Music of the Night

Chapter 67

Chapter 67

"...And some of the staffs are annoyed with his fickle attitude," Dr Connor recollected a memory of a particular professor at the university. "We respect him for his intelligence but he is very much poor when it came to delivering the lesson to the class."

"Then why does he still stick around?" asked Haru, surprised by the stories of staffs and professors. She has applied to several universities to pursue her studies in botany since her goal is to open a nursery of her very own. Little did she know that Mizuchi was also listening with her ears perked up while she was focusing on finishing her sketch.

"He has a high IQ when it came to his research papers and dissertations," Dr Connor answered before helping himself to another sandwich. Arthur decided to hang upside down on one of the perch on the ceiling. Legosi was listening attentively while his eyes were on Haru while Aoba was more absorbed with the knick-knack photos of what seemed to be Arthur's childhood.

He'll admit that Arthur is just as fluffy as he was as a baby.

"I guessed adults are almost the same as us," Arthur concluded before fluffing up his fur to get rid of the shivers that he was feeling. "Only difference is that as we grow older, we have more responsibilities."

The nile crocodile grunted. "Would be a dream to have a clone of myself to take half of my responsibility. I take it you girls have already applied to your chosen universities?"

"Sure did," Haru puffed her chest out proudly. "The universities that could help me study botany."

"I'm going to be an apprentice and study at a designer school," Mizuchi answered hers with grace.

Arthur, meanwhile on the ceiling, was listening to everyone's conversation but at the same time trying to decipher what the potted plant was babbling about as well as the whispers from the tree outside of the window.

He felt a weight of a cold stone in his stomach. The Honduran white bat was nervous because he himself deep down was uncertain of his own future once he graduates. Will he achieve his dreams of creating music and composing the tunes based on the stories he has heard?

He too had to brush up on other skills that might help him if his ideal dream failed. Something where even a sightless bat like him can handle.

For now, he wouldn't worry about the future just yet. He wants to cherish and enjoy the present moment.

"Ah, Kirk!" Dr Connor's boomed, causing a vibration in Arthur's ear similar to that of an organ. "You have got it out of your system?"

Mizuchi wished Arthur could see how red his dad's face was from the nile crocodile's comment. Then again, Arthur's probably didn't know how fortunate he is to have a caring father like Dr Kirk. Besides him, the vixen with the eyepatch, Ten was also fluffing up her fur in embarrassment.

"Enough about that!" Ten dismissed the crocodile's comment hotly. "So Arthur, how old were you when you started to play your first instrument?"

Arthur wiggled his ears to take in the question but also minding his friends' murmurings. "Well, I was five when I first started playing. It was at kindergarten and our teacher just gave us any instrument she could find." 

"And I never took him to perform in any concerts just yet," Dr Kirk told everyone proudly. "He does play a lot with his grandparents."

Arthur smiled but he hoped no one caught the fact that it was a sad one.

... 

The afternoon tea was almost over when Arthur heard his dad mentioning that it is five in the evening.

To be honest, he was enjoying this visit. Besides the food and drink, they chatted about what he would describe as gossip from what's going on in Cherryton to even at the workplace of Manticore University. He understood why Ten was quiet throughout the conversation.

"Um...Miss Ten..." Arthur's voice was meek. "C-can I tell you something?"

"Oh, of course, Arthur," the leader of the Inarigumi sounded surprised but nonetheless glad. Arthur was hanging upside down close to the window sill while Ten looked up at the curious bat. She could see the resemblance of him and Kirk with how they carried themselves: humble yet curious.

"Do you love my dad?" 

That made Ten opened her mouth before closing it, not sure of how Arthur could tell what was going on. Arthur smiled a bit. "I know because when the both of you talked, my dad sounded happy. And you, you sounded relaxed just like when you asked me about my skills in playing the piano."

Ten sighed in relief and then giggled at the memory. "You know, I still kept a photo of you in the dress I made you wear. You look adorable in it."

This made Arthur fluffed his fur in embarrassment. "You're going to show everyone?"

"Only my group," Ten replied, tapping Arthur lightly on his leaf-shaped nose. "I'm curious though, Arthur. You are really good at playing music but you look scared whenever you have an audience. May I know why?"

Arthur lowered his ears and his expression became serious, to the point his cloudy blue eyes could be described as stormy. "Well, I am more comfortable with my old music club mates back at my own school. I only played alone with confidence if it's with someone I am familiar with. If not, I'm just shaky as a leaf in autumn. Not to mention Cherryton seemed to be scared of me because they think that I'm a Vampyrum."

Ten felt sorry for the poor bat. She knew how he felt being stereotyped for her own species. Since meeting this bat during that night, she thought he was nothing more than a naive rodent with wings that will be a snack. 

Oh, how wrong she was!

Ten gently rubbed Arthur's head in a comforting manner. "Arthur, you're more than what others would tell you. Even if we just met briefly that night, I can see that you're a bright young bat with such talent. All I could advice you is keep playing. If the crowd is making you nervous, try to play your tune louder than any orchestra. Your ears might thank you for that."

Arthur cocked his head. "Really?"

Ten smiled before kissing the young bat on the cheek. "I'm certain, Arthur."

Little did the both of them know, Dr Kirk and Mizuchi watched them with awe. Both of them had the same thought: Arthur has finally found himself a mother figure.

...

"That was a good afternoon-evening outing," Haru commented while stretching in the passenger seat of the train. "Don't you think so, Legosi?"

"Yeah, it was," the grey wolf growled lightly. "Arthur's dad is very nice."

"He sure was," Mizuchi agreed. "Not to mention Miss Ten is very knowledgable about fashions correlating with the seasons. I might keep in touch with her to get some advice on some of my designs."

"I might consider what Dr Connor said," Aoba murmured, gazing out at the window where it was nothing but the passing walls of each subway station. "His way of seeing biology as something to cherish and cared for really opened a new perspective for me."

"Maybe you should join the gardening club," Haru teased, making him chuckle. While everyone including Legosi was chatting, Arthur was hanging on the upper bar, in deep thoughts.

So far, the talk about applying to universities or what to do after graduation really terrified him. Will he be kicked out just like what he heard from audiobooks or movies? Will he be living somewhere all by himself without knowing any skills that he might not experienced? Is he going to be rejected by anywhere he applied to?

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the buzzing sound from his phone. When he murmured a voice command to help him listen to the message, his heart dropped to his stomach and his grip almost loosed from the bar. The unknown message said:

I know you're the mysterious musician. Try and find me before I leaked out recordings of you playing.