenly continued the lyrics- and in an instant, Akuji recognized who it was and stopped playing at once because her body started trembling.

“W-what are you doing here? Y-you- everyone’s supposed to be in the theatre- especially you!” Akuji, under the code name Anonymous said as she almost tripped out of her chair. Kuu was still sitting in front of her, smiling so wide and carefree as if he was a kid. Akuji averted her gaze from him but he followed her with his stares, making Akuji hide her face in embarrassment. “B-by the way,”

“Woah! You really are starting the conversation today- and you are not sulking at me! Kyaaaa >_Hahahahaha!

A sudden laugh from an unexpected person filled the room but Kuu pouted, not knowing how to properly react to her outburst. He just watched her laugh her heart out- and was captivated by the glow in her face as she smiled at him. Sooner or later, Kuu also joined her laugh and they became tired at the same time.

“Your imagination is amazing!” Anonymous told him as they both smiled and tried to suppress their laughs. “I am not a ghost, silly! But you can think of me like one.”

“But no one can see you other than me.” Kuu said, now pouting and acting cute.

“That’s because you’re the only one that comes here.” Anonymous said and wondered whether or not she was supposed to reveal her true self to him.

“But with that appearance, I’m sure you’d be famous among your classmates- even at the entire school.”

“I hide my face from everyone. I hate being seen.” Anonymous said with sad eyes and Kuu looked concerned at her sudden mood swing.

“So you wear a wig outside of this room?” Kuu asked her- and that made Akuji gasp in terror.

It’s the other way around. “It’s better for you to not know it. By the way, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at the venue assessing the applicants?”

“Yep. Right. I didn’t know that you are such a genius!” Kuu said and leaned on the piano with literal sparkles surrounding him.

“Why are you still here then when you are supposed to be out there?”

“It’s because you are here. You didn’t come back for a week in this room- you ditched me how cruel of you. TT_TT”

“I didn’t ditch you. There was someone else playing the piano every time I went there so I never got the chance to enter.”

Kuu suddenly laughed at her answer and left her astounded by his actions. “That someone was me LOL! So you never entered here because you heard someone play the piano but you stopped by and saw me cleaning amirite?”

“Well, that was basically it. I didn’t know that it was you.” Anonymous just said and she looked serious again.

“So, anonymous, care to tell me your name now?” Kuu asked but Anonymous just looked at him with an annoyed expression on her face.

“It doesn’t matter what my name is...” Anonymous said and looked at her knees. “it's non-essential.”

Kuu noticed her trembling hands as she spoke. Her light green eyes showed fear and terror of herself.

“Hey, you.” Kuu said and approached her - then he placed his hand on her left cheek. “You must really hate yourself. Well, the easiest person to hate is ourselves- but someone out there must have been appreciating you from a distance. You never know.”

Akuji [Anonymous] looked at him directly in his eyes and she failed to see that tears had been streaming down her face. If there was someone like that- who can appreciate her- who can look out for her, then she would be very happy.

“T-thank you… for your kind words…” She said and smiled at him genuinely.

“Why are you crying though? You must have been hurting. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t force you to tell me your name. The most important thing for me is that I have found you and we have a rendezvous. I just hope you’ll come here everyday if you have time.” Kuu said and moved his chair beside her and started playing the piano. “Do you want to listen to a song I just wrote?”

“Fine, I guess? You are already playing.” Anonymous answered and the satisfied look on his eyes glistened as the sun hit his skin.

“Good night my love good night….

Let’s now sleep tight….

You’ve been through many things…

Now let’s take a rest…

Have you been well today? Have you even smiled?

Was your day lots of fun… Now let’s take a rest….

We’ll forget all bad times… To give way to the dreams…

That will make you….

Sleep tighter…”

“How’d you like that huh?” Kuu stopped playing and turned to Anonymous who had been looking at the piano keys. Suddenly, he realized that Anonymous had been sobbing all along.

“You… You have a gift. I love your song!” A happy Anonymous faced him with tears in her eyes and Kuu wasn’t able to contain his feelings and he sobbed together with her.

“I know you also write your own songs because I heard you play an unfamiliar one before. I wish I could hear them one day.” Kuu said but she ignored what he just said. Anonymous reached the keys and played the same thing he did and sang the first line and Kuu joined her later on.

What they produced was a candor sound- a beautiful epiphany of the persons who have sad sounds- and they filled the entire room of sad colors that represented their feelings- their pain against the world. At first it was cacophonic, but the stillness and the pain they inflicted on every key they both pressed on the out-of-tune piano was ethereal- out-of-this-world. It was so beautiful that even the skies cried at the sound of the two of them- who sang their hearts out as they cried.

“Sleep tighter..”

Kuu leaned his head on Anonymous’ shoulders and she flinched, but when she saw that his eyes were already closed, she leaned on him as well and closed his eyes- but upon knowing that, Kuu checked if Josef was there- he [Josef] was amazingly angry after seeing and hearing the girl beside his friend.

______________

“Anonymous-san?” Kuu asked her as he caught her head because she nearly rolled away from his shoulder where she leaned. “Are you awake now?”

“I’m not anonymous.” She replied in a sleepy manner. “That’s not my real name.”

“Care to tell me your name now?” Kuu asked and realized that she was half-asleep, well maybe more asleep than awake. It had been thirty minutes since she fell asleep on his shoulders and Kuu never moved an inch to support her. However, just as he caught her hair and placed it on his shoulders, her hair moved in a weird manner. “Wha-“

Her wig fell from her head and her true hair- the curly one was released from the rubber she used to keep them together. Kuu was startled and picked up the wig.

“No wonder why I failed to find you. It was because of this thing.” He said and put it back on her again. “Now I confirmed it.” He said in a serious manner.