Music for the Silence

A Day for Silence

It was morning in the Tsukushima residence. Shizuka was already up and making breakfast for herself and Marina, as well as some lunch for her guardian. As she cooked, she wondered about how she should spend her day off. Sure, Marina had talked to her into getting something new for her room, but she wasn't sure what to get exactly. Well, she could stock up on ingredients in the fridge, but other than that, she didn't know what to do.

She heard footsteps approaching the kitchen, followed by a yawn. "Good morning," Marina greeted, taking a seat at the dining table.

As soon as she sat down, Shizuka set breakfast in front of her. In front of the guardian was a sunny-side up egg and bacon, nestled on top of a baked potato. The aroma of the dish especially got Marina's appetite running.

"Itadakimasu," she prayed, taking her fork and dug into the dish. One bite, and Marina squealed at how delicious the meal tasted. "Mmm~! So good~! Shizuka, you're really a good cook."

Shizuka blushed at the compliment, as she took a bite of her own breakfast.

"So, what are you going to do for today?" Marina asked. "Today's your day off. If you want to do nothing but sleep, I have no complaints."

Shizuka took out her notepad and wrote her plans. "I'll buy something for my room, and tonight's dinner."

Marina sweatdropped at the written response, for those were only what they spoke about the night before, and a necessity.

"Anything else?" she asked.

Shizuka took a moment to think about it and wrote her additional response. "I'll think of ideas for the other bands' shows."

This made Marina sweat even more. 'Did her foster families never let her have a day to herself?' she wondered.

"Now that I think about it, we still haven't decided on a school to send you to. Today's a school day; how about you visit them? Of course, I understand if you don't want to," she then suggested.

Shizuka looked down in thought at those words. She knew she should be going to school, and that she should do as Marina suggested and check out some in the area, but... the girl shook her head in strong denial.

"I see... Well, if you ever change your mind, just send me a text so I can schedule a visit for you," Marina told her, in which her silent ward nodded to.

******

After breakfast, Shizuka handed Marina her bento and bid the woman farewell, as she headed off to work. As for the teen herself, she went to clean up the house first before going to shop. Once done with a few hours worth of cleaning, she had some simple lunch, and went shopping.

The mute was calmly walking her way to the mall. As she walked, Shizuka checked out the shops on the way, wondering if there was something she could buy from any of those stores instead. So far, nothing had caught her interest, per say. But even so, walking out here for a small, unimportant errand, a smile formed on Shizuka's face, as she calmly breathed in the air.

'How long has it been, since I last calmly walked out here...?' she wondered, feeling peaceful for the first time in years.

Her time of peace ended, when she bumped into someone.

"Ah, sorry about that," she heard.

Shizuka looked and saw a girl seemingly her age walking away from her. The girl had short brown hair and wore a black and white gingham shirt with an orange shirt underneath and a green vest over it, blue jeans that were ripped at the right knee, and brown combat boots.