Music Nights And Exposed

Being in the suburbs of Claremont, LA, the orphanage covered a sufficiently large area. The main building housing the residents was old and small; It was surrounded by a lush and beautiful garden on the back side, and the garage was on the right of the building, directly connecting to the dirt road up in the front via a thick metal door, the whole area was fenced up by thick cement walls with some wooden fences mixed here and there.

In the garage, Lucia parked her red Oldsmobile Cutlass next to a blue Chevy Silverado and shouted for Blue and Sonja to help her with some groceries and other home stuff.

"Hey Mrs. L, it's only me. Blue is coddling little Fuyumi and Andrea." Sonja said

"Are you sure he is caring for the children, and not just being lazy!? What happened to that overly active kid from two years ago!? It's like some lazy demon passed that boy..." Lucia mildly grumbled

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Every second Saturday of the month has become a small festival in the orphanage ever since half a year ago; Everyone in the orphanage gathers in the back garden under the magnificent Banyan tree, puts some beautiful Christmas lights over the lower branches of the tree, set up an outdoor dining table, then enjoy delicious spread, sing some songs and play around in general. Our Protagonist has named this Music Nights...

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Blue has started teaching Japanese to everyone in the orphanage, especially Fuyumi. He thought that it would be nice for her to know the mother tongue since she was a child, as for everyone else, it was necessary so that they could speak to Fuyumi, at least until she learned how to speak English. Hence, he presented this idea to the matron and she gladly agreed.

After a year and some months of classes, one spring evening in early March, when the class finished for everyone, Blue noticed the lonely and downtrodden figure of Fuyumi, sitting under the Banyan tree. By the time he reached her location, other children and the matron had also noticed, but they didn't immediately run to her, seeing that Blue had already approached, as for the matron, she seemed to be in the mood to assess the situation...

Now, even though Blue had received the memories and experiences of a forty-year-old man, they were still just that- memories and experiences. He was still mentally a kid, hence, he still had to figure out how to use them properly according to the situations he faced or would face.

Therefore, he first sat down beside Fuyumi, as silently as he could, so that he could think of what to say and answer her questions if any, but by how Fuyumi squirmed a little beside him, he could see that he failed. Now, they both were sitting there awkwardly, Fuyumi with her head down and Blue looking at the half-spring moon.

A few silent minutes passed, and after clearing his head a little bit, Blue spoke first:

"What's bugging you Fuyu"

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.

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"When I grow up... I... I will be all alone... again!"

Shocked to hear something like this, Blue sputtered:

"What the heck!... Ahem... I mean, why would you say... No! Why would you even think such things Fuyu!?"

"Be... Because... I am blind and when everyone grows up they will go to work, like Mother does, and... and... then who would remember or think about a blind person... everyone would forget about me... just... just like my parents... uwahhh!"

Blue immediately jumped up and hugged the crying girl, he tried to console her but didn't know how to, after all, he too was a kid...

By the time other kids had also surrounded them, and slowly they too started sobbing. Noticing how the situation was devolving, Lucia came over and picked up Fuyumi from Blue then started tenderly appeasing her.

As soon as Blue got free, he was struck by an amazing idea, so he immediately ran inside the building and into Sonja's room, where he picked up her old-looking ukulele, and went back.

Looking at the group hug under the tree, he smiled, then started looking around, he found a wooden chair, which he dragged with some difficulty, towards the group and stood on it, then he shouted:

"Fuyumi, let me tell you a secret- only Mom and sister Sonja know about it, of course, other than me."

Now, everyone's attention was on him, while the matron and Sonja were looking at him weirdly.

"You see when you came to live with us... umm... at night a man came to our home... yes... a man clad in white kimono... umm... he... he informed Mom that he was sent here by your parents... uhh... he said... he told her that you are a very special lady, that's why you are being hidden here for a while..."

"Why am I special brother!?"

"Uhh... well you see-"

While stuttering, he suddenly noticed the half-moon in the night sky and suddenly felt enlightened...

"-Yes... you see... It's a big secret, so remember, never to utter this in front of anyone... alright? everybody?"

"YES!!"

"Fuyumi, actually you are a princess! You come from the palace in the sky... uhh... Its name is Moon Palace. Your mother is the queen there, while your father is the general of the army... they are the strongest people in the Universe, but when you were born, a tragedy struck the palace... some of the enemies of your parents banded together and tried to kidnap you. Although your parents easily thwarted their attempt the first few times, they felt that because you are still a cute child, it is better to hide you away at a remote place until you become old enough to be as strong of a warrior as your parents, and then they would come and take you back. Therefore, they send you to the queen's most trusted friend, our mother..."

"Is it true mother!?"

Lucia who was listening to such an amusing fable being spouted, answered with a caring smile:

"Yes my dear, I thought it would be better to tell you the truth when you are a little older but your brother here-" she shot an amused glare towards Blue, who was embarrassedly looking around "told you now. I am sorry for keeping it from you Fuyu..."

"No, Mother you don't have to be sorry. You are always right!" Fuyumi happily hugged Lucia.

"Also Fuyumi, the messenger that I told you about just now, actually gave me a list of songs. He said that whenever the princess feels sad, I should sing these to you... as you already know, how good I am at Everything!" Going with the flow, Blue haughtily lifted his head up to the sky...

"Really!! They gave you songs for me!?"

"Of course, my dear sister! You remember, how I told you that the name of your meaning is 'Beautiful Winter'!?"

"YES!" By now Fuyumi was beaming with excitement, same as others...

"This song is about the spring, and how your parents are looking at you from the moon. The moon is half right now because, you, my dear sister, are the other half of the moon!"

"Wow, really mother!?"

"Ye... Yes" Wiping her slightly moist eyes, Lucia whispered.

"Alright everyone, be quiet and listen, ok!?"

"Yes!!"

"Shhhh..."

"Here we go..."

Haru no yoru hitori datta~

monokuro no sora tame ikiga kieteku~

ashibaya anhito no nami~

tada mitsumete sa zutto matte itanda~

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sakura hiraite mo made samui yoru niwa~

omoi dasunda kii no kao o~

heiki an no? Daijoubu sa fuzakete te ofuru boku~

ano hi kimi to kawashita yakusoku~

bokura wa bokura wa ano kaketa tsuki no~

hanbun o sagashite~

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Blue sang with as much maturity as he could pull through his childish vocal cords. When he finished singing, he opened his eyes and saw no one was commenting or showing any expression, feeling a little down for a second, he smiled and broke the silence:

"Ahem... looks like my throat was a little dry today... next time it would be better... hehe..."

Looking ahead, everyone was still silent. Hence stepping down he sadly mumbled something and started to take the chair back to where it was before; suddenly he heard a loud clap, and just as he turned around, everyone was giving a standing ovation to him with the loudest claps and shouts they could muster.

Then, Lucia came running towards him with tears flowing down her cheek and picked him up in her embrace. Soon he was enthusiastically surrounded by everyone, as they were jumping up and down, shouting his name... These were the first fans of famous singer Phoenix Blue...

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At night, Fuyumi insisted that she wanted to sleep next to her big brother, hence, after reading the little girl some bedtime stories, while, he was going to sleep, Lucia came and sat down near his bedside and seriously asked:

"Blue tell me the truth, did you write that song before or did you come up with that on the spot, also what else are you hiding from us!?"

He knew this conversation would come up someday, hence, he had already prepared an answer- still, he never thought it would come so soon:

"Well, Mom... I didn't actually write this song but... I was going to... You see, I came up with this song when I became proficient in Japanese last spring... I thought that someday I would surprise little Fuyu and all of you, by singing this song... Mom... I... I wanted to tell you about this and my dream... but I thought that I should better show up with something good first. Mom, I love movies and songs and... kung-fu..." In the last part, he just mumbled

Looking at his lowered head, Lucia smiled a bit and then suddenly hugged the child:

"Phoenix always remember this, I am your mother and we all are your family... There is never any need to prove yourself in front of us. After all, a family is only family when they support each other indefinitely and inconsequentially, okay?"

"Thank you, Mom!"

"I love you son... pfft... what were you saying about that kung-fu thing... haha!"

"Mooom..."

"Haha, alright go to sleep now it's already late, Goodnight, dear!"

"Goodnight, Mom"

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A/N: First of all, I know the writing is weird, therefore, I am sorry.

Second, The song I used here is Sakura Mitsusuki by SPYAIR.

Third, I would include various English and Japanese songs in chapters, going forward.

Fourth, most of them are from my playlist~